Date A Re:Live

S1 Chapter 04: Origami Unchained, Part 1

By : Tohka_Yatogami

...

Summary

Even a similar story can take it's own path. Shido and Mana are amnesiac siblings living with their friend Kotori, however the past catches up to Shido when he nearly runs into a space quake, and his world changes as one girl asks... "Are you here to kill me?" (Stronger Ratatoskr, weaker DEM, games & movie are canon to story) [Shido/Tohka/Harem]

I'm glad everyone liked how the story's gone so far, it makes me glad I created it for all of you to read. The reviews I have so far even like how I've given some of the characters the first anime episode implied may be important, including our resident trio, a bigger role in this story (and possibly for Mii, actual lines, but no one's said that so I'm just guessing right now). Now it's time for the Origami arc to finally start!

Expect the changes I'll be mentioning in either the start and/or end notes, the craziness Tohka has to deal with as she comes to accept all of the Spirits will need Shido and decides to settle for Shido promising she's the first and foremost girl of his eventual harem, and the wackiness that comes from the personality of New Timeline Origami.

In regard to the AST having not been mentioned, I'll clear up here that they are NOT retconned from this story. I just didn't have any opportunities during Tohka's arc that could introduce them without being forced because with the DEM taking their roles for the earlier arcs, the AST is actually a sub-division of Ratatoskr that trains wizards. Though here it's not called the "Anti-Spirit Team", but the "Advanced Security Team".

Origami's arc will likely be the most different from its canon counterpart due to the fact that while I am using some canon scenes, since time travel was never involved, about 75-90% (by my guesses) of Origami Angel and Origami Devil are unusable due to depending on them. I find this a fresh experience since this is the one arc where you can't expect a majority of what I'll be doing. So I hope it doesn't disappoint you.

Now, let's begin!

S1 Chapter 04: Origami Unchained, Part 1

Origami was seen running through the flaming streets of Tenguu City in the neighborhood of Nankou, trying to search for her parents. She turns the corner as she suddenly notices more of the blazing inferno block the path she had intended to take. No one was aware what had caused the flames... but what everyone did know was right now, Tenguu City was best described as a hell on Earth as the fire had spread into most of the city with the current neighborhood experiencing the worst of it.

"MOM! DAD!" Origami cried out, trying to find them and hope they heard her. However, she didn't see anything nor did she get a reply from them. She began to tear up as the worst kept flooding her mind, that the fire may have already consumed them within it.

They had only barely gotten around it once due to the aid of a young boy, and there was no guarantee that they would make it out alive, even if someone else came to help them again. At that moment, Origami began hearing the sounds of another girl, probably younger than her going by the sound of her voice, crying out loudly.

Origami's body glowed and soon, she found herself in a new outfit to her surprise. She was seen wearing a short white veil similar to that of a wedding dress and a gold crown that spread out horizontally rather than vertically holding it in place as it slightly hovered over her head.

Her outfit was similar to her Inverse form's, but slightly less revealing minus showing her currently missing cleavage at her current age, and it had a bright and pure white color scheme with various gold plated areas, making her look like an Angel. (A/N: Like her Inverse Form, think Tohka's Limited Astral Dress in Season 2's first episode for a reference, but with shoes more like Inverse Tohka's, Origami's stockings and butterfly dress ribbon, and no gloves)

"(You should be safe from the flames with this, just remember what I told you. Most of all be careful with your new powers. Now go find your parents, I'll try to hopefully stop this fire.)" Some unseen being told her, making Origami nod as she ran off.

After a bit of running through the flames, Origami looked around a bit before...

"Origami!"

Origami turned in surprise at the shout, and the sight of her mother and father entered her view despite the flames' heat making them a bit hard to see in an area already darkened by all the intense smoke, the light of her Astral Dress must have let them notice her. She smiled at them as she prepared to run over and hug them, using her new powers to get them away from the flames and to safety.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans, and suddenly her Angel, multiple feather like pillars in the sky above, had one of them suddenly glow as it charged a beam and aimed at Origami's parents as it took the newly born Spirit's surprise as a threat nearing them. Origami's face soon contorts into one of horror, and before she could beg it to stop, the beam fired and her parents saw it come towards them.

"MOTHER! FATHER!" Origami screamed at the top of her lungs, right as the beam hits them. She stares in horror as the light fades, and soon walks to the ashes that stood where her parents once had, taking them into her hands. Her voice shook before she hugs the ashes close and shed some tears... and then with a loud scream, her Angel fading with a similar yet deadlier shaped black colored feather pillar! Her Inverse Astral Dress formed on her body, and she nearly lost all sense or control of herself as her Demon King began firing everywhere.

