Good morning, peps. Releasing this one 2 days early, but for a very good reason. On the day of this chapters scheduled release (Feb 10), the long-awaited yet Karen-hated Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy will also be released into the wild, and I know for a fact the entire Internets attention will be focused on that game. Lets Players, Reviewers, Small YouTubers looking for any way to grow their Channel… literally everybody, their grandma and their Waifu will be dead-set on it; even those who aren't into Harry Potter at all.
So for that, this part of the Mayuri Arc is yours to consume until Febuary 17, where I will be back to posting on the regular schedule. Have a good one, enjoy this chapter, and I'll cya later.
From Twilightiger1602:
Fair enough... wait, what!? That's considered a body-type? Shit, news to me! Though I do have to wonder; with just how many people, specifically on Twitter, are making such a huge stink over loli-related content, wouldn't that be considered body-shaming? Then again not only do those kind of people never really practice what they preach, but 9 times outta 10 those who make the biggest stink over this usually turn out to be actual predators themselves... I mean just look at SethTheProgrammer.
That said, while I've only met a few woman who are rather short and petite, I do feel a little sorry for them nonetheless. Being regarded or even treated like a kid despite being a full-grown adult cannot be easy... god forbid if they happen to be a short-stack like Mukuro (I.E. lithe yet busty frame).
Now, tangent aside, for Kotori's chapter we are treated to a simple, if short at-home dinner date with her and Michael, with the added caveat that for the first time, to both mine and Michael's surprise, Kotori actually busts out the white ribbons and goes full Imouto-mode. Now, I already knew that the two step-siblings relationship seemed a bit more frosty compared to Tori and Shido's in canon, but reading that Michael has never once seen her with the white ribbons on definitely caught me off guard... though in hindsight it actually makes sense.
Those ribbons are likely the last link she has to her old brother, so she definitely wouldn't put them on for just anyone. Thus, seeing her do just that and actually act all cutesy for Michael the same way she did for Shido not only shows how far she's come from her brothers death, but also perfectly illustrates how much closer she's become to Mikey; that she would allow herself to act this vulnerable shows just how much he means to her now. Granted, this is hampered a bit since, this fic currently being what it is, we haven't really seen the development/build-up to their relationship to get to this point yet, but when we do, it'll make this moment all the sweeter for it.
Sidenote, good to know that Shido actually still exists, and based on what I can infer from the narration, sounds like my earlier theory of him dying in the Tengu-City Fire still holds up... Still no word of Shinji though. Knowing Boycott, he probably wiped Mana's memory of him to keep her from defecting, for what little good that did.
But I digress. The date itself was then interrupted by Mayuri who got a little too close, followed by Kurumi butting in at a rather crappy time if I say so myself. At this point, I completely get Michael's frustration; between hectic dates back-to-back and the looming ball of electrifying death that is Kerubiel hanging above their heads, the last thing he needs is for Kurumi to act coy when she obviously knows something... a fact that Michael made so crystal clear that it caused Kurumi to grab the nearest knife, cut the bullshit and tell him what she knows. Granted she couldn't tell him everything, but since it involves Mio, I'd say it would be for the best.
Which nicely segways us to the chase scene with Mayuri. A bit on the brief side, but it was nice to see our favorite power couple try and get some answers for all of this instead of just letting her go. That and it was nice to see Mayuri actually making some use of her lightning powers outside Kerubiel. Now with all said and done, we're approaching the climax of this movie arc... and as per usual, Mikey invoked Murphy's Law the night before his and Tohka's date. Seriously dude!? This is like the second time in a single arc! I thought you were smarter than that! C'mon!
...
As for the references, haven't watched Spongebob nor played CoD in a long time, so I got nothing.
Bakuganman: Yes, it technically is body shaming, especially the weirdoes calling people with this body type "21-year-old children". Look at Tatsumaki from One Punch Man, calling her a "28-year-old child"… I swear, people say the dumbest shit imaginable; and the fact children is on their mind 24/7…
Not much else I can really say to your review other than I'm glad you liked the spin on it from canon. But speaking if couples, this question goes out to the rest of you: What is your favorite pairing (or fav girl in general) for this fic? Tohka x Michael? Kotori x Michael? I can already tell one of them is Kurumi x Michael, but what about you guys? Which is yours? Let me know in the comments. If I get 5 responses, I'll post the next chapter immediately early.
Mayuri Judgement - Part 9, Tohka Notice:
Origami's hospital door opened VERY slowly, and it was shown that Mikie and Mildred were slowly coming in, learning their lesson last time. "Uh… Or-Origami?" Asked Mikie. "… we… got more sheets like you asked for…" she said.
"Why do you need all these…?" Mildred added, but color both AST members surprised when they saw bedsheets wrapped expertly to the bed, leading down and out the window…
XXX
Tohka was waiting in a shopping plaza called Tenju Nakamise Shopping Street for Michael to arrive while looking in a handheld mirror she brought with her. She was a bit nervous since she was last, meaning as she learned 6 days ago she was best by this situations logic. She hoped her plan would work out, which only served to make her more nervous. She sensed someone approaching behind her, and when she saw it was Michael, she tossed the mirror away. Literally.
"Michael!" Tohka cheerfully called his name as the mirror whistled as it flew off-screen, the sound of it shattering somewhere a second later. "Your early!"
"Can say the same to you." Michael said as he approached her, wearing a black jacket with a plain white T-shirt, and dark blue jeans. "Figured I get a 10 minute headstart but you beat me too it." He added. "When'd you get here?"
"Not long ago. Just got here myself!" Tohka responded… was it just her, or did his shadow ripple for a second?… eh, probably nerves.
"More like she just got here an hour ago." Yoshinon said; his puppeteer, the Yamai Twins and even Miku (in her disguise again) watching from behind some plants that were in a large planter for decoration, which also made a good hiding spot.
A quick flashback confirmed this, showing Tohka fidgeting and pacing around, clipping from spot to spot as she awaited her 'Prince' to arrive.
