Date A Re:Live

S1 Chapter 15: Kurumi Fallacy, Part 2

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]

Hoo wee! Man, writing the last chapter got me so excited, I was once again more in the mood to make another chapter for this story before doing the next chapter of A Dragon's Heavenly Bonds. Ignoring that though, Kurumi's finally made it to Raizen High, but she has yet to drop the bomb I'm about to have her detonate in the first scene of this chapter.

Something I'm going to clarify now, recall how Saya had trouble remembering Kurumi due to Kotori's memories not having any information on her? While meeting Kotori will give her the ability to recognize that info, Saya is going to be sleeping for a while and won't view Kotori's more recent memories, so Saya won't reveal to everyone that Kurumi is the friend she's looking for.

Not to mention Ratatoskr will have trouble telling the others that she's the same Nightmare that Saya knows, as while Maria confirmed that when Saya revealed her friend's code name... nothing says someone can falsify info to confuse everyone, or for a simple piece of information creating a misunderstanding that hide the truth. I'm making sure no one is able to figure out who Kurumi is until we get far enough into this arc.

Essentially for right now, regardless of directly or indirectly... Kurumi's weaved everyone into her shadowy web of lies, into her... "Fallacy". *chuckles* Oh yeah, I just title dropped you all :3

Now here's the next data sheet before we begin, enjoy ^^

-Inverse Tohka, Code Name: [Sovereign]-

Demon King: Nahemah, the "Tyrant Ruler" - Sandalphon's Demon King counterpart, unlike most Demon Kings, Nahemah isn't that different from its Angel counterpart other than looking nothing like it and having a lot more mana inside to cause more devastating energy flashes. Nahemah's throne is silver in color unlike Sandalphon's golden throne. Shido has commented that Nahemah is inferior in power if Tohka can properly focus her will and emotions.

- Alternate Form: Paverschlev, the "Sword of Demise" - The Inverse counterpart of Sandalphon's Halvanhelev technique, and like Nahemah compared to Sandalphon, Paverschlev is a much more enhanced Halvanhelev with a completely different design. The power it has puts Halvanhelev in shame in comparison, being strong enough to gouge an entire section of a city. Unlike Halvanhelev however, Paverschlev is a one-shot attack, and will revert to Nahemah as it basically converts Halvanhelev's possible overload into a single concentrated strike.

- Alternate Form: Durandal - The Inverse counterpart of Chrysaor, b y willing her throne to shift into a flying vehicle form, Inverse Tohka can drive it using her willpower. Similar to how Sandalphon being sheathed allows Chrysaor to use its slash waves and a piercing attack, Durandal can also use Inverse Tohka's energy blasts and the piercing attack is almost guaranteed to shatter any defense against it.

- Powers: Despite what her Astral Dress might imply, Inverse Tohka's powers are all higher with the inclusion of her defense, enough that she can stop a sword with her bare hand and not be cut by it. Her amount of mana is now so incredibly high that her previous abilities become explosive and have more uses, such as her energy blasts can now fire multiple shots in waves instead of only rapid fire. Tohka however admits that's all her Inverse Form can actually do, and that she doesn't gain any additional abilities unlike other Inverse Spirits .

Risk Factors: SS

Spacequake: A

Spirit's Astral Dress: AAA

Demon King Rank: AAA

Strength: 248

Consistency: 204

Spiritual Power: 222

Agility: 175

Intelligence: 100

"Hello everyone, my name is Kurumi Tokisaki." Kurumi introduced herself, giving a smile that gave off a princess like aura. The kind you'd only see from an actual princess, or a rich girl who was kind and sweet.

All the boys went gaga at that moment and hollered at the beauty before them, but Kotori looked closer and blinked at the girl before her.

'This is really weird, do I know this girl?' Kotori thought, trying to squint her eyes and hold a hand over them to focus. 'I don't know why, but I feel like I've seen her before. Where did we meet though?'

"Just so you know... I'm actually a Spirit." Kurumi replied.

This made Shido, who had been supporting his chin with his hand, slip and nearly fall forward as he gasped at what she just said. Ai, Mai and Mii, Hiroto and Ashley, Origami and Kotori, even Tamae all showed gasps of surprise upon hearing this since they didn't see her with whitened pupils. The other students were just confused by this.

"Oh, um... I see. Let's move on, thank you for that unique introduction Kurumi." Tamae responded, barely keeping a poker face to what she heard. 'Why would a Spirit expose herself to the public out loud?'

"Before I sit, could I ask someone for a quick favor?" Kurumi requested.

"Oh, sure. Is there something you need?" Tamae inquired.

Kurumi nods.

"Since I'm new, I'm afraid I don't know my way around the school just yet. Would anyone be so kind to escort me around after class? I'm very sorry to trouble you." Kurumi asked, making some of the guys start blushing.

"Yeah! I'll do it!" Hiroto shouted, sneaking his phone to get a picture to send to Maria due to her claim. Kurumi looked at him, noticing he wasn't the student her shadows had told her about.

"Not you, but thanks." Kurumi rejected in a kind manner, making Hiroto groan in disappointment and sat down, a purple depression aura floating over his head. Kurumi soon moved her eyes around until she noticed Shido, and her smile slightly widens as she walks over towards him.

