Before I say anything else, here's something for those who only follow the anime:
[Warning: Spoilers for content that won't be revealed until the anime's Fifth Season]
So, with that finally said? Yep, you're reading this correctly! I said that some of my old stories might revive from the grave, and this is one of them, so give a warm welcome back to... The Dark, but not Evil!
I will admit that a month ago, while I did have the outline for this revival thought out to some degree? I wasn't actually planning to bring it back anymore soon, but when the S4 finale of Date A Live gave the shocking reveal that Season 5 was already in production, the excitement was so great that I just had to celebrate in some manner and chose to do so with the two DAL stories that had Mio and Kurumi (due to where S4 ends in the timeline) by at least getting their first chapters out.
Now, a big thing to talk about for this revival is that the story is going to be very different because of how complex the original plot got after a certain point, and information that I didn't know when the original story began.
First is there will only be three arcs. Those being for V7, the Origami arc, and the Ratatoskr vs DEM showdown, with Kurumi and Mio having a story-wide presence that makes the two important throughout the whole story.
Second is how the Inverse Forms follow the story's title is also slightly different in order to fit the newer narrative. I won't say any more as that story will explain this soon enough.
Third is the revised timeline in the original will reapply here, but due to there only be three story arcs, it will have not just Natsumi's arc, but Mukuro and Nia's arcs having already happened before the time of Miku's arc. A certain pair of characters will also be present from the start.
And last but not least, Kurumi will be much closer to how she in canon, as her more villainous played a role in killing the original.
With that all said, hope you enjoy the revived story!
[Chapter 1 - Life in Counterclockwise]
Mana flew across the sky as Jessica fired a barrage of missiles her way. After dodging for a good half of a minute, the already crazed look on Jessica's face worsened as she forced the Scarlet Licorice to unleash even more power.
"Now die!" She screamed, blood leaking from her mouth.
A dozen thin lasers shot from the Realizer every few seconds as they tried to hit Mana, who dodged the onslaught, only to gasp as she saw the missed shots hitting other DEM Wizards, the Bandersnatch army, or one of Kurumi's clones in the process. The look on Jessica's face was enough for Mana to realize she wasn't even trying to aim anymore.
"She's completely lost it!" She realized.
Jessica continued to move erratically through the air, quickly disappearing from Mana's line of sight in the process.
"Mana, look above you!" Kotori warned.
Mana shifted her focus as Jessica dived towards her, charging a different weapon on the Scarlet Licorice this time.
"Here I come!"
Realizing she couldn't move out of the way in time? Mana formed a Territory, allowing her to shield herself and then dash away using the smoke as a cover.
"Kotori, you've noticed it to, right?" Mana inquired.
"I have. Maria's been scanning her for a while and is noticing a lot of noise coming off from her form, the same kind that Reine noticed when she confirmed your shortened lifespan. She must have had Westcott, if he didn't do it himself, enhance her body in the same way he enhanced yours." Kotori confirmed.
"But there's something different about this one. If I had to make an estimate, she's fighting you while on the verge of death." Reine added.
That surprised Mana.
'To actually go that far, for his sake? Why can't everyone see the truth!?' She questioned.
"Mana, red alert! Ellen's been sighted heading your way!" Kotori shouted, now panicked.
Her flight screeched to a halt.
"Wait, what did you just say!?"
Rather than a response from Kotori or Reine, Mana received a downwards blast from Ellen's Rhongomiant, which she dodged alongside with two consecutive slashes from her Caledfwlch after directly diving towards the young Wizard.
"You actually dodged, I'm almost impressed." Ellen smirked.
"Mana!" Jessica screeched.
Mana gritted her teeth as she saw Jessica flying towards her again, only this time with Ellen as a secondary threat.
"Great, a two on one!" She stated, hating her odds.
"Normally I had teaming up against someone, but with how close Ike is to our dream? I'll make an exception." Ellen stated, giving a calm yet cold stare.
"How does it feel now that we've got you cornered!?" Jessica questioned, her eyes shaking.
Mana tried to keep a strong look as Jessica fired more lasers and Ellen dashed at her, leaving it impossible for her to react to both, and leaving no chance to form a new Territory without signing a death sentence in doing so.
Just as it seemed like she'd have to block Ellen's slash to at least survive taking Jessica's...
*"CRACK!"*
The lasers were cut apart, and Ellen saw Caledfwlch crack in one area as someone dashed between her and Mana, surprising both her and Jessica in the process.
"It can't be..." Ellen said.
"I do humbly apologize for not RSVPing beforehand, but my invitation arrived quite late."
Mana looked at who her savior was, immediately recognizing the blonde-haired woman.
"Artemisia!" She shouted.
Currently clad in a white and blue CR-Unit that bore a heavy resemblance to Ellen's, the former Ace Wizard of the SSS pushed Ellen back, looking towards Mana.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, you arrived right on time." Mana answered, letting the relief wash over her.
Ellen focused her territory on her sword's crack, repairing the small bit of damage.
"I didn't expect to see you here." She stated.
"I honestly had no intent to ever take up the role of a Wizard again, even after my friends were willing to aid Ratatoskr when you tried attacking the Tennou Festival, but once I heard that Tohka was captured? It became clear that was impossible as long as he's capable of abusing the power of the Spirits for his immoral dreams." Artemisia admitted.
She held out her sword.
"So, I do hope you pardon my need to defeat you." She declared.
"As if you're capable of defeating me." Ellen replied, glaring at her.
The two rushed forward and began fighting.
"Hey Kotori, remind me after this is over that I owe you two favors now." Mana stated, focusing her attention on a still shocked Jessica.
"Guess I've got two Deluxe Kid Plate orders on hold." Kotori smirked.
