Kurumi Fearful
Chapter 06 - Chapter 09
By : Tohka_Yatogami
...
Summary
Original version of Kurumi's story for "The Sephira Chronicles"
Chapter 06: Abyss of Memories
Morning came as Shido walked into Raizen High, Shido put his shoes in his locker as she switched to his pair of school shoes. As he closed his locker he noticed Origami to his right.
"Origami, glad to see your finally back." Shido smiled a bit, it seemed whatever had forced her to stay away wasn't troubling her anymore. Origami looked at him oddly, shifting her focus away and back for a bit. "...Origami?"
"...Shido, about why I wasn't here. It was-" Origami tried to say, but couldn't bring herself to. Luckily, she didn't need to.
"Let me guess, it had to do with something between you and Kurumi?" Shido said, surprising Origami. "Considering how she kinda kidnapped me yesterday, I kinda figured it was something related. My guess it's when you were talking with her alone the other day."
Origami stared at Shido about before she nodded.
"Yeah, I knew the truth since then... but if I got close or told you she threatened the worst. I'm only able to be here now because you know." Origami said, she breathed deeply before continuing. "Shido, you know that-"
"Don't worry, I'll stop her." Origami stared at Shido as he said that. "Just trust me, I know she's after me, but while I'm still standing I intend to stop the cycle she's began. I promise that."
Origami wanted to call him crazy... but his look relaxed her, almost told her that she could believe in him. With the trouble Kurumi posed, and the fact he was going to be targeted regardless, she realized she had to try putting some faith in him.
"...Just be careful, OK?" Origami asked, and Shido nodded before she walked off towards class.
Shido soon began heading over himself, and as he did, he was suddenly stopped as Kurumi walked before him giving him a blank look before smiling to keep face since they were in school.
"Well good morning Shido, how are you today?" Kurumi said, Shido only starring at her. "I have to admit I'm a little surprised, I thought for sure you wouldn't want to come to school today after that crazy drama. Either you're really brave, or just incredibly stupid."
"...Kurumi." Shido said, catching her attention by his sudden tone of seriousness. "I've made my decision, and I'm going to save you."
Kurumi's face contorts to one of surprise and shock, specifically over the word 'save', Shido soon continued knowing she wasn't going to say anything for a while.
"I won't let you kill anyone else, or let others try to kill you." Shido watched to see how she'd react to that, and soon Kurumi gave him a fierce scowl.
"...Just like I thought, you're not different from that woman." Kurumi said, surprising Shido. "I didn't think I should show you yesterday, but I think you need to let reality sink in, and this is how I'm going to do it."
Having her clones make sure no one was nearby to see it, Kurumi summons Zafkiel alone with its clock as she aims at the VI.
"Vav."
Then at the IX.
"Tet."
And finally, the X.
"Yud."
Shido suddenly feels all three bullets hit him while Kurumi aims one at herself, and Shido feels his consciousness suddenly go somewhere else as in that brief moment in reality he began to experience a lifetime.
Shido soon found himself in some kind of city, he looked around confused as he saw everyone walk by.
"Um... excuse me, but where am I?" Shido asked, he got no response and soon noticed someone phase behind him and walk right through him, like he was just a ghost. "What? How did that... what just happened?"
"You didn't teleport anywhere Shido, in fact it's not where you are, but when... in my memories." Kurumi said, Shido hearing her voice inside his head.
"What your experiencing is a result of combining three of my powers. Yud, the power of recollection, it's letting you see my past. Tet, the power for my mind to connect to someone on another axis of time. Then finally Vav, the power to send one's consciousness to the past."
"Wait, are you saying I'm actually experiencing your past? Living your memories?" Shido asked, honestly surprised Kurumi had such an ability.
"That's right Shido, I'll make you see exactly why your efforts are in vain. Also... don't even try to ask me questions, I'm not letting you influence my mind. My memories will do the talking for you. I'll only speak if I care to." Kurumi answered, Shido blinked at that last part, it was like she knew what he was gonna ask before he could even finish thinking it.
Soon as the memory continued he noticed someone familiar, and soon saw Kurumi alongside a friend of hers, and while she was the same there was one major difference... her left eye was the same red as her right, and it wasn't covered up by her hair.
"That dear Shido is me, back when I was still Human." Shido gasped at that. "That's right Shido, I was once just like Kotori. In fact... this is the case for every Spirit."
Soon as the memory continues.
"I'll see you tomorrow Saya." Kurumi said, waving goodbye to her best friend before she continued home, Shido following the past Kurumi to where she was heading, and quickly showed his surprise to see it was a mansion. Upon Kurumi coming inside, a maid turned to greet her.
"Welcome home my lady, I hope your day was well." The maid asked, Kurumi answered with a warm smile, more natural than any Shido had ever seen from her in the past.
Needless to say, that already set off a red flag towards what had made her change into the Spirit he knew now, and yet... he felt something else form in his heart when he saw it, as Kurumi walked upstairs she saw her parents who quickly turned and smiled.
"Yeah... my parents were great people, if anyone was the right mix of kind and wealthy it was my family. Too bad by the time I became 17 it all changed." Suddenly Shido sees the memory get swept away like a wave in the ocean, and replaced with another.
As Kurumi began walking home on a different day, she suddenly felt her vision blur, and then suddenly she found herself in a strange place not of Earth.
"What is this place?" Shido wondered out loud, it was like he was on an alien world.
"I never learned what it was truly called, but... I think it would be accurate to call this place the Spirit's Dimension." Kurumi answered, making Shido gasp. This was the dimension that the Spirits went to when they became 'Lost' in their world? Looking around he definitely noticed some areas looked just like the energy of a spatial quake.
"And let's just say how I knew spirits wasn't always the same as what you know them as, you're about to see what I mean."
Suddenly Kurumi heard a strange sound behind her, and when she turned her face contorted in horror and she fell on her butt as a shadowy monster neared her. Kurumi quickly tried to get back on her feet and ran away as fast as she could, hoping to escape the monster that began to chase her. Needless to say the monster had the advantage and quickly got close, Kurumi tripped and soon screamed as it was about to get her when... it was suddenly struck to the side.
"Huh?" Kurumi gasped, the sight of a girl wearing a dress of light came to her view, Shido couldn't see her face however.
"Sorry Shido, but I don't have the best memories of this woman, and other reasons. So you're not getting to see who this girl is." Shido sweatdropped at that wondering if she was just mocking/teasing him, or if she really didn't want to recall this woman's face. Soon the girl wearing the dress of light cuts the shadowy monster apart, killing it.
"Are you alright?" The girl asked, helping Kurumi up. As Kurumi stared silently she giggled at the odd vibe that had just formed. "Oh sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Mio _, and I'm what you would call an 'ally of justice'."
Mio explained, Shido only stared oddly as if to indirectly ask Kurumi if she wouldn't let him know the girl's last name either. She only whistled in response and he groaned as a result.
"...Where am I exactly?" Kurumi asked, worried if she could get home.
"Well this place is where monsters called Spirits live. That thing you just got attacked with, that was a Spirit, and they're dangerous. Like... would be destroyers dangerous, and I've seen them get into your world." Mio explained, scaring Kurumi and surprising Shido.
"You know I do need some help, they're starting to become too much for me. If you have people that you wanna protect, how about I give you powers like mine to fight them?"
"Y-you can do that?" Kurumi asked surprised before Mio took out a black spherical gem of sorts. "What is this?"
"This thing's called a Sephira Crystal, I found one long ago and got my powers, but they don't stack unfortunately. Take it and you can help fight with me to protect Earth... but know once you do there's no going back." Mio explained, looking at that, Kurumi thought about her friends, her family and most of all... her best friends and parents. She grabbed the crystal.
"You clearly heard what she said, and that's exactly why... I would learn I made the wrong choice." Kurumi's gasped as her right eye's pupil whitened and her left one became a gold clock, an outfit different but somewhat similar to her Astral Dress formed on her moments later.
Shido had realized this was the moment she had been turned into a Spirit, and once again the memory was washed away and replaced with another.
Back outside Shido's mind, but long before Kurumi began showing him her memories, Mana met with Kotori inside a building's construction site.
