Notes: See the end of the chapter for longer notes as to why this is marked completed.

Then.

Night was cold. An obvious fact, yet one that was truly felt if you stood atop a skyscraper during said night. The wind would howl against your face, sending sharp slivers of cold slicing deep into your skin; a discomforting situation at best, and unbearably frigid at its worst, but Kurumi paid little heed to the biting chill as she leaned forward against the railing. Her Astral Dress already protected her from the worst of the elements, but even if it couldn't, she would have barely noticed if the bitter cold somehow managed to penetrate deeply into her bones; she was far too lost in the turmoil of her own thoughts, in the raging tumult of conflicting emotions twisting and turning within her heart, to notice such things.

She supposed it was all a bit melodramatic, the stuff all movie dramas were made of: the villainess, beautiful, dark and mystifying, gazing down from atop a building with but her thoughts for company, beneath gentle moonlight and unforgiving cold. But Kurumi enjoyed it, found a peaceful calm in the perspective the view gave her. A million or more humans, scurrying about in an unending river of moving lights. A beautiful sight, in a way. A shame then, that she still wasn't able to enjoy it, for that single question burning in her mind ever since her meeting with her clones earlier that day.

What did Shido mean to her?

Such a simple question, yet one with so much meaning layered beneath it. It irked her to no end that it had been her own clones who posed such a dilemma to her. Truthfully, when that alarm had gone off in the morning while she sat atop Shido, Kurumi had welcomed the distraction. Kurumi hated breaking her word, even if it had been made in a fuzzy, post-coitus haze, and Shido would have definitely questioned her about what they meant to each other now. If she couldn't present the answer to her own clones' question, then how would she ever be able to answer his?

Kurumi sighed.

So what did Shido mean to her? At first, food. Another human, though better than most of the rabble that filled the streets of the city. But in the initial scheme of things, he was inconsequential as a person. It was his power that attracted her. A means to an end. But then, even after seeing what she had done, he had stepped in front of a definitively fatal blow aimed at her. Undoubtedly, he had saved her life. And despite herself, Kurumi found her interest piqued, wondering what sort of person would do such a thing. She had assumed that his moralistic views of the world were little more than a veneer for whatever lay beneath. The good did not exist in this world. Everyone wanted something for themselves; something that she knew personally, all too well.

But she had seen him hold staunchly onto his beliefs, refusing to let her kill Miku even after the songstress had stolen everything from him. An ally of convenience then? They had made a pretty fantastic team when they partnered up to save the world from Origami, and Origami from herself. He trusted her implicitly, taking her word and advice at face value, even if he hadn't said so explicitly.

But then, even as she put them in a situation where they would be rivals once more, last night happened.

Was he a lover? The most dangerous label of them all. Kurumi was no stranger to sex, and had used it as a weapon in itself. But as the pleasant memories of the night returned, sending the smallest shivers down her spine, it was impossible to call it sex for the sake of seduction. Kurumi could barely remember the last time she had such an intense climax. But of all the snatches of the night that passed her eyes, one in particular stayed with her; the look of euphoria on Shido's face as their bodies met in a most intimate unison – but more than that, she saw the unmistakable adoration that shone brightly in his eyes, as he gazed up at her, hands gently holding onto her hips…

She closed her eyes, forcing the images away.

Stop it. He only cares about sealing your power. He doesn't care about you.

Yes. He only really cared about sealing her. Kurumi told herself she could live with that; in the end, all she needed was his power. She didn't need his feelings, whether they be real or imagined. But if that was the case, then why did the thought hurt so much? And why then, did the memories of that night keep surfacing?

Nowhere close to resolving her own feelings, Kurumi welcomed the sudden distraction as the sound of feet lightly touching against the floor reached her ears. Other senses kicked in; the familiar sensation of faded Reiryoku from a sealed Spirit washing over her skin, and a pair of hostile eyes boring into her back. She gracefully spun around in two smooth steps, her dress flaring up around her with the motion. As expected, a slim, white-haired girl stood before her a few metres away.

Kurumi offered her a charming smile.

"Good evening, Origami-san. What can I do for you tonight? It's a little late for a tea party, unfortunately." As Kurumi tilted her head, her smile became more scandalous in nature, and she touched the tip of her finger to her lips. "Or perhaps you are here for, dare I say, a late night rendezvous?"

The searing heat of her smile, promising all sorts of unearthly pleasures, in tandem with her suggestive tone, laced with sensual meaning, would have rendered most men and indeed, most women, incoherent messes. It was one of her favourite ways to throw people off-balance – letting their own imaginations run wild and do the work for her.

