This is a direct sequel to my fanfic, The 30th I: Phantom of Infinity.

Disclaimer: I do not own Date a Live and it's characters.


The 30th II: Eden of Ornaments
Prologue
Chapter 1 - "Forward"


"Takamiya-kuuun," a familiar voice called out. Shinji could only recognize the voice of this person. After all, it was his best friend. "Going home?"

"Itsuka! A-ah, that's right. Mio is coming to pick me up." Shinji responded.

"You two sure are close, aren't you. Are you two not dating or anything?" Tatsuo Itsuka said, making his friend blush in embarassment.

"O-of course not! W-well, not yet..." he felt his voice sinking as he struggled to say that last part.

"Really? So you do want to ask her out!"

"It's n-not like I don't want to or anything..." Shinji tries to be vague as possible, but finds himself being more painfully obvious as he struggles to find the right words to say.

Tatsuo placed his hand on his back while flashing a kind smile. "Dude, you've got this. It's the first girl you were ever into! It's as if you never recieved all those confessions. Isn't that right, Mr. Popular?"

"S-shut up..." Shinji shot back, trying to look tough but tearfully fails.


"Shin!" another familiar voice called out, seemingly coming from just beyond the school gate.

"Oh! Speak of the devil," Tatsuo said before turning to leave. "See you around, Takamiya-kun! Haruka's calling..."

Shinji waves back and responds with a simple "see ya" before turning back to Mio who was currently walking over to him. He smiles and starts walking over as well.

"Mio-san, good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon, Shin."

Although Shinji felt a little strange having a girl call him by a nickname, without honorifics on top of that, he felt as if he was content with it. He was surprised himself when he didn't have any sort of discomfort after Mio suggested the nickname in the first place.

"Wanna stop by at the café today? I'm on a day off so we can grab a coffee or two before it opens." Shinji suggested.

"Sure. I don't mind." Mio responded.

The two sat on the empty seats in front the counter across where Shinji worked in. He called out to one of the servers which he happened to be close to.


"Oh, Takamiya! Here on your day off so soon?" one of his co-workers, Tatsumi Tobiichi called out when he entered the café with Mio.

"Of course, I work here, so I know how good coffee is! You, of all people should now that, right, senpai?"

Even being her junior in a part-time job, he couldn't bring himself to call Tatsumi by her surname either. Rather than that, he regularly calls her "senpai" since its the one he's most comfortable with.

"You've got good taste," Tatsumi said as she opens one of the drawers for a spare menu and gives it to Shinji. "Takamiya, you brought the girl with you?" Tatsumi says after finally taking notice of the pale-blue haired fellow standing behind Shinji. Of course, she remembers how these two came to be "friends" after a fateful encounter (with a bit of help from Tatsumi herself).

"This is Mio-san. We're good friends." Shinji replied.

"Hello, my name is Mio Takamiya."

"Takamiya? Are you two family, perhaps?" Tatsumi wondered.

Shinji was quick to reply, waving his hands in front of him. "N-not at all... we just happened to have the same last names..."

"Is that so? Maybe it wouldn't cause much confusion if she marries into your family~" Tatsumi said, teasingly. This sparked a blush on the teenage boy's face, while Mio tries to look away and hide the small sport of blush on her cheeks.

"W-what are you s-saying?! We're not even dating yet..." Shinji quickly responded with a flustered look.

"Ara, what did you mean by 'yet', Takamiya~"

"C-cut it out! It's easy for you to say, you're already married!"

As the two messed around, Mio could only let out a giggle as if she wasn't bothered by all those suggestive comments from Shinji's lively co-worker.


"But, one thing I don't get, Takamiya. You two go on dates like this frequently, right? Don't you think it's a little weird that you go on so many outings with a girl you isn't your girlfriend?" Tatsumi curiously asked after the two calmed down from their embarrassing exchanges (Shinji was the one who was being embarrassed), to which Mio could only stare in silence to.

"Hey, Shin, this woman might have a point," Mio said after seconds of pure silence.

"Ooh, she even has a nickname for you! Good for you, Takamiya!"

"A-are you suggesting that you're fine with us being a c-couple?" Shinji replied to Mio's statement, ignoring Tatsumi's comment.