Origami suddenly wakes up, shooting upwards from her bed and gasping for air, her pajamas soaked in her sweat. She held her head tightly as she felt her pupils begin to whiten before she took some deep breathes... and her eyes went from Spirit state to their normal state.

"..." Origami panted more, trying to calm down. She got a cloth and wiped the sweat from her nightmare off her. It was rarer than most, but nightmares of her parent's deaths that were the exact same memory as when they died were so terrifying she nearly had her powers come back to her. "Not again... why am I always reminded.

Origami looks at her hands, at first nothing... but after breathing a bit she suddenly sees them stained with fresh blood. Looking at her current state in the mirror and then at some strange medicine she had in her room, she grimaced.

"I don't have much more time... soon, the block on my power will be gone. One that happens..." Origami began, imagining the battles she had with Tohka, but now sane and aware enough of everything rather than just an instinctual response from her powers. "...[Devil] will no longer be shackled, free to rampage across this world."

[My name is Origami Tobiichi, I'm a freshman at Raizen High and one of many trans-human beings known as a Spirit under the code names of "Angel" normally, and "Devil" when my powers take on their more dangerous nature. What I'm known best as however? It's simple... I'm known, as a murderer, having killed two people over 5 years ago. The two people I killed... my mother and father.]

Shido groaned as he heard his alarm clock go off, he moved his hand to try and turn it off and after a few seconds hit it before he went back to sleep. Before he could get any rest however... a huge boom is heard downstairs, instantly making him shove away any feelings of tiredness and fatigue as worry flooded over them.

"WHOA! What on Earth was that!?" Shido panicked, he quickly ran downstairs and his house, which was shown from the outside to have been renovated and made much larger to house multiple people now was seen, making it look almost like a fancy apartment.

From one particular room, smoke was seen coming out of the window as Shido made it to see Tohka sitting at the table in her borrowed clothes minus the slippers, holding something in her hands next to some spilt Orange Juice.

"Tohka, what's wrong!?" Shido quickly questioned, worried what happened.

"Oh Shido... look!" Tohka asked with tears in her eyes, showing Shido's notebook which was soaked and distorted by the very spilt orange juice he had seen earlier. "Your notes from school, I completely ruined all of them! I didn't mean it... really!"

Shido suddenly panicked, some of Tohka's spirit powers flowing out. While he had learned they were sealed, seal didn't mean removed in this particular instance. For reasons no one in Ratatoskr fully understood, Shido had this strange ability to take a Spirit's power and store it within him, and since all Spirits so far seemed to be female, the sealed power stored inside him was undetectable by their and likely DEM's analyzing devices.

When Shido asked why, it's because the change into a Spirit was irreversible, it would be like trying to devolve a human back into a monkey. Not to mention the source of Tohka's powers was inside of her heart now and therefore removing it would likely end up killing her. Most of all, the seal fluctuated in response to Tohka's emotional state and her control of it, if she got too wild her powers would flare out like right now.

"It's OK Tohka, I'm not mad at you!" Shido replied, causing Tohka's powers to calm as she looked at him tearfully. "Really, it was just an accident. Notes are replaceable."

"Really? You're not mad at me?" Tohka sniffled, really hoping that Shido was being honest with her.

"Of course not, it's OK." Shido smiled, petting Tohka on the head and making her close her eyes and smile like a little puppy would.

[My name's Tohka Yatogami, I'm a... well I should be a freshman at high school, but I've forgotten about the last few years of my life and now I'm a 16 year old teenage girl. Though I'm also an evolved human type of thing called a Spirit, some call me "Princess" normally, and "Sovereign" when I go a little cray-cray. I'm currently living with my boyfriend Shido and his family ever since he helped my powers get under control by sealing them and stopping me from creating Spacequakes. I'm having trouble adjusting as you've noticed since I'm missing a huge chunk of my life.]

"ACHOO!" Tohka suddenly sneezes, causing another boom that reached Mana and Kotori. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that!"

"It's alright you guys, she just sneezed out her power again!" Shido called towards upstairs. The two groan as they both came downstairs, Mana was happy that their old friend was home, but Tohka's spirit powers were a bit of a tizzy at the moment due to Tohka being full of emotion, the very thing that made her powers set off.

