Hello! Time for the epilogue part 2! Hai Hai! I decided to have another chapter! Because it's gonna be fairly long if I don't cut it! Nothing goes according to plan, really.

Again, this is NOT the last chapter yet. The next chapter would be the last!

I'll keep this short as much as possible, or in short, I have nothing to say anymore other than my full gratitude to those who followed and favourites my story! I'm really happy with the 90+ Favs (I hope will be 100 X3) and the 100+ Follows! I'm glad that my story has reached many people :)

I just watched Date A Live II Encore few days ago, and GOD, the feels. I feel bad for doing something horrible to Kurumi here, but it's part of the plot! Surprises await in this chapter :) Hope you'll like it.

Alright, onto the story now! Enjoy! Harasho!

"Raphael…" Shidou muttered something, and after a few seconds, the gusts of wind around him rigorously increased its intensity. "El Re'em… El Nahash…"

After saying those words, a pair of steel wings on his back, and giant lance on his right hand, and a chained pendulum around him, appeared. It was none other than the Angel of Yamai Kaguya and Yuzuru, the Berserk Twins.

"Nii-sama…! Are you… a Spirit too…?!" Mana asked him, in a volume enough for Shidou to hear even when they're a little far from each other. Though she cannot believe herself, as all known spirits were females.

Shidou glared at Mana after hearing her question. He then flew towards her, thanks to Raphael's ability, and stopped few meters in front of her.

"What do you think?" Shidou asked her with a straight look.

"Nii-sama, I-" She stopped as she felt her throat went dry.

His words seemed to be an unlimited blades that kept on piercing her body. She was frozen of the spot, seemingly afraid of the boy who wields an incredible amount of power who was in front of her.

"Well, think of whatever and we'll roll with that." Shidou shrugged. He flew closer to her, but Mana instinctively stayed away from him. He sighed and stopped getting closer to her.

"Now, it's my turn to ask a question…" Shidou said. The gusts of wind around him dissipated at the moment he finished his statement.

"Why did you kill her…?" Shidou asked his sister. "Why did you kill Kurumi?!" Shidou continued his question, but in a louder volume, enough to shake the wizard in front of him.

"Why… you ask…" Mana managed to find her voice again. "She killed many people before…!"

Shidou gripped the lance on his right hand. He seemed to be not satisfied, or rather, he was disappointed with Mana's answer.

"Is that your only reason?" He asked her again and narrowed his eyes. It's obvious that he didn't like her answer.

"My only what…?" Mana was surprised. She didn't expect that kind of reply from her brother.

To her, he seemed different from the time she met him before.

"Only reason?! She's a killer! She killed people! That's the more reason!" The blue-haired wizard replied. "Spirits like her must disappear from this world!" Mana continued as she held her tears. She doesn't like the feeling of her brother getting angry at her. Well, nobody does.

In an instant, Shidou dashed to Mana, tried to cut her into two with El Re'em on his right hand. Mana blocked the attack using her blade, stopping the attack. Their weapons were in contact and sparks of the blades could be seen from afar.

"If that's how you see it, then you're no different from them." Shidou said as he moved his left hand from El Re'em's handle, and then El Nahash started to circle around him. "In fact, you're worse than them." He continued and the chained pendulum went to mana, tying her whole body up.

"Wha-?!"

Without wasting any time, Shidou backed away and pulled the chains, dragging Mana out of her composure and crashing her down to the ground.

"Ngh-!" Mana grunted in pain as she was thrown down.

A loud crashing to the ground could be heard and thick dusts could be seen after Mana was dropped down to earth. She crashed on to the ground with a ridiculous speed, after all.

Shidou slowly descended to the ground and threw away El Re'em which was on his right hand. The giant lance disappeared to thin air as it lost physical contact with Shidou. In a moment, flames started to emit around him again.

Mana slowly stood up. She could feel her whole body in pain but that doesn't matter to her a bit. Her top priority was stopping her brother's berserk.

She opened her eyes and saw her brother few meters away from her, but she felt more fear than before after seeing him manifest another anomaly.

"Scorch, Camael!" Shidou raised his right hand and a burning halberd appeared.

But it didn't end there. The flames around him gathered on the halberd he was holding, completely covering it.