Mio merely replied with a long "hmm..." making the boy anxious about what she was actually thinking. "Although I wouldn't mind if you actually did..." he thought.

"Oh! Looks like the cafe's opening soon," Tatsumi said as she looks at her watch, interrupting the two teenager's thoughts.

"U-uhm, y-yes. We'll be going now, senpai!" Shinji said as he stood up to leave before the café gets populated by strangers as Mio followed behind him.

"See ya!" Tatsumi replied. "Those two, huh. But... I have my own future to worry about... right, Origami?" Tatsumi said as she strokes her lower body.


"Mio-san, where would like to go?" Shinji asks as he walks along the street with Mio by his side.

"I would like to visit the beach again today." Mio answered. Shinji slightly smiled in response.

"Mm. Let's go."

"Are you sure? It's quite a long way from here." Mio expressed from concern.

"I don't mind. As long as I get to come with you..."

Shinji's words slowly faltered as he realizes the thoughts he said out loud, to which Mio blushed to.

"R-really? I-I'm... glad..." Mio said while turning the other way to hide her embarrassment.

While Mio was having this little flustered moment, Shinji was no different, if not more. He was red to the point of exhaustion. He felt as if he can just faint on the spot hopefully to save himself from the embarrassing situation.

"I-is that... so..."

Unknown to the two, they were still close to the café. In fact, close enough that Tatsumi can see the comedic exchange between the two. She couldn't make out the context, but that heavy blush coming from the two was enough for her to let out a teasing smirk.


"Shin, who is that?" Mio said as she spots an angry-looking green-haired girl who seemed to be a student in school on her way back home.

"Hm? I heard that's Natsumi Kyouno. She's apparently the gloomy kid around town." Shinji says as he notices who Mio was pointing at.

"Gloomy kid?" Mio asked.

"I don't know the context either. I think it's best if we let her be. We don't know much stuff about her outside of the rumors. We might get involved in something serious."

"I see..."

"Let's go. We might miss the next train."


"The next train won't be here for a while. Want a drink?" Shinji says as he approaches a vending machine near the station.

"T-there really is no need to pay for my drink..." Mio responded.

"It's fine. I was planning to buy two anyway," he replied as he held out his hands with two drinks.

"T-thank you." Mio said as she takes one of the two drinks Shinji offered.

"Takamiya?" a woman called out, catching the two's attention.

"Himekawa-san?" Shinji said as the woman came into view.

"Please, you can call me 'Nagisa'. It's fine," Nagisa Himekawa politely said to the young boy.

"Y-yes, Nagisa-san. Are you on your way to the hospital?" Shinji curiously asked.

"That's right. Yoshino must be getting really lonely," Nagisa answered.

"I see..."

"Shin, who might this be?" Mio asked.

"O-oh, I forgot to introduce you. Mio-san, this is Nagisa Himekawa-san, a friend of mine," Shinji explained. "We met a while back when she was on her way to visit Yoshino."


A few months ago...

"Crap... where am I..." Shinji says as he looks to find himself on a comfortable bed. "A moment ago I was..."

During that moment, a girl who was resting her head on the other side of the bed came into view.

Shinji looked closer and eventually made out who this blue-haired young girl was.

"Mana..." Shinji whispers as he gently tries to wake his little sister up. When Mana woke up, she immediately stood up as if she wasn't sleeping just a moment ago.

"Nii-sama! You weren't waking up this morning! We were so worried..."

"Doesn't that mean that I just wanted to sleep in?" Shinji replied.

"If you were, we wouldn't have brought you here," Mana said, calming down a little. "but you were being strange in your sleep. Your breathing was heavy, and you seemed to be in pain. Heck, I could've sworn I saw some tears when I barged into your room!"

"Was it really that bad..." Shinji said as he looks around and finally realizes that he was in a hospital room. Apparently, Shinji had an unusual case of sleep paralysis just now, and refused to wake up until the afternoon.

"When I was asleep... I had a strange dream. It was that girl again, but... it was a dream where she was disappearing. If what Mana said was true then... was that why I was...crying?" Shinji thought, still very confused about the peculiar dreams he constantly gets.

"Looks like you're getting discharged tomorrow. Just get some rest for now."

"Really? I'm glad..." Shinji said in relief.

