Re:Chapter 5 - Date A Date

...

My eyes flutter open as light peeks between the curtains. What happened yesterday all still seems so unbelievable.

I mean, who would believe a super-powered boy from another world knows about your past and wants to help you? It's quite strange.

Issei-kun was right, he did fix Zafkiel. My Sephira is producing Reiryoku at a steady pace, unlike before. He really made it so I wouldn't have to kill people anymore...

"That foolish boy..." I mutter to myself with a smile, as I sit up. I look over at Issei-kun, still sound asleep.

"Ufufu~" I let out a giggle. His face is so peaceful like this.

Thinking over what happened yesterday, I come to a conclusion.

Issei-kun really does care for me. Even though he's never known me personally, he does care. Even though he know me what I've done, he doesn't hate me for it. The only other person who could do that is...

Sighing quietly, I banish those thoughts from my head.

Furthermore, Issei-kun got so angry last night when he realized what was wrong with Zafkiel. He seemed like a easygoing, albeit easily flustered person, though that may be because of me. Still, he got that angry FOR me. It's really been a long time since I could say someone got angry for me instead of angry at me.

Following a sudden urge of mine, I gently rest my hand on his cheek.

I've tried to play the part of the villain for years now, and Issei-kun comes in and, within one day, makes me doubt so much. It must be a gift.

I remove my hand from his face as his eyes begin to flutter. As they open slowly, suddenly they shoot open in surprise before relaxing as he smiles gently.

"Mornin'." He greets with his usual way of speaking.

"Morning." I greet back.

Ufufu~ he's too cute.

Honestly, waking up to see the beautiful face of Kurumi as light gently peeks though the window is something right out of my wildest fantasies. And yet, here it is.

God, I am lucky.

"How'd you sleep?" I ask the time Spirit.

"Quite well, and you?" She asks back with a smile.

"Pretty good, considering I usually can't sleep well in a new bed. Although, I did have a pretty neat dream last night, so that may be the case." I say.

"I'm glad then." Kurumi smiles a beautiful smile, her hair unbound, yet still covering her clock eye. I raise my hand up and brush the bangs behind her ear. She jolts slightly in surprise at my actions.

"Y'know, you really should put you bangs like this sometimes. The world deserves to see your beautiful eyes." I compliment.

"...!" She gasps quietly as a blush creeps its way onto her face, before giggling. "Ufufu~ thank you for that, Issei-kun."

"Well then, how's breakfast sound? How about an American classic?" I ask, sitting up.

She smiles again before saying "I'd like that."

Fuck, she's too beautiful.

Eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice. Definitely the American classic. Breakfast of champions, and all of that.

We both thoroughly enjoy our breakfast while I tell her about Helel.

"So you can't inverse?" She asks.

"Nope. Though, Helel said she couldn't inverse, she never said anything about me. Maybe I could imagine my Reiryoku inversing or something like that. I don't really know the limit of Helel's powers. Considering it's an offshoot of Mio's strongest angel, I'd say my imagination's the only limit." I explain.

Kurumi lets out a hum of understanding. "That's another worry. You said Mio has multiple angels?"

Right, she wouldn't know that. "Yes. Her weakest is Ain Soph Aur. Anything it's projectiles touch, die. I doesn't matter if they're organic or not. She could 'kill' a submarine's nuclear engine. She can also use Henet to turn the angel into a flower. Ain Soph lets her distort space, or something along those lines. She can also use Anaph and manifest the angel as a sword. Her strongest angel, and by far her trump card is Ain. It creates light and anywhere it touches, Mio is a god. Not idea what it's limits are, if there even are any." I explain Mio's powers.

"...The idea of killing her when she appeared thirty years ago sounds more and more appealing." She says.

"Appeared? More like born." I say, causing Kurumi's gaze to snap over to my face.

"Born?" She asks.