Origami ignored it all.

"You had sex with Shido." As usual, the white-haired Spirit's words were blunter than a hammer.

Kurumi gave a light laugh, her smile widening. "Perhaps I did. And what of it?"

If Kurumi had been in possession of a fan, she would have undoubtedly unfolded it in front of her mouth by now, exposing only her twinkling eyes. Origami maintained her steady gaze, entirely focused on her goal.

"I want your memories."

That was unexpected. Kurumi couldn't keep her surprise from the only words that made it past her lips: "Excuse me?"

Origami didn't so much as blink. "Zaphkiel has the power to share memories. Shido confirmed this when he said you showed him yours. Therefore, I want your memories of when you had sex with him."

"Ara ara~" Kurumi recovered with a smile. "What a strange request. But really Origami-san…did you honestly think you could just find me and demand such a thing? I thought you better than that."

Origami shook her head. "This isn't a demand. I want to bargain. Zaphkiel requires time to use its powers. I'm willing to give you my time, as much as you require, plus extra, in exchange for those memories."

Kurumi gave her opposite a thoughtful look. For once, the teasing smile had dropped from her face as she took in the other Spirit. Her long, pitch-black hair, carried by the wind, tickled gently across her cheeks, and her mismatched red and golden eyes met Origami's pure blue ones. One looking upon the scene wouldn't be able to help but contrast the two girls as they stood across from each other – Kurumi, the taller of the two, bold in dress and personality, met the slighter, expressionless and near emotionless Origami, the pure white of her limited Astral Dress shining bright, in an intense contest of wills.

Eventually, Kurumi shrugged. Even her patience had limits. "My apologies Origami-san, but I must kindly decline your offer. My memories are mine alone."

"I see." Beyond those words, Origami barely blinked in response to the rejection.

Kurumi's smile returned, seeing as no further response was forthcoming from the other Spirit. "So what will it be now, Origami-san? Will you, as you said the last time we met like this, use any means necessary to make me agree?"

"No."

"Ara…what a surprise. I wonder what it is that you're planning…" Kurumi's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing. But I have one thing that I want to ask you."

"I think you've used up all the questions that you're allowed to ask by now."

Unblinking and undeterred by Kurumi's rejection, Origami, emotionless at the best of times, looked serious as she stared at the other girl. "Why did you have sex with Shido?"

For the second time that night, Kurumi was caught off-guard. Suspicion lingered in her scarlet eye. Origami might not have been the most knowledgeable in relationships; in fact, her definition of an intimate relationship would quite easily translate into a relationship of an entirely different nature by most other people's definition – most of the Spirits for that matter, were severely lacking in this area – but she wasn't stupid. There had to be a reason why she had asked that specific question. "You have a penchant for asking strange questions, Origami-san. Surely you know why."

"I want to know what you have schemed. Shido is a good person. Even though he gives the others too much attention, he genuinely cares for our wellbeing and our happiness." Origami gave Kurumi an intense stare. "…including yours."

"And what makes you think that, Origami-san?"

"His tone changes, and he has a far-off look whenever he talks about you. He doesn't appear to be aware of it, but I can tell. As a person, he doesn't treat any of us lightly. Undoubtedly, having sex would mean something to him. It would be cruel for you to have sex with him and then throw it away."

Kurumi gave an ironic laugh. "Cruel? Did you happen to forget who you're talking to, Origami-san?"

"No. It confuses me why he would choose you first, and I have made a mistake in underestimating your craftiness. But regardless, Shido does not deserve to have his feelings twisted by someone like you. He has shown all of us nothing but love and care, and he deserves to be happy. He has constantly shown you support, regardless of how little you might deserve it. But, if you cannot see the type of person he is, or how much he cares about you, and you use sex to hurt him – then you are truly deserving of your title as the Worst Spirit."

Unfathomably, Origami's words stung, and any biting response Kurumi had died in her mouth. Origami paused, before speaking up again. "And if you do so much as hurt him, then I will hurt you in return."

That caused Kurumi to glance up, and she forced a laugh. "Is that a threat, Origami-san?"

"No. It is a promise."

Without looking back, Origami turned and flew off into the night sky, leaving Kurumi alone on the roof with only the weight of the other Spirit's words for company.

He genuinely cares about us. Including you.

Anger swelled up within her heart again, and Kurumi resisted the urge to slam her fist against the railing. That the anger wasn't aimed towards Shido, or even at Origami, made it all the more worse.