Kotori on the other hand? Well... Shido and Mana weren't sure, it wasn't that Kotori disliked her, but things always seemed to feel odd when the two were together and Kotori would act weird. If Tohka and her weren't she was fine. The two siblings were hoping that it was just due to Tohka not being someone she had known before and being used to living with only the two of them.

"Really big bro? Reine told you to be careful, you've gotta keep her happy or her powers will shoot off everywhere." Kotori said annoyed, Tohka looks somewhat sad that that and her ribbon moves to match her expression as Mana pets her head.

"Come on and relax a bit Kotori, Tohka's only been here for two days, it'll be a while before things properly settle in for us." Mana replied, making Tohka smile again. "Well, since we're all here already, guess we should start the day now."

"Alright, let's get breakfast started then." Shido smiled, making Tohka's eyes sparkle as her usual love of food made itself known.

[Oh! You might be wondering how we got to this point, aren't you? We were at that Ratatoskr place the last time you saw us. Let's see... what happened after we learned about the whole group? Hmm... Ah! Now I remember!]

Shido, Mana, Kotori and Tohka all look at shock at the reveal the Ratatoskr organization just gave them.

"Shido and Mana Takamiya, Kotori Itsuka, and Tohka Yatogami... we welcome all four of you to Ratatoskr" Reine stated, answering the question of where they were. "I'm Reine Murasame, one of the founders of this organization and the commander of the Fraxinus."

"...OK, I think I'm gonna ask the question all four of us are obviously wondering right now." Kotori began, soon taking a deep breath. "WHERE ARE WE, AND WHAT THE LIVING HELL IS GOING ON!?"

Kotori's yell rang through his sibling's ears, while Tohka's eyes became outright spirals from the force and volume of it, having no experience unlike the other two did. Everyone else rubbed their ears as well.

"Yes, that would probably be a good question to answer." Reine replied, rubbing her one ear before looking at a wall. "Maria, bring up the information please?"

Soon the siblings and Tohka all see a girl appear from a hologram protector in the room, while none of them had actually seen Marina yet to notice, Maria was a color swapped version of the malicious AI with blue in place of the former's yellow.

"At once Commander." Maria answered, soon bowing towards the others. "Salutations to you, I am the Ratatoskr AI, Maria Arusu. I shall give you aid on here and the Fraxinus from this point forward. Also, if you really need to reach me..."

Maria taps on Shido, Mana and Kotori's phones, the latter two realizing Shido found them and took them back.

"I've added a link to my program on your phone, so I can physically appear on them if you truly need it." Maria smiled, not noticing the others sweat drop at the now apparent invasion of privacy. "Pay attention to this screen here."

They all do as a set of ten pictures form, the people show in them barely recognizable due to how blurry and distorted they were aside from their hair colors with the exception of the first picture which showed... the veiled Spirit that fought Tohka! Not just that, Shido saw Tohka's inverse form as the last image.

"That's Tohka on that last one, and I saw that girl on the first!" Shido gasped, realizing who were in these pictures. "These girls... they're all the other Spirits, aren't they?"

"Correct Shido, as you know the Spacequakes have appeared in eleven colors, and each one is linked to a specific spirit." Maria nodded, continuing her explanation quickly after. "Tohka was of the purple color, and I believe you've met the white Spacequake spirit already."

"Each Spirit has a code name we identify them by, as we still lack most of their real-life identities." Reine continued, everyone too distracted to see how nervous Kotori got for a moment. "For you Tohka, we knew you as Princess due to your outfit resembling that of a ball gown. While in your Inverse Form we called you [Sovereign]."

"Inverse what now?" Mana asked, tilting her head confused.

"Uh... well, the Astral Dress, the armor I was wearing that is... I think. Well that wasn't what it used to look like, after that other Spirit nearly killed me my power got all cray-cray and I ended up as that." Tohka explained.

"Correct Tohka, the Inverse Form is a manifestation of a darker yet truer level of a Spirit's power from its origin dimension..." Reine said somberly, soon taking out her show glasses and cleaning them. "...a sin I bare a part in creating."

Mana and Kotori blink in confusion, but Shido however had a good idea.

"Let me guess, it's about the Spirit who caused the original Spacequake, the spirit that came before the rest of them?" Shido asked, making Reine nod. "...Now that I think of it, why's she not listed here? There's only ten, but you just said eleven quake colors exist."

"Because..." Reine began, looking down a bit. "...She's no longer with us, we lost her shortly after she appeared years ago. When she went to stop Westcott but never returned."

The four all gasped at the revelation.

"30 years ago, I was one of the few who founded the DEM together. I was aid to the man who formed this organization, who alongside his current secretary were also part of it." Reine began, her eyes close as her left arm shakes.

