This is not the date I wanted.

"real!"

"Uh-huh?!"

Before Shinshi could finish, a wave of salty seawater splashed onto his face. Shaking his head like a drowned dog, Shinshi looked helplessly at Mio, who was smiling.

"……What are you doing?"

"I have no idea!"

"do not know?"

"But I just want to give it a try! It's very fun!"

"Really? Is that interesting? Then I won't be polite either - watch this!"

"Yeah~"

Shinji was sure that he and Mio were definitely a pair of stupid lovers in the eyes of others at this moment.

In the past, when he saw this meaningless water splashing in animation or in the swimming pool, he often looked at it with contempt. However, when he actually became a player in the game, he found that he was wrong, very wrong.

I'm so happy.

"Ah~ It's so cool!"

"Haha, now you know how powerful I am."

After letting out a proud sigh, Shinshi suddenly realized that Mio's clothes had been completely soaked by sea water at some point. The translucent dress clung to her skin, outlining her slim figure, and one could even see the outline and color of her underwear through the fabric.

Instantly, Shinshi turned his head away with a red face.

"Hmm? Really, your face is so red."

"Yes, yes?"

"Are you okay? Are you catching a cold? Wow—"

Suddenly, a strong sea breeze blew and blew Mio's hat into the air.

As the incident happened suddenly, Mio instinctively wanted to grab her hat and leaned her body backwards, but she accidentally stepped on the sunken mud and lost her balance.

“——Mio?!”

Shinshi hurriedly tried to grab Mio, but he was not used to the soft, wet sand and lost his balance. Not only did he fail to hold her, but they both fell to the ground.

"Ah - sorry, Mio, are you okay -"

Shinji was speechless for a moment.

Due to the accident just now, both of them fell into the shallows. Mio was soaked in the water as if lying on her back, while Shinshi was barely supporting the ground with his limbs, lying on top of Mio.

This posture looks as if he pushed Mio down. Although judging from the result, there seems to be nothing wrong with this.

The sea flowed past the two of them, and looking at Mio's pretty face so close to him, Shinshi couldn't help but feel a little obsessed.

At first, when he discovered Mio, the girl was like a fairy who had fallen into the mortal world by mistake, beautiful, holy, and ethereal.

However, at this moment, when he was dating and playing with Mio and was drenched by the sea water together, he felt that Mio was so real, touching and charming.

"Um...I'm fine...really?"

Mio made a puzzled sound.

Feeling Mio's breath and body temperature, Shinshi seemed to be affected by adolescent hormones. Even though he was soaked in the cold sea water, his head and chest were burning.

"I……"

Paying attention to Mio's reaction, Shinshi spoke in a cautious yet excited voice.

"I... like you. From the moment I saw you, I fell in love with you at first sight."

"……Eh?"

Mio seemed to have not expected Shinji's sudden confession and was stunned.

In an instant, the whole world became quiet, with only the sound of waves and the cries of seabirds echoing in my ears.

Shinji was filled with both anticipation and regret. He longed for Mio's answer, but was also afraid that his feelings would be rejected.

When he thought of Mio showing an embarrassed expression, he felt his hands and feet go cold.

"Well...I also...like Zhen..."

As if she had sorted out the words to express her feelings, Mio spoke softly.

"As long as I'm with Makoto, every minute is so happy, whether it's at home, on the street, or at the beach, as long as I'm with Makoto, the world is full of colors. The longer I stay with Makoto... the stronger the feelings in my heart become... Is this feeling called love... No... It's hard to describe it with just love... That... Yes... I must."

As if she had found the correct answer, Mio said in a voice full of joy.

"I must...have fallen in love with you...really..."

"Mio..."

Shinshi stared at Mio blankly. The moment he heard these words, he could no longer suppress the emotions in his heart and slowly lowered his head towards Mio's rosy lips.

As if she understood Shinshi's intention, Mio gently closed her eyes to show her consent.

However, just as their reflections on the water were about to overlap,

“——Huff.”

Mio sneezed slightly, instantly destroying the ambiguous atmosphere between the two of them.

Mio slowly opened her eyes and looked at Shinshi a little embarrassedly.

"..."

"..."

“…Pfft. Hahahaha—”

“—Haha! Hahaha!”

For some reason, Shinji seemed to have been tickled and laughed happily. And Mio couldn't help laughing out loud, as if she was infected by Shinji's laughter.

This is understandable, and although there was no kiss, the two did feel each other's feelings.

Shinji likes Mio, and Mio also likes him.

Is there anything more worthy of joy than this?

"Mio, let's go upstairs. Our clothes are soaked and it would be bad if we catch a cold."