"Megiddo!" He shouted and the burning halberd on his right hand shrunk, then the blades disappeared, and it completely transformed into something else. Something that is not for close range combat weapon.

It's a cannon, Camael's another form, Megiddo.

"Nii-sama… stop it…!" Mana pleaded, but she knew pleading on him was futile.

"You people made the people dearest to me suffer, and you even killed one of them!" He said.

Immediately, the El Nahash, which was circling around him, transferred to Camael and tied itself on it. The cannon's flames intensified as the wind of the chained pendulum manifested around it. Fire and wind complement each other after all.

"You brought this to yourself, not me!" Shidou shouted and fired a single shot to Mana.

"-Ah!" Mana barely evaded Shidou's attack by flying upwards. She looked back to where the projectile headed through, and felt a shiver as she saw where it landed.

It hit a building 5 blocks from DEM, and it was instantly turned to ashes.

"Don't take your eyes off from your opponent!" Shidou fired another shot to Mana. He continued firing as Mana kept on evading it. Megiddo should have a slow firing rate but thanks to his idea by combining the wind of Raphael and the flames of Camael, the charging is faster than usual.

Mana flew away and kept her distance from his brother but Shidou didn't back down and gave her a chase while continuously firing Megiddo. They were flying in circles inside the half mile radius of DEM.

"Nii-sama, stop it, please! I beg you!" Mana shouted at her loudest volume for Shidou to hear while she kept on dodging Shidou's ridiculously fast firing shots.

She knew that she can evade Shidou's attacks as they're just projectiles, but she completely forgot the fact that he has some sort of anomaly and unexpected things were bound to happen.

Shidou analyzed her flying speed and pathway and fired at a location where she would be at a certain time.

"Wha-!" Mana stopped moving away and instinctively blocked the big ball of flame that was about to hit her using her blade. She didn't expect that his attacks would hit her, as her speed was almost her fastest already.

"Ngggghhhh…!" She continued to increase the force on her blade to cut the ball of flame into two. "Yaaaaahhhhh!" She succeeded in cutting it but she met her another nightmare.

Another ball of flame, but a little larger than the previous one, was heading on her direction, and she had zero time to block it nor fly away as it was just a few meters away from her while traveling in a fast speed. It was caused by none other than Shidou. He was charging Camael while Mana was busy trying to slice the ball of fire in front of her.

"Aaaahhhh…!" Mana got hit by the attack and exploded right on her. She lost her ability to fly and fell down on the ground.

Shidou descended to the ground and slowly walked towards Mana, who was lying down.

She slowly opened her eyes. She could feel the pain throughout her body but she still had the strength to stand up. Thanks to her realizer absorbing most of the impact.

She could see the dark skies, with the stars glittering all over. It was so peaceful on the heavens above, but it was the complete opposite on the land.

"Why…" she muttered while she was still lying on the ground. She lost her will to fight. She knew that she cannot overpower his brother. She knew that she can't defeat him. And she knew from the very start that it was her fault all along. But she had no choice, she had to do it.

But still, she kept on asking, "Why…"

"…Do you want me to tell you why?" Shidou said as he got close to her, a few meters away from his sister, and just remained standing on the spot.

Mana slowly sat up but she immediately lost her composure as she cringed in pain.

"You wouldn't feel the importance of something before it is taken from you…" He said. But truth to be told, it was just an excuse, as Shidou considered all of them important to him, even before he temporarily lost them.

"But still… why would you go as far as this…?" Mana asked him again as she completely gave up on standing up. Her fighting spirit left her, ever her determination was no longer in her.

"I am not obliged to answer that question to someone who doesn't understand the Spirits' feelings." Shidou said as he threw away Camael and it dissipated into thin air.

"Ah…" was all she could say.

Mana slowly closed her eyes. Tears slowly fell down from her eyes. She accepted that this might be her retribution after doing those things in the past.

She could feel the temperature going down but she cared less about it. She couldn't fight it anyway, nor even fight him.

Shidou kneeled down, with his right hand touching the ground. After a few seconds, he muttered something.

"Zadkiel…"

In an instant, about a quarter mile radius around him was covered in mist, and a huge rabbit manifested from nowhere. Mana opened her eyes slowly, and widened up as she saw the creature in front of her. She could see Shidou at the nape of the bunny, with his right hand stuck inside. Mana crawled back a little using her elbows due to mixed surprise and fear.

