"I-I'm sorry, did I... make you wait too long?" Arriving at the entrance of a cafe, I was surprised to see the girl who had randomly asked me out in my own bedroom. Well, it was Shido's bedroom so I guess I can't say that.

"Oh my, making a girl wait too long? You aren't making a good example of yourself, Kioshi-kun." Kun? Does she... commonly use that with Shido too?

"Sorry..." Seeing my head look towards the ground, she giggled at this. Kurumi... the Spirit who was said to be the most dangerous Spirit to ever exist, was laughing at me. Why did I even agree to go out with her?

"I'm joking, Kioshi-kun. You don't have to worry about a single thing. Thank you, Kioshi-kun, for deciding to come out with me." After giggling, she gave me a smile. While I wouldn't know if it was genuine or not, it still bothers me that she was said to be the "most dangerous". But for some reason... it does feel a bit genuine...

Like I've seen that smile before...

"Um, you're welcome?" My head tilted to the side instinctively.

"Why respond in a question?" She tilted her head as well, also while looking at me in the eyes.

"...Because I didn't know how to respond."

"Cute, so I think it's best if you continue to stay honest with me. If you wasn't, then I was going to have to kill you!" After she said 'kill', the color of my face had dropped and my heart started to beat very fast. Even if she was able to keep a smile that looks... very good, she can still be scary with what she says.

"I'm joking, Kioshi-kun." She started to giggle again.

"Oh." I felt a sigh of relief in my mind before I could start to feel normal again. I don't know what I'm going to do with someone who can make a joke out of anything that comes out of her mouth...

"Say, Kioshi-kun, how do I look?" Asking me about her appearance, I looked at the dress that she had decided to wear out in this... date? She wore a black and white frilly dress that had a huge black ribbon on her... um, I think it's best if I didn't sound like a pervert right now...

"Kioshi-sama, say that she looks cute." I hear a voice in my right ear from someone who was trying to help me with my "situation". Yes, I remember that Kotori had given me a blue tooth before I left out to meet with Kotori. She said that Maria, who was the AI of the Ratatoskr, help me deal with Kurumi. The plan however...

I don't know why I agreed to going out with her...

"Cute." I mumbled, trying to get rid of the thought that I completely had before in my mind. My face felt red, and I couldn't keep a straight face with Kurumi smiling at me like that.

"Hm? What is that you mumbled under breath~?" She etched closer to me as she said this. She's... not making this any easier.

"I said-"

"Kioshi-kun, you have to speak a little louder~!" She cupped her ear as if she couldn't hear me straight. Why is she... so weird? And plus, why is she causing a scene right now? Some of the people who decided to walk past us was starting to look back at us. Especially the male audience...

"I said it looks cute." This time I didn't mumbled. I said it clear as day.

"Cute, huh? Okay, then. Why don't we start exploring a bit?" For some reason, even while her bangs were covering her left eye, I could feel it piercing through my soul...

...Wanting something from me...

"S-Sure..." With that said, we started to explore the area, looking for things that would be most interesting to us. I can only say that I was worried. Worried of the fact that I don't even know what she's capable of. She's not Natsumi. She won't try to humiliate me to ruin my life.

So what's her reason for trying to call me out like this...?

-/-

It turns out that this was a rather... simple date. I'm sorry, I'm just... confused right now. I'm not getting what was making her "dangerous" as what Maria would warn me about her. She acted like a normal girl in her age and she just wanted to have fun. We explored shops, visited the cafe, and we kept looking around places that were 'fun' to her.

She's just... normal.

"Say, Kioshi-kun, have you tried the Pocky Game?" She asked me this after pulling out two chocolate-covered sticks from the box of candy that we've just recently bought. For me, I brought the strawberry version of this candy. I tend to like sweet things a lot. As of right now, we decided to sit a cafe that had tables outside of the building.

"Pocky Game?" Still, I will not lie. I don't even know what that was. Yes, I eat Pocky from time to time, but I never heard of a game where you can play with the Pocky.

"Oh? So you never heard of it. Well, rest assured Kioshi-kun, for I will teach it to you today." She brought out a single chocolate-coated biscuit stick, and showed it to my face.

"Now" She pointed at the end of the stick on her side. "The rules of the game is to simply reach the end of stick. I will be on this side, and you will be on the other side. Simple enough, right?" I nodded my head with a tint of confusion in my eyes. I couldn't help but say that yes, I was confused by rules.

