This is not the date I wanted.

"Is that so... That's good."

Hearing this, Tohka breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed from her alertness.

"But Shidou, are you really okay? You seem to be sweating a lot and your face looks listless. Did you have a nightmare?"

"It's a nightmare... Well, judging by the outcome, it should be considered a nightmare."

Recalling the experience in the dream, Shidao's eyes twitched slightly. Normally, once you wake up from a dream, what happened in the dream will basically fade away, but the content of the dreams in the past few days is so clear that it seems to be engraved into your DNA, and you can't forget it even if you want to.

"Um... Shidou, if you have any troubles, please tell me. I can discuss it with you at any time."

After hesitating for a moment, Tohka mustered up the courage to propose.

"Thank you, Tohka. But I'm fine, don't worry."

"…Is it something you can't tell me?"

Hearing Shidou's refusal, Tohka lowered her head in disappointment.

"It's not that I can't tell you. It's just that it's not the right time yet."

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Shidou smiled bitterly, stroked Tohka's head, and corrected her.

"I will definitely tell you when I can. By then, I will need your help, Tohka."

After hearing Shidou's answer, Tohka's expression improved a bit and she nodded obediently.

"Well, I see."

17. A short break

==============================

After finishing her private meeting with Artemisia, Mengyue prepared to go to the Gokawa family.

Meng Yue opened the door and looked down. There were four pairs of shoes placed at the entrance of the corridor. It seemed that someone was home.

Looking at the styles of the shoes, there are two pairs of thick leather boots of the same style, a pair of brand-name high heels, and a pair of tacky and old Velcro loafers.

(Yugen, Yakuya, Miku——and Nia.)

Meng Yue thought casually.

I listened carefully and, sure enough, I heard the sound of girls talking and laughing coming from the direction of the living room.

Meng Yue took off her shoes and put them away gently, then walked towards the living room curiously.

"Hey, what interesting things are you talking about?"

"Honey! You're back!"

As soon as she entered the living room, Meijiu stood up excitedly and hugged Mengyue enthusiastically.

"Welcome back, do you want to eat? Take a shower? Or - me?"

"I don't want any of them. They're too cliché. Next one."

Pushing Meijiu back onto the sofa, Mengyue asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Answer. Xixian is playing with ancient and modern things."

"Things from the past and present..."

Mengyue was somewhat surprised when she heard Xixian's words.

Although I have never played it, Mengyue has seen it in comic books. If I remember correctly, it seems to be a Japanese drinking party game. It seems that everyone takes turns to give an example of a word that fits a certain theme. If you go beyond the scope of the theme or give a repeated answer, you lose. Because it is a kind of penalty drink in the drinking place, Mengyue quickly understood who proposed it.

"Does Bili-chan want to join in as well?"

"Yeah... that's okay."

Anyway, there was nothing to do for the time being. Meng Yue nodded and agreed.

After Mengyue joined, Erya cleared his throat pretentiously and started the game again.

"Well, very good. Then the next theme is the ancient and modern things and the handsome scenes of young boys."

Having said that, Erya spoke first.

"If you ask me, well - it was probably when he imitated Toki Ye's lines and told me 'I will no longer use any excuses to avoid the past, regretting this kind of thing just once is enough.' At that time, the boy really seemed to be possessed by Toki Ye. If possible, I really want him to put on a cosplay costume and say it again."

"If I remember correctly, when Shidou cosplayed as Toki Yoru at the beginning, you got mad, right?"

Meng Yue couldn't help but complain.

"This is not the right time. What's wrong with wanting the boy you like to play an important role? Double the happiness added together..."

"If you keep talking I'll beat you up."

"Okay, I'll keep quiet. Next one."

Erya shut up decisively.

"Haha, it's my turn next."

Meijiu raised her hand very proactively.

"That's true. If I were to say it, it would be that. At the DEM Japan branch, Darling stood up to protect me from the rebellious Tohka, and said to me in a charming voice, 'We... made an appointment!' - Wow! It's so cool just thinking about it!"

As if recalling the scene at that time, Miku was immersed in it with a happy look on her face. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she added very seriously.

"Of course, the scene where Honey showed up to save the situation at the critical moment was also very cool."

"You don't have to replenish it midway."

Meng Yue replied with a wry smile. Rather than saying that she showed up at the critical moment to save the situation, it would be more accurate to say that she was just peeking from behind the whole time.

"Thinking. From Yui's point of view, it was when Shidou used the attack of 'Aosha-Kou' to stop Yui and Yakuya from quarreling."

"Ah - too cunning! That's obviously what I wanted to say."

"Negative, just following the order. Unquestionable."

"I don't remember deciding on any order."

"Careless. Things like this are always first come, first served. Next is Yakuya's turn. Or is it that Yakuya can only think of a cool scene of Shidou?"

"Well……"

After being speechless for a long time, Yakuya spoke in a...how should I put it, a voice that sounded very awkward.

