This one will review a little more info to the DaL group. Not full spoilers than you thought it would be.
To Synchro: You must be new to my stories then. I have thrown many hints in my other stories, and this time 'spoilers' will be the official reveal for some of them. Though, thanks for enjoying my story.
With that out of the way, let's get to the main story!
Due to the event occurred in the school, Emerald returns to the apartment earlier than expected. During the bus ride, she calls Fraxinus and asks Reine: "When did Kotori become a Spirit?"
"It happened five years ago. How it happened, then we didn't know, since all of her memories at that moment were gone." Seeing that there's no point in hiding, Reine answers honestly.
"Hm… How long have she been using it?"
"Twice."
"Twice?"
"The first time was when she gained it. The second time…"
"Is there a reason for her to not use it?"
"… She didn't want to leave her brother."
"Ah… I see. Yeah, that would be disheartened to leave someone precious behind. Anyway, where's Shidou now?"
"He's talking with his sister in the containment room. 'It's for everyone's safety', she said."
"*Sigh* Overthinking much?"
"Possible."
"Anyway, if the conversation goes for too long, drag them back to the ground, even if it's by force. Not going to let them be over-concerned about such petite problems."
"I hear it." With that, Reine turns off the call herself.
Dropping the phone on her lap, Emerald says to herself: "I wonder what Kuro is planning… Is he going to create another Remnant ending?"
"I'm home!" Emerald speaks out loud so Yoshino could hear her. Before she reached home, she has received a message from Fraxinus that she's at home already.
"Good afternoon, Emerald!" Yoshinon calls out, as Yoshino walks to her with a smile on her face, and a vanilla ice cream on her right hand.
The goddess smiles at the young girl and pats her, while asking: "How's your day going?"
"It's been a little boring!" Yoshinon complains. "We're on the ship and playing with the people there for the day. Then when we returned here, a woman is already inside and making dinner! Though, she did give us some ice cream, so we won't complain! Oh, and she said she knows you!"
That drops her smile, as she immediately rushes to the kitchen, with Yoshino following her quickly. She stops right at the opening door and sees that, there's indeed a woman in 30s wearing a long black frill dress, cooking something with the oven. Though, based on the figure of the person… Emerald sighs and says: "Kuro, you could have called me beforehand."
"Oh?" The woman turns back, and Emerald could CLEARLY see the playfully glee in her eyes behind the glasses. "I just want to give everyone a surprise. Is Yoshino happy?"
"With the ice cream, yeah sure." Putting her bag on a chair, Emerald walks to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of orange juice. She pours it in a glass while asking: "So what did you do after disappeared before us?"
"Well…" The oven dings, and Kuro, in 'his' female form, pulls out a pie and places it on the table. "Let's just say that… I prevented someone to become an unintentional murderer."
"By turning yourself into a real one?" Emerald asks back, which earns her a nod. "That sounds exactly like you to me."
"Yep." Picking up another glass, Kuro turns himself back to normal, much to Yoshino and Yoshinon's surprise, and picks the bottle up once Emerald has done with it, and pours himself one as well. He then turns to the Spirit and smiles: "Yeah, I don't want to scare you off, so I thought it would be easier to meet you with that other form."
Though, that earns him a laugh from Yoshinon, as the doll says: "That's a good disguise! And you're friendly, so we don't mind!"
"Well thanks." Kuro then takes a sip from the orange juice glass, before turning to Emerald. "Did you have something to do tonight?"
"How about you helping me answering everyone's question? I told them to gather at Itsuka's residence." The goddess replies. "Also, I told them you're Kurumi's father."
"Kay then. I don't really mind."
After dinner. Living room
"I would love to start the conversation, but can you all stop glaring towards each other?" Kuro says, rubbing his left temple in mild annoyance, as Mana and Origami are glaring at Tohka and Kotori as the later duo return it. The AST soldiers are also glaring at Kurumi, but she doesn't care at all since she's sitting next to him.
"I think we could start it without them." Reine simply says.
