Date A Live – Purpose
Chapter 2 – The Beginning
"Any sign of Mayuri?"
Kotori asks Kannazuki who's currently looking at the monitor.
Kannazuki shakes his head, confirming that he didn't found Mayuri anywhere.
"... No good, eh?"
Kotori sits at her commander seat while Shido walks into the commander's room silently.
"How are you feeling, Shido-kun?"
Kannazuki asks Shido with a cheerful smile to lighten up the mood. But Shido only replies with a weak smile.
"... Just like what the commander said before, that girl is not the Mayuri we knew. She's a completely different existence than what she used to be."
"—Any clear evidence that she's a different person?"
Shido opens his mouth with a stern gaze.
As if he can't forgive anyone that treat Mayuri like she's some sort of a monster.
"The signal we received from her just now clearly different than 5 days ago. Please have a look at the diagram."
Kannazuki shows Shido the diagram that he recorded before.
Indeed, compared to 5 days ago the signal Mayuri gave them just now is very different.
The signal they received today is 2 to 3 times stronger than 5 days ago.
"Why is she giving such a strong signal?"
Shido asks Kannazuki, but of course Kannazuki can't give him any answer as they need to examine Mayuri's body and mental state first to get a clear answer.
"That's why we have to subdue her. So that we can examine her closely either she's the same as before or not."
Kotori puts the lollipop she took from her pocket into her mouth.
Hearing that, Shido faces Kotori.
"If that was the case, you guys don't have to be so hostile toward her, am I wrong?"
"Moron, we did that for your sake. Do you even realise that she's about to attack you if you get any closer to her?"
"Mayuri won't do such a thing—!"
Shido tries his best to defend Mayuri, but her escape just now will only increase Kotori's suspicion toward her.
Shido should know that the best.
That Kotori protects him because she loves him.
The same applies to the girls as well.
If only he was not feeling down these past 5 days, he should be able to talk this out with the girls.
Not only that, he also knows that he is the cause that the girls are acting weird and violent.
Because he didn't say a single word to them.
"—I don't care what are you talking about. We will subdue Mayuri and forces the truth out of her if she ever try to harm you again, Shido."
"..."
"Leave. I'm busy."
Feeling guilty, Shido can't say a word and leaves the commander's room.
"Shido..."
Tohka's standing still in the corridor, looking at him worrily.
Shido smiles weakly as he raises his hand.
"I'm sorry, Tohka. It seems like I've made you guys worry these past 5 days."
"Um... Nevermind that, how are you feeling now, Shido?"
Without him knowing it, Tohka's voice is actually calming his heart down.
"I'm okay, I just...!?"
Suddenly, Tohka hugs him with all her might.
"I'm so happy... I thought Shido won't leave his room ever again..."
"Silly... How am I supposed to live if I just stay in my room?"
Shido smiles and pat on Tohka's head.
Remembering Mayuri's words just now, he can't help but think about her meaning by saying that.
"Tohka, do you remember when Mayuri touched you before?"
Shido's implying to the power amplification that caused her to be so powerful that she can destroy [Lahathelev].
"I still remember that time... Her power's flowing into me like a flood that I can't contain all of them at once."
"Is there anything else that you know from that?"
Tohka frowns as she close her eyes.
It seems like she's trying her best to remember.
"... Not really, but just for a little bit... I can hear her voice back then."
"Really!?"
"Kyaa!?"
Surprised by Shido's sudden yell, Tohka steps back a little.
"Oh, I'm sorry... I just thought that I might've get a clue about Mayuri so I get all excited."
"It's okay... Well, I heard her voice that time. If I'm not mistaken, she said something like 'the same as Shido'..."
"... The same as me..."
Shido can't help but think that Mayuri might mean it in a way that nobody knows.
"It seems like we really need to find her first so that we can talk with her."
Tohka places her right palm at Shido's shoulder as she talk.
"You're right, Tohka. But... I've made everyone worry about me. Moreover—"
"They acted quite different than usual, right?"
Shido stops talking immediately after he listens to Tohka's words.
"Tohka, you noticed it too?"
"Yes... For example, Kotori's getting emotional, A little mistake can make her explode with anger. Kaguya's no longer full of spirit, Yuzuru... I can't really tell the difference, Miku's no longer smiling like she always do, and Yoshino... She often talks to herself. I don't mean talking to Yoshinon, but just herself..."
Tohka's explanation about their current situation has reach Shido completely.
Shido wonder is he really the one that caused their mental state to worsen to this point.
"I admit that I might've caused trouble to you guys, but seeing that you're acting the same as usual made me wonder is Mayuri really involved in this?"
"I don't really understand..."
"It's okay, Tohka. Your explanation helped me a lot, thank you."
Shido pat Tohka's head again, but Tohka pouts the moment Shido touched her head.
"Mu..."
"W-What is it?"
"Shido, you're really treating me like a kid, aren't you? I've read a book from Kotori that states the way you pat a girl is the way you take care of a kid."
"A-Ah..."
Shido can't really find a word to reply since he really is treating Tohka as a kid with an adult body.
"—But I don't hate that. Pat me more."
"—O-Okay..."
Shido keeps on patting Tohka's head since she urges him to.
But Shido finds that this feeling is not bad at all.
Now, he has to find a way to clean up the 'mess' he made.
"Mayuri..."
He whispers in a voice that only he can hear.
...
The street is really crowded.
People come and go as they please on this road since there's a bazaar happening.
"... Mask."
"What is it, young lady!? You want to buy a mask? You're already so pretty, you don't need a mask at all."
A friendly-looking merchant smiles at Mayuri who is looking at his goods.
Mayuri's gaze stops at a traditional fox mask painted with red and black ink.
"You want this one?"
Mayuri nods as she put her hand into her bag.
The merchant stops her right away.
"No one ever pay this guy any attention before, so I guess I will let you have it for free."
"—Are you sure?"
Mayuri asks him with a straight face.
"Yes, it's not like I'm selling for profit. What I like the most is for my customer to respect my handiwork. You can have it."
"... Thank you."
Mayuri takes the mask from the merchant's hand and walks away silently.
"Man, that young girl sure is very beautiful. I wonder who is her boyfriend?"
The merchant stretches his body.
The next moment, a sudden spacequake occur without warning and swallows the entire road.
"I will... Treasure this."
Mayuri's voice can be heard in the spacequake.
But no one can hear her voice.
...
"Spacequake—?"
Kurumi who's standing on a 10 story building's roof saw a spacequake that occur not too far from her location.
The spacequake alone can't be considered as big.
But what disturbs Kurumi the most is—
"Why isn't there any warning alarm? Not like I care about the people being swallowed by that thing, but at least during this time there is always an alarm before the spacequake happen."
Kurumi bites her finger as she think about something.
At this moment, her left eye stings.
"Kh—!?"
The pain is not too much, but it's enough to make her remember about what happened in the past.
"... Fufufu... Ara-ara... It seems like the time we will meet each other is drawing close..."
Hands of shadow can be seen her own shadow, slowly reaching for her legs.
"To think that you will kindly visit me like this... How brave of you, [Seraphiel]."
Nobody knows just what did Kurumi mean by that name.
But with this we know, that the bell for a bigger event already rang.
-Since this is a fanfiction and I feel like to create my own universe of DAL, I hope you guys like my idea! Feel free to R&R-
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