After all, all of that anger was directed solely at herself.

So caught up in the roiling emotions, Kurumi was barely aware of the passage of time, until one of her clones hesitantly stepped up to her. She turned, taking note of the look of concern.

"Me… The clone started in a faltering voice. She cleared her throat again.

"We have a…issue, at Shido-san's house…"

Now.

"Me…"

Kurumi was no stranger to death. She had killed people with her own two hands, had seen herself cut down in droves. She had even experienced it herself, at least twice before. It didn't make the spectre of death facing her right now any less terrifying. After all, she had never seen her death coming with her own eyes.

"You've certainly been up to quite a lot, as usual," the real Kurumi was saying. "It's been a while since we last saw each other; we really do need to catch up, wouldn't you agree? As a matter of fact, why don't you start, me? I've been dying to know."

Kurumi's emphasis did not go unnoticed, and Kurumi shivered beneath that icy glare.

"And please don't lie to me. I can already guess, and smell, what happened," Kurumi added.

Kurumi knew better than to beg or plead: her fate had been sealed the moment she had knocked on Shido's door last night, and it was something she was perfectly fine with. She would not however, allow any harm to befall him because of her.

"It is as you said, me. I came to see Shido-san last night of my own volition. Things…escalated from there," Kurumi said in a low voice, as not to wake Shido. She was also unable to prevent the light blush that rose to her cheeks at the memory.

"That much I gathered." Kurumi didn't appear impressed by her statement at all. "What have you told him?"

"Only the truth, me."

"The truth," Kurumi parroted back. "I don't recall ordering any of my clones to tell Shido-san 'the truth'."

"You didn't – I chose to tell him myself."

"And what could have possibly possessed you, to think that you should do that against my orders?"

"It was a simple choice, me. I thought that Shido-san should be aware of the scale of the sacrifice that we, and you, made for him. Is that not beneficial for all of us? Doesn't it increase his chance of survival, if he knows what danger he is going to experience? And…doesn't it warm your heart, knowing that he appreciates the sacrifices that we have all made to get this far?" Kurumi had sat up on the bed now, but still remained next to the sleeping Shido, a hand on his bare chest.

Kurumi stayed quiet, ruminating over her clone's words. She would have to check on her other clone now, the one with the eyepatch and the rose in her hair, back when she had suddenly become self-conscious of her own individuality. This clone appeared to have caught onto that clone's peculiar habit of answering questions with questions. As valid as they were, and even that much Kurumi hated admitting, even to herself, it was still not something she could just let go by.

"It isn't that simple," Kurumi tried to argue.

"From my perspective, it really is," she replied simply.

A pregnant pause filled the air, broken only by the sounds of Shido's breathing as he continued to sleep, oblivious to the sheer tension and danger in his very room.

"Get up," Kurumi ordered at last.

She did so, gingerly separating herself from Shido, who let out a disappointed groan and twisted about at the sudden loss of warmth. Standing naked before Kurumi, there was a quick flash as the shadows rose up and surrounded the clone. By the time the shadows disappeared into flecks, she was again clad in her Astral Dress; and in moments, she was all but indistinguishable from the Kurumi sitting on the chair across from her.

"Before I kill you, I have one more question."

The clone nodded in response.

"Why did you do this? You know what the punishment for disobeying my will is. I cannot afford to have any of me turn rogue, not at a critical time like this. Surely you knew that you would be caught. Yet you did so anyway, and not for the first time either. So then, why? Even I am not so suicidal as to do such a thing." Kurumi arched a brow questioningly.

"You already know why, me," her clone looked demurely at the ground.

"Indulge me."

For the first time since her real self had shown up, Kurumi raised her head and smiled, as faint as it was. "Because I love him, me. And…so do you."

Kurumi froze. Again – and it was starting to become a distressingly common occurrence – she was rendered speechless as she tried to come up with something, anything, to say to counter her clone's misperceptions.

If anything, her lack of a response caused the clone to smile more openly. "I'm right, am I not? It's okay, me. I don't hate you for that. I am still me in the end, regardless of who Shido-san chooses among us."

That finally got a rise out of Kurumi, and she rose from the chair before storming over to stand before her clone. Credit to her, she barely flinched as an angry Kurumi loomed threateningly over her, almost nose-to-nose.

"You are not me," Kurumi growled between gritted teeth. "You were born from a memory long passed: immature, naïve, soft."

The harsh evaluation of her character didn't stop the clone's smile from softening. "Perhaps I am all of those. But at least I am honest with my heart."

