Ch.48 The Future that Could Have been Pt.3

The group is preparing for their upcoming confrontation with Nemesis as Hiro and Ellen already left somewhere with the remaining time bracelet. Tohka, Kotori, Akane, and Mana are ready for a fight, but Origami intends to stay behind as she still doesn't have a realizer to use. She was offered one at the base, but declined the offer for some reason, so she'll pilot the ship with instruction from the others when needed. Shiori and Miyuki don't have any role in this fight as a Nemesis appears to be even more dangerous than Miya.

At the resistance base, Ryouko is preparing her forces a fight as they gear up and she gives her instructions to them.

"Listen up, Team. We're all that's left to fight against Nemesis. I know his power is freighting, and he's killed plenty of others before. But we can't give up, and we'll die before surrendering. Now, let's get ready because no matter what, this will be our final mission!"

The others announce.

"Yes, Major Kusakabe!"

Ryouko prefers the title of captain as that's what she used to, but major sounds fine as the entire team gears up for their battle. As they move out by equipping their realizers, which are incredibly dangerous from using parts of LICORICE for additional power. Ryouko equips her own special realizer which is completely jet black as the arm parts resemble dragon claws, the feet resemble squirrel feet, and the wings resemble eagle wings with a hawk-shaped eye piece on her eyeband. This is a realizer made as a last resort by Asgard Electronics made from pieces of DEM and AST realizers, and is codenamed RATATHRFOLGGER. As the greatest wizard currently alive, Ryouko is the only person qualified to wield this last resort weapon. She and her team prepare themselves for their final mission as they gather in a dock area and fly in a formation.

Back aboard the ship, Kotori and Akane get an idea of how to fight against Hiro based on how he reacted to seeing Tohka. Kotori vocalizes the idea to Tohka and Mana as she explains.

"Look, Hiro, or Nemesis, whatever…he clearly couldn't handle himself when he saw Tohka. So I'm thinking that we should bring Kenji with us too, since he is Yuzuru's son."

Mana hears the idea as she adds.

"Yeah, he does look like her enough, so maybe he can get a similar reaction."

Tohka immediately disagrees with the idea as she states.

"It's not a bad idea, but we can't just send him off with someone that dangerous out there. Kenji doesn't have the same powers as Shido does. If he gets shot like that one time…."

Origami actually doesn't say anything or even react to it like she normally would. She simply continues working at the ship's helm. She does, however, ask the question.

"I'd worry more about why Tohka and Kotori have their powers again."

Tohka and Kotori look at their astral dresses again and wonder about that too since Kotori hasn't lost control yet and Tohka only had a small portion of her power left since Shido isn't around. Though Akane and Kotori do have a good plan, Tohka is ultimately correct as Kenji has no way to defend himself nor any assist abilities. Origami mans the helm of the ship as the others waste no time as they are warped outside and fly up to the sky.

Knowing that splitting up is a bad idea, they decide to group up and each constantly looks at directions until they can find Nemesis. However, as they search for Nemesis, something unexpected happens. The sound of thunder is heard and a bunch of lightning bolts strike the ground from the sky. This causes them to suddenly disband as the lightning seems to follow them. They instantly wonder if Nemesis can be behind this.

Then, even more lightning strikes in the center of the area as a figure appears in it and it is definitely not Nemesis. The ship can't tell who it either because of the light, but this figure definitely is another inversed Spirit. However, they are not expecting what they witness upon the light fading. Wearing a dark-purple half skirt around her waist with sharps edges which drops to the knees and opens around her thighs, a small cape with dark blue lines, chains around her legs and arms and her dress covering her groin and chest area being appeared to be made of dark-blue and dark-purple belts with similar boots knee-high boots that are black with purple and blue lines running across them. Her eyes empty dark blue as she looks at the group. The group is in disbelief as the person they are looking at is Sora. Her hair appears to have grown to back-length in a short time as she has it flow free and her bangs are messy as they flow freely around her face and a broken lock dangles from her collar which is loose around her neck.

Tohka and the others are in disbelief as Kotori states.

"She was a regular human just yesterday. How can she have gained this much power in such a short time?"

As the others are in disbelief at this, a voice says.

"How indeed?"

