"Kill him." Rhode said.
"Ice Fire!" Akuma said.
"Cross Paling!" Allen said.
"They did it, Lero!" Lero said. "What happened? He's fit as a fiddle, Lero~ Ow, Lero! That hurt, Lero!"'
"That woman..." Rhode said.
"Allen..." Kuri said.
"Kuri..." Allen said.
"Ice Fire!" Akuma said.
"Kuri! Take care of them for a minute, will you?" Allen said.
"Eh? Okay! I will!" Kuri said.
"Thanks!" Allen said.
"Someone's coming in. I can feel it. It's sucking away his time." Rei said.
"Amazing!" Allen said.
"Are you all right, Allen?" Rei said.
"I am, thanks!" Allen said.
"See you!" Rei said. "Go get'em..."
"Is that it?" We'll put you out of your misery." Akuma said.
"Sacred Arrow! Hit the Mark!" Kuri said.
"Ice Fire!" Akuma said.
"Allen..." Kuri said.
"Sorry I'm late." Allen said. "If we leave Miranda's side, it looks like our time returns to normal. You should go back too, Kuri. Can you get there alone?"
"I'll be fine." Kuri said.
"Leave the rest to me." Allen said.
"Right." Kuri said.
"That woman, Rei, was it? She's an accommodator." Rhode said.
"Really, Lero?!" Lero said.
"I don't know how, but I guess their wounds are healed when they return to her." Rhode said.
"Then this'll never end. Lero?" Lero said.
"I'm back!" Allen said.
"Welcome back!" Kuri said.
"That's enough, you two." Rhode said to the Akuma.
"Eh? She's...Allen, who's that girl?" Kuri said.
"Well...she's..." Allen said.
"When I died, I saw that girl. She said she was me. That she would take me over." Kuri said. "So she is real."
"I see...you knew..." Allen said.
"A-l-l-e-n..." Rhode spelled in the air. "Allen Walker. My host's beloved. The one who can see the souls of Akuma. Truth be told, Millennie's told me about you, so I know who you are. You became an exorcist to save the Akuma, didn't you? Because your precious father cursed you?
That's why I decided to meddle in your affairs."
Rhode turned to an akuma. "Hey, you!"
"Yes?" Akuma said.
"Destroy yourself." Rhode said.
"Eh?!" Akuma said.
"Umbrella! Ten seconds." Rhode said. "Count down!"
"T-Ten, Lero!" Lero said.
"W-Wait, Lady Rhode, that..." Akuma said.
"Nine, Lero." Lero said.
"We've finally gotten to know each other and all!" Akuma said.
"Eight, Lero." Lero said.
"Lady Rhode!" Akuma said.
"Seven, Lero!" Lero said.
"What are you doing?" Allen said.
"Six, Lero." Lero said.
"You see, Akuma who aren't destroyed with an Innocence fragment..." Rhode said.
"Five, Lero." Lero said.
"Like, if it self-destructs...In that case, the Akuma's soul is destroyed along with the Dark Matter. Did you know that?" Rhode said.
"Four, Lero." Lero said. "Three, Lero."
"You can't save it then, can you?" Rhode said.
"Two, Lero!" Lero said.
"Stop it!" Allen shouted.
"Allen! No! You won't make it!" Kuri said.
"Before it explodes, I have to destroy it!"
"One, Lero!" Lero said.
Allen leapt forward and Kuri leapt between Allen and the exploding Akuma. Kuri held up her pentacle. "Rin. Pyō. Tō. Ja. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." The akuma was sucked in. "Akuryo Tai—"
Rhode smirked. "Nice try, exorcist."
The pentacle began to turn black and vibrated hard and then there was a loud BOOM, and ashes were expelled from the Pentacle. It fell to the ground, shattered.
"Help me..." the soul of the akuma cried.
A tear of blood coursed down his left eye.
"Damn it! Why did you interfere!" Allen yelled, grabbing Kuri.
"Why?! It's because I love you Allen!" Kuri said.
"Well done, well done! I never thought you'd jump into the explosion of your own accord. Such a hero. And my host confessing to you just like that—ah!" Rhode said.
"You..." Allen said.
"As for Kuri, she does need to be punished for interfering like that, so willful." Rhode picked up the Pentacle innocence. "Don't worry. I won't destroy it." She threw it at Kuri's face and it hit her eyes, leaving her completely blind. Kuri screamed.
"Kuri—" Allen reached for her.
"But, would a real hero leave little Rei all by herself?" Rhode said.
"Cross Grave!" Allen said, destroying the final akuma. "Are you all right, Rei?"
