Date A Re:Live
S1 Chapter 07: Yoshino Duality, 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 think I'm giving each arc so far a good name for the events and the word's connection to their respective Spirits. Tohka Return fit because the surprise twist was Tohka was Shido's childhood friend and love interest, and Origami Unchained was to represent both how Origami's powers became impossible to withhold through Phantom's seal and then later, Shido unchained her from her past. Considering the twist I pulled a chapter ago, I think we all know why I chose Yoshino Duality for this arc.
I'll mention right now in case any of you don't know, how I describe Yoshino's Inverse form here in the story is not something I've designed myself as will be the case for the others' (including Nia's since hers never got fully described), I bought the big art book that came out alongside Vol 16 and Date A Bullet, and while I can't actually read Japanese, it was the pictures that mattered more. However to my surprise, deep within the book, I saw a bit of an unexpected treasure buried within... a colored Inverse Yoshino illustration with her Demon King!
I don't know if this was an old concept or just Tachibana slowly revealing the Inverse forms outside of canon for us to see them, we never fully saw Nia's Inverse Form during her debut after all. So, I'm gonna consider this IS her official Inverse Form art since it wasn't in the concept art section. As we only got an image, anything else about it in the story is a creation I made because there's nothing we know about its powers and such.
OH! Before I forget, to anyone who follows this story and also reads "A Dragon's Heavenly Bonds", good news. Season 2's script is 75% done as of me typing this here (possibly more by the time you're all actually reading this), so the hiatus for it should be over soon. When I resume it, both of these stories will continue. Though this one will also start a hiatus once I reach the 5th arc which ends Season 1 for this story, leading me to the hiatus so I can plan out the second season properly, and in the meantime, I'll be beginning Itsuka Catastrophe.
S1 Chapter 07: Yoshino Duality, Part 1
A 9-year old Kotori Itsuka stares at the strange Kimono like outfit she was currently wearing, and the sudden red axe in her hands.
"W-What is this Phantom?" Kotori asked a bit scared.
"(That's your Camael, your Angel. However, it's known by another name, the 'Bright Burning Annihilating Demon', a name that's lead to all holders of it being called Efreet by the DEM.)" Phantom explained, patting her on the head. "Don't be afraid, even if you wield fire, Camael won't go out of control as long as you don't want it to."
"Will... will this really let me become stronger, not be a crybaby?" Kotori asked Phantom, wanting to be sure she made the right choice.
"(Kotori, this is a huge responsibility you chose to take, one you can't change your mind about. It may be hard but I assure you that learn how to be strong as you learn to protect this power.)" Phantom said, smiling at her through its unseen face... and then suddenly Phantom moved in front of Kotori and got shot. "(UGH!)"
"Phantom!?" Kotori called out in worry, Phantom soon looked at her to assure they were OK before blacking out. Kotori soon hears a cackle. "Who's there?"
Soon the sight of a girl in a black and red outfit came into view, Kotori noticed her one seen eye had a whitened pupil as she held two guns, a musket and flintlock pistol, with a clock behind her. This girl... she was another Spirit!
"Look at what we have here, if it isn't the new Efreet?" The girl laughs, soon giving a dark smile. "Now then... how about you and I engage in some 'spirited' competition!?"
The girl aims one of her guns at her as a one symbol appears on the side.
"ALEPH!"
She suddenly vanishes and reappears in front of Kotori, swinging down on her rapidly with her guns. Kotori forced onto the defensive completely, still having not even learnt how to use her powers yet.
"Is this really the best you can do!?" The girl mocked. "I have to say, I'm unimpressed! You can call forth an Angel and command flames, surely you can beat little old me, can't you? Oh well... guess not!"
"What are you doing, you're a Spirit too aren't you?" Kotori asked confused, unsure why this girl was fighting against her. "Aren't we supposed to be on the same side!?"
The girl jumps back as Kotori swings her axe at her, giving a wicked smile.
"Oh, you trying to be cute? Well I think it'd work better if I had your pretty little head was mounted up on my wall!" The girl smirked, soon moving her gun at her face. "ZAYIN!"
Kotori was suddenly shot, and it froze her in time, suddenly from the shadows, something fired at her constantly until the girl shoots her in the forehead. Believing she had killed Kotori while laughing at her corpse... until Kotori's body burns where she was hurt and she gets back up.
