“............It can’t be true. For such a thing to.........?”

Sitting on the chair inside the basement control room of <Ratatoskr>, Kotori mumbled desperately.

However that was natural. At any rate, the targeted Spirit herself had already declared that she will never fall in love with anything but 2D.

“2D.........In short, something like manga or anime characters?”

“I-I think so............”

Sitting on the lower spot of the control room, <President> Migimoto said that with sweat coming down his forehead. Shidou’s voice echoed from the speaker installed in the control room.

“W-What should I do..........?”

Right now, on the large monitor of the control room, Shidou’s figure could be seen reflected inside a lavatory. In order to discuss with the control room, he used going to the bathroom as an excuse to temporarily separate from Nia, who is still in the hamburger shop.

.........Well, although Nia could know about their conversation if she really wanted to, there’s no sign that she will take out <Rasiel> for now.

Though, that’s why they should think up something to change the situation. Kotori placed her hand on her chin.

“Well, even if you asked me......Although Miku’s hatred towards men was quite troublesome too, this time I really can’t think of anything.....”

In response to Kotori’s words, Nakatsugawa raised his voice.

“But, nowadays there are numerous youths who also have the same situation. Those people like anime and manga characters. Well, those characters are made in order to be loved by readers and viewers, which mean that they have ideal personalities. Moreover, they’re all handsome and beautiful. With that standard, of course there’ll be a huge gap in comparison with a real human being.”

“You sure know a lot about that........”

Kotori commented with her eyes half-opened. That reminds her of Nakatsugawa’s second title as <Dimension Breaker>. In fact, he’s a romance master who has 100 waifus.

However, Nakatsugawa went *Tch, Tch* while shaking his finger.

“Commander, I’m also okay with Seiyuu.”

“............Aah, sure.”

Kotori shrugged her shoulders while letting out a sigh.

But, there’s some truth in the opinion itself. Creating a difficult face, Kotori continued.

“The gap between reality, huh..........But, in that’s the case, doesn’t that mean anyone would be alright as long as they’re 2D?”

“Of course! All of my beloved brides are also chosen from my more than 20 years of Otaku Life, and they’re all beautiful girls!”

“Alright, alright. Let’s leave that behind. Nia also has a liking towards a character, right? Certainly, she did say something about liking a certain character, didn’t she?”

“I’m sure its Tokiya from [Chronicle]. He has a cool personality and is the type of character popular amongst women.”

“Fuun........I see. In short, Nia could love that character, couldn’t she?”

After saying that, Kotori made a * Nii* sound after creating a wicked smile.

“..............Huh?”

On the other hand, Shidou can be seen over the screen, he’s sweating from his forehead because he can somehow feel something unpleasant there.

“Nn~..........”

Nia sat down on the chair inside the hamburger shop; she pulled the straw of the empty juice up and down.

She already finished eating the hamburger as well as the potatoes, and since her stomach is already full, they should be leaving from the shop now but...........It has been twenty minutes since Shidou went to toilet. Nia feels truly tired of waiting for him even for a while.

“Nn~, It’s not like I’m interested on commenting other’s people physiological phenomenon, but this is a bit too long~. Is he currently adjusting his makeup or something~?”

Speaking to herself, Nia stirred the straw on her hand like before, -------Then she remembers something right away.

“No........I see. Perhaps he’s discussing with control room right now?

Well, if that’s the case, then it can’t be helped. Anyhow, it’s Nia who already threw a fatal bomb to Shidou and the others earlier.

“...........No good, it seems I already did something bad-----“

Since the beginning, she already understood that she couldn’t love a real human being at all. Seeing that, Nia felt guilty about her behavior to Shidou.

Although, what she said earlier to Shidou wasn’t a lie.

Actually, Nia doesn’t mind losing her Spirit power. If possible, she really wished for her power to be sealed away.

That’s why; she plotted her meeting with the boy who could seal a Spirit’s power by making them Dere and kiss them------Shidou.

Perhaps if it was Shidou, she expects herself to be able to open her heart to him.

However, the result didn’t cause a change.