"You didn't know? Wescott and his stooges made that 'Spirit Formula' and caused the first spacequake, creating the Neighboring World and, as a byproduct, Mio." I explain. "Wescott wants to have that world overlap this one to make his 'paradise'." I let out a scoff at that, as Kurumi remains silent, yet shocked at my explanation.

"Crazy motherfucker... Anyway, Mio 'created' the angels, so she could be compared to YHVH. She'd be a rather terrifying opponent. Fortunately, she won't mess with us so long as we don't mess with her, or Shido." I explain.

"Shido?" She asks.

Oh, right. "Well, we'll use that 'anime' explanation. If this world were an anime, Wescott would be the main villain, and Shido, the protagonist. He can 'seal' a Spirit by having them hold high enough affection for him, then kissing them."

"Seal? As in...?" Kurumi begins to ask.

"As in their powers are sealed, unless their emotions spill over." I explain. "I suppose I should explain what Mio wants. After she appeared in Eurasia, she ran from DEM. She ran into a young boy named Takamiya Shinji and his younger sister, Mana after teleporting around the world. Her mind was fresh, like a baby's, but she knew of her powers and she knew DEM were trying to capture her."

"M-Mana? But she's-" Kurumi asks, shocked, but I cut her off as I continue.

"I'll explain in a sec. DEM caught up with them soon and captured Mana. They wanted to trade Mana for Mio, but when they went to shoot Mio, Shinji took the shot and died. Mio ran with his body and DEM kept Mana, only to fuck with her body with magic and science to turn her into an un-aging superhuman. Of course, the downside is that she only has about three years to live. Mio learned much from Shinji, but apparently not empathy. She only cared for Shinji, no one else. You killing everyone to gain power to kill Mio could be seen as selfish, but also as selfless. You committed plenty of atrocities, but getting rid of Mio would've prevented everything she's done, which is arguably far worse than what you've done." I explain.

Kurumi gains an odd expression on her face.

"Where was I? Oh right. Mio hatched a plan. Some kinda way, she got the angels from the Neighboring World and put them in Crystals. She would put their power in Shinji and revive him. There were problems with that, though. The Crystals power could only be drawn out by humans, so she had to implant them, but they weren't compatible with humans at all, so she had to refine them." I explain.

"Like with Sawa..." She realizes.

"Yeah. Shinji also had to be alive to activate the ritual. She absorbed his body into hers and gave birth to a half-human, half-spirit, Shido. She has a.. I suppose you could call her a clone, named Reine, who helps him seal with spirits, to save them from DEM and the others chasing them. Shido, being a good guy, wants to help them. Mio, doesn't care about them and only wants him to seal them to gain a bit of their power to activate the ritual to turn him back into Shinji." I conclude.

Kurumi begins to shake with rage as a dangerous glint appears in her eye. "So she did... all of this. Caused all this pain and suffering... to bring back her lover?"

"Love is a powerful motivator, Kurumi." I say, seriously. "Plus, grief blinds people. Those two things, plus the fact I don't think Shinji taught her empathy, caused her to do what she did. Do I think she's in the right? No. But I understand why she's doing this."

I really do hate dropping this on her, but I don't want her in the dark about all this. Silence reigns for a few moments before Kurumi speaks quietly.

"She's..." Kurumi tries to speak, but stops.

"Yeah..." I say with a sigh. "But enough of that negative talk. I've got an idea." I say, causing Kurumi to look at me with her head tilted slightly. "I'm in a new city, and you're the local, so you wanna show me around?"

Kurumi hiders her turbulent emotions with a sly grin on her face. "My my, Issei-kun~ are you asking me out on a date?"

I... really should've seen this coming, huh. Oh well, I ain't turning her down! "Yeah, I am. Would you like to go on a date with me, Kurumin~?"

Her face grows a slight blush at my words. "Ufufu, alright then." She gets up and begins to walk away. "Lets get dressed, we'll leave in a half hour."

"It's a date." I say with a grin.

As she leaves the room, my emotions turn turbulent.