"Huh? I'm alive, whoa... this power's useful." Kotori sighs in relief, almost positive she was gonna die.
"Damn it, she can already regenerate? Then I better waste her so that won't happen again!" The girl muttered before she aims at the shadows, giving a fierce smirk. "ALEPH!"
Kotori sees her firing before she's dogpiled, and she feels herself overwhelmed.
[MASTER! Call me!]
"Huh? Wait..." Kotori said, looking at Camael as if she heard it. "Are you speaking to me?"
[Call me master! Let us fight together, let's stop this crazy bitch!]
"Whoa... that's a mouth you have." Kotori breathed, sweat dropping before she readies a swing. "OK then... here goes. Cut her to pieces, Camael!"
Whatever had piled on her was hit away and the girl covers herself as the flames fly at her.
"Damn you!" The girl growled, starting to get angry a newbie was giving her this much trouble. "I promise you this, you'll be sorry you ever decided to mess with me!"
She aims her gun out again.
"YUD... ALEPH!"
Suddenly Kotori gets shock, but feels herself getting weaker as if her power was being sapped away.
"What's... happening?" Kotori panted, feeling tired all of a sudden. The girl began laughing at Kotori, however suddenly at that moment, Kotori's eyes suddenly change from red to blue. "Camael... MEGIDDO!"
A different voice came out as Kotori raised up Camael, shocking the girl as her Yud Aleph's connection was cancelled out before it could finish. Camael taking the form of a cannon, scaring the girl before her.
"That's..." The girl breathed, suddenly full of fear.
"Turn them all to ashes, do it Camael!" 'Kotori' shouted before she fired at the girl, hitting her heard and sending her flying forward. At that moment, Kotori's eyes reverted to normal. "Whoa, when did I do-"
At that moment, Kotori noticed the beam of fire heading towards something and gasped in fear.
"CAMAEL! STOP IT, STOP IT NOW!" Kotori shouted, hoping it wouldn't be too late.
[I... I can't! There's no time to redirect it either, it's gonna collide!]
"NOOOOO!" Kotori screamed as the fire hit and a huge explosion went off, sending a blaze of fire everywhere. Kotori screamed and began to cry as in mere seconds, a majority of Tenguu City was slowly consumed by the hellish flames she herself had created.
Kotori suddenly shoots up, panting as she felt her forehead sweating heavily. She looked around as she noticed she was in her room. Seeing her two hair ribbons on the dresser next to her bed, she reaches out and holds them close, quickly managing to calm down.
"Thank god, it was just a dream." Kotori said, that nightmare was one she often re-experienced often since she gained her powers as a Spirit. The fight against that dark Spirit who attacked her for no reason. "...Ratatoskr said only Tohka and Origami were inverted, so why was a normal Spirit attacking me? And..."
She recalled the moment her eyes had went blue briefly and her voice changed, she wasn't sure what happened, but she recalled for that moment it was like she blacked out and someone took over to protect her.
"...Who was that?" Kotori asked herself, wondering just who this other... 'person', inside of her really was.
Kotori lays back down in bed, noticing it had still been too early to wake up, and puts her ribbons back on the dresser and drifts back to sleep.
"Phantom... did you know about this person, or is she a mystery to you too?" Kotori asked, soon fading back into the unconscious embrace of her sleep.
After a few delays due to Spacequake damage, school had finally resumed for the students of Raizen High, including those who were part of the Ratatoskr organization and the teachers who were part of it. Shido and Origami took their seats.
"We're finally back since the whole mess started." Shido said to himself, soon looking out towards the window. He sighed a bit over the fact a certain purple haired girl wasn't in school with them. "I kinda wish Tohka could have attended school with us."
"Why can't she, she's our age isn't she?" Origami, unsure of why Tohka couldn't be in school with them. She and Tohka had ironically become like best friends despite their former rivalry, Tohka was pretty forgiving to her surprise, she was sure that sharing Shido would put them at odds. She was glad that guess had been completely wrong.
"Oh, well... Reine mentioned it's not a good idea considering she's still a bit like a fish out of water with things right now." Shido replied, and Origami chuckled and sweatdrops as she realizes some of Tohka's antics at times.
While some of Ratatoskr believed that Tohka attending school with the others would be a more beneficial idea in the long run, Reine vetoed the idea due to Tohka's memory gap making things already confusing and out of place for her. Tohka didn't mind because she never liked school anyways.
