"You're my sister? Then… where's my brother?"
Takamiya Mana blinked in confusion, staring at the stunning girl in front of her—flawless skin, long legs, tiny waist, generous chest, and perky curves.
Her big blue eyes shimmered with innocent bewilderment as she tilted her head like a curious puppy.
Her sky-blue ponytail swayed with the motion, giving her an irresistibly cute, puppy-like charm.
Even though she phrased it as a question, there wasn't a hint of doubt in her tone.
After all, the girl in front of her looked exactly like her.
No way could they not be related.
And that mysterious male Spirit earlier had said he was friends with her older brother and sister…
Could it be that in the thirty years she lost to amnesia, her parents created a "new child"?
"Uh… Sorry, but I don't remember you at all. And as for a brother…"
"Shiori" Itsuka still adjusting to having long hair tucked a loose strand behind her ear, a slightly awkward smile appearing on her gorgeous face.
The unintentionally seductive gesture would've made any shut-in otaku from her past life scream "awsl!" in delight.
And once they found out this beauty was biologically male, some of them might get even more excited.
"Shiori" wasn't exactly proud of being Itsuka Shido underneath it all.
It was awkward to bring up.
After all, since Shido and "Shiori" were technically "different person," any embarrassing behavior would socially ruin "Shiori"—not Shido.
They both are totally different people, right?
Anyone would be cautious if a random girl suddenly claimed to be their long-lost sister.
It sounded like the beginning of a scam.
If this were still Itsuka Shido, he'd be suspicious as hell.
But "Shiori"—standing face-to-face with a petite, mirror-image version of herself—couldn't bring herself to doubt.
She wanted to grab the hot water bottle from the Kotori's hands and at least transform back into Shido before discussing anything this bizarre!
But the girl neatly dodged the lunge, grinning like a little devil as "Shiori" fumed in helpless frustration.
Then Kotori, still cool and composed, turned her gaze toward the girl claiming to be Shido's sister.
"You're saying Shido is your real brother? Got any proof?"
Kotori had already seen Date A Live and knew about Takamiya Mana, so this was just a bit of light acting.
"The male Spirit told me…"
Still confused by the sudden appearance of a sister, Mana unclasped the necklace hanging around her neck and showed the pendant to Kotori.
"This is my brother."
Kotori took the pendant and glanced at the slightly faded photo inside: a smiling brother and sister standing side by side.
She passed it to "Shiori" for confirmation.
Not all information in the anime had been accurate—especially Kotori's feelings for Shido—but when it came to things like this, the anime usually got it right.
Seeing Shido finally reunited with his real sister made Kotori feel both happy for him… and a little downcast.
Though the happiness far outweighed the melancholy.
"I knew it… This has Nagami written all over it," "Shiori" muttered.
The "male Spirit" Mana mentioned could only be one person.
"Shiori" was fairly sure Nagami wasn't a Spirit, but considering both Kotori and Kurumi—who absolutely was a Spirit—treated him with respect, he definitely wasn't just a normal guy either.
And if Kotori was working with him behind his back… well, she wasn't the type to do anything dangerous to her, so maybe it was fine?
That thought brought "Shiori" to a realization.
Her eyes widened, and she clenched her slender, pale fists.
Wait a second—this whole situation, his current form—this was 100% the result of a conspiracy between those two!
She gave Kotori a long, mournful stare before sighing in resignation.
'Life is hard.' "Shiori" sighed.
"I think I just heard someone talking behind my back…"
A teasing voice suddenly boomed from behind.
"Waaah!"
Completely caught off guard, "Shiori" let out a startled shriek, practically leaping into the air.
Her long, flowing hair bounced high with the motion, echoing her surprise.
"Was that really necessary?" Nagami asked, feigning innocence. "Or… has your mindset shifted along with your body?"
After a moment of awkward silence, he casually draped an arm around "Shiori"'s shoulders like a friendly friend—completely ignoring the fact that she was now very much in "sister mode."
"Of course not! This has nothing to do with gender!!"
Seeing him rise calmly from the shadow space, "Shiori" couldn't hold back a scream of frustration. "You scared me half to death!"
