Commandments of Capturing
Chapter 14 – Aftermath
Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ
Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi
Written by: wrathie
Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.
Author's Notes: I think I'm the only Fanfic writer that thinks updating after 3 weeks is long, but I digress really.
I'm having a bit of difficulty still, so yeah, expect some delays.
Thank you, bowpurity for the beta!
..
'Shido!'
The anguish cry from Tobiichi Origami would be enough to wake the dead, but Katsuragi Keima did not move from his spot in one of the upper level classrooms even as Haqua winced while turning to look at him instead. The two of them had been keeping a close look at what the two of them were doing, at least Haqua was. Keima was gaming as what he was wont to do.
'Itsuka-san just got accidentally shot by Tobiichi-san, Katsuragi! Shouldn't we help them?'
Haqua asked out of politeness than anything else, she herself knew that she should be offering help right now but circumstances were set that she could not do so without causing even more repercussions in the future. One should also note that it was Haqua, a demon who actually thought about saving a human, and a human like Keima didn't even bat an eyelid at all upon hearing the news. It does kind of reflect to the world the state of humanity, doesn't it?
For his part however, Keima was more than willing to ignore it due to the fact that he knew that there would be help rendered to Shido within a few minutes that would arrive faster than he could muster by himself. They were just a few rooms away from the infirmary after all and since Reine was there, he really doubted that anything would happen to Shido.
Lastly, Shido was the protagonist, there was no way that a protagonist would die like that in such an anti-climatic way before even claiming a heroine by himself.
Then again, it could signify the end of the Tobiichi Origami route... so perhaps that went exactly according to plan?
It wouldn't be technically the first time that Keima would have seen some a plot develop in the exact same manner. The protagonist taking a bullet for his crazed, revenged obsessed friend and persuading said friend to give up vengeance for his sake with his dying words, something of that effect. In fact Keima was willing to bet that it was adapted in some way into a Hollywood blockbuster, a popular novel and probably on TV and even Radio Narrations as well.
It was just so clique that Keima such an event shouldn't even register on his radar. It was a just a phase, and he really doubted that Shido was really badly injured.
'He'll be fine, Haqua. He's the protagonist.'
'He was shot in the chest, Katsuragi. I really don't think anyone could be fine being shot there.'
Haqua deadpanned and despite the fact that they were talking about someone potentially dying, she herself didn't sound too bothered as well. She was a demon after all, but that news did make Keima turn to look at her sceptically.
'You are certain that it was a fatal shot?'
Keima's question made Haqua sniff unhappily but she stood by her words. It was a fatal shot, and perhaps because she knew that it was fatal and she couldn't do anything about it did she never rush Keima as well.
Keima on the other hand paled while gripping his PFP tightly, a protagonist couldn't really die, could he? But just as quickly as he had tensed, Keima narrowed his eyes, straightened his back and replied slowly and deliberately.
'… If it is a fatal shot, explain to me how is Itsuka Shido still able to converse with Tobiichi Origami, Haqua?'
'W-Wait, what?'
It was Haqua's turn to look shocked as she pushed Keima aside to look at the display on her raiment instead. True to Keima's words, Shido was looking extremely pale, but was indeed doing his best to speak with Origami and Tohka, the two girls kneeling beside him.
'It IS a fatal shot! It should have gone through his heart! What the hell is wrong with humans that I know?!'
Haqua's own shrill cry of disbelief aside, Keima closed one eye to muster his concentration even as he felt his handphone ring, a sure sign that Ratatoskr was looking for him.
Perhaps it's time to put the finishing touches on the route of Tobiichi Origami after all?
..
'Please, stop this, Origami...'
Every part of his body hurt. All Shido could do when he realized that Origami was pulling the trigger was to leap forward to push Tohka out of the way of Origami's shot. His body had moved without him realizing it, he didn't even know why he did it! As clique as it might seem but it was the truth and he had taken the shot for Tohka for some reason. He did it willingly even if he did not know why he did so? Did he react like that because of Tohka? Or was it for Origami? Could it be for both? But why would he want to do that? Didn't he have any sense of self-preservation at all?
The first thing anyone one do or think of was for themselves, right? Even if protagonists does have the selflessness aspect written in their bodies and soul, Shido had none of that. He was just a normal high school student and it had been barely two weeks since he delved deep into the darkness that was Ratatoskr and the spirits. It was just too short a time frame for him to develop any of those heroic aspects, right? But something in him had compelled him to do so, to save Tohka and maybe to save Origami as well... and Shido didn't regret that.