Kurumi glared at her, deciding not to dignify the clone with a response. Instead, taking a breath to calm down and regain her composure, Kurumi took two steps back.

"Is there anything else that you have to say for yourself?" Kurumi asked, much like a judge before the convicted. An analogy not too far removed, given that she was basically the judge, jury and executor in this very situation.

The clone shook her head. "No. Nothing more. I have already told him that I am willing to give my life for him. All I ask of me is this: please do not let him see me die. Not again."

Kurumi glared at her, weighing up her request before finally settling on a decision. "Very well. For your transgressions, I cannot allow you to live any longer. Pass onto the next life."

She raised her hand and clenched it into a fist. The shadow beneath her clone suddenly expanded and numerous elongated, sickly white hands grabbed her limbs and pulled. The clone sunk into the shadow slowly, almost ponderously. A tear fell from her eyes, but she made no attempt to escape as she was dragged inexorably to her final fate.

"Kurumi!"

Shido's hand suddenly reached out for her from seemingly nowhere, and grasped her arm in a death grip. She looked up, shock breaking through the tears. He pulled, and pulled, and pulled, but even his desperation-fuelled attempts was not able to overcome the force that slowly sucked the clone into the shadow. "No! I won't let you go!"

"S-Shido-san…"

Kurumi sighed explosively, shaking her head at the drama unfolding before her. "How troublesome…"

She snapped a finger, and the shadow beneath Shido suddenly grew and encompassed his entire person. Pale, ghostly arms wrapped themselves around his waist and limbs, and a familiar, icy-cold sensation seeped into his bones as he sunk into Kurumi's shadow with all the slow finality of a doomed man in quicksand.

He felt the strength leave him as Kurumi disappeared into the shadow, managing to see her trying to mouth something to him before being dragged beneath the black. The last thing he saw before the same shadows swallowed him up was Kurumi's face. A complicated mix of emotions crossed her face as their eyes met.

"Ku…ru…mi…" He managed one last, choking gurgle before he too disappeared, and the shadows closed up after him.

It was over within seconds: Kurumi stood alone in Shido's room where three people once were. Gone was any trace of the other Kurumi. So too was any trace of Shido, with the exception of his belongings. The Spirit sighed again, not dissimilar to a parent after disciplining a petulant child and started moving to the Shido's desk. The boy's shout was loud enough to wake the neighbours, let alone Kotori who slept in the same house. The fiery Spirit was probably getting ready to break down the door any minute now, and that was not a conversation that Kurumi planned on having – particularly given that it would likely devolve into a conversation involving bullets.

Sitting down at the desk again, Kurumi grabbed the nearest pen and paper before neatly writing out a note. She gave a quick once over, before folding it neatly and leaving it on the desk. The sound of a person thundering down the hallway was indication enough that her time was up. It took only a second for her to sink into her shadow once more, disappearing from the physical realm moments before the door burst open under a furious foot.

Kurumi let out another sigh as the muffled sounds of Kotori's anger faded away. That was far too close for her comfort. While she was under no impression that the note would pacify Kotori in anyway, it would (hopefully) at least signify to her that she was not in the middle of making an attempt on Shido's life. Her clone on the other hand – that was another story altogether.

Cold…cold, cold, cold cold coldcoldcold…

Being sucked into Kurumi's shadow was never a pleasant experience. Doubly so when Kurumi's ire was drawn.

Even disregarding the fact that she used her shadow to consume people's time, it would be impossible to ignore the icy tendrils of numbness sinking its teeth into his limbs, and the all-pervasive blackness surrounding him disorientated every sense of direction. Making things worse was the fact that he couldn't see the clone. His mind immediately leapt to the worst-possible outcome: gone, out of his reach, dead…

Shido panicked.

"Kurumi!"

He, for lack of a better word, tried to frantically 'swim' through the shadows, but with everything being pitch-black around him, and having no landmarks to orientate himself to, he couldn't even tell if he was moving or not.

"Kurumi!"

A pair of slender, pale arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his waist, pinning his arms to his side. He knew – somehow – that they did not belong to the clone from last night.

"Shido-san, I understand that you are worried, but I need you to relax," Kurumi's voice in his ear urged him.

It had about the same effect as politely asking an enraged bull to stop charging.

"Kurumi! Let me go!" Shido immediately started to twist and turn, as if he could wriggle his way out of the arms locked around him.

"Shido-san, please calm down. I don't want to hurt you, so please stop moving," Kurumi sounded more exasperated as she tried to calm him down.