It’s not like she disliked Shidou or such. Rather, she’s really grateful to him for helping her escape from the DEM transport aircraft by shooting it down back then, and the date today has also been enjoyable

But........It’s still useless. Nia cannot open herself to another person.

“No matter how good the person is, as long as they’re 3D human being....... I can’t take it.”

Nia gave a sigh and she shakes her head. As expected, there’s no other way.

Then, over there, a signal of someone appearing came from Nia’s back. Seemingly, Shidou had already back from the toilet.

“Aah, you’re back, boy. Well, let’s go---------“

Then,

When Nia turned her head, for a moment, her body’s movement paused.

“Eh..........?”

Over there isn’t the person that she expected. Instead, that person was wearing a worn-out mantle over his body, and his forehead and arms are also covered with bandages. In addition, there’s a sword hanging on his hips. He’s a man whose style looks like a wild traveler. He has long hair and dirty looks. ----------There’s no doubt. He is.......

“T-Tokiya.......?”

Being dumbfounded, she gave out a surprised voice.

That’s right. The one who was standing there is Nia’s first love. That man is Tokiya from [Chronicle].

“..................”

Shidou stood in front of Nia, as if trying to restrain his nervousness. He struggled to create an extremely calm facial expression.

Though in fact, Shidou’s heart was beating violently as if it was going to explode.

That’s right. Shidou’s outfit right now appeared to be something you won’t see outside of some anime convention. Even if it was in Akihabara, this kind of thing still looks unusual. All of the store’s customers started at Shidou out of interest.

Shidou faced Nia’s direction; she is looking at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“----------Don’t hinder me, woman.”

With a lower voice, Shidou tried to mimic Tokiya from [Chronicle] by talking like him based on his memories about that character.

After that, Shidou moved toward Nia and sat next to her.

Nia’s shoulder was shaking; she corrected the position of her glasses and stared at Shidou’s face.

“T-Tokiya........? Why........”

Then, Nia widened her eyes as if finally realizing something.

“.............Eh, boy?”

“What are you talking about? You don’t have any right to call me a boy.”

“............!”

Shidou gave a cold glance toward Nia while saying that, Nia choked a little. Her cheeks turned slightly red.

Moments later, a voice rang from the intercom in Shidou’s ear.

“T-This is..........!”

“What happened?”

“What! Nia-chan’s excitement rate is rising!”

“The affection level is rising, even if it’s only a little bit!”

“............”

Somehow, the plan was working pretty well. Shidou felt relieved without showing it on his face.

“Hoo~.............Hee~...........”

Nia was looking at Shidou carefully from the top of his head to his tiptoes. She nodded to herself and made a pose as if she’s an art critic who was gazing at a painting.

“Amazing.........Isn’t the quality very good? It’s totally different from a poor quality costume. Up until now, I already seen various kinds of Tokiya’s costumes, but I’ve never seen anyone that had a quality like this.”

Then, she took his mantle’s cuff and she blushed out of excitement. .........Honestly, Shidou isn’t sure whether she was interested on him or was only admiring his costume.

Though, since her affection level had already risen, he should continue with the plan now. Shidou turned aside and brushed off Nia’s hand from his mantle.

“You’re annoying, woman.”

“Haa..........”

Shidou said that with a blunt tone, Nia bended her body while her face blushed furiously.

“Her affection level is rising again.........!”

“At this level.........He can do it!”

From the intercom, he heard a large roar from the crew members’ voices.

Shidou tried his best to speak as similar as possible to Tokiya’s...........Somehow, that thing has touched Nia’s heartstring. For some reason, Nia couldn’t calm down. She began to fix her messy hair.

At the moment, from Shidou’s intercom, a fanfare sound rang.

“Shidou, it’s the time! Her affection level has already reached safe zone for sealing! Don’t lose this chance!”

“...............!”

Shidou’s body stiffened upon hearing Kotori’s words.

Don’t lose this chance-------This means, right now is the right timing for kiss her.

Although they’re currently in a public location........If he lost this good opportunity, he doesn’t know when the chance will come again.

Shidou made up his mind. His heart is beating fast but he cannot show it on his face. Slowly, he changed his body position while looking at Nia intensely.