Initially the situation hadn't seemed too bad, there was pain but more importantly there was numbness in the part where he had been shot. It was only when numbness set it, the strength slowly leaving him did the severity of the situation finally kicked in. The adrenaline that was holding him up wore off, causing him to drop to the floor in both shock and disbelief at what he had done.
He had been shot after all, even if it hadn't hurt as much as it should have, he was still dying from the wound.
Shido didn't want to die, he really didn't want to. Who wanted to die in the world anyway, certainly not Itsuka Shido. Ironically that his self-preservation finally kicked in when it was too late. He tried his best to keep himself calm and collected even if he was obviously bleeding out in front of the girls that were now kneeling beside him. Odd he hadn't even realized the two of them until now, the two of them looked at him in shock, unsure what to do or what they could do.
He was also vaguely aware that Origami had screamed his name in desperation the moment she had seen him jumping towards Tohka to save her. She had probably registered the fact a little too late as she had fired, he had jumped, and somehow managed to save Tohka and get him fatally wounded instead.
Life really worked in mysterious ways and Shido found himself in a quite surreal situation. The wound hurt, he was losing lots of blood and he had lost all feeling around his chest that it didn't really hurt anymore.
He just felt very tired, like all his strength was leaving him, which it was.
The two girls who had been quarrelling earlier, Tohka and Origami were kneeling by him, although he noted that Tohka was quite some distance away. That said, he could vaguely recall seeing Origami shoving Tohka back to try to tend to him. He was probably too occupied with his own wounds earlier to notice.
Origami was sobbing hard, quite unlike the emotionless porcelain doll impression that he was used to. Tears were running down her cheeks, she was sniffing and no matter how she wiped them away with her sleeve, her tears kept on falling and splashing down on him. Shido felt very cold and the areas where her tears splatted on his skin told him that her tears were warm. It comforted him a little that Origami was weeping for him too.
Origami would be sad if he died, Tohka too looked like she was about to cry even though her face displayed shock more than sadness. Kotori would be sad too, she won't forgive her onii-chan for dying like that before completing his mission right?
So Shido couldn't die, at least he told himself that. But if he failed in that, he had to say something first at least.
It was the right time for something that Keima taught him before.
That the setting and the atmosphere was everything. This setting was dramatic and emotionally tying enough that no matter what he said would be remembered by the two girls right now, which was good for it was something that was very important for the two of them.
A cynical part of him also noted that he was really influenced by Katsuragi Keima for him to even think about something like this in such a dire situation. But Shido didn't want to die, he had so much to do... so even if he could treat this like his final words, he truly didn't want to be remembered in this manner. So he'll just have to take advantage of the situation while fighting for his own life at the same time. A battle on two fronts, Keima could be proud.
'Please, Origami... I... don't want you to be hurt even more by... your own hatred.'
Shido tried his best to smile at Origami even as the pale haired girl begged him to stop talking. That's odd, it was a total reverse of how their relationship was like.
It was Origami who was babbling and speaking non-stop while Shido was the one who was laconic, and barely able to get his point across. It would have been funny, if he wasn't in the danger of falling asleep and not waking up forever.
'So please... w-won't you stop... all this? I... I...'
Shido suddenly coughed even as his vision swam even as they darkened, damn, it looks like he wasn't able to finish the words that might persuade Origami to stop hating Tohka. He had a damn good shot of doing so too!
'S-Shido! Shido! P-Please, wake up, Shido!'
..
Tohka started when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she nearly crushed the hand that she had grabbed when she saw that it was Katsuragi Keima. She was so relieved that it was him that she hugged him almost instantly, and her breathing became calmer when he comforted her by petting on her shoulder as well.
'I heard what happened, how is Itsuka-san doing?'
Keima asked softly even as Tohka started sobbing softly as well outside of the ward that housed Shido after Murasame Reine had discovered the dying Itsuka Shido together with the two of them and called the ambulance to bring him away. Tohka hadn't been allowed to ride the ambulance with him and it was cold comfort that Origami hadn't been able to. Thankfully Reine had been more than willing to drive the two of them to chase after the ambulance, which was the only reason that Tohka had been able to stay with Shido at all.
Everything happened so fast that Tohka wasn't really able to come to terms with what had happened so far. It was perhaps exactly like what Keima had wanted Tohka to experience, the highs and the lows of being human. She had experienced the best of what school life had to offer with her new friends but at the same time, experienced one of the worse things that could happen to someone, that of someone dying in front of them.
