A Promise She Keeps

Chapter 05 - Chapter 06

By : Tohka_Yatogami

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Summary

To seal a Spirit, Shido must open their heart. Kurumi's heart though, was a fortress. One closed shut by a promise that she would give everything, except for her power. A night of passion however, starts them down an arduous path as Shido and Kurumi confront friend, family and enemy alike, and ultimately, discover what they mean to each other.

Chapter 05: A Promise She Questions

There was much to prepare before they met Kurumi.

The first, a shower and a change of clothes. As motivated and keen as he was to meet with Kurumi, their dishevelled state, not to mention their reeking of sex, was hardly the most proper state in which to meet her.

The second, and much thornier issue: Kotori.

Twice now, Shido had been kidnapped and spirited away by Kurumi. Although the outcome was decidedly more pleasurable and enjoyable than most kidnappings tended to be, he wasn't sure that Kotori appreciated it in quite the same way. So as to avoid setting off Kotori and sending her on a rampaging warpath to wherever it was that Kurumi was residing, he knocked on the door to Kotori's room.

"Hey!" Kotori was bright and perky as she answered the door in her pajamas, her hair down instead of being tied up with her signature ribbons.

"Hey Kotori," Shido gave the most charming, disarming smile that he could muster. "Do you have a moment? I just wanted to have a quick chat about Kurumi."

The moment Kurumi's name was mentioned, Kotori's smile froze over. Still wearing that expression, she fished out a pair of black ribbons and tied up her hair. The instant the ribbons were on, her smile dropped and a fearsome scowl took its place, as she adopted the persona of the Fraxinus' and Ratatoskr's harsh and unforgiving commander.

"Spit it out," Kotori ordered.

Shido took a breath. "I have to find Kurumi and talk to her."

Rather than explode into a storm, Kotori surprisingly just sighed, lowering her gaze to the floor before looking back up again. "This again, Shido? We just talked about it earlier."

"I know, I know, but-"

"Shido," Kotori interrupted, "What's with this obsession with Kurumi? I know you care about the Spirits – we wouldn't have gotten this far if you didn't – but this is going even beyond that."

"She's been trying to save my life, Kotori," Shido said. "And not just once either. I have to help her. I know you already said that we don't know what she thinks, but that's what I'm going to find out."

Seeing the determination in his eyes, Kotori could only sigh. "I can see that whatever I say isn't going to stop you. Okay, well let me get the crew and the Fraxinus ready before you go, so at least we can support you-"

Shido shook his head. "No Kotori. No support. I have to do this, alone."

"Are you out of your mind again?" Kotori groaned, and sunk her face into her hands out of exasperation. "I just had you tested, and now you go and do something like this. I don't care what Reine says, Kurumi really has messed with your head," she muttered into her palm, raising her hand and standing up.

"Shido, no . I've already agreed to let you go find her, but you are not doing it alone." Kotori crossed her arms across her chest, her eyes narrowing.

In contrast to his adopted sister's hardening posture and tone, Shido took a more expressive one. "Kotori. If I can't speak my heart to Kurumi, then we can't ever expect Kurumi to do the same. She'll never trust anything I say if she knows I'm just speaking for Ratatoskr."

"Kurumi's not like the others though," Kotori protested. "I told you already, she's dangerous!"

"Just like when Miku turned the whole city on me? Or when Muku locked away everyone's memories?" Shido said. "Kotori, there's always danger in what we do, but it's the risk that we need to take. If we want to help the Spirits, if we want to open their hearts, then I need to show them what I am willing to do as well."

Kotori's shoulders sagged as he spoke, and her gaze met the floor. Whatever resistance she had built up was crumbling.

"I'll come back," Shido promised. "Hopefully with Kurumi, but I will come back, Kotori. Don't you worry about that."

In response, Kotori hugged him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his middle.

"You're such an idiot," she whispered. "But you're also my brother. Come back safely. Bring Kurumi with you, and make us proud."

Earlier.