At that moment, Jessica's crazed mind finally snapped out of her shock and began dashing towards Mana, laughing hysterically as she did.
"For now, though? I think it's time to pull out your new trump card." She continued.
Mana, while dodging a combination of missiles and lasers being fired at her, nodded as Wolftail repositioned itself to let Mana place her right hand over part of her chest plate.
"Vanargandr, activate System Blot connection! Linking Up!"
Jessica continued laughing as Vanargandr's blue areas turned red.
Inside the Japanese HQ of DEM Industries, right on the stairway that connected to the 14th Floor, the sight of Shido with a twitching eye could be seen as he stood before the last thing he ever expected to see today.
The sight of Miku, holding a DEM Wizard while her leg was in a very... provocative position due to where it was placed, and attempting to seduce her into helping them.
"Wow, I think you're the prettiest girl I've seen in here." Miku said.
Hearing that made the Wizard's face go red, nearly squealing a bit.
"I'm looking for my friend, Tohka. Be a dear and tell me where you're keeping her?" Miku asked.
"Uh... sorry, but that's classified information." The wizard replied, trying to look away from her.
Miku smirked at that.
"If you don't tell, I'll hate you. I'll have no choice but to hate you forever." Miku remarked.
Due to the effects of Miku's voice, the wizard suddenly became scared upon hearing that.
"No, please! Anything but that!" She begged.
Miku pointed at her mouth, making it clear that she had to talk if she didn't want that.
"Ok! I'll talk! Your friend is quarantined on the 18th floor." The wizard finally confessed.
She held up a card to Miku.
"If you use this ID, you'll be able to get in. Just don't hate me forever! I would die, like seriously." She stated, sounding like a kicked puppy.
"You're sweet." Miku replied.
She took the card from her.
"You see? Now that wasn't so terrible, was it?" Miku remarked.
Miku then leaned forward and gave her a small kiss on the lips.
"Mmh!"
The wizard soon felt their lips disconnect, and let out a squeal before fainting.
"Like they say, there's more than one way to skin a cat." Miku said seductively.
Shido wisely forgot he heard that.
"She said the 18th Floor, right? Let's go." He stated, heading up the next stairway.
"Please stop talking like we're working together. It grosses me out." She scowled.
He heard the sound of a gun being loaded.
"Look out!" Shido shouted, running past her.
Miku turned her head as she saw DEM Wizards firing from behind, right as Shido swung Sandalphon and unleashed an energy wave in their direction. They tried to block with their Territory, but it failed.
Right there, he collapsed.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Miku asked, feeling somewhat nervous at the sight.
Shido had sealed eight Spirits by now, so if his power was running out...
"I'm fine." He said, getting back up.
Miku saw that his healing flames burn in spots where his clothes were cut up, and they were getting weaker.
"Do you realize how pathetic you look? If you keep this up, you're going to burn out." She stated with a glare.
He managed to fully stand again.
"I told you already... I'll do whatever it takes to save Tohka... and I don't have any time to waste!" He replied.
Miku forced a smile after hearing that.
"My, my. Aren't you a fairy tale hero? Are you sure you aren't just acting brave for the sake of your ego?" She asked.
Shido just kept walking, basically limping at this point.
"I'm sure you've grown out of your fairy tale phase, or... perhaps you feel obliged to follow through after saying you value Tohka's life over your own?" She continued.
He still kept walking without a word.
"I won't judge. I don't expect any noble intent from you anyways." Miku kept going, finally walking up the stairs.
And Shido still didn't respond to her.
"Why don't you say something?" Miku questioned, starting to get annoyed at his silence.
Shido fell onto his knees as Miku passed him on the stairway, looking at his pathetic state.
"Oh, how about this!" She decided.
Miku then pointed a finger at him.
"Promise me that you'll give up on Tohka, and I'll use the power of my voice to give you all the girls you could ever-" She offered.
"Shut up!"
Miku stumbled at his sudden tone, which was not one she had come to hear from him.
Just to drive the point home? For the first time, she Shido look at her, genuinely angry.
'This is...' She thought.
When he called her out as Shiori, despite what he said and his expression at the time? Shido didn't actually look angry. That wasn't the case now, and she could see his rage.
"Tohka... is not some kind of object you can throw away!" He screamed.
For once, Miku couldn't find it in her to respond to him, and he walked by her again as her voice continued failing to respond to his words.
"I honestly hate you right now."
Miku tensed as she turned around, seeing Kurumi, the real Kurumi, standing behind her. Before Miku could react, Kurumi put a hand to her face and rendered her unable to weaponize her voice for the second time in the past few hours.
"By now, you can't claim you haven't seen the truth." She stated.
A trickle of sweat went down Miku's face as she shivered, noticing the no-nonsense look Kurumi was giving her as her free hand held up Zafkiel as a threat to keep her still.
"Shido has risked himself many times over for not just Tohka, but all the Spirits, brushed against death many times over no less. These girls are no different than you. Once, they were all normal girls... I was a normal girl." Kurumi continued.
Miku felt her eyes widen at that last part, recalling when she received her powers, and the one who gave them to her in the first place.
"And somehow, look where they all ended up compared to you, despite the shit they all went through. It's just sad... Tsukino Yoimachi."
That made a gasp escape Miku's mouth as Kurumi finally removed her hand.
"How? I'm the only one who should remember that name..." Miku questioned.
"My Angel has power over time, not even echoes of the past can hide the memories within in them if I get near their source. Pretty careless to leave your old CD in a place I could so easily find it." Kurumi revealed.
Miku paused at that before turning her head.
"You... you don't know anything about me, or what I've gone through! Everyone is the same! They're nothing but-" She tried to retort.