Even if Tohka was grateful for what Shido had said, he had tried his best to get the girl from AST to stop going after her after all, she still felt a little awkward about him in general as even if he wanted to help, he was also seeing the AST girl. Just thinking about it made her very upset.
Tohka also was determined to not let Keima know about that for she felt that he would get upset if he knew about how another person had tried to do the same thing he succeeded with her.
'R-Reine says that he'll be fine after some sleep.'
There was a sound of outrage at the end of the corridor and both Tohka and Keima looked over to see Origami punching the wall in frustration. She obviously disagreed with Tohka's words but she did flinched momentarily before looking extremely guilty again. The silver haired girl no doubt remembering that she was the one who had actually hurt Shido.
Keima wasn't surprised to see the two of them outside Shido's ward, united in their worry even if they were obviously still not getting along.
Keima really doubted that was the real diagnosis seeing how the bullet had indeed gone through his heart like Haqua had said it had. There was no mistaking that the shot that was delivered was a fatal one. Keima also believed that Origami probably knew that as well, but since it was her boyfriend who had somehow been stabilized and was recovering, she really couldn't care more at this point. It was just too bad that Origami had lost serious points with Keima due to that. Tobiichi Origami was a heroine, there was no doubt about that but the important point was how she was a heroine who was involved with the supernatural.
If Tobiichi Origami did not find this odd, or worth investigating, the AST was a bunch of useless imbeciles.
'I see... I'm glad. I hope that you were not hurt as well.'
Keima delivered the lines that needed delivering even as he kept his eyes on Origami, who was still looking down at her feet in regret and shame. There was no doubt that Tohka was blushing to the root of her hair right now but Keima really had no time to deal with her obsessive clingy nature right now. He was here not only to find answers, but to perhaps witness the closing chapters of Tobiichi Origami's route by Itsuka Shido. There was surely some back history that Shido and Keima wasn't privy to, and there was a chance that this was the best change, their best chance to know what was going on or what had been going between the two of them in the past.
'No, I wasn't hurt... thank you for asking, Keima.'
Tohka sounded genuinely happy even as Keima slowly pried Tohka off him, the mere fact that he had been allowed to do so without Tohka protesting hinting at how deeply that this had affected Tohka.
Keima himself wasn't surprised at that. As far as he knew of, the 'Princess' had never drawn blood or killed anyone despite the many times that AST had gone against her. That was the crux of Keima's argument that had caused AST to withdrew in the first place, and as such, this was the first time that Tohka was faced with death or a very serious injury. The wound that Shido had sported looked was bad, and the ever growing stain blood stain on his shirt would have been a constant reminder all the time they were with him, for both Tohka as well as Origami.
Keima had really hoped that Tohka's first 'negative' experience would actually be disappointment during one of her school assignments and not something on the extreme end like serious injury. But the real apparently had other plans for Tohka, or perhaps it was Shido's idea to get injured in that manner to try and defuse the situation between the two of them. It was something that he wouldn't recommend as Shido didn't have any supernatural abilities... or did he? If Keima was proven wrong and Shido had really planned and executed this out by himself, he would be very surprised. It would also be time for him to admit that Shido might really have talent in the area of 'capturing'. He wasn't sure that he himself could pull this particular scene off as well as Shido did. After all, he had not just potentially defused a very dangerous situation but had also sowed the seeds to end the conflict between the two major parties while potentially opening the Tohka 'route' or at least ensuring that he could finish the 'Origami' route. It was more than killing two birds with one stone, maybe one stone for three birds here?
..
'So... what really happened? They told me that Itsuka-san was shot while showing you around. I rushed over as fast as I could, but what really happened? Was there an attack on you, Tohka? Did someone try to shoot you? Was it AST?'
Keima was playing the role of the concerned friend, or in this case, savior while looking at Tohka in the eyes, staring deep into her awestruck, embarrassed by no doubt delighted eyes before Origami interrupted the two of them.
'She's the one at fault! She is! How many things must you take away from me?!'
Origami screamed at the two of them from her seat even as she slammed her fists on the chair that she was sitting on hard, her eyes blazing with anger. It was thankful that the ward was located at a private wing of the hospital, or they would surely have been chased out by now.
For Tohka's benefit, she did squirm slightly but kept her ground while muttering to Keima saying that it wasn't her fault.
She had almost lost control over her own emotions, almost but she didn't. It was Origami who had started it after all!
Tohka didn't have the chance to explain herself as Origami simply exploded further.