"She'll be OK while we're gone, won't she?" Origami wondered, hoping she wouldn't get too lonely. "I kinda feel bad we have to leave her by herself."
"Oh don't worry, she's at the Ratatoskr base while we're gone. I think right now she's out shopping." Shido replied, making Origami relax slightly. If Shido was sure she was fine then she probably should stop worrying about everything.
Soon the two heard the bell ring and regained their focus as class started, Tamae and Reine both walking inside to do their teacher jobs for the day.
"Alright everyone, we've had a few days off due to the unexpected quake on the first day." Tamae said, still remembering how hectic things had really been to the lack of the public's knowledge. "So, let's finally start the second day of the year now!"
Tohka was seen walking outside with a list in hand, currently wearing a yellow dress with an open pale blue short-sleeved jacket, blue jean shorts with tied strings on the sides and brown pump sandals. Since Tohka couldn't be in school with Shido and Origami, and Mana and Kotori also weren't home, she decided to pass some of the time and get today's groceries.
"I'd like some pork please!" Tohka asked a man at a meat shop stand, he bends over to grab some and hands it to her. "Thank you!"
Tohka soon looks at her list and soon notices she had gotten everything other something called... sata andagi? (A/N: Fried buns that are similar to donuts) She wasn't sure what they were, but Shido wrote the bakery would know, and luckily Tohka was in the mood for one of her favorite breads at Tenguu City's local bakeries.
"Kinako Bread!" Tohka said to herself, blushing slightly at the thought of having some. She heads to the bakery and walks inside. "I'd like some sata andagi and some Kinako bread please!"
"We have the former, but we just got sold out of the later unfortunately." The employee at the register replied, making Tohka pale as she notices the whole stand for kinako bread was empty. Tohka absently grabbing the bag of the sata andagi handed to her.
"...Calm down Tohka, this is just one bakery. I'll just check another." Tohka stuttered to herself, she really wanted at least one Kinako bread. Then she visits the next bakery she knows, only to see they had sold out too. "Really!? No, calm down Tohka... they can't all be sold out, right?"
Soon Tohka visits the last bakery in the area, and sees them just put out a "sold out" for Kinako Bread too! Tohka's eyes go white as she slowly walks back into the Ratatoskr base, once she arrived, Maria notices her expression.
"Uh... Tohka, is there something wrong?"
"Where did the Kinako Bread go, where did the Kinako Bread go Maria?" Tohka teared up as she turned to her, making the AI realize the problem.
"Oh no, uh... anyone here know how to make it?" Maria asked, everyone currently in the area all took a moment to think.
"I don't." Kawagoe said, his ex-wives were the ones who always cooked.
"Fraid not." Nakatsugawa said.
"Uh..." Minowa muttered.
"I can make bread, but not Kinako bread." Shiizaki added.
"Nope." Mikimoto sighed, Tohka slid into her legs as Maria tried to pat her head, mainly failing because she wasn't in an android body and her hand phased right through. At that moment however, Kannazuki walked in carrying a bunch of bags.
"Sorry for running out all of a sudden, I was out buying all of the Kinako Bread." Kannazuki said, catching everyone's attention as they looked. Tohka's eyes sparkling as her awaited food finally appeared.
"Wait, that was you!?" Maria shouted, in shock. "You nearly made Tohka cry! Why didn't you tell us first!?"
"My apologies, I heard a report on the news that it'll be hard for Tenguu City to get any bread for a while due to something that happened in Tokyo and Okinawa." Kannazuki said, feeling Maria's gaze burn into him. "So, I figured I should get every piece I could so Tohka had some for a while."
"What kind of something?" Tohka asked, eating a few of the Kinako breads.
"I'm not sure yet, I need to watch the actual recording." Kannazuki replied, feeling the gazes fade odd as Tohka was fine now that she had some Kinako bread. Tohka nods and soon realizing the time, heads back home to meet up with Shido and the others.
As she did though... rain suddenly came, it was a mere drizzle right now luckily.
"Hmm? That's strange, the sky was clear a moment ago." Tohka noted as she walked back home, grabbing an umbrella she had brought with her as the rain picked up. As she was nearing home, she soon heard a splash. "Huh?"