"We followed her here the second she left, so we aren't exactly better." Kaguya said.
While Michael was fully aware of the other girls nearby (call it his Waifu Sense) though didn't know where exactly they were, he checked Tohka out. She was dressed nicely in a white dress with a light blue over shirt and black shirt underneath, and it looked really good with her long hair.
Did Reine help her? Maybe, but he had a feeling Tohka did this herself, the last-minute mirror thing implied this.
"Well, you certainly look like a princess. Really is the best for last." Mike flirted, knowing number one the other girls were spying; and number two, in case Kurumi was close by, which she probably was.
Tohka didn't seem to catch on to the flirt, but loved the compliment all the same, her eyes showing happiness. "I. I am?!" Tohka said, excitedly. Michael found this cute and funny, as Tohka was originally doubtful or skeptical (or at the very least didn't understand) of clothes when she popped back up for their first ever date after the 'trial run'.
He couldn't help but flashback to her admittedly cutely confused face when he had Origami's picture on him…
"Come on! Let's have our date already! I can't wait any longer!" Tohka said, which if Kurumi was present, she'd most likely take her 'can't wait any longer' out of context. "I promise, this'll be our best last date ever!"
"I hope not." Mike joked from Tohka's choice of words, but this again was lost on the Spirit probably from her excitement and they ended up holding hands. He didn't bring up the superstition of seven years bad luck with mirrors as that's all it was. Superstition.
Nothing had gone wrong for nearly a week, so today couldn't possibly be any different.
XXX
"Tohka's date has officially begun!" Said Masaomi back up in Fraxinus. He and the entire crew were keeping eyes on the situation.
"Okay so if we got this right, the flying stress ball will vanish as soon as Tohka's turn is done?" Mana asked, directing that to Kotori, but did not get a response for several seconds. Cocking an eyebrow, she looked behind her to see Kotori not exactly dozing off, but looking to be out of it. "Commander… Earth to Commander!" She called out.
"Huh? Eh, wha-?" Kotori stuttered while looking at Mana, having zoned out for a second.
Mana grinned at her. Kotori was acting this way all morning, being very relaxed today. Seeing as all the other Spirits seemed to share a similar reaction… "Feeling relaxed today aren't we?" She teased. "I wonder why…"
Kotori recoiled, looking exactly the way she did when Reine first brought up the possible reason for the orbs formation.
"Judging by the other Spirits' energies also vanished the same way, its highly likely." Said Hinko, reading the room and answering for the Commander.
"While yes its good this issue appears to have been resolved," Kawagoe added in. "We couldn't learn much about the object itself, could we?" He brought up a decent point. They have investigated this orb through and through, but they still knew next to nothing about it.
"I would have liked to know more about it as well. This certainly was an interesting phenomenon." Kannazaki said, sharing the opinion of Kawagoe. If Kotori was being honest, she too would have liked to know a little bit more, being a Spirit herself.
Oddly… Reine was staring intently at the monitors scanning the invisible sphere…
XXX
The first place Tohka took Michael too wasn't far away. It was a dumpling stand with fresh… well dumplings. This reminded Michael of their first date, and he couldn't lie, it was a nice little checkbox to check off. A small reminder of how things have come full circle between them…
'Tohka must've really been rubbing her brain cells together this entire week…' Michael thought. It reminded him why he liked her. She was airheaded, but was able to learn and adapt to new things quite quickly. And her pretty face was a nice topping.
"Nice little appetizer. What's next?" He asked after finishing the snack.
Tohka adamantly pointed behind Michael. "We're going to hit that takoyaki place next!" Michael turn around to see what she was pointing to, expecting to see a restaurant or something… his face swapped to confusion when he saw she was pointing to another stand. "Then after that; we'll have skewers, then cepes, then snow cones…" Tohka proceeded to point to pretty much every stand in the entire plaza.
Michael: Tohka.
Tohka: Then yakisoba, then chicken…
Michael: (a little louder) Tohka!
Tohka: Then kebabs, then calamari, then corn do-…
POP!
Tohka: MMMMMMFFPPPPPPH!
Michael popped a water bottle quickly into Tohka's mouth before she could react, forcing her to gulp down several times. "Wash it down…" He said. She was able to down it all, gulping it with wide eyes and cutely before Mike pulled it away the moment the bottle was empty. She gasped for air after the fact.
Michael tossed away the bottle like Tohka did with her mirror, except it expertly landed in a trash bin after rolling along the top like a basketball before going into the hoop. "Feel better?" Michael asked, though Tohka got what he did that. She nodded. "Why?" Michael asked again, with Tohka getting the gist of it.
"After watching all of your dates, keeping track of everyone I could and taking careful notes, I came to one obvious conclusion." Tohka said, then put her hands on her hips and said with pride: "Not a single person ate enough food or any at all! That's why our date will consist of nothing but eating food! Filling our tummies to our hearts content! The Best for Last!"
The other Spirits watching (Miku, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Yoshino) all face-faulted or just fell anime-style from their hiding spot; which was now in-between some stands. The Fraxius crew, while they all sat in their seats, they all gave confused expressions. This included Kotori, who also sighed; and Mana, who gave a confused smile.
As for Michael, he deadpanned. All those notes she took… he honestly shouldn't have been surprised. He swore he could also hear Kurumi giggling at this, though that may also just be his imagination. ''Most precious thing', alright…' He mentally quoted that Nightmare.
Tohka noticed Michael's reaction a few seconds later when he did not give a response. "… oh. You don't like it?" She asked, sounding disappointing if that was the case.
Michael looked back at her, but then smiled and gave her a head pat, which in turn made Tohka smile. "No. It's just totally you." He said. He couldn't be mad or disappointed at her choice of a date… that's just Tohka. "And I'll admit, I didn't do much eating with them anyway, so this would made up for it." He presented some logic. From all the dates he's been on, he's eaten on 5 of the 7 of them… a fine ratio, but he only said that to make Tohka feel better.
"It's not a date without food. And a date without food is no fun!" Tohka said, Michael resisting the urge to facepalm.