“Eh..? What’s wrong?”

“Shut up.”

Hearing Shidou’s command, Nia closed her mouth obediently.

Shidou placed his hand on Nia’s shoulder, while the other hand is lifting up Nia’s chin.

After that, he slowly brought his lips closer to hers.

Even though it’s not a proper way to do it, but this is something he needed to do in order to seal a Spirit’s Reiryoku.

But,

“.................Wait.”

His lips stopped right in front of hers.

Nia let out a cold voice that feels different from the enthusiastic tone she had up until now.

Then, an alarm indicating a dangerous mental state rang *Bii! Bii!*.

“Shidou, the affection level is falling down rapidly!”

“........Eh?”

Shidou unintentionally let out his natural voice, and then Nia pushed herself away from Shidou’s shoulders.

After that, *------Haa* Nia gave out a heavy breath as she scratched her hair.

“Hey........What are you doing?”

“Huh? What the..........”

“Tokiya would never lay his hand on a woman, you know! Think with common sense! Tokiya is currently traveling aimlessly in order to chase after enemy who murdered his little sister who also became his lover, Hibari!? In the middle of lonely travel, he encounters Ryougo, Kotetsu and the others. Through fighting with them, he started understanding the feeling of friendship!”

Nia is shouting as if she’s a different person. Shidou felt overpowered by her and got pushed back onto the chair.

“Basically it’s Toki x Ryou! But Toki x Ko also works! If with woman, it’s only alright with Hibari if it’s inside the dream world or reflection of the past! There’s no room for me to get into that kind of beautiful world! I’m fine with only being a watcher! I’m a lonesome observer! Rather, I’m fine with being a wall!”

“O-Oi, calm down, Nia........”

Shidou tried to calm her down, but Nia pointed a sharp gaze at him.

“Tokiya would never say such thing!”

“Uwaaa........!”

“-------------In order to make me dere at you, then you should become 2D first!”

Shidou got kicked by Nia on his butt, driving him out from the hamburger shop.

“.............In short, it was no good at all.”

Shidou had already returned from Akihabara.

Shidou said that while breathing heavily, his face and body were covered with plaster all over.

By the way, after that Nia, who couldn’t accept her beloved character being blasphemed, left the store in anger and went back to her house alone. --------Of course, she brought along the luggage filled with goodies and books that she had bought.

Right now, Shidou was inside the control room of <Ratatoskr>’s underground facility. In front of the large monitor, he was being started at by Kotori and from below there’s <Fraxinus> crew who were sitting down.

“Arara........You got pretty beaten up, didn’t you?”

“And whose fault do you think it is!? Whose!?”

Shidou said that with half opened eyes, Kotori shrugged while saying *Yare-Yare*.

“It can’t be helped? Since she declared that she only likes 2D, what we can do is limited. Besides----------Even though the result ended up in failure, at least her affection level had risen for a moment. This is important data.”

“Even if you say so, that affection level came from facing Tokiya, right? We can’t use the same method again, so it’s kind of useless......”

“.........No.”

Objecting to Shidou’s words, Reine let out a reply as she was sitting in the below seat of control room.

“..........That’s not quite true. From this result, it’s indicating that even if her beloved character turns into 3D, the affection level she has for that character will remain the same.”

“I-I see......But, wouldn’t the result would be the same? No matter how much I tried to keep calm, I don’t have confident that I could be able to act well enough as her beloved character to the level that it could convince Nia. Even if I could seal her that way, what could be coming next might be frightening........”

Shidou’s face turned pale. That was what concerned Shidou.

Naturally speaking, Shidou isn’t Tokiya. Anyhow there must be a gap appearing in some parts that made Shidou unable to keep up to Nia’s ideal standard. If that’s happen, then Nia’s mental state will become unstable and break the seal right away, and her Reiryoku will come back to her.

However, Reine seemed to understand what Shidou was worried about, and then she continued.

“............Anyway, I have an idea.”

“An idea..........?”

“Yes.”

Kotori answered Shidou’s question. She pointed towards the monitor in front of them.

Over there, Nia’s figure can be seen from an autonomic camera reflected on the monitor.