"Do it, Kioshi-sama." I heard Maria's voice play into my ear again. Oh yeah, I forgot that I was listening to her advice ever since this date started. It seemed a bit weird too. Why was some of the 'advice' that she wanted to give me perverted? I had to think of my own options so I don't do anything stupid that would get me killed!

"Do it."

"Do it."

"Do it."

"You look confused, Kioshi-kun. I think it'll be better if we just play to see who will win. Ready?" She placed her lips on the end of the stick on her side. Complying, I placed mine on my side.

"Go!"With that, we both started biting. The taste of the chocolate filled my mouth with delight. I always liked Pocky. Even if strawberry was my favorite, I liked the flavor that settled in my mouth. As I started to reach the other end of the stick, I noticed something...

How was I going to reach the other end of the stick if Kurumi was-

"Okay, I lose!" I snapped the stick in half before our lips could even touch. She was... trying to kiss me? No, that wouldn't be right! We only had a single date and she was trying to... kiss me?

She's weird!

"Yay, I won~!" She clasped her hands together in delight of her victory. While I did discover her plan, she seemed to easily play it off as if it actually was a game. No, that wasn't a game! That was trap to kiss the person that would've lead to my imminent death! In a split second, Kurumi's face went serious all of a sudden. It was like...

She sensed something close...

"...Kurumi, what did you bring me out her for?" I don't know why, but I couldn't face her for some reason. Perhaps I was too embarrassed of the fact that this girl had almost tried to steal a kiss from me in a cover of a 'game'.

"Hm? I told you, I wanted to go out for a date, Kioshi-kun." Again, she tilted her head; confused by my question.

"You-" Before I got to finish what I was saying, I felt Kurumi's index finger lay on my lips. While she did this, she used her other index finger on her lips to say to me to stay quiet. But then, all of a sudden, she pulled me towards the wall, still wanting me to stay quiet. Of course, with the posture that we were in, I was... a bit red in the face. She had her hand passed next to my face, and her leg was between mine.

What even was this kind of moment?!

"K-Kurumi, what's going on?" She didn't say anything at first, instead, she looked towards the sky, and kept looking up. As I looked up, I could see something that easily caught my eye in the matter of seconds.

"AST?!" Kurumi quickly placed her hand over my mouth and looked at me with serious eyes. She... looks a little cool, I don't think I should lie about that.

"Kioshi-kun... run." I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. After a few seconds, she let go of my mouth, allowing me to speak again.

"Why run? Wouldn't it be best for the both of us to run?" If she's thinking about buying some time for me, then I think that she would be underestimating them. It looks like there's a bunch of AST waiting for something.

Or should I say someone?

"Kioshi-kun, I... have some bad reputation with these kinds of people. For you to be seen with me, it will only result in you getting killed. Now go, Kioshi-kun. I'm sure that they're looking for me, so it will be best if you ran away while you still can." She smiled at me again, this time, I knew it was a genuine smile. Why did I know this? Why was she said to be dangerous, only for her to care about my life like it was some sort of treasure?

"...Will you be okay?" She still held up her smile.

"Don't underestimate me, Kioshi-kun. I'm much stronger than I was before." What did she mean by before? Nevermind that, I need to get out of here. Giving her a nod, I left the area, looking for somewhere to hide.

After running for a like a hour or so, I was pretty sure that I was far away from the scene. While I wouldn't lie to say that I was concerned for Kurumi's safety, I'm sure to say that I'm glad to be away from there. I don't know what makes her dangerous, and I don't think I would want to find out then and there.

"It... seems safe here." I stopped in front of a clothing store, and started to catch my breath.

"Oh my, Kioshi-kun, you're late to our date. You know, that's not a way to show yourself to a lady." Hearing a familiar voice, I turned around to see the source of the voice.

"K-Kurumi?" She giggled and smiled at me. Why... did that feel a bit forced? What's going on with my head right now? Didn't Kurumi say to me to run earlier?

"Yes, and your name is Kioshi-kun. Is there something wrong?" She looked like Kurumi, but she wore something different. Instead of the black and white frilly dress that I saw her in like a hour ago, she wore a fully black frilly dress.

"Kioshi-kun."

"Y-Yes?"

"Is there something wrong?"

I... think I'm seeing two Kurumi's now...