She's afraid to die, after all.

She could see that it was starting to snow, but it's no ordinary one. The snow were quite violent, and the winds were raging. She could feel her consciousness slipping away from her due to the massive snowstorm that's unusually happening.

In a few moments, her vision's starting to go dark, but she could still feel her consciousness. Then she realized, it wasn't her vision that was going dark, it was the skies above.

"…?!" She couldn't feel the cold anymore, thinking that because her body might be completely frozen.

But it wasn't.

She slowly sat up using her little strength, and realized that it also wasn't the skies that went pitch black. She learned that she's inside a barrier. She then looked for the source of Reiryoku, and it was coming from the giant rabbit few meters away from him, or no, it was coming from the person who was on that giant rabbit.

Shidou jumped down from the rabbit's back and slowly walked towards Mana who was sitting on the ground. She still had her blade on her right hand, giving Shidou a thought that she still had a will to fight.

But Mana didn't even fight him, she just evaded his attacks.

"…Nii-sama…" Mana's tears started to fall from her eyes. The one thing that she really cannot understand was why Shidou's fighting for the spirits. She now began to question herself.

'What have I been doing all the time…?' She asked herself. 'Am I doing the right thing…?'

'Did I do the right thing…?'

There's just no way that Shidou would act like this without a reason, even if just out of rage.

These questions kept on circling inside Mana's head. Doubt has started to build inside her, and not just directed to anything. It was directed to herself. She doubts herself, whether she did right thing or what she was doing was right.

"El Nahash…"

The injured wizard snapped back as she heard her brother mutter something. She then saw the chains around Shidou split into three, and headed through her way.

"…!" Mana wasn't able to protest nor defend herself as the chains tied her hands and feet. But not in a subtle manner, in fact, anyone could recognize how she was tied.

Her feet was tied by a single chain, while the other two was tied on each of her wrist. In short, she was crucified.

Her tears didn't stop and was visible to Shidou but it didn't help in changing his mind. Her thoughts were full of Shidou dead-on killing her right on the spot.

"…Nii…-sama…" Mana muttered between her cries.

Shidou ignored her call. He stepped back a bit as he gained independence from El Nahash, which was encircled around him, and now it was around Mana, restraining her.

"Sandalphon…!" Shidou said and stomped his right foot. In an instant, a golden seat, or let's say, a golden throne emerged from the ground beside him.

He walked behind it and grabbed a handle inside the backrest of the throne, and pulled it up by jumping up to the front, revealing a greatsword.

"…" Mana was speechless. She could feel more danger with the weapon Shidou just manifested. It has a different aura from the other Angels he used earlier.

After a few moments, Shidou sliced the throne in half, breaking it into shards. Those pieces didn't fall to the ground and instead, it covered Shidou's weapon, increasing its size and length.

"Halvanhelev." Shidou said as the final transformation of Sandalphon was attained.

Mana gasped after witnessing Shidou's actions. She couldn't believe what she just saw. And she could feel her fear growing by the second by just looking at the giant sword that Shidou's holding with his two hands, as the blades were emitting ominous energy.

'If it's Nii-sama, then I don't mind…' Mana thought to herself as she slowly closed her eyes. 'This is my retribution, after all.'

Shidou pointed Halvanhelev to Mana who was crucified few meters away from her, but the blade could reach her body from where he was standing. His hands were shaking, obviously because he was about to take a person's life, and it's not just anyone's life.

'…Don't falter now…!' Shidou said to himself as he narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He was fighting his greatest opponent, who was none other than himself.

He tightened his grip on Halvanhelev's handle, fighting the hesitation inside him. He lifted the enormous sword above him, gaining momentum and Reiryoku.

"…This is for Kurumi…" Shidou muttered as he brought the blade down, on a path where Mana would sliced in half.

But suddenly…

*KACHING!*

Something stopped Halvanhelev before getting in contact with Mana's body. The thing that blocked the huge blade was covered in flames.

"Wha-?!" Shidou was surprised.

After a few moments, the flames dissipated, revealing a girl wearing a traditional Japanese dress, with a floating sash around her. The girl seemed to be in her adolescent years, having a crimson red hair that's almost matching with the flames around her. She's holding a burning black halberd, and it was the thing that stopped Shidou from killing Mana.