Oh God, I have a date with Kurumi! Joy!

Oh God, I have a date with Kurumi... Nervousness.

Well, hopefully this'll be fun.

I wait by the front door for Kurumi. I'm wearing something simple, all made with Helel. Dark blue tennis shoes, blue jeans and a grey t-shirt. I also have a cheap watch, like I had in my past life. I hear footsteps coming from down the hall and am in awe of what I see.

Kurumi has her longer bangs swept behind her ear, and tied with a red ribbon, revealing her clock eye in its entirety. She wears a long, dark red skirt and a buttoned white top. It's the exact same outfit she wore in a epilogue illustration of Date A Live. She even has the small black purse!

"Wow..." That muttering just about sums up my thoughts.

"Do you like it?" She asks, turning to the side, allowing me to get a better look at her. "I thought about what you said about my eyes this morning, so I decided to wear my hair different for once."

I let out a hum as I smile. "Like it? I love it. You ready to go?"

"Yes, let's." She says with a smile.

The place where I lived in Louisiana was a pretty small city, not anywhere near the size of Tengu City. If Tengu is a simple city, then my home was a damn tipi hut village.

Since I had absolutely no idea of where to go, so I asked Kurumi to be a tour guide of sorts. We walked through the city as she pointed out a few interesting buildings. There were some rather large ones too, bordering on skyscrapers. Eventually, we entered a sort of shopping district, filled with all sorts of small shops and the like. It's quite a sight to behold, many shops lined along a walkway, not a road.

"This is a place I frequent. I'm sure you'll like it." She says, as we stop in front of a small cafe. How can I tell? The sign says cafe in English. It also has a small logo of a cat near it. Wait, is this...

"A cat cafe?" I turn to Kurumi and guess.

"Yes, I surprised you could tell so easily." She says.

"There's a cat logo on the building. Plus, this fits your character too well." I joke.

"How so?" The worst Spirit asks, curious.

"I know you like cats, Kurumin." I say, teasing her a bit. "But so do I. Had two back in Louisiana."

"Oh? I didn't know that." She says, a bit happy. "Well, let's go in." I then follow her into the cafe.

The cafe is not that large, and is decorated really cutely with all sorts of things. There are also cats hanging out here and there. Some resting in small beds on the floor, some on cat towers on the corner, it's quite and odd thing to see.

Kurumi and I sit down at a booth, facing one another. One problem though, I've never been to a cafe before. I have no idea what there even is here.

"So, any recommendations?" I ask, trying to break the ice.

Kurumi thinks her words over for a moment. "How are you with tea?"

"Like hot tea? Never had it before yesterday, usually drank sweet tea." I say.

"Sweet tea?" She asks.

"Oh right, its probably not common here. It's tea mixed with lots of sugar and sometimes a bit of lemon juice, usually made in large batches and kept cold. It's pretty good." I explain. "We'll have to make some later. But if the tea here is half as good as the stuff you made last night, I'd be happy."

"Well, I would suggest getting the green tea. It's probably the best think to ease your way into hot tea." Green tea, huh? Not a bad idea.

"What about food? I seem to remember you liking... what was it? Black Forest Cake?" I 'ask', already knowing the answer.

She seems slightly surprised at this. "Oh, I'm surprised you knew that."

"I've got a lot of little bits of info here and there, not just major stuff." I explain.

Our discussion is interrupted by a small meow. A cat is rubbing on Kurumi's leg, looking at her expectantly. She gently picks it up and begins hugging it.

"Oh you are just the cutest thing! Yes you are!" She says, petting it with a joyful smile.

I knew Kurumi was adorable before, but now? This is almost too cute to handle! She seems to remember she's in public and sets the cat on her lap as she calms herself.

"My apologies for that." She says she with a faint blush on her face.

"Heh, it's fine, it was cute." I say, causing her blush to grow a bit.