"Would you be interested in helping me? Shido Takamiya right?" Kurumi asked, making all the students but Hiroto look at her.

"Uh... sure, OK." Shido replied, making Kurumi smile before she took her seat. Ashley quickly shot a glare at the girl who just called herself a Spirit, wondering what her game really was.

At the Ratatoskr base, Maria was using her android body for once to read a book as she suddenly got a message from Hiroto.

"A message, what is it?" Maria wondered as she opened it. "...A girl claiming to be a Spirit appeared in his class at Raizen High!? What the, how... wait, what am I doing! I should tell everyone about this!"

Maria puts her book down and rushes into the command room, nearly making a few people drop things or crashing into them as she did. She finally found Ryouko in the analyst room alongside a male Ratatoskr member and Mildred, all who noticed her slid in and nearly trip as she stopped.

"Is something wrong Maria? You don't usually run in a panic like that." Ryouko asked.

"I got a message from Hiroto, a new girl transferred into Tamae's classroom... and she stated she was a Spirit to the whole class!" Maria shouted, Ryouko went wide eyed while Mildred, who had drinking a latte, suddenly coughed and choked on it.

"I know, I don't know how either. We've had no spirit wavelengths detected as of recently or even a Spacequake, not to mention that her eyes were normal so no one even realized it until she revealed it. I need you to check it now."

"Load it up Maria, we'll analyze the photo for confirmation." The male Ratatoskr member, named Mathew, said while nodding. Maria walked to the console and plugged her finger into a spot to transfer the picture of Kurumi over.

Matthew began typing on the console and soon found the picture of Nightmare to have some matches to Kurumi Tokisaki. After a comparison analysis was completed...

"We have a 90%, that means this is the real deal here." Matthew replied, showing the results. Ryouko took a look to see.

"So she's Spirit No. 3, Nightmare. She's one of the three most elusive right now if I remember right. We don't even know what her powers are." Ryouko stated, putting a finger to her chin before her eyes widened. "Hey, wait a second, the other personality in Kotori, that Saya girl. She said that her friend was Nightmare, didn't she?"

"Yeah, that means this is her! I bet she must have sensed Saya's presence while she had Kotori's body and came over-" Maria began, but Mildred stood up.

"That isn't Saya's friend, I hate to say it but we were wrong about when the last Nightmare died." Mildred suddenly stated, getting everyone's attention as they saw her walk up to the screen.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked confused.

"I asked Kotori to let me talk to Saya in case we had any clues to a Spirit's actions and not their appearance in case we heard news about her." Mildred replied, soon making a somber face.

"She said she was one of the kindest and sweetest girls you'd ever meet. She even compared her to Tohka... Nightmare isn't this spirit based in old info I took from the DEM before I abandoned the organization."

Ryouko suddenly sweated.

"I worry I'll regret asking, but what kind of information is this?" Ryouko wondered.

"This Nightmare isn't your typical Spirit, to start with... she's much deadlier than all the others." Mildred said, her glasses shining to hide her eyes as she breathed, preparing to reveal the ugly truth. "According to DEM's watches of her from my time there, she's killed 10,000 unarmed civilians by non-Spacequake means."

Everyone in the room suddenly gave reactions of surprise and horror, a Spirit... who killed defenseless humans on purpose?

"Are you kidding me!?" Ryouko asked, her eyes shaking in horror as this revelation.

"I'm not, this Nightmare's true to her code name. Probably the only Spirit who acts just like the way she's described to most of the DEM. Probably why most of us don't question their motives." Mildred said, her eyes half closed.

"If that's the case, why did she come to Tenguu City? Why did she enter Raizen High?" Maria panicked, her android body's servos nearly overheating. 'Please, oh my god please... let Mildred's claim be wrong!'

"We should warn them about this, if they're in danger-" Matthew began, but Ryouko held a hand up. "Captain?"

"We can't jump the gun here. We don't know why she's here, and we have to consider this info as only possible until we get something to verify it." Ryouko answered, sweating a bit. "If we're careless, then we could end up sending them walking to their doom. For now, we need to just confirm she's a Spirit to them, nothing more."

Mildred thought about it for a bit, and then sighed.

"She's right, how is Shido supposed to act if he knows he's a possibly target for murder by the beings he wants to help? All the Spirits so far haven't tried to kill just because, knowing that he's in danger, or found an exception..." Mildred said, trailing off.

Maria look worried but soon nodded.

"I'll send Shido only the information we need him to know at the moment. It's the best we can do right now." Maria sighed, hating the fact she had to lie. 'Shido, I hope you can do this... because we're all in trouble.'

Soon after class ended, Shido was waiting by the window in the room alone. Soon seeing Maria's screen pop up through his headset.

"It's been confirmed on our end Shido, that girl isn't lying. She's definitely a Spirit. Unfortunately..." Maria trailed off, knowing the lie was about to come.

"...That's all we can confirm. We're not sure which Spirit she is, when Hiroto sent the photo we got from him, there was some distortion that interfered with the analysis and we could only confirm spirit mana. I'm afraid you'll be in the dark about her powers."

"So it's not that different from when I saved Tohka, isn't it?" Shido asked.

"Yeah, guess you could say that- oh, we gotta stop talking for now. She's coming and you don't wannabe suspicious. I'll focus on aiding you via your responses if needed." Maria replied, and Shido nodded.