"Lead the way, Princess." Michael directed Tohka, who smiled brightly and eagerly took an arm to drag him along. Again, the sore arm was picked. Chowing down on all that food was another matter. He didn't know if he could eat everything Tohka had planned for…
'This girl has an inhuman amount of metabolism…' Michael thought as he was dragged.
Behind a pillar connected to a shop, once again the blond girl was watching the couple. She didn't have any emotion on her face, until she reached into her pocket and pulled out that Fortune she had gotten at the shrine, where she smiled at it. She did this for only a few more seconds before putting it away and looking back to where Tohka and Michael were heading, her expression going back to its neutral state.
The moment the girl took a step…
GRAB!
Snapping her heading the direction she felt that, it was shown her ankle was grabbed by a white arm before it pulled her down into a pool of shadows. She descended into darkness, but it didn't last very long as she was deposited somewhere, dropping from another shadow hole from above on a wall. Quickly taking in her new surroundings, the girl saw had been transported to a completely different part of Tenju.
Then more shadow holes opened up… along with some giggling…
The girl braced herself, seeing at least 50 or so Kurumis' surround her from all sides and directions. "And just where are you going on this fine day?" Asked one Kurumi. For each following one that spoke, the blond girl snapped her head in that direction.
"Didn't your mother tell you its rude to follow people around?" Another Kurumi asked.
"Considering what you are, I suppose not." A third Kurumi said.
"Besides; there's only enough room for one stalker in this harem." Said a fourth Kurumi.
XXX
For the next couple of hours, the rest of Michael and Tohka's date went exactly like you think it would have gone. They went from stand to stand, getting one for each of them, then enjoying the time together whilst also eating yummy sweets and treats. It was almost a mirror to their first date minus him getting a hole put in him by his Ex, then his new girl (understandably) going berserk because of it.
As promised, Kurumi was keeping the mysterious new Spirit busy. She'd run or try to get away, but Kurumi would keep up or just pop up quite easily with her powers over shadow to teleport to her location… or summon a clone or 10.
Simply put, it was like herding a single sheep.
Either way, after trying all the food on the Shopping Street, Tohka then took Michael to a small yet popular curry joint. So popular that when they got there, there was a massive line of people waiting to get in stretching around the building. Luckily, Tohka made a reservation, showing there was some strategy involved in her date plan as opposed to just eating.
Currently; Ai, Mai and Mii were waiting to get in themselves; having been all the way in the back of the line when Mike and Tohka showed up, so they didn't know they where inside at the moment. The trio would literally be the next group to be ushered in once another party left.
Good thing too, otherwise they'd pester him about "Michelle" again…
"Still haven't found her? Anyone call back?" Ai asked her friends, talking about when they handed out missing person flyers for Michael's cousin 'Michelle'.
"Not a single one." Said Mai. "I even tried her number again after Michael left, and again when he was with another girl the other day… Kaguya, I think?" She added, getting one Yamai mixed up with the other. As these 3 don't see the twins very often, this was justified. "But it kept going to voicemail without even ringing this time. So either she has it on 'do not disturb', or she's hanging up on me." She added again. They had no idea if it was something they said or not.
"I'm sorry…" Hiroto was also in line by himself but a person behind the trio, and had his phone out… then began to caress it, mainly due to the virtual girlfriend on it. "YOUR the only girl I truly need!"
"That's so lame." All 3 girls said in unison about him while also looking at him.
XXX
ZAP!
A few jolts of electricity was shown in an alleyway, then the unnamed Spirit was shown rushing down it to get away. She couldn't do her job if Kurumi kept chasing her, and it's not like she actually wanted to attack Kurumi (or any of the other girls for that matter) but the Crimson Spirit was leaving her with a little choice.
Besides, what she was zapping didn't appear to be her anyway…
She was looking behind her so by the time she looked forward to see where she was running…
BONK!
"OOF!" Both her and what she hit ended up groaning in pain. after rubbing her head, it was shown what she ran into was none other than Origami, who was also rubbing her own head, and now dressed in actual clothes and not a hospital gown.
"Oooooh… s-sorry. I didn't…" Origami began to kindly apologize, but then noted that there was nobody there… odd. She could've sworn she felt she had ran into somebody, a human body as a matter of fact. The AST member looked around the area, but there was not a single other person insight… so what the hell did she run into?
Deciding to not worry about it, Origami got up and brushed herself off before running off. According to Michael, he was dating Tohka today, right? So she had been jumping around the city from food stand to restaurant to ice cream parlor to try and find him.
As she ran, the invisible girl was showing to still be there and had watched Origami run off… she then vanished in particles of light.
XXX
"You really know your food, Tohka. I'm impressed." Michael said as he and Tohka were enjoying the meal back in the restaurant.
"R-Really?" Tohka's eyes sparkled again just like before.
"Really really, 100 percent really really." Michael doubled down, also referencing the first day they actually spoke (also in case she went down that route of speaking again). He then took a bite of his food afterward.
"Here. Have some." Tohka shared some of her curry by using her spoon to put a small yet generous portion of her food into his dish. Michael was honestly caught a little off guard by this, as Tohka and food were inseparable.
He felt he had to return the favor, and she had been eying his food when it was brought to them…
"Oh, thanks. Then take some of this." He then shared some of his food with her in the same fashion, but made sure to make the portion a bigger one. He felt like a generic boyfriend doing this, seeing this same trope in media all the time, but seeing Tohka's eyes glow with happiness just now made it worth it.
That, and he was nearing his limit from all the samples earlier (but she didn't need to know that)…
"For me?" Tohka felt conflicted on that, but he could tell she liked the gesture.
"Want another one?" Michael answered her question with a question while also playfully going to fill his spoon for her again…
"No!" She lied, actually wanting more, but stopped him. "T-Thank you, Michael. But I've got enough." Michael knew she was holding herself back, but smiled at her anyway as she went back to her meal.