"Kotori…?" Shidou was surprised more after seeing his foster sister in this place. He made sure that the barrier was cut off from the outside, yet her little sister managed to come inside.

"What… are you doing?!" Shidou asked Kotori in a louder tone, not because he's mad or angry, but he was afraid.

Kotori pushed Shidou's blade and blew it away using his halberd, Camael. But Shidou didn't let go of the sword and he was also pushed back.

"…Itsuka… Kotori…?" Mana called her name after opening her eyes as she learned that Kotori's here.

Kotori glanced behind her and glared to the person who was crucified by El Nahash. She just smirked at Mana, implying that she'll take care of the rest.

'…Itsuka… Kotori… is a spirit too…?' Mana thought. Somehow, she felt relieved that she was protected by Kotori.

'…Ah, this is probably what Nii-sama meant…' Mana slowly closed her eyes, her consciousness was drifting away from her. '…Ah, I get it now…'

She then lost consciousness. Her head bowed down independently.

Kotori looked back to Shidou after Mana lost her sensibility.

"That should be my God-forsaken line!" Kotori shouted and the flames around her got stronger. "You're about to kill your SISTER!" She hated emphasizing the word sister, but she doesn't have a choice. If it means to stop his brother from running amok, then it's just a small pinch.

"I know exactly what I am doing…!" Shidou replied and dashed to Kotori. Seems like he's eager to fight her little sister.

Kotori was surprised with his reply. She thought that Shidou had gone berserk, but he was completely sane. He was dead serious on killing Mana.

But she couldn't allow it. No matter what, Takamiya Mana has to live. And she cannot let Shidou, of all people, kill her. The result would be worse than 5 spirits going berserk in Tenguu City.

Kotori blocked the massive sword as it tried to cut her in to two using Camael. The blades of the two Angels sparked and released different energy, destroying the barrier of Zadkiel, along with the giant rabbit disappearing on scene. They backed away from each other to get some breathing room after a minute of clashing.

"How did you get inside Zadkiel's barrier?" Shidou asked Kotori, who was in front of him.

"You're the one who did it first. You should know why." Kotori replied.

Shidou remembered his first encounter with Yoshino. What she said was true, he was the one who entered Yoshino's barrier, after all. But it took all of his energy just to enter because Efreet's Reiryoku was acting passively at that time.

"Now it's time for me to ask a question." Kotori said as she loosened her grip with Camael. "Why are you trying to kill Mana? Have you forgotten our agreement?" She asked.

Shidou froze. Yes, they did have an agreement that they should capture Mana alive. And now he's trying to kill her, which was the opposite of their objective.

"…" he didn't reply.

"Hnnn?" Kotori hummed. She probably guessed what he was thinking.

But what she guessed was dead true. And she didn't expect it to be true.

"She killed Kurumi. That's why."

Kotori's eyes widened.

"Where is she?" Kotori asked her. There's something that's bugging her mind, and she's about to confirm it.

Shidou pointed his finger on the building that had fallen. From there, Kotori could see a person with vermillion Gothic Lolita dress, lying on the ground.

Kotori descended to the ground and walked towards Kurumi. She inspected the body if it really belongs to the Nightmare, or if it's really Kurumi, and not just a clone. Shidou followed her, with Halvanhelev still on his right hand.

She dematerialized Camael and kneeled down beside the unconscious spirit. She then lifted her right arm, with bluish haze flames covered it afterwards. She placed her hand on top of Kurumi's head, and ran down through her body.

"What… are you doing…?" Shidou asked her little sister.

Kotori didn't reply to him and just continued what she was doing. She repeated it for about 5 times before standing up with a shocked expression.

"Kurumi still have vital signs but they're weak." She said as she turned to Shidou. He seemed to be surprised with what she just discovered.

"Then…?"

"Yes, she's still alive but her life is in danger. She won't last without proper attention." Kotori said as her astral dress disappeared and returned to her usual uniform. "She might die if she's not treated immediately."

Shidou kneeled down as the sword on his right dematerialized. He seemed to be relieved, that Kurumi's still alive. At the same time, his fear was still in him, as he learned that she could really die at any moment.

"I've contacted the medical team, they should be here in a few moments." Kotori said.