[Guess it's time to start your date then, good luck Shido.]

Shido stared at the window more until he heard someone walk in, and turned to see Kurumi was the one who had come by.

"Sorry for the wait Shido, are you ready to show me a good time?" Kurumi asked.

"Yeah, anywhere you wanna check out first?" Shido responded, the two walking out of the room together. Once they had, the others came out of their hiding spots in the room and Maria contacts their headsets.

"Origami, Kotori, I need you to be right by Shido's side but hide yourselves so Kurumi doesn't notice you." Maria replied, the two nodded and both left the room to follow.

"Ashley, stay nearby from a distance just in case, I'll need you to subdue Kurumi if she tries anything funny. Hiroto, Ai, Mai and Mii? Follow and listen in, if you think something will happen that requires no one see Shido and Kurumi, just walk in like it's a coincidence."

Everyone else nods, Ashley sighing a bit, and headed off to where Maria told them to go. Tamae blinks a bit before Maria begins telling her what to do.

"Oh, and Tamae? Listen close... there's some information we can only share with you. You need to promise to only share it with the others if certain conditions are exposed or it may affect the mission." Maria explained.

"Uh... OK? What is it?"

"You see, the truth is..." Maria began, and Tamae's eyes soon widened a bit.

Soon a familiar red and white CR-Unit lands in the city, and a certain blonde haired girl dispels it to replace it with a one-piece dress with sandals to help blend in. She puts a sun hat on her head and breathes.

"Well, looks like I'm here. Now the question is where is Nightmare?" Artemisia wondered to herself.

As she walked off, Phantom's mosaic form appeared form the shadows of the nearest alley and began watching her, soon vanishing as she began following DEM's Adeptus 2 throughout the city.

Maria was watching Shido's progress through his headset as he and Kurumi walked through the halls, Kotori and Origami managing to keep the deadly Spirit from noticing them at all.

"So, which romantic getaway should we head to first?" Kurumi asked, making Shido wonder. Maria seeing this sends him a response: {It's not sunset for a nice rooftop view, so take her to the school Cafeteria}

"How about the cafeteria and student store?" Shido replied.

"OK." Kurumi smiled.

The two headed in that direction, and soon Kotori and Origami looked at each other.

"What do you think about her so far?" Kotori asked her fellow Spirit.

"W-well... I dunno, but it seems like she's a boat flowing on the river Shido's making, just going with him and not choosing what path to take herself." Origami answered, making Kotori look at her confused.

"S-sorry, I make metaphors when I'm nervous! What I mean is it seems like Kurumi's acting like she's his shadow rather than an individual."

Kotori wondered on that, and noticed Kurumi didn't seem to care what Shido asked her, she just agreed to it by default... almost like she's baiting him. Kotori sweated a bit at that thought.

"Come on, let's follow!" Kotori quickly stated, and Origami shakily nodded as they continued following them. Knowing where they were going, Origami picked open a janitor locker and hide the two of them inside it, and just right before Shido and Kurumi arrived on the scene, Shido pointing at the menu.

"A lot of people like the yakisoba bread, it's a cafeteria classic." Shido stated, with Kurumi staring at him and not what he was doing.

"Though if you want my personal recommendation, I'd go with the strawberry bread. It has a bit more flavor and feels more like a lunch snake, plus it's lighter on your stomach if you need to go to gym class later."

"How interesting." Kurumi replied, soon making Shido blink.

"Are you even listening-"

Shido saw Kurumi staring at him, right up in his face. He jumped back a bit in surprise.

"Uh... are you alright?" Shido asked.

"Sorry, just zoned out for a bit. It's hard to focus with such a handsome man in front of me." Kurumi giggled, causing Shido to sweat drop a bit and making Kotori and Origami's eyes widen as they watched from inside the locker. Maria's eyes bug out a bit as she slowly motions them to see the readings for Shido.

'This girl is flipping the tables on us!' Maria thought, her one eye twitching.

Soon Shido felt Kurumi giggle as she neared the stairs close to the cafeteria and the locker the girls were hiding in, Maria quickly pressed more options to come up.

1. Honest Response - What did you mean about being a Spirit?
2. Situational Response - So what school did you go to before this one?
3. Funny Response - Kurumi, can you show me your panties?

[...I'm unconscious right now right, that last one isn't really asking about her panties, is it?] Mio whispered to Shido.

"Where'd that last one come from?" Maria questioned, a bit confused how she came to it. Hiroto's face appeared on a screen below.

"I recommend Option 3." Hiroto stated, shocking Maria and Shido a bit.

"What!? What's that?" Maria asked, blushing a bit.

"You just showed us why, she seems to be calm now and that's working in her favor. Perhaps getting her fluster will give Shido the opening we need?" Hiroto replied, making Maria blink.

'Wow, that's actually a good idea.' Maria thought, guess they couldn't be only cautious and expect results. "Shido, try number 3 and see if it does anything. Oh, and Kotori, Origami? Apologies in advanced for what you'll hear Shido say."

Shido sweats a bit, while his two harem girls both tilt their heads confused.

"Hey Kurumi, could you show me what kind of panties your wearing?" Shido asked, and both Kotori and Origami blushed really red at that. Kurumi's reaction however was... unique.