They look around and are surprised by the person they see. They see the woman in white from before as she descends and wraps her arms around Sora's neck as mockingly explains.

"Your little shinning prince brought to my master. He gave the power a Spirit Child should have, and she loved it."

Tohka hears the shinning prince part as she asks.

"Are you talking about Aki? What did you do to my Aki!?"

Kokoro, the woman in white, looks at Tohka with a mocking smile as she asks.

"YOUR Aki? Since when was he born from YOUR womb?"

Tohka immediately rebukes.

"He's my son regardless of what time he's from. Because I…."

Kokoro interrupts as she tells Tohka.

"Don't kid yourself, Tohka. Shido could very much end up with Origami, Kurumi, or even the Yamai twins and have Sora here."

Tohka doesn't flinch as she doesn't care who this woman is due to not being with the group when they met her. She holds her sword ready, but Kotori tells her.

"Tohka, watch out for this woman. She's incredibly dangerous."

Kokoro simply smirks as she says.

"But I'm not here to fight. Rather, I'm here with a solution to your problems."

Kotori holds her Camael with clear distrust and Tohka does the same with her Sandalphon. Mana readies her realizer for combat and is the one to say.

"I don't think anyone is willing to believe you."

Akane isn't among this distrust as Kokoro looks at her and replies.

"Oh, so no one includes Ifrit over here?"

Akane looks at the ground for a second. Kokoro lets go of Sora as she approaches Akane but Kotori tries interfering as she attempts to charge her. Kokoro's hair turns light blue for a few seconds as she summons a pillar of ice that surrounds Kotori's body completely. She approaches Akane without giving off any violence as she tells the Spirit Child.

"I heard from Miya that you want an Inverse form to use. The thing is, I can make happen for you right here and now."

Akane's eyes widen as she asks.

"You can?"

Kotori is striking at the ice from inside to break free; Mana can't bring herself to attack as she can't determine what this woman will do. Tohka charges as she shouts.

"Akane, don't listen to her! She did something to Aki, and she's probably going to do something to you!"

Tohka swings her Sandalphon at Kokoro, who counters as she sprouts a purple wing with cream-colored spines and her hair turns to a dark plum color. She then shouts.

"Sandalphon!"

Kokoro then plunges her hands into the ground and a portal appears as she pulls out her own Sandalphon much to the shock of the others as this is the second angel she's summoned after Zafkiel. Kokoro wields it like Tohka as the two begin clashing as sword sparks fly without either taking control. The thing is, Kokoro is clearly holding back despite having the same prowess as Tohka with the sword. Seeing this, Mana attempts to help, but as she moves, a lightning strike hits at her feet and barely misses. She looks at Sora, who is staring at her with those blank eyes as she shakes her head. Kokoro then gets at a stalemate as she and Tohka both back away without any injuries. Kokoro turns to Akane again and hands her a strange object, a dark spherical object that feels like a piece of fruit. Kokoro explains.

"This is fruit of the qliphoth , a concentrated source of negative mana that we created fairly recently. It was made for you, Akane Itsuka."

Holding this fruit is enticing as Akane can feel the power coming from it. Kokoro further explains.

"We'd have preferred the method with Aki and his sword, but my master insisted you were ready for it already."

Kokoro smiles as Akane believes it based on what she's seen. She opens her mouth and fully ready to take a bite as she thinks.

"Control it…control…"

Kokoro smiles bigger as Akane's mouth is about to take a bite. Kotori is desperately trying to break free to stop it, Tohka is trying to tell Akane to stop, and Mana is attempting to get closer to plain stop the action, but the lightning bolts keep coming. They are in panic as Akane isn't stopping. She is dangerously close to eating it, but then someone grabs her arm stops her. Frustrated, she looks and demands.

"What's the big idea?"

She turns and sees her guardian, who has a concerned look on her face as she shakes her head in disapproval. Akane snaps at her and demands.

"Hey, stay out of my business!"

The guardian takes the fruit puts it in her mouth as she swallows it whole much to the surprise of everybody. Akane is especially shocked at this due to her anger and desire for that power as she grits her teeth and snaps.

"Why did you do that!? That was my one shot at an inverse form! I could control it! I know I could, and you screwed it up for me!"