If there was one thing that Kurumi appreciated about the current timeline, pleasures of the flesh aside, it was waking up properly; a far more pleasant experience than the sudden shock of consciousness from her mind being sent back from the future. After all, every time she had shot herself in the head with Vav, it had been after some lethal threat had befallen Shido, the aftermath of which was typically apocalyptic: a hurricane devouring the city whole, a violent storm of purple and black energy cutting a swathe of destruction across the land; a fiery demon descending from the burning, shattered corpse of an airship on great wings of flame, the very air itself igniting with its passage.

But these past few days, Kurumi had been able to rise with the sun, sleepily taking in the world around her before waking. And today? Kurumi shivered as a tingle ran down her body, remembering just what had happened before she fell asleep. Shido had, almost literally, fucked her senseless. Between that and the borderline mental collapse of reliving so many timelines again and again, Kurumi had taken to sleep like a man dying of thirst took to water at a spring. The consequence of which reflected in her phone showing it was well past noon.

This late into the day, it was almost certainly too late to attend class; from what one of her clones had reported, Shido had also been absent. If nothing else, the rumours and whispers that would be fueled by their failure to attend class together would be amusing. Her clones evidently shared the same thought, given that any one of them could have simply donned her uniform and taken her place. So it was that Kurumi went about the remainder of her routine with a lightness in her heart that was reflected in the bounce of her step.

But the thing about moods and emotions though – they were fickle and fleeting.

So as night fell across the city, like a curtain being drawn across the heavens, so too did Kurumi's mood darken. The Spirit once again found herself atop one of Tengu City's many skyscrapers. This one was not the tallest, but tall enough that the buzz of the city below - shifting into its nightly routine - blended into rivers of light; punctuated and shepherded along by the buildings rising from the ground like fingers stretching up into the sky. The noise of a city coming into nightlife swelled up from beneath her; an ocean of noise, of deep thumping bass, honking horns lifted up by the low rumble of life moving along. The sights and the sounds were lost on Kurumi, looking across the city but without actually seeing, as once again, Kurumi found herself lost in her thoughts. Once again, Kurumi kept seeing a pair of eyes that looked up at her.

For once though, the eyes were not those of the dead, accusatory stare of her friend - but rather, the shining, adoring eyes of the boy who loved Spirits as he lay below her as they joined in the most carnal of unions.

The boy who loved Spirits. Kurumi had no idea how that moniker had come into being, but it wasn't an inaccurate description for the one who had captured the hearts of almost all the known Spirits. But that title, informal as it were, had another implication for her.

Did that include yourself?

To be loved. A sought-after goal for so many. Almost everyone dreamed of falling in love, of being loved. Kurumi herself had once harboured such dreams; but that was a lifetime ago. Now though, she had long accepted the fact that she was damned. There was no happy ending for herself, not after everything she had done. But she was okay with that. All the suffering that she'd been through, all the pain, the hardship, the broken bodies and broken minds: in the end it would all be worth it if she could bring everything back to zero. Or so she had thought.

Then Shido happened, and everything seemingly changed.

In truth, that she even considered the question scared her. It was so much easier to commit the acts that she had done, when she believed that no one would care for her. Now though, the fact that someone could care for her – and that she wanted him to – scared her more than anything else. The game itself was an attempt to bring back a semblance of control - over Shido, and over her own traitorous heart. She had hoped that the old feeling, of her versus the world, would make it easier to see Shido as the boy with nine Spirits worth of reiryorku within him, instead of Shido, the boy who loved Spirits. So lost in her thoughts, so consumed by that single question, that Kurumi was only shaken from her reverie when someone spoke.

" Me ."

The voice behind her was her own, and she felt the speaker come to a stop behind her. A glance back soured her expression, as she noted it was the clone with the medical eyepatch, a frilly gothic dress, and an infuriating streak of individuality. Yet somehow, this clone was still not the most worrisome of her clones.

"What is it?"

"An update. There have been more of us who have failed to check in as of late. Another three groups, to be precise," the clone in the gothic dress reported dutifully.

Kurumi frowned. "The Nibelcol."

The clone tipped her head in agreement. "We believe that DEM is becoming more aware of our activities, and have been moving to counter us in turn. We are not seeing the same level of success that we initially achieved."

"That is certainly concerning," Kurumi sighed before falling silent, contemplating.