He went to add some seasoning to his food, but noted the condiment in question was completely empty. "Seriously?" He complained, but then a hand from the next table over kindly put their jar on his. "Oh, tha- dah?!" Michael went to thank the person kind enough to share…
It was the Blond Girl.
…
…
…
CLANK!
You know how when literally anything drops in a restaurant's dinning area, and everybody has to stop and look over? That's exactly what happened to Michael, all eyes were on him the very second he dropped his piece of silverware.
What made it worse for him was when he shot up out of his seat, not expecting her to appear next to her because somebody was supposed to keep watch on her. This still got everyone's unwanted attention to Michael and Tohka's table.
He gave that Nightmare one job… Just one…
"Michael?" Tohka asked, confused as to why Michael suddenly got up so quickly. She looked at the empty table next to them, then back to her boyfriend for the day. "What's wrong?"
Michael looked at Tohka confused, then looked around the restaurant at the attention his actions generated, before looking back between Tohka and the blonde girl (which he had to admit was pretty up close) once over, whom by the way had not taken her stare off of him the whole time.
It hit him like a Space Quake… like the orb she was connected too, no one else could see her either…
"I… I um…" Michael tried to think up an excuse.
*ding, ding!*
"Found you."
Michael looked in the direction of both the doorbell and the door of the establishment, seeing a certain doll-like girl standing in the doorway and holding the door open with one hand. Oddly, this doll should be in the hospital, in a hospital gown. But she was wearing a black shirt that revealed her shoulders, a long heart-shaped necklace around her neck that went down a little past her chest, and grey shorts.
'Good lord, not now!' Michael complained… was it just him, or did Origami look a little pissed?
"Origami?! You should be in the hospital! You sneaky little…!" Tohka said, not exactly enthused that her boyfriend's Ex-girlfriend had followed them all the way over here. In fact, the hospital she was originally staying at was on the other side of town…
The attention of the establishment was still on Michael, meaning at least a few 10's of people saw Origami approach the duo aggressively. "Why didn't you come for your checkup?" She asked.
A question mark popped over Michael's head. "Exxxxx-cuse me?" He asked, very confused.
"You were scheduled to have a checkup by me. Your health as a man is important." Origami said.
"Hey! Quit ignoring me!" Tohka said to her rival.
"It's Important." Origami continued to ignore Tohka.
"Ayyeeeeeee, never made a-" Michael tried saying.
"Important." Origami cut him off, repeating herself.
"C-can we talk about this outside?" Michael requested the Doll to do, mainly because he could tell people around him we're starting to get the wrong idea from her choice of words.
"Important." Origami repeated a second time.
At this point, Tohka had enough and defensively wrapped an her arms around one of Michael's. "Fine, ignore me, but Michael and I are on our best last date right now!" She said, her choice of words confusing the crowd even further. "Your getting in the way, so you'll have to wait your turn!"
'Can you both shut. Up?!' Michael's voice cracked in his thoughts. Seriously, the shit they say in public and how it makes him look…
Finally Origami gave Tohka the privilege of looking at her, but she did not look any happier. "Your getting in the way of Michael's health." Origami then wrapped herself around Michael's free arm, attempting to pull him away. Of course, this was canceled out by Tohka doing the same. Mike just should there, looking defeated with no way out of this situation.
The invisible blond girl had gotten out of her seat (nobody noticed the chair moved on it's own as they were occupied by the scene) and watched all this happen from behind Michael. She did reach for him, either mimicking Tohka and Origami's actions like she had done with some of the other girls already, or maybe because she had something to say.
Regardless, all 4 of them were interrupted.
"I knew it!" Called out Mikie's voice, getting the fours attention, and again the rest of the customers and staff. "You used us to break out of the hospital to follow Michael!"
The commotion inside made Ai, Mai and Mii look inside at what the trouble was.
"Wait, so; he's dating both Origami and Tohka at the same time?" Ai asked.
"His phantom cousin keeps disappearing and he's busy trying to get his Ex and new girl together in some kind of twisted love triangle." Mai said.
"That is so lame." Said Mii.
'Great. The squad and the splatoon…' Michael mentally sighed, as this was the first time both sets of cute girls were in the same vicinity. Usually it was one or the other. He didn't have the energy to deal with both…
"We're taking you back at once!" Added Mildred, both her and Mikie unenthused about being tricked.
Seeing as she was found and would be escorted back to her hospital room, Origami nimbly and impressively fled the restaurant by stepping away from Michael and doing 3 backflips in a row, allowing her to jump over her fellow AST and Tohka's 3 friends before dashing down the street Naruto-style. Mikie and Mildred ran after her.
Wasn't she supposed to be severely injured?…
"What is wrong with her?" Tohka asked with a puffy pouty face as Origami fled the scene.
"I asked myself the same thing…" Michael said. He then looked and noted the invisible girl was also gone, most likely using Origami's impressive escape as a way out. That still needed to be dealt with.
Michael gently undid himself from Tohka's grasp before taking out both his wallet and phone. "Give this to the nice lady." He handed Tohka enough bills for $100 in yen, which was for the waitress to pay for the meal along with a large tip that wasn't necessary. Tohka was aware of this and was gonna question it. "Need to make a private call…" Michael said as he walked out of the building.
Was it just Tohka or was Michael a little annoyed? It could be because of Origami, but that didn't sound right to her. She has also heard from some of the other girls that Michael had been acting strange lately. He would stare off into the distance or get jumpy for seemingly no reason. Both of these examples happened just last night on Kotori's date, but they assumed it was Kurumi as she appeared shortly after.
Tohka watched as Michael walked outside… was everything okay?
XXX
Around the same time Michael saw the blond Spirit…
"… Ugh… Lost her again?" Kurumi said after she poked her head out of a shadow pool on a buildings wall and looked around. She had been searching the entire city via her darkness again, sounding a little aggravated. Normally she wouldn't have sounded so annoyed, but this new Spirit was a difficult prey to keep track off as she could just vanish into a flash of light.