"Thanks… and I'm sorry." Shidou said and looked away from his sister.

The twin-tailed girl walked up to him and hit his head.

"Ow…!" Shidou cried in pain.

"Learn to control yourself, you idiot! If you went berserk back there, I might be forced to do something that I do not want to do ever." Kotori said as she crossed her arms. "I don't want that to happen… You know." The little sister's tears started to fall from her eyes, but she wiped it immediately as she looked away from him

Shidou patted her head and said, "I'm sorry. This won't happen again, I promise."

After that, a bunch of people with stretchers appeared on scene, with a person that is familiar to Shidou. He took his hand back from Kotori's head.

"Commander! Are you okay?!" The person asked as she approached Kotori. That person was the second-in-command of Fraxinus, Kyouhei Kannazuki.

Kotori just nodded as a reply. "Shidou, bring Mana down." Kotori ordered.

"Ah…" Shidou totally forgot about his other sister, who was still tied up and unconscious. He took El Nahash back and caught her down.

Shidou walked back to Kotori and laid down Mana beside Kurumi.

"Kannazuki, bring Kurumi back to Fraxinus for temporary treatment. She's our top priority for now." Kotori ordered. "After that, we'll transfer her to the hospital."

"Yes!" Kannazuki replied. "Um, what about Takamiya Mana?" He asked.

"We'll take her in custody." Kotori replied. "Give her some treatment too. Can't have her dying right now."

He nodded as a reply. "Commander, this is for you. From Head Analyst Murasame." He said and handed a paper bag. "I didn't look at the contents, I promise."

Kotori took the paper bag and took a look inside. There's another thing inside which was covered by some wrapper. She then tore the wrapper up without taking it out and saw another set of her uniform.

'That Reine.' She thought and sighed.

"I'll be off now, Commander." Kannazuki said and got to work.

~o~O~o~

After a few minutes, the team left the scene, leaving Kotori and Shidou alone. They deliberately let themselves be left behind because they still have something to do. Something that they cannot show when there're people around them.

"So tell me Shidou, what did you do?" Kotori said bluntly.

The blue haired boy was confused with her sudden question. "What did I do what?"

"Kurumi's supposedly dead, judging from the wound she had in her heart." Kotori said.

Shidou was confused even more. "Wait, how did you know?" Shidou asked in confusion.

"I learned that when I examined her body earlier. That's why." The redhead explained. "And also…"

"Hmm?"

"I've discovered large traces of my Reiryoku inside her body. It was the one holding her life." Kotori said with a serious look. "What did you do?"

Shidou was surprised with what Kotori just explained to him. He had no idea about what she's saying.

"I have no idea." Shidou replied.

Kotori narrowed her eyes. She seemed to be unsatisfied with his answers. She got this feeling that he's hiding something, something that she doesn't know about the Fire Spirit's abilities.

"If you say so." She replied and looked away. A shade of pink could be seen on her cheeks. "Hey, uhm…"

"What is it now?" Shidou asked. He's getting pretty nervous with Kotori's actions.

"You know… that." Kotori said, emphasizing the word 'that'. Her blushes are getting intense. Though Shidou didn't know the reason why she's at that state right now.

"What's that?" Shidou asked again.

Kotori was getting flustered every second. She cannot bring herself to say it. It's just too embarrassing.

If you're wondering what that is, it's about sealing her powers. Yes, she just reclaimed her Reiryoku which was sealed inside Shidou, completely. And now it must be sealed again, and there's only one method to do it.

"Ah, Mou! Learn to be sensitive!" Kotori said as she rubbed her hair in irritation. "My Reiryoku! You have to seal it again!"

It took Shidou 10 seconds to process what she just said. He had totally forgotten about sealing her powers. And what's more, the method used to seal it.

"I, uh-" Shidou suddenly turned red.

Kotori didn't say a word and just crossed her arms without looking at him. It's clear as the day that she's embarrassed too.

"Alright." Shidou said as he composed himself.

"Elohim Gibor!" Kotori called and she was instantly covered in flames, transforming her current clothes into a traditional Japanese dress, with a floating sash around her. The usual twin-tail hairstyle of hers was no more as her hair's down straight.