She had never reached this far before, and any surety that she had from walking the same path over and over again was long gone. Ensuring Shido's safety was paramount. And as good as the weakened Second Spirit's interference with the All-knowing Demon King's omniscient sight was, it couldn't hide one away from being physically spotted. So Kurumi's clones had been playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, to counteract the DEM and Nibelcol search parties hunting for Shido's head.

And therein lay her dilemma. Vav was a world-changing force, but even it could only send the mind back so far, and it demanded a not-insignificant sum of time: to the extent that each time, she had to sacrifice all of her clones to even have a chance of sending her mind back to a point where she could make a difference. But Kurumi's time also had to be used for her clones, and their ranks were beginning to thin. The more clones she lost now, the greater the risk of not being able to go back far enough to make a difference. It was a delicate balancing act, and tipping one way or another would likely end in disaster. Creating too many clones and losing them would mean that she had no easy way to reverse time should Shido be lost. Too few however, meant that DEM finding Shido and killing him would become a near certainty, as a consequence of their endless resources and creativity for finding ways to end his life.

Before, losing Shido had been a heavy blow to Kurumi, but she mourned the loss of the potential within him as much as the person himself. Now though, the thought of losing Shido sent a deep-seated feeling of unease within her, a worry growing like a cancer in her heart for some reason that she couldn't explain; it was feeling that she hadn't experienced since she nearly inverted upon discovering the truth of the sephira stone's existence. In the end, it wasn't really much of a choice.

"Relay a message to the others," Kurumi said, her decision made. "They are to take utmost caution when dealing with the Nibelcol, and to minimise losses amongst themselves. But we must continue to deal with the DEM search parties: under no circumstance is any harm to befall Shido-san. His safety must be ensured."

The clone bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Your will be done, me ."

A minute passed, and then another. Kurumi felt her shadow grow and a clone pass through, but the presence lingering behind her remained. She spared a glance back, and saw the clone with the eyepatch standing there, serene as night itself. In turn, she felt her annoyance grow and mood sour at the thought of another verbal sparring match with that clone.

"I thought I made my instructions quite clear," Kurumi said.

"That you have, me . The orders have been relayed to the others."

"Then why are you still here?"

"It is about Shido-san, me ."

Too proper to snort in amusement, Kurumi rolled her one organic eye before turning back to the city below them, arms folded. "If you've stayed to ask for your turn with Shido-san, then forget such a delusion and save our time."

The clone barely flinched from Kurumi's curt, dismissive tone. She stood behind her progenitor, the same, small mischievous smile on her face. "I think it is not we who are deluded about our time with Shido-san."

By way of response, Kurumi turned to face her clone, gaze hardening: indicating to the clone that she would brook no further discussion, and that in no uncertain terms, the clone's next words had better contain an apology.

Any other clone would have shied back, unwilling to bear Kurumi's wrath. This clone however, remained uncowed, defiantly meeting Kurumi's gaze. The challenge in her eyes was clear, as were the meaning behind her words. Kurumi could not let that be.

"I have told all of you before, and that includes you : my will has not wavered," she declared. "The power that lies within Shido-san will be mine. I will not be questioned on this again."

"So me says," the clone replied. "But has me questioned our goals? It is not wrong for me to have wants and desires. So should we not consider whether our chosen path is the one that is the most suitable for achieving our heart's desire?"

"Our path is the only path!" The same anger from when Origami confronted her that night started to bubble up beneath her cracking demeanour.

"So then, have we accepted the consequences of our chosen path? Do you truly understand what it will mean for our relationship with Shido-san should we win?" the clone pressed on.

"If I did not, then I wouldn't be here!" Kurumi's blood boiled with that same directionless anger, but beneath the fury, discomfort gnawed away at her as the clone forced her to think about the uncomfortable reality that faced her should she be successful in devouring the reiryorku within Shido.

"So knowing this, do you still believe that it is truly the right thing to do?" the clone all-but demanded, stepping forward.

"I don't know!"

At last, the truth. Kurumi, raised from birth to be proper, so controlled, so poised, finally lashed out. The directionless, all-consuming anger simmering away within her for so long exploded at last, and Kurumi finally gave voice to it. "I don't know what's right anymore! I don't even know what I want anymore! Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"It is not what I wish to hear, me ," the clone said, no longer smiling. "It is about being honest with yourself."