Not that it appeared to help – the boy still thrashed and struggled within her grasp, fighting to escape to goodness-where, given that they were in Kurumi's shadow dimension.

"Shido-san, please!"

Shido was suddenly spun around, and he stopped the moment he saw Kurumi. The Spirit somehow stood out perfectly clearly against the pitch blackness surrounding them, as if she was standing in front of him in broad daylight instead of the murky darkness. But it wasn't the fact that he could see her clearly that stopped him from moving. Rather, it was which clone he saw. It most certainly wasn't the real Kurumi, but it also wasn't the clone he had just been with – that much was obvious, given the Kurumi clone holding him by the shoulders wore a frilled black and white dress, but also, most distinctively, wore a medical eye-patch over her left eye and had let her hair down, pinned with a single ornamental rose.

It was the same Kurumi that he saw when he had gone back in time to change the world after Origami's inversion.

"Kurumi?" He wrinkled his brow in confusion.

In reply, the other Kurumi sighed. "Thank you."

She released him, before floating back, enough to not loom in Shido's face while speaking.

"First thing: here are your clothes. Please get dressed, Shido-san," the oddly-dressed clone held out a set of clothing for Shido. His cheeks burning in embarrassment as he realised his nudity, he quickly pulled his clothes on, not noticing the clone's appreciative gaze.

Now fully-dressed, the clone cleared her throat before continuing.

"We don't have much time before the real me summons us again. I will warn you now: me is quite upset. If you want to save the other me, then you will need to take drastic action, and quickly. There will be little time to spare," Kurumi's clone warned him.

"But, Kurumi…" Having been dragged from sleep what felt like minutes ago, and confronted with the literal life-or-death situation with the other Kurumi clone, it was hardly surprising that Shido could barely string a sentence together.

The clone before him sighed, but any words she had to say were cut-off as the shadows opened up above them.

"Time to go. Remember what I told you," Kurumi said, gently wrapping her arms around Shido's waist from behind and flying towards the opening.

Shido blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden onset of light. Having been in Kurumi's shadow once before, it was disorientating enough to come out onto a darkened stage; even more so when he suddenly emerged into a brightly lit room, the sun piercing through the curtain covering the window. It appeared to be a bedroom, and wouldn't have been out of place in any other house in Tengu city, save for the sparseness; aside from a double bed, well-made, and a desk and chair, there was very little else by way of decoration in the room. Shido realised that Kurumi must have taken them to yet another one of her safehouses sequestered in the city.

He felt more than he saw the clone's arms releasing him, gently guiding him onto solid ground; his mouth going dry at the sight before him.

One Kurumi stood in front of him - and he could tell it was the real Kurumi, given the dangerous demeanour she was radiating; yet in spite of that, he couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat upon seeing her. And across the room from him…his heart leapt into his throat this time as he saw the clone from Tanabata standing next to him, looking shocked but unharmed. She made to rush over, but Shido, remembering what the other clone had told him about Kurumi's mood, shook his head quickly, nodding over at Kurumi standing not too far away from them. The clone stopped dead in her tracks, and nodded subtly, and Shido turned back to the real Kurumi.

The real Kurumi gave the clone presumably behind him a dour glare before turning her attention back to Shido. Her expression softened marginally as she met his gaze.

"Good morning, Shido-san. My apologies for troubling you this morning, and for any inconveniences that me over there might have caused you last night." Kurumi gave him a small curtsy and dipped her head briefly.

"There was no trouble," Shido replied automatically, before he shook himself out of it and remembered the other clone's warning. "Kurumi, wait! Don't hurt her, she didn't do anything wrong…"

Kurumi tilted her head questioningly.

"She just came to see me last night – she told me the truth about you and your clones, and what all of you have done for me. She didn't mean to hurt you or anything." Seeing as how Kurumi hardly looked impressed by his explanation, Shido decided that he needed to do something more drastic. "And she's still you! I don't want you to keep killing yourself!"

Kurumi scoffed. "Ara ara, how presumptuous of you, Shido-san. I share myself with you willingly, everything, my body included, and this how you repay me? To assume that any of them are still me? That girl standing over there next to you, is not me."

"I…"

"And as for not meaning to hurt me? I know what you and her got up to last night, Shido-san," Kurumi gave him a very pointed look, causing Shido to blush furiously.

"I didn't mean to hurt you!" Shido managed to cry out.

