A/N: Hello again! Time for Chapter 6, "Awakening the Chaos".

A familiar character is going to appear... enjoy!

"How's our two targets?"

Kotori decided to open the communication network to all of the stalkers at once when she posed her question.

Although it was within the Fraxinus, the ship was still under repairs within the Ratatoskr's secret underground base.

Still, the control room was not damaged, and Kotori was still coordinating the others from the room.

"Report." It was Yuzuru who spoke first. "They haven't finished their ice creams."

"Um..." Miku spoke next. "Kotori-san, may I ask something?"

Kotori didn't see a reason to say no. "Yeah?"

"How's their affection? I'm kind of curious."

Her mind halted. It hit Kotori that she honestly wasn't able to answer that.

Unfortunately, it seemed both Kurumi and Rinne possessed the uncanny ability to stay undetected even by Ratatoskr's equipment.

If they couldn't be detected, neither could their affections be calculated.

The only time Kurumi was detected -and thus, had her mental state read- was during her date with Shido.

Even then, it was only one of her clones. The real deal never had her mental state read, ever.

"Sorry, Miku, but we can't get a reading on either of them."

"Ow, that's too bad. I was hoping for, like, very high points! Since they seemed to be enjoying themselves."

Miku whined with a hint of frustration.

Kotori could tell at this exact moment that everyone was processing what Miku had actually meant.

It was followed by a mocking laugh of Kaguya.

"Kukuku. Miku, not one of the Spirits would share the taste of a twisted, dangerous songstress such as yourself."

"Pity. Miku is looking for her comrade in arms in our race. Unfortunately, she is unique." Yuzuru insulted in her own way.

"Eh, what?"

For some reason, Natsumi sounded dumbfounded. Kotori found that a bit amusing.

Though, why were Tohka and Yoshino silent? Origami was par for the course – she hardly reacted to anything – but those two should at least make a noise.

Miku hardly seemed fazed, however.

"Ow, everyone is being a meanie today, right, dar... ling?"

The diva suddenly halted. Then there was a shocked gasp.

"Darling?!"

Seeing as her darling lying on the floor motionlessly behind her, Miku reflexively ran toward and knelt next to Shido.

"What's wrong, Miku?"

Kotori's sound could be heard from the communicator in Shido's mask.

She didn't immediately respond, her darling came first!

With care, Miku held the precious body of her darling in her arms. Without missing a beat, she opened the mask.

What she saw almost made her wish she hadn't opened the mask.

His face was dripping with cold sweat, and his handsome features were twisted – as if he was in a lot of pain.

It didn't help to make her calm down. Not at all.

"Kotori-san! Darling is... he is unconscious!"

"What did you say!?"

Kotori didn't even get an answer.

"Shido is what?!"

"Shock. What happened to Shido!?"

"Shido-san...!"

"Shido!"

All of the Spirits quickly descended into panic.

The repeated yell hurt Kotori's ears. However, she quickly quelled her building emotions and calmed down.

She cleared her throat for a yell. "Wait, everyone! Calm down and stay in your position!"

"Why!?" Tohka yelled back. "Shido is-"

"Remember your mission! We are stalking the most dangerous Spirit right now! What will happen if you have to fight those two with Shido still around?"

The Spirits became silent. Of course, worst case scenario, at least Shido would die. Nobody among them wanted that.

Seeing as they calmed down a bit, Kotori turned her chair to face the other side of the room.

"Reine, how's Shido's condition?"

"According to these numbers..."

The sleepy analyst, Murasame Reine began to speak in her usual tone as she stared at the screen.

"There's no irregularity in his vitals, but Shin suffered a huge drop in his mental state. Most likely, he lost consciousness because of experiencing something similar to the Realizer DEM put within Honjou Nia."

Reine explained. She was referring to the Inversion of Nia a few weeks ago.

"...But Shido has no such devices in his head isn't he?" Kotori questioned.

"True. We can't detect any Realizer within Shin's body." Reine confirmed.

"However, in any case, something is clearly going on within Shin's mind. His mental state is steadily deteriorating, even in his unconsciousness."

Reine took a look at the screen displaying Shido's status. Almost all parameters were slowly decreasing.

"Damn it..."

Kotori cursed her luck as she took a look the parameter. She had to think fast.

"There's no choice. I'll order my men to retrieve Shido back. As for the mission..."

She paused. Could they afford to stop now? No.

"Continue the mission. Our objective is to gather information and to stop them if they really planned to attack civilians, so it doesn't need Shido to be around."