"…As for me, that time when I went bowling with Shidou…when I cried, I rested my head on his lap, and he stroked my head silently…"

"Chiu Ping! High-energy girl reaction detected!"

"Please tell me in detail! What does it feel like to be on Darling's lap?"

"Follow up. When and where did it happen? I don't even know."

“Hey… that…”

Under the aggressive questioning of the three people, the usually arrogant and immature Yakushi's voice became as small as a mosquito.

Well, this development is not surprising to Meng Yue. After all, if we only compare the filthiness values ​​of the members in this room, Yejushi should be the purest one.

"Oh, could it be what happened when the Seven Sins appeared last year?"

"Why do you know this, Mengyue? Could it be that you were peeping?"

Yakushi asked in a panic.

"It's not that hard to guess. After all, the number of times you and Xixian separated and acted alone was very few, and you even cried. You must have been forced to separate from Xixian, and that must have been the time when you were with Nanashi."

Meng Yue analyzed as a matter of course.

"Did I said wrong thing?"

"Um... yes, that's right."

"I suddenly understand. Yui was not there at the time. Yakushi must have been very worried."

"Oh, I see. You are worthy of being the famous detective Bili-chan."

"Hey, so that's how it is."

"Well……"

Facing everyone's tacitly gentle smiles, Yakushi blushed and lowered his head.

(Oh my, Shidao is really a man with many sins.)

Looking at Yakushiya's cute reaction, Mengyue couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

"I, I am fine with what I have to say. Next! It's your turn!"

"Okay. Um... the handsome scene of Shidou in my mind?"

Looking up at the ceiling, Meng Yue thought for a moment and said.

"For me, it's still what he said when he first sealed my spiritual power."

Thinking of this, Mengyue couldn't help but smile gently.

[It's a pity that I can't get married because I still have Tohka, Yoshino, and Yamai. If I do that, it means I'll give up on them and enjoy happiness alone. But - I'm willing to swear that I'm willing to accompany you for the rest of your life, and until the moment I die, I'll treat you as my family!!!]

"..."

After hearing Meng Yue's words, everyone's expressions became a little subtle.

"Ah... Bili-chan. What should I say?" After hesitating for a moment, Erya still complained, "Are you sure you didn't get a card?"

"Really? I think so."

"Hmm...if you listen to the second half, you can still understand it, but the first half is very strange."

"I agree. It's very rude to mention other girls' names at such a critical moment."

"Honey, you can act as coquettishly as you want in my arms."

"Ha ha……"

Seeing the female lineup standing up for themselves from their own perspective, Meng Yue couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Well, although I am very touched that Shidou is willing to be my family, to be honest, I am not very interested in the term "forever". On the contrary, with the foreshadowing of the previous sentence, I feel a little better."

After all, as long as people are alive, it is impossible not to change, maybe for the better, or for the worse.

If you recall carefully, there are many highlights of Shidou showing his skills in Mengyue's memory, but how to say it... the one that impressed me the most was indeed the very beginning.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, the first half of Shidao's words is irrelevant, or even superfluous. But in fact, it was the first sentence that made Mengyue feel a kind of clumsy sincerity from the oath that Shidao made to her at that time. It made Mengyue understand that Shidao did not lie to her, and this oath was not a blank check just to deal with her casually.

He did keep Meng Yue in his heart, but he did not ignore the people around him. Although his words were naive, they were not stupid. And this perfect immaturity was also what attracted her to Shidao.

Well, there is another contradictory reason. Although she thinks that if they really want to be together, they must get married, but she can't imagine herself wearing a wedding dress at all. If Shidao really said that he was willing to marry her, she would be scared away.

She is so fond of Shiori's wedding dress that she can easily imagine hundreds of them.

"Well, Bilijiang is a more realistic person."

"It doesn't matter. So, why do you suddenly want to play with ancient and modern things?"

“Because I’m free~”

I saw Erya's upper body lying on the sofa at a 45-degree angle, his hands resting on his abdomen, his head tilted, and he spoke in a Ge You-like lying posture.

After all, all the large-scale combat preparations were made by Ratatoskr, and in order to guard against the power of the "Divine Eclipse Volume", no detailed tactics were formulated, but instead they chose to improvise when the time came. Kotori arranged very few characters for the elves. Except for Yumezuki who went to persuade Artemisia, Origami and Mana who communicated with AST through their identities as magicians, the other elves had nothing to do, except taking turns to protect Shidou. They were asked to rest well and be mentally prepared not to be surprised no matter what plan they heard.

However, with the decisive battle approaching, there was no interest in burying oneself in reading or playing games, so Erya suggested playing this game to pass the time.

"Really? If you're really that free, why don't you go to the virtual world to train..."

Meng Yue saw that the moment she said this, the faces of the four people suddenly turned ashen.

“…Just kidding.”

Meng Yue smiled and changed her words.

"..."

In an instant, the four people's moods fluctuated as if they were on a roller coaster.

"Bili-chan...some jokes...can't be made casually."

Erya warned, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.