Date A Live: Starting as Acheron

"...why are you here so early?" 

Shidou shifted his feet awkwardly at Kyo's unfriendly greeting, stepping back from the door of his apartment. It's already lunchtime, y'know… "Er, you told me to come find you this week to get stronger, right?"

"Say it with more confidence!" Kotori snapped from the other side of the earpiece. "Since he invited you, take this chance to prove yourself and maybe increase his favorability!" You can't even measure his favorability anyway! Shidou lamented internally. 

Kyo's face scrunched up in doubt. "I promised you nothing but pain, and you still came? Are you a masochist?" 

"Eh?" Shidou froze. "Well-"

"Actually, I don't really care. But training you… sure. Wait here." Kyo slammed the door of his apartment on Shidou, leaving him speechless.

"Progress, I guess…" Kotori muttered with uncertainty.

Before Shidou could respond, Kyo opened the door again. "Here. Take this."

"Thank you…" Shidou grabbed the piece of paper from his hand, giving it a quick scan. I, Murasame Reine, hereby declare my consent for Itsuka Shidou to participate in Raiden Kyo's training. In doing so, I waive all rights to pursue damages for injuries sustained, including but not limited to destruction of clothing, loss of mental sanity, loss of limb… his surname is Raiden? Wait, no! What even is this?

"Meet me at 3pm in the forest clearing from last time. Have the form signed by then. Bye." Kyo proceeded to slam the door on the boy once more, causing him to flinch backwards.

"..."

Shidou looked wordlessly at the form, then back at the door. But… aren't these types of forms usually signed by parents? Why did he specify Ms. Reine?

————————I am the dividing line that skips time————————

"Alright, Shidou. Remember the plan: apologize for getting in his way when we were fighting Kurumi, thank him for taking time to train you, and follow his orders to the best of your ability." Kotori patted Shidou heavily on the back with a smile. "Make up for how pathetic you looked last time, ok?"

"Right." Shidou took a deep breath, adjusting his earpiece slightly. "I'm ready."

"Good luck. KANNAZUKI!" Kotori called for her semi-unreliable second-in-command.

"Of course!" The blonde man saluted her before activating the Fraxinus' teleporter, dematerializing Shidou's body from the floating airship. On the main bridge monitor, the camera showed him appearing in the decimated flower field that was once the arena for three Spirits. A few feet away stood the target of the mission, seated once again in his white lawn chair.

Kotori took out a new lollipop and stuck it in her mouth. To her side, Reine's eyes seemed to narrow almost imperceptibly. Was that my imagination? Hm… oh, whatever.

"Now, let's begin our date." 

——————I am the dividing line that shifts perspectives——————

"You've got the form signed?" Kyo stood up, quickly shifting into his full Astral Dress.

"Yep." Shidou fished out the document in his hand, which Kyo took and stuck into a pocket without taking even a glance. 

"Alright. Now, before we start, I'm curious. What did you think I was gonna teach you?" Kyo asked, casually stretching his arm.

"Eh?" Shidou immediately began sweating. What kind of a question is that? "Bodybuilding, maybe?"

"Seriously?" Kyo stopped mid-stretch, giving him an incredulous look. "Me and you, hitting a nonexistent gym in the middle of a field of flowers? Although…" He looked him up and down before chuckling. "Yeah, you really should go to the gym sometime, you damn weakling."

Shidou blushed. "Hey, I'll have you know that I was actually offered a position on the school tennis team once!"

Kyo's eyes suddenly narrowed, sending a chill down Shidou's spine. "Wow, how impressive. And how exactly did you compare to Kurumi?"

He's still got a grudge… Shidou gulped and lowered his head, a sense of shame quickly washing over him. Well, it makes sense. "About that, I'm really sorry for distracting you."

Kyo's eyes narrowed further. "It nearly cost me my life." 

"...I'm sorry." The atmosphere seemed to grow suffocating. Shidou could almost feel Kyo's gaze drilling into his head as he maintained his bow. After what felt like an eternity, Kyo finally sighed. 

"Forget it; I didn't come here to blame you. Let's just move on."

"But-"

"We're moving on," Kyo insisted with an edge of annoyance. "Now, the right answer to my previous question. I'm here to tutor you in Reiryoku usage. To start, summon your sword."

"...my sword?" Shidou repeated in confusion.

Kyo sighed, cupping his forehead with a hand. "Ugh, fine. Tohka's sword, that you get to borrow."

"[Sandalphon]? But like you just said, that's Tohka's exclusive sword." Shidou scratched his hair.

"It was, until you went and sealed her. Right now, most of [Sandalphon] belongs to you. Same thing with [Zadkiel] and [Camael], actually." Kyo crossed his arms. "And if you were able to use any three of them consciously, I would upgrade your usefulness on the battlefield from "coughing baby" to at least "large ant."

"Ahaha…" Shidou laughed awkwardly. Are you sure that's an upgrade?! "So, how am I supposed to summon [Sandalphon] again?" 

"I've prepared two plans. If both of them fail… tough luck, I guess." Kyo shrugged with a nonchalant expression. "First one is to just scream out its name and hope it comes out."

"..."

"..."

"...wait, you're serious?" Shidou's composure fell. Please tell me I'm wrong. Please tell me I'm wrong. Please tell me I'm wrong…  

"Of course I'm serious." Shidou slumped to the floor as Kyo confirmed his worst fear. "What, were you expecting me to tell you to 'search within yourself for Reiryoku' or something?"

"Maybe…" Shidou muttered quietly as he got back to his feet.

Kyo laughed. "If you can't already feel it, then there's no point in just sitting around. That'd be as useful as trying to find a person without knowing what they look like. Why don't you just try to invoke the 'Protagonist Shouting Loudly to Power Up" trope instead? Go on, don't be shy; let out your inner chuunibyou-"

"AAALRIGHT!" Shidou let out a sort of strangle screech, eliciting a dirty look from Kyo. "Er, sorry."

"Just do it already," he muttered, rubbing his ears.

"R-right." Shidou cleared his throat. Alright then. Even if he thinks searching for a feeling of power is useless, there's no harm in trying. C'mon, Shidou. Feel the power deep within. Holding up his hand to the heavens, he clenched his fist and closed his eyes. "HaaaAAAAAAH! [SANDALPHON]!"

Perhaps it was his imagination, but Shidou swore he could feel some sort of energy well up within him. Is that it? Did I do it?! A sudden breeze ruffled his hair as he tried to focus on the feeling, slowly opening his eyes in anticipation…

…only to see his empty hand reaching to the sky while Kyo watched him with pure, unadulterated disappointment in his eyes. Shidou quickly coughed and looked away.

"...you had it bad, didn't you," Kyo said flatly.

"Please forget what just happened." Shidou fell to his knees and clasped his hands.

"Don't want to try again-"

"No thank you!" 

Kyo massaged his temples and closed his eyes with an air of weariness. "Fine. We're moving on to Plan B then. You see the trail through the forest over there?" He pointed North, where there was indeed a very small pathway into the dense forest. "Meet me there in half an hour. In the meantime, I need to make a few calls."

"Gladly." Shidou nodded quickly. Kyo snorted before blurring out of view.

"...I always had a nagging feeling that you never grew out of that phase." Kotori's teasing voice finally sounded in Shidou's ear. "Should I sign you up for a life counselor?"

"You know," Shidou grumbled, "if you were going to stay silent for the entire time while Kyo was here, then you should've just stayed silent the entire time in general."