"Did you nearly die from loneliness because your mom stopped visiting you in the hospital while bedridden by a disease?" Kurumi asked.
Miku felt her words fail at that.
"Did you live under an abusive mother who called you ugly and then tried strangling you to death?" Kurumi continued.
A trickle of sweat went down the Spirit Idol's face by this point.
"No, but so what? How does either of those-" Miku questioned.
"Did you see your best friend, without knowing it was them, die right before your eyes and scream in horror because it was you who killed them!?" Kurumi shouted angrily.
That was the one that did it.
With those words, Miku could only stare in silence, realizing that last one was spoken from experience.
"Maybe the only way to wake you up to what you've become is for you to see what I have." She stated.
Her clock formed behind her as she posed towards the X symbol.
Before Miku could fully comprehend what was happening, she felt the impact of Kurumi's bullet, and the world around her began to shift.
Gasping for air, Miku found herself in...
She actually wasn't sure where it was, aside from it looked like a room inside an old building, with a bed in strangely good condition in one corner.
"What's going on?"
Right as she asked herself that, the sound she recalled hearing from Kurumi's shadowy portal reached her ears, and she looked down to see Kurumi and Shido as they both phased right through her! She let out a scream, but in doing so her arm went right through them.
Once she saw that, the words Kurumi said before shooting her echoed through her head once again.
"Am I seeing one of her memories?" She realized.
She then focused on Shido as he looked around.
"It isn't anything special if that's what you're thinking, just one of my many bases I use whenever the need comes up." Kurumi said, walking towards the bed.
"Wait, as in this is your-" Shido asked.
Kurumi grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to the bed, and sat on it, soon patting beside her. Realizing the message, Shido sat in the spot and looked at her.
"Let me warn you now, Shido... the moment you see what I'm about to show you? There's no going back. You can stay silent or tell them, but if you-" She warned.
"Show me." He said without any doubt.
Kurumi looked at him, surprised by this.
"At this point, there's too much at stake for me to not know. So, show me why you can't let me seal your powers yet, and give me a reason to understand you." Shido stated.
After hearing that, Kurumi smiled a little.
"In that case... then here's my real story."
Miku saw Kurumi hold up Zafkiel, and then fire at Shido through herself, making the world around her zoom as it moved to a park bathed in the glow of the setting sun.
After shaking her head to regain her senses, Miku saw Kurumi in a school uniform she didn't recognize, climbing up a tree to reach a scared cat as two people watched her.
"Come here little one." Kurumi smiled as she held her arm towards the cat.
It quickly ran over and climbed onto her shoulder, making her smile, along with the two below. One was a girl with brunette hair similar to Kurumi's, but if her twin tails were braided. The other was a young girl with brunette hair styled in the more common form of twin tails, and the cat's owner.
Kurumi let out a small yelp as she jumped towards the ground, landing roughly, but without injuries as she felt the impact.
"Kurumi, are you OK!?" The braided brunette asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled, rubbing the cat's head.
She then handed the cat to the young girl, who hugged it close as it began purring.
"Thank you!" The girl smiled.
Kurumi and her friend watched the young girl head home with her cat walking beside her.
"That was cool of you, Kurumi." Her friend praised.
"Thank you, Sawa." She replied, blushing in response.
*"BZZT!"*
Miku saw the scene around her change, as Kurumi and Sawa walked through a shopping center.
"You're like a Hero of Justice, always helping the elderly and kids when they need it." Sawa smiled.
"That's not-" Kurumi bashfully replied.
She then stopped as she noticed something on the TV, a look of regret forming on her face.
"Kurumi?" Sawa asked.
"With their town destroyed by the civil war, around 20,000 refugees have fled to camps. However, these camps are quite unsanitary, and disease runs rampant."
Miku was shocked at how Kurumi reacted to this in comparison to some of the DEM Wizards she had been seen slaughtering. It was like she was a different person.
Sawa soon looked at her friend.
"Uh... say, Kurumi, would you like to come over to my place today?" She offered, hoping to distract her.
"Eh?" Kurumi replied.
"I bet Chestnut would love seeing you again." Sawa continued.
"Really? Are you sure you don't mind!?" Kurumi asked excitedly.
Sawa smiled at her success.
"Of course not! Chestnut will love it." She smiled.
Kurumi smiled back in return, already feeling better.
*"BZZT!"*
Standing on a stairway bridge, Kurumi smiled over a pair of pictures. One with Chestnut and another with her and Sawa together.
"Chestnut, you're just so cute!"
As she continued admiring the pictures, Miku suddenly noticed a purple coloration spread across the landscape, with people and objects alike aside from buildings and other similar structures disappearing... except for Kurumi herself.
Seeing this, the girl understandably freaked out and backed up.
*"STOMP!"*
Kurumi slowly turned her head, seeing what looked to be a living ice statue stomp across the area as if searching for something. Covering her mouth, Kurumi tried to slowly walk away and keep it from noticing her. A tactic that worked up to the moment she lost her balance, making her tumble backwards and land on her butt.
"Eep!"
Her eyes widened as her mouth, which was uncovered for a second, made a noise loud enough to be heard.
The moment the ice monster did? It started to walk, and then it broke into a run while lifting one of its arms.
"No..." She panicked.
Kurumi tried to run, only for her to feel a flare of pain in her ankle, having twisted it when she fell, as the monster quickly closed the distance between them.
"No." Kurumi said, realizing what was about to happen.
The ice monster rose its arm even higher, ready to thrust the icicle that was the tip of its arm and hand through her body.
"NO!"
