I'm not going to be an Spirit! (Translate)

Natsumi Kyouno stared for a long time at Kōshi Tachibana, who was sobbing on the floor, her expression still dark and full of displeasure.

Even though Natsumi was no longer struggling, the three people who were restraining her did not dare to let their guard down, tensely waiting for her next move.

After a long silence, Natsumi took a deep breath… and then slowly exhaled.

"Even though I still want to strangle you, letting you die so easily would be far too merciful."

With a cold snort, Natsumi looked away from Kōshi Tachibana. "May you live forever in pain and regret — that is my punishment for you."

"Thank you… Thank you for your mercy."

Seeing that Natsumi had calmed down, Matsubara Takashi quickly spoke up, "In that case, I won't let this woman continue to be an eyesore to you. If you still have things to talk about, please go ahead — I'll just take her away."

With that, he quickly scooped up the tearful Kōshi Tachibana as if afraid Natsumi would suddenly change her mind, and bolted out of the living room.

He ran straight into Kōshi Tachibana bedroom, threw her onto the bed, shut the door behind him, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Tachibana-senpai, your acting really wasn't bad at all."

Even though he wasn't the one executing the plan, nor the one taking the risk, Takashi still felt somewhat exhausted from the nerve-racking scene just now. With a slight tone of reproach, he said, "What if the plan didn't go as expected? Or what if Meteora and the others hadn't been able to hold Natsumi back? What would you have done then?"

"But the plan went perfectly, didn't it?"

After Takashi closed the door, Kōshi Tachibana rubbed her cheeks and responded in a relaxed tone. "Besides, Natsumi was bound to find out sooner or later that I'm the author of Date A Live. Since the bomb would go off anyway, it's safer to do it now while Meteora and the others are around to back me up."

"Sigh…"

Takashi didn't know what to say — he could only sigh helplessly.

Now that everything was over, he finally saw the full scope of Kōshi Tachibana plan.

It must have started the moment Mamika Kirameki took out the star-shaped ornament — Tachibana realized it wasn't something Natsumi dropped, but rather that Natsumi had turned into it.

Based on this deduction, she guided Mamika into confessing her true feelings about Natsumi, so that the star-shaped Natsumi would hear every sincere word.

However, receiving praise from just one person was clearly not enough to counteract Natsumi deep-seated inferiority complex.

So Tachibana went further, asking everyone else what they thought of Natsumi, building up her self-confidence bit by bit.

But even that still wasn't enough.

So Tachibana dropped a bombshell — revealing that she was the author of Date A Live, and that Natsumi entire tragic past had been crafted by her own hand.

By doing all of this, she not only helped Natsumi realize that people in this world truly didn't hate her, but also made her understand that even in her original world, the cruelty she endured was not personal — it was simply to serve the plot.

Although this would surely make Natsumi hold a grudge against Kōshi Tachibana, it undeniably helped to unravel part of the knot in her heart.

It was a small step toward healing… but a giant leap toward restoring her self-esteem.

From now on, they would just need to continue showing Natsumi that she wasn't ugly — and eventually, like in the later parts of the original work, she would return to being a normal girl.

"My job is more or less done now. From here on, it's up to Meteora and the others to recruit her into the team."

Jumping down from the bed, Tachibana waved her hand and said, "You know Natsumi personality at least a little, right? I'll be fine — you go back and support them."

Soon after, Matsubara Takashi returned to the living room.

He quietly rejoined the group, listening intently to their ongoing conversation.

Because Kōshi Tachibana had received her "due punishment," and with the others offering comfort, Natsumi mood had calmed significantly.

The wounds she had sustained earlier from Altair blade array had mostly healed, thanks to Meteora healing magic, with no visible trace of injury remaining.

Though the spell could only heal surface-level damage, it was sufficient for now.

Having sensed the goodwill from those around her, Natsumi, while still wearing a sour expression, had at least stopped acting out.

"My, I never expected Little Nana could actually transform herself into a decoration."

Placing Natsumi on her thigh, Mamika Kirameki pulled her into an embrace and rubbed her cheek against Natsumi hair, smiling brightly. "Well, if you really had the ability to teleport, you could've just escaped during that fight with the Military Uniform Princess. I guess I was too panicked back then to consider that."

She had known Natsumi could alter her appearance, but had assumed it was just some kind of illusion magic. She never imagined her power could actually alter her physical composition.

When she picked up that star, it had felt exactly like an ordinary ornament in both weight and texture — no wonder she hadn't suspected anything.

Luckily, she had picked it up.

If she had left, leaving Natsumi behind, and the girl had later recovered and started hunting down everyone who knew her secret… that would've been the worst-case scenario.

"D-Don't get so close to me."

Even though part of her emotional knot had been untied, Natsumi was clearly still uncomfortable with close physical contact in her real form. She pushed back slightly and said, "We're not that close!"

"Oh? So you're saying once we are close, this kind of thing will be okay?" Mamika asked excitedly. "Then I've gotta become your best friend as fast as possible~!"

"I didn't say that! Stop twisting my words!"

"Little Nana... don't you want to be good friends with me?"

"I… I never said that either…"

"Then let's get along from now on, okay?" Mamika said with a hopeful look. "I'll definitely help you realize that you're actually super cute!"

"S-Suit yourself…"

As if giving up on arguing with someone so simple-minded, Natsumi stopped resisting and replied with resignation, "You'd do it anyway even if I said no, wouldn't you?"

"Wow, even though we've only spent a short time together, Little Nana already understands me so well. It really must be fate that brought us together!"

"Stop saying weird stuff like that!"

"Eh? Was what I said weird?"

Watching their interaction, everyone around them wisely chose to remain silent.

Truly, everyone has their match. For them, Natsumi prickly and difficult personality had always been hard to deal with, yet against someone as forthright and unfiltered as Mamika Kirameki, she was completely defenseless.

Still… that wasn't a bad thing.

"Ladies."

Seeing that the time was right, Meteora spoke up.

"What do you plan to do from here on out?"