"Panties, like right now?" Kurumi wondered. "Sure, I don't mind. As long as it's you."

Shido and everyone connected to the headset, as well as everyone watching from Ratatoskr, all give a united "EEEEH!?" in reply to that response.

'[Wait, wait, wait, wait... what!? She'll show you them?]'

"This is uncharted territory, she's... she's kinky as Hell!" Hiroto declared, his eyes bouncing around like ping-pong balls. At that moment, Kurumi walked up a few stares and slowly began pulling up her skirt to tease Shido.

"Kotori, Origami! Quick! Get out of the locker and abort the mission! Stop the flashing!" Maria ordered, blushing madly. "Ai, Mai, Mii! Hurry over in case Kurumi twists the situation or knows they're Spirits!"

"Right!" Kotori claimed, trying to open the locker... only to find it was locked. "Ah! We're locked in!"

Kurumi smirked as she noticed her adjustment of the lock had worked, though Shido didn't notice due to her still shifting her skirt up and showing the bottom tip of her panties until...

"OK, stop! I'm not ready for this!" Shido exclaimed, turning as he breathed heavily. Kurumi giggled as she let go of her skirt.

"You're so cute when you're shy. So was that Ratatoskr who asked you to question me that, or do you just like panties?" Kurumi replied, making Shido's eyes widen. "That's right. You don't have to play dumb with me sweetie, besides... I already know you've met a few Spirits. I bet some of them are even attending this school?"

Shido and Maria both flinch at that.

'[There's something wrong about this girl, but I can't tell what! I'm very afraid now!]'

"H-how do you know so much about me?" Shido asked, now feeling a bit worried.

"That's my little secret. There's only one thing I can tell you about myself. Ever since I first found out about you..." Kurumi replied, smiling a bit. Then out of nowhere she suddenly blushed and put her hands to her cheek. "I've been crazy in love and hoping you'd notice me!""

"WHAT!? She already loves him, but how?" Maria exclaimed, her jaw dropping open. Her shock was so great she was ignoring the emotional readings to confirm if she was telling Shido the truth or not... needless to say, she'd regret that later.

"You still listening?" Kurumi asked, grabbing his hand. "Now that I have your attention Shido, I need you to do a favor for me. That is, if you think you can handle it. So what do you say?"

Kotori panics and tries again to break the door open with her fists. Origami looks at the door and soon sighs, getting Kotori's attention before she slams her hand on the locker door to her shock, soon causing them to both spill out to Shido and Kurumi's surprise, Origami landing on top of Kotori with a swell bump on her head.

"Origami, you are the bravest genius I'll ever know." Kotori said, looking at Origami who was fazed and giving a weak thumb's up. "Kurumi Tokisaki, you should know it's against the rules for students to hold hands!"

"Oh, I'm not holding his hand. I think you notice I have pale skin? You see, I have a case of anemia, holding onto his arm keeps me from getting hurt if I fall from it." Kurumi smirked, making Origami and Kotori both flinch at that. However, Kotori falls to her knees right after.

"Oh no... my anemia just started acted up." Kotori suddenly said, making Kurumi blink. Shido sweat dropped a bit. Origami looked at the two and sweated a bit.

"Uh... oh no, I think my anemone's kicking in too!" Origami said, swaying back and forth like the sea creature. Soon Kotori and Kurumi sweat dropped alongside Shido at that, knowing she goofed. "Look, I'm suddenly swaying back and forth to attract fish with my cuteness."

Shido face palmed.

"Origami, they said their 'anemia', not sea anemone." Shido sighed, making Origami blush in embarrassment. At that point, the talkative trio slid into view.

"Whoa, looks like those three are fighting over Shido." Ai acted out, and luckily Kurumi didn't know they were Ratatoskr agents like Shido was.

"This is intense, you think he's already trying to hook up with the transfer student?" Mai acted out as well, trying to look shocked.

"It hasn't haven't been a day yet, that's so lame!" Mii acted out, making herself look disgusted. "Though if it's Kurumi doing it then that's just weird."

'Almost had him, I guess I'll need to give up for today.' Kurumi thought, sighing a bit. "Thanks for showing me around Shido, but I need to get home now. So I'll see you tomorrow."

Kurumi walks by, but as she passed by Shido...

"That being said, next time I want to do it with you alone." Kurumi whispered, almost in a chilling manner. Soon everyone saw her walk off, and when they did... everyone dropped to the ground and sighed.

"I need to thank you all for showing up when you did, I don't know what would have happened otherwise." Shido breathed, feeling exhausted out of nowhere.

"No problem, just doing our jobs." Mii answered.

"That was so scary, it was like talking to an alien life form." Kotori said, shaking as her nervousness finally flooded to her external expressions. Origami kept rubbing her head in pain after her head butt trick. "You need ice for that?"

"Yeah, that would be good." Origami winced.

"She must be one of the elusive trio." Ashley claimed, everyone turned to her as she walked into view. "Out of the Spirits, Ratatoskr and even the DEM barely know anything about them. We're facing a Spirit that knows us, but we're clueless about... we need more aid. We need your other Spirit friends."

"But how? Neither can attend school here, and one of them isn't high school age even." Ai asked, everyone thinks on that.