This has happened multiple times already, where the second she'd teleport away, Kurumi and her clones went crazy to try and find her again. For whatever reason, she was focused on Michael as that was clearly her target. Kurumi would find the Blond Spirit trying to follow him again after her or a clone found her, sometimes purely by coincidence.
As something of a predator herself, this irritated Kurumi. It was hard keeping track of prey that could teleport like she could, albeit with different execution.
She went back into her shadow before arising from a new one on top of that same building, where more shadow pools joined her and more "Hers'" arising from them as well.
"Any luck finding our new friend?" Real Kurumi asked.
"I did spot her a while ago near the museum, but she flashed away immediately after." A Kurumi answered.
"Same. She appeared at the movie theater for me only to vanish again." A second Kurumi said.
Two Kurumi's were side-by-side. "We both took the south section of town and would have gotten her," One of these Kurumi's then thumb-pointed at the one next to her. "That is, if this one wasn't distracted."
The Kurumi that Kurumi pointed to immediately reacted with her eyes slightly widening. "Me?!" She then pointed back, using an index finger. "YOU got enthralled by all the catfish when she lead us into the aquarium!"
The Kurumi that blamed that Kurumi appeared insulted (and a bit embarrassed) at being called out. "Well who was the one who wandered off into the animal shelter?"
"You mean after the lingerie store?!"
"Well it certainly wasn't before the ballroom!"
Those two Kurumis' kept arguing while the rest of them just looked on an absolute shock, though the real one looked on in disbelief before sighing with closed eyes and shaking her head. Honestly at times like these, though rare, she felt like she was watching her argue with herself…
"-if She just told him the truth!" One of those Kurumis' blurted out, 'she' in caps to refer to the true Kurumi. The other was going to respond, but here's where the Real Kurumi got involved with her eyes snapping open and leering at them.
"Excuse me?" Real Kurumi said in a low yet threatening tone. This shut down whatever argument was going on and making every Kurumi look in her direction. "If I may, what does your petty little squabble how anything to do with me?"
Normally, this is where the clones would back down and not get an arm pierced through their stomachs. However the Kurumi that blurted the previous point out, while she did look rightfully nervous, she stood her ground.
"It has everything to do with You, Kurumi!" This Kurumi said, with the Real Kurumi looking at her with interest to see how she was going to defend such an accusation. "Your just as stressed out as those other girls!"
For one of the few times in her life since becoming a Spirit, Real Kurumi's eyes widened slightly in surprise. The last time her eyes did that was just before she gave into Michael and Sealed herself.
"Michael had a point about Us, Kurumi. We are extensions of you. So when your happy, we're happy. Your angry, so are we… what You feel, We feel." This was a good point made, which did make Real Kurumi's eyes widen a bit wider. "What I'm saying is, just because our energy isn't in a ball, doesn't mean your not under any sort of anxiety either!"
That. Got Main Kurumi's eyes to shoot open the maximum. She gulped and attempted to recover, but another Clone spoke up before this. "She does have a point… we've been noticing this for a while now."
"While we don't last nearly as long as You… we still are You." Said another Clone.
"It's like Mikey said: whatever we feel has to come from somewhere." Mentioned another Kurumi, referring to that day one Clone went rouge and spent the entire day with him. After that clone was 'dealt with', Michael made the very same point, that those clones feelings had to come from somewhere. Of course, the Real Kurumi denied it at the time.
"Me? We know you've been feeling tense lately. In fact, it was only a day after you kissed him." Answered a fourth clone, this one mentioning the very next day prior to being officially Sealed.
The Real Kurumi looked back and forth to each clone that had been speaking to her with the same shocked expression on her face, not used to being called out by her own clones. This was actually the first time this even happened.
"Kurumi?" Yet another clone spoke to her, her head going towards the owner. "If your not gonna be honest with us… at least be honest with yourself." She told the Real Kurumi, then she asked a very serious question: "Your feeling guilty about not telling him everything… aren't you?"
The real Kurumi was speechless. She was simply unable to say a single word in response, her mind going over a mile a minute with that shocked look still on her face. The clones usually never spoke up to her or stood their ground like this, mainly did as they were told without question.
It seemed like ever since one clone in particular went on her own, this appeared to have a ripple effect. Now she was living with a decently cute guy that did provide for her, so far keeping his promise after giving up her power to him.
"Thank you! THAT was my entire point!" Said the Kurumi that started this whole conversation. "Me, think about it. You know how Michael is; how brutality honest he can be; how much lying to everyone else is killing him right now!" She continued, going as far as to quote him. "He promised We'd never be alone again, and he even defended us from Mio!"
Here's where Real Kurumi's expression totally broke, both shocked and looking extremely guilty. Sure he didn't necessarily win that battle, but he did chase Mio (or who they codenamed Phantom) off. The Clone continued still: "What's gonna happen if he finds out? When he finds out?… He's not an idiot, calling everyone out on their bullshit… that's how you feel! Your afraid he'd gonna eventually find out, just admit it!"
The Real Kurumi did not respond, taking in everything that was just said to her… They weren't wrong in their assumption either. She was feeling guilty, guilty that this boy who came here by mere chance, having done all he did for several girls he didn't need to help out; but did so anyway, putting his life on the line for them a decent number of times as well. Which included herself.
She was afraid… afraid of what'll happen of he knew the whole truth… how much she knew, and what she had done… she was definitely stressed out, just like the other girls but for an additional reason aside from wanting Mikey safe or to themselves for a moment.
And just because this stress wasn't physically manifested in a ball, didn't mean there was no there there…
…
…
…
"… he's not going to find out." Kurumi said calmly in denial after a decent time to recover. No, not in denial of her feelings this time, but rather in denial of Michael figuring out what's really going on and why… along with her connection to all of it…
"Me. He's not stupid." Said a Kurumi, attempting to make the real one see reason. "He figured out what Tenju's New Tower was while Rinne's power fooled all of us every time she reset a cycle in her fantasy world. If he can decipher what the problem was there, then…"
"He won't!" The Real Kurumi snapped, raising her voice due to her rising emotions. This did catch her clones off guard, though all Kurumi had to do was take in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "… look at it this way; the others don't know her true identity… and it's not like Mio's gonna reveal it or her intentions without a good reason… same way she did to me…" Kurumi began to relive a painful memory, one with a dead body of a girl her age on a roof, along with a little girl standing over it with some kind of crystal in her hand.
