Souta looked at Kurumi, who was gazing at him with expectant eyes.
He summed up her words briefly:
"So basically... you want everything?"
"I want to change history, but I also want the Spirits to survive."
Kurumi looked at Souta, her golden eyes shimmering with both hope and nervous anticipation.
"I know... this is a lot to ask..."
"Actually, It's Not That Hard."
"Actually..." Souta suddenly interrupted Kurumi.
"...It's not that hard."
Kurumi blinked, momentarily stunned.
"...Not that hard?" she echoed, disbelief lacing her tone.
Souta shook his head.
"I don't," he admitted.
"But..." He leaned back, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"I can just search for clues on Baidu when I get back."
Kurumi, of course, knew what Baidu was.
After all, she had spent over two months living in Souta's world.
She was well aware of his daily habits—
Including exactly what time he woke up in the morning to... cough.
Of course, it wasn't like she deliberately spied on him.
There were just... a few occasions when she had tried to wake him up for breakfast and accidentally touched...
(Thankfully, Souta had no idea about this.)
"The issue is pretty straightforward," Souta continued.
"Altering history and keeping the Spirits alive are two contradictory goals."
"Pulling both off at the same time... is gonna be very difficult."
"So we'll need a well-thought-out plan beforehand. That might take some time."
"You're not in a rush, are you?"
If the friends group's teleportation rules weren't so restrictive, this whole thing would be much easier.
Souta could have just hugged each Spirit one by one, brought them to the real world, and safeguarded them there.
Only friends group members could travel with him.
"No rush," Kurumi murmured, shaking her head lightly.
"I've waited this long already."
"A little more time won't hurt."
Souta thought for a moment, then suggested:
"Since there's no rush, why don't we handle Altair's task first?"
"If we complete it, we'll get a ton of points."
"Then we can buy more teleportation cards and start looking for outside help in other worlds."
"That should solve your problem."
"Sounds good," Kurumi smiled, visibly relieved.
"Let's do it your way."
She exhaled softly, before tilting her head with a gentle smile.
"Souta," she murmured, "thank you... for putting up with my selfishness."
"I feel like I owe you more than I could ever repay."
Then, without warning, her teasing smirk returned.
She leaned in, her voice turning sultry:
"So... I suppose the only way to repay you..."
"Is to give myself to you."
"As... compensation."
Before Souta could react, the clone Kurumi—who had been quietly clinging to him—wrapped her arms around his waist.
She snuggled into his chest, rubbing her head against him like an affectionate cat.
"...I wasn't talking about you."
Kurumi (the original) muttered in mild frustration.
She puffed up her cheeks, watching as her own clone effortlessly stole her spotlight.
Souta's eye twitched.
...Was she seriously getting jealous of herself?!
He didn't even know how to react anymore.
"Right," Souta suddenly remembered something.
"That reminds me—I have a question."
Kurumi tilted her head.
"Well..." Souta hesitated for a second before asking:
"If completing Altair's wish triggered a task, then..."
"Wouldn't completing your wish also trigger one?"
Kurumi blinked, seemingly caught off guard.
Souta didn't wait for a response—he whipped out his system phone and directly asked:
"System, can Kurumi's goal also trigger a task like Altair's?"
A mechanical voice immediately rang out:
[Affirmative. A task has already been triggered.]
[However, only one multiplayer task can be active at a time.]
[The next task will be released once the current one is completed.]
Kurumi heard the announcement and her golden eyes brightened.
"So... we can stack up even more points?"
Her smile turned playful, as she bounced slightly in her seat.
"Souta, you got two abilities from your lottery draw, right?"
"I really want to try drawing a skill myself."
He felt a pang of guilt.
He hadn't actually drawn two skills.
He only got one—"Half-Cold, Half-Burn."
The time manipulation ability?
That came from Kurumi herself.
And now, seeing her genuine trust and excitement, his conscience pricked him like a damn thorn.
"Kurumi... actually..."
He took a deep breath, his expression turning serious.
"To be honest... I only drew one ability."
Kurumi blinked, surprised.
"My time powers..." Souta admitted.
"They actually came from you."
Kurumi looked genuinely puzzled.
Souta nodded, and he began to explain everything.
As he spoke, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
Like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Turns out, he really wasn't good at lying to people he trusted.
By the time he finished, Kurumi gave him a look of amusement mixed with exasperation.
"You seriously worried about something so trivial?"
"You trust me, don't you?" she smiled.
"Why would I ever mind?"
Souta laughed sheepishly.
"I figured it might make new members suspicious of me," he admitted.
"They might start wondering if I approach them just to steal their abilities."
Kurumi tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"I'll keep your secret."
"Thanks," Souta grinned.
Kurumi was exactly as he expected—unbothered by small things.
After that, the three of them left the café and explored the city.
Dressed in matching outfits, Kurumi and her clone were mistaken for twin sisters.
Everywhere they went, they turned heads.
Souta found himself absolutely despised by every envious man in the vicinity.
By the time he was ready to leave, Kurumi dismissed her clone back into her shadow.
Souta, seeing this, looked slightly disappointed.
But hearing Kurumi whisper,
"Don't worry~ I'll bring her out again next time~,"
He couldn't help but chuckle.
Together, They Returned to the Real World.
As the distorted white light faded away, Souta and Kurumi found themselves back in the living room of his rented apartment.
Souta took out his system phone and checked the time.
It seemed that not much time had passed in the real world, roughly the same as in the Date A Live world.
This was likely thanks to him occasionally tagging Kiss-Shot in the chat to keep their world's time in sync.
"By the way, Kiss-Shot, there's something I need to tell you."
Souta walked over to Kiss-Shot, who was still elegantly sipping tea...
Wait, how long has she been drinking that tea!?
All this just to maintain her image?
All that effort... just for appearances. How dedicated.
Souta resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment and instead mentioned that he had gained the ability of Material Creation.
As expected, Kiss-Shot looked even more indifferent than Kurumi.
"Such a trivial thing... Do you really think I would care about something ? How dull."
After saying that, she looked past Souta and turned her gaze to Kurumi, her interest clearly piqued.
Meanwhile, Kurumi's expression... was a little sour.
She had been staring at Kiss-Shot's chest the entire time.
Deep inside, she felt a sense of crisis!
So unbelievably big...!