"We made contact with another world somehow, and when we did... we pulled something in. The First Spirit. Her forced summon to this world did incredible damage to Humanity, and changed those of us who were at the summoning point. For one example with myself? I may look 20, but that's how old I was when the summon occurred. Aside from my inability to sleep, my cellular aging was lost. Essentially, I gained eternal youth."

"You'll live forever then!?" Tohka said, the thought of such a thing excited her. Reine however shook her head.

"Actually no, I can still die. Just not by age." Reine sweat dropped, clearing her throat as she resumed. "Despite us bring her, the First Spirit grew to love Humanity and wanted to stop the damage she was causing. Westcott, his aid Ellen and two other close assistants of his however instead of fearing the damage just wanted it... they stopped being human. DEM became a spirit hunter group and tried to steal her powers."

Shido suddenly saw Tohka nearly collapse, and he had to catch her.

"Tohka, are you OK?" Shido asked worried.

"I'm OK Shido. I just remember that man tell me that... he intended to kill me, in fact he said he's already killed other Spirits who passed their powers on to someone else." Tohka said, her talk with Westcott still terrifying her.

"Yes, he's lying to the world under a mask, and when he succeeds we'll be meeting the Devil in human form." Reine said, breathing a bit to relax her nerves. "Eventually he came across the First Spirit for a final battle, and he defeated her... but before he could claim her power, she divided her own at the cost of her life."

"And that power..." Mana said, looking to Tohka. "Tohka and the others listed here, and many more who lost their lives protecting these powers, all of them became spirits and received it?"

"That's correct, the First believed in Humanity's potential. She entrusted everything to us so we could stop him..." Reine said, tearing up slightly as she struggled to hold in the grieving she had for her lost friend. "So me, Elliot and everyone else who knew Westcott must be stopped formed Ratatoskr. Ms. Okamine, Hiroto, Ai, Mai and Mii all joined us after we told they discovered the Spirits' existed. Our goal is simple... to save all of the Spirits, and stop Westcott."

Reine walks to the four, leaning a bit to meet them on eye level.

"Mana, Shido, Tohka, Kotori... we all need your help. The world itself needs your help. Everyone here has something to offer, so will you please join our cause?" Reine asked, the siblings and Tohka looked at each other, and after a bit...

"You can count on us!" Shido said, and everyone present gives a smile at the result. "Although I do have a question... why did Tohka's armor vanish after I kissed her exactly?"

"That Shido is why you are our greatest asset, for reasons we still don't know... we recently learned you can seal the power of Spirits." Reine replied, surprising Shido and Tohka with this fact. "Why her clothes vanished I can't explain though. I do believe I have one theory, it has to do with your amnesia."

'You know about our pasts!?" Mana gasped, wondering if they could finally get some answers. Reine shakes her head however to her dismay.

"Sorry, but I do think I know what took the memories of it away..." Reine grimaced, showing a file about DEM captives. "The DEM took you both prisoner, you escaped luckily, but due to another captive inside aiding you. While captive, they may have somehow given you this power intentionally or not."

"Someone... inside of the... Augh!" Mana screamed as she held her head, falling to her knees to everyone's worry.

-Flashback Start-

Tohka and Mana were running through the halls of the DEM as they were fired at with non-lethal weapons meant to debilitate them, soon the doors began to close a bit and one in particular was the last door they had to cross. Suddenly Mana fell and twisted her leg.

"My leg!" Mana cried, unable to run now. "Tohka... I can't do it, I'm sorry!"

Tohka turned and soon makes a determined face as she ran back to Mana, right before the door closed she tossed her through it, but the DEM goons grabbed her. Mana looks in shock as Tohka slowly leaves her view.

"TOHKA!" Mana screamed.

"Mana..." Tohka cried, soon being dragged away. "...please, tell Shido I love him."

The door closed, and Mana soon cried as she limped out of the base, having lost maybe lost a friend forever due to one single mistake.

-End Flashback-

Mana gasps at the result, and suddenly looks at Tohka, surprising the purple haired girl as she begins to cry as the sadness from the memory reached her.

"I remember now, I was nearly caught by the DEM... Tohka and I tried escaping, but during the process Tohka got caught because I twisted my leg, she had to come back for me." Mana said, tears flowing through her eyes. "I'm so sorry Tohka, it was my fault!"

"Hey, don't cry Mana. Please don't cry..." Tohka said as she hugged her, nearly tearing up a bit herself. Mana soon calmed down a bit. "I'm here now, and I won't leave you guys again."