"Dang it, if only there was some event that let them in the school without being students." Ashley grunted, kicking a nearby wrapper in response. That gave Origami an idea.

"Hey guys, how much influence does Ratatoskr have over the school?" Origami inquired.

"They can help set up some events and such, and got the secret entrances put in. Why do you ask?" Mai asked.

"Well..." Origami began.

Kurumi was seen humming happily as she began skipping to the place she set up as her residence while she was in Tenguu City.

"Shido, tasty Shido-" Kurumi sang, only to gasp as she caught herself. "Easy girl, don't get excited just yet. You'll need a little more patience than that. I'll be sure to save the best for last."

As she was walking, she didn't notice the sight of someone and she bumped into him. She looked to see the ruffian like man look at her and grunt angrily, two others walking behind him with their hands in their pockets.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I guess I didn't see you there." Kurumi apologized. However, the three guys looked at her, and the leader who the girl had bumped into gave her a dirty look that clearly said he was a bad guy.

"Yeah, what was that for bitch?" The leader spoke, him and his lackeys surrounding her. "You've gotta do a lot more than say sorry if you wanna go free."

"Damn, this one looks like she's seen some action before." The second guy added, lusting over her appearance.

"Give us your name before we get down. Don't worry, we don't bite that hard." The third guy chuckled, pretty much confirming they wanted her body.

In most cases where a girl ran into a group of guys like these, she'd either get scared, try to run or if gutsy give them a nice kick where the sun doesn't shine. For Kurumi however? She played by different rules, rules where she wasn't the helpless one.

"Fellas, hold on a second. After all there's only one of me. I'm sorry about the bump but..." Kurumi said, smirking as she put near her mouth. "Maybe I can make it up to you with a different kind of bumping?"

The three guys suddenly get excited looks at that.

"Hot damn, this one's actually willing. We hit the jackpot!" The second guy exclaimed.

"Then I guess we'll make sure to treat your pretty face real nice, even we have standards for someone who has your kinda guts." The third guy said, his face not even bothering to hide his excitement as some drool begins to leak out the side.

"We're taking turns, I get to go first." The leader chuckled.

"Come now, there's plenty to go around. Follow me and see for yourself how I like to have fun..." Kurumi replied, soon walking into the nearby alley, causing them to not see her smirk suddenly get vicious. "...If you dare."

The three guys all chuckle as they follow, expecting to have the time of their lives with this girl. However right before they all tried to grab her, suddenly the sight of eerie white hands stretched out from her shadow as it expands, grabbing them and restraining them.

"W-what the hell?" The leader of the guys shouted.

Kurumi turns around to look at them, she moved her right hand over her one visible eye, and at that moment it suddenly began glowing brightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I should explain this a bit more. You see when I like to have fun, I don't like go into the darker area of gray morality..." Kurumi began, her school uniform suddenly began to glow. "Elohim!"

Kurumi's school uniform changes back into her Astral Dress, and soon the two guns that made her Angel, a musket and a flintlock pistol, each formed in one of her hands.

"I like to go pitch black!" Kurumi said, her face distorting into a smiling face of anger. Something dark appeared behind her causing all three if the guys she had restrained to stare at what they felt was the Grim Reaper itself.

"HELP!" The three screamed at the top of their lungs.

Unfortunately for them... their screams failed to matter. At that moment, the sight of a bus driving nearby with a can of some beverage with red colored liquid that was rolling across the street was crushed under its wheels as an eerie sound covered the alley.

Soon the bus passed and the alley could be seen again, to anyone nearby at the time, they would have expected the truck had acted as an anime's a gory discretion shot... but inside the alley, not a drop of blood was seen, the only thing in the alley now was Kurumi and her extended shadow before it reverted to normal.

"Thanks for the snack boys, it was delicious. It's always so generous for scum of the Earth like yourselves to let me take your lives and make this world a cleaner, better place." Kurumi giggled, licking her lips right after to savor the taste. She holds up Zafkiel to her face. "Zafkiel, how many does that make now?"

[Those three make 19,857 you have devoured Master.]

"Ah, so I've nearly hit the 20,000 mark." Kurumi noted, smirking a bit. At that moment, she suddenly heard something and turned to see it as she recognized a familiar energy wave.

"So... I arrived too late again, didn't I?" Artemisia stated, seeing only Kurumi in the alley way.

"Ah, hello there Adeptus 2. You just missed all the fun unfortunately." Kurumi giggled, making Artemisia stare at her before equipping her CR-Unit. Kurumi smirked as she drew the Masamune.

"Well just know I'm not making this quick and easy just because you clean up after you eat... Nightmare." Artemisia said, holding out the sword towards Kurumi.

Kurumi prepared Zafkiel, but Artemisia uses her free hand to summon her territory, and unlike normal ones it suddenly broke apart into the hexagons that made it their way towards Kurumi and cut into her. She was knocked onto her back, and felt herself bleeding before getting back up as if she was used to the pain.

"I guess it's your lack of agonizing screams that makes this the only reason I'm not traumatized by how often I've done this." Artemisia somberly replied, thrusting Masamune forward and blasting a concentrated beam of mana to knock Kurumi down again... this time she didn't get back up as she struggled to even more.

Artemisia walked over to her, soon seeing Kurumi turn her head to look at her with a smile.

