The moonlit pavilion overlooked the misty vastness… the cloud-wreathed chamber opened its door to the nebulous air.
Reflecting on the world from which she was born, the Spirit of Origin named Takami Mio, the representative of the entire galaxy, never knew the purpose of her existence.
Protect humanity? Denied.
Protect the planet? Denied.
Protect the world? Denied.
Perpetuate some goal? For survival and desire? Denied, denied, denied!
Residing at the world's end, within a separate space of her own creation, quietly observing the silence and the birth of all things, pondering her long, long life, Mio suddenly felt that the most delicious thing she had ever eaten was the first meal that man had personally made for her.
"Hey, Ryu, you once said that I, the Spirit of Origin, am the strongest."
"You said that I, the Spirit of Origin, am invincible. But why, why can't the strongest, most invincible me, even protect the person I love?"
Alone under an incredibly magnificent scene, the ground beneath her feet was the absolute landscape manifested from her heart.
Feeling the world she had created, a place of dazzling stars, the alternation of sun and moon, the breathtaking realm of shifting wind and snow, in Mio's heart, it had become a cage imprisoning her.
Holding a very beautiful crystal marigold in her hand, a gift from her most intimate lover, it was a magical flower representing the pain of parting yet also containing holy blessings.
"Ryu, I don't like humans. I don't like all things. I don't even care about the existence of planets, galaxies, or the world itself."
"On the contrary, what I actually want to see is the demise of humanity, the apocalypse of the world, the shattering of all things in sorrow."
Without any particular likes or dislikes, for Mio, the state of the world was just like this.
After all, human beings were far too complex. Biologically speaking, they were extremely foolish, but emotionally, they were full of sensibility and surprises. Urged on by emotion, humans could burst forth with too many dazzling lights.
["You are... a Spirit?"]
["You are my prey. Go back to sleep."]
["You're finally awake."]
["My name? You know it, right?"]
["Mio? I like this name."]
["This is money? You need money to buy things? Can't I just take them?"]
["Eating? I don't need such a lowly way to obtain energy."]
["This is omelet rice? It's delicious. I've decided, all humans must eat omelet rice from now on!"]
["Ahahaha... Mio, if humans only ate omelet rice, they would die, you know."]
["Cute? What does that mean?"]
["Cute means you, Mio."]
["Mio, time to do the laundry."]
["I don't need to do laundry. My clothes clean themselves automatically. I hate doing laundry."]
["Water? Aah, stay away from me! I don't like water!"]
["Mio, why are you like a cat? Be good and go take a bath!"]
["Ryu, you bully!"]
She had already concluded that humans were boring, not believing they held any value in this world. Yet this idea was shattered by that man.
The girl, who had no concept of anything and was indifferent to everything, felt for the first time a desire to protect, to have someone.
["Ryu, do you like me?"]
The strange thoughts beginning to stir were major events that even the Spirit of Origin's brightest mind couldn't process. The Spirit who loathed humanity finally developed her own emotions because of one individual.
["Ryu, I found human records. They say my love for you is an attraction between the same kind, an 'imprinting behavior' like a newborn bird finding its parents. But I know it's not like that at all."]
["Even if the first person I saw wasn't you, even if we met much, much later, I would still love you deeply. Because this is the purpose for which the Spirit of Origin, Takami Mio, was born."]
["I didn't know before why I was born, why I was summoned. But if you ask me now, the one thing I can firmly believe is..."]
["My existence, the meaning of my life, is entirely filled with your presence."]
Quietly doing what she needed to do, what she ought to do, the Spirit of Origin named Takami Mio simply waited for that man's appearance.
Because she knew that the person named Takami Ryuya would not simply disappear… he would definitely return.
Therefore, even if the world she inhabited contained only herself, even if the cage in her heart left Mio with not a shred of emotion for all things, she would still persevere, she would still wait.
After all, this world born from the two of them was absolutely not her solitary cage, but a future belonging to anticipation and hope.
…
"Mio, what would you like to eat today?"
Facing the impending departure and the mission's end countdown, Ryuya knew he was about to leave the Date A Live World.
And before that, the only one he couldn't let go of was Mio, this Spirit of Origin.
"What to eat? Is there anything in this world more delicious than omelet rice?"
Blinking at Ryuya's question, Mio spoke as if stating a perfectly normal fact.
"Hmm... I suppose not."
Smiling, Ryuya spent the last twenty-four hours of the countdown doing every usual thing with Mio.
Eating together, washing dishes together, strolling outside together, shopping together, watching TV together, chatting about the plots of boring soap operas together...
They did everything couples and lovers in the world could do together. Until evening, Ryuya looked at Mio.
"Mio."
"I'm here, Ryu."
Curled up in Ryuya's arms like a cat, purring contentedly, Mio blinked her silver-white eyes, full of adorableness, and lovingly planted several 'strawberries' on Ryuya's neck.
"Mio, I want to play a game with you. A really amazing game."
"Play a game? What game do you want to play, Ryu?"
Hearing that Ryuya wanted to play a game with her, Mio became interested.
"Hide and seek."
"Hide and seek? Ryu, you can't possibly hide somewhere Mio can't find you!"
Due to her immense personal power, Mio possessed far too many authorities as the galactic representative.
Compared to the Crimson Moon's Marble Phantasm or Ryuya's Earth King's Wisdom of the People, Mio's authorities were far more numerous.
