Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 144 Rinne's Story: Paradise Lost

'Knock knock knock~'

After Rinne left, the knocking sounded again at the door of Shido's room.

"Wow--!"

At the sound of knocking, Shido sat up abruptly from the bed. He looked towards the door, puzzled, wondering who it could be this time.

"I'm coming in."

A few seconds after he said that, the door slowly opened, and a small, red-haired figure with a black headband came into Shido's view.

"You...how did you get here too?"

Looking at "Kotori" who suddenly came into his room, he asked her a question without thinking, fearing that his good little sister was going to ask him out or something.

However, Kotori keenly caught the word "also" and looked at him with a somewhat serious expression. Shido felt a chill run down his spine and unconsciously swallowed.

“What does ‘also’ mean? It means ‘Shido’ (the way of the scholar).”

"Ah...it's nothing, just saying. Is there something you need?"

Shido hurriedly tried to hide his true feelings with clumsy words, but fortunately Kotori didn't seem to care much at the moment. Instead, she took the initiative to say what her main purpose was in coming to see her.

"Shido, I have something to tell you."

Shido was stunned after hearing this, and looked at Kotori with some confusion.

“Through today’s analysis, I discovered something very strange. The unknown spiritual energy reaction that we have been detecting recently suddenly fluctuated violently during a certain period of time yesterday and today, and the distortion of the frequency of the fluctuations on both sides is almost identical.”

Shido frowned, his expression shifting rapidly, as if he were guessing something, but still somewhat incredulous, so he asked:

"What about the time period?"

"Around 16 PM... and I had Lingyin analyze the spiritual energy wave band and discovered an incredible result."

"Ah...an unbelievable result?"

“This is extremely similar to the spirit of an elf on a date…” Kotori paused for a moment, observing Shido’s unusual expression gradually change like a crumpled piece of paper, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"And, moreover, it seems to have been a failed date."

"...!"

Shido's eyes widened, but Kotori seemed oblivious to her brother's unusual expression and continued speaking:

"Isn't it strange? During my analysis, it felt like I was monitoring a date with a spirit."

"Could it be a coincidence..." Shido asked, clinging to a last glimmer of hope.

But Kotori's next words completely shattered any remaining hope in his heart.

"Don't make me sound like someone else; I'm not that stupid."

"Uh...who are you referring to!"

"A fool named Itsuka Shido, do you understand?" Kotori spoke directly, a subtle difference from her usual practice of using only metaphors.

Shido was rendered speechless by Kotori's retort, cold sweat beading on his forehead. But what made things even worse was the question that Shido was already asking him.

"Did you know? 'Fraxinus' has been keeping records of your failed dates. Then, after comparing the spiritual energy wave data of your failed dates with the elves... the results were completely consistent."

"Yesterday...and today...information on failed dates..."

"Oh, did you find something?"

Kotori looked at Shido meaningfully, her expression inexplicably changing from serious to somewhat playful.

"Uh, well... is there anything else?"

"It's okay, I'm going to sleep now, goodnight."

After Kotori finished speaking, she turned to leave. Shido watched Kotori's retreating figure, his heart filled with panic and unease. He didn't calm down until she was completely gone.

She kept thinking back to yesterday and today... Rinne, who had gone on a date with her. Neither date was successful; unexpected things happened both times... and both ended in failure.

Kotori said the spiritual energy wave pattern was similar to the data from failed dates. Doesn't that mean it's related to me? In other words...

"Ha...haha! No...impossible...absolutely impossible!"

A series of absurd ideas suddenly flashed through his mind, making him chuckle. There should be limits to wild thoughts, after all.

My childhood playmate is actually an elf... How could this be! I've played with her since I was little, Rinne could never be an elf, that's the only thing I know for sure.

"Ah, how could I have such doubts? That's so wrong of me. If I keep thinking about it, my mind will only get more and more confused... I should rest."

Shido tried to calm himself down, turned off the light, and pulled the covers over himself to sleep. But soon after lying down, a familiar, somewhat impatient female voice echoed in his mind.

"No...no...no...no! No! No!"

Shido vaguely saw a girl with a rather sacred appearance, a sight he encountered every night. But this time, the girl seemed different, more impatient than usual.

"Am I really different from them? Am I truly incapable of becoming like them?... If this continues... the paradise of calamity... the paradise that belongs to me and Shido will be... No! At this point, I have no choice but to resort to any means necessary..."

"I want to do it myself..."

Her expression gradually hardened, like that of a young girl unwilling to give up what was most important to her.

Hearing this, Shido's consciousness became even more hazy, and soon he completely drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, outside the door, Kotori, who was leaning against the door listening to Shido's constant self-hypnosis, only chewed on the precious pearl in her mouth and held a pale pink ball of light tightly in her hand. Her body was scorched by flames. As the flames gradually subsided, a black-haired man appeared inside the Itsuka residence.

Gazing at the pale pink energy orb in his hand, Ming pondered and muttered to himself:

"This is all the spiritual power from Paradise that I stole from Shido when he was in the dream. I should be able to replenish that spell. As for Shido, I have done my best. I have been trying to subtly push things forward on both sides."

"...Forget it, let's go to that pit, dig the koto out, and change what happened tonight for her."

As he spoke, he ignited black flames again, quickly burning his body to ashes, which then transformed into several butterflies and flew towards the pit where Kotori was still buried.

Friday, June 30th...

The sun rose as usual. In the morning, Shido was still with Rinne, and Rinne still made breakfast. Everyone else left home early, each with their own business.