"Alright Kotori, what aren't you telling Shido?" Mana asked bluntly, making Kotori blink. "I've noticed ever since you found out who Reine really was, you haven't lost any trust in her, in fact you have even more... like you heard something that explained her acts that you couldn't. It's about Shido isn't it... and about me, am I right?"
Kotori stares at Mana before sighing, giving a somber look that told Mana she was right, and unfortunately Mana had been hoping she was wrong.
"Alright, I'll tell you. Just know I didn't say it because sometimes it's better to not tell the truth, even if you don't lie." Kotori began, breathing as she tried to calm herself. "You are aware of Deus Ex Machina industries correct?"
"You mean DEM? I've heard about them, it some big company that was founded a few decades ago in England, there's a branch here in Japan too. I think here in Tenguu City if I remember right." Mana replied. "What about them?"
"What would you say if I told you that apparently 30 years, they did something that left a lasting impact on the world. That impact you ask? The deaths of 150 million." Kotori revealed, causing Mana's eyes to widen as that number alone told her everything.
Only one disaster had such a high casualty rate in that time frame... the original spatial quake, or the Eurasian Sky Disaster as some knew it.
Shido stared at the memory before him, the sight of Kurumi's friend Saya being killed had just recently been seen through his eyes, and Kurumi nearly freaking out. What surprised him most was whatever her reaction to killing Saya had done caused her Astral Dress to become what it was currently.
"Kurumi..." Shido muttered, just as horrified. To see Mio's reasons and wonder how many had died for them, while Mio kept the same sad face the whole time, yet it didn't feel fully human.
"Forgive me, but... please forget everything." Mio said putting her hand over Kurumi's face, Kurumi's eyes suddenly widened as she felt herself black out.
The blackness quickly faded as Kurumi woke up in a crater of a recently finished spatial quake, black/red energy seeping from the ground of the crater. Kurumi looking confused, unsure who she was or what just happened. At that moment, a group like the AST began attacking.
"She destroyed all of my memories, all I could recall were the powers I had, and my own name. That's when I recalled the power of my Tenth Bullet, Yud, and used it on myself." After outrunning the AST, Kurumi soon held up Zafkiel and motioned for her tenth bullet before she fired it.
Kurumi's eyes widened as the memories Mio had taken all came back to her... and soon her face showed rage.
"...Kurumi, just who is Mio? She's a Spirit like you, so why would she do this?" Shido asked, at first Kurumi was silent, but then...
"Because... she's the only Spirit who's never been human, and the one that began it all. The root of everything began when she first touched the soil of our world 30 years ago." Kurumi answered, her voice void of any emotion as she said it. Shido gasped at that.
"That's right Shido, the one in my memories you've come to learn as Mio is the First Spirit. The one who caused everything... the person I hate most in this world."
"Kurumi..." Shido said softly, enough Kurumi didn't hear it.
"And the I will kill, by using Yud Bet's power... I'll erase her the day she appears on this world and change history!" Kurumi growled, her anger surfacing as the thought of Mio surfaced to her mind again. At that moment, the realm of Kurumi's memories went dark, and Shido felt himself wake up.
"No way... are you saying that DEM was responsible. That can't be, shouldn't a Spirit have caused that based on what you've told me and Shido?" Mana asked confused, what Kotori had told her felt a bit contradictory right now.
"Mana, think about it for a moment. There had never been a single spatial quake before that day. How did one suddenly show up out of nowhere, how would any life from another world suddenly come here just like that, especially just one being if it wanted to destroy our world?" Kotori asked, and her question really made Mana think.
It didn't take long until she realized it.
"You get it now? The DEM, they were the people responsible for letting the First Spirit into our world."
"My god... wait, but why does this related to me and Shido?" Mana asked, still feeling lost. "And why does this even connect to Reine knowing about it?"
"Don't say I didn't warn you, but according to Reine..." Kotori began.
-Flashback Start-
Kotori looked at Reine as she finally stopped crying. After asking her what she knew about Shido and Mana, the answer she received... she wished she hadn't heard it and let herself be ignorant until any reason to worry had vanished.
"Because I'm trying to save them, before it's too late." Reine said, making Kotori's eyes blink before they widened at her words.
"What do you mean?" Kotori said, suddenly worried and scared.
"...Take a look at this." Reine said before pulling up files on a computer, showing Shido and Mana's bodies, and intense magical power ratings that matched that of a spirit's mana.
"Only Shido can actually cause them to receive it, but as you can see right now... they can't handle the spirit power that's in their bodies, and this wasn't after Shido sealed your powers... it's been the case since they were born."
Reine turns to face Kotori.
"If Shido can't seal all of the Spirits, then sadly... they'll both die in about 10 years."
Kotori gasped in horror at that.
"No... you're lying! It's not true!" Kotori replied shakily, backing into the wall as tears began to flow into her eyes. "Big bro... no."
-End Flashback-
Mana stared in shock.
"...What?" She and Shido would die in 10 years if they couldn't seal all the Spirits? No, that wasn't the only thing that flew through her mind, how did they have it since birth? "...How would Reine even know this?"
"I don't know, when I asked she wouldn't... no, it was like she couldn't answer. She tried to tell me, but if was like if she spoke the words she'd end up breaking down." Kotori answered, but soon gave a serious look.
"Yet I think I realized what it is, the question is seeing if I'm actually right about my theory."
Kotori walks closer to Mana and puts her hand on her shoulder.
"And something tells me... Kurumi holds the proof I need."
Suddenly Mana and Kotori blink as they hear Kannazuki call Kotori's phone.
"Commander, we have a problem. It's Kurumi Tokisaki... we need you and Mana to get to Raizen High immediately!" Kannazuki screamed, in a full blown panic. The two nod at each other and leave.
A few minutes before Mana and Kotori's talk concluded, Shido gasped as his consciousness returned to his body. It had been like hours within Kurumi's memories while only a few seconds had passed in the real world. Kurumi dispelled her Angel as she stared at Shido.
"You see now Shido? Will finally talk back what you just said to me, about 'saving' me?" Kurumi said calmly, Shido sweating a bit. "Come on, don't you think I'm downright awful to be causing all this pain just because of a stupid vendetta?"
"..." Shido only kept looking at Kurumi, hanging his head down a bit.
"You can say it... you hate me, and it's clear to you I'm not someone who deserves mercy." Kurumi continued. "I will eat you, but I'm at least giving you the chance to die without the thought of an impossible task ruining your last moments. Now say it."
Kurumi smirked, sure she had won.
"...Sorry, but I can't do that Kurumi. Because after all I saw, I can't hate you." Shido said, causing the light in Kurumi's eyes to vanish in shock at the claim, part of her still thinking she had misheard him.
"If I gave up on you, someone I clearly saw suffering... no, is still suffering now. I'd regret it for the rest of my life. So I will not give up on you, and I never will, because I care for you and want to help, so you never feel alone again!"
"..." Kurumi's teeth gritted as her fists clenched so heard, Shido swore she drew blood. "Why are you so stubborn, why won't you give this up? I know it... you and Mio... are no different from one another! Those words are proof, stop lying to me!"
Shido was soon suddenly knocked back as Kurumi's power burst out and she suddenly disappeared from view before reappearing on the rooftop with her Astral Dress on.
"You'll learn the hard way Shido, the harsh fact that you just opened Pandora's Box, and there's no hope for you to find inside of it."
Shido got up, in pain from the sudden act, and soon a heavy feeling hit him as a barrier covered the school and swallowed all the light. Everyone else on the other hand fell unconscious instantly.
"What? What just happened?" Shido asked himself in shock, he taps his headset. "Reine, Kannazuki? Can you tell me anything?"
"It's one of Kurumi's most dangerous abilities, how she can hunt the time of so many without resistance of she needs it. It's a barrier that drains them of their time without killing them... unless she does that herself that is. I believe it's called the [City of Devouring Time]." Reine explained, having seen Kurumi use the technique countless times while watching her as Phantom.
"Other Spirits are resistant to it, so the fact Kotori's powers are inside you is the only reason you're even still conscious right now."
'No way... is she making the entire school a hostage?' Shido wondered. "...Hey Reine, what was Kurumi's emotional state before she fled?"