Controlling the weather of the natural world, controlling time, causing physical and mental phenomena with sound, controlling water, fire, wind, and various other natural elements, etc.
She possessed all the abilities of the Spirits in Date A Live, and abilities the Spirits didn't have, making her the most perfect god.
Having engraved Ryuya's entire existence into her very DNA, Mio was certain she could absolutely find wherever Ryuya hid.
"That's not necessarily true. I think you won't be able to find me, Mio."
The ability required to traverse worlds was definitely not something achievable at the galactic level, as it wasn't about power, but mastery over rules.
Having made all preparations for his departure, Ryuya handed Mio a large envelope.
"Mio, I'll start a one-minute countdown. Once it's over, you begin looking for me. If you truly can't find me, then open this envelope. I've left a gift for you inside."
"You're looking down on me too much! I will definitely find you!"
Completely unfazed by Ryuya's game, Mio closed her eyes and waited for one minute. When she opened them again, Ryuya was gone.
"Hmm? Ryu is hiding pretty well. But it's useless! This is no problem for me at all!"
Patting her chest confidently, the Spirit of Origin looked around their room. Not finding Ryuya, she directly initiated a global scan.
"Hmph, let's see where you could have hidden, Ryu!"
Activating her thoughts to search the entire planet, but after a moment, her previously calm smile began to fade. Not detecting Ryuya's trace, Mio started to panic.
"Ryu? Where are you hiding?"
Nothing, nothing, still nothing.
She searched everywhere she could think of. With Mio's abilities, if she wished, the entire Earth held no secrets.
Yet even so, she still could not find Ryuya.
"Ryu, I can't find you. Come out now."
Finding no sign of Ryuya, Mio, who had always had the man by her side, felt the sorrow of loss for the first time.
Looking around the room, she called out softly.
"Ryu? Ryu? I give up. Come out."
"I can't find you. Hurry up and come out."
Her voice gradually grew louder, but the only answer greeting Mio was silence.
At a complete loss, looking at the surrounding world, feeling everything was so empty, Mio realized for the first time how lonely and isolated she felt.
Without Ryuya, she didn't even know what she should do.
Nor what she could do.
Sitting down weakly on the spot, she dazedly repeated Ryuya's name.
"Ryu, where did you go? I can't be without you."
"I lost. You can do whatever you want. You won."
"Come out now, Ryu. You've already beaten Mio. Why aren't you coming out?"
Taking a deep breath, the crouching Mio repeated Ryuya's name over and over, scenes from their past together flashing through her mind.
After a long while, realizing she still couldn't find Ryuya, she suddenly remembered what Ryuya had said earlier: if she couldn't find him, she should open the envelope.
"The letter... the letter Ryu left for me."
Taking a deep breath, Mio opened the letter Ryuya had left for her. Inside was a diary and a bunch of small items… car keys, computer disks, etc.
Somewhat bewildered by the small items, Mio knew what they were but didn't understand their purpose left by Ryuya.
Opening the diary, the first page she saw contained Ryuya's words for her.
[Mio, you couldn't find me, could you? My hide-and-seek skills are pretty great, right!]
[I told you before, your husband here, if nothing else, his hiding skills are top-notch. You realize that now, don't you?]
"Hmph, who admits your hiding skills are great? Really."
Reading the words in the diary, Mio seemed to recall Ryuya's proud expression when he would say such things. Sniffling a little, her mood improved considerably, and she continued reading.
[Mio, I'm sorry. I have some matters I need to attend to and must leave for a while. Please forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye.]
[However, don't worry. My leaving is only temporary. I will definitely finish what I need to do and return as soon as possible.]
"Leave? Why do you have to leave? Can't you ask me for anything troublesome?"
[This matter is complicated and not something Mio can handle. Although I'd like Mio's help, it seems a bit difficult.]
It seemed as if he had anticipated Mio's thoughts, Ryuya responded to them in the diary.
"Hmph, bad Ryu, leaving for something without even telling me."
[However, even though I will return quickly, I can't bear the thought of my most, most, most beloved wife being alone. So, I've prepared many gifts and a game for you.]
[The rules of this game are simple too. You need to follow the instructions I've written in the diary and do the things I need you to do. Every time you complete one thing, you can turn to the next page of the diary.]
[This diary has 400 pages in total. I've calculated; as long as you obediently follow along, by the time you finish everything, I will definitely be back.]
[Of course, I might also return a bit earlier. When I do, I'll check your progress. I hope my beloved Mio will listen to me.]
[Next, the first task is: Please take the car key inside the envelope. There's a small car outside our house that I specially modified. You need to drive that car and follow the pre-set navigation to a scenic spot. Once you arrive there, you can turn to the second page of the diary.]
[Finally, I hope Mio will follow our game rules and not peek at the diary entries I wrote for you ahead of time. As long as you follow our game rules, I also promise you, I will absolutely, absolutely, according to the rules, come back to find Mio.]
[- Ryuya]
As the first page of the diary ended, Mio also understood the purpose of the car key.
"So, all these things are the props I'll need next?"
Looking at the pile of scattered small items, Mio realized her dejected mood had improved significantly, though she didn't know when.
Although her lover wasn't by her side, Mio knew Ryuya hadn't abandoned her.
And through this diary, Mio felt as if Ryuya was still by her side, accompanying her.
"A game? I won't lose! I absolutely won't lose!"
Repeating the same phrase several times with deep conviction, Mio, full of confidence, began the game with her beloved.