Mana nods, wiping her tears away.

"So I can seal a Spirit's powers... then that means Tohka's a human again?" Shido asked.

"No, the change into a Spirit can't be undone. We only know a special crystal known as a 'Sephira Crystal' causes it. They evolve the host, making them more than a normal human, and by extension that crystal becomes part of their heart." Reine explained, making Shido nod.

"I'd say it's more you've become the storage or management for her power. The seal can't break, but Tohka's emotions and will can let her take back her power, while also giving you the ability to use it. However, it's undetectable in your body. Essentially, the more Spirits you seal, the stronger you'll be in saving the others and stopping the DEM. I think you've noticed your eyes already, you're not just a normal human anymore Shido."

"You mean the fact the Spirits' have whitened pupils? Yeah, I noticed that my eyes changed since the fight." Shido replied, having seen his eyes get stuck as golden. "I think it's when I used Sandalphon that it happened. Or maybe that mystery voice I've met."

Everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked at Shido, making him blink a bit.

"I'm sorry, but did you say mystery voice?" Reine asked.

"Uh... yeah, I did." Shido confirmed.

"WHAT!?" Everyone else screamed, making Shido cover his ears.

"...OK, please explain this." Reine demanded, her usual stoic expression having become more worried looking.

"Well, after I blacked out twice and during the fight with the DEM forces she talked to me. No one else seems to hear him... or her, though." Shido explained, rubbing his head. "Actually, I never checked. Hey mystery voice, can you talk to others?"

He waited for a bit, and then...

[That was the case at first Shido, but thanks to sealing Tohka, I'm now able to project my voice outside. If the others need to hear me, that's not a problem anymore.]

Everyone suddenly freaked out and panicked as they heard the voice, and looked around for it. Shido looked at himself after and finally realized the voice was coming out through his aura maybe?

"Uh... are you talking though my mana or something?" Shido asked, making the voice sheepishly chuckle.

[Uh... maybe, at least I think I am? Anyways, it's nice to meet all of you.]

"I don't believe it, this is-" Reine gasped as she tried to regain her breath, holding her hand over her heart. She had no words she could think of properly using right now. "...Who are you exactly?"

[Sorry, I don't know... it's like someone stole a word and while I feel it's there it's like everything about its hollow and empty. Though I guess maybe you can call me what Shido used for Tohka until she remembered who she was. So you may call me... Mio.] Mio replied.

"I see, it's good to meet you Mio. I hope we can get along and maybe help you rediscover who you are." Reine said, a brief flash of Shido's aura acting like a nod of approval.

"Alright, so... what do we need to do first?" Shido asked.

"First, we'll need to renovate your home. Since we're saving the Spirits it'll be a good idea to keep all of them close by." Reine said, opening a phone and making a call. "Guess I should also let the AST know it's time for them to finally act."

[Yep, that's pretty much how we got to us having breakfast right now and why Shido's got a bigger house than before. I do wonder what other Spirits are out there, and most of all... where's that Spirit who I had always fought with? The one they kept calling Devil?]

Origami was walking through town when she reached some kind of building that was also a secret base she learned about, she was here to visit some friends of hers that were part of the group working in this base for a quick visit. As she did, she noticed the two of them were already outside along with some others of their squad, their Captain absent due to some more specific work.

The first of the two was a girl with short brown hair in short twin tails, her name was Mikie Okamine, the younger cousin of Shido's teacher Tamae Okamine and a Wizard serving Ratatoskr under the AST sub-branch, also a freshman in Raizen High. Alongside her was the blonde and bespectacled Mildred F. Fujimura, a former DEM mechanic who left the organization due to reasons she's yet to explain, but have been implied to be related to a spirit and family/a friend.

"Oh, hey Origami, glad you made it." Mikie said, waving to her once they noticed her.

"Hey guys, why are you outside right now though? You usually are always inside, or at least aren't out here in a large group." Origami asked, honestly surprised. Then again, she wasn't with the AST, or aware of who they worked under and what they did. "Did I miss something?"

"Not exactly, more like we just got big news. Apparently, the group ours is a sub-division of just learned someone managed to save a Spirit and now her powers are sealed." Mildred replied, getting Origami's attention.

"Apparently, the DEM even made a bit attack that completely flopped on them at the last moment." Mikie added, recall other rumors they knew so far. "The one who stopped it all and saved this Spirit's name is... Shido Takamiya I think? He was at least involved in the whole thing, so I'm curious to how he helped out."