"And what does that have to do with anything right now?" Kurumi snapped.

"It has to do with everything," the clone replied. "Three nights ago, me declared the following: 'my happiness does not matter. My feelings for Shido-san do not matter.' I would posit, that this is wrong. It is precisely this disregard for your happiness that is causing this distress."

"My happiness with Shido-san does not matter! I was happy with Sawa-san too – then how is the pursuit of that goal different?" If the clone was hoping to rile up Kurumi, then she was successful: her eye blazed with anger, her hands balled up into fists as she stepped well into her clone's space.

For the first time, the clone flinched back. But she returned, her resolve renewed. "Sawa-san is our dear friend. That is true. But Shido-san could be more-"

"He is not!" Kurumi interrupted, refusing to allow her clone to finish that sentence. "Did you forget what is at stake, should he win this game? And besides, his feelings for me…they may not be even real!"

In spite of everything, Kurumi was unable to force any meaning behind those last few words; they came out hollow, and an uncomfortable tightness formed in her stomach as she spoke. It did not go unnoticed by her clone.

"Your lack of honesty with yourself once more is blinding yourself to several truths," the clone replied. "Firstly: Shido-san is hardly the actor you believe him to be. Second, Origami-san has seemed to vouch for his authenticity. He cares , as she puts it. And lastly, the game itself is a self-inflicted wound of your own doing."

When Kurumi didn't reply, the clone pushed on – after all, she was still Kurumi, and every bit as determined and stubborn as herself.

"So I will ask this once again: is this the path that me truly desires, and if so, are you prepared to pay the price that this path will entail?"

Kurumi slumped down to the floor, the fight draining out of her.

"...I don't know," she finally answered, looking down at the cracked concrete tiles, the anger dissipating.

For a while the clone stood there, observing. Kurumi remained silent, lost in her own thoughts again. The clone couldn't help a look of pity, as she watched herself struggle with her internal conflict. She lowered herself to the ground, the action catching Kurumi's attention at last, and her tone was softer, gentler, as she spoke again.

"Think deeply about this. If Shido's heart was won, and the reiryorku that is within him is taken as it is our right, then it will give me everything needed to reach our goal," the clone said. "We will have a chance to right our past wrongs, and bring Sawa-san back. But then-"

"Then Shido-san will die," Kurumi finished, exhausted. "And when the world starts anew once more - we will never meet again."

The clone's silence was telling.

Kurumi sighed. "I truly am the worst Spirit."

"Yes, we are," the clone agreed. "But we do not always have to be."

Silence hung in the air between them, only filled by the incessant, subdued noise of the city in motion far below them. A silence that was shattered in a span of a single breath as someone spoke.

"Oh dear, talking to yourself again? That's not a good sign," a distorted voice echoed above them.

Kurumi snapped out of her daze, instantly narrowing on the source of the voice; a strange distortion in space itself, like reality had shattered into shards much like those of a broken mirror, the pieces constantly shifting and rearranging themselves to hide whatever being floated behind them.

"Phantom," Kurumi scowled.

Kurumi's mysterious benefactor, and the one who had tipped her off about Shido's existence in the first place. However, in spite of any advice that had been provided to Kurumi, the third Spirit had never fully trusted the mysterious and aptly-named Phantom. As such, her pistol was already raised and aimed at the centre of the distortion.

"Is that how you treat all your friends? Pointing guns at them?" Phantom's voice was as distorted as its appearance, changing pitch and frequency, to the point where it was impossible to discern the gender of the being.

"Friend? You surely have a high opinion of yourself," Kurumi's finger tightened on the trigger almost imperceptibly. "Why are you here?"

"You were looking so down in the dumps, that I couldn't help but to come by and visit. After all, isn't that what friends do?" Phantom said, their mocking tone a sharp contrast to the words spoken.

Phantom was answered by the crack of a gun. The bullet split the air towards the entity, but came to an abrupt stop just before the warp in reality, the bullet hanging in the air as if frozen in time.