"It was mostly anger for a majority of it, however I noticed something off the moment she heard you use the word 'save, she was still angry... but I also saw her emotional state register fear and sadness. She was showing you her memories, correct?" Reine asked, after seeing him nod through the monitor she continued.
"Tell me, did you see any moment she was with another person?"
Shido thought and then suddenly remembered her first meeting with Mio and then the death of Saya when she accidentally came back and saw Mio by her corpse.
"...Someone saved her, and later she saw something that made her feel she was used and betrayed." Shido said, suddenly realizing Kurumi's response fully.
"It's likely that experience was so painful, hearing someone say they want to save her must provoke a psychological trigger in her mind. One that makes her believe that if she trusts someone like that again, the same thing will happen." Reine said, pausing for a moment. She closes her eyes and thinks... and then continues after exhaling a bit.
"Shido... if you want to help her, you need to show her that you mean exactly what you say."
"Don't worry, I swear I will." Shido said before walking through the halls to try and find Kurumi.
Unaware to him, Origami managed to force herself to not faint and managed to activate her emergency Realizer, with it the effects of the barrier no longer threatened to knock her out and she began moving as well.
Meanwhile on the Fraxinus, Reine stands up.
"Kannazuki, take things over form here. Let Mana and Kotori know they need to hurry... it's time I stop running away myself." Reine said, quickly vanishing using her spirit power.
"W-wait, what else should I even do!?" Kannazuki panicked before calling Kotori's phone.
On the rooftop, Kurumi waited in place before looking forward with a dark smirk.
"The clock is ticking everyone, and very soon... everyone's time will be up!" Kurumi quietly said, afterwards she goes into a full blown unhinged cackle, everyone hurrying towards the same place as her laugh echoes.
.
.
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Chapter 07: Silent Despair, Part 1 - Final Countdown
Origami began running through the halls, and soon she hears Ryouko calling her.
"Origami, do you read me?"
"This is Origami, I hear you loud and clear." Origami answered, soon turning through the next hall as she had a good idea where Kurumi had to be.
"I'm showing you using an emergency uniform, can you tell me what's going on?" Ryouko asked, she had an idea but right now she couldn't get any proper readings about Kurumi. Somehow her City of Devouring Time was acting like a jamming field for any sensors trying to detect her spirit power.
"Dangerous situation, Kurumi Tokisaki's taken my school hostage. Try to send support so we can evacuate-" Origami started, but suddenly a bullet fired at her, hitting her suit's communication device and cutting her off. "Oh no... don't tell me."
Origami looked as one of Kurumi's clones rose from the ground.
"Well, hello there Origami. I hope you weren't trying to call for help?" Kurumi said, giving a mocking smirk. "You seem like you're in a rush, where are you off to?"
"I'm here to protect Shido from the real you." Origami said, taking out a sword.
"No, that doesn't work for me. Terribly sorry, but I was told by me to make you stay right here." Kurumi said, summoning Zafkiel's guns into her hands. "Or I could just make you another snack before myself's big meal."
"You won't be stopping me!" Origami said rushing at Kurumi, the clone began quickly shooting at her, but Origami simply dodged or used her sword to block her bullets. Origami soon jumped over her and slashed down before the clone's face froze up and she fell to the ground, bleeding from the injury.
"You're nothing like the original, and I'm not the same as when I fought the real you."
Kurumi chuckles weakly, feeling her consciousness fading as Origami instantly continued running towards the rooftop.
"...Oh Origami, I thought you were smarter than this? This is just the prelude" The clone went limp before sinking into a shadow. Only moments after Origami got further into the hall, a whole group of clones all laugh as they appeared to surround her.
"No, I don't have time for this." Origami muttered, looking around as the clones aim their guns at her. "Shido..."
Mana and Kotori quickly make it towards Raizen High, and soon they make it near the edge of the City of Devouring Time, luckily before they had arrived, Kannazuki had told them what would happen if they walked into it without being prepared.
"Oh man, it looks worse than Kannazuki made it sound. Quick, let's get set up before anything goes wrong." Kotori quickly said.
"Yeah, Murakumo equip!" Mana shouted as her wizard outfit formed.
"OK, now it's my-" Kotori never got the chance to finish as the barrier began to grow, suddenly encompassing the two. Mana felt the barrier's effects hit her slightly, but it was barely enough to fully affect her. Kotori however hadn't gotten her Limited Astral Dress on in time, and while able to stay conscious, she couldn't move.
"No, not now..."
Kotori weakly looks at Mana.
"Please... go on without me, protect big bro, protect... everyone."
"Kotori..." Mana breathed out, she didn't want to leave her, but right now she knew she couldn't be picky. "OK, I'll promise to keep big brother safe, don't worry!"
Mana flew off, while Kotori's face fell to the ground.
"Come on... please, please move Kotori! You have to!" Kotori said, struggling to regain her movement.
Kurumi continued her cackling on the rooftop, and soon stopped as she sensed someone drop down into view behind her. Kurumi turned as she saw Reine stare at her directly, Kurumi only grinned more as she turned to face her directly.
"So you've come to grace me first Phantom, or should I be calling you Reine Murasame now?" Kurumi giggled. "I hope you weren't expecting things to go your way, brcause I've just derailed it all."
"...Kurumi, stop this right now and let everyone go. I'm the one you want." Reine said, slightly sweating for reasons Kurumi didn't know of yet.
"You?" Kurumi inquired, then suddenly giggling. "That's funny, true I've never been able to stomach you in all the time we've known each other, but I don't have anything against you except your cheap tricks and deception. Don't worry, I'll still be eating you anyways so you don't have to be left out."
Reine gritted her teeth, and soon breathed realizing she didn't have a choice.
"To think..." Reine said, her voice was the same until the next words came out of her mouth. "...that I let all this happen just because I didn't realize who I gave Camael's crystal to back then."
Kurumi's face froze in place with a slight hint of anger as she heard that.
"...That voice, you dare to mock me with it?" Kurumi seethed, knowing just who it belonged to.
"I can't mock you with it, not when it's the only voice that's actually mine." Reine continued, soon her form glowed white before it shifted into a whitened silhouette of a young girl with long hair, almost like a younger Reine with more vivid silver hair and no dark spots.
Soon a familiar Astral Dress appeared in Kurumi's eyes before the white washed away, revealing a girl she knew all too well.
"How long has it been since you've seen me like this Kurumi?"
Kurumi's right eye glowed with an intensity it hadn't since the day she saw Saya's dead body, the girl standing in front of her, the girl who had been known so far as Reine Murasame and the Phantom, just revealed her real identity. She was...
"Mio Takamiya!" Kurumi screamed, completely furious to see the First Spirit herself standing before her. "Are you freaking kidding me!? All this time, you were there, manipulating me even further? How dare you!"
"Kurumi, you said it yourself, I'm the one you hate more than anything. So just leave everyone else out of this. Back then, when we first met... I didn't understand Humans enough, and I did something terrible to you I can't undo." Mio began, hoping she could somehow make Kurumi stand down, or at least end this all by by sacrificing herself. If she had to.
"Despite that, you can't just-"
Mio's words were soon cut off as she felt herself get shot in the arm by one of Zafkiel's bullets, making her scream in pain.
"Shut up, I don't want your excuses now! It's too late!" Kurumi yelled, all the hatred in her mind refusing to accept anything she'd tell her as anything but her attempt to use her like she had long ago.
"I will take everything from you! Starting with your life in the present, then the family you care so much about, and finally... I'll kill you back when you first came to this world so your dream dies before it ever begins!"
"Stop this Kurumi, changing the past at such a level would-" Mio felt herself held against the wall as arms of Kurumi's clones held her to it and began to cut off her air slightly.
"Was changing my life something any smaller? You have no right to demand anything from me, you're not even Human so don't even think you understand!" Kurumi screamed, holding Zafkiel at Mio's forehead.
"Besides, you're too weak to make any threats. I've learned how they were once part of you."
Kurumi smirks as she sees Mio panic.
"That's right, you're no stronger than the Spirits you've created. I'll have the pleasure of killing your past self with your own power, and..."
"Don't... say it... please." Mio begged, starting to tear up.
"...The power of your own children, die knowing that because of you that they'll never get to exist when I'm done with you, that in trying to save them you've only sealed their demise." Kurumi finished, cackling as she began to move her finger to fire Zafkiel.
