Mélusine wasn't particularly surprised by Izayoi Miku's bold declaration.
She knew full well just how deep Miku's yuri tendencies ran.
After all, this was the same girl who, in the original work, had proposed the theory: "Kissing Shidō Itsuka is the same as indirectly kissing every Spirit girl." A yuri monster through and through.
Come to think of it... Mélusine recalled hearing a rumor once — supposedly, the author of Date A Live originally intended to write a yuri harem, with Shidō as a girl. But since the genre wasn't very marketable at the time, they were forced to pivot to a traditional harem.
If that's true... it certainly explains Miku's overwhelming behavior. All that pent-up energy finally had an outlet.
Of course, whether that rumor was true or not, Mélusine wasn't entirely convinced. But the idea that Tachibana Kōshi, the author, liked yuri? That she found highly believable.
"If you like cute girls so much, Miku," Mélusine said, gazing at her calmly, "then there's no need to keep pestering me. There should be plenty of people on this ship who match your tastes."
"You mean Tohka and the others?"
Miku smiled sweetly. "Tohka, Kaguya, Yuzuru — they're already part of my harem. That's why you two are higher priority now."
My harem is your harem, and your harem is my harem... At that moment, Miku's thought process was frighteningly similar to that of Emperor Nero.
"I wasn't talking about them..."
"Wait, are you saying there's another cute girl I haven't met yet?!"
Miku's eyes sparkled, her voice brimming with excitement. "Have I wandered into some kind of paradise? One adorable girl after another keeps appearing — I'm so glad I followed Darling here!"
At that moment, Honjō Nia leaned down, speaking quietly into Mélusine's ear in a volume Miku couldn't hear.
"Hey, Lan-chan. Who are you talking about? I don't remember anyone like that on the Fraxinus."
Mélusine could hear the suspicion in her tone. Nia probably thought she was making it up.
To be honest, Mélusine wasn't entirely sure herself. Does that person count as a "bishoujo"...?
Turning her head, she pointed in a certain direction. "There, Miku — that's your next cute girl."
Miku and Nia followed her finger — one filled with anticipation, the other with doubt.
"Hm?"
The person she pointed at had just been passing by. But when they saw Mélusine gesturing toward them — and noticed the stares from the other two girls — they froze in confusion.
"Is something the matter?"
Muramasa Reine clutched a work tablet in her arms as she asked in confusion.
"Nothing, Reine-san," Mélusine said evenly. "Miku here was asking me to introduce her to some cute girls, so I told her about you."
"C-Cute... girl?"
Reine's eyes widened, visibly shaken by the comment.
"Geez, don't joke like that... I'm already at auntie age. I'm way past the point of being called a bishoujo."
"That's not true at all! Reine-san, you're clearly beautiful."
That came from Miku — cheeks puffed out in indignation, clearly unhappy with Reine's self-deprecation.
"I agree," Nia chimed in. "You've got a great figure, delicate features — sure, you always look like you just woke up, and maybe a little airheaded... but that kind of character is surprisingly popular! Never underestimate the boundless depths of a 2D fan's kink list."
She nodded seriously, then suddenly changed tack.
"Still, calling Reine-san a beauty is totally fine, but bishoujo might be a bit of a stretch..."
A fair point — and yet Mélusine responded without a flicker of hesitation:
"If you can be called a bishoujo, why can't Reine-san?"
"..."
Lan-chan, let's never speak of age again...
Honjō Nia, whose real age was around 45, shed quiet, bitter tears.
She'd received her Sephira Crystal from Mio 28 years ago — back when she was 17 — and her appearance had been frozen ever since.
And then there was Yoshino. Don't let her petite form fool you — she was already 38. She became a Spirit at 13 and never aged past her loli appearance.
Going strictly by age, both of them were older than Kamimura Mio herself. After all, the Eurasian Spacequake occurred 30 years ago, making Mio around 30 now.
Then again, compared to Mélusine... they were practically infants. She'd lived over 300 years in her previous world.
...
Several days had passed since Yatogami Tohka's Inverse incident.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal. The oppressive stillness of that night now felt like a distant nightmare, with life resuming its usual rhythm.
To put it simply... they were students again.
Shidō, Kotori, Tohka, the Kazamachi sisters, Miku — they were still enrolled, still had to attend class.
Miku was an exception, of course. In addition to being a student at Ryōzanpaku Girls' Academy, she was also a wildly popular singer and celebrity. Even without her power to control minds, her songs still moved people.
"If Darling, Tohka, and you, Little Lan, ever transferred to Ryōzanpaku, I'd ditch every concert to attend class every day!"
Miku had said this with a bright smile, and Mélusine had only deadpanned in response:
"That would be rather cruel to your fans who were hoping to hear you sing..."
But Shidō had another concern altogether.
"Hold on, hold on — Tohka and Lancelot I can understand, but isn't that a girls' school? How the hell am I supposed to get in?"
He gestured to his very male face with both hands.
No matter how you looked at it, he was a guy — there was no way they'd let him in.