The guardian appears to be a little sad as she reaches towards Akane, who smacks the hand and says.

"Don't touch me. I don't want to see you again! You screwed up everything!"

The guardian becomes plain sad as she actually sheds a tear, but it's red like her mana as she fades away. Kokoro is curious at this development as she doesn't know what will happen since the guardian swallowed the fruit. She then shrugs and looks at Sora to state.

"They clearly don't want our help. Sora, let us leave."

Sora nods as she and Kokoro disappear into a dark portal that Sora summons. Akane is clearly frustrated still as Kotori breaks free from the ice as she is relieved that Akane was stopped. Through this somber moment, a sudden fright happens as something crashes a little ways next to them. Mana hovers over to see what it is, and it is a resistance wizard with a hole in her stomach and is in clear pain as she tilts her up a bit. Mana is immediately worried as she tells the wizard.

"Hey, we're gonna get you some help for that wound."

The wizard coughs up some blood as she replies.

"No time…help the major….Nemesis too strong…."

The wizard closes her eyes as she dies right there in Mana's arms. Mana looks at the others, and all of them, except Akane, are of the same mind as they follow where the wizard came from since it is painfully clear the resistance group has already found Nemesis and started the fight.

Kurumi Timeline

Kurumi has made contact with her adult counterpart who had Saori. She has already explained herself and moved Shido to Saori's vacant room to sleep on the bed. The two are talking about the plan for the moment (to avoid confusion the adult Kurumi will be written in bold letters). Kurumi is now being told by her younger self about Saori being the serial killer that the police were searching for, but her surprise as she says.

"Saori was the killer that…"

Her older self simply interrupts with.

"I knew the whole time she was shooter."

Kurumi is blowing on a hot cup of tea as she says this nonchalantly and takes a sip. Kurumi shouldn't be surprised by this revelation as her older self simply explains.

"Saori was a shy and timid girl for most of her life. She did her best to avoid trouble, get good grades, and be a good daughter. My husband has always thought highly of her, but some time ago, I noticed she was unhappy about something at school, so I looked into it with nobody around. I discovered…"

Kurumi adds.

"That some people were blackmailing her. She told me about this."

Kurumi nods as she continues.

"Normally, I would have killed those students and her teacher without a second thought, but I don't have any of my powers anymore. Whatever I had left is now in this little one inside of me."

Kurumi begins rubbing her stomach which has slightly swollen in the last month. Kurumi then wonders about what happened in that time to make Saori's attitude change. However, what her older self says may have the key to everything as she actually begins to sob a little as she remembers.

"I was beginning to worry that Saori was thinking of committing suicide for a while. I didn't do anything because I wasn't sure."

She wipes her face with a handkerchief. Kurumi is seeing how much her older self loves her children. But she still asks.

"If you knew Saori was the shooter, why didn't you tell anyone about it?"

Kurumi takes a sip and smiles a little as she answers.

"Because I didn't care she was the shooter. The lives of the people she killed mean absolutely nothing to me. When she killed them, I simply smiled as I waited for her to come home."

This doesn't surprise Kurumi in the slightest as she would imagine that to be the case. Kurumi further explains.

"I know how you feel. I know better than anyone else about your plans, your methods, and your feelings. I can't force you to become me, and I don't really want to. I can just say that being the person I've become isn't what I originally imagined. But the day Shido told me he loved me, I felt warmer than ever in my life. Bringing six children into the world wasn't easy, but it was worth it to me. I love my family, and they are the only people in the world I care about or will care about."

As she explains this, a person comes home. He is wearing a plain black suit with a red tie holding a briefcase with the same blue hair and amber-brown eyes as he announces.

"I'm home, Kurumi."

Kurumi stands up with a smile as walks over and greets her husband home with a kiss. He happily hugs her as well and says.

"It's always good to get home to you every day, Kurumi. Especially since we're having a hard time right now."

He pulls back and mentions.

"But the good news is I got the raise we need."

Kurumi smiles as she is happy about that. With the new baby on the way, the house needs a little more income. Kurumi then mentions to her husband.

"Shido, I have something to talk to you about…."

The time has come to fully make the arrangements for Kurumi and Shido as they need help from these two for the time being.