Yoshino lightly pulls Shidou's arm, signaling that she's a bit scared. Shidou pats her head to calm her down, before asking: "Kurumi… are you a Spirit, or are you something else?"
"I was not a Spirit." The girl replies. "However, I did make a deal with one to become one."
"Is it the same to Kotori?" Shidou continues.
"That's for you and her to remember. Those memories are bound to the events five years ago…"
"You knew who killed my parents." Origami interrupts. "Tell me." Her blank stare is hiding her inner rage fire, that couldn't go unnoticed by Kuro.
"I did. But, I can't tell you." Kuro replies. "It's better for you to try to find it on your own. I'm a stranger to you, so you wouldn't believe my story over your own belief."
Her gaze on him hardens, but she doesn't say a word. Tohka asks her question: "How are you Kurumi's father?" That makes Kotori and Yoshino widen their eyes in surprise. "You look so young…"
"Four hundred years old is not young for human." Emerald says that out loud.
Of course, stares of disbelief focus on him, causing him to chuckle and answer that: "Yeah, I'm around that age. I'm a different being than human."
"Are you a demon?" Kotori asks. "If Kurumi has that form of her…"
"Half. Or quarter, I'm not sure. My body's containing all sorts of power, and the power of a demon is one of them."
"…Including the power of turning human into a Spirit." Origami decides to give out a theory.
"Technically, yes. But, I don't bother change one person into another unless it's absolutely necessary." Kuro takes a sip from his teacup before continuing: "And I'm not responsible for the first spacequake, mind you."
"The power of traveling through time, Kurumi…" Shidou asks. "Was it from Kuro, or was it from the Spirit power?"
"Both. I can be flashier with Spirit power though." Kurumi says, then nudges into Kuro's arm.
"We come from a place where fighting monsters is common. And it's normal to see young hunters trying to develop their own ways to fight." Kuro explains further. "As you saw before, Emerald's fighting style is casting spells while focusing on dodging as well."
Mana: "By the way… if you're a captain of the guards, then how did you manage to… um… fall in love with the queen?"
Kuro chuckles. "It's the opposite actually. However, I was her… personal servant when she was still a princess…"
"Yeah, like anyone would believe that." Ignoring the look Kuro is sending to her, Emerald changes the answer: "Yeah, the 'personal servant' part is right. However, he wasn't the captain of the guards. Since he didn't take the position of being the King, he's now the co-ruler of Gallia alongside its queen."
"…That's more believable." That's everyone's response, causing Kuro to pout lightly.
"That explains how you could easily block our attacks." Kotori comments. "So, what are you going to do next?"
"… A couple of things." Kuro says. "First, about Kurumi's conditions. Pretend that the event today never happened. Of course, I won't ask you to forget it, but reassure that she won't do such things again."
"How can you be so sure of it?" Origami asks suspiciously.
"Hey, I'm her father, and I don't want to cause ruckus if I can help it. And you saw how powerful I am."
"… That will depend." That's Origami's short conclude.
"Since you healed me before, then I should trust you too." Mana says, gratefulness filling her voice.
"…Yeah. The second thing is actually about you." Kuro follows.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know why Emerald stopped her healing midway? It's because she couldn't heal what's killing you." Kuro turns serious at the second sentence.
"Wait what?" Mana widens her eyes in shock. "What's killing me? What do you mean?"
"…*Sigh* I think I have to reveal this one truth." Kuro rubs his nose bridge, before saying: "If both Mana and Shidou were not involved in this, they might have reached the age of forty already."
"…WHAT?" Everyone except Kurumi and Reine shouts in shock, although the latter has her eyes widen as well.
"Hold on! That can't be right! Human body WILL grow on time! Even if we lost our memories, our bodies would still change!" Mana counters, not believing it one bit.
"DEM was the one responsible for that matter." Kuro coldly states. "And that comes with my third objective here: Personally interrupting the work of one Isaac Westcott."
Everyone could feel the coldness in his voice, contradicting to the cheerfulness he gave everyone a few minutes ago. Even Kurumi and Emerald move away from him a bit in fear. Then, Kuro closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, then sighs, letting the scary atmosphere to die down. "Sorry. But he's really on my nerves after finding out what he has done."
