"Okay—let's get started—everyone sing along with me!"
From the speakers on the bridge of the Fraxinus, the exact same voice as yesterday's Spirit echoed out. At the same time, a lively accompaniment and the excited cheers of the audience began to play.
On the main screen at the front of the bridge, the figure of a girl wearing a frilly outfit was singing and dancing on stage.
Judging from the constant snow-like static and blurry mosaics in the footage, it was clearly not an officially sold concert DVD.
But that was only natural, because this was a secretly recorded video of yesterday's Spirit's concert—something Nakatsugawa had managed to obtain through various channels with great difficulty.
"...This is…"
Standing next to the captain's seat, Shidou stared dumbly at the image.
More precisely, he was staring at the girl dancing joyfully in the center of the screen, emitting a beautiful singing voice.
Without a doubt, she was the same Ryūdōji schoolgirl he had met earlier today—also the Spirit Diva he encountered yesterday.
"Izayoi Miku… huh. To think she's actually a Spirit, and seems to be getting along quite well with the Tenqi Sanluo…"
Kotori, watching the footage from the captain's seat beside him, murmured to herself.
"You know Izayoi Miku?"
"Mm. I've heard her name. I've also heard some of her commercial songs and drama theme songs."
"..."
Shidou fell silent. He suddenly remembered what his friend said earlier—apparently he was the only one who didn't know Izayoi Miku existed.
But Kotori didn't notice Shidou's reaction at all. To her, that wasn't important. She kept her gaze fixed on Miku's personal profile on the table and frowned in frustration.
"...Debuted about half a year ago. With a voice praised as 'auditory narcotics' and overwhelming singing skill, she has released one stunning mega-hit after another… Meanwhile, she's a mysterious idol who never appears on TV or in magazines… Honestly, can she still be called an idol at that point?"
Kotori placed a hand to her forehead and sighed.
"An idol Spirit… And to think she's been blending into this world for at least half a year already? Even continuing her activities at the same time? Hah, compared to that, Kurumi really is nothing."
At the mention of Kurumi's name, Shidou's cheek twitched.
Whenever he thought of her, he involuntarily recalled the blood-red figure who had stood in front of him on the rooftop.
For some reason—even though he had interacted with her the least—that image was carved deepest into his soul.
But now was not the time to discuss how to deal with the Tenqi Sanluo—it was about Izayoi Miku.
"Hey, could she be like you, Kotori? A human granted Spirit powers by Phantom?"
Hearing Shidou's words, Kotori's brow twitched, and she removed the lollipop from her mouth.
"...That is possible, and not a small possibility either. If that were the case, it wouldn't be strange for her to remain in this world. However—if so, it wouldn't explain why a spatial quake occurred yesterday."
"Ah... that's true..."
Shidou's expression dimmed.
A spatial quake was the shockwave produced when a Spirit appeared in this world from the Neighboring Realm.
Although there were Spirits like Kurumi who could cause spatial quakes at will… Miku, who had supposedly been living here all along, shouldn't have had any reason to do so.
At least from Shidou's perspective.
But that wasn't the main issue.
"In the end, we still don't know why her affection level plummeted so suddenly…"
Indeed. Staying up all night discussing had turned out to be pointless; they still hadn't found the reason.
However, Kotori shook her head lightly at Shidou's concern.
"In fact, regarding that matter—we've basically arrived at an answer."
"Eh? Really?"
"That's right… When watching the surveillance footage yesterday, something kept bothering me. According to the Tenqi Sanluo, they merely ran into each other by chance, but they seemed to be getting along quite well. Meanwhile, you—the stranger who suddenly appeared—were immediately despised. Putting that together with what we learned today about Izayoi Miku, I can pretty much conclude the reason."
"Wha… what is it?"
Shidou asked nervously.
"This might be a bit complicated—Reine."
"Right. Please look."
As soon as Reine spoke, a diagram appeared over the concert footage of Miku on the screen.
"? This is…"
"...It's a graph of Miku's emotional state yesterday. Up to the center point is the data from when she was talking to you."
Shidou looked at the spot Reine indicated… The line plunged downward like a roller coaster, nearly dropping below the scale.
If he remembered correctly, even when he was almost killed by the Tenqi Sanluo in the park, the graph hadn't looked this tragic.
"...Worse than expected. I really was completely hated."
"Yes. Please look further."
Following her instruction, Shidou examined the second half of the graph. Amid the general decline, two small spikes appeared.
"? This is…?"
"The first was when she spoke with the Tenqi Sanluo. The second was when they fired the first shot at you."
"Ugh…"
The unpleasant memory made Shidou clutch his chest, his face twisting.
Even knowing they were holding back, the feeling of his hand being blown apart had been agonizing.
Kotori gave him a sympathetic glance and motioned for Reine to continue.
"And afterward, her emotional level rose sharply—"
"!!!"
Shidou snapped out of his painful memories.
"Judging by the time, that was when AST appeared."
"And the peak here…?"
"...Was the moment Izayoi Miku touched Origami Tobiichi."
Shidou's face paled—clearly he had realized something.
At that moment, Kotori removed her candy and pointed downward.
"Nakatsugawa."
"Yes! Allow me to introduce the dazzling, comet-like, revolutionary idol—Izayoi Miku!"
Clearing his throat, he continued excitedly:
"Izayoi Miku has never shown her true appearance publicly. Her activities are limited to releasing CDs and holding secret concerts for select fans… Although she's one of the biggest celebrities in Japan, the number of people who've actually seen her face is extremely small."
"She really goes that far…"
"This isn't just 'far.' Even with the Fraxinus' capabilities, it's nearly impossible to find a proper photo of her on the market! Getting this concert footage alone cost me a ton of effort!"
Nakatsugawa spoke passionately.
"But she's an idol, right? Why hide so much…?"
"I found an online rumor… Apparently, Miku extremely hates men. The secret concerts I mentioned—supposedly only female fans are allowed in."
"Only female fans…?"
Nakatsugawa, now so excited his breathing was rough, continued:
"Yes. And rumor has it that sometimes, after the concert ends, she takes home certain female fans she likes and 'enjoys' them!"
"!! Meaning…"
Shidou desperately wished his conclusion was wrong—but reality slapped him hard.
Kotori popped her candy back into her mouth and held up a finger.
"In other words, Izayoi Miku most likely prefers girls—she's what you'd call 'yuri.'"
"...What… How could something like this…"
Shidou felt like his world was collapsing.
As a mature second-year high schooler, he didn't want to judge someone's sexual orientation.
But if a Spirit only liked girls, it was a huge problem.
To seal a Spirit's powers, he had to raise her affection enough that she wouldn't reject kissing him.
But if Izayoi Miku only liked girls, then Itsuka Shidou was completely useless!
"W-what are we supposed to do…"
He cried out in despair.
Other obstacles could be overcome with effort, but this—this biological factor—how was he supposed to deal with it?
"If it were the Tenqi… what would she do?"
Shidou tried to recall the behavior of the Tenqi Sanluo and combine it with his own analysis, and then—
"Capture Izayoi Miku, and by gentle or forceful means, forcibly change her sexual orientation back, then proceed with the Strategy to conquer it!"
It was as if the Tenqi themselves had injected some strange idea into his mind.
Shidou immediately grabbed his head, overwhelmed.
That sadistic and violent method was absolutely out of the question for him.
But if he didn't use that method—what was he supposed to do…?