"Dear me, that's a touchy subject then," Phantom noted with mild amusement, despite having been shot at.

The distortion reached out, Kurumi only just able to make out the shape of a hand underneath those shifting shards, and flicked the bullet. It dissolved into shadowy flecks, like ash in the wind. "Just one bullet for me? You're growing softer."

"Please do not flatter yourself into thinking I'll need any more than that to kill you," Kurumi's eyes narrowed. "And by the time I'm finished with you, you'll be reconsidering just how soft I am."

Phantom floated in place, unmoving, as though they were pondering Kurumi's words. "...such threats are unbecoming of you, Kurumi. What would he have to say about that?"

"It doesn't matter what he has to say."

"It doesn't? Of course not. What was it that you said? You don't love him, he doesn't care about you, and most of all, your feelings don't matter." Phantom recited a series of phrases that Kurumi had oft-repeated, whether to herself or her clones. The entity barely moved, but Kurumi felt that their eyes were fixed onto her, burning a hole through her very being; a sharp contrast to the sudden chill that ran through Kurumi's body; she had never said those phrases to anyone other than her clones.

This being was watching her.

"Claim what you will Kurumi, your actions prove otherwise. You care for him, or else you would have taken his power in any of the many opportunities that you were provided."

Kurumi remained silent, pistol still trained against Phantom. Part of it was that she refused to rise to any bait that it laid out; the other was to buy time, to let Phantom keep talking as her mind raced to come up with a solution that wasn't just shooting the entity until it either died or gave up and ran away.

"...your silence is telling. I never would have expected this from you of all people, Kurumi."

"And what do you know of me?" Kurumi said, tone dripping with sarcasm.

"More than you know yourself, apparently." Phantom let out a sigh, hanging in the air for another moment before continuing. "I had originally planned to come here as a friend, to offer you some advice. But seeing as how we're no longer friends, then I suppose that my support is no longer needed."

The moment Kurumi sensed that Phantom was about to leave, she was more than prepared for it. "You cannot escape that easily! Zaphkiel! Zayin !"

The air swirled and distorted behind her, as an enormous and ornate clock, with a radius as long as she was tall, pushed its way into reality. A sliver of red-black shadow slipped from the seventh numeral into the barrel of her pistol. Kurumi felt a small warmth bloom in her chest as her Angel responded to her command, loading her pistol with the special bullet that would freeze her target's time.

In the span of two heartbeats, Kurumi levelled the loaded pistol at Phantom and fired – only for her target to suddenly drop to the ground in the heartbeat between Kurumi lining up the shot and pulling the trigger, the bullet passing through where Phantom was a moment ago.

" Me !" Kurumi cried out.

From all around Phantom, Kurumi's clones suddenly revealed themselves: stepping out from behind ductworks and air conditioning units, dragging themselves out of the shadows that abruptly grew across the rooftop. The giggling clones attacked as one, a hundred guns firing in concert. The once-quiet scen e erupted into a warzone, filled with the cacophony of thunderous gunshots.

Phantom may have been able to avoid one bullet, but now there were over a hundred fired at them at any one time. A steady stream of bullets followed and hammered at the entity, chips and fragments splintering away from the whirling shards of reality like glass from a mirror. Disconcertingly, the endless bullets failed to even phase them, as Phantom leapt from point to point across the roof, before landing only a few metres in front of Kurumi. The distortion lowered itself, as if the person hiding behind it was hunched down, and suddenly launched itself forward.

Kurumi's eyes widened and she brought up her musket to counter, but Phantom already was blitzing forward, bulling through a hail of bullets before slamming into Kurumi with the force of a freight train. The impact threw Kurumi onto the ground, sliding back a few metres before skidding to a halt. A sharp pain flared up in Kurumi's arm, and even as she tried to recover, she knew that she wouldn't be ready in time to counter Phantom's next attack.

Salvation came unexpectedly.

"Kurumi!" Shido's voice came from behind her.

Kurumi snapped her head about instantly, her heart leaping up into her mouth. In a fight, such a distraction was fatal; but Shido's sudden appearance had also drawn Phantom's attention. They stopped short of launching the next attack, and leapt back into the air, and with another jump too quick to track, disappeared into the night. Kurumi's clones fired a few parting shots, but the entity departed as quickly as they had appeared, and the rooftop soon grew quiet.