"Yes, sir!"

Most of the non-Spirit stalkers were as loyal as ever, it seemed.

"…Very well, Kotori."

"Tch. Order acknowledged, Itsuka Kotori."

"We have our mission, I suppose."

"Obedience. We will continue stalking."

The Spirits replied later than the others, but they complied. Kotori nodded at that.

"One of the Non-Spirit Stalking Team, please return with a photo of the targets and Shido."

It was about 20 minutes after Shido's mysterious collapsing.

Pne of the non-Spirit stalkers had arrived to Ratatoskr's underground base, with Shido to be sent to the medical room and a camera for her.

"Good work. You may rest and let the others do the rest."

"Thank you, sir."

After dismissing her soldier, Kotori decided to see the photos he shot.

The first picture was someone with ankle-reaching, braided pink hair, purple dress, a headdress, and a veil covering her face, sitting calmly on a bench.

"So this is Sonogami Rinne? Is this she in her Astral Dress?"

For some reason, it felt… familiar. But she was sure this was the first time she had seen it.

…It was pointless to think about it now. For now, she had to move onto the next.

The second shot was Rinne being approached by someone Kotori knew.

Tokisaki Kurumi, with a monotone blouse, a skirt that had laces and frills, and her hair was decorated with an Alice band.

Conspicuously, she wore an eyepatch, and were carrying two ice creams.

"What the? Is she cosplaying?"

The ice creams were for both of them, obviously. But why would Kurumi wear such costumes?

Probably for disguises. Whatever, it wasn't important. Next.

"…Huh?"

The third photo was the one she was looking for.

It when Rinne took off her veil – revealing her crimson-eyed face, and accepting Kurumi's ice cream.

"Wha…"

Chills instantly ran down her spine.

Without even realizing it, her fingers had instinctively moved to turn off the photo.

"…Wh, what is this...?"

No, she had to calm down…!

Deep breath…

Deep breath…

"…What is this feeling?"

She only noticed just now; Her hands were shaking.

"Is it... fear?"

That didn't make any sense.

"Why? Why am I afraid? Of what? Her?"

Was this her powers? Could this Spirit affect her, even through a camera?

"Is this why he felt strange around her too?"

It was minutes before midnight.

Most of the shops were closed, and the lights were off everywhere in the mall except in the center of the ground floor, where concerts performed by famous singers were almost over.

Rinne was now in the second uppermost floor alongside her friend, where it was almost completely deserted, watching the concert and a sea of people below them.

As the festival was close to its end, they had decided to begin chatting about what did they feel about the festival.

It was the first anime festival for Rinne, so naturally she learned of many things. A lot of famous authors, dozens of great stories, and unbelievably memorable characters.

Although, she would be lying if she said everything was good. There were a few underwhelming works here and there, special mention went to the cosplayers and fans who tried to sing anime theme songs.

But overall, Rinne enjoyed the festival. She finally understood why Kurumi liked...er, used to like these stuffs so much.

For Kurumi, although she said that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with her past, she was enthusiastic to participate in various stands.

Much more critical to everything, Kurumi almost never spoke positively about the festival, and all her opinions were brutally honest. Maybe if the criticized ones were here, they would shed tears of blood out of the sheer negativity of her comments.

But it was understandable. After all, it was a nice, if ephemeral, return to her past. Kurumi would never admit it, but she too was enjoying the festival.

After they chatted long enough though, Kurumi decided to change the subject into something more serious.

"Hmm, those people are no longer here. Have they given up?"

Kurumi looked around. Rinne knew she only did that because she was being dramatic, though.

If she herself had been aware of their presence for hours, then she was sure Kurumi had noticed even earlier.

"Probably because those Spirits were among them... and they need to rest."

Rinne decided to share her opinion. After all, they were not at their full strength. Their bodies were not completely sustained by their mana at sealed state.

"Heh... they must be pulling their hairs out of frustration. Followed us for hours, and learned nothing important."

Kurumi chuckled darkly. Rinne found her sense of humor a bit amusing, but she she had to correct Kurumi about that point.

"Hee hee... no. They actually do learn something."

Kurumi seemed surprised, and turned to her. Her crimson orbs met Kurumi's mismatched ones.

"What?"

"They must be sure at this point that we are not just allies of convenience. We are actual friends."

"That's not something important, ain't it?" Kurumi raised an eyebrow. "Who cares about what they think about us?"