Kurumi tsked. "Shido-san, you really need to learn how to deal with a girl's feelings better. However, I'm not hurt by your actions: perhaps a bit upset, but not hurt."

Both Shido and the clone almost-visibly relaxed – until Kurumi spoke up again.

"However, that doesn't mean I am especially happy with this situation. That me has wilfully disobeyed my orders. So while I have no intention of hurting you, Shido-san, punishment must be meted out for her."

Kurumi's pistol flew up into her hand, and in an instant was levelled at the clone, much to the clone's alarm and Shido's shock.

"Me, remember what I asked!"

"Kurumi, wait!" Shido reacted faster than Kurumi thought possible, the boy clearing the distance in record time and throwing himself in front of her clone, spreading himself bodily out in front of her; blocking any clear shot Kurumi had. "Don't kill her!"

"Shido-san, move." Kurumi's pistol did not waver in the slightest.

He shook his head, refusing to budge. "I won't let you kill her again."

Kurumi's clone, who had her hand on his shoulder, tightened her grasp slightly. By way of contrast, Kurumi's finger tightened almost imperceptibly on the trigger.

For Shido, memories were brought back; far less pleasant ones, too. Kurumi, standing among the gore and bodies, before almost casually disposing of the last of the group. Kurumi right now was just as terrifying as she was back then. He hadn't felt fear from Kurumi this strong since that time when they had first met.

But he had grown a lot since then too.

"If you kill her…I won't forgive you! I'll never give you what you want willingly! You'll have to take it from my dead body!" It was a desperate gamble, as he used the only chip that he had left on the bargaining table.

"Be careful what you wish for, Shido-san," Kurumi warned. "If that is what you wish, then I can always just take what I want from you."

"But you won't," Shido countered, heart pounding, arms still outstretched and covering the clone bodily. "Remember our bet, Kurumi? If you can capture my heart, then my powers are yours? If you kill her, then you'll never be able to win my heart ever again. You'll lose."

"What makes you so sure I won't deceive you and kill her sometime after, Shido-san?"

"Because you keep your word, Kurumi," Shido's voice was stable, surprising even himself. "As you always have done. I'm confident about that."

Another moment passed.

Kurumi's eyes narrowed, but Shido saw that her finger had loosened from the trigger slightly, and pushed on. Figuring that threatening her all the time was not going to work, he tried something else.

"Please Kurumi. If you let her live, then...then I might have a change of heart! You don't have to keep resorting to killing every time something happens; you can be better than this. I know…I want you to be better than this," he all but pleaded with her, meeting her mismatched glare.

The silence in the room lasted for almost a minute. Yet it felt like an eternity for everyone watching – even more so for the clone, given that it was her life or death on the line. But finally, Kurumi's glare softened, and she let out a sigh – whether in disappointment or for some other reason, Shido wasn't able to tell – before lowering the pistol.

"Very well then," she said at last. "Then let me propose this: if, if both of you listen to my orders exactly, then I will consider not killing her."

Kurumi waited a moment, before taking their silence as an agreement. She gestured to the bed behind Shido and her clone. "Sit."

Both of them moved back and gingerly sat as ordered, while Kurumi pulled up a chair before them; worryingly, with pistol still in hand, even as she leaned back comfortably.

"As it stands, I still cannot leave this infraction be; that me broke my orders, very deliberately. Were she to go unpunished, it might encourage the other mes with more…whimsical tendencies to take matters into their own hands," Kurumi stated, and continued before her clone and Shido could get a word in. "Since you would rather that I do not lay hands on her…then you, Shido-san, will punish her for me."

A moment passed as Kurumi's words sank in, and Shido exploded in a flurry of movement and protest, while her clone simply sat still, absorbing the words.

"What?! Kurumi, are you crazy? You want me to punish her? I thought you agreed not to hurt her!"

Kurumi raised an eyebrow. "Ara, someone appears to have forgotten our agreement. I suppose this will have to do it instead then…" she said, raising the pistol threateningly.

"Wait, wait! Stop!" Shido furiously waved his hands at her to stop. "What do you want me to do?"

"Punish her," Kurumi answered simply. "How else would you discipline an unruly child?"

Shido's look of confusion caused Kurumi to smile ever-so-slightly before she answered her own question. "Take her over your knee, and discipline her."

The pieces finally clicked together in Shido's head.

"I can't do that!" He protested again. "I won't do that! I've never hit anyone before, and –"

"It's okay, Shido-san," the Kurumi clone finally spoke up again, and he turned to face her. Incredibly, she had a light blush on her cheeks as she spoke. "It is as me says: I have been unruly. And if it's you…then I don't mind."