"Are you alright Kurumi?" Shido appeared beside her, voice and eyes full of concern. His hand touched her back as he helped her sit up, and Kurumi's skin tingled from where his skin met hers – the few crisscrossing straps of her backless Astral dress doing little to prevent the contact.

"Yes, I'm fine, Shido-san," Kurumi said, but her reassurances fell on deaf ears.

"Kurumi, what happened? Wasn't that the same person we saw when we went back to save Origami. Why were you attacked by them? Do you need help-"

"Shido-san, please! I'm fine!" Kurumi interrupted him, the stress from her clone and being attacked by Phantom spilling out for a second before she regained her composure.

Shido clammed up, mouth pursing into a tight line. He didn't let go of her arm though, and an unpleasant tinge of guilt settled in Kurumi's stomach as she caught the flash of hurt in his eyes for a moment.

"I'm sorry; that was rude of me," she backtracked. That he hadn't released his hold of her arm gave her hope though, and Kurumi seized onto that with both hands. "Could you please give me a hand?"

The offer worked, and he nodded, something resembling relief passing through his gaze. She allowed Shido to help her up, his hand lingering on her upper arm before he finally pulled away, the sudden loss of sensation causing a shiver to run through her body.

"Kurumi," Shido started to say.

All sorts of unwelcome thoughts passed through Kurumi's head, just as a tumult of conflicting emotions hit her. There was that feeling of butterflies in her stomach, that odd fluttering that she had not felt in ages. The slightest flush, as memories of their last encounter coursed straight down to her loins. And above all, the ever-present feeling of needing to accomplish her goal at all costs collided with the question of whether she was willing to condemn him to death to fix a mistake he had no part in. The fact that Shido stood in front of her, and that she could tell how much he cared about her, and could hear the concern in his voice from the moment he had seen her attacked by Phantom, only fed into the guilt that had been pooling on her conscience.

All of it meant Kurumi, once so sure of her path, was cast adrift and for once – vulnerable. So she resorted to her instincts: to cloud her motives and flee before the dust settled, and before Shido could do or say anything that would sway her further.

"Shido-san, as pleasant as it is to see you again, I have business elsewhere. I bid you farewell, and perhaps we too can have some business together soon~" Kurumi forced a disarmingly flirty smile and wink that was once effortless, and turned to leave. Even as she did, a not-insignificant voice echoed in her head, demanding that she stay, that she spend more time with Shido and the consequences be damned.

But before she could step in her shadow and disappear, a hand seized her upper arm.

"Kurumi. Wait."

Shido's own voice resonated in his ear, and he was just as surprised as Kurumi as to the steadfastness and determination in his voice, if her expression was anything to go by.

"Please…don't go."

It was a request, not a demand.

The clone from Tatabana had faded away, disappearing back into the shadows, leaving him and Kurumi alone on the roof again. Kurumi's other clones similarly made themselves scarce, with only one lingered for a moment longer: the individualistic clone with the frilly dress and medical eyepatch, who gave him a smile and a nod before disappearing. The words from that clone earlier came to mind, and the implicit show of support from the clones gave him a shot to his confidence. He relaxed his grip on Kurumi's arm, as if to signify that staying was now her choice.

Looking into Kurumi's eyes was always a nerve-wracking experience: one could only guess at her emotions through her scarlet eye, and the steady ticking of its golden, inorganic clock counterpart made one feel as though they were on a timer. But Shido persevered, drawing on the confidence that the clones had in him to meet her gaze. He watched her eye, as it looked him up, down, into him. He willed her to see it, to see how much he wanted her to stay. He didn't know if she did, but within her own eyes, he saw deep-seated wariness, of a girl who had fought on her own for so long, the weariness of having redone the past over and over and over again, and the barest glimmer of hope . Even though his gaze was consumed entirely by Kurumi, he could somehow feel the shadow beneath her feet wavering and flickering across the roof in wholly unnatural ways, as if the shadow itself were an extension of her being and her emotions.

"Very well. As you request, Shido-san," Kurumi nodded, her gaze softening.