'Shido, Mana...' Mio thought, time moving in slow motion to her as Kurumi prepared to pull the trigger. "Forgive me, because of my sins... you have to pay the price. If only you didn't have such a foolish being as your mother.'
"Get away from my mom!"
Kurumi suddenly looked as energy threads aimed at her, an explosion of smoke covering the area as she jumped back.
"...So nice of you to join us, Mana Takamiya." Kurumi said, the blue haired wizard landing between them.
Mana turned to look at Mio, who stared at her in surprise at what Mana had just called her.
"Don't worry, I'm not letting her hurt you anymore." Mana smiled, trying to reassure her before looking back at Kurumi with an angry look. "I'm not gonna let you hurt my mother."
"You've obviously heard what I've said if you know who she is now, I'm the real victim here and so are you. She abandoned you and your big brother." Kurumi said, wondering why Mana did what she did. "So why defend her? You have every reason to hate her, just like I do."
"...You're right, she's done terrible things, and left me and Shido alone and caused us to be separated. I'll admit it, I'm upset, sad, and even angry at being abandoned for all those years. Appalled and terrified at what she did to you, and to so many others I may never know about." Mana said, making Mio look down and causing Kurumi to smirk as she expected Mana to give up on her.
"But..."
"Hmm?" Kurumi said, not expecting Mana to use that word.
"...She's trying to make amends, she's not running away from the mistakes she's made! Because of that, I won't hate her!" Mana shouted, making Mio's eyes tear up and causing Kurumi to step back in shock.
"Mana..." Mio cried, despite everything that had happened... her daughter still loved her. "Thank you."
"You would forgive her, after all she's done!? What she did is unforgivable!" Kurumi screamed, unable to process what she heard.
"I'm not saying I forgive her, I can't do that... but I am giving her the chance to make amends. Every deserves that chance." Mana said, and at that moment, Kurumi screamed.
"Aleph!" Kurumi shot herself, causing her to rush at Mana and knock her into the sky. "I should have known you Takamiya's are all the same! You, her, and Shido... I'll erase you from this world so you never use another human being ever again!"
Kurumi then kicked Mana into the ground. Mana weakly got up, staring at Kurumi as she lands and stares back.
Kotori was still lying on the ground, struggling to move.
"Damn it... no matter how much power I pour out I can't call out my Astral Dress." Kotori whimpered, barely having the strength to keep herself conscious. She tried to get up again only to fall. "If I took back all of my power I could do it, but if I do... I'll just go out of control again. I can't let that happen."
Kotori cried and grabbed some of the dirt at how useless she felt.
Suddenly the sound of glass breaking was heard as Origami was knocked out of one of the school's windows, she tumbles across the ground before landing on her feet near Kotori. She notices her moments after, surprised at her presence in the school grounds.
"Kotori? What are you doing here?" Origami asked.
"I was trying to help Shido but... the barrier swallowed me before I could summon my power, I can't call it... I can't move!" Kotori whimpered weakly.
Origami barely had time to react as she noticed the clones who knocked her out of the window rush after her, realizing Kotori could be used against her, she grabs her and quickly jumps away from their landing spot.
"Origami... where's Shido?"
"I don't know, but we'll find him. Just try to hold it together." Origami said as she ran back towards the school, Kurumi's clones all flew at the two and Origami knew she couldn't outrun them, checking her machine gun's remaining ammo she got an idea. "If I can't hit them, then I'll make sure what I have can still help me in another way."
Origami jumped and began firing her gun as she stabbed her sword into it, causing it to spark and glow red.
"Hold on tight!"
She instantly formed a realizer as an explosion launched it back into the school, crashing through a few rooms before appearing in the hall Shido had been walking through to his surprise.
"Origami? Kotori!?" Shido gasped, their sudden entrance both surprising him and filling him with worry. Origami got up first and put Kotori in his arms.
"Stay back Shido, we've got company." Origmai panted as all of Kurumi's clones finally caught up to them, laughing crazily. "I won't let you near him!"
Origami gave a loud shout as she began slashing at the remaining clones, but soon a few of them piled on her while the others knocked Shido to the ground. Kotori tumbled across the floor as a watched the two trapped while the clones purposely ignored her.
'No, why is this happening!? Why didn't I summon my powers sooner? Why... why am I so useless?' Kotori thought, crying a bit. 'I'm just a burden right now! Big bro, Mana, everyone... I'm sorry.'
"Kotori, don't be afraid!" Shido shouted, catching Kotori's attention. "Your powers are inside me right? Then take them, take them all back, please!"
Kotori's eyes widened, she had told Shido what would happen if she used her full power, she shook her head at him, not willing to take the risk.
"I'm here for you, if anything happens I'll save you! That power can't just be to destroy, I know you can control it! Believe in yourself!"
Kotori's eyes widen at that line, believe in herself...
'Shido, Mana, Reine, Kannazuki, everyone on the Fraxinus... they believe in me? So what am I doing just sitting her, feeling sorry for myself? I... I have to at least try! Shido's right, if something happens he'll save me just like before, I can...' Kotori thought. "DO THIS!"
Kotori screamed, suddenly causing a strong red light to catch the clones attention.
"CAMAEL!"
Suddenly a strong burst of flames strikes all the clones and they tumble across the whole before burning away. Shido and Origami look as Kotori was now wearing a Kimono shaped Astral Dress, her hair flowing freely as her ribbons moved to her outfit's horns. Kotori panted and looked at herself, and soon realized it... the burning feeling, the overwhelming force from 5 years ago, it wasn't there.
"It's not taking over... I can control it, I can really control it!"
Shido smiled, he had a feeling she could do it and he was right.
"Kotori... I knew you could."
Origami looks at you, getting Kotori's attention.
"...Kotori, 5 years ago I was sure you were the ones who killed my parents. Yet..." Origami started, trying to not let her anger win considering the situation. "Something told me otherwise, and I wanna believe it's not you. Besides... now's not the time for us to fight against each other."
Kotori nods at that.
"That's right, Mana needs us. Come on you two." Kotori said, grabbing the two before raising Camael into the air before it assumed it's Megiddo form and morphed into a cannon. The beam of fire shoots out of Camael, burning a hole through it and each level until it blazes through the roof, creating a way straight to the top. "Hang on, we're on our way!"
Kotori dispelled Camael before grabbing Shido and Origami, flying through the holes she just created.
"Get ready to die, both of you!" Kurumi shouted, aiming both of Zafkiel's guns at them for the final blow.
Right before she could however, she suddenly noticed a funnel of flame burst out from the side of the floor, catching all three of them off guard. Seconds later, Kurumi saw Kotori fly out and land on the ground, Shido and Origami soon standing beside her.
"What!?"
"Not part of your plan? You should get used to this little fact, usually most plans don't go the way you want them too." Kotori smirked, recalling Camael to her hand. "All of us are you're opponents now!"
Mana, who was still standing despite having clearly been injured almost everywhere, smiled as they came.
"You made it just in time." She readied herself again. "Now we can finish this, we'll end this nightmare together!"
"I've nearly had it... you think this nightmare will end? That you can make it some kind of dream with a happy ending?" Kurumi growled, her eye twitching as her anger neared its limits. "It's time I show you how cold a mistress reality is! Do you hear me?!"
"Kurumi!" Shido shouted, the angered spirit only glaring at the three. "I'm gonna repeat my vow to you once more..."
Shido said, before breathing and giving the most confident face he could.
"I will save you, no matter what it takes!"
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Chapter 08: Silent Despair, Part 2 - A Chained Heart
Mana jumps back as Kurumi fires at her again, soon holding her arms once she lands on the ground.
"Gathering Cloud Sword Style!" Mana shouted, immediately after this, part of the Murakumo's shoulder armor moves to clamps attached at the hand area of her suit. As Kurumi flew down at her, she quickly slashed and countered against Kurumi's constant swings with Zafkiel. "I feel sorry for you Kurumi."
"Shut up!" Kurumi said as she jumped away, soon preparing to fire another bullet.
"Why Kurumi?" Mana asked, looking sad she had to fight someone in so much pain. "Why do you have such powerful hatred? It's almost like you want to be this way, like you only want darkness inside your heart."