Kurumi shook the memory away with a few shakes of her head, then sounded a bit more hopeful with her following statement. "He's not gonna find out... everything will be fine, just as long as…"
*Date A Live Instrumental*
Every single Kurumi jumped, not expecting the sudden noise. Real Kurumi relaxed a second later, realizing it was her phone's ringtone going off. It was a song by a band called Sweet Arms… was pretty catchy.
Getting out the device in question, Kurumi took a look at the Caller ID… it was titled "Macho".
"… Can you all…?" Kurumi was asking, but already the other Kurumis' were already disappearing back into her shadow before she could even ask. They knew why he was calling… so did she. With the click of a button, she allowed the caller through. "Heeeeeeeey, Macho Mikey. How's Tohka's date going?" She played off in an overly-kind voice, playing dumb on why he was calling.
"One job." Michael said flatly on the other end of the line, not playing her game. What happened next was a split-screen like effect, a line shooting upward on Kurumi's left so another camera focusing on Michael could be included in the shot. He looked as deadpanned as you could imagine.
"You had: One job, Rumi." He said while holding up his index finger, then emphasizing on it upon repeating 'one job'. He was also using one of Kurumi's many nicknames he had given her, but not as a flirt or a jab which was made apparent by his tone. "Did you get hungry?" He accused.
"No." Kurumi adamantly denied.
"Break into another house?"
"No!"
"Did it involve cats, lingerie, ballrooms and/or aquariums?"
"…!" Kurumi was going to answer, but that particular accusation made her hesitate. "… … … not all at once…"
Michael sighed on his end. He didn't know if it was all of Kurumi or a few of them, but regardless the New Spirit wad still able to find him. Luckily Tohka wasn't able to see her, but if she could, she have acted worse since Origami was also involved… a fantasy of the restaurant exploding flashed in his mind (which also ended the split screen).
"What the heck happened? I thought you had her this morning." Mike added, having a quick flashback to just before he began his and Tohka's date. It was revealed in this flashback that Kurumi was following behind Michael by moving along his shadow, then she slithered away when Michael approached the Princess (the point where Tohka thought she saw his shadow move on its own) so Nightmare could catch the blond Spirit off guard the way she did.
"I did and was on her tail the whole time; but I have to admit, she's like a groundhog. She's in one spot one minute, and pops up somewhere else the next. I can only be in so many places at the same time so fast." Kurumi defended herself. Sure she can be in multiple places at once thanks to her cloning ability, but it still takes time to travel from one spot to another; not to mention when she does appear to pop up so fast, it's actually because a clone had already been ordered to travel to that location in advance.
"*sighs* I know, I know…" Michael calmed down a little, understanding Kurumi's limitations. Considering the fact her power is also Sealed and not fully available to her as it once was, Mikey probably should have taken that into account as well. "And your not exactly the predator you used to be…"
Kurumi didn't know whether to take that comment as a jab or as a concern, but he sounded genuine enough.
"She appeared literally right next to me. The table across from me and Tohka… stood up so fast, everyone's attention was on me. Apparently just like her home planet above us, only you and me can see her. Not even Tohka saw her; didn't even appear to sense her either, and you know how she is." Michael explained what just happened when Kurumi was arguing with herself, throwing in how good Tohka was at sensing something was wrong, only this time this sixth sense Tohka had didn't seem to register the new Spirit despite being less than 3 feet away from them.
"Perhaps our new friend isn't just invisible to sight it seems." Kurumi said. "Did she do anything?" She asked to make some conversation. She of course had an idea as discussed last chapter, but wanted to appear as clueless as Mikey was even though she still had some questions.
"Nothing… just kept staring at me. Not like a piece of meat, just… I don't know. She's harder to read than Origami before I dated her." Michael said. "Speaking of which; she barged in out of nowhere, the splatoon came to pick her up which failed miserably, then Usagi Tsukino got up and took off."
"Where are you now, exactly?" Kurumi asked, as her and her clones' attentions were solely focused on Michael's new stalker, not having kept track of him all morning.
"The joint down the street from Tenju Nakamise, not even 10 minutes away." Michael said. The only reason it took longer for him to get to this restaurant was due to Tohka's plan on eating every single stand along the way, making the trip take longer.
Kurumi blinked. Damn, they didn't go too far on their date then. They were close by, only a few blocks from where she was at. And here 'Usagi Tsukino' was leading her all across the city.
"I'm a few buildings down, We'll herd her away." She said, though using 'We' to refer to herself and her Clones.
"Thanks. Just make sure she doesn't escape to the Mirror Realm." Michael said. But before he hung up, he softened his voice. "… and be careful."
Kurumi felt her heart stop for just one moment the second she hear that. It caught her by such surprise, her eyes slightly widened and she couldn't help but release a very light gasp. Mike wasn't much of a lovey-dovey kind of guy, but he said that to her with such care in his voice that it made Kurumi freeze up. She even couldn't help but glance at the phone next to her ear, asking herself if she actually heard that or not.
"… … you too." Was all Kurumi was able to say. Both of them hung up after that, with Michael being shown putting his phone away just as Tohka got out of the restaurant.
Kurumi took the phone away from her ear, staring at the device in her hand… then gripped it pretty tightly. Geez, she really was going soft, but these feelings in her chest didn't make her upset. Some of her clones, without waiting for approval, appeared from her shadow to check on her, the real Nightmare's back turned to them.
…
…
…
"… This conversation never happened." She told them, sensing they were there, but she wasn't talking about the phone call. "As long as I'm breathing, Michael is never learning the truth… he's suffered more than enough…" At this point, after a few more seconds of silence, she turned her body back to her spying Clones with her back still too them. "Is that clear to the rest of you?" She asked them, not even referring them as Mes' this time.