"Now Shi-!" She didn't manage to complete her call because she saw Shidou already walking towards her. She was startled, and her flustered face became more flustered.

Shidou grabbed Kotori's shoulders as he got closer to her. He stared deeply in her crimson red eyes that has a matching color with her hair. They were covered in flames, seemingly giving off a romantic atmosphere.

"Kotori…" Shidou called.

"W-what i-iss it…?" Kotori stuttered.

"Kotori…!" Shidou called again, but in a higher volume.

"I c-can hear y-you clearly! No need to s-shout!" she replied again.

"Do you l-" Shidou was interrupted when something made contact with his lips.

To his shock, Kotori initiated the kiss. She had her eyes closed, as she was totally embarrassed, yet happy at the same time.

There's no way in hell that she's gonna repeat what she said back then when she first reclaimed her Reiryoku from Shidou.

After a few moments, her astral dress started to glow and dissipated slowly, implying that her Reiryoku's going back to Shidou. When the sealing was complete, her dress was gone, and she's completely naked.

She then broke away the kiss and threw herself onto her brother.

"Kotori…" Shidou called again.

"Don't…look" She said as she buried her face on Shidou's chest. "Onii…-chan… could you… turn around…?" She asked.

Shidou was surprised by her sudden change of personality. He then patted her head, and learned that she's not wearing any ribbon, as the ribbon fell down on the ground.

"I got it." Shidou said and abided with her request.

Kotori took the clothes out from the paper bag that she got from Kannazuki, err, mainly from Reine. She wore it one by one, from her undergarments up to her uniform. Duh, it's obvious. Unless someone wears clothes first before undergarments. She then picked up the black ribbons on the ground and tied it to her usual twin-tail style.

"Alright, we're good." Kotori said as she took a chupa chups from the pocket of her uniform and ate it. That lollipop was included in the package.

Shidou turned to Kotori and saw her in her usual uniform. At least she's not wearing something unusual.

"Come on, you want to see her, right?" Kotori said, emphasizing the word her.

Shidou didn't say a word and just nodded as a reply.

~o~O~o~

Inside the Fraxinus, there were two siblings walking down on the corridors, seemingly heading towards a certain room. A redhead twin-tailed girl, wearing a red uniform on top of her white collar shirt, with pairing red skirt, and a blue-haired boy wearing his usual jacket and white T-Shirt.

"It's here." The girl said as they arrived on a certain door that has a sign above it as "Infirmary".

The boy didn't say anything and just followed his sister as she went inside the room.

"We're not allowing any visitors, so you can stay here in the lounge, Shidou." The girl said to him.

Shidou didn't reply and looked through the glass window. Inside, he saw five girls lying on the bed, with electrodes attached on their bodies. They seem to not have come yet into their senses.

"Kotori, how are they?" Shidou asked his sister, Itsuka Kotori.

"We've just given them temporary medications for now, so I can't say anything yet." Kotori said. "We will move them to the hospital in six hours to have proper medication, so I'll inform you later."

Shidou didn't reply a word and stared through the window. They just look fine in plain sight but they're seriously not okay, especially a certain dark black-haired girl, who got Shidou's attention mostly. The girl who just got stabbed in her heart and still miraculously survived, but at the same time, she's also at death's door.

"Kurumi…" Shidou muttered the name of the girl and touched the glass window. "I'm sorry…! I didn't make it in time…"

Kotori heard what he just murmured and sighed in disappointment.

"It's not my place to say this, but do you think she would be happy if she saw you in that state?" Kotori said, trying to knock some sense on him. "You should focus on whatever you can do for now, and be there when she wakes up. Moping over her right now won't do any good for her and for yourself." She said.

"But… there's a high chance that she won't wake up…" Shidou said dejectedly. Depressed aura obviously surrounds Shidou.

"And I didn't say that there's no chance of her waking up!" Kotori said in a louder voice due to irritation. "How pessimistic can you be?" Kotori continued her rant.

"But…" Shidou didn't even manage to finish his statement.

"I'm doing everything I can to save her, because I owe her A LOT this time!" Kotori said. "If it wasn't for her, you would be dead right before you stepped on DEM's territory!"

"That's why I'm here, giving her my full attention and doing my best to keep her alive, even though I really do not like it!"

"So wipe that depressed look off your face and get a hold of yourself! You're not helping anyone when you're back in that state!"