The shadow settled.

Shido let out his breath, releasing Kurumi's arm at the same time.

"Kurumi, are you really okay? Why did that person attack you?" Shido asked.

"One doesn't survive for as long as I have without gathering some enemies along the way," Kurumi said, slightly dismissive of his concerns. Her tone became gentler when she spoke again. "Thank you for your concern, Shido-san, but it is misplaced. Phantom and I were never allies, and it appears that their motive works directly against mine. It is natural for enemies to fight."

"Maybe it is, but I'm always going to be concerned when you get hurt from it," Shido didn't release his grip on her upper arm, gingerly turning her arm about.

Kurumi looked confused for a moment before she finally noticed it herself: the last attack which had sent her skidding across the roof ripped open a large patch of skin on her arm, exposing the raw flesh beneath. Blood dripped from the wound, hardly a pleasant sight.

Still, Shido had seen Kurumi barely react to her arm being cut off entirely; a wound such as this would have barely phased her. As a Spirit, the protection afforded to her by her Astral Dress, and her supernatural tolerance for pain, meant that her current wound certainly looked scarier than it was. Still, it wasn't something that Shido was comfortable to leave unattended.

"Let me help you with that," Shido said.

He led Kurumi over to a nearby bench, sitting her down before taking his place next to her. He began fumbling about his person for a moment, searching through pockets in vain hope of finding a suitable bandage; all the while holding onto her arm with a firm grip. His reluctance to release her did not go unnoticed by Kurumi.

"So, are you taking advantage of this opportunity to get your hands on me again, Shido-san?" Not long ago, Kurumi's tone would have been light and the words spoken in jest. Now though, even Shido could tell that her words were forced.

"You know what I'm doing," Shido replied. He stopped his rummaging a moment later with a sigh. "I don't have a bandage with me. Hang on…"

He moved to take off his jacket and shirt, intending to tear off his sleeve to use as an impromptu bandage. But before he could mangle his clothing, his shadow, cast by gentle moon overhead, swelled up. A pale, ghostly hand stretched out of the shadow, with some antiseptic wipes and a roll of bandages in its palm.

Shido paused, before accepting the strange sight for what it was. Typically the hands were dragging someone down into Kurumi's shadow with a slow, sucking finality. To see it being used in such a mundane utility was novel, to say the least, though it was not an unwelcome development.

"Ah, thank you," he said, gingerly taking the proffered materials.

The hand flicked about, much like a performer taking a bow, before pulling back. Now free from errant hands and arms, Shido turned back to Kurumi.

"Hold still Kurumi; this may sting a little," he warned her, before wiping her wound down.

A serene quiet filled the air between them as he worked. There were few words exchanged between them, with Shido asking a few questions to check that he wasn't actually making things worse for Kurumi. So absorbed in his task as he was, he failed to notice just how intensely Kurumi observed him as he bandaged her wound. She watched like a hawk, eyes taking in the most minute details: noticing the tenderness with which he held her arm, the care he took when wrapping the gauze and bandage around her wound. She saw his laser-like focus, the determination to avoid hurting her anymore regardless of her own tolerance for pain, and in spite of herself, all the tension and conflict from before began to melt away under his tender care, and she began to feel herself relax, enjoying his ministrations.

Midway through his work, Shido spoke up unexpectedly. "I never got the chance to say thank you. For everything you've done for me."

Kurumi was jerked out of her thoughts by the sudden statement. It took her a moment to recover before she could reply.

"Oh? So how is it that Shido-san plans to thank me? Perhaps through allowing me to partake of his reiryorku?" Kurumi's tone, light and teasing, stopped any instinctive protest that Shido may have had. To their mutual relief, her confidence and charm had returned.

Two can play that game.

"How about a kiss instead?" Shido shot back.

Kurumi's eyes widened and her mouth hung open for a moment, before being replaced by an amused grin on seeing the difficulty that Shido had in keeping a straight face. "Ara ara…well look at how much you've grown, Shido-san."