"But it is an important info for them. Because they didn't expect that someone like you could actually have fun like a normal girl." It was Rinne's turn to chuckle.

Kurumi's lips curved into a frown.

"Oh, yeah... and that would convince Shido-san to try and save me more..."

Rinne flinched at her partner's complaint.

"…Do you refuse redemption that much?"

From the very beginning, Rinne knew her partner didn't like to be viewed as a 'good person.' Kurumi didn't want to be 'saved.' She wanted none of the warmth other people wished. Of course, the best way to do all of that was to commit atrocities.

Murder. The act of taking the lives of others. That was Kurumi's only way to survive. And with time, it became her way of living. Murder no longer became a burden to carry, but rather, it became an obligation. An equivalent of eating properly.

Although she was Kurumi's partner, Rinne never agreed to that. She could not agree to that. That's why Rinne had asked Kurumi to promise her one thing: do not kill anyone when she was around.

Of course, that didn't apply whenever they were separate. And Rinne knew she couldn't change that for her.

"If only we met before you became a Spirit, Kurumi... maybe things would've been different."

"May we join in?"

A familiar voice suddenly broke the silence between them.

The two of them turned around to the direction of the voice. The lights in that floor was off, and there were only darkness behind them.

Rinne however, knew who was talking. Or rather, who were.

"What's wrong? [Mes]?"

As the Kurumi beside her said that, a bunch of Kurumi clones clad in their Astral Dresses gradually revealed themselves in the darkness.

Rinne knew they were women with a mission, but did they really need to be that… dramatic?

"All stalkers are confirmed to have left the mall."

"No signs of AST or DEM in the area."

"[Me], I have something urgent to report."

So the Kurumi clones reported. However, Rinne found herself surprised when she noticed the last one appeared to be anxious.

Kurumi? Anxious?

"Ara? Return then."

The real Kurumi then gestured her hand – and with that command her shadow grew in size, approaching the group of clones. All the Kurumis quickly jumped in and disappeared into the pool of darkness.

After her shadow returned to its original size, the only Kurumi left closed her visible eye for a moment. Rinne knew that she was receiving the memories of her duplicates at the moment.

"...Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

Now the real Kurumi sounded anxious. Worry flashed her mind – that didn't happen to her partner often.

"...Something happened to Shido-san."

Rinne almost didn't want to believe she heard that.

"…What? Explain."

Rinne suppressed the sudden fear she felt as best as she could from her voice.

"Wait. This would be much faster."

Kurumi's flintlock suddenly flung itself out of her shadow, and the Nightmare Spirit caught it in her right hand.

"[Zafkiel]. [Yod]."

As Kurumi chanted the two names, Rinne already knew what the Spirit of Time was about to do.

Mentally preparing herself, Rinne stood in a position where her head was right next to Kurumi's.

Kurumi put her gun on her right temple, and fired through her own head.

The bullet harmlessly passed through Kurumi's head and into her own, transferring Kurumi's recent memories to her.

"Oh..."

This is…

Shido had collapsed…?

"I have to confirm his safety...!"

She was so afraid for his fate, that she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"[Cassiel]! [Web of Causality]!"

Responding to her command, her Angel Cassiel manifested behind her; its appearance had changed. It was no longer a circle; now it was a complete sphere, even more similar to a miniature spacequake.

From within the dark sphere, innumerable amount red-colored threads manifested, with each thread heading toward different directions, passing through whatever obstruction on their way as if they were not even there.

Their sheer number alone were enough to fill the entire mall, but no one even realized that they were entangled by countless immaterial threads. Nor they could 'see' it.

Next to her, Kurumi took off her eyepatch.

"[Strings of Fate...]"

Reverently, Kurumi whispered. Rinne smiled a bit at that. The Spirit of Time had always liked it whenever she got the chance to see her Cassiel in action.

"She is quite lucky too, to have Zafkiel..."

After all, not even other Spirits could see what she had summoned. With her right eye, Kurumi was just like the others. She couldn't see the threads.

But with her left, golden clock eye, it became visible. And apparently, the beauty of the Red Strings of Fate had charmed her.

Rinne still remembered how she explained the nature of her powers to Kurumi, a few years back.

"Everyone and everything in the world had a 'String of Fate' attached to them. These intangible forces were in control of their existence. Cassiel was the only one capable of observing these Strings, and by extension, bend it to the user's will."

Web of Causality, Cassiel's primary power, would allow the observation of these Strings, allowing its user to see into the currents of destiny, observe events surrounding people's lives, and tell the possibilities of their futures.