"Um……"

Mio nodded gently. Shinji stood up from the shallows, took Mio's hand and walked towards the beach.

"real……"

Mio couldn't help but speak.

"Next, can we be together forever?"

"Yeah, of course."

Hearing Mio's words, Shinji replied with a confident tone,

"Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and after that, as long as you are willing, I will definitely - ha - ha -"

--yawn!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS: Compared with Mengyue and Shidou, the emotional scenes between Shidou and Mio were really not restrained at all and happened naturally.

PS2: Well, actually this part is not much different from the original. I just changed Mio’s perspective to Shinji’s.

23 The Past of Shinji and Mio (Part )

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

"what--"

In the classroom early in the morning, Takamiya Shinji held his chin and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Looking out the window, the wasteland created by the space earthquake seems to have become a landscape that has been integrated into daily life. Even if you don't want to admit it, you have to accept the reality.

Although Shinshi didn't like going to school much before, it wasn't as heavy as this. Once he entered the school, he could look across the buildings and gaze at the whole city from a higher altitude. It was like being pulled back to reality from a light and beautiful dream.

"Please, Mashiro, please stop sighing so early in the morning. It makes me feel depressed."

Just then, Long Xiong walked into the classroom and said to him with a wry smile.

"Good morning, Longxiong."

"Good morning."

Nodding in response, Long Xiong put down his schoolbag, sat down at his seat and looked around the class.

"Yeah... there are a lot fewer people. Many people have moved away."

He simply agreed with the words and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Of course, some of them were students who disappeared along with the streets in the space epicenter. According to the convention, a bouquet of flowers should be placed on the corresponding students' desks, but if the corresponding number of flowers were placed, I am afraid that even the most studious and excellent students would lose their desire to study.

The rest are some people who are bedridden because they have not yet adjusted to their mood, and some people who have moved because they are worried that the spacequake will happen again.

However, even so, time cannot be reversed. They are just students who have not grown up yet. Lamenting in time will be of no avail. The only thing they can do is to continue living while picking up the remaining daily life.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. By the way, did you watch the news last night?"

"No, anything special?"

Shinji asked in confusion, shaking his head.

"I heard that an overseas company called DEM has developed an early warning system for space earthquakes and designed underground shelters for space earthquakes. The government now seems to be negotiating with them to introduce this system into the country."

"Oh, really?"

Upon hearing the news, Shinshi couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, the exact time is still unclear, but if we introduce it, we can evacuate ahead even if a spacequake occurs."

Longxiong replied with a shrug.

"Really? That would be great if you could."

It was a blessing in disguise, and Zhenshi breathed a sigh of relief.

(Come to think of it, are there still spacequakes happening anywhere in the world right now?)

Shinji couldn't help but think. He has been living with Mio for more than a month. Mio lives like an ordinary person except for occasionally using her special power. There has been no space earthquake and no bad things have happened. In fact, there has been no news of space earthquakes during this period.

Could it be that the problem of space quake has actually been solved by myself?

As soon as this thought came to Shinji's mind, he silently denied it. Although he sometimes had unrealistic fantasies, he would not be so self-deprecating as to regard himself as the savior of the world. If the world was saved by just taking Mio in, dating her, and dating her, then this world would be too cheap.

(Although Mio didn't say it, maybe there are other spirits in this world that can cause spacequakes...)

Thinking back to the space quake at that time, Zhenshi felt a chill down his spine. He was lucky not to have stepped into the affected area of ​​the space quake. If he had taken a wrong step, he would have become a token hanging on the incense hall at home. From this point of view, DEM's development of corresponding measures was really a great help.

(Hmm? Could it be that the people at DEM know that spacequakes are related to elves?)

Suddenly, this question emerged in Zhenshi's mind.

"By the way, what does the name DEM stand for?"

"I don't know, I didn't pay attention."

Long Xiong shook his head.

"DEM... Dues Ex Machina... Latin for God born from machines... The divine power that instantly changes the situation and turns the world upside down..."

Zhenshi couldn't help but lower his head in thought, muttering something. In response, a drop of cold sweat appeared on Longxiong's forehead.

"Hey, hey~ Takamiya-san—your chuunibyou are showing off."

"No, no! I've already graduated! It was just a joke."

Shinji coughed awkwardly twice, but Ryuo considerately chose to ignore it and continued speaking.

"However, I seem to have seen similar conspiracy theories online, saying that DEM directed and acted on its own... After creating some kind of weapon that can produce space earthquakes, it launched early warning systems and other technologies to make money from disasters."

"this--"

"Is what you said true?"

Before Shinji could express his thoughts, three people from the class - Ako, Asako, and Miko - came to their table at some point.