Origami silently gasped, and the two noticed her staring.

"Uh... Origami?" Mikie questioned, making Origami regain focus.

"Oh, sorry. I had a bad dream so I'm a bit distracted. Origami said, blushing in embarrassment. "It seems this is some good news for you at least, so congrats."

The three talked for about 5 more minutes before Origami left and headed towards Shido's house.

'I need to talk to Shido, and privately' Origami thought, soon taking out her phone and sending Shido a text message about something as she neared his home.

Tohka pokes her fork onto the egg yolk of her breakfast and smiles as she starts eating it, soon moving to her seventh plate. Kotori sweat dropped at the sight of how much food Tohka seemed to be able to put down.

"...We are SO lucky Ratatoskr's got the money to help us pay for this." Kotori muttered, remembering Shido mentioning his wallet just had a funeral on the day he met Tohka again.

Suddenly Shido got a text from someone, and he took out his phone to see it, it said it was from Origami. The message said: "I want to talk to you, I'm waiting outside.", after seeing that and realizing he was gonna go shopping he finishes the last bit of his breakfast fast and stands up.

"Hmm? What's wrong Shido?" Tohka asked, her mouth still a bit full of food.

"Nothing Tohka, just got a good excuse to finally go shopping. Any suggestions for lunch today?" Shido asked, getting his shoes on.

"Oyakodon, it's been a while since we've had it." Mana said, Kotori nods as she eats some of her toast. Tohka soon finishes her most recent plate afterwards.

"I'll go with you Shido." Tohka said, but Shido shakes her head.

"No need, just enjoy your breakfast. I'll be back in a flash." Shido waved to everyone before he headed outside, and soon Tohka turned on the news channel to see the latest weather report. As it came on, the three noticed a report about some very odd weather.

Once Shido got outside, he looked around and heard a small metal tapping, he followed the source to see Origami hiding behind one of the metal polls for the electricity wires. The streets were filled with people at the moment, and Shido did learn Origami was kinda shy, so he figured that was it.

"H-hey Shido, I'm sorry if this is kinda weird..." Origami said, blushing a bit at the fact she was even hiding like she was. "I'm sorry for just calling you out here like this. Though... can we maybe go somewhere with less people!?"

"That bad?" Shido asked, Origami nod and began sweating nervously. "Come on, I think I know a good place."

Soon Shido and Origami visit a public bathroom area that wasn't used much due to where it was anymore, so it was often a good place for people to talk privately. Origami seemed more comfortable now so it seemed to have worked.

"Oh yeah, what happened after the quake alarm the other day? I never saw you come back from the nurse." Shido asked, wanting to make sure his friend was OK. "What did you need medicine for anyways?"

"The nurse helped me over to the shelter, I heard you had left by then. For my condition... I'm not fully sure, but I suffer from strong headaches that debilitate me." Origami answered, it was technically true since her Spirit form reacted to mana and manifested, making her temporarily catatonic.

"Oh yeah, I left because I thought my sisters didn't evacuate. False alarm... nearly got me killed." Shido chuckled, rubbing his head. "They simply lost their phones by the-"

"Shido, you don't need to hide it." Origami quickly replied, surprising him. "...I know about the Spirits too, and there's no way you didn't see one while you were out there. Especially if your still alive now."

Shido gasped at that, so Origami knew about the Spirits... but why wasn't she with Ratatoskr then?

"If you don't mind me asking... how do you know about the Spirits yourself?" Shido asked, hoping that he might get an answer from here.

"...It was the day of the Tenguu Fire." Origami revealed, making Shido gasp.

"The fire had broken out without any explanation beforehand, however I saw what created it. After you helped save my parents from some debris we got lost due to the flames, and I found her. The Flame Spirit - Efreet. She was crying, she wanted her family and couldn't stop her flames... and when I found my parents they died shortly after right as I saw, but by a different Spirit, one I never recognized except it used a beam of light to do the dead."

"Origami, please believe me. I've learned they were all former humans. The one who killed your parents likely did it on-" Shido began, but Origami held her hand to stop him.

"Don't get me wrong Shido, I'm not trying to make you misunderstand me. I don't hate the spirits for what happened." Origami softly replied, shocking him yet relieving him too. "If it's possible, I'd like to find that Spirit and tell her that I don't blame them. The fire was nature at work, you can't control what happens despite the pain it brings."

"Origami..." Shido breathed.