Her screams echoed through the area, seemingly going to be her last... only for two clear ribbon-like strands to grab the monster's arms, keeping it from hitting her just a few inches away from her face. Kurumi realized this and opened her eyes to see what happened.
A third ribbon strand appeared moments after, right above the monster, and then shot down.
*"SLASH!"*
Kurumi let out a silent gasp as the monster was given a vertical bisection, and let out a distorted, shrilled scream as an evil looking mist leaked out of its dissolving body.
A light radiated from far behind where it once stood, which is when Kurumi saw a person standing there. A girl with platinum-like hair and crystal blue eyes, wearing a white dress and sandals with white straps.
She approached the star struck Kurumi, who felt the girl before her was a perfect beauty with an ideal body that was complimented by her mysterious nature and coloration.
"Are you OK?" The girl asked.
She slightly knelt down, offering a hand to Kurumi, who accepted it as she pulled back to her feet. Kurumi winced as she felt her twisted ankle, which the girl noticed.
"I should have noticed it sooner, before it got anywhere close to you." The girl apologized.
Kneeling down fully, Kurumi gasped as a glow of light emitted from her hand, and in an instant? The pain of her ankle vanished, like she had never twisted it to begin with.
"T-Thank you, but... what was that?" Kurumi asked.
"A monster that destroys this world." The girl answered.
This surprised Kurumi.
"And... who are you?" She asked, feeling a little unnerved.
The girl said nothing at first as she put a hand to her chin.
"Hello?" Kurumi said nervously.
"It did appear incredibly close to her from the onset. That could mean she has a high magical affinity." The girl said to herself.
"Magic? Affinity?" Kurumi repeated.
After thinking it over for a moment, the girl made her decision, giving a light smile.
"My name is Mio Takamiya, and I'd like-"
Miku felt her head throb, knocking her out.
Feeling the heaviness in her eyes start to fade, Miku opened them to see a new scene, that of a rooftop under a cloudy night sky.
"What... was that?" She questioned.
Getting back on her feet, Miku was quick to notice both Kurumi and Mio were on said rooftop, with Mio facing the horizon as Kurumi stared at her backside.
"I honestly expected you to try and forget what you saw today. No one would have blamed you considering what you saw and nearly happened. However-"
Mio turned around to look at Kurumi, her hair blowing as the wind briefly picked up.
"Even if you had tried to run away, those monsters don't have any sense of human morality, and would have come after you again. If they had, there's no guarantee I'd make it in time to save you." She stated.
"Are these monsters... really that dangerous?" Kurumi asked, feeling a slight tremble in her hand.
At first, Mio didn't say anything, leaving her feeling nervous.
"There are more worlds out there than ours. One that can exist in a higher dimension than our own, and a few years ago... holes in our world opened up." She revealed.
"You mean... the Sky Disasters, right?" Kurumi quickly realized.
"Yes, though I think Spacequakes would be a more fitting term, considering the truth behind them." Mio clarified.
"Spacequakes...?" Kurumi repeated.
"The explosive force was just one part of their threat, a release of power from a vacuum of a higher dimension, for the real threat is what they allowed to leak in. Even though they have since ceased... the holes between our worlds still remain. Instances where their reality can superimpose on a select area and its denizens, beings we would consider as monsters, use to invade our world and hunt for the magical power we possess, but believed was mere fantasy." Mio continued.
She then lowered her head, looking sad.
"However, they can't siphon that magic out our environment. The only way to do that is to take it from people. Therefore, when they detected someone with a magical affinity, they corner them... and then kill them, so they may devour the magic they release upon death." She revealed.
Kurumi gasped as she heard this, and then thought back to how the news report she and Sawa saw earlier began.
From an unexplained death, leading to riots.
"Can... can anyone have a magical affinity? A normal everyday girl, or even a world leader?" She nervously inquired.
Mio said nothing, and just nodded her head.
Such a confirmation left Kurumi horrified, knowing that the world was suffering from something almost no one seemed to know about. Worse is how she knew, and yet... she couldn't do anything.
"Do you wish that you could stop their threat?" Mio inquired, reading her expression.
Kurumi paused at that.
"If I told you there was a way that you could help my fight, would you choose to walk that path and help save the world?" Mio continued, holding out her hand.
From her outstretched palm, a black gemstone warped into view and then hovered towards Kurumi, who stared at the gemstone. She tried to touch it, and then...
"No, not yet." Mio warned.
Kurumi's hand froze in place.
"That gem before you? It's a crystallized essence of the power belonging to one of those monsters, one that was destroyed by human means alone." She explained.
And with that, Kurumi pulled her hand back and stepped away from it.
"If you know that, then does that mean you-" Kurumi quickly realized.
"Yes, I too once lived a normal life as you did. A life that these monsters uprooted... in just one day. After having lost everything, I only have things to gain by fighting them." Mio confirmed as she continued.
Kurumi put a hand to her mouth after hearing that, having wondered why part of Mio's expression seemed distant and forlorn, even while she was smiling.
"But you, on the other hand? I can tell you still have something important to you. There's something you can come back to, and therefore you can protect."
Mio lowered her head slightly, and closed her eyes before she continued.
"The only other person who I've given such powers to has lived such a life they feel couldn't have gotten worse, and while they haven't lost anything? They also made it clear to me they didn't have anything to protect. If you feel the burden of putting the things precious to you at risk is too great for you, then don't force this burden onto yourself."
And then came the moment of truth.
It would be so easy to just walk away right now, Kurumi knew that, but...
"Knowing all of this is happening? I... I can't just do nothing!" She decided.
At that moment, Miku saw Mio frowning.
'Did she want her to refuse?' She thought.