Shidou was frozen on the spot. He wasn't expecting her to care about Kurumi, but nonetheless, he was happy, happy that she finally accepted the Spirit who was deemed to be the cruelest among all spirits.

"D-don't get me wrong, I'm just repaying my d-debt to her, that's all." Kotori said as she looked away in embarrassment.

"I know." Shidou said, even know he knew that she was lying. "You're right, Kotori. I can't stay like this forever."

"As long as you understand, then it's fine." Kotori said and flashed a smile. "I've prepared a room for you here, so you-" She was interrupted.

"No, I'd rather stay in the house." Shidou said as he swung his head. "Or else, I won't be able to sleep because for sure, I'll have the urge to stay here." He continued.

"If you say so…" Kotori said and walked away. "I've got things to do, so I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Shidou said as he followed her out of the room and headed out of the Fraxinus.

~o~O~o~

Shidou was ported out of the Fraxinus, and landed in a dark alley. There's still few hours before morning kicks in. The streets were empty, and some shops were closed already. It's still dawn, after all, or more likely, because of the spacequake alarm earlier. He's feeling hungry, but nothing's available right now as even the convenience stores and vending machines were not operational.

"I guess I'll just cook something at home…" Shidou said to himself.

He just remembered yesterday, before everything of these happened. He was on a date with Tokisaki Kurumi, the person who was with him almost all the time in the past few days. Now that she's not beside him, Shidou feels different.

"Kurumi…" He muttered her name as he kept on walking down the streets.

He wondered about these feelings lingering inside him. He actually felt this before, but he didn't know what it was. Now that Kurumi's not beside him, these feelings grew more intense, but painful that makes him feel restless.

He clenched his chest tightly, but it didn't help on easing the pain. He took few deep breaths and it calmed him down, but only a little.

He sighed and increased his walking speed. After a few minutes, he arrived at the gates of their home. His hand stopped before it made contact with the gate. A thought of 'everything of it was just a dream' popped inside his mind.

But he himself knew that this was reality. The truth. Defined by some people as the first casualty of war.

He hit his cheeks with his two hands and opened the gates. He then headed straight inside the house without thinking of anything that could distract him.

He arrived at the living room. He somewhat felt a feeling of déjà vu as he walked around it. It was the same feeling few days ago after he got back from the ambush.

But it was different today.

'Shidou…' His mind got ahead of him and saw a projection of Kurumi sitting on the chair at the dining table, calling his name with a smile.

Of course, he completely knew that it was just his imaginations. He won't stoop that low that he'll relieve himself with delusions. This is reality, after all.

He looked away from his hallucinations and went upstairs. He headed straight to his room and threw himself on his bed as he got inside.

He totally forgot about food.

"Kurumi…" He muttered while his face was buried on the sheets.

He sat up and placed his head on his hands, with his elbow on his knees. He cannot hold his tears anymore. His emotions were about to break.

"I shouldn't…." He murmured between his soft cries as he wiped his tears but they kept on flowing down.

"I… know I shouldn't be like… this…" He continued to speak between his cries. "But, it's alright for me… to cry for now… right…?"

He let all of his emotions out and cried as much as he could. The feelings he had for Kurumi were getting more and more intense.

He was saved by her. She was there when he needed a companion. He got her full support, from his daily activities up to the suicide mission he just did. Even if it was just for a few days. She gave her everything for him.

"…Kurumi…!" He called her name as his cries were getting intense, but he kept his voice down.

He now completely realize all of the uncertain feelings he had for Kurumi. And he regretted it for not realizing it sooner, as it took this much sacrifice in order for him to recognize these feelings.

"…I love you… Kurumi…"

Alright! That's Chapter 10! Epilogue Part 2! Next chapter is the final part of the Epilogue! Will center most around to our main pairing. Doesn't it already center at them since from the very start? XD

Anyways, yeah, once more, this is NOT the last chapter yet. There's another one, and it would be the last, I promise! Don't worry, I can work on it in a few days and I will upload it immediately when it's done. If I can finish it fast, I can upload it on Christmas Eve or before Christmas day ends. It won't take next year to finish the epilogue, I promise it :)

Anyways, thanks for the wonderful support again! Love ya guys! See you in the Epilogue!