Shocked speechless, Shido had no answer as Kurumi smiled triumphantly. "Then, get a move on, me."

The clone nodded, before she discarded her boots and tucked her legs beneath her. She gave Shido a soft smile, before luxuriously stretching herself out over his lap with cat-like grace. Bunching her dress, she pulled it up, exposing her smooth, perfectly shaped rear, still clad in the black, lacy panties he had chosen for her almost a year ago.

The reality sinking in, Shido gulped, before gently placing his hand on her rear. If anything, the feeling of her smooth and firm flesh in his hands only reinforced the realness of what he was about to do. The clone, Kurumi, noticing his hesitation, craned her neck around to glance up at him, giving him a reassuring nod.

Now or never.

Shido lifted his hand, and brought it down on Kurumi's right cheek with a gentle slap. She flinched slightly at the impact, but otherwise made no other reaction.

Kurumi on the other hand, rolled her eyes. "Harder, Shido-san," she rebuked him. "You can do better than that. I'm not asking you to kill her, just punish her."

"S-sorry…"

Unsure of whether that was intended for the Kurumi sitting in the chair, or the Kurumi on his lap, Shido swallowed, and brought his hand up again. This time, he brought it down on her left cheek with a resounding crack. Kurumi yelped in a mixture of pain and shock, the firm flesh of her rear shaking satisfyingly with the impact.

"That's better," Kurumi noted with approval. "Again."

With more confidence this time, Shido raised his hand again and brought it down with another meaty smack on her cheek. This time, Kurumi let out a stifled moan of pain, gripping the covers on the bed between her fingers.

"Keep going," Kurumi ordered. She felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of the next strike, and crossed her legs before leaning forward, her interest spiking.

Mentally apologising to the Kurumi on his lap, Shido again lifted his hand and struck Kurumi's rear. Again. And again. And again. Alternating between cheeks, he struck her, the room filling with the sharp cracks of hand meeting flesh and Kurumi's moans of pain, growing in volume as her attempts to stifle them slowly failed. By the time he struck her for the fifth time, Kurumi broke, and finally cried out, squeezing her eyes shut, a tear falling to the covers. The sound caused Shido to freeze.

The Kurumi who had instigated all of this nodded for him to continue, looking at him expectantly. Remembering her words, and left with little choice but to continue, he reluctantly raised his hand again and brought it down. Again. And again. And again.

Kurumi watched with bated breath. Any thoughts of punishment had fallen away, much like the pistol which had long fallen from her fingers, clattering to the ground; fingers that were now delicately brushing across her skin, the teasing caresses heightening her own arousal. Her breathing shortened and gradually became heavier, as one of her secret fantasies played out before her; only this time, it was real.

Eventually, her own hunger and arousal got the better of her.

"Enough," Kurumi ordered, although not nearly as authoritatively as she would have liked, her own voice shaky. Shido and her clone looked up at her as she staggered over, and shoved Shido onto his back.

She took him - hard. There was no gentleness to it. No loving caress, no words spoken sweetly in dulcet tones. There was desire, passion, the overwhelming and animalistic need for relief.

It was unlike the last time she had spent the night with Shido. That night had been dominated by thoughts of giving herself to him, of convincing him that the near-unearthly pleasure she was capable of granting him would be worth forfeiting his life for. There had been a tenderness to her actions, a certain affection almost, as she took his virginity and guided him to intimacy with a woman. This time, there was none of that. Now, her thoughts were filled with the need to dominate him, fully, completely, absolutely, to make him hers. The thought almost made her giddy with excitement, even as pleasure began to fill her being, dampening any other thought beyond the boy beneath her.

Kurumi, breaths coming in short pants, was brought out of her daze when she met his gaze. Rather than the lust or hate she expected after everything she had done so far, she was stunned when all she could see was the shining adoration in his eyes. The sight caused everything she had done so far to leave a sour taste in her mouth, and Kurumi felt that same conflicting anger and confusion swelling up in her chest again, even as her loins burned with pleasure and fullness.

Even as she continued, rocking her hips back and forth, taking him deeper into her, forcing him to question her very being, Kurumi could never, ever get the adoration to leave Shido's eyes; nor could she forget them, seeing that gaze even as she closed her own eyes, composure cracking beneath the pleasure of another's body.

And with the inevitability of a weakened dam straining to hold back a flood, Kurumi could feel her orgasm building, rearing its head to crash over her and wash everything away; but she struggled to force it back, grasping onto the last strands of coherent thought, desperate to keep experiencing the overwhelming pleasure.