'It IS your fault! How many people must you take from me, spirit?! Is it not enough that you have to kill my parents in the great fire 5 years ago? How many lives must you kill before you are satisfied! How much... how much more must you TAKE BEFORE YOU ARE SATISFIED!'
Origami demanded even as Tohka flinched even more, somehow managing to hide herself behind Keima even as the Capturing God looked at the screaming and emotional girl that was raging in front of him.
He had expected this, he seriously did, but to say that he wasn't disappointed was a massive understatement. Tobiichi Origami had been a very hard character to judge, and since he had been proven wrong once by the quiet genius, she didn't want to get caught unaware by her again.
That said, her performance this time around was a huge disappointment. She had been anything but calm and rational, and in various points of her interaction with Tohka, had obviously wanted to abuse the position she was in. She did not even try to leverage on the one information that had almost downed Ratatoskr and Tohka, her link with Murasame Reine.
That did not bode well for someone who wanted the title of main heroine. Heroines earn their places and even if one might beg to differ, saying that the ideal doesn't always ensure that the good girls would win and would instead prefer the bad girls to be chosen by the members of the opposite sex. Even if Keima wanted to say that it was generalization of the real in general, he wouldn't waste his breath because the real and the ideal were different after all.
But no matter how you look at the situation, from the way that Origami refused to back down in her antagonizing attempts despite Tohka trying her best to fit in with the class, to how she was obviously threatening Tohka with that handgun of hers, it was Origami's fault.
Any jury in the world would rule in Tohka's favor and he was sure that Origami herself knew that as well. But seeing how she was still making a scene while accusing Tohka, she did not accept it. Enough, was enough, it's time to get involved.
'That's enough, Tobiichi.'
Keima spoke out sternly and loudly, cutting Origami off even as Tohka perked up behind him, her hands loosening her grip on his shoulder even as Origami turned to stare at him instead.
'No doubt you have something against Spirits, and they might have taken many precious things from you.'
Keima paused slightly as he felt a small strangled sob coming from Tohka behind him, no doubt she expected him to defend her and not Origami. Tough, life wasn't a picnic after all and facing the facts, no matter how cruel it might be was also part of life.
'But Tohka is not the spirit that has taken those things from you. I have no right, nor have I no say to persuade or to tell you to stop hating the Spirit responsible for that. But...'
Pausing for the dramatic effect, Keima guided Tohka to stand in front of him, the beautiful girl freezing in shock even as Origami look at the both of them in a mixture of shock, anger as well as disbelief at what Keima was saying.
Perhaps not really disbelief either, it was a speech that was clique to the max, and it was similar to the speech that he had delivered to AST after all. But Origami had always seemed to be an individual who was a little more stubborn than others, perhaps this was the time to fix that for real.
'Tohka is not that spirit that you are after. It is not fair for me to expect that I can persuade you to stop hating all spirits, but I do want you to stop hating Tohka for what she had never done.'
Keima allowed what he had said to sink in for a few moments before like Origami before him, tossed the most cruel line back to Origami even as he led a very bewildered and embarrassed Tohka away.
'You were the one who shot at her first, weren't you?'
So perhaps he was more than a little petty after what Origami had done to him before at his own home that he just had to rub it in a little bit more.
So sue him.
..
It happened the night that Itsuka Shido continued to be warded in the hospital, Tobiichi Origami was summoned back to the headquarters of AST in the middle of the night.
The sight of her captain, Kusake Ryouko looking at her sternly before sighing to herself was a sign of how bad the situation was going to be. Knowing that, it would be difficult for anyone to not wince, but Origami managed to keep her face impassive even as she took the seat offered to her.
'Is there a deployment, Captain?'
Orgami kept her voice strictly neutral even as she knew that it was probably much more than that, she had been reflecting on her own actions the whole time and she found her actions to be severely lacking in many areas.
'No, I called you here to tell you that you are suspended, Tobiichi.'
Origami was expecting this but her jaw still dropped a little before she recovered. Granted the possibility of it happening was just too high. It was probably decided the moment she had decided to bring and conceal the handgun in her body, but for them to make a decision so soon? Were they really monitoring the situation in such detail after all?
'W-What, what do you mean by that, Captain?'
'You know exactly what I mean, Tobiichi. You're officially suspended until further notice. You couldn't just calm down enough, couldn't you?'