Mana flew at Kurumi, making Kurumi cancel charging her shot to block her sword strikes.
"You never deserved to fall down this road, please... it's not too late! Let us help you!"
Kurumi screams in response, kicking Mana in the gut before posing at the VII of her clock.
"Zayin!"
As Mana tumbled back, the bullet froze her in time as Kurumi fired every shot she could before time resumed for her, making Mio gasp at how many shots she was taking.
"Don't you dare think you know me, that it's right to help me! You don't know anything!" Kurumi yelled, soon panting as time resumed for Mana and she fell to the ground.
"Mana!" Mio shouted, luckily Mana shook a bit, showing she was alive. If it weren't for the magic power within her body she would be dead. "Please... stop this, what are you trying to prove Kurumi?"
"I..." Kurumi stuttered, shaking as she heard that. "I... I'm..."
Kurumi violently shakes herself.
"No, I won't fall for your words again Mio! Not again!"
Mana soon slowly got up, somehow still able to stand despite being shot almost at every non-vital spot on her body.
"So, you still want more Mana?" Kurumi questioned.
"As long as I'm alive, and I can still stand... I'm not giving up." Mana said, refusing to let the pain she felt searing through her stop her.
Kurumi stared at the two, giving a disappointed look.
"If you're trying to sound like a hero, then news flash... you only look pathetic." Kurumi posed at the XI on the clock, causing Mio's eyes to widen as she recalled its ability, it could consume Spirit power directly. It tended to cost more than her shadows, but a direct hit in their weakened states could easily end them both.
"Yud Aleph."
Kurumi licked her lips as she got ready to devour them.
"Get ready to die, both of you!"
Kurumi prepared to fire, but she never got the chance as suddenly a funnel of flame burst out from the side of the floor, catching all three of them off guard. Seconds later, Kurumi saw Kotori fly out and land on the ground, Shido and Origami soon standing beside her.
"What!?"
Kurumi shouted in shock.
"Not part of your plan? You should get used to this little fact, usually most plans don't go the way you want them too." Kotori smirked, recalling Camael to her hand. "All of us are you're opponents now!"
"You made it just in time." Mana said, smiling as she readied herself again. "Now we can finish this, we'll end this nightmare together!"
"I've nearly had it... you think this nightmare will end? That you can make it some kind of dream with a happy ending?" Kurumi growled, her eye twitching as her anger neared its limits. "It's time I show you how cold a mistress reality is! Do you hear me?!"
"Kurumi!" Shido shouted, the angered spirit only glaring at the three. "I'm gonna repeat my vow to you once more... I will save you, no matter what it takes!"
Kurumi gripped her fist tightly, she finally had it by this point. Her constant failures to eat Shido, Origami's mere presence, Mio's manipulations under the guise of Reine and Phantom, Mana's annoyances, Kotori holding the power of her deceased best friend, and most of all... Shido's constant insistence that she would save him, something that led to her being used the last time anyone had done such a thing.
Kurumi's face gained an extremely calm anger to it before her shadow opened and had eleven clones manifest from it.
"Fine... if that's the way you want it, then I vow I'll kill all of you and eat you no matter what! Let's see who breaks their promise first!" Kurumi screamed. Shido then noticed Mio's presence, he along with Origami and Kotori were still unaware she was Reine, but Shido did recognize her Astral Dress.
"Mana, who is this?" Shido asked, hoping the answer to a question that he had been wondering about was true or not.
"Well, we knew her as Reine Murasame before now, but her real name is Mio Takamiya." Mana answered, making Shido's eyes widen slightly as her last name. Seeing his reaction, Mana continued. "That's not all big bro, she's also... our mom."
Shido looked at Mio as if to get confirmation, and she nodded to him.
"...I'm sorry, for hiding it from you all this time." Mio said softly, unable to fully look at Shido. Shido's eyes were shadowed briefly before he breathed.
"Tell me something, from the earliest thing I can remember, I recalled you abandoned me... is that true?" Shido asked, causing Mio to look at him as he asked that question. It soon dawned to her that he was trying to confirm how he should feel with this one question.
"Know this Shido, there's more I regret... than having to leave you and Mana that day." Mio said, shaking as she expected Shido to hit her or something similar.
However she simply felt Shido pet her head, looking at her with a teary smile, finally making Mio shed years worth of tears. At that moment, Kurumi and her clones rushed at them, making her eyes widen as she stood in front of Shido.
"Now it's time for me to finally be a mother and protect you in arm's reach!"
Mio rushed forward, Mana, Kotori and Origami all following her in response.
'I can't fight like they can, so how can I help them? How can I save Kurumi?' Shido thought, pushing his brain to think of an idea.
Three of Kurumi's clones dog pile Kotori, but the flame spirit's fire burned as she gripped Camael tightly.
"Cut her to pieces, Camael!" All four clones were instantly slashed apart, slowly fading into spirit power as they flew by the real Kurumi who took some slight burn damage in the process. "Is that really all you have? If you'd rather cry and run home to mommy then I'd completely understand."
Kurumi grit her teeth. Meanwhile another three of the clones were facing off against Origami and Mana at the same time, Origami staying close to Mana who wasn't at her best due to her injuries.
"Mana, you have anything that could slow them down?" Origami asked. Mana smirked at that.
"Thought you'd never ask." Mana's shoulder pads raised and shot the energy threads, the three clones tried to dodge, but only two of them got away as the third was struck and became immobile. Taking the chance, Origami slashed her, causing it to fall before it faded away like the others. "Two on two seems more far now, let's finish this."
Mana dashed forward, surprising the clone in her range before it was suddenly hit into the air and tossed around like a shaken soda can.
Soon Mana jumped overhead and slashed down, finishing the clone off. Origami soon piggybacked off her, using Mana as a springboard to reach the clone who flew towards the sky, and soon spun before slashing at it, knocking it down before it faded as well.
Mio dealt with the remaining 5 clones who all rushed at her at once, Mio shifted her position before she charged spirit mana into a sphere.
"Eat this!"
Mio expelled the spirit power as a beam which hit all of the clones instantly, taking them all out, though leaving Mio a bit winded.
Kurumi growls at the result.
"Damn it... if you think this is over, then you couldn't be any further from the truth!" Kurumi aims Zafkiel at herself.
"Dalet!"
She fires three times, each shot rewound time to heal her of the damage she received and removing the fatigue she had gained.
"I hope you didn't think you were winning, because it seems like to me that I'm back in mint condition again." Kurumi smirked, making all but Mio grit their teeth.
"Crap, can we really beat her if she keeps healing the damage we deal like that?" Kotori said, seating a bit from the worry that Kurumi might still overwhelm them, but soon she felt Mio put a hand on her shoulder to her surprise.
"She's not in as good of a condition as she might physically appear, notice her clock eye?" Mio pointed out, and the others all noticed that earlier it had been at the V of her eye, but now it had moved to the II.
"Kurumi's spirit powers only get used up if she uses her shadow abilities, but if she manipulates time through Zafkiel, she has to pay a cost of time energy she's collected."
Kurumi pants a bit, realizing how much time she had already used up.
'I can't believe I used up so much, though I'm so close now. If I can eat them all then all the time I sacrificed won't be in vain!' Kurumi thought, refusing to back down.
"Once she runs out, she can't manipulate time anymore until she gets more, and she's already taken all she can from this place. We just need to hold out a bit longer and then we can win." Mio said, feeling confident. The others all give similar looks before Kurumi got nervous... until she suddenly felt streams of shadow connecting to hers, causing Mio to gasp.
"What? No, don't tell me that-"
"You made it back just in time Me's, now the table has turned in my favor!" Kurumi's clock eye moved to the IV, she soon cackled as dozens of clones came out of her shadow and quickly restrained and held everyone but Shido down. "Aw, how tragic is this? You were so full of hope and in a mere instant I turned it all into despair. Although..."
Kurumi smirks and raises her hand as a fist, suddenly causing the spatial quake alarm to set off.
"No, you can't!" Shido shouted, his eyes widening at what Kurumi was about to do.
"I can't? Let me see, I'm constraining two spirits and two wizards, KOd the entire school and drained them of all the time I could, and incapacitated all of you." Kurumi replies, soon giving a creepy smirk as her eyes glow and she licked her lips with her fingers close to them, soon giggling in response.