After finishing breakfast, Shido looked at Rinne. The words Kotori had said last night still echoed in his ears. No matter how he tried to avoid them, they were the most rational answers in his mind, which left her feeling at a loss.

After school, Rinne and Shido resumed their date, which they hadn't been able to finish the day before and the day before.

Sunlight streamed down the park path as Shido and Rinne walked side by side, a gentle breeze ruffling their hair. The park was lush with green trees and blooming flowers, a scene of tranquility and peace.

As they walked, the two stopped at a spot in the park.

"Um... about yesterday's date... I'm so sorry," Shido said to Rinne with a hint of apology.

Upon hearing this, a warm smile appeared on Rinne's face. "It's...it's all my fault."

"No, to be honest, I was a little unfocused, or rather, absent-minded..." Shido scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Rinne looked at Shido with concern, then composed herself with a smile and continued:

"Since you put it that way... well! How about we call it even?"

"........."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Shido took a deep breath and slowly said, "Um... right... right, we've been to this park before, haven't we... with Kotori?"

"Huh? Ah... um... We used to swing together, go down the slide, and even doodle on the bench, right?"

Shido watched Rinne intently, and as he listened to her recount her childhood so fluently, he finally felt a sense of relief.

“That’s right, that’s right. I told you it was dangerous. Kotori even needs two people to swing together.”

"Uh-huh."

"I had a headache at the time, but now that I think about it, how should I put it... it's a really precious memory."

His voice was soft and gentle, as if taking people back to the innocent days of childhood. Rinne listened quietly, a faint smile on her face, seemingly also touched by Shido's words.

However, as Shido continued his narration, although there were some deviations and Rinne would sometimes fall into strange silences, it reassured Shido a lot.

"Um... I'm so sorry... It seems I'm not a good friend, I'm really not qualified to call myself your childhood playmate."

Shido said with some guilt, "Just now, I couldn't even remember what Rinne loved to play with when she was little. It's such a shame for a childhood playmate like me."

"No, that's not true. Honestly, Shido... you've been apologizing all day."

"Um, sorry..."

"See, I just said that, hehe~"

The two laughed and joked, filling the entire park with the sweet and sour smell of romance.

"Okay, okay, hehe... Shido, I'm happy as long as you're here."

"Is...is that so?"

Rinne nodded gently, "Yes, thank you..."

"Hey?"

"It's nothing, I just want to go somewhere today. Shido, can you come with me?"

"Oh...of course!"

Shido agreed without hesitation. After that, Rinne walked ahead with ease, as if she knew every plant and tree in the area like the back of her hand.

Shido followed closely behind, and couldn't help but wonder how familiar she was with him.

She was led to an extremely quiet artificial lake. Rinne stopped and looked at herself quietly, as if she was hesitating.

Rinne finally spoke up: "May I ask you a question, Shido?"

"what?"

"You just mentioned being a bit distracted during your previous date at the park. Why was that?"

Shido was taken aback, not expecting Rinne to suddenly ask this question. He pondered for a moment, and as he looked at Rinne's face, an image of Tohka flashed through his mind.

"Uh...it was like some fragment flashed by..."

"A fleeting...fragment?"

Rinne's gentle expression changed slightly, but Shido didn't notice it yet and continued talking.

"At first I thought it was just a common sense of déjà vu... but the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I had experienced the same date..."

"...the same date?"

"I know it might sound strange for me to say this, but it really bothers me."

Is that so?

As Rinne listened, a fleeting sadness crossed her eyes.

"Sorry, this is a little strange to talk to you about this, ah, please don't mind it, haha..."

Shido secretly pondered, hoping to quickly change the subject, but Rinne looked at him in a way that was not normal.

"Hey, Shido."

"Ok?"

"If a button is turned into the wrong position, what do you think you should do?"

Shido was a little confused by this strange question. "Huh? What are you talking about..."

Ignoring Shido's words, Rinne continued to speak to herself: "Once a mistake is made... no matter how tight the defenses are, other mistakes will inevitably follow... and the flaws will only become more and more obvious."

"...?"

"So... here's what I'm thinking, why not unravel everything and start over?"

"That...Rinne?"

Shido found Rinne's words increasingly inexplicable. Just as he was about to ask her again, he saw Rinne take a deep breath and realize that she had said something strange.

"Ah, sorry, it's nothing... just forget what I just said."

The girl's smile became increasingly unnatural for some reason, and Shido's cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He felt that his childhood friend was becoming more and more strange today.

"Shido, can you wait for me?"

"Ah, where are you going?" Shido asked, puzzled.

But the girl's only answer was, "Hehe, a girl's secret~ You can't ask a girl about things like that."

"sorry..."

Shido nodded helplessly, watching Rinne turn and walk towards the woods by the lake.

Soon after~

"Rinne is so slow, what is she doing... Ah! What's going on!"

As Shido waited for Rinne, the lake water beside him gradually turned pink, and a powerful spiritual force shot straight into the sky like a pillar, constantly changing the surrounding environment, and space itself began to distort and deform.

Immediately afterwards, Shido arrived at a space composed of deep red spiritual energy. Three pink spiritual energy bullets were aimed at him. After hurriedly dodging them, he was surprised to see the holy girl who had appeared in his dream.

Her long pink hair was very beautiful, and together with the veil that covered her face and the episcopal-style spiritual dress she wore, it gave her an indescribable divine beauty.

Shido looked at the girl in surprise, and her beautiful pink eyes, seen through the veil, were also looking at him.

"Huh? You are..."