"You really are good, you got me again. Yet you're not anyone closer to getting rid of me for good." Kurumi giggled weakly, a bit of blood trickling out of her mouth.

"...Talk brave all you want, not even a Spirit can live forever. I think the deceased wielders of your evil powers are proof of that." Artemisia sadly declared, closing her eyes as she swings Masamune down.

*SLASH!*

At the bus stop, the very bus that had driven by the scene of Kurumi's little 'feast' had come to a stop. Shido, Origami and Kotori all got off the bus and began walking home to make dinner.

"Burgers, tonight I'm in the mood for some burgers." Kotori smiled excitedly.

"Ooh! That sounds good, let's go with that!" Origami agreed, a white bandage wrapped around her forehead due to her... head buster moment earlier.

Suddenly they see a sun hat fly at them and Shido catches it.

"Did somebody lose this?"

"Oh thank you!" A girl's voice called out, the trio looked to see Artemisia run their way. "I was afraid the wind would blow that away, thank you kind sir."

"Oh, no trouble at all." Shido replied, handing Artemisia's hat back to her.

While normally a DEM member would recognize the three, due to her long absence, they were lucky as she wasn't told about Shido, Origami's face had been veiled while she was Inverted and Kotori's body had recently gotten it physical age up from the weird conditions of her inversion.

"Oh, I better get going. Thanks again." Artemisia smiled, waving as she walked off.

"She seems nice, doesn't she? I don't think I've seen her before. A tourist maybe?" Kotori wondered.

"Who knows, we should get dinner ready before Tohka starts eating the house itself though." Shido replied, making the three giggle at the joke of Tohka's appetite. Once they got home, they saw Tohka chewing on one of the pillows.

"No Tohka, don't eat that!" Shido panicked, handing the backs to the others. Shido had learned the hard way recently that Tohka could eat inorganic substances when making a small joke, she told him she could eat frying pans.

"But I'm hungry!" Tohka said, however it was muffled by her pillow biting so it only came out as gibberish.

"We're about to make dinner, just be a bit patient." Shido said, sweating a lot. Yoshino and Yoshinon, who were watching a TV show, both turned at this and the rabbit puppet laughed.

"Ooh, having trouble Shido? It's no wonder Tohka's your main girl in the harem, she drives you wild like God's forbidden fruit! Sweet with the right amount of tangy!" Yoshinon joked, giggling like crazy as she did. Yoshino tilted her head confused.

"Wow, that's what it tastes like? I want some forbidden fruit!" Tohka said, her eyes sparkling. Shido face palms.

"Yoshinon, stop putting ideas into Tohka's head!" Shido stated, the puppet giggles and slowly slides down the choice, making a 'you never saw me' motion with her arms. "...Oh yeah. Yoshino, Tohka, we need to talk to you about something."

The two looked as Shido began cooking dinner, Origami and Kotori sat down on the couch.

"At school, there's gonna be an event where people who aren't students can come examine the campus during school hours. It's so parents and some potential students can see Raizen High and decide if they wanna attend the next semester or once they graduate middle school level." Origami explained, getting the two to blink a bit.

"What that means is despite neither of you actually attend school, for this Saturday and Monday after our day off, both of you can be at school to see us in class." Kotori continued. "So, you two wanna come?"

Tohka's eyes sparkled at that.

"I can be with Shido at school for a day? Yay!" Tohka cheered, jumping into the air, and making Yoshino bounce a bit.

"It... it sounds fun." Yoshino smiled shyly, but Yoshinon crossed her arms.

"Alright what are you all hiding?" Yoshinon bluntly asked, making Shido, Origami and Kotori flinch a bit. "Aha! I knew it, you don't suddenly make an event like this out of nowhere. What's really going on that you suddenly need two more Spirits to be with you at school?"

[...Yoshinon, you are one smart bunny.]

"Thank you, I try my best." Yoshinon giggled, tilting her head and clapping her arms to the side for emphasis.

[Well the truth is a Spirit came to our school and enrolled, but... we don't have any information on her. That worries us, especially since she seems to be getting close to Shido. Worse is she knows about Ratatoskr.]

"Shido could be in danger?" Tohka gasped, worried about her boyfriend's life.

[I think he already is, we just don't know what danger he's in. For that reason alone, it's better we have all four of us there, especially since Mana's not allowed out of the hospital for the next few days.]

"Then... we'll be there for you Shido, it's a promise." Yoshino replied, Tohka nodded heavily as well. Shido smiled right as the timer dinged.

"Alright, hamburgers are ready everyone!" Shido called out, Kotori cheered as Tohka rushed over to the table while drooling. As Origami walked over, she suddenly got a message from Maria and gasped. "Hey Origami, your food's getting called. You coming?"

"Oh! Right, sorry about that!" Origami replied, hurrying to the table.

As night washed over the city, Reine was seen walking through a certain area until she ended up by shrine where Tohka had first run into Shido. The moment she did, she tapped a bell, and a certain mosaic formed into view.

"(This is a surprise, how'd you know I was here.)" Phantom inquired, quite surprised how easily Reine had found her current location. "(So, what does the commander of Ratatoskr's Tenguu branch want to talk with me about.)"

"...Tell me the truth, what happened to my brother?" Reine asked, making Phantom tilt her head.

