Faced with Miku's question, Souta thought for a moment and said:
"Now that Takamiya Mio has her sights set on you, if you go back too, we'll almost certainly end up in a fight with her.
Unless you stay away from home and keep hiding, it's unavoidable.
So, staying at my place is actually the safer option."
"Hmm… Okay. I'll listen to Darling."
Miku suppressed her desire to follow him and put on an obedient expression.
Souta patted her head and smiled:
"Don't worry. Once I confirm it's safe, I'll text you to come back. If you're bored, try watching Date A Live, it's a story about you Spirits."
"No, I'm not watching that." Miku shook her head slightly.
"Hmm?" Souta was intrigued. "Why not?"
"You mentioned it before, right? That story's about the male lead romancing me and the other girls?"
Miku hugged Souta's arm and giggled softly.
"Now I only like you, Darling. Why would I want to watch a story where I fall for some other guy? That's just mean, I'm not watching it."
"Alright then. If not Date A Live, maybe check out the series where White Night Demon appears."
"The manga info from Nia Honjou isn't very complete. You've met White Night Demon before, right? If you're curious, the related series might help."
Suddenly, Miku's expression froze.
She even shivered a little.
"Uh… Did White Night Demon do something to you?" Souta's expression turned odd.
"Darling, that ability you mentioned, getting one of someone's powers once their affection hits a certain level… can I use it too?"
Miku didn't answer the question instead, she asked her own.
"That's a group owner privilege," Souta shook his head. "You can't use it."
"What a shame…" Miku sighed. "If I could, I'd cozy up to Kurumi-san and get her time control ability."
"Why would you want time control?"
"To defend myself from time stops!"
Miku looked at Souta, frustration in her tone:
"Darling, have you ever had the experience of being frozen in time, while your mind stayed active watching helplessly as someone did this and that to your body?"
Souta could more or less guess what had happened.
He hugged her and gently said:
"You've had a tough time. Stay away from White Night Demon in the future. Her standards are even lower than I thought, what a degenerate!"
But in his heart… he wasn't quite saying the same thing.
White Night Demon might be shameless and lack all restraint, but she was surprisingly effective.
After all, hadn't she just cured Miku's yuri tendencies?
Though Souta wasn't sure how long that cure would last…
He briefly considered: if Miku ever "relapsed," should he cosplay as White Night Demon and follow the same procedure to "treat" her…?
No! That's way too shameless! Let's save it on a good occasion...
He quickly suppressed the thought.
After all, he wasn't that much of a demon.
"You be careful too, Darling. It was very humiliating."
Miku snuggled closer to Souta and warned him seriously.
"Me?" Souta shrugged. "Relax. White Night Demon's only interested in girls. Even if I streaked naked in front of her, she'd maybe look out of curiosity, but that's it."
"I'm talking about Kurumi-san.
Didn't we just talk in the group? She's about to surpass Mio.
Are you sure she won't stop your time and… tease you a little?
Miku smirked mischievously.
"You did flirt with her, didn't you?"
Hearing that, Souta immediately made a mental note.
Gods were immune to time-stopping effects, but not absolutely.
If Kurumi, in her evolved form, used a massive amount of spirit energy to load a shot of her "Seventh Bullet" and fired it at him… he'd be in trouble.
She'd already mentioned his potential for cross-dressing twice.
And in the original story, she had complimented Shido's girl look.
Which meant, she totally had a thing for that.
Combine that with time stop… Souta could feel his dignity being threatened!
'I need to stay alert! If she ever raises her gun, teleport immediately!
And I'll need to blackmail her with the Four Heavenly Kings' dark secrets, make her hesitate.
Also… I need to get stronger, fast!'
Three plans instantly formed in his head.
Of course, none of that showed on his face.
He simply replied to Miku with a calm smile:
"Don't worry, Kurumi's not that kind of girl."
"Enough talk. Let's drink our coffee. After that, I'll take you to my place and show you something really cool."
"Hmm?" Miku felt like his tone was… oddly suspicious.
Souta just smiled and brought her a cappuccino.
After taking Miku back to his apartment, Souta didn't waste time, he headed to the Date A Live world.
Miku had already invited him in, so even though she wasn't in her world at the moment, as long as Souta thought of her during the transfer, he wouldn't end up near Kurumi.
It would just send him to a random location.
His feet hit solid ground and he found himself on an overpass.
Below, cars zoomed by.
Noise surrounded him, the city was as bustling as ever.
Souta scanned with his spiritual sense and, sensing no trace of Takamiya Mio nearby, relaxed.
He hadn't fought her yet, so he didn't know if he could actually take her.
Mio's territory could casually cover an area larger than Earth. Never mind her two other "Angels" just one of them, compressed and used at full power, could probably overwhelm him.
Even though the current "Mommy Mio" had been nerfed, Souta had no idea just how much.
So he had to stay cautious.
"Let's find Origami first, see how she's doing."
He glanced at his system phone's date.
Yup, this was the timeline after Shiori Itsuka and Origami had returned from the past.
"Two sets of memories for Origami… I wonder if they've merged, or if she's still split between two personalities?"
Souta suddenly recalled little Origami.
Since it was Sunday, the City's public high school would be closed. No point going there.
Instead, Souta spent some divine power to calculate her location.
He looked southeast, roughly gauging Origami's distance.
Then he gradually lowered his presence using divine power fading from public perception and teleported away.