"Besides... I'm glad I have someone I can talk to about this now, it feels like you're finally treating me like normal now that I have nothing to hide." Origami replied, feeling like she had a burden lifted off her... only slightly that is. "Plus, if they really are former humans, they may be suffering as much as me, maybe more."

"...Guess I can't say don't worry about it, but even so, you did say I helped your parents back then." Shido said, scratching his head. "So, I'd like to be your friend, so you know that you'll always have someone you can depend on if you really need it. Is that a problem?"

Origami silently gasps and shakes her head.

"No, I... thank you Shido." Origami said, blushing slightly at his kindness. "Can I ask you this though? Do you really have the power to seal spirits, and... are you really human Shido?"

"Uh..." Shido blinked, he didn't know how to answer. "Well I'm sure I am, I mean I do have some spirit powers but not in the same way as Tohka."

"Tohka?" Origami blinked, not recognizing the name. "Wait, is that the first spirit you saved?"

"Yeah, that's..." Shido suddenly stops. "Wait, how do you know all about this exactly?"

"U-uh, I have some friends who know about the Spirits and they mentioned it. That's..." Origami blushes in nervousness and embarrassment. "...It's kinda why I wanted to talk with you in the first place. I'm sorry if I made myself seem awkward or suspicious."

Shido chuckled and pets her head, making Origami blush in surprise.

"It's alright, I trust you." Shido smiled, Origami unable to look him in the eyes now. "I bet you and Tohka would get along great, you should come meet her some time. Believe it or not we're actually childhood friends."

"U-uh... OK, if you ever wanna invite me over I guess we could meet." Origami replied as she twitched her fingers together, nervous about meeting the Spirit.

Tohka hummed as she walked towards Shido's room with a vacuum cleaner.

"I'll get Shido's room nice and tidy as thanks for making us breakfast." Tohka thought, thinking of Shido petting her and saying she was a good girl. "Now let's get Started!"

As Tohka enters, she knocked over Shido's suitcase for trips, and the empty case opens... with a broken lock. Tohka panics over the result.

"Oh no, I broke Shido's storage box!" Tohka said, starting to panic.

"Tohka, try to calm down a bit." Maria said through Tohka's headset, making her breath slightly. "It's only a minor problem, and if you really want to fix the issue of you breaking it, as Shido's still out you can just take it to the repair shop."

"O-OK, I'll go take it over." Tohka replied, grabbing the box and quickly heading out the front door. One her way to the repair shop she passes by the bathroom area Shido was talking to Origami at, right as he walked out to see her.

"Tohka?" Shido called out, making Tohka yelp as she hid the case behind her in a badly done but convincing manner that Shido didn't see it from her distance.

"O-Oh hey Shido, I was just out doing some... jogging, yeah!" Tohka lied, quite badly no less. "Are you already done with the supermarket shopping? If not, go finish that and-"

Tohka suddenly sees Origami who sees her, the two both gasp at the sight of each other, but for different reasons.

"Y-you're with another girl?" Tohka stutters, suddenly collapsing to the ground and dropping the case. "Why Shido, why? You said you loved me didn't you, are you... are you now tired of me!?"

The area cracks and shatters slightly as Tohka's power fluctuates again, Origami suddenly breathing heavy as the feeling Tohka's mana starts to react with her. However, Shido doesn't notice as Tohka runs off and he follows worried.

"Oh no... of all the Spirits he could have saved first, why her?" Origami panicked, she shakily reached into her pocket and grabbed a syringe to inject herself with. She began to sweat as her eyes flicker before going back, narrowly averting her spirit form waking up... at least she thought, until she felt it suddenly fluctuate faster.

"What? Oh no... no, no, no! The sedative's not working, why'd it have to be this moment of all times? It's happening... the seal is-"

Origami holds her head in pain as her eyes suddenly go from blue to light blue and become stuck in spirit form. She screams as the dark white spirit power floods her, her Inverse Astral Dress forming around her.

Meanwhile on the Fraxinus, the alarms suddenly go off as a Spirit's wave reactions are detected.

"A Spirit? Yes, there's no doubt, a Spirit wave reaction confirmed!" Maria said to Reine, who nod as she verified its existence.

"Which Spirit readings?" Reine asked, and soon saw the results and gasped. "Category E... then that means..."

"That's right, [Devil] wave reaction confirmed. However, it seems her readings are more erratic than normal... can we reach Shido or Tohka right now?" Maria asked, she knew Tohka at least had her headset and should be reachable.

"Uh oh, we've got a problem. It seems that Tohka's headset fell off without her realizing it and Shido doesn't have his in!" Kawagoe reported, and Maria paled at that.