Some of the Clones felt that, while this wasn't necessarily wrong as it was a tough decision to make, its the obvious effect it was having on their host. Kurumi had fell for Michael hard, him not giving up on her no matter how many times she pushed him away, and Kurumi obviously felt she owed him for that… but was keeping this to herself the best call? That's where the Clones were noticeably conflicted.
"… Me?" One Kurumi attempted…
FLARE!
But all that accomplished was the True Kurumi narrowing her eyes very quickly, giving them a not-so-satisfied expression, and her body flaring with dark aura giving off a sinister vibe. While sometimes Kurumi was willing to discuss courses of action with her-selves… this was NOT. One of those times.
Not wanting to piss her off or risk an arm piercing through their stomachs, the Clones got the message and sunk back into shadows, continuing the quest to look for the New Spirit. Once they were gone, Kurumi calmed down and looked back over the city…
She made the right decision… she did, right?…
XXX
The New Spirit in the white uniform was shown running down the street, running from the restaurant she was in. She went past so many people, avoiding many as to not accidentally run into them like Origami earlier. Once she went in-between 2 buildings, she took in deep breaths to refill the oxygen in her lungs.
She then took out the fortune she still had on her. She didn't know why, but this seem to calm her nerves. As she did this, Kurumi phased above along the wall watching her, but as she appeared to not be going after Michael right now, she merely observed her.
Once the Blonde Spirit calmed down, she put her stuff away and took a step out into the street…
BONK!
"OOF!"
Two for two, she once again ran into Origami, only this time it was the latters fault. Like before, they both fell to the ground. As both groaned, the blond Spirit happened to look up, where she saw Kurumi spying on her. She of course after her eyes widened and gasped, immediately teleported away.
"Oh, God damnit!" Kurumi complained out loud. She normally did not curse, but after dealing with the Spirit all morning combined with her current emotions regarding Michael, it sorta just slipped out.
Which of course attracted Origami's attention, looking up at the source of the disturbance after she recovered. "… Kurumi?" She asked, surprised to see her of all people… was that who she ran into? Nah, she was on the wall, but there was nobody else in the vicinity. "Why are you here?" She asked as she stood up.
Kurumi however did not give a response. Her main objective now was to keep that Spirit away from Michael, so instead of explaining herself, she retreated into the wall and disappeared.
"Hey, wait!" Origami called but it was fruitless. Kurumi and the other Spirit had disappeared. She did not question this for very long, as she still had to get some distance away from her comrades threatening to take her back to the hospital, so she too left the scene.
XXX
Tohka and Michael got themselves a Kinako bread each from a bakery and walked along the street, still enjoying each other's company… if Michael was honest, he couldn't eat another bite, and only bought bread for himself due to etiquette. Still, the date was enjoyable for both of them. It even began having an effect on the orb while Fraxinus was both keeping a watch on them and the orb.
"Tohka's energy signal is fading." Said Kawagoe.
"Overall Spirit energy is decreasing. At this rate, it should completely disappear in less than a minute." Kozue said.
"The invisible sphere…" Kotori said while watching the screens of Michael on his date, The camera of the orbs location, along with its analytics right next to it. "… guess it stayed that way after all…" if she was being honest with herself, she would've loved to see the orb for herself, or even learn just slightly more about it. Where did it come from, and how exactly did it form aside from their theories on it being connected to every Sealed Spirit except Kurumi?
More importantly: Why did it happen… and why now?
"I had fun today, Michael." Tohka said to Michael. She unsurprisingly finished her bread before he did, him only getting down to a little over half of his left.
"I never would have guessed." Michael joked. "But I had fun too. Really was the best least date this summer." He added, which was partially true but mainly for the date/job/mission. Each date he's been on for the last 6 days, including the 2 additional ones squeezed in at the last second, all had their pros and cons.
Some of these pros and cons flashed in his head as examples:
Pros like: Video gaming with Kaguya, relaxing with Yoshino, cosplay dining with Kurumi though more specifically the "generous view", the little sister side of Kotori (which may take getting used too), the cuddle-like hug with Mana, and that elevator kiss with Miku.
Cons like: Fear of being seen with Yoshino due to age difference, dragged around for several days in a row, barely any say in anything, getting lost with Kaguya, getting "raped" by Miku, and the embarrassing walk-in with Yuzuru… and of course, the strange blond girl popping up sometimes, which wasn't their fault.
But all in all, at least it wasn't boring.
As Michael and Tohka continued to walk together, Michael suddenly spoke to Tohka again. "Hey, I know its your day, but can I take over real quick?" He asked her, which got the Spirit to cutely cock her head at him.
"Um, sure, I guess." Said Tohka, agreeing to his request. "Why?" She had to ask.
"There's a place I usually stop by at that I didn't get the chance to go over the last few days. It helps me calm down after a stressful day." Michael said. "Not to sound dramatic, but its a special place I go in where my life changed forever."
Hearing that, Tohka was interested and continued to walk alongside Michael. She wondered what this special place was. As they walked together, they turned a corner to exit the city streets.
"By the way, what's for dinner?" Tohka said, which Mike couldn't help but roll his eyes and smile.
"We just finished lunch, now you wanna…?" That's when Michael froze mid-sentence, and Tohka almost walked into him because of it.
…
…
…
The Blond Spirit, at the end of the path as if blocking the way.
'You've got to be kidding me…' He contemplated to himself. He just got off the phone with Kurumi too…
Tohka noted Michael reaction, and with a raised eyebrow, she looked on ahead… but saw nothing out of the ordinary, just an open path to wherever they were going. Even the Fraxinus crew were watching the scene with confusion.
"… wait, why'd he stop?" Mana what is the one to break the silence and ask the most obvious question. Even the other Spirits (minus Kurumi who was probably still looking for the invisible girl on her end) saw this from their various hiding spots from across the other side of the street.
"… is Darling okay? He's just standing there." Miku said.