She grabbed the crystal, and it released a glow before shooting into her chest, making her briefly scream as the sensation of a second heart beating within her filled her body. Mio watched as her right eye's pupil turned white from a layering of light that one could briefly see form under it, and her left eye became a gold clock with roman numerals.
"Hmm?" Mio said, surprised by the latter.
The sight of what looked like black mix that was light, yet not gray despite that, flew off Kurumi's body before she was covered in it. When it finally faded, she realized she was in her Astral Dress for the first time as she looked at her hands in surprise.
"What... what am I wearing?" Kurumi asked.
"That is your Spirit armor, for you are now no longer a Human, but a Spirit." Mio revealed.
Kurumi looked at her.
"The powers you now possess have made you something more than Human, something like the various creatures the worlds' myths refer to as Spirits, and now it's up to you to use that strength to protect this place." She explained.
She soon began to glow, and vanished in particles of light.
"Do your best, Kurumi..."
Kurumi smiled as she saw opened her phone's camera and saw her reflection, ready to be a true "Hero of Justice" like Sawa called her earlier.
Little did she know of the price she paid for her powers.
Miku felt herself nearly fall over as the scene shifted to the sight of Kurumi running through a series of silvery lights, showing another monster that had a more machine-like look and fired orbs of energy at her, but didn't shift its aim.
Using this to her advantage, Kurumi managed to slither behind it as a shadow, confusing it until it turned around.
*"BANG!"*
However, this was the same moment Kurumi fired a storm of bullets, breaking parts of its armored skin till the monster's entire body shattered. Kurumi listened as the same screaming sound the one that nearly killed her made was heard as her confirmation.
*"BZZT!"*
Kurumi was then shown running across the side of a building as she was chased by what looked like a humanoid satellite flew after her, with speakers circling it as it tried striking the Spirit of Time with sound.
Waiting for a moment, Kurumi stopped and jumped towards the ground, with the monster following. However, she then sunk into her shadow, throwing the monster after before she reappeared above it, and slammed Zafkiel on its head. The monster stopped moving for a moment before sparking then exploding.
*"BZZT!"*
This time, her current opponent was a monster that had the same shadow abilities as herself. However, having practiced in her free time since fighting the last two, Kurumi held one of Zafkiel's guns to her head.
Seeing it as a sign she was trying to bait her, the monster sunk in the shadow and prepared to surprise her. Once it got close enough it rose out to lunge at her
"Aleph!"
Kurumi dashed away too fast for the monster, and reappeared behind it.
"Zayin!"
It turned around as it was frozen in place, and then Kurumi opened fire, causing it to fall once time unfroze. As it weakly tried to rise, Kurumi's shadow opened as white arms rose up and grabbed it. The monster thrashed and struggled in vain as it was pulled into her shadow and then later dissolved within it.
*"BZZT!"*
Mio watched as Kurumi fought against not one, but four monsters this time. She had arrived due to seeing this and thinking she needed aid. Though when she told Kurumi this, she said the follow:
"It will be alright. I can handle this on my one, just watch and see."
So that's exactly what she decided to do, waiting for when to jump in.
"Wonder how long it will be?" Mio wondered.
Right now, Kurumi was seen running through part of an amusement park, with another ice-like monster on her tail. This one having cannons for arms instead of icicle spears.
It was riding on top of a stone-like one that had transformed into cheetah-like form to keep up her, forcing Kurumi to jump as a winged monster began flapping its wings at her and releasing a series of wind blades.
"I have to admit, Kurumi is doing better than I thought she would." Mio said, watching her progress.
Mio watched as she held Zafkiel and shot at the wind blades, blocking the assault till it stopped firing.
"How do you like that!" Kurumi smiled.
She then jumped up to ready the finishing blow, though as she landed near part of the roller coaster tracks...
*"SLASH!"*
Kurumi tensed for a moment as she felt her arm sliced off by a monster resembling the Grim Reaper, only instead of holding a scythe in both arms and having a skull face, it had no face, and its right arm was a large key that was as sharp as a blade.
Seeing her arm fall on the ground, Mio finally decided it was time to intervene.
"I knew this was a bad-" She stated.
Kurumi let out a giggle, making Mio briefly pause, along with all four of the monsters as they felt their instincts warn them.
"Dalet!"
Kurumi fired Zafkiel at herself, to Mio's surprise. Though that surprise faded when the arm suddenly flew off the ground and then reattached itself on Kurumi's body as if it had never been cut off at all!
"She has... time powers!?" She said in disbelief, finally understanding Kurumi's clock eye.
Zafkiel's power was over shadows. It shouldn't have time powers, unless they came from-
"Checkmate."
She snapped her fingers, and the four monsters saw her shadow expand, revealing clones that were identical to her with the exception of having their hair in higher twin tails to keep both them and Kurumi herself from confusing one another.
It only took a few seconds for a storm of bullets to destroy all four.
"Whoa..." Mio breathed.
With the sight before her, Mio began to wonder if she could leave Kurumi to do things by herself without needing to interfere, like she did with Nia?
Miku then felt her head throbbing again, and winced.
This time she was able to stay conscious, though now saw Kurumi standing in what looked to be the girls' bathroom of the school she and Sawa attended. She was currently staring at herself with an eyepatch above her left eye.
"What is she doing?" Miku questioned, feeling confused.
Kurumi grunted a little as she squinted her eyes slightly, and after doing so for around a minute? Her clock eye shifted to look more like it used to, sans the whitened pupil.
"Finally..." She sighed in relief.
"Oh, is your eye finally better?"
Sawa saw her friend jump in surprise, only to let out an awkward laugh once she realized it was her.
"Yeah, though now I have to wait for it to readjust." Kurumi replied.
