Chapter 253: Surprise Date ; Bad Start ; Ambush ; Trouble

Following our visit to the café, Yoshino and I wandered around for about two hours, visiting various kinds of shops.

All in all, Yoshino seemed to have enjoyed the date quite a bit.

Currently, the two of us are walking back home while holding each other's hands.

I'm glad that I wasn't required to hold the rabbit pajamas right now, as it would've been rather troubling if that were the case. Thanks to Kotori, I had it 'delivered' to our home.

A while later, we arrive at our home and as soon as we take a step inside, a scream reaches our ears.

Perplexed, the two of us make our way to the living room only to be baffled by the sight of Tohka ripping a pillow while intently glaring at the TV.

"Tohka?" I dubiously question.

She seems to have not heard me as she continues to stare at the TV while gritting her teeth.

How odd… Checking what's displayed on the screen, I see that it's nothing more than some soap opera drama.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I pat the confused Yoshino's back before turning around and making my way to my room.

---

{WARNING: Binary Factor detected. Threat Level: 4}

What?

Opening my eyes, I am greeted by the sight of Yoshino's sleeping face.

Currently, she's lying down beside me in her new rabbit pajamas. As for the reason for this, it would be that she fell asleep in my arms last night due to being overly taxed while visiting my room to show it off to me properly.

Unwilling to wake her up, I laid her down on my bed and lied down beside her before slowly dozing off.

Shaking such thoughts from my head, I focus on the matter at hand.

AI, is it Kurumi?

{Affirmative.}

Where is she?

{In the kitchen section of Father's abode.}

Huh? Seriously?

Alarmed, I hastily but carefully get off the bed before changing into appropriate clothes.

Once done with that, I exit my room and climb down the stairs before making my way to the kitchen.

"Pardon me for my intrusion," a pleasant voice reaches my ears the moment I enter the kitchen.

Looking over the source of the voice, I find Kurumi who is sitting on top of the dining table.

If there is one thing that stands out the most about her at the moment, it would be the fact that she's wearing a black one-piece dress that reaches to her knees.

Along with that, she's wearing dark pantyhose along with black shoes, as well as, a pair of elbow-length black gloves.

Overall, her attire gives off a rather 'gothic' type of aura.

"How did you get in here?" I curiously ask, knowing that I locked the door.

"Now, Shido, that's not what you should be saying right now," she responds before chuckling.

Understanding what she's getting at, I let out a sigh before beaming a smile and saying, "You look wonderful in that attire. It properly suits your exquisite beauty."

"Thank you," she says as she gets off the table and bows politely while lifting the hem of her dress.

"Still, you didn't need to get inside my house, you know?" I say with a wry smile.

"Ara~ What does Shido suppose I should've done? It's your fault for not delineating the location we're putative to meet at."

Letting out a sigh, I nod my head once and say, "You're right. Now that I think about it, it is pointless to speak of this anymore. Let's just going, shall we?"

This might be a little troublesome. Unlike yesterday, I don't have Ratatoskr to aid me in this date due to how abrupt it is. Nevertheless, I have the earbud equipped just in case.

Alright then, I wonder what's the time right now.

Casting a glance at the clock attached to the wall, I see that it's a little past 8 o'clock.

So early… Did she want to go on a date with me that badly?

Well, either that, or she just wanted to get this done early for whatever work she has later on.

"Do you have any place in mind, Kurumi?" I ask.

"Isn't your responsibility to figure that out?" she responds with a smile on her lips.

Yeah, I am sure of it now. Kurumi likes to tease me and tries to put me on the spot whenever given the opportunity.

But, this is useful for me. I could use this chance to extract some information from her.

"For now, how about we go for a walk in a park?"

"Ara, ara~ What a romantic choice, Shido."

"Right?" I say before using Clairvoyance to do a quick scan of Tengu city for the parks that I know of.

After a short while, I raise my arm before using Norse Magic to create a gateway leading to one of the parks.

"Let's go," I say to the amused Kurumi who wordlessly follows behind me as I walk through the gateway.

Unexpectedly, an odd phenomenon occurs as I once again find myself in an endless black void, however, this time Kurumi is with me.

"Excuse me, Shido, but is thi-" Kurumi says before abruptly stopping mid-way as her eyes widen.

Looking over at what she is looking at, I find the same pair of red and blue eyes that I saw back in the Rift.

"Dominion…" I subconsciously mutter.

"How amazing," Kurumi suddenly exclaims, "I couldn't have foreseen that her objective would be you! This confirms my speculations regarding your existence."

Hold on, Kurumi knows Dominion? Leaving that aside, she seems to have figured out something about me.

Hah~ It was a bad idea to use teleportation to get around after all…

Shortly, the dark void around us abruptly disappears as the two of us find ourselves standing near the gate of the park that I had selected.

Well then, that's one more thing to speak with her about.

Reaching my arm out, I grab Kurumi's hand before beginning to walk toward the park's gate.

As a response to this, Kurumi just chuckles before walking with me while tightening her grasp on my hand.

"Kurumi, ever since we first spoke, you acted as if you knew me. Care to explain your reason for meeting me?"

Hearing my inquiry, Kurumi casts a glance at my face before saying, "To eat you."

…

…

"Excuse me?" I say, befuddled by her statement.

At this moment, Kotori's anxious voice resounds within my ear, "Shido! We've got bad news! Get away from Nightmare as soon as possible!"

What's going on? Why is Kotori so dismayed?

"According to a footage we just reviewed, Kurumi Tokisaki is supposed to have died yesterday by the hands of an AST member yesterday!"

Suddenly, the sound of a projectile being shot resounds within my ears as the world around me seems to slow down.

-Absolute Evasion

I take this chance to quickly check my surroundings, only to find a beam of light moving right toward me and Kurumi.

Squinting my eyes, I use Vector Manipulation to form a barrier as time seems to flow like normal once again.

The next moment, the beam of light contacts my barrier before getting absorbed into it and getting reflected back to the assailant.

"Who?!" Kurumi's irritated voice reaches my ears as she turns around with furrowed brows, "Who dares hurt MY Shido!?"

Since when did I become hers? Whatever. That doesn't matter right now.

Turning around as well, I find a group of girls flying in the sky. Upon closer inspection, I notice that they're wearing 'battle wear' similar to those of AST.

However, I recognize none of their faces. Aside from that, none of them are injured by the beam of light I just reflected.

Before I can resolve my mind on using Holy Slash to take them down, an odd dim light shines down from the sky before the group of girls seemingly disappear.

"They're gone?" Kurumi voices my doubts.

What even was that?

---3rd POV---

"Welcome back," a man wearing a commander military uniform says in a firm, yet mocking tone while gazing at a group of girls in front of him.

"Well, this was to be expected from a target picked by that man."

Currently, the man is sitting on a seat at the center of a metallic room that has numerous computer screens all around.

Close by, there are about two dozen men seated in front of computer screens, typing in content.

"Mr. Paddington," a woman with pale blond hair says, "The purpose of this ambush was to get a grasp on our target's powers, not detain him."

"Hmph," the man, Paddington, scoffs, "You say that, but I'm sure you were looking forward to beating him as 'the strongest wizard'. However, his prowess was beyond what you expected, so you had to retreat."

"Mr. Paddington," the woman responds in a threatening tone, "I suggest that you keep your crude words to yourself."

"Whatever. Hopefully, you won't be as disappointing during the next ambush."

Following that, a few streaks of light shoot close to Paddington's face, causing him to frown slightly but ultimately refrains from making any more remarks.

"Establish a call with Sir Isaac," the woman orders.

"Understood," one of the men present replies.