“Maybe what Shidou said is true. There’s no way you can keep continuous acting as a character. ---------But, if there’s a character who Shidou can play perfectly as and he can continue to do so, then it will be a different case, right?”

“Huh........? Well, even if that’s right......There’s no way such character exists.”

“We’ll just see. It’ll arrive soon.”

“Arrive?”

Shidou asked, as Kotori made a *Nii* face while smiling.

“..........Ah~”

Nia is in her mansion’s room. She was covered by books all around her. She closed the manga she just finished read moments ago, then she embraced it to her chest to calm herself down.

Even though she purchased a mountain of books as if she was in some kind of festival event, there’s another thing that keeps bugging her. She can’t even feel the enjoyment of reading her new books.

Though, it’s not like she doesn’t know what is bugging her.

That’s right. That boy...... Itsuka Shidou.

“Nn~.............”

Nia placed the manga on the mountain of books beside her bed, and then she hugged her pillow.

“............As expected, it isn’t right to go home alone.”

After she remembered about that, she shook her body.

Nia, upon looking at Shidou dressed up like Tokiya, yet behaving unlike Tokiya, made her angry ........Thinking carefully, she even said lots of cruel things. As someone who is older, she should’ve showed a more mature response. Anyway, it’s not like Shidou was doing that merely to make fun of Nia.

Nia gave out a small sigh; she touched her lips with her index finger.

“............Perhaps I should’ve let him kiss me. --------But, if I couldn’t open my heart to him, then he wouldn’t be able to seal my Reiryoku and it would have been meaningless.......”

And then, Nia tightened her hug on the pillow.

Even though Nia hasn’t tried to find out how <Ratatoskr> was calculating her affection level, but Nia’s rate must not have reached the level where the seal could be done.

Right. Nia cannot open her heart to 3D humans.

“Ah~ My~ What should I do~? Tell me, Rasielmon~!”

She kicked her feet and kept asking. But of course, no one was around to answer her.

<Rasiel> is an omniscient Angel. However, it can’t tell Nia what she should do.

“.............”

Nia looked up to the ceiling and slowly raised her left hand.

Nia gave a command inside her mind for <Rasiel> to manifest right away from an empty space. After that she opened the front cover, then Nia will be able to obtain any information she wished to know.

For example-------Right. What is Shidou doing right now?

“.............”

For a moment, Nia gave out another sigh and drew back her hand.

The reason is simply. *Ding-Dong*, the room’s intercom rang.

“...........Who would it be?”

Nia slowly lifted up her body, and began walking to the intercom’s screen.

Then she pushed the call button and began to speak.

“Yes-yes~, who’s that?”

“Excuse me, I’m a postman. I’m delivering package addressed for Honjou Nia.”

“A package?”

Nia tilted her head and thought. But, she doesn’t know what it is.

“I wonder what it is........Well, fine, please bring it inside.”

“Understood.”

Nia pressed the button on the interphone and she opened the auto-lock.

Not so long after, the chime before the door gave a clicking sound.

“Alright-alright........”

When the door opened, the postman, who is wearing a hat covering his eyes, came in with a little package on his hands.

“Please put the stamp and sign over here.”

“Well then, the signature........Alright.”

“Thank you very much. Please excuse me.”

The postman bowed to Nia and left the room.

Nia closed the opened door. Nia unpacked the package’s wrapping. Then, inside the package appeared a game package with some handsome boy drawn on it. A message was written on a thin paper.

“Nn........? What’s this-what’s this? With full of gratitude, we present a special personal edition of our new PC game.........?”

Nia scratched her head. Come to think of it, in the past she had sent several surveys from game companies many times. Perhaps this is related to that.

“........Well, its fine. If they send me something, then I’ll accept this. Since my mood now is all gloomy, perhaps I should give it a try?”

Nia walked along the corridor to the work room, she turned on her PC and inserted the disk. Then the installation began right away, finally the game’s interface appeared on the screen.

“[Fall In Love My Little Seed ~Girl’s Side~]? Fuun........ Perhaps this is a high school Otome game?”

Nia operated the mouse and clicked [START] button.