"(Brother, I don't know who you're talking?)" Phantom honestly answered, she was about to leave, when Reine suddenly grabbed her, Phantom tried to vanish away but found she couldn't. That's when she saw something on her hands that was interfering with her spirit mana.

"Stop lying, I said tell me!" Reine screamed, scaring Phantom a bit. "I know you know the truth so tell me already!"

"(I-I don't know who you're talking about, I'm not lying! Honest!)" Phantom replied, starting to tear a bit from being scared.

"You do know! I know it, with how long you've been here, with all you know, you have to know! So tell me!" Reine reasoned, tightening her grip on Phantom's hand. "Tell me why my brother disappeared all those years! There's no way you don't know my brother if you know Shido and Mana so well! There's no way..."

Reine shook, tears flowing down her eyes.

"...There's no way you don't know anything about their father!"

"(I don't know! I swear I don't, I don't even know who you're talking about! I only know what mama told me to do! Stop bullying me!)" Phantom cried loudly, knocking Reine into a nearby tree. She looked up briefly to see true form before the mosaic often hiding it returned.

"(Leave... leave poor Phantom alone! Phantom's not doing anything bad! Phantom's only doing what was asked of her, she can't even see Shido or Mana! Please... leave me alone!)"

Phantom soon blinked away, and Reine reached out in vain... she soon slams the ground. Tears began to fall to the dirt as she whimpered loudly, covering her eyes with her left hand.

"Will these answers allude me forever, are their none to be found? Why... why can't I know what happened to you more than 30 years ago?" Reine cried, holding her wedding ring in her hand. "Why can't I know what cost you and him your lives because of my stupidity!?"

The next day, Tohka and Yoshino both stared at Raizen High as they stopped at the school gate with Shido and the others, soon both smiling brightly.

"This place looks amazing! You really go to school here all the time, is it fun!?" Tohka asked, her pupils somehow having turned into stars. Shido giggled at the enthusiasm she was showing about getting to spend the day with him at school.

"Yep, that it is. Now let's hurry before we're late for class." Shido replied. Tohka and Yoshino nodded, following Shido, Origami and Kotori into class. A few other non-students were seen in the halls as everything for the event was set up. When they entered class, Shido was stared at as the guys noticed Tohka by him.

"Oh, you must be friends of Shido. Hi there! I'm Tohka Yatogami, and I'm Shido's girlfriend." Tohka innocently introduced herself, unaware that Shido went pale at everyone who glared at him.

"YOU BASTARD!" They all shouted, preparing to attack him when...

"Please don't hurt big brother, he didn't do anything bad." Yoshino pleaded, hitting them with the ultimate weapon of cute girls... the puppy dog eyes! They all blushed and stopped in place. Shido's jaw dropped at the sight.

"Oh, of course. We won't hurt him." One boy replied.

"We'd never do anything to make you cry, we're sorry for that." Another boy apologized, petting her head. Yoshino and Yoshinon turned around, both giving Shido a thumb's up.

"Yoshino... you are scary in the cutest way possible." Origami stated, in pure shock.

Soon everyone took their seats, while Yoshino and Tohka stood by the corner, Tamae walked in and Tohka waved hi to her. Tamae giggled a bit before began taking roll call, after a bit she reached the last name starting with 'S'.

"Saki Shimata?" Tamae called out.

"Here!"

"Hajime Suzuki?" Tamae called again.

"Here."

"Kurumi Tokisaki?" Tamae called out, but after a bit heard nothing. "Tokisaki, are you here? Tokisaki?"

"Wait, she isn't here?" Shido looked and noticed Kurumi wasn't at her seat, surprising him since it was only the second day. "That's weird..."

"About that... we probably shouldn't expect her to come back from today." Origami replied, getting Shido's attention. However at that moment...

"Sorry I'm late."

Everyone turned to see Kurumi at the door, Tamae included.

"Kurumi, why are you so late?" Tamae asked.

"Sorry about that Ms. Okamine, I was a little nauseous on the way here so I stopped to get something for my stomach." Kurumi replied, making Tamae gasp a bit.

"Oh, oh my. Are you feeling well enough for class today?" Tamae asked, and Kurumi nodded as she sat down.

"Guess she made it, any longer and she'd have been marked absent." Shido replied, soon he heard a sliding sound as Origami stoop up slightly to lean, shocked at the sight she just witnessed. 'What the, why does Origami look so scared?'

Tamae began gathering the lesson plan, and noticed Origami send her a message. She looked at it while still organizing her plan papers.

"{Meet me at the physics preparation room during lunch, I need you to see something. Afterwards call Shido and the others in with you... this is really important.}"

Tamae felt a drop of sweat form as she got a bad feeling.

Tamae was soon in the physics preparation room, and soon enough she heard Origami enter the room.

"Origami, what is it you need me to see?" Tamae asked, a bit nervous about how to use the device she normally had Reine use. Unfortunately, she hadn't been coming to the school since Mana had suddenly fallen ill. "If you need this to show me it, I don't think I'm good at using it."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that." Origami replied, soon taking a seat and typing. Despite having never seen her use the similar console at Ratatoskr's base, Origami quickly surprised Tamae as she showed full knowledge on its use.

"Did Reine teach you how to use this?" Tamae asked, completely flabbergasted. Origami shook her head.