"...I think I can Shido, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Shido stared at her, feeling powerless... but then realized he could do something, and because all of Kurumi's clones were holding down the others she didn't have any more to bind his movements.
"That's where you wrong. Kurumi, stop the quake and take down the barrier otherwise..." Shido starts, soon jumping onto the railing to everyone but Kurumi's surprise. "...I'll jump off this roof and kill myself!"
"Big bro, don't do-" Kotori tried to stop him, but soon noticed Mio shake her head. "Huh?"
"Shido realized the biggest flaw in her gaining time from the deceased, she can only do it if she's the one who killed them." Mio whispered, explaining the situation. "If Shido were to die from falling, all the power that belongs to only him would be lost to her forever. He's making himself a hostage."
Kotori's eyes widened, now realizing what Shido was trying to do. Now the question was if it would work.
"Seriously? Is that your best threat, because something tells me you won't go through with it." Kurumi smirked, confident it was a bluff. "Everyone's afraid of dying, you don't have the guts to do it."
"Watch me." A that moment, everyone gasped while Kurumi's eyes widen as he tipped backwards and actually let himself fall. At that moment, Kurumi used her shadows to grab him mid fall and through him back onto the roof.
"Are you kidding me!?" Kurumi shouted, unable to comprehend the fact Shido had willingly risked his life ending. "That was incredibly stupid!"
Shido looks at her.
"I'm not as stupid as you think, by saving me you proved to me that you can't take my power if I just die by any means. That's why you stopped the quake last time when I was in the area, wasn't it?" Shido replied, causing Kurumi's eyes to widen.
He had figured out her time replenishment's weakness just by that one action, and all she had done was prove him right.
'This can't be, no... I refuse to let this be it for me! I can't let it.' Kurumi thought, trying to keep a straight face she smiled. "So what? If I just save you each time to try to die, your threat means nothing."
Shido shook his head.
"Then I'll simply bite my tongue, that'll kill me instantly. You won't have time to stop that." Shido replied, making Kurumi's confidence vanish once more.
She tried to look around for something... but the facts before her were obvious. The clones she had were barely holding the others, if she made even one let go, the person she restrained would be able to free themselves, and even if Kurumi tried to stop Shido in time with Zayin, there wasn't a guarantee that she could draw fast enough that she'd hit him before he bit his tongue.
"Now if you don't mind, you can stop the spatial quake now, and take down the barrier while you're at it." Shido requested, hoping he had finally dealt the final move. Kurumi stared at him, and then the cold reality of truth finally hit her... Shido had beaten her without even fighting, all because he managed to find out the fatal flaw of her plan.
"...I've lost, I can't believe this." Kurumi quietly said, lowering her head as she snapped her fingers. Soon the barrier faded while the spatial quake alarm stopped, the ripple above the school grounds proving it.
Kurumi's clones also all disappear, and everyone they held fell to the ground, without the danger they were in they all collapses as if the adrenaline was all that kept them going, Origami outright passing out.
"Oh, and there is one more thing." Shido said, wanting to make sure Kurumi didn't simply leave.
Kurumi lifted her head up to that, hating the fact Shido said those words after the result that just happened.
"How much more can there be?" Kurumi asked, now starting to visibly show fear.
"I want you to allow yourself to have a second chance." Shido said bluntly, making Kurumi stiffen.
"...Are we honestly back to this? Trust me, I'm more trouble than I'm worth, how long will it take you to get that I don't want you to save-" Kurumi began, but she'd never get the chance to finish as Shido's next words suddenly came out.
"Is it you don't want to be saved, or do you judge anyone's attempts to help you as a way to use you just because of what happened with my mom?" Kurumi suddenly froze up as Shido said that, her eyes shaking as she tried to think of a way to deny it. Her anger began to build, but then suddenly she felt fear, and then... sadness took over, she didn't want to admit it, but Shido had said it.
She had killed her best friend, it didn't matter to her it wasn't on purpose or that she didn't mean it despite she hadn't known it was her... she had still killed her. Then when she woke up after her memories had been erased, she honestly didn't know what happened to her family, they could have been died for all she knew, and she couldn't bear to learn the truth if they did. The only thing she could find, the only thing that she could act on was what Mio did to her.
Her entire hate of her... she based all her feelings on Mio's actions. For someone to say they would save her, try to help her when she was in trouble or danger, Mio's one act of using her had made her believe anyone who tried to do that was simply out to use her. That hate took control, the only bits of her original self were her kindness when talking with others, if she was sure they had nothing to gain from her... and recalling that made her recall her family and Saya, making her tremble.
"Stop it... after what I've done, I don't... I don't have the right. I don't." Kurumi said, slightly stuttering as her original self began manifest, unable to hold the confidence or emotions she had been showing until now. "Just let me go... I'll never bother everyone again, I'll just give up, so-"
"That isn't true even for you." Shido continued, making Kurumi gasped. "Listen to me, you can change and be happy if you want and I know you do."
Shido tightens his fist.
"I know it. If that wasn't an option, you wouldn't have given such genuine smiles, you wouldn't have felt bad about what happened... and you wouldn't have spent time with me that were plenty of chances for you to eat me!"
Kurumi's eyes shined at that, but also shook... her former self who wanted to live normally again, and the self made of her hatred who refused to be redeemed until she changed the past, they were still fighting between her.
"No, you're wrong... I have too much blood on my hands, it's too late!"
"IT'S NOT TOO LATE! I CAN HELP YOU!" Shido screamed, closing his eyes. Kurumi gasped as he said this. "Yes, you'll have to live with what you've done for the rest of your life, but still Kurumi... it doesn't matter how terrible you've been. It'll only be too late for you if you don't give yourself that chance."
"I... I..." Kurumi stuttered as her body shook, her mind still conflicted.
"Nothing will ever give me a reason to hate you Kurumi, because..." Shido breathes, knowing what he said couldn't be taken back. "Because I like you Kurumi, more than just as a friend!"
Everyone gasped upon hearing this.
"And because of that, if you still don't think you can change... then do it, kill me and take what you've wanted."
"What?" Kurumi breathed, Shido had just stopped her from doing just that, and now... he was offering for her to do it anyways? Then there was what he just said, he liked her... as in like-like her? True she had said she loved him, but that was just a facade... wasn't it? She wasn't even sure anymore.
"I... I don't know..." Kurumi looked at him again. "Why are you so kind to me?"
"Because... when I saw your memories, it reminded me of how I felt, when I thought I had been abandoned. When I thought I had no worth in the world." Shido said, holding out his arm to offer his hand, Kurumi's eyes shifted a bit at that. "If Kotori's family hadn't adopted me, I may have just killed myself."
Kurumi's eyes shook as she stared at him.
'Am I really worth it? Are you really trying to help me, just to help me? Can I... can really I go back?' Kurumi wondered. Just what should she do? Finally accomplish her go, or could she actually relinquish her hate, her mind drifted at the thought.
Kurumi soon felt herself within her minds cape, standing at a mental interpretation of a crossroad her mind had formed from her confusion and doubt. To her left was a blue version of herself made from blue light that took the form of her human disguise, while on the right a version of herself in her current spirit form made of red light was seen. They each represented a path, the path to redeem herself and the path to continue her goal.
"You've already come this far, stopping and making it all in vain is selfish. You never fought for your lost happiness so why now?" Red Kurumi said, her voice having a dark tone to it.
"Shido's right, you had plenty of changes to take his powers, but you never did." Blue Kurumi said, a gentle tone within her voice. "Deep down you knew, I bet Mio even knew. She told you about him because she felt she might be able to heal her heart."
Kurumi looked between the paths and the two hers, as she did the red Kurumi frowned before snapping, causing various dark hands to grab her, causing Kurumi to see the blood stained on her hands. Worse is each drop of blood's shade was made to let Kurumi tell apart the blood of every person she ever killed.
"See that? That's every sin of yours, you will never be able to wash them off. You've already dirtied your hands, and nearly everything else, so why bother? Just keep staining them, you barely have " Red Kurumi said, smirking at the sight of the real Kurumi shaking. "Do it... you know you hate Mio that much, just let that hate swallow you and complete your goal, once you kill her nothing will matter, and you'll have Saya back."