"He's so scary…" Shidou turns to Yoshino, who's hiding herself out of Kuro's view. He sympathizes for the little girl, since he also feels the dreadful tension appearing in the room.
"Back a little bit…" Reine regains her composure. "You said that Mana and Shidou were supposed to be forty. Mind elaborate it?"
"I can't tell Shidou's case. However, with Mana's… it's because of the Wizard Abduction."
"Abduction?" This time Origami asks, her voice shows that she's surprised at Kuro's choice of words.
"Ask Westcott himself. However, be careful, since that person sees you as everything smaller than an ant."
"So… my memories… they're because of DEM?" Mana asks, her body shaking violently.
"Your memories, yes. Your body, yes. Your mentality, not very sure since I haven't seen that far." Kuro admits. He then turns to Kotori and asks: "So, are you two going out tomorrow?"
"What are you talking about?" Kotori asks, clearly confused at the change of topic.
"Your power needs to be re-sealed, right?" Kuro says, referring to the conversation between Kotori and Shidou, the one that he wasn't supposed to know. "The power inside you started to react violently after the re-awakening, and it would manipulate your body and change it from human to a Spirit. And that's not something you like, I could assume that."
"…You saw that with your power?" Kotori asks, guessing the only possible theory that could be true.
"How else?" He then turns to Reine. "Any suggestions for the two?"
"Ocean Park. That's the best location around." Reine replies.
"Ocean Park, heh?" Both Emerald and Kurumi suddenly says at the same time, while looking at Kuro with a funny look.
"What's wrong?" Kuro, not seeing the danger yet, brings the teacup to his lips while asking.
"You mean that amusement park with a pool?" Shidou's question causes Kuro to freeze in place.
"Correct." Reine confirms Kuro's fear.
"… Can we come?" Origami asks, HOPING it would be the case.
Reine: "We won't object."
Kotori then notices Kuro not moving after hearing that, so she asks: "What's wrong, Kuro? Do you have something to say?"
"Well… not really." Slowly putting the teacup back to the table, Kuro says: "I mean, it's your decision, not…"
"Father…" Kurumi pushes herself closer to Kuro, causing him to flinch. "How about you joining us as well?"
"It's been a while since you have a vacation. Hey, how about you helping us picking the swimsuits?" Poking Kuro's right cheek, Emerald teases the man, causing his face to slowly redden up.
Everyone looks at the scene, not knowing what they're implying. Then, Kuro sighs while scratching his head. "Guess I can't deny at this point."
"You can't." Emerald and Kurumi synchronize one more time, then giggle at his 'misfortune'.
"Did we miss something?" Mana asks confusingly.
"Nothing, nothing. You will see tomorrow." Kurumi giggles, then pulls Kuro up and towards the exit. "Emerald, can you explain the rest?"
"Hey wait…" The duo then disappear out of thin air, making Emerald close her mouth and then sigh.
"Kurumi seems a bit clingy on Kuro…" Shidou comments.
"…Do you remember what I talked about 'Kuro's ideal' when Kotori talked about the 'siblings'?" That makes the 'Spirit of Fire' blush up. "Well, that's the case with Kurumi and Kuro."
"… Wait." Kotori points to the door, the location where the duo disappeared. "Those two? Are you sure? I thought that's just how a daughter stays around with her parents?"
"Normally, that's the surface. Guess what's under it." That causes anyone who understands it redden up. Emerald then rubs her eyes and asks herself: "What can we really do to that harem god?"
"…Harem?" Everyone immediately asks.
"Yeah. In literal sense, mind you. Although, he only married to a few, while the others stayed as his girlfriends." Suddenly a little doll appears above her head and hits her head with the hammer. Even though she feels the hits, Emerald doesn't bother to swat her away because those hits deal no damage at all. "That title's given by Neptune. The god part is just because he's one, it's not about how 'skilled' he is in 'hauling' those girls for himself." The doll pulls out a bigger hammer and continues hitting, to no success. "One of the reasons is that he could be very entertaining, like right now." Reaching her hands above the head, Emerald gently grabs the doll and pulls her down, as the doll squirms and tries to hit her to no avail as she's completely out of reach.