"U-uh... well, I'm the super genius remember?" Origami stuttered, blushing a bit. After a bit, she brought up a video feed from one of the Ratatoskr observation devices. Showing the moment the alley Kurumi had been it was cleaned of her presence. "Video feed, rewind one minutes."

Soon the moment Artemisia showed up played.

"Maria sent me a message yesterday that Kurumi's spirit readings vanished... for good. I'd take a good look at this." Origami explained, and the two watched. After that minute... Tamae suddenly gasped.

"No way, but she's..." Tamae breathed.

"See what I mean? Get Shido and the others here, they need to see it too." Origami reasoned, and Tamae nodded as she went to get them. After about another 3 minutes, the others except Ashley who had went off... somewhere, had been brought in and saw the same clip. Shido nearly puked, while Kotori's eyes shook at the sight of Kurumi's Angel.

"What is this!?" Shido demanded.

"A recording from yesterday, when Kurumi was killed by a DEM wizard. It seems that girl we met... she's the Adeptus 2 we've only heard about before now." Origami explained, shaking a bit herself. Soon she saw Kotori's reaction. "Kotori?"

"...I know her, now I get why I recognized Kurumi. She was there, 5 years ago." Kotori stuttered, making Origami gasp a bit.

"Wait, you saw this Spirit during the fire 5 years ago? It wasn't just us?" Origami exclaimed in shock, but Kotori shook her head as she gave a fearful look.

"Not during the fire, before it... in fact she's how I caused it. She attacked me for no reason, she was insane... and pretty much stated she wanted me dead with a shot to my head." Kotori explained, everyone shocked as Kotori struggled to breathe properly from the stress of the memory.

"I don't get it, she's dead but not and... nice yet mean?" Tohka said, feeling confused. Tamae realizing the situation decided Maria's condition with her was fulfilled.

"Origami, rewind that video about three minutes back, there's something you all need to know. Something Maria didn't tell me to tell you until evidence appeared." Tamae suddenly stated, surprising Origami. "Just do it, trust me."

Origami nodded and did so, and soon enough they saw a video of the men being restrained before static suddenly briefly shot across the screen... but afterwards, the sight of a large shadow filling the alley and the three men gone was seen.

"Yoshinon, where did they go?" Yoshino asked shakily, now scared. Yoshinon didn't reply as she knew Yoshino couldn't take the truth.

"She... she just..." Shido said, his eyes shaking.

"Everyone, truth is Maria and the others discovered which Spirit she was from the start. She's Spirit No. 3, the one we call... [Nightmare], a spirit who controls shadows." Tamae answered, getting everyone's attention.

[But wait that mean she's S-]

"No, it isn't... I hate to say it but she really is dead." Tamae said sadly, making everyone gasp. "How her friend was described isn't this girl at all. She is the [Worst Spirit], a spirit who according to Mildred at the time she got the data, killed 10,000 unarmed civilians by non-Spacequake means."

"My god!" Kotori exclaimed, nearly puking at that revelation.

"A Spirit... who takes lives of her own free choice? Not even in the form of self-defense?" Origami stuttered, her voice whimpering a bit.

[On that day, we learned a horrible truth... there was a Spirit that was had every intent to take lives freely. Before then, we had only believed we were chasing a Spirit who unpredictable and maybe a yandere for Shido at best. Not anymore, from this point onward... We knew we were facing a predator, and our school was the cage holding its prey... that was us. No, the prey that was me.]

Shido's fist tightens as his fear fills his eyes.

[And the worst part of it? I still had to save her, but how do I save someone like this? Someone who's out to end my life? This date right here... may be the most difficult one of my entire life, and possibly the end of it.]

Meanwhile Kurumi was eating lunch back in the classroom, she suddenly smirked and give a dark stare as her eye glowed.

The horrible truth has been revealed, the murderous backstory behind Kurumi's actions, and worse is due to information Mildred had on hand... no one realizes that Kurumi actually is the best friend of Saya they're looking for and not a successor nightmare they missed the inheritance from between the decade she's been a Spirit. Better hope Saya wakes up soon to reveal this or they're in trouble!

And now we learn the stunning truth behind about what Kannazuki told Reine she should admit back in Yoshino's arc, you saw the Takamiya's father in a flashback last chapter, but as you can see here... the reason why Reine knew them without being their mother is because Shido and Mana's father was actually her older brother! Yes, I said was, in case you missed that detail... Reine mentioned he's deceased, what killed him had also killed her husband and she was the one who indirectly caused it with her choices.

Phantom crying, that really hit me in the feels, the reason I've always had her mentioned to be about the size of a young child is because she is literally only a kid. Not just physically, but also mentally despite how long she's been passing the Sephira crystals to host, she can act mature and confident but that can break in an instant if she wants to or pushed too far. I wonder why she suddenly switched to third person like that though? :3

Now the truth about Kurumi has reached Shido's group, so... how will they deal with the most dangerous Spirit of all? Also, where the heck did Ashley run off to during all this? Find out next time, where we start getting a closer look at the SSS as they suddenly get wind of an old friend's appearance in Tenguu City... but get a not so happy reunion.

-Spirit Bond Levels-

Tohka - 75%

Origami - 56%

Yoshino - 38%

Kotori - 67%