"Observation. He just stopped dead in his tracks." Yuzuru said.
"Maybe he's finally snapped and about to make his… MMPH!" Yoshinon was saying, but Yoshino covered the puppets mouth to prevent any more words from coming out. Now wasn't the proper time.
"Michael, what are you looking at?" Tohka asked him as she looked back at him, still very confused.
Now normally here is where Michael would've been honest, but Reine's point was still in the back of his mind. If this mysterious girl had something to do with that mysterious orb, then telling Tohka wasn't the best idea. Not to mention this is the second time this new Spirit was completely invisible by both eyesight and other Spirits' senses as even the other girls (yes he was aware they were near) did not react to her presence at all. Almost like she was nothing but a ghost.
What exactly did this new Spirit want? Why was she continuously following him around? What was her connection to that ball of energy? There were so many questions he had that frankly he wanted answers too.
"… sorry, Tohka. Can you give me a minute?" Michael asked his current date, feeling bad about it but finally decided to take matters into his own hands. From his past experience, this new Spirit didn't appear to be violent in any way, so it was probably safe to approach her. Maybe get some answers directly.
If not… there were still 5 other Spirits in the area, and a 6th one would most likely join them from the shadows from the self-defense explosions.
Michael began walking over to the new Spirit to try and talk this out. However Tohka reached for his hand. "Michael, wait! What…" Tohka was able to grab his hand, but then she gasped for some reason. Fraxinus and the other girls were confused at this, not seeing anything that would justify or explain her reaction. What was she looking at?
When Michael looked back at her, he saw her eyes were locked on ahead. Following her gaze, he ended up looking back at the Ghost Girl…
Wait… could Tohka…?
"… Michael, who is th-… WHAAAAAAAAAAAAHH?!" Tohka began to calmly ask who this was by turning her head back, but then she shrieked and her eyes widened to the max diameter they could possibly go, her mouth also a prefect circle shape. "MICHAEL WHY IS THE MOON SO CLOSE NOW?!" Tohka asked with a waving up and behind them.
Michael gasped himself, looking quickly at where she pointed… to see the sphere. She could…!
"Wait. She can see it?!" Kotori asked aboard Fraxinus; her, Mana, and her crew amazed yet rightfully confused.
"Commander, Tohka's Energy signal is climbing back up in the orb!" said Hinako. This did make a bit of sense from what they knew, as emotions appeared to affect the invisible ball. But what energy returning would cause was unknown.
The only one who didn't appear confused was Reine, who just stared hardly at the scene in question.
"Wait? You see it now?" Michael asked in surprise, letting the secret slip due to that surprise, not expecting anything to react to the orb only he and Kurumi could see.
Tohka looked triply more confused at his statement. "NOW? IT WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME?!" She asked. Her outbursts made the watching Spirits looked directly above them, but they didn't see anything from their POV. The just looked at each other with confused stares and even Miku did a shoulder shrug. Did Tohka and Michael lose it?
From Tohka's last question, Mike bit his lip and glanced away, realizing he tipped the bean jar a bit. This also made Tohka's attention go back to the previously invisible girl, who was still in her spot having not moved at all, nor was she showing any kind of emotion.
While she didn't know the full story, she sensed this girl had something to do with it.
"Who are you?" Tohka asked adamantly, wanting to know what was going on after being kept out of whatever loop of information Michael had. The girl did not answer, only kept looking at them. "Answer me!" Tohka ordered, but she still got no response.
She clenched her free fist tightly and growled, her emotions rising. First was Kurumi returning and thank God Michael returned to her, then their date was interrupted by Origami, now for a second time by this random girl who appeared out of nowhere. It was aggravating!
"STOP IGNORING ME!" Tohka began to stomp forward towards the Ghost Girl, letting go of Michael's hand as well. "WHAT DO Y-…!" She yelled at the Spirit due to getting defensive, but she froze. For the literal second she let go of Michael's hand, the other Spirit vanished… at least from her perspective, as Michael could still see her there, still not moving.
Tohka blinked a few times, wondering if she just hallucinated that, but when she looked back at Michael to ask, she noted the ball in the sky also disappeared. She's been in this world long enough do you understand that something that large doesn't just disappear.
Looking back to the location the Invisible One was, Tohka slowly backed up back to Michael, slowly grabbed his hand…
You know how in old movies when something just appears in existence because of lack of editing tools we have nowadays?… That's basically how Tohka saw it. Before she blinked, the blonde girl reappeared… just like that. Was pretty creepy, especially because her expression did not change.
"… … Michael?… Who is that?" Tohka asked softly as she looked back to the boy she was holding hands with, looking very concerned. A little scared too, as she didn't understand what was going on or even why? And if Michael knew, why didn't he tell her?
"Uuuh…" Michael tried to answer as even he still had no idea. But that's when he saw the blonde girl make a move… she lifted up a hand very slowly…
FLASH!
A huge eruption of light flashed completely out of nowhere, originating from the New Spirits hand. This light was not invisible either, forcing the girls and the Fraxinus crew watching via the monitors to shield their eyes from the brightness. That wasn't all, for a certain crimson Spirit also noticed this large flash as she was poking around one section of the city.
"What the hell? What's going on down there?!" Kotori had to ask. However, none of the staff could go over the data because the light was still that bright.
"What's with that bright light?!" Kaguya asked.
"It hurts my eyes!" Yoshino said.
"Michael!" Tohka called out to Mike in worry, her bodies instincts forcing her to let go and shield her eyes like everybody else. However the light show didn't last too much longer and began to die down. When no one felt saw the brightness even behind their closed eyelids, those affected began to reopen them.
Kotori and Mana were shown recovering first… they stared at the screens in shock.
Kaguya, Yuzuru, Miku and Yoshino came too as well… they gaped at varying times from what they saw.
Tohka recovered last, slowly opening her eyes… the emotion in them changed to agony, nearly identical to when Michael was nearly killed by Ellen.
The Mysterious Girl was gone… and so was he…
TO BE CONTINUED…