"I'm just glad you won't keep tripping from lacking any depth perception." Sawa said, remembering the trouble it caused.
Kurumi blushed in embarrassment at that.
While wearing the eyepatch, she quickly learned being a Spirit didn't give her a power like single-eyed depth perception, but it was better than people seeing her clock eye and having something else happen to her.
"Say, now that you're feeling better, do you want to come to my place after school?" Sawa asked.
"Sorry Sawa, but I have plans after school today. Maybe if I'm fast enough, but..." Kurumi apologized.
"No, it's alright. Wish you weren't so busy..." She admitted.
Kurumi felt guilty about that, but then had an idea hit her.
"I might know a way to fix that! Just let me finish what I'm doing today, and I'll figure something out!" She shouted, looking excited.
Sawa was surprised, but smiled.
"Alright, I hope things work out." She replied, accepting the offer.
Kurumi smiled at that, unaware that she made this choice too late.
The two then went their own ways for the day.
"Excuse me, miss, may I ask you a question?"
Sawa turned as she saw a man wearing a European trench coat and hat asked, taking it off and bowing to reveal his dark ash blonde hair and dull blue eyes.
"Uh... yes?" Sawa nervously asked.
"I came from London on request of an old friend of mine, and he told me to meet him at the shopping distract of this town. Do you know which way that is?" The man asked.
Feeling her nerves relax, Sawa turned to point in the direction he requested, unaware of him pulling a small crystal in the shape of a stellated octahedron out of his pocket.
"Oh no, he's..." Miku realized in horror.
"Just go straight in that direction and-"
Sawa's words faltered as a strange feeling filled her body, collapsing onto her knees and just failing to vocalize words as the man walked away with an evil smirk on his face. Eventually, the purple color marking the arrival of the monsters appeared, right as fire consumed Sawa's body.
Miku watched in horror as she let out a scream, with her body became translucent as it was enveloped by flames.
*"BZZT!"*
Kurumi held her phone as she sent a text message to none other than Mio, asking her to meet where she currently had her GPS marking her phone, feeling nervous after she hit the send button.
"I really hope that this works out..." She said, feeling like her stomach was eating itself.
"You called for me?" Mio asked.
Hearing her friend's voice, Kurumi turned to see Mio sitting on the edge of the structure connected to the roof doorway.
"Yeah, I... have a request." She asked, tightening a fist near her chest.
Mio jumped down as she listened to Kurumi explain her sudden request.
"So, you want me to turn your best friend into a Spirit? I do recall telling you about the risks involved, so do you know-"
"Sawa and I... we only have each other." Kurumi said.
That made Mio stop, and then allowed Kurumi to proceed.
"Both of our parents were among the casualties of the South Kanto Sky Disaster three years ago. The school we go to is a Boarding School for orphans who were of middle school age, and the only other thing we have is Chestnut, the cat owned by the caretaker for Sawa's section of the dormitories." She continued, revealing their full situation.
Hearing that made Mio give out a silent gasp, and a tear escaped from her eye, surprising Mio.
"Sorry, I... that just hit close to home. That was where I lost everything, and ended up this way, so... I'm sorry. Please, don't look at me right now." Mio quietly apologized.
Kurumi said nothing, remembering how Mio told her about how she and many others who survived the disaster were pulled into the same purple world in a way not unlike when she had her first encounter with the monsters.
Mio was the only survivor due to sheer luck. There were eleven monsters she saw, which she told her represent the various types, and one was large and unusual like it was a leader. That same leading monster had gone after her, only to damage a nearly collapsing tower that skewered it, and fell on the other ten. That's how she got her crystal and the other ten, including the one she chose to give to her and the other Spirit she had yet to meet.
"I'm the one who's sorry. I should have remembered that." Kurumi quickly apologized, feeling guilty.
Wiping her eyes with her arm, Mio took a deep breath.
"Well, if your friend only has you and vice versa, then perhaps it does make more sense for the two of you to both be Spirits, but it doesn't matter if she lacks an affinity." Mio replied as she considered the idea.
Kurumi soon pulled out a picture.
"Have you seen this girl before? Maybe she was nearly attacked, and didn't see it before you interfered." She asked.
Mio saw the picture, and gasped.
"She was, or rather close enough that I could sense she had magic. The monster never got close enough for her to find out like you had, or at least, she probably just thought she saw things for a moment and paid it no mind." Mio confirmed, now certain Sawa qualified as a potential Spirit.
Kurumi smiled at that.
"I'll go find her, focus on taking care of any monsters that show up in the meantime." Mio offered, smiling a little herself.
"Right!" Kurumi nodded.
Mio saw Kurumi disappeared through teleportation, and then held out her hands as she sensed for Sawa using her powers. Moments after she did, however, her eyes widened in horror as she detected her in the worst way possible.
"Just as I feared. He knows about Kurumi." She realized.
Knowing what was about to happen, and what was already too late for her to stop, she immediately sensed for Kurumi's current location.
*"BZZT!"*
Standing before Kurumi right now was a monster acting unusual for its kind. It was made of fire with red armor that was probably like hardened magma, but instead of trying to attack her? It was just... standing there, doing nothing.
"Not gonna move, are you? Then I will." Kurumi declared.
Holding up Zafkiel in its direction, the monster shakily moved its arms in her direction, and then she fired a single shot at its head. It fell over and then hit the ground, once again shakily moving.
"Guess this one must be weaker on magic." Kurumi assumed, unaware of why they hunted for it.
"Stop!"
Kurumi jumped in surprise, turning to see Mio in the area, accidentally pulling the trigger and hitting the monster a second time, which fell over again and could slowly fell onto the ground and stopped moving.
"Mio, why are you...?" She questioned.