The captain of the Anti-Spirit Team, Kusakabe Ryouko shook her head wearily at her subordinate, Lieutenant Tobiichi Origami even as the smaller and younger girl clenched her fist in anger. It must be frustrating for her, but she had been the one who had endangered their entire mission by attempting an unauthorized hit on the 'Princess'. There was just no way it could have succeeded, not when Tobiichi wasn't fully suited or had access to the weapons they normally had.
A normal handgun would never hurt a Spirit.
'You're normally calmer than this, Tobiichi. That's why I didn't assign more people to monitor the 'Princess'... but you cracked after less than a day, do you have something against the 'Princess'? Or was that boy, Katsuragi Keima making things difficult?'
Ryouko asked in concern even as Origami looked down herself. Tobiichi Origami had been an AST member five years ago, and even if she wasn't the expressive of her subordinates, she was one of the better ones who had a cool head under fire, worked hard and was also exceptionally talented.
She had hopes that she would cool down a little over the years, Origami had been obsessed with hunting Spirits since she had joined them after all, and her thirst for revenge had never been quenched no matter how many battles she had participated in. Perhaps it was due to how she and AST had never been able to really take down Spirits besides that one particular Spirit.
'… I am sorry, Captain.'
Origami replied while looking down and Ryouko immediately felt a little bad at the situation. She really wanted to give the assignment to Origami as it would cause the least problems, and since she could also monitor the oddball Katsuragi, it was like killing two birds with one stone. But it hadn't worked out as she had planned, maybe she should have expected that as well.
'No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I expected more of you, Origami. Your track record was excellent and you were more than qualified to take on the role of an observer, I was even about to recommend you to given the rights to apprehend the two of them if you find them doing something suspicious... but right now...'
Origami was suspended, and there was nothing she could do about it. Ryouko even felt that it was a very small punishment for what she had done. Origami could have been fired from AST, her memories might even be modified or at least she would be redeployed to another area.
It was a small blessing in disguise that it was just a suspension, and even if Ryouko had tried to appeal for a lighter sentence, she hadn't in the end as she felt it was already too light. Like a small slap on her wrist. That they had done so was a huge relief and Ryouko reached out to hold Origami's hands to reassure her.
'Be patient, Tobiichi. That's all that we ask you for. I'll fight to get you back in active service again soon... so till then, you'll have to keep your eyes open and ears peeled, got it?'
Ryouko ended her interview with Origami by rubbing a hand across her head in a friendly manner. Even if she was their commander, she viewed herself more as a bigger sister to many of them. The AST was made up of many individuals who had lost their parents in the great fire five years ago, and they really had no one to call family but themselves.
'And Tobiichi.'
Ryouko waited for her to look back at her again, her eyes visibly downcast even as she tried to smile to encourage the girl.
'Please, don't do anything foolish. I don't want anything to happen to you... I worry... and Think about the people who love you too.'
'…'
Ryouko knew that Origami lost her parents due to the Spirits, but surely there were people out there that she viewed and they viewed her as precious, right?
'… Thank you, Captain.'
'But... could I ask you for a favor, Captain?'
'Mm... sure, what is it that you need, Tobiichi?'
'Could you look up the background information about someone for me? I'm... investigating something.'
..
'Are you feeling alright, Tohka? I hope you aren't too shocked by what happened to you. I assure you that people wanting to shoot you is not a common occurrence. At least, I never experienced it myself.'
Keima tried to keep Tohka in a good mood even as they waited for Reine to pick them up from the hospital. Despite Tohka looking mighty pleased at the way Keima had defended her earlier, he didn't miss the confused look that she had on her face while looking over the sleeping Shido.
The final diagnosis was that the bullet had passed through his body without actually hitting any vital organs, thus his life wasn't in danger.
It would have been believable too, if not for Keima knowing better. That bullet definitely went through his heart judging from the rapid way in which the wound started bleeding out and how Shido had collapsed like a puppet with it's strings severed.
There was nothing minor about that injury at all and yet it was being treated as such. It was suspicious, really so.
Perhaps his ability was instant and perfect regeneration? Now that was both a very handy ability as well as a very vague and mostly useless one.
People would never want to get injured or to get hit, much less to actually die. Unless it was a suicide pact or all that, Keima did not see the reason for him needing an ability to regenerate himself.
Perhaps if it could be applied to save files, it would be a great ability to use and abuse!
'I'm fine, Keima... I'm just... tired, and confused.'
'Do you want to talk about it, Tohka? We can talk after we go back home.
'… Mmm... I'll... really like that, Keima. Really!'
Author's Notes: There, solved some plot lines at least.