"That's… the same one… with that person…" Kotori points to the doll, then to the door again. "How?"
"Like he said before, he has all sorts of power." Seeing that 'she' couldn't reach Emerald anymore, the doll crosses her arms before her while pouting cutely. "The doll is called Shanghai, and he uses her mainly to express his childish self."
Yoshino slowly moves herself out of Shidou's back, and Yoshinon reaches towards the doll and grabs her out of Emerald's hand. The doll does nothing against it, and when Yoshino pats her, she just pushes herself into the Spirit's hand while making happy squeaky sound. That makes the young girl feel a little cheered up, as she starts patting the doll even more.
Emerald: "And that's his way to make girls be less scared of him."
"That… is a good way. No sarcasm." Shidou says, seeing Yoshino smile happily while playing with the new doll.
"Oh, forgot to mention, Kuro was human."
"We can see that." Reine notes.
"Although, if Kurumi's a princess, shouldn't she, like, be with more guards?" Kotori points out a good point. "No offense to Kuro, but she really needs more protections than…"
"The fact he could delete a universe would counter that point." Emerald points out what makes Kuro the current most powerful person in the group. "Anyway, I think I have held you here long enough. Tomorrow would be a fun day for us all, so save up your energy."
On top of a building
Kurumi's sitting in Kuro's lap, as the man is hugging her passionately. "It feels so nice." Kurumi says, as she nudges closer into Kuro's arms.
"Your mother wouldn't like seeing this." The man comments, chuckles at his imagination of his wife being jealous over her own daughter.
"Mmm, you know she wouldn't be mad for so long." The daughter replies.
"I think she would, if she knows you could do this." The one in his lap is his daughter, and so are the two hugging him from behind.
"But that would make her look cute, right?"
"Can't argue with that *chuckle*." He then notices the left Kurumi starting to close her face towards his. "What are you doing?"
"Just want to have some quick time with…"
"Before this story turns into M-rated…" The Kurumi trio immediately turns to the left to see another Kuro, but wearing full black outfit with a fedora and a cane, standing near the edge of the building floor. "Kuro, I have checked the world to see if we could find The First Spirit. And, not going to lie, we won't be able to find her if we don't use 'that' and her being cooperative."
Turning serious, Kuro asks back: "She's suspicious at our work?"
"Doubt it, since she trusted Kurumi enough to give her the power. Kurumi, you found her before, right?"
"Yes, but that's with her copy's help. I can't pin-point her that easily, even with the power she gave me." The clones disappear, as Kurumi continues: "I did try to use the twelfth bullet, but I couldn't reverse back to the right time."
"So it's not yet for us to meet her." Kuro closes himself to Kurumi by placing his head on her shoulder, causing her to blush up a bit. "Though, it's expected. You did a good job, Kurumi."
"Thanks, father." Kurumi replies, a little embarrassed at the affection, but totally welcoming it.
"Get a room, you two." The Kuro-alike shakes his head, but not bother to hide the smirk on his face.
"Hey, you and Kurome have the front seats here." Immediately a megaphone is thrown from a sudden-appeared portal and headed straight towards Kuro's head, though he could dodge it easily.
"She's on that day of the month, so don't trigger her." The other one also dodges as well.
"Return back and calm her down already!" Kuro shouts while cackling madly, causing Kurumi to giggle and the other to chuckle and disappear in the portal that opens under his feet. Kuro then whispers into Kurumi's right ear: "Let's return back to your apartment, shall we?"
Chapter 6 end!
A little teasing for you readers :3. Though that might explain how clingy 'a certain wife of Kuro' could be. Like mother, like daughter. And, well... the M-rated part will be in another story of mine *wink* *wink*.
Also, the next chapter MIGHT BE the end of arc 1. I haven't seen the OVA of Season 1 yet, so once I watch it, I will make the decision to end with the next, or the one after it.
And, obviously, fan-service will happen :3. See you all in the next chapters!