"...Uh oh, this is bad." Maria sweated in worry, soon noticing something. "Wait... Commander Murasame, I've managed to detect something. It seems that this Spirit was nearby Shido and Tohka. Bringing up wavelength records now."

Reine looks as the spirit wavelength readings go back a bit until they end up stopping at...

"Wait a minute, didn't Shido go out to meet..." Reine gasps in response, suddenly piecing something together. "Bring up an image of [Devil] and then of the Raizen High Student Origami Tobiichi! Maria, analyze possible match readings in response!"

"Yes ma'am!" The crew shouts, getting the information.

Soon both images appear on screen, and after the associated data is applied, Maria looks over it before she analyzes how similar they may be. Soon she gasps as the results reach her.

"Commander Murasame, the results indicate that the result of similarity is..." Maria said, her eyes shaking a bit. "100%! Origami Tobiichi's identity as the Spirit [Angel] and [Devil] has been confirmed!"

"...And Shido and Tohka are in the line of fire as a result." Reine said, realizing they were danger. "Maria, send the AST over to their location know! Deploy a Code Red!"

Tohka soon ends up at the viewpoint, which had been repaired since the time her Inverse Form broke it, and began crying as she looked out over the town. Shido soon finds her there and notices her tears.

"Hey, Tohka-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Tohka shouted, making Shido flinch and stop. "You like that white-haired girl better than me, don't you? That's the real reason why you left wasn't it!?"

"No, not at all Tohka! I swear! I was only just meeting up with a classmate of mine." Shido tried to explain, but Tohka just looked away and didn't believe him, her face still tearing up a bit. Shido felt awful over the fact that this situation had even happened, hurting Tohka was the one thing he never wanted to do.

[WARNING! THERE HAVE BEEN PRECURSORY SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING SPACEQUAKE!]

Shido and Tohka both suddenly react to that announcement.

"A Spirit, right now!? But which one is it?" Shido worried, only now just realizing he didn't have his headset in. Tohka panicked as she tapped her ear, only to realize she had lost hers somehow, right at that moment she notices a white flash.

"TOHKA!"

Soon Tohka notices Shido push her to the ground as the quake nears them, and the two were flung away by the recoil it left behind before landing in some bushes. Tohka stares in shock at Shido who had gotten badly hurt from the act.

"Shido... you protected me, even after what I said." Tohka suddenly teared up, now feeling horrible about having yelled at him. Her eyes closed as she began crying fully. "I'm so sorry!"

Before Shido could try to comfort her, he suddenly felt the spirit mana that had neared them and turned to see the Spirit known as Devil while still covered by her power. However, unlike last time, she was kneeling on the ground.

She slowly lifted her head up... revealing her veil was no longer hiding her face, and Shido gasped as he saw the fact of the Spirit standing before him. When the girl noticed his stare, she felt her face to realize the same fact, and that Shido had recognized her.

"Shido..." Origami breathed, realizing her secret had been discovered. "I'm sorry, but... please just stay away from me!"

Shido tried to call out and stop her, reaching out his hand. However, at that moment she disappeared, leaving him with the cold truth and revelation that had appeared before him, the revelation that the reason Origami had known so much about the Spirits had been because...

"Origami, why? Why didn't you let me know so I could help you? Why didn't..." Shido said somberly, wondering why Origami had trusted him but not tell him this.

"...Why didn't you tell me that you were a Spirit?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

First thing I wanna clear up, the fact what happened to the First Spirit came from 30 years ago, and her knowing Mana and Shido's names back in Chapter 1 may seem like a contradiction now, but hear me out. It will make sense, we just haven't gotten far enough in the story where I can give the proper explanation, if I were to tell you about it now, it would be a spoiler for one of Season 1's five planned arcs. I hope that cleared things up for anyone who was confused when seeing it.

Well anyways, whatever's been holding Origami's spirit powers back and had been giving her any manner of keeping herself as only Human... that's been shattered just by Tohka's power flaring out right at the worst moment. So now comes the biggest challenge between Shido since he began to officially work to save the Spirits, saving a Spirit who doesn't want to be saved.

Worse is at the same time, now Tohka's gotten depressed because she feels her anger got Shido hurt when she should have known him enough to trust that he'd never choose another girl over her, even if all the Spirits will need him in the future. Tohka's gotta learn to accept she's not the same kid she was between the gap of her memories and now, because Shido needs her if he's to succeed in saving the Spirits, especially since now the DEM will likely have detected Origami's powers fully re-awakening and will target her instantly.