Miku, however, just flicked her hand dismissively.
"If Shidō can't go, then just send Shiori instead!"
"Absolutely not!"
Even after learning Shidō's true gender, Miku still couldn't forget about Shiori.
Shiori was undeniably charming — cute, shy, and most importantly, maxed out in homemaking skills.
Mélusine had noticed it too. If Shidō had been born a girl, she'd be the perfect yamato nadeshiko. Emiya Shirou might also be good at housework, but his personality was far too rigid — he felt more like a fussy mom than an ideal wife.
Today marked Shidō's official return to school. After pushing himself too hard during the last battle, he'd been bedridden for several days. He was only now cleared to go back.
He woke up early, as usual — he was the one who handled breakfast at home. Every morning, he'd rouse Kotori, Tohka, Kaguya, Yuzuru, and the others, make breakfast, and prep everyone's lunches.
It had become a daily habit.
But today... something was different.
As he descended the stairs, a mouthwatering aroma reached his nose, shaking off the last of his sleepiness.
Rubbing his eyes, he spotted someone bustling about in the kitchen.
"Lancelot?"
"You're up? You could've slept in a little longer."
Wearing an apron and holding a pair of cooking chopsticks, Mélusine turned to glance at him before returning to the frying pan.
Shidō knew Mélusine could cook — but she wasn't particularly fond of it. She was the type who'd rather leave it to someone else if possible.
So seeing her take the initiative this morning caught him off guard.
"Your body's still weak," Mélusine said, reading his expression. "It wouldn't sit right with me to have you cooking in that condition."
"If you're not planning to go back to sleep, then go wake the others. Breakfast is almost ready."
Watching her back as she worked, Shidō scratched his head and smiled. It felt... warm, being cared for like this.
He turned to go wake Kotori and the others — several of them were notoriously hard to get out of bed. He'd probably have to try four or five times before they budged.
As his slippered foot hit the first stair, a thought struck him.
He turned back toward Mélusine.
"Lancelot... did you stay up all night again?"
"..."
She didn't answer — not because she didn't hear, but because she was tacitly admitting it.
Shidō remembered now. Mélusine's habit of sleeping in was worse than anyone's. How were you supposed to deal with someone who could sleep for eight days straight?
After a long silence, Shidō sighed.
"If you don't rest, your body's going to break down eventually."
"Unnecessary worry."
Mélusine replied coolly. "I possess the strongest heart on this planet. Don't judge me by human standards."
Shidō had gotten used to answers like that. He didn't take it to heart.
The sound of his slippers echoed up the wooden stairs.
Then Mélusine called out behind him:
"Oh right — I'll handle waking Nia. You just take care of Kotori, Tohka, and Yoshino."
As he wondered about her reasoning, she added:
"Of course, if you're curious what a girl looks like when she sleeps in just a tank top and panties — and also kicks off all her blankets — feel free to go wake Nia yourself. I won't stop you."
"Nope, nope, nope! I'm good!"
Thanks to her vivid description, Shidō couldn't help but imagine that... tantalizing scene. His face flushed with heat.
"One more thing."
Mélusine's voice again.
"Nia's probably sleeping in my room right now. So don't go in there."
Why was Nia sleeping in Lancelot's room...?
The thought barely flickered before Shidō dismissed it. He'd seen enough of Nia's creepy love-struck smiles directed at Mélusine to know exactly why.
He went upstairs, woke Kotori, and then made a round to the adjacent Spirit apartment to rouse the others. Then they all gathered to enjoy the breakfast Mélusine had prepared.
The consensus: it was excellent.
The strongest reaction came from Yoshino. With Yoshinon's help, she cut off a small bite of food and brought it to her mouth. Her big, round eyes widened, and she clapped her hands twice on the table before giving Mélusine a big thumbs-up.
It was a gesture Mélusine hadn't seen before — Shidō later explained that it meant Yoshino had tasted something entirely new and been moved by it.
Everyone except Mélusine and Yoshino had already changed into their uniforms and packed their school bags.
"You know, you could take a few more days off," Mélusine said, watching Shidō in uniform. "Your body's still weak. Most people pretend to be sick to skip school — but you? You're sick and still insist on going."
She had once been that naive too — thinking being sick meant skipping class. Every time she had a slight fever, she'd get excited.
Until one day, her mom stopped taking her to the hospital and instead used something called scraping therapy. It supposedly worked wonders for fevers... but it hurt like hell. The worse it hurt, the better the results, they said. Given the choice, she'd rather go to school.
After that, she never wanted to be sick again.
"Or are you worried about falling behind?"
Mélusine tilted her head at him.
"If it's math, I can tutor you. For history or language, you could ask Reine-san or Origami. I doubt they'd say no."
Of course, if you asked Origami... it'd probably turn into "sex education."
"You've got a point..."
Shidō scratched his cheek awkwardly. "But... skipping school on the first day back just feels wrong. I want to go say hi to my classmates, let them know I'm okay..."