Of course, even such an amazing ability was still bound by limitations. She couldn't observe the Strings of anyone she had never known before.

She also couldn't see people's pasts, because parts of the Strings depicting their previous lives had disappeared into the darkness of Cassiel's sphere.

Also, for some reason, Rinne couldn't observe the String of Fate belonging to Phantom.

However still, it was useful, and through this ability, Rinne had observed Shido and the others throughout the entire year she and Kurumi were apart. Hence why she knew everything he did in the time period.

Now though... she found an abnormality in the flow of causality.

"This is..."

"What? Is he in danger?"

No, this was not a danger... not an immediate one, at least. However, Rinne could barely believe what she just read.

"No, but..."

She paused in hesitation. Was this real?

"Shido's String split into two."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

Kurumi raised a brow in confusion. It was only natural, she didn't understand how to read the Web.

"That means... something was born from him."

"..."

"Owh...?"

Shido opened his eyes.

"Where am I...?"

It took him a few moments to realize he realized that he was lying on a bed.

This bed… didn't seem to be in his own though.

The room he was in seemed similar to the medical rooms within the Fraxinus. Was this within the airship?

Wait, no. Fraxinus was under repairs. This must be inside the underground base belonging to Ratatoskr, then.

But… what had happened? Why was he here?

Then it hit him.

"Oh, right... when I was stalking her... I lost consciousness, did I?"

"...Ugh!"

Just thinking about it caused pain in his head.

Paradise Lost.

It was a name mentioned by someone who looked like Sonogami Rinne.

Who then proceeded to kill him.

Shido could feel his body tremble. What the heck was this feeling… what was happening? Why did he-

"Um, are you okay, Papa?"

A completely unfamiliar, girlish voice was heard in his ears.

"Eh?"

He knew he was dumbfounded. There was nobody inside the room beside himself… right?

Yet he clearly heard a voice. Was he imagining it?

"Err... who are you?"

"Ehhhh? Papa doesn't recognize me?"

There was a tone of confusion in the voice now.

"Is she calling me her Papa? Is this some kind of a joke?"

"Eh, eh, but it's true! You are my Papa! Really!"

…

Did the voice just read his mind?

"What…!? Are you reading my mind or something?!"

This was dangerous. This was really dangerous. What was this voice doing to him?

"Hmm...? But, I AM inside Papa's mind."

"…What?"

For a moment, his mind went blank.

"Uh... didn't I explain it correctly...?"

…He wanted to 'WHHAAATTTT' – he decided he should keep that into himself.

Unfortunately, there was a gasp. "Whoa, is it that surprising?!"

Shido almost couldn't believe he heard that one.

"Of course it is! What are you doing inside my mind!?"

"Eh, I should not? Then how should I communicate with Papa?"

"Seriously? Why don't you do it the usual way, by appearing and talking with me?"

"If that's what Papa wanted..."

…This was ridiculous. This must be a nightmare caused by whatever had knocked him out earlier.

Well, he wouldn't have any of it. He decided to lie down and rest again – perhaps sleeping within a dream would make him wake up?

"That theory sounds ridiculous but I should try- eh?

Before he could put that theory into test, light began to gather around near him, slowly forming a humanoid shape.

"What the..."

As it completed, Shido stopped himself from cursing.

It was a little girl with pink eyes.

She had a long, plum hair, which she tied with a single, long braid that reached her short legs, and a bow at the top of her head.

Clad in a lavish, red dress with a gold emblem on its center, and a large robe which reached her feet.

Her appearance really brought Sonogami Rinne, in her Spirit form at least, into mind.

"Like this?"

The girl smiled brightly. Shido couldn't even respond.

How was the chapter? Like usual, state it in the reviews.

I decided to include the new girl - Rio - for a reason. I found out in Date A Live Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation, that Rio is, for all intents and purposes, a manifestation of Shido's longing for Rinne, and so, she appeared by taking Ruler's power, Eden.

Since I wanted this fan fic to follow canon's logic as much as possible (without diverging to AU status, but not outright denying it either) and because this fan fic occurred after the end of Rinne Utopia, it doesn't make any logical sense if Shido met Rinne, but didn't create Rio from his powers.

I admit, I wasn't going to include Rio at all, and it shook my plans for a while. But I have created another plot with her in it, and in another 2 weeks or so I can probably post the next chapter. Thank you for following "Alternate Reincarnation" so far!