She turned to see the sight of a young girl she was wearing a short white sundress under a large green raincoat that has a tail with a pink ribbon attached to it, with a pair of rabbit-ears on its hood, green boots and on her left hand was a rabbit puppet.
As she walked in the rain puddles, she suddenly trips over to Tohka's worry, and once she noticed her puppet had fallen off, she suddenly gets worried and backs up near the closest tree, now completely scared. Tohka sees it and grabs it.
"Yoshinon... Yoshinon..." The girl quietly mutters fearfully, then feels Tohka suddenly tap her shoulder.
"Is this yours?" Tohka asked, holding it out to her. Without making eye contact, the girl looks at Tohka and takes the puppet before putting it in her hand, suddenly shaking the water off it it's body.
"Thanks for saving me lady!" The puppet replies, surprising Tohka a bit. "And thanks for not bullying Yoshino, my name's Yoshinon and you have our thanks!"
"Uh... you talk via ventriloquism?" Tohka asked, the puppet tilts its head confused.
"Yoshino, do you know what ventriloquism is?" Yoshinon asked Yoshino, the girl shakes her head no. "Oh, then this lady must be one of those people who tries to make you laugh! How adorable! Well, see you later lady!"
Yoshino soon runs off somewhere, leaving Tohka to look at the direction she run off towards confused.
"...Huh?" Tohka says, her eyes going white as she tilted her head confused.
A while later while Tohka was attempting to cook everyone some lunch, after Mana and Kotori had already come home, the two little sisters heard the door open as Origami had come back home.
"Oh hey Origami, welcome..." Kotori stopped, realizing that Origami had been completely soaked. She was even shivering as her entire school uniform had made her body feel like a Popsicle. "Holy guacamole, did you not have an umbrella?"
"N-N-No... a-after all, the f-forecast said there wouldn't be r-rain today..." Origami stuttered, still shivering.
"Origami, how about you go take a warm shower? I'll get you some clothes and put your uniform in the wash." Mana asked, Origami nodded at that and she smiled as she helped Origami up the stairs.
After about another fifteen minutes, Shido finally made it back, similarly soaked everywhere, but not as badly because he could run a bit faster than Origami could.
"I'm back guys!" Shido called out.
"Oh hey, welcome home big bro." Kotori said, turning towards him with a smile as she was sucking on one of her usual Chupa Chups.
"I've gotta something to tell you all, but first, I'm gonna go take a shower." Shido replied, heading upstairs.
"OK big brother, we'll be..." Mana suddenly stopped as she realized something, and then paled as she turned to the stairs. "Wait, big brother!"
Shido opened the shower door, and then saw Origami who had just finished her own inside of it. The Light Spirit blushed as Shido saw her, and she saw Shido with only a towel covering his unmentionables. Both of them screamed, alerting everyone in the house, before Origami pushed her hand against Shido's and knocked him to the ground hard.
"Ah! Oh no, I'm sorry Shido! Are you bleeding!" Origami panicked as she wrapped her towel around her, unaware she missed wrapping it around her chest. "No, not bleeding... oh no, you hit your head, do you have a concussion! I didn't mean it, please be OK-"
"Origami..." Shido groan, getting the white spirit's attention. "Remember to breathe, OK?"
"O-OK" Origami said, trying to calm down. However, once Shido got up, she saw him blushing and realized where her towel hadn't wrapped around, making both of them scream again even louder.
A while later, everyone was sitting in the living room, Tohka had put out the sandwiches she had tried making for lunch while Origami was staring at the ceiling catatonic.
"Shido saw my breasts, he... he saw them." Origami muttered in a trance. "I can't get married anymore... I've been shamed."
"Will you stop exaggerating, you're in Shido's harem so why does it matter if he saw your boobs?" Kotori bluntly replied, making her brother choke a bit. "I mean you and Tohka are both gonna have to marry him-"
"Kotori, you don't have to announce it!" Tohka pouted, even if she had accepted the whole thing because it was a necessity, that didn't mean she wanted everyone to advertise it like it was as natural as breathing. She patted Shido's back a bit before she remembered something. "Oh yeah, didn't you have something you wanted to tell us Shido?"
"Oh right, is Reine here yet?" Shido asked.
"Over here." Reine replied, making everyone look as they notice her adding sugar cubes to her coffee. "I've been here for a while, but didn't wanna be rude. I hope I'm not using too much sugar."