"Well then, I still have some school work to do. Don't die on me, nii-sama!" Mana said as she turns to leave after hearing about Shinji's stable condition.

"Mm. See you."

The next morning...

"Take care, Takamiya." the nurse who checked on him said as she sends Shinji on his way after getting discharged.

"I will, thanks." he smiled in response.

Shinji left his room and heard lots of noises nearby. He shrugged it off at first, but as he heard a *bump!* somewhere near him, he stopped in his tracks and tries to find the source. He couldn't, so he continued walking, only to be stopped by a small figure who was tugging at his shirt.

"Please... help me..." a young girl said, catching Shinji's attention.

"Eh? Who are—"

"The patient in room 121 is missing?! Where did she go?!" a nurse yelled from a distance where Shinji could hear.

Shinji looks down at the scared young girl hiding behind him and bends down to look her in the eyes.

"Are you the missing patient?" he asks, with a calm tone, of course.

"Y-yes... m-mother was missing when I woke up, and I g-got really scared..." the young girl explained.

"What's your name?" Shinji followed.

"Y-yoshino..."

"How about I accompany you to your room until your mother comes back?" Shinji says as he gives Yoshino a reassuring headpat.

Yoshino looks up at him with a confused look. It was then where Shinji realizes how suspicious his words came out. He quickly corrects himself:

"T-that's not w-what I meant! I w-won't do anything to y-you I promise..." Shinji said, obviously flustered to the bone.

"Don't worry. I feel that you can be someone I can trust." Yoshino said with a smile.

"T-then... let's go..." Shinji said, taking the young girl by the hand in hopes that she won't run off again and get in trouble. Shinji eventually reaches Yoshino's hospital room and stays there so that she won't run off again, hopefully until her mother comes back or a nurse steps in.

"I'm... sorry. I dragged you into this," Yoshino said with a worried look.

"Don't be. It's in my nature to help out when it comes to these." Shinji responded with a kind smile.

"Thank you..." Yoshino said softly.

Then, the door to the room suddenly opened as a concerned woman barged in and started yelling.

"Yoshino! Are you... there..." her words faltered as she sees Yoshino on her hospital bed safe and sound. She sighs in relief and approaches the boy sitting on the chair next to her.

"Who might you be?" she asked with a stern expression.

"U-uhm, I'm—"

"Don't worry, mom. Shinji-san returned me to my room and accompanied me until you came back," Yoshino interrupted.

"Did he do anything weird?"

"I-I didn't do anything..." Shinji responded.

"No, Shinji-san is a kind person," Yoshino followed. "Ah, I'm sorry again, Shinji-san. It's my fault you got involved..."

"I told you already... it's all right." Shinji calmly said with a light smile before turning to leave so that he won't get into more trouble, especially with Yoshino's mom. He felt a slight chill when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, prompting him to stop walking away and turn around, only to be met with a caring and thankful face.

"Thank you... for looking after my daughter." she said.

"N-not a problem." Shinji replied, a bit puzzled.

"Please," she bowed her head. "visit Yoshino often when I'm away at work. She might like that."

"W-will do... um—"

"Nagisa Himekawa. You can call me Nagisa."

"W-well, Himekawa-san," he bowed his head. "take care." he continued as he turned to leave the room and finally head home.


"So that's what happened..." Mio said.

"Yoshino is bedridden with an illness, so she stays in the hospital most of the time." Nagisa explained.

"Tell Yoshino that we can visit her later." Shinji said, making Nagisa a bit happier.

"Yes. She will be happy." replied Nagisa.

Shortly, the next train arrived for Shinji and Mio's trip to the beach. They waved at Nagisa and boarded the train.

"Oh, the train's here. See you later, Nagisa-san!"


"With each new year, we are reborn, as immaculate as untouched snow."

- Rolotia, Evertale


Next: Hospital Visit


AN: If you want to know more about my plans, check Story Map which is chapter right before this. Again, this is a direct sequel to The 30th I: Phantom of Infinity.

Also, I finally got around adding an OC: Tatsumi Tobiichi.

... kind of.

I only gave Origami's unnamed parents a name and a personality. Although it might be very different, it's still technically a character who exists in the franchise. Is it actually an OC? Idk, you guys decide.

I'm really looking forward to finishing this series with you. Thank you for supporting The 30th I: Phantom of Infinity.