After a moment, Kurumi and I both order what she recommended. I was never a fan of tea, but it was pretty damn good. As was the cake, I can see why she likes it so much.

Not much else happened in the cafe, we ate and talked for a while. She eventually started telling me a story about her and Sawa.

"Then her cat scratched the boy and he immediately lost all his bravado! He ran off clutching his arm as though it had been chopped off!" Kurumi says with a laugh.

"Seriously? Oh, that's hilarious!" I say between laughs.

I laugh and she giggles over the ridiculousness of the story.

Calming down Kurumi speaks again. "Well, are you ready to go?"

"Sure, where to next?" I ask.

"An arcade?" This is where she led me? I've never actually been in an arcade before, so this is foreign territory for me. There weren't any anywhere near me, so this was kinda unexpected. This feels a bit out of character for Kurumi, though.

"Yes, I figured you would like this place." She says with a smile.

"Well... I've never been in an arcade before." I admit.

"Really?"

"Yeah, these weren't super common in the states, or at least there weren't any nearby." I explain.

"Well, what do you want to play?" She asks, causing me to begin scanning my eyes across the room. There are a lot of different machines here. A basketball game, crane game, pinball, air hockey, fighting game, and- a gacha machine too?!

"Hmm... how about the fighting game?" She asks, pointing at...

"Guilty Gear?!" I shout.

"Are you a fan of it?" She asks.

"One entire summer of my life was spent listening to nothing but the soundtrack from every game in this series. I've never played any of the games, but the music is too damn good." I explain. "Let's play it."

"Ufufu~ Alright then." As she says that, she gain a competitive glint in her eyes. "I've never played this, either, so it may be fun."

I might be screwed here...

"How in the hell were you that good? I thought you said you've never played that before." I ask, bewildered.

"Natural talent, I suppose." She says with a cheeky grin on her face. I lost 7 damn times in a row, SEVEN! I still don't have any idea how that happened.

"Sure, sure. Keep your secrets to yourself, Kuru-Meanie." I joke with a faux pout.

"Ufufu~" She giggles after I say that. She really does have a beautiful laugh.

"Hmm. How about I try the crane game?" I say, pointing to a crane game, filled with stuffed animals. There had better be a cat in there!

"Oh? You want to win me a stuffed animal?" She asks, knowing my plan.

"Yeah, isn't that the thing that happens on dates like this? The guy wins the girl a stuffed animal?" I ask, rhetorically.

"I suppose so." She says, thoughtful. "Oh well, best of luck, Issei-kun."

I move towards the machine, filled with all kinds of stuffed animals. Bears, tigers, lions, dogs, sheep. In the back corner of the machine, I spy a small, black cat plush.

Target acquired!

I place a hundred-yen coin in the machine, and begin. As expected, the crane picks up the plush, only to drop it. I did, however, move it towards the drop a short distance. I enter another coin and grab the cat, only for it to drop again.

"...Dammit." I quietly curse.

I enter a third coin, once again the same result. I enter a fourth, fifth, sixth, eventually, I've spent over 2000 yen on the machine. I pick another coin out of my pocket as Kurumi speaks.

"Are you seriously still trying to get that?" She asks, eyes wide in surprise.

"I decided to I was gonna get it, and that's what I'm gonna do." I turn to look dead at Kurumi. "You'll find I don't give up often when it comes to games. I can run off of pure spite for quite a while. Besides-" I turn back to the machine. "-I've almost got this" I say with certainty in my voice as I enter another coin. This is it.

I move the crane's arm towards to cat. The grabbers barely hook under the plush as the arm raises up. It drops the cat, but I expected this. As it falls from the arm, it tumbles down the pile of plushies and lands right in the drop box. I turn to Kurumi with a smile I can practically feel on my face. "Haha! Got it."

"That you did." She observes with a smile as she bends down and picks the plush cat from the machine. She holds it tightly to her chest. "Thank you, Issei-kun."