"Sorry," Nagami said nonchalantly. "But technically speaking, I'm not even human—so I can't be held responsible under human standards."
Without warning, he reached over and grabbed the steaming hot water from Kotori's hands.
Then he dripped a few scalding drops onto "Shiori"'s hand, snapping her out of her daze.
'You're not just inhuman—you're a damn bastard!'
Kotori's lips twitched as she watched Nagami's merciless bullying.
She couldn't help but complain inwardly.
Itsuka Shido had already sealed away the powers of Yatogami Tohka and Yoshino, which meant his physical strength now far surpassed that of a normal human.
With Yoshino's ice-elemental spirit power still within him, boiling water wouldn't leave him with burns—but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt at all.
"Onii-chan?!!"
Mana Takamiya stared blankly at Itsuka Shido, who had suddenly switched genders, totally confused.
"Well, it seems like you siblings have a lot to catch up on. We'll give you some space."
Nagami shoved the yelping, scalded Shido toward Mana, then dragged Kotori out of his room without a second glance.
————————————————————————
In the spacious living room of the apartment, Kotori handed Nagami a cup of tea before collapsing face-first onto the table, supporting her chin with one hand.
"Where did Inori and Nia go?"
"Inori's napping, and as for Nia—she dashed into her room the moment she came back, claiming she had a sudden burst of inspiration. I tried asking for help, but she totally ignored me."
Kotori let out a long sigh. "What the heck is going on today? That anomaly in the sky earlier… don't tell me you caused that?"
At the time, Nagami had been helping Itsuka "Shiori" conquer the ninth Spirit Core.
Thanks to the absurd charm stats of the real "Shiori", the progress bar had been filling up at a visible pace.
But then something crazy happened.
The Fraxinus's energy detection systems showed a surge far beyond the spirit conquest progress.
Before anyone at Ratatoskr could even react, a massive boom echoed through the skies near Tenguu City—followed by an unprecedented meteorological phenomenon.
The spirit-conquest mission had to be halted, and everyone was redirected to investigate the source of this overwhelming new energy.
"Also… that woman behind you—isn't she the secretary of DEM's president? Why is she following you around like a lost puppy? And what's with that look on her face?!"
Kotori looked like she had just seen a ghost as she stared at Ellen, who stood silently behind Nagami.
"Oh, that's a long story… It all went like this…"
Nagami calmly sipped his tea and gave a very childlike summary of the entire chain of events.
"...And that's basically what happened."
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Kotori practically screamed. Her face was the very picture of shock.
"Westcott's just… dead? And you used Geass to control Ellen?!"
Disregarding the original plotline of Date A Live completely, Nagami had gone and eliminated the big boss before he even had a chance to become a threat.
No buildup. No arc. Just straight-up boss deletion.
"Of course it was you!"
Still, Kotori couldn't help but give honest praise—after all, he had just removed one of the biggest headaches from their world.
"With Westcott gone, DEM… well, I see where this is going."
She glanced at Nagami, who was smiling smugly like it was no big deal.
Kotori slapped her own forehead.
She should've known better than to expect after-sales support from this guy.
"So that just leaves Takamiya Mio. How are we going to deal with her?"
Kotori furrowed her brows and thought for a moment before looking up at Nagami again.
"Is there any way to power up that last move of yours? I mean… could it work on her?"
"No chance," Nagami replied, shaking his head. "Takamiya Mio isn't a warship. She's not just going to sit around and wait for me to finish charging an attack. At that level, that kind of skill is basically useless."
He sighed. "Even if Mio was willing to tank it, I'm not crazy enough to actually fire it. Unless, of course, you don't mind losing Earth in the process."
"If we were fighting in a neighboring dimension, maybe. But over there, she can alter the laws of physics. Just changing one tiny rule means I'd have to recalculate every single equation from scratch."
"Anyway, let's put that aside for now."
Nagami tapped on the table to get Kotori's attention.
His expression turned oddly serious.
"Kotori… I think we might be making a mistake."
He met her crimson eyes head-on, a complicated look on his face.
"Takamiya Mio… might not actually be our enemy."
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