Chapter 91 [Itsuka Shidou’s Backstory— II]

"WHAT ON ACTUAL— "

Shidou bit her tongue before he could utter a bad word. Ironically, he was planning on stopping right before he said it but karma got the better of him and he bit his tongue in the process. He flinched and shook his head as he rested a hand on Fuuka's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat your name again?" Shidou asked.

"Tohka, Yatogami Tohka," The girl said, bewildered. She didn't know why he was reacting like that. Of course, she had an inkling as to what the reason is but she didn't contemplate too much about it. Right now, even though Shidou's superpowers are working on her, the first priority in her mind is still the Inter-High Tournament and that overrode her reason more than anything else.

"Even her last name is the same," Shidou was about to cry as he broke down on the ground. After a few seconds of trying to recollect his thoughts. He then raised his hands. "We surrender, just take our badges." He continued.

"Really?!" Tohka did a secret celebration in her mind as she walked towards Shidou and Fuuka.

"..."

"Are you crazy?! No, I'm not going to give my badge to her. Don't you know I'm her target?!" Fuuka hissed as he grabbed Shidou by the collar. But upon seeing Shidou's face up close, she staggered backward, her heart skipping yet another beat. Before she knew it, she was hiccuping.

"Don't worry about her, just leave us alone after getting the badge. I swear we won't stop you."

Fuuka could tell Shidou wasn't bluffing when he said that. Usually, when Shidou says something, he will smile slightly when he's planning something mischievous. But right now, he just won't stop sighing. He had given up, it was clear in his eyes.

Tohka could also tell that Shidou wasn't acting. Every time she uses her power from another dimension, her senses are enhanced by a considerable amount, that's why she can tell whether someone is lying or not, well, sort of— there are superheroes who can bypass someone's enhanced senses and lie in front of their face, getting away with is as well. But now, Tohka knew Shidou wasn't lying. She just walked towards Shidou and grabbed the badge from him.

Perplexed, Fuuka also didn't know why Shidou was acting differently... but then again, it's not like she can do anything against Tohka who could cut through any of her attacks. She may be an expert in space distortion and sound manipulation but all of those were canceled by Tohka's Astral Superpower. It's as if her superpower was meant to cut through powerful attacks— or maybe she's only weak against physical attacks. Either way, Fuuka was well aware that she was just delaying the inevitable, only wasting her energy as she fought against her opponent. Well, she wasn't even fighting, she was just running away while desperately defending herself. But now, at least she can finally rest. Also, it's not like having Shidou by his side would help.

... unless she gets charmed by Shidou... one way or another.

"Come on, Fuuka, let's get out of here." Shidou was so done with it that she grabbed Fuuka by the hand. But Fuuka wasn't just going to leave empty-handed.

In desperation, she leaned towards Tohka, making her fall towards Shidou. Since she let her guard down upon seeing Shidou turn around, she didn't expect the surprise attack. Before she knew it, she fell right on Shidou's arms.

"Fuuka, what were you— sigh— are you all right?" Shidou asked, biting his lips since he already knew what would happen next. Once again, he felt his mind activate as his eyes turned a bluish hue and his hair a shade lighter. He opened his mouth and quietly scolded Fuuka.

In response, Fuuka shrugged with a mischievous grin on her face. Shidou could've sworn that he wanted to slap the living daylights out of that face but he couldn't do it. He's still not used to girls so touching one is out of the question. (What he didn't know was that touching is actually much more effective than talking to a girl. If talking to a girl could charm them after a few minutes or a few hours at most, then what more if he holds their hand or something?)

But Shidou wasn't thinking about the effectiveness of his superpower. That wasn't the reason why he gave up on 'charming' Tohka with her voice command of sorts superpower. He knew what would happen if someone of that name would get charmed by him. Not only would his dad laugh at him, but he will be the laughingstock during the live stream.

Unbeknownst to them, the entire thing was actually being broadcasted. And at that moment, the caption on the live stream wasn't the 'Inter-High Tournament' but the 'Date A Live In Real Life' or something along those lines. Before they knew it, three billion people were already watching the live stream.

[Aiyo, it's real!]

[Our forefathers will be proud. Look at that!]

[We'll be watching your career with great interest!]

[Spirits. Mysterious girls appearing from another world... ]

[daremo ga utsumuku machi~~~ ]

[Lezzgo!]

The comments on the live stream were flaring up. If Shidou knew what was happening right now, he would've been shocked by the number of people watching him right now. Well, he might be even more shocked after knowing how much revenue he'll get from the live stream.

"I'll hold onto your badges for now," Shidou said, gently letting go of Tohka so she can get back on her feet. She blushed and coyishly nodded before handing the three badges to Shidou. "Let's go."

"Um, I— I'm going to get my badge back! But I can't do it right now," Tohka said, almost tripping on her words. "T-t-that's why I'm going to accompany you."

"Yeah, right," Shidou sighed. There was nothing he could do about it. Tomorrow, she'll be right back to normal as long as he doesn't converse with her or touch her. "I'm just wondering... "

"Yes?" Tohka's eyes sparkled as he stared at Shidou.

"How did you get your name? Did your dad like... " Shidou was trying hard to find the right word.

"..." Fuuka didn't know why Shidou cared so much for Tohka's name.

"Hmmm... my first memory of ever watching tv was with my dad. I could clearly remember my dad, saying something along the lines of 'I named you after that girl'. The character on the screen was your average fantasy girl who was thrown into a reality that she didn't know existed... "

"Even our introductions are the same... " Sigh~

.....

A few years earlier,

A certain dad stared at his house for the last time, a sigh left his mouth. On the fence, a huge sticker was posted. It said 'On Sale' in big red bold letters. And on top of that, a sticker was placed— Sold, it read. Right beside him was his wife who supportingly rubbed his arms to console him. It had been a hard year for the family after the dad lost his job. But now, he's got another opportunity down by Tokyo so he took his chance and moved to their relative's house there. Of course, even though he won't be paying a single cent for rent downpayment, he knew that he'd have a hard time adjusting to the new atmosphere. After all, he was a man from a village.

"I guess you're really moving, huh. All the best in your new job and new environment. You'll adjust in no time." A neighbor who was coming out for work. He wasn't just any neighbor, he was one of the few closest friends that the dad had throughout their stay in that neighborhood.

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you when we see you,"

"Wait, no way, your move is today? We're sorry, we haven't prepared anything." The wife of the neighbor came out with their only daughter tagging along.

"No, that's quite all right. We can have another meal once we're settled."

"By then, our kids probably won't recognize each other. We even named them in pair." The neighbor said. "Well, just give us a call, Tokyo is only five hours away from here."

"No, we wouldn't want you to do that. We can just contact each other from time to time. We can have a meal once we get to have a vacation. Also, didn't you want to send your daughter to study in Tokyo?"

"Yeah, but that's when she's already in high school. That's like eight years from now haha."

"I guess," The dad shrugged.

BEEP!

"Looks like our ride is here. Come on Shidou, say goodbye to your 'osananajimi' over there." The dad spurred, lightly pushing his son.

.....

Back to the present,

Shidou's dad couldn't help but chuckle at the live stream. "Who would've thought, right honey?" He said. This time, it was he who rubbed his wife's shoulders.

"Yeah, fate can be quite surprising at times, huh,"

From a distance, Shidou's dad's phone rang, and then a notification could be seen.

In response to: Have you seen the Inter-High Tournament Live Stream right now? — Yeah, who would've thought! Hahha!