"It's fine." Shido answered, and soon everyone was sitting down at the table.
"You found another Spirit? But the space quake alarm hasn't gone off since we sealed Origami's powers." Kotori asked, wondering when this Spirit showed up.
"That's because it didn't show up here, at least that we know of." Reine answered, sipping her coffee. "They can sometimes appear of their own choice. We believed the quakes happen when they're forced into our world."
"Makes sense, I remember when I vanished from this world, I went to this dark space." Tohka said, remembering the realm she had gone to whenever she disappeared after a battle against Inverse Origami. "I'd go to sleep, then wake up against my will and be forced here."
"Hmm... I don't remember being in a place like that, but then again my case was different." Origami noted.
"So, is that what happened here?" Kotori asked.
"Hmm... hard to say." Reine wondered, bringing out a tablet. "Tohka, do you recall what Kannazuki told you? I looked into it and I found these images."
Everyone looked as she showed an area of Okinawa and Tokyo completely frozen in ice. The sisters and Tohka widened their eyes at the former picture.
"Hey wait a second, that's the image we saw on the news the other day!" Mana shouted, recalling how odd it was at the time. Now she felt dumb for not linking it to a Spirit. "So they were caused by a Spirit?"
"Yes, Spirit No. 4 to be exact, Hermit." Reine replied, and then saw them blink at her.
"Oh right, I never mentioned that part. The experiment I was part of 30 years ago that summoned the First Spirit? It was actually a way to tap into the theory of the Tree of Life, or the Sephirot, and call on 'God'. The First Spirit was the result we got, so in a sense we succeeded. Each Spirit's powers seem to represent each Sephira that makes up the tree, proof that comes from the name of your Angels."
"Really? That's interesting, and does this affect anything you know about the Spirits?" Shido wondered.
"To a degree. We know the names of the Angels, the numbers related to them and certain colors with Tohka and [Diva] being exceptions." Reine answered, tapping the top and bottom circles. "We do think the circle's traits are what decide on who can inherit a Spirit's powers though."
"So, I'm Spirit No. 10 and Origami's Spirit No. 1?" Tohka said, eating one of her sandwiches whole.
"That's right Tohka." Reine nodded. "Based on what we've learned from past Spirit holders and the Sephira themselves, I'd say you were given Sandalphon because you're the most down to Earth. While for Origami more beyond it, due to being a prodigy her mind works a bit above a normal being's."
"Really? That's why I was able to take it, uh..." Origami blinked, unsure how to reply to that. "Wait, isn't this getting a bit off topic now?"
"Oh right, thank you." Reine cleared her throat, taking another sip of her coffee before continuing. "Hermit's powers have from our observations over the years been over the three phases of water, steam, liquid, and ice. However, what's worrisome in this case..."
Reine breathed a bit.
"She apparently did this after undergoing an Inversion."
Everyone gasped.
"Oh man, then that means her powers have become a lot more dangerous than before." Shido said, he had seen Tohka and Origami's powers in both states firsthand.
What he had learned from Reine for an example was both had one trait in common aside from a different fluctuation from their 'stats'. Both increased two ranks, and their Spacequake' ranking went up by one. Not to mention there was no guarantee other Inversions would be as tame as theirs' were.
"Luckily, we got a picture before her Inversion, one that's given us a clearer look than the one we had before." Reine said, bringing it into view. One Tohka saw it however she gasped. "What is it Tohka?"
"I... I saw her, she was that girl from earlier." Tohka gasped, making everyone's eyes widened. "But wait, this is before her inversion, right? Yet I saw her like this."
"What?" Reine said surprised, something didn't add up. "Wait a minute... could it be? I never considered it, but since Origami's inversion reverted from Jessica overusing her powers, could it be possible that Hermit's learned to Inverse and change back freely?"
[Could that really be possible though?]
"I can't say for sure Mio, after all... until Origami had done it, we had never seen a Spirit undergo an Inversion. Maybe there's more than just falling from high hope to low despair." Reine stated, it was honestly just too big of an unknown for them.
"So... what do we do now? If she's here the DEM will try to take her, right?" Tohka asked, Reine however shakes her head. "No?"
"Shido, you saw Westcott yourself when you saved Tohka, and Jessica clearly saw you in saving Origami while Tohka was with you." Reine sighed, sipping her coffee again. "I don't think he'll simply let another Spirit appear here and send someone after it. This time, he'll wait until they've left to strike."