Mio said nothing as Kurumi stared at her, and then shed more tears than earlier, making Kurumi feel nervous.
"What... what's going on? Why are you crying? Mio!?" She asked, feeling afraid.
"I... I'm sorry, for lying to you. If I had known this would happen, I would have never offered to give you that crystal." Mio suddenly stated, lowering her head.
Kurumi looked at her confusion, then turned to the monster.
"What... what are you saying? What do you mean you lied!?" She panicked, her tone on the edge of a demand.
"One of your abilities allows you to rewind things, right? Use it on that mon... no, use on her." Mio requested.
Feeling a lump in her throat, Kurumi aimed Zafkiel at the monster.
Mio jumped closer to Kurumi as the bullet fired, and in a few seconds, the monster was replaced with a familiar girl that made Kurumi's eyes widen in horror.
"Is that... Sawa...?"
Laying on the ground was a now deceased Sawa, who had been shot in the head and the stomach, only not bleeding due to Dalet's effects sealing the wounds and leaving the bloodstains on her forehead and school uniform as evidence it happened.
Evidence... that Kurumi herself had shot and killed her best friend, twice!
"It was you." Miku whispered.
Miku had no other words or thoughts to define what she just witnessed, only evidence that Kurumi had spoken from experience. From the sin she unknowingly committed.
Kurumi's eyes shook as she felt her heartbeat go into overdrive, then put her hands to her face as she let out a scream filled with a myriad of negative emotions, which was followed by a swirl of black, red, and purple energy.
"What... what is that!?" Miku asked, feeling as if she was standing directly near a physical personification of pain.
"Forgive me, Kurumi... forgive me for failing you like I failed-" Mio apologized, slowly holding a hand towards her.
Miku felt a pain in her head as she said that last word.
The swirl of energy stopped as Kurumi's face went blank, and then everything went black as she fell unconscious.
Soon, all Miku could see was black.
Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Miku soon saw a new scene appear as a waking Kurumi began to open her eyes, and noticed her head was resting on Mio's lap.
"Sorry for doing that, but I wasn't letting him use you like he used me." She apologized.
"What... what's going on? Why was Sawa... you said... what's happening?" Kurumi asked.
Mio sighed and helped her to her feet.
"I didn't lie about everything, but the truth I told you? It was... to try and keep you out of all this, because it was better for something happen while you had been ignorant of it all." She said as she began revealing the real truth to Kurumi.
Miku heard the same static again as the memory fast forwarded.
'Why am I not hearing them?' She wondered.
Either Kurumi wasn't letting her see this part of her memory, or maybe this Mio girl was somehow involved. The only thing Miku knew for certain was Kurumi looked horrified at hearing the reality many times more than the story Mio had made from mixing truths and lies.
Finally, Miku felt the buzzing of the noise fade as Mio reached a point in her story she could know.
"It was then I learned everything. That as part of his dream to make a mage only world, he used all the mana in the world at the time and caused the Eurasian Sky Disaster, all so he could make the Spirit of Origin that would help him achieve this. That Spirit... was me. That pushed me to the point my fear, my sadness, my anger, and the hatred that I felt for him at that moment, along with any other negative feeling I could feel? It manifested as a swirl of negative Spirit power that he siphoned with a machine that he called a Realizer, and left me with-"
Once again, Miku felt a pain in her head, realizing she must have said the same word as when she had last felt it flare up.
"Then... those monsters we've been fighting? Are they-" Kurumi quickly understood.
"Corrupted Spirits, yes. He gave them a crystallized form of the power he took, and then randomly gave them to people, either willingly or secretly. The only thing in common was all of had no idea what those crystals would do to them. The first time I encountered one, I tried to help the person inside... only to learn once you bond to them? There was nothing I could do, except end their pain and suffering." Mio solemnly confirmed.
Kurumi covered her mouth, crying at the fact these people had all lost their lives not from some extradimensional threat as she formerly believed, but a single man's greed.
"And that's why..." She realized.
"I fought on my own for as long as I could, knowing this mess was my own, but that man's influence was too great. I needed help, so... I was forced to take pieces of my own power and do the same as him to gather allies to help me fight. Due to what I went through? I wanted to only give my powers to those who had nothing else to lose, so when you saw everything, I tried to scare you away, and use that to erase your memories without any issue, but you insisted. If you had only come to me about Sawa sooner, I..." Mio continued as she looked away.
Kurumi then fell on her knees, as it finally hit her, with Miku easily guessing her thoughts. She had taken what Mio said as if she was worthy, looking at things at face value. The reality had been that unlike most heroes of old... it wasn't so grand, people could take what she loved, and use it to hurt her like that man had hurt Mio before they met.
"Sawa... she's dead because of me!" She realized, covering her eyes as she cried.
"I won't lie and saw you're wrong about that, however... maybe she doesn't have to stay dead." Mio suggested, finally looking at Kurumi again.
Miku and Kurumi looked at her in shock.
"What... what did you say?" She asked.
"The crystal I gave you, the one that held Zafkiel? Its power is over shadows. However, in your possession... you somehow gained powers over time. So, while there's no way for me to be certain, with all of the abilities you do have, what if by some chance you have the power to visit the past?" Mio said, sharing her theory.
Kurumi felt her eyes widen, and a spark of hope twinkle within them.
"You mean... I could save her? Stop her from dying!?" Kurumi realized.
"I have no proof, but until something can prove otherwise, the chance of saving her being 0% is the reality I choose to believe." Mio replied.
She held out her hand towards Kurumi.
"Trusting me might be the last thing you'd want to do after everything, but... I too have a goal related to regaining what I've lost. So, will you be willing to put your faith in me, and possible saving your friend?"