"I..." Kurumi stuttered, the image of Saya alive and then her dead body flashed in her head. 'Shido, I can't do it, I'm...'
"I forgive you Kurumi." A familiar voice rang out, Kurumi's eyes widened and she saw Saya in front of her. "I made the choice to take that crystal, that was my fault. Besides, as long as you remember, I'll never truly die."
Soon Kurumi saw visions of everyone she once knew, smiling and nodding at her, and Kurumi felt like she understood exactly what they were saying through it. "See that Kurumi? Your heart knows more than you realize, and it's never stopped waiting for you to hear it, and you can listen... in fact you have listened." Blue Kurumi said smiling.
"The path I choose, it's..." Kurumi looked at each path again, and soon the red and blue Kurumi's vanished, after looking at her bloodied hands and then seeing Kurumi's smile again, she breathed as she took a step and a flash forward.
Shido looked as Kurumi's hand shook, slightly hesitant to take his own.
"I..." Kurumi weakly got out, looking at Shido's hand again, and then...
*DRIP*
Everyone saw Kurumi's eyes shedding tears, the first time any of them had ever seen it even for Mio.
"Shido!" Kurumi cried out as she finally reached out her hand and grabbed his, crying as Shido pulled her into a hug, her twin tails coming undone as if to represent the chains binding her were finally broken.
'You're free Kurumi.' Shido thought, soon noticing Kurumi had cried herself to sleep before tapping his headset. "...Hey Kannazuki, do you mind?"
Kannazuki sighs, but smiles quickly after as he sees Kurumi's feelings for Shido had reached the required level.
"You did good Shido." Kannazuki said. "You really did, and with the hardest spirit you could have done it with."
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Chapter 09: Silent Despair, Part 3 - A Renewed Hope
Kurumi's eyes fluttered open as she finally woke up from her long nap, she rubbed her eyes to readjust her vision as the blurriness fades and she saw herself in some kind of medical room that was more reminiscent of a laboratory then a hospital room.
"What is this place? Kurumi wondered, unaware she was in the sick bay of the Fraxinus. She thought back to the last thing she remembered, which had been hugging Shido on the roof of Raizen High while crying, but that was it.
Soon the door opened up and she saw Shido walk inside, blinking at the sight of her being awake before smiling.
"Hey, glad to see you're finally awake." Shido said, walking closer to her bed. "Don't worry, you just collapsed from exhaustion after the fight ended. This ship doesn't really have any places to sleep though, so we had to put you here."
That finally explained to Kurumi why the room like that of a lab, because she wasn't resting in a hospital room.
"...Shido?" Kurumi suddenly asked.
"Yeah, what is it?" Shido asked, noticing Kurumi looking towards the wall he was looking towards from his position. Kurumi didn't turn to face him as she continued.
"Back then, you told me something... that you liked me as more than a friend. By that, did you mean... love?" Kurumi replied, not noticing Shido blush heavily at that response, apparently without his life on the line anymore, he didn't have the same confidence he had shown on the rooftop. "Because if that's what you meant..."
Kurumi continues, turning to look at Shido again.
"...I can't give you a real answer just yet. I never had the time to consider it, but..." Kurumi soon blushes a bit as she smiles. "That doesn't mean we can't start as friends so I can figure things out."
"Kurumi..." Shido breathed, unsure of how to feel or what he should say. Needless to say, a decision was made from him in a few seconds, Kurumi cupped her face with her hands, and soon kissed him on the laps. "Mmph!"
Shido was surprised by the sudden act, while he had kissed Kotori 5 years ago to seal her powers, and again after the fight to restore the seal, this was his first kiss with a girl his age. Kurumi stops the kiss and looks at his face before giggling.
"My, my, Shido. you switch between shy and brave so easily. It's kinda adorable. You better step it up. After all... that was my first kiss I just gave you." Kurumi said, blushing a bit.
Moments after the kiss, she suddenly sees her Astral Dress glow brightly before it dissolves away, her entire face suddenly went red and she screamed, covering her chest with one arm and used the over to move the blanket over the rest of her.
"S-Shido, what did you just do? Tell me!"
"I-I-I don't know! Well, I mean what I do know that I can seal a Spirit's powers when I kiss them, but I didn't know this would happen!" Shido said, looking away at the now cloth-less Kurumi, who angrily looked at him with her now two red eyes, both which slightly teared up from said anger. Suddenly, Shido realized something and shouted.
"KOTORI! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
In the bridge of the Fraxinus, everyone heard Shido's scream as the reading show that Kurumi's powers had been sealed away. Kotori blushing as she suddenly remembered that Shido hadn't been aware what happened the first time he had sealed her, and didn't happen when he re-sealed her, that a Spirit's Astral Dress is replaced by what they had been wearing before which in Kurumi's case had been... nothing.
"No one tells Shido I knew that would happen!" Kotori screamed. The crew all flinches, silently making a unanimous pact of agreement between them. Mio, once again taking her form as Reine Murasame, giggles a bit. "Why are you laughing!? Did you have something to do with that result?"
"Why, I don't know what you mean Kotori? I didn't give Shido his sealing powers after all." Mio smiled, though Kotori felt she might be lying. Considering how many secrets Mio had already been shown to have, a small one like this wouldn't surprise her, not to mention if she did give Shido his sealing ability... she was worried why she'd allowed what just happened to Kurumi to even happen.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kotori suddenly turned away.
"N-Nothing! Nothing at all, why even ask me that!?" Kotori shouted, unfortunately that denial wasn't fooling anyone. "...More importantly, why use that form after revealing who you really are?"
Mio stopped for a brief moment, almost as if to think a reason, but soon turned to Kotori.
"...You could say it's my way of upholding a promise, one that I intend to fulfill." Mio began, her hand briefly moving to the wedding ring necklace under her current outfit.
"I still have much to atone for, and much more to strive towards. Only when I do that can I truly take my form as Mio Takamiya again. When that time finally comes, I intend to be the mother that Shido and Mana deserved."
Kotori blinked before giving an odd look yet smiling.
"Who knew you could be so cheesy? Still, pretty noble goal for the Spirit of Origin to strive for. Until then, glad to have you on board... 'Reine'." Kotori said, smirking at that last part. Mio gave a light smile at that.
"Hey mom, I've gotta ask... where is our dad at?" Mana asked, everyone looked at Mio as she froze for a moment, and Mana worried if she may have asked something she didn't want the answer to. "Oh no, is he-"
"No, he's not dead, I'm almost 100% sure about that. Although... if he is alive, I'm not sure if his current state is any better." Mio answered, recalling the somber memory of the last time she had seen him.
"Alive or dead, he's currently beyond my reach. I don't feel I can tell you about him until I finally save him. Although..."
Mio turned to Mana, smiling lightly.
"That crazy courage you and Shido have? I know you got that from him, it's how I ended up having you two."
Mana blushed a bit at that, but soon put her hand on top of Mio's.
"We'll find him, together. No matter how long it takes." Minowa and Shiizaki both 'aww' at that, while the others all give smiles.
'And apparently, they get their cheesiness from you.' Kotori thought, sighing in relief.
The following day soon came, and Origami stood in a military uniform alongside her captain before some of the higher ups managing the AST as she gave her report on the situation with Nightmare at her school.
"...And you're sure this is what happened, nothing else?" The man in the middle desk asked, having some trouble believing the report she had been giving.
Origami didn't exactly lie, Kurumi was already a wild card even among the spirits, so not telling all of the truth about her choice in creating the barrier and trying to start a spatial quake only to start them both, not to mention her true goals and motivations until Shido finally got through to her... it seemed better to not say a thing about it.
Not to mention she didn't want to involve Shido. As a result, her report was merely a summary of Kurumi's actions, observations she made, and her disappearance afterwards.
"Yes, this is all I was able to see and confirm involving Nightmare. She seems to have left Tenguu City for the time being, but she may likely appear again in the future, and if she returns... I will fight her as a member of the AST as I've always have." Origami continued, her superiors all looked at one another before the middle one sighed. Kurumi was enough of an enigma that despite his disbelief, he had to accept the limited information of Origami's report was completely honest.