"Of course... if the Spirit appears outside the city, then we can't reach it!" Origami gasped, realizing Westcott's probably waiting for Hermit to leave. "Dang it, what do we do?"
"Luckily, there's an advantage to our lack of actions. Westcott underestimates our group..." Reine said, soon smirking slightly. "So he doesn't know we have a way to follow Hermit, making where a Spirit is irrelevant."
[Ooh! Reine, your words are giving me the excitement shivers. What are you planning?]
Everyone was soon in the Ratatoskr base as they were walking through the ship area, looking around at the bays containing other unseen ships aside from the Fraxinus. Soon they stopped by a particular door.
"The Fraxinus can beam people across locations, but there is a radius that limits its distance. So to reach one of the locations we need to go..." Reine began, soon putting her hand on a scanner by the door.
Soon the door opens up, revealing what was inside. Everyone walks in to look and soon they saw a sleek ship that was smaller than the Fraxinus but very aerodynamic and light, meant to move with high speed and precision.
"Everyone, I introduce you to our high-speed escort and recon transport. The 'Sagittarius' jet." Reine revealed with a smile, Mana's eyes sparkled in awe at the sight of it and began slightly drooling, making Kotori try and fail to wave her hand over her face to regain her focus.
"How fast is this thing?" Origami asked.
"By my estimates, it tops at Mach 5, and thanks to the Realizer technology installed, we have no worries about a Sonic Boom causing any damage." Reine answered. "Believe it or not Kotori, but it was your parents who designed this jet."
"What? My parents, they work for Ratatoskr too?" Kotori asked surprised.
"Not exactly, kinda like how the AST is a sub-division under Ratatoskr, your parents work under another sub-division, Asgard Electronics. They supply us with all our Realizer technology and more." Reine answered, the red-haired girl's mouth dropping open in shock.
"Now it's time for you to get going, based on our predictions, Hermit should end up heading back towards Tokyo soon enough. So that's where you'll be heading off towards. The Fraxinus and Maria will be aiding you from here through it, and we won't be sending you alone. We've asked a few people to come with you."
The group turns as their aid walks through the door behind them. Hiroto walked in, and soon was joined by Mikie and Mildred, followed by Ryouko who saluted to Reine upon entering the room.
"Captain Ryouko Kusakabe of the AST, reporting for duty Commander Murasame!" Ryouko announced, making Reine sigh a bit. Ryouko was the one person who didn't seem to register how she preferred to just be called Reine. "I'm here to assist Shido Takamiya and his team in the mission to save Hermit!"
"Right, thank you Ryouko." Reine said, soon turning to Shido. "We'll be checking around in case Hermit changes to another location, be careful out there. While Hermit is a more docile spirit, anything could happen if she Inverses while you're out there."
"Right, and don't worry." Shido replied, giving a confident look. "You can count on us."
Soon everyone boarded the Sagittarius and it begins floating up into the air before taking off towards Tokyo, Reine watching before Kannazuki walks in.
"Those two have grown up quite well." Kannazuki inquired, soon turning to her. "When are you gonna tell them? It's not like you don't have a reason to."
"I can't, not yet anyways." Reine replies, shaking her head. "They need more to know me first, and... most importantly, I need time before I don't feel the guilt and pain when I think of them learning that truth. There are some questions we need answered that might chance the end result."
Westcott was at the DEM base located on Arubi Island, seeing the small DEM strike force's latest attempt to deal with [Hermit] and see if they could force her to use the Inversion that Marina had mentioned to him about.
"Hmm..." Westcott hummed as he watched, and then... "Oh, what's this?"
One of the hidden cameras that were able to sneak in noticed the rabbit puppet hit Yoshino on the head, and suddenly a blue sphere of spirit energy formed before going dark blue and cutting off the one camera. A new camera feed soon showed a slightly distorted video of the inverted Hermit using her Demon King and freezing a whole area of Tokyo with her power before reverting back.
"Ah, so the rumors are true. She can Inverse and change back at will." Westcott smirked, impressed at the result. If he could capture [Hermit] then he might learn how to do this to other Spirits they capture without any effort, maybe even a Sephira Crystal. "Marina, what data do we have so far?"