"You don't have to thank me. Seeing you smile like that is the best reward I could've gotten." Her eyes widen as pink dusts her flawless face. "Well, where should we go next?"

"A place you'll surely love." She says, mysteriously.

As the sun begins to set, the two of us walk alongside one another through a park near a lake, with the stuffed cat hanging out of Kurumi's bag. Eventually we reach a spot, high on a hill.

"Well here it is." She says pointing over the railing. I stand there awestruck by the sight before me. The hill is the perfect looking spot for the horizon. The sun, setting over the buildings on the other side of the lake, it's light reflecting off of the water. It looks like a painting.

"This is..." I can't even formulate a sentence here. "Good lord..."

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?" Kurumi asks, leaning her arms on the railing, a nostalgic look on her face.

"Yeah." I breathe.

"Sawa-chan and I used to come here often. I have many fond memories of this place." She explains, nostalgic.

"Well... thanks for showing me this, Kurumi." I thank.

She lets out a hum as she smiles at me. "You're welcome."

I get to thinking about everything. This new world, Kurumi, the other spirits. There is one thing I regret, though.

"Kurumi?" I ask the girl, both of us looking out toward the horizon.

"Yes?" She asks.

"Sorry about this morning." I say.

"Hmm?" She hums questioningly, turning to look at me.

"About dropping all that stuff about Mio on you. The stuff about me being from a different world yesterday, too. I could've eased you into that a bit better. Plus, I shouldn't have made you remember all that shit that happened to Sawa back then. So... sorry." I apologize. I really dropped all of this shit on her.

She turns to me and looks me dead in the eyes. "You have nothing to apologize about, Issei."

"Huh? But-" I begin.

"I will admit, it was a bit sudden, but don't apologize. I've been wondering what Mio's end goal was for a long time, but I could never figure it out." She says.

"..." I remain silent, looking at her.

"And yes, so made me remember what happened to Sawa-chan, but you also made me remember all the good times I spent with her." She turns back to the setting sun. "I... I've been quite lonely for years now, yet I haven't actually realized it until today. I made myself out to be the villain, but... I suppose I'm still human, huh?" She turns back to me and smiles. "So thank you, Issei. Thank you for curing my loneliness, if only for a little while."

I'm... I'm wholly speechless. I knew Kurumi avoided people for years, but...

Making a decision, I speak.

"Heh, whaddya mean by 'cured your loneliness for a little while'? You're acting like I'm gonna leave." I walk up to Kurumi and hug the lonely Spirit gently. "I'm not going anywhere, Kurumi. I won't let you be lonely again."

"You'd... stay with a monster like me?" She asks, shocked.

"Monster? You ain't a monster, Kurumi. You're just a lonely girl who has been through too much." I release the hold on her and stare her dead in her heterochromatic eyes.. "I ain't leaving you anytime soon, okay?"

For a moment, she's stunned to silence, before she starts giggling.

"Ufufu. I'm glad you said that, Issei-kun. I don't want a cowardly boyfriend." Boyfriend? What does- oh. Okay. Well, isn't she forward?

"Well, I don't want a sad girlfriend, so keep that beautiful smile on your face, Kurumin." I tease back.

The two of us stare at one another. Her face, smiling, with the sun setting behind her. I don't think I'll ever forget this scene, so long as I live.

"Ufufu~ Are you ready to go home?" She asks, giggling.

"Yeah, let's." I respond.

Kurumi holds my arm against her chest, her body pressed against mine. Today was a wonderful day. I got to see a new city, try new food and got a beautiful girlfriend.

Yeah, this new life doesn't seem so bad.

Let's hope it stays that way.

AN

Not a significantly longer version, but it IS longer!

Nothing new was added, save for some lore at the start, which I made more accurate to canon. I thought the Neighboring World was a thing before DEM's bullshit 30 years ago, but it was, in fact created when Wescott summoned Mio, or rather created her.

At least, that's what the wiki says.

I need to go back and read the LN again...

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next!