The dam didn't burst – it exploded.

Stars suddenly filled her vision, and a torrent of pleasure tore through her entire body. Kurumi threw her head back, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream, limbs locked in place as if her body had suddenly disconnected from her mind due to the sheer, overwhelming pleasure. The smallest of strangled gasps managed to escape her throat as her body twitched, her mind racing ahead of her physical form.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pleasure finally subsided and Kurumi, quite literally, collapsed. Her clone caught her before she could topple off the bed; it spoke volumes of her lack of facility over her own body, in the aftermath of what was quite possibly the most intense orgasm Kurumi had ever experienced.

"There there," Kurumi's clone soothed, gently stroking her original's hair and holding onto her still-convulsing, near-insensate body. She giggled as she looked at Shido, who groaned as he slipped out of Kurumi's sex, looking similarly spent. "That was amazing, Shido-san. I'm almost jealous of me."

Kurumi groaned in response, her form stirring and senses slowly returning to her.

"Y-you, sh- should be, me," Kurumi managed to gasp, barely responsive as her clone gently laid her out on the bed next to Shido. The boy looked conflicted, torn between paying attention to Kurumi, or her clone; finally settling on gingerly rubbed Kurumi's back as she heaved huge breaths, trying to recover.

"Me, take Shido-san back home, please. Before Kotori-san does anything she regrets." Kurumi ordered at last. "Stay with him too. Make sure he survives."

Her clone looked astonished at the order. Shido's heart jumped into his throat as the implication settled. "Kurumi, you mean, you're not going to kill her?"

Kurumi wearily pushed herself up on shaking arms. "Do you believe me to be so cruel? That I would go back on my word, or that I would kill her after that?"

She gave a tired smile, even as Shido tried to stammer out a response. No matter how much they coupled, outside of that it appeared that he was always flustered in her presence – and admittedly, she found it cute and endearing.

"Please go Shido-san, before Kotori-san embarks on a warpath."

Shido clamped his mouth shut, took a deep breath and looked her dead in the eye. "Kurumi, thank you."

Her clone stepped up next to him, fully dressed, and her shadow expanded beneath her feet. She gently took hold of his arm, and they started sinking into its depths. Before they disappeared, her clone turned to her – and gave her a grateful nod.

Kurumi sighed as she collapsed back onto the bed. By the gods, she was exhausted. Physically and emotionally. Kurumi tried to go over everything that had happened in the last night. She had every intention to kill her clone again. Her attachment to Shido was dangerous for her own plans, and at a crucial time like this, Kurumi needed everything to go according to plan. But when Shido had stood in front of her, and all but begged her not to pull the trigger, she had seen the look in his eyes. Something had told her, that if she pulled the trigger, she wouldn't just be killing her clone – she'd be destroying anything that existed between Shido and herself too. Yet for all her declarations that their feelings meant nothing to her, she found herself unable to carry through with the act. Her heart had wavered, as she listened to his impassioned pleas for her to be better. A notion she would have scoffed at ordinarily, but it was the sheer emotion that she saw in his eyes and heard in his voice that stayed with her. He genuinely wanted her to be a better person.

And despite herself, Kurumi couldn't help but remember Origami's words from the night before.

…he genuinely cares for our wellbeing and our happiness…including yours…

And if you use sex to hurt him – then you are truly deserving of your title as the Worst Spirit.

"What would you say now, Origami-san?" Kurumi murmured to herself, wondering how she had gotten herself into this mess. Unwilling to think about it any longer, she let the exhaustion take her. She was only just aware of the covers shifting as another clone pulled them over her naked form. The clone smiled, and gently brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. Kurumi could barely feel that either, but to her exhausted mind, she dreamed that Shido's hand had done so, and Kurumi couldn't help but smile.

Her last thought before succumbing to sleep was that as far as backfiring plans were concerned, this one at least had backfired in a spectacularly special way.

Final Authors Notes:

So effectively, on FF net at least, this story is completed. I'm basically too tired to try and edit it to comply with FF net's strict guidelines on explicit content. This chapter was actually published a long time ago on Archive of Our Own, but I was struggling enough to get the next chapter out, let alone spend time to condense this one down.

Anyway, if you want to see this story continued, search for the Date a Live fandom on Archive Of Our Own, and look around using the Kurumi Tokisaki tag. You'll find this again.

Thanks for reading! Hope to see you on AO3!