"Very little father, but we have decided to name [Hermit]'s Inverse form as [Marionette]. It seems that while Inverted, her Demon King gives her a puppet master ability over some of her ice." Marina replied, knowing Yoshino's two known cases of inversions had been too brief and quick for any better info.
"I see, let Ellen know we're ready to try the special Ashcroft Alpha unit." Westcott replied, moving his tablet to the schematics of a project. "I think she'll love piloting this particular beast from here, she does have a Princess to get revenge on."
Outside, the sight of something breathing a dangerous black flame at an ice based target was seen, a pair of four scarlet eyes glowing dangerously.
As the group neared Tokyo, Hiroto was sitting by Shido as he explained what Hermit's personality would probably like.
"Hermit's always been a more docile spirit, so she's likely quite shy and/or timid. She'll probably be friendly if you show her you don't need any harm." Hiroto explained, using the image of her as his reference.
"Tohka?" Shido asked, knowing she had seen her briefly.
"She seemed like that, though for some reason she acted like her puppet was alive." Tohka said, still confused over that.
"Uh... Hiroto? Is that normal?" Maria asked via his phone.
"That's... err..." Hiroto tried to think of a situation from one of his dating sims, but he had nothing. This was something new. "...I've got nothing."
"Well THAT'S reassuring." Kotori quipped sarcastically, making Hiroto hang his head down.
"Oh yeah. Ryouko, Mikie, Mildred... I never got the chance to ask, but how did you all find yourselves joining Ratatoskr?" Mana asked, catching their attention. "Reine said everyone there had a reason for wanting to save the spirits over those in DEM who want to kill or use them."
"Well... around 15 years ago when I around your age, I saw the original Nightmare, or Spirit No. 3 as she got murdered." Ryouko said, slightly grimacing at the memory of that day.
"The people attacking her all made it sound like she was a monster, but I saw Nightmare's face... she was the one afraid, the one who seemed more human. She was the one running, trying to just protect herself, and then... I saw the one known as Adeptus 2 end her life. It had been brutal, when I learned about what happened from Ratatoskr, no shock I chose to join them over the DEM."
Mikie thought about a certain memory before speaking up next.
"Well, I don't think you might remember, or have seen me there... but truth is I actually learned about the Spirits during the month after Tohka first appeared before her inversion." Mikie replied, shocking the purple haired spirit.
"Really?" Tohka asked, making Mikie nod.
"I had been out for a walk, when a Spacequake alarm went off, but in the hurry, I got my leg caught and the quake went off before I could get it free. I wasn't in the radius luckily. That's when I saw Tohka." Mikie explained, remembering how scary it had been at the time.
"At first I felt like I saw something monstrous, and then the DEM attacked her. They told me that Spirits were monsters hurting the war... but I didn't know them, so I called my cousin Tamae about it and she told me she'd show me the truth. Had I not, I would have probably not learned Spirits had been the real victims."
"So the DEM doesn't hesitate to increase their own numbers huh?" Origami stated to herself, soon looking at Mildred. "And you Mildred? Didn't you use to be a DEM mechanic, sounds like your reason is the strongest one."
"Well..." Mildred began, but soon gave a sad face. "...The truth is, while I don't have any proof, I think one of the Spirits might be my younger sister. She... ran away years ago."
Everyone gasped at this, even Mikie and Ryouko hadn't heard her story yet.
"Well, she's my adoptive sister, but still." Mildred said sheepishly before continuing.
"She was adopted into the family 10 years ago, and she got really close. I tended to braid her hair. Her name was Mukuro Hoshimiya. However, I failed to notice her worries and anxiety, she had been starving for love before adoption since she had no family. I always told her that I liked her hair long, but when one of my friends commented about it being too long... I think I made a bad choice in how I replied to her and kinda agreed with it."
"OK, following you so far." Hiroto replied, the story on her sister was a bit unique so far. "Though I'm not seeing how this relates to her possibly being a Spirit."
"That part's next... probably." Mildred chuckled. "The day afterwards, me and my parents felt like we had lost something, and suddenly most people we knew surprisingly forgot about us. Mukuro then told us we were all hers now, and... we got kinda angry over it."
'Forgot about them, could this be the reason Tohka, me and Mana lost our memories?' Shido thought, if Westcott was after Spirits, then maybe he captured a past possessor and used that power to erase their memories.