Then, the screen to input the protagonist’s name appeared.

“Nn~, there’s no default name at all? Well then, it’s Nia.”

Nia imputed her real name, and the game began.

The protagonist is a second year high school student who just transferred. Starting from here, Nia will meets with other characters, and she will fall in love with someone here.

Although Nia’s home ground is manga, she also loves playing games. Especially, Ren-ai simulation game made for girls like this one. For Nia who couldn’t love a 3D human being, she felt very thankful for the game’s existence. Anyhow, just by clicking, a cool guy will come and fall in love with her. Nia is also a girl. It’s not like Nia doesn’t want to fall in love. Rather, she also wanted to feel *Kyuun-Kyuun*.[1]

“Funfun, from the construction it seems like this is orthodox simulation game. I guess it’s up to the character.”

She kept clicking and continued the conversation.

Then, the protagonist Nia was talking with her classmate. A gentle, broad-mindedness atmosphere and a neutral looking boy appeared. His name is---------Shidou Itsuki.

“..........Nn?”

Nia tilted her head. Somehow this character resembled with the boy who had been together with her earlier.

“.............Well, maybe it’s only my imagination.”

Then, Nia continued clicking to interact with Itsuki-kun.

“Haha........Nia is an interesting girl.”

“Uwaa!?”

Upon hearing his voice, Nia widened her eyes.

That’s right. Right now, this character just called out “Nia” in a very natural way.

Of course, moment ago, she indeed imputed Nia as the name of the protagonist. Although in the case of such a game which could called out the protagonist’s name, there are so many games that use a combination of pre-recorded lines for pronunciation........Besides, the feeling of a game’s pronunciation usually sounds painfully bad.

“Heh~! Amazing~! I didn’t follow it for a while and technology had already advance this much!”

Only with that, Nia’s interest towards the game’s characters increased. She continued the conversation with Itsuki-kun.

Thereupon the musical went *Don-Don*, the last order was to decide on a date. Itsuki-kun then asked “Where do you wanted to go?”

And then,

“.........Wha!?”

Normally at this time there will be some choices appearing, but.......There’s none in this game.

Displayed on the screen, there’s a line written on it saying “Please input your desired date plan.”

“How stupid.........Does it mean that I have to input it using my keyboard!? That’s impossible.......”

Though she half doubts it, Nia slowly started entering the keyboard buttons.

“[I wanted to go to buy the latest doujin in Akiba].”

And then, Nia pressed the enter button as if saying it could respond.

Then, Itsuki-kun smiled gently.

“So, buying doujin in Akiba, huh? Haha, that seems like very Nia. Of course it’s fine. ----Ah, but since we’re high school students, no prohibited books allowed, alright?”

“Uoooooooooooooooooh!?”

Upon looking at the reaction, Nia stands up from her chair instantly.

Who would guess that by such a little order, Itsuki-kun could interact with Nia as natural like this? Just what kind of innovation had been created?

Nia went “The power of technology really is amazing--------!”, and she continued the story by clicking.

“-------Hee, I see. Nia likes this kind of book, huh? ........No? It’s not like I mind it. If you could absorbed yourself into something, isn’t it such a beautiful thing?”

Inside <Ratatoskr> ground facility, Shidou was reading the lines appearing on the screen while wearing a headphone.

The gameplay has been recorded into the monitor. Whenever, the input sentence will come to their place and Shidou will give a real time answer.

“............Hey, this is really alright, isn’t it?”

When the lines had ended for a while, Shidou switched off the microphone and looked to Kotori who was sitting behind.

“Yes. Her affection level is rising quite well. After Nia feels satisfy enough with the game, it’ll be OK for Shidou to appear before her as [Itsuki-kun]. This time, there’s no need to act anymore. That’s because this character is Shidou himself.”

Saying that, Kotori went *Nii* and lifted the tip of her lips.

Right. This was <Ratatoskr>’s plan.

Nia was playing the game made by <Ratatoskr>. Shidou will do the voice over for the character, so Shidou will be loved by her. .........That is no complex conversation.

“Anyway, how did you make this game? You couldn’t have made such a thing in a short time, huh?”