"Yes, I'm all right." Rei said.
"That's enough for this round. That was more fun than I thought it would be. See you!" Rhode re-entered Kuri's body.
Allen aimed his gun-arm at Rhode, who had taken over Kuri's body again.
"Fire." Rhode said. "You're so kind, Allen. You hate me, don't you? Fire. Your hand is a weapon, after all. Weapons exist so that humans might kill one another. But that's interesting, to see an exorcist cry at an Akuma's death. You'll drive yourself mad at this rate. Let's play again sometime, Allen. We'll have to conform to Millennie's plan next time, though."
The grey receded from Kuri's face and she opened blue eyes to meet Allen's grey ones. Angrily, she turned from him and headed blindly over to Rei. Once she was in the dome, time reversed, but her vision remained dark.
"Damn it!" Allen said.
The pseudospace faded away.
"Eh? This is...Rei's flat...How? I was just...Was that Rhode's power?" Allen said.
"Allen! Allen! Rei's acting strange!" Kuri said, clinging to Rei. Rei was shaking and sweating.
"Rei! What's wrong with her?" Allen said.
"Rei's kept her Innocence active for all this time." Kuri said.
"De-activate it, please. You won't last much longer, at this rate." Allen said.
"No. If I try to stop it...If I stop it, the time it's sucked out will return to normal! You'll be hurt once again. You'll be hurt! I can't!" Rei said. "You...thanked me and everything...It won't mean a thing! It won't..."'
"De-activate it. Stop it, Rei. It's thanks to you that we can be here now. That's plenty. If you hadn't activated your Innocence, we never would have gotten out of that dimension." Allen said.
"We'd be dead. We have to bear our wounds ourselves." Kuri said.
"But your eyes..." Rei said.
"Can't be helped." Kuri said.
"Right. As long as we're alive, they'll heal eventually." Allen said.
"Rei. Our wounds will heal, with time. So just stop it. That's all for today." Kuri said.
Rei nodded, and deactivated her innocence. She then ran down the stairs.
"Mr. Conbini!" Rei said
"R-Rei! Wh-What's the matter?! How'd you get that wound on your hand?" Mr Conbini said.
"The doctor! Call the doctor! Someone's hurt! Hurry, call him! Hurry, please!" Rei said.
Rei then ran outside the town. "Toma! Toma! Are you here?"
"Did she come from the city?" Toma said.
Xxx
"What a mess this is...Lavi, make sure nobody comes in." Komui said.
"Right!" Lavi said.
Allen opened his eyes.
"Oh, you're awake?" Komui said.
"Komui?! Where am I?" Allen said.
"Where? It's the hospital. It's a facility affiliated with the Order." Komui said.
"But, why are you here?" Allen said.
"To heal you, of course!" Komui said.
"Really?" Allen said.
"You were injured quite badly, so I couldn't just take you back to headquarters." Komui said.
"How's Kuri?" Allen said.
"She had some nerve damage, so she won't wake up right away. But her vision is starting to come back. We aren't sure how her innocence will be affected." Komui said.
"I see." Allen said.
"But she'll be fine. My gramps is looking after her, so she'll be back in no time. I'm Lavi. Nice ta meetcha." Lavi said.
"Nice to meet you." Allen said.
"Oh yeah... I got a letter from someone who came to visit you. Um, Rei Hikawa?"
"Let me see!" Allen said.
"Why're you tryin' to stand?" Lavi said. "Allen?"
"Do you have scissors? Scissors?!" Allen said.
"I have a drill." Komui said.
"Stop it, Komui!" Allen said.
"Allen, Kuri,
I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you until you awoke.
"I hear Miranda's moving." Boy said.
"Really?" Boy said.
"She's not getting kicked out?" Boy said.
Since the day I de-activated the clock's Innocence, the phenomenon surrounding\Nour town has disappeared. The citizens don't realize that October 28th has come and gone thirty-four times. I believe that phenomenon was created so that the Innocence might test me. Do you think that's stupid?
"If you cheat on me again, I won't let it go!" Woman said.
"Got it. You're the only one I really love." Man said.
"Really?" Woman said.
"After all, the Innocence was dormant until you came to me, Allen.
"Thank you for all you've done." Rei said.
"No problem. Take care." Mr Conbini said.
"Right." Rei said.
But thanks to it, I think I've finally found my place.
"Here you go. It's to replace the dirty wallpaper. I'm paying you back now." Rei said.
"Where'd you get it?" Mr Conbini said.
"My first pay check." Rei said.
We'll meet again. When we next meet, I'll be a true exorcist.