"Mukuro was devastated and then ran to her room, we realized we were a bit too hard and I went to talk with her... her window was open leaving a note saying 'goodbye'. That was 5 years ago" Mildred continued, sadness filling her face.
"We all felt guilty, everyone who forgot us remembered... but it meant little. Then I learned about the Spirits when a DEM member told me the one who made us forget likely took Mukuro away. So I joined them, but then I saw this one image of a Spirit... it was really blurry, but I thought it looked like Mukuro. That's when I wondered, what if the Spirit that did it was Mukuro herself? If that were true, the DEM was going to kill her. After that, I left when the DEM wouldn't notice and then Ratatoskr found me."
"So you still don't know for sure if it's her or not?" Mana asked, Mildred shook her head. "Wow... so your sister's possibly in danger and you don't know if it's as a spirit or something else. Well, if she is a Spirit, we'll find and save her!"
"...Thanks Mana." Mildred said, smiling a bit. Soon after a bit, the Sagittarius landed on the ground and became invisible.
"We've made it everyone. Hiroto, Mildred, stay on the ship and keep watch while we go look around." Ryouko ordered, both of them nod as the others headed outside. The sight of the still partially frosted area of Tokyo in view. "Wow, it's still frozen even now. Be on guard everyone."
Everyone walks ahead and through the city, while they did... they were unaware that by a nearby tree, a familiar rabbit puppet was seen looking at them. She looks a bit before the sight of Tohka's familiar ribbon enters her gaze, giggling to herself a bit before Yoshino looks at the puppet from behind the tree.
"Y-Yoshinon... who's there?" Yoshino asks nervously.
"Ooh! Looks like we have some guests, and the purple lady from before is with them too! Well, if they're here to hurt Yoshino..." Yoshinon said, her single seen eye glowing. "...They'll be sorry they ever came here, I'll make sure of that myself."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Looks like Yoshinon's weary of the group already, and now we've got the story I hinted about Mildred in the previous arc. In this fanfic, I'm treating Mildred as the older sibling that Mukuro mentioned in her arc. As a result, Mildred's a bit older in this story, about... *thinks* 20 years old, where in canon she's about Origami's age. As for the part about Origami mentioning in her thoughts that her and Tohka are good friends? Well... I figure why not, we've never really had a fanfic where the two don't have their rivalry, so I chose them to be close friends in the story, the next chapter hopefully showcases this better.
While Tohka is able to attend school in canon, I chose not to have her attend in the story because of the gap in her memories and Reine being Fraxinus' commander, compared to canon where her blank slate state helped her adjust to it due to having no memories, plus I'm pretty sure Kotori had her attend as part of Shido's "training", cause it's clear that Tohka can be stable without Shido by her 24/7. Living in a house next to his is proof of this. Luckily as time goes on, she'll have Yoshino, Natsumi, Nia and Mukuro to keep her company at home.
That and I felt being at school is a good place for scenes to give Shido and Origami a good chance to strengthen their bond for when Shido may need to use her spirit power instead of Tohka's for his Spirit Ascension ability, while Tohka indirectly lead us towards learning the problems that Yoshino has been indirectly causing in her attempts to outrun the DEM's constant attacks on her. Trying to fit every spirit into the same place as often as I can seems a bit too difficult and forced too, so it seems better to group them into certain areas so I only have to focus on some at a time.
You might be wondering why I had a strong focus scene for Kotori at the beginning of Yoshino's arc, well... I guess it won't hurt to reveal it here since it's probably obvious after seeing it, but the semi-final arc of Season 1 will be Kotori's arc, and it's going to eventually link to the final arc of the first season. Which after that dream sequence... oh who am I kidding, it wasn't a secret that she was fighting Kurumi there. Why her eyes went blue though? That will stay a secret until her arc finally comes.
As you've noticed, compared to the Phantom in canon, this Phantom's much more noble and kind due to who it is under that cloak. Though this Phantom's also not good with realizing possible consequences until AFTER they've already happened. The result of the stress the DEM's top three Adeptus numbers having killed many past Sephira Crystal holders, so she often chooses a new wielder based on their wishes, feelings and similarities to a past wielder. So Reine's not that far off about why Tohka and Origami were chosen as the final [Princess] and [Angel].
Now with all of that out of the way, be ready for the next chapter, where the DEM begins making their move and the group deals with Inverse Yoshino, discovering the truth behind her controlled ability to Inverse freely.