After Shidou said that, then Reine replied back with a sleepy voice.

“............Well, just to make sure. Be prepared and have no regrets, isn’t that so?”

“I wonder just what kind of thing you intended to do by using this game in the first place....”

Shidou made a wry smile while sweating. Then, Kotori’s voice can be heard coming from behind.

“Look Shidou, don’t just stand there. The next line is coming.”

“Y-Yes.”

Shidou turned to the monitor’s direction; he took the microphone and continued acting as <Itsuki-kun>.

On the other side of the monitor screen, they are showing Nia who was currently playing the game. While on the other side, there’s Nia’s mental state graph. I see, like Kotori said, everything is going smoothly.

However, Shidou said that while knitting his eyebrow. ........Somehow, he felt like they are forgetting something important.

“Waah~........ This latest game sure is amazing. Since this is only the personal edition, I think I should buy the full version once it is released.”

Then, while Shidou was thinking about that, Nia on the screen looks so satisfy and keeps smiling.

And,

“That’s? When is the full version release date? Anyway, the company who create this game is..........”

While saying that, Nia raised up her left hand and a book appeared from nowhere.

“.........! Ah----------”

Nia touched the page of <Rasiel>.......Her facial expression became cloudy in an instant.

Slowly, Nia gave out a voice filled with anger.

“............What, so this is your doing!”

“Nia gave out a sigh. She stands up from the chair and moved exactly to the direction of the automatic camera. She threw a stare full of anger to the control room.

“........You know, I understand your goal for doing this. But don’t you think that this has already crossed the line? Not only have you blasphemed my Tokiya, now you’re also playing around with my Otome heart.”

“N-Nia, no, this is...”

“Itsuki-kun better shut up!”

“........A-Alright........”

“Anyhow, if you do this kind of thing again from now, I’ll never forgive you anymore. -------Next, I also need some privacy. Can you please take the automatic camera out from my room? Moreover, you know what will happen if you violate it again.”

Nia said that while turning away.

“........Everyone has already gathered, right? I think I’ve already told you the story........Seems like we got into some trouble.”

Kotori placed her elbow on the large round table. She spoke with a difficult face.

But that was only natural. Anyway, this wasn’t the first time that a girl with a unique preference appeared. However, they already failed twice with their tactics.

“2D.......That’s means she’ll only love something like manga characters?”

The girl standing next to Kotori has short, boyish hair, and a face like a doll. She spoke with a doubtful tone. She is the Spirit whose Reiryoku had last been sealed by Shidou: Tobiichi Origami.

It’s not only her. Right now in <Ratatoskr> ground facility, along with the other <Fraxinus> members and Shidou, all the Spirits who have been sealed by Shidou had gathered here: Tohka, Yoshino, Natsumi, and Yamai sisters.

Although Kotori actually didn’t want to include the girls in capturing a new Spirit, but........Upon facing a new spirit whose type had never been handled before, she had to ask everyone’s advice in turn.

Kotori was also the same as all the other spirits here. Her Reiryoku had also been sealed by Shidou. She thought they could think up something based on their shared experiences.

“Perhaps.......”

Kotori replied back to Origami with a pale face, and then a tall girl sitting on the right side shared a comment.

“Ah~, I see~. I also have an idol friend who is the same as her.”

Miku, the girl who has long, indigo hair moved her index finger while saying that.

This girl is also the same, a spirit. She’s a national idol who is currently growing in popularity: Izayoi Miku. Although she has no spare time even after her work is finished, she still came right away after getting a call from Kotori.

“My first love is Sieg-sama~, that’s what she said. Ah, Sieg-sama is an anime character by the way. But that’s only a created image. In order to get closer to her fans, she chooses to have the same hobby as her fans. Well, that girl has a boyfriend, actually~”

After saying that, Miku made an “Ahaha” sound as she started laughing.

“............It’s alright if Nia is the same as that idol.......But looking at her values, I don’t think she’s lying.”

Kotori said that with a sullen face, then Miku went “Ara” while widening her eyes.

On the other side, Kaguya went *Muu*.

“Fun, so Hon-->>

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