"Very well, Master Sergeant Tobiichi and Captain Kusakabe, you're both dismissed." The middle man said, sighing.
The two both solute at their superiors before leaving, as they walked down the hall, Ryouko breathed out in relief.
"I never like having to talk with them, I already have enough trouble killing stress over this job." Ryouko confessed, slumping her shoulders. She looks at Origami. "I can tell you didn't say everything to them, is there a reason for that? There were clearly three spirits up there."
"Probably wouldn't believe me even if I had, that or we'd all get fired for apparently massively failing to contain the situation at all." Origami muttered to herself, making Ryouko look at her wondering what she had just said.
"Tell me, if someone were to tell you Nightmare's not gonna be the same danger she was before when she next appears, would you believe them?"
Ryouko blinked.
"...I have no idea where you got that from, but sounds crazy enough that someone would question your sanity." Ryouko said, feeling some awkwardness at hearing that. "For now, we need to focus on the fact Efreet was detected in the same area, she might show up again considering she encountered Nightmare."
As Ryouko walked she noticed Origami stopping as she looked outside.
"Origami?"
Origami stared at the sun, the moment of her past when her parents died played through her head again.
'She said it wasn't Efreet, and now that I think about it... it definitely wasn't fire that burned my parents.' Origami thought. 'Kurumi Tokisaki... just who is that spirit you'll send into the past and why? Regardless, when we finally meet...'
Origami's fist tightened.
"I'll be there to finally kill you." Origami breathed.
Shido was with Mana and Mio, the origin Spirit showing him the same readings on their body as she had shown to Kotori. "So... you're saying that our nature as being half human is killing us?" Shido asked, making sure he understood things right.
"...That's right, humans aren't truly meant to handle the powers of the Spirits. I learned that quite easily through the various holders I gave the Sephira Crystals too over the years." Mio explained. "Exposure to humans did help refine them until the last ten including Kurumi became hosts who could properly use them. However, it took away their humanity in a sense."
"What makes that different from us exactly?" Mana asked.
"Using Kotori as an example, if we had a machine say if she was human or a spirit, the machine would always say she's the latter. It wouldn't be that different from an alchemic transfusion." Mio said, bringing up her data and then showcasing the major differences between hers and theirs.
Her entire body essentially was physical spirit mana, rather than a container like the Takamiya siblings.
"However, you two are half human. While in a sense you can use spirit powers you're not exactly spirits either. Yet inside of you both lies a Sephira Crystal."
"Then why not just take them out of us, it shouldn't be that-" Mana tried to say, but stopped as Mio shook her head. "Oh, so why can't they just be removed?"
"...You'd die." Mio simply stated, making the two flinch. "By all means the crystals are just like a second heart within the first one. There is a way around that. Yours are unique, the only problem is that every spirit needs to be sealed before I can safely remove it and then turn everyone I changed back to normal."
Mio sighed and stood up, looking at her children.
"Shido, there are nine more sources of spirit power out there. It's not just you and Mana, but the whole world itself depends on you sealing each spirit's powers... which might possibly include your father."
"Why, where is he?" Shido asked, Mana had been wondering the same thing, but wasn't sure how to ask after their mother first mentioned him.
"A place I once could freely go to, but has since been blocked off to me by means I don't fully understand, or at least I can't go there and be conscious any more than another Spirit can. That place is... the Spirit Dimension." Mio revealed, making the two gasp.
"That's another reason why finding the Spirits will likely be vital, if he is there, they're our best clues to find him. Shido, in a sense you hold the key to saving him."
"...Don't worry, I'm 100% serious about this now. I'll save all the Spirits like I saved Kurumi, and then after that, we'll save our father." Shido said, making Mana and Mio smile.
'I just hope you're ready when the time comes... saving your father is one thing.' Mio began thinking, soon the image of a white-haired man with lifeless eyes enters her thoughts. Making her hand twitch slightly.
'However, it'll be another to face the man who drove our family apart in the first place. Unlike the Spirits I don't think I can prepare you for him.'
A few days later, Shido and Kurumi, who was temporarily staying at the Itsuka residence until a apartment building for all the Spirits could be built next to the house was finished, began heading towards Raizen High. Due to Kurumi's actions and the resulting fight, the entire school had been closed down for the entire week for repairs and due to the AST's insistence of making sure Nightmare hadn't let any surprises.
"How are you feeling Kurumi?" Shido asked the formerly Worst Spirit, who he could tell was nervous about coming here now that she was normal... well, close enough to it atleast.
"I-I'm fine, I've already been a student here for a while after all. I don't think this should scare me too much." Kurumi clearly lied through her teeth, even if Shido knew it she wasn't letting him see her with guard down.
Shido knew saying anything to help relieve her would probably only add fuel to the fire, so he took her hand, causing the black-haired girl to blush from his touch before relaxing as she realized it was his silent way of helping her relax.
The two soon walked into class together, and it didn't take long for everyone to gasp at the sight of their held hands, and a bunch of responses began flying out of their classmates.
"No way... Shido actually got a real girlfriend before me." Hiroto said plainly before bringing his phone out and hugging it. "Please comfort me my digital darling, and I'll buy whatever you want later."
"Oh, my god. They're holding hands and she's blushing." Ai began.
"Does that mean she defeated Tobiichi?" Mai continued.
"That's... so lame?" Mii finished, using her usual reply.
Kurumi giggled at all of those responses, and soon Origami came in and looked at Kurumi.
"...I believe I told you a while back that students weren't allowed to hold hands Kurumi Tokisaki, and I don't believe your 'anemia' is acting up again." Origami said, and Kurumi smirked at that as she recalled Origami hadn't been awake to her Shido's declaration, Origami sweated at the face she made.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Oh, you don't know Origami? I was so sure that we had told you..." Kurumi starts, smiling as she held Shido's arm with her own. "Shido and I took the next step in our relationship together."
The entire class gasped at this, taking their hand holding as confirmation they were dating now.
While Origami showed shock, she kept her cool.
"I don't... I don't believe-"
"And it wasn't just a mere kiss either." Kurumi said, it would be this one moment that Shido would forever wish he had been able to see the future and stop what Kurumi said next. "I've memorized every nook and cranny of Shido's body, I mapped out each inch as I was running my tongue over him."
The entire class including Shido and the normally stoic Origami flinched.
"Yesterday we were merely just flirting, but by morning I found myself waking up in his home."
"Uh, Kurumi, I think you should-" Shido tried to interject, only to fail as Kurumi covered his mouth.
"I've already made him promise me to take responsibility for his actions, in fact he's so bossy he even demanded on which lingerie I should wear when he eventually rips off my wedding dress." Kurumi continued, giggling as many of her classmates gasped at that. "I'm wearing them now if anyone wants to see?"
The entire class' reactions seemed like the equivalent of a frozen video game screen at that moment, all with eyes closed of shock and their jaws wide open. Shido sweated in worry, while the normally blank and dull faced Origmai had gone fully red before stuttering and sliding onto her knees, her mind having shutdown.
'He. Did. WHAT!?" Ai thought.
'What the hell did Shido do with her!?' Mai thought, almost as if she read Ai's mind.
"No wait, it's not what you're all thinking!" Shido tried to explain as all the guys glared at him with anger over claiming Kurumi as his own, and jealousy because of what Kurumi had lied about him doing.
However he'd never get the attempt to diffuse the situation as a picture flew out of his pocket. Ai caught it before her and everyone who saw it blushed at what they saw.
"What, what is it?"
Shido soon saw an image of Kurumi in nothing but white panties and leggings, her hair covering the important parts of her chest, making him scream in horror.
"Oh, so that's where that image went. Shido, you naught boy." Kurumi giggled, soon seeing Shido gasp before running out the classroom as most of his male classmates chased him. "He's so cute when he gets flustered."
From the Fraxinus, everyone on the crew minus Kotori and Mana who had gone to school as well all stared in shock.
'Kurumi... I think you now scare me even more than when you were trying to kill all of us.' Mio thought, worried about her son's social future.
Meanwhile, in a strange black realm emitting various forms of energy, a single being encompassed by the energy slept on the unseen ground.
"..." The being stayed still, though the realm's energy suddenly flashed before he gasped slightly as their eyes opened, before quickly going back to sleep, almost as if being forced to.
THE END