Miku watched as Kurumi looked at her hand, and then clench it before she accepted Mio's without hesitation.
And then the same phenomenon that brought her to Kurumi's past pulled her back to the Kurumi of the present.
"That was..." Shido realized.
"My real goal. All I want... is to save her, and since then we proved that I can. All that's left is getting the power I need to pull it off. As for the people I've killed, including those you've seen me kill?"
She laughed, wondering if Shido would even believe this part.
"How would you react if I told you they weren't people at all?"
It took a moment, but...
"Those monsters, they can disguise themselves as people?" Shido realized, feeling horrified at the thought.
"Westcott eventually did it enough he could plant them in plain sight, but I don't know why." She confirmed.
"And you can tell they aren't really people?" He asked.
"That negative energy I emitted once made me able to sense it, and they're chalk full of it. Doesn't help their natures make them scum by default." Kurumi explained.
She stood up.
"So, know you everything I've been hiding. Are you willing to trust me and wait... or will you going to going to insist you seal my powers now?" She asked, looking uncertain.
"Of course he'll make you-" Miku said, certain of his reply.
However, she stopped as she remembered how the Spirits she used her voice on fell under her voice's thrall, but Kurumi hadn't.
"Wait a second... did it fail because-"
"I need to take back what I told you before. How could I rescue someone whose been rescuing so many more all this time?" He realized.
Kurumi immediately turned to look at Shido, surprised at his answer.
"You... you actually believe me, despite everything back then?" She asked.
"Of course. After all, you had all this time to take my power, but you didn't. I always said you were a good person and now I know." Shido smiled.
Miku felt her eyes shake as she heard his words.
Kurumi blushed, looking away in embarrassment.
"Damn it, you say that to a girl without even thinking? How am I supposed to feel when-" She whispered.
Miku didn't hear the rest, this time without noise being the reason, and saw Kurumi look at Shido again.
"Until next time, Shido."
Shido watched as she slunk into her shadow and disappeared, going wherever her and Mio's plans took them next.
And at that moment, Miku felt herself gasp.
With the trip down memory lane now over, the Spirit Idol took heavy breaths, with Kurumi walking away from her until she noticed Miku looking at her one last time.
"Once upon a time, you too were an ordinary Human like the rest of us." She stated.
Miku said nothing, just feeling her breathing return to normal as Kurumi looked at her.
"So, where did the real you go?" Kurumi asked.
"What... what are... why would you..." Miku said.
"Because even though I was pushed to the edge of despair, I never threw away my humanity because of that tragedy." She answered.
She sunk into her shadow.
"And I know you haven't either, despite everything you've said." Her voice echoed.
Miku just stared as Kurumi left to regain the battlefield, for whatever her goal was.
"You coming?" Shido asked.
Hearing that voice, the Spirit Idol turned to see Shido hadn't gotten that far ahead, and didn't seem to show any signs he witnessed or heard what went down. He probably didn't with how tired he was and his current focus on Tohka.
"Act tough all you want... it won't matter." Miku whispered.
Shido didn't hear what she said due to said whispering, but saw her follow him and figured his earlier response had some effect on her.
'When I lost my parents, other than my music... I had nothing. So, when my voice disappeared, I truly believed that I was worthless.'
Her thoughts faded to a moment she held a knife while crying.
'But honestly? I wanted to see it... just once, there was a time where all I wanted was to see a person who truly loved another from the bottom of their heart. You showed me that it was possible.' Miku admitted.
She thought to Shido dressed as Shiori as she, Tohka, Rinne, Origami, and the Yamai twins all played on stage together. How genuine their smiles had been at that moment.
'Except it's too late. If only I had met you sooner, and didn't obsess over the power I gained... things could have been so different.' She thought, feeling any chances that she could find redemption had long passed.
Silence followed between the two until Shido and Miku made it to the 18th floor, and found the door they were looking for.
"Well, this is it." He stated.
He held Sandalphon tightly.
"Hold on Tohka, we'll have you back soon." Shido promised.
And the door opened up, revealing the room hidden within.
It has begun...
So, quite the twist I've pulled here, isn't it? Kurumi is clearly antagonistic to Mio in canon as her backstory shows, but this story has flipped that whole perspective and made them genuine allies, while Westcott is the one behind Sawa's death. I always found it interesting how the story made us believe Kurumi and Phantom had been partners until the events of V11 gave us the first instance of the former actually distrusting her.
That isn't the case here. While Mio did still make a mistake in how she handled meeting Kurumi by hiding the truth from her, she was trying to keep Kurumi out of her mess and would have avoided so much had Kurumi told her about Sawa earlier. As smart as Mio is, she had only been alive for 3 years when she first met Kurumi, and could make mistakes.
Likewise, it's because of how Kurumi's story changed that I chose to have this first chapter showcase that one major change, the very "Life in Clockwise" the chapter title is named after, because she felt like the best Spirit to use for the set up. Her and Kurumi's canon backstories both share the theme of a great betrayal warping the kind people they used to be, so who better to basically tell Miku she can change for the better than her, who never gave up?
It's also why Origami's arc is next, as they share the act of killing a loved one.
All of this culminates into what I said about how the story's title fits the narrative in this version, as now it's not about the Inverse Forms directly, but the source of them coming from the moment Mio felt her world crashing down and in doing so allowed Westcott to take the negative power she unleashed as a result. The power itself might dark, but it's not evil, just a culmination of Mio's pain made manifest and is now being used by Westcott for sinister purposes.
Get ready for the next chapter, where we'll finally see the first Inversion and everything it will entail, because it won't be anything like it was in canon.
Until next time everyone, and stay awesome! ^^