Chapter Forty-One: Would You Like Me to Give You a Check-Up?

Seated on the sofa in the Itsuka household, Su Mo and Kotori sat together, their eyes resting on Shiori and Mana, who sat side by side across from them.

“You claim to be Shiori’s biological sister. Do you have any proof?” Kotori stared at Mana, clear hostility in her gaze, as if someone was trying to snatch away her beloved toy.

Faced with Kotori’s questioning, Mana’s expression remained unchanged. She removed a silver pendant from her neck, which contained a heavily faded photograph. In the picture were the young Shiori and Mana.

“Is this… me?” Shiori’s voice was filled with astonishment. Indeed, the child in the photo looked very much like her younger self, and judging by the image, she’d have been around ten years old at the time.

But what puzzled Shiori was that, looking at the photograph of herself and Mana together, she could not recall anything, or rather, all her memories prior to being adopted by the Itsuka family had vanished entirely. Only her memories from the last five years were relatively clear.

Shiori had been adopted by the Itsuka family as a child, but after the Great Tenguu City Fire five years ago, everyone’s memories—including Kotori’s—seemed to have been wiped clean. All recollections before that event were lost; Kotori was no exception.

“What is going on? Are we truly sisters? But why do I have no memory of it at all?” Shiori’s face was tinged with confusion. She turned her wide eyes to Mana by her side. “And if we are sisters, where are our family? Where are our parents now?”

Mana gave a wry, apologetic smile and shook her head. “In fact, I don’t remember anything from before two or three years ago, either,” she replied.

It seemed Mana’s amnesia was even worse than Shiori’s.

“Even if my memories are vague, I am certain that Shiori is my sister. That bond of blood can never be mistaken.” Mana declared this with all seriousness, and as she spoke, she threw her arms around Shiori, tears streaming down her face.

Seeing Mana’s genuine emotion, Shiori—ever gentle by nature—was at a loss with this sudden revelation of a younger sister. Still, she hugged Mana back, her eyes growing moist. What a sensitive and sentimental girl she was.

Watching the two sisters, Su Mo couldn’t help but feel a sense of strangeness.

They were supposed to be brother and sister, yet now they were sisters.

At the same time, his interest in Shiori and Mana was piqued. When he noticed the suspicion still lingering on Kotori’s face, he cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Since Shiori wants to know if Mana is truly her sister, why not have a comprehensive medical exam and verify your DNA? With modern medical technology, it should be easy to determine whether you two are related.”

“That’s actually a great idea!” Kotori’s eyes lit up with approval.

Shiori and Mana both agreed as well. Although they already felt certain in their hearts that they were family, scientific confirmation would be reassuring.

After suggesting the test, Su Mo turned to Mana and asked casually, “By the way, Mana, since you’re Shiori’s sister, where have you been living all these years? Haven’t you lived with anyone else?”

At this, Mana, who had answered so smoothly before, grew evasive.

The truth was, she had been serving the EMD Corporation for years—a notorious organization, one of only two in the world capable of producing manifestation devices. The other was Ratatoskr, headed by Kotori. Unlike Ratatoskr, which advocated peaceful coexistence with Spirits, EMD’s main goal was to kill, capture, and experiment on Spirits.

Mana was EMD’s ace magician, specially trained by the organization. Her combat ability ranked among the top three, and she was known to have slain Spirits single-handedly. To put it in perspective, all the girls in the AST combat unit combined could not defeat Mana, a testament to her formidable strength.

Mana had come to Tenguu City this time mainly to hunt Kurumi. Over the years, she had relentlessly pursued Kurumi, destroying countless incarnations. Yet Kurumi always returned, her clones appearing endlessly—impossible to eradicate.

At this point, Mana was unaware of Kotori’s true identity. Not wanting to implicate the others, she decided not to reveal anything about the Spirits. Instead, she gave an ambiguous explanation: “For various reasons… over the years, I’ve been working in a very special, fully residential workplace.”

Hearing this, the others were surprised. “A workplace? Mana, are you already working at your age? Don’t you go to school?”

Mana was about the same age as Kotori, and Kotori was still in junior high. Yet Mana had already started working, which was inconceivable. Shiori’s heart ached for her, sensing that Mana must have suffered greatly over the years.

Pressed by everyone’s questions, Mana grew flustered, her gaze darting uneasily.

“Well, um… Excuse me!” she blurted, suddenly standing up. Realizing she couldn’t stay any longer without being exposed, she dashed out before anyone could react.

Shiori stared blankly at the door where Mana had disappeared. After finally reuniting with her long-lost sister, she’d barely spoken with her before Mana left. She couldn’t help but feel downhearted.

After Mana’s departure, Su Mo turned to Kotori and said, “Kotori, take Shiori for a comprehensive medical exam tomorrow, to check if there’s anything abnormal with her body. If possible, get Mana checked as well. I suspect something’s wrong with her health.”

“Huh? What is it, Su Mo?” Kotori asked, puzzled.

“It’s nothing. Just keep an eye out,” Su Mo replied with a sigh. Although the plot of Date A Live had been greatly altered, some things remained unchanged.

For example, EMD’s intentions with Mana were far from benevolent. They had performed cruel modifications on her body. While EMD’s manifestation devices were far more powerful than those on the market, they also placed a terrifying burden on the human body.

Ordinary people could not withstand EMD’s devices, so they transformed Mana’s body to allow her to control them. But this came at a great cost: Mana’s lifespan had been reduced to less than ten years—a fact she herself remained unaware of.

Since Mana was Shiori’s sister, and Su Mo already regarded Shiori as family, it was only natural for him to help Mana as well. He wanted her to discover EMD’s true nature and escape from that inhumane organization as soon as possible.

He also wanted to check Shiori’s body. Although she was now the feminized version of the main character, he wondered if she had inherited the original Shido Itsuka’s ability to seal Spirits’ powers with a kiss.

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