They shared a look, before they simultaneously realised how close they were to each other. Realisation gave way to embarrassment, and they averted their gazes. Shido cleared his throat, trying to reset the moment, before he resumed putting the final touches on Kurumi's bandage. It was a silly thing to be embarrassed about, that he knew; after all, they had been physically closer and more intimate before, and wearing even less too boot. But still, something about that exchange: the prolonged touches, the closeness, the exhilarating highs of trading wits with Kurumi, something made it special. Something made it pure.

It was on that particular note that Shido finished up his work. "There. All done, Kurumi."

He settled back, releasing her arm, though he couldn't help his fingers from lingering a bit longer. Kurumi took that time to inspect his handiwork: it was, admittedly, nothing special in and of itself, and there were more than a few things that could have been improved – but the bandage would hold. But perhaps most importantly, was not so much the item itself, but the intent that it represented.

"...thank you, Shido-san. It's perfect," Kurumi said.

Shido's smile could have lit up the sky if such a feat were possible – as it were, the sight sent Kurumi's heart soaring.

Kurumi stood up and walked over to the edge of the roof, where a waist-high concrete guard rose up. Shido followed a few steps behind her His position gave him enough of a view to notice the subtle changes Kurumi underwent as she walked: her posture straightened, her steps became lighter, and there was a slight but definite sashay of her hips. By the time she reached the edge, Kurumi had seemingly returned to her usual self. At the guarding edge of the roof they stood, with only the moon above and the noise rising up from the city for company.

All of a sudden, Kurumi spun about. "I must apologise for my lack of manners earlier, Shido-san. Good evening to you."

Kurumi gave a small curtsy as she spoke, dipping her head gently and pinching up the corners of her skirt as she settled back on both feet. A sudden gust of sharp, chilly wind caught her hair as she straightened up, brushing the midnight-black strands across her cheekbones, her dress flapping and rustling about her. Shido sucked in a breath, momentarily speechless.

"What brings you to my humble abode this fine evening, Shido-san?" Kurumi asked.

"I just came here to talk with you Kurumi," Shido replied, hands held up in a disarming manner.

"So you really came all the way here to find me, just to talk? There's something called text messaging, Shido-san."

Shido shook his head again. "It's not the same, and you know that Kurumi. I wanted to talk to you in person."

"And what, pray tell, may be that important?"

"Us."

It was funny how a single word could hold so much power. Kurumi halted in her tracks, tilting her head at him curiously.

"Us," she repeated, almost as if she were testing the weight of the word, and its significance, on her tongue.

This time, he nodded in affirmation.

"And you said that you weren't here for the conclusion of our game?" Kurumi raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"It's not for the game," Shido said, breathing through his nose to calm down. "It's for me. Kotori, all the others, they all say that I'm not seeing things clearly. That you mean to hurt me, what you're doing isn't really what you feel. I defended you Kurumi. That's why I'm here. I want to know you, what you're thinking, what you're feeling. What you think of us ."

Kurumi remained quiet, seemingly absorbing his words. When she finally spoke, it was something unexpected yet all-so-Kurumi at the same time.

"Shido-san, as noble as your words and deeds may be, I am hurt that such rumours would abound of me," Kurumi said, bringing both hands up to her face in mock disappointment – though there was a hint of sincerity that she couldn't quite mask in her voice. "I've already given you almost everything: my time, my memories, my body…apart from my reiryoku, what else is left for me to give you?"

Your heart . The thought rose up unprompted, unbidden, but remained unspoken.

"The truth," Shido replied. "I want to know what we mean to each other."

"The truth." Kurumi pursed her lips in thought. "Shido-san, do you see the dilemma that we are in? Should I admit the truth of that, whatever it may be, then the outcome of our game will become known, and one of us will fulfill our desire, and the other will lose something most dear to them. Pursuant to that, how would I know that what you're telling me is also your truth?"

"You'll have to trust me. But if what I say is not enough, then let me show you with my actions," Shido earnestly replied.

"Kurumi, would you go on a date with me? Right now?" Shido asked, holding his hand out to her, arm outstretched. Kurumi would barely have to move to take hold of his hand, but the distance between them felt like standing on opposite ends of an ocean as he waited for her response. Her hand lifted halfway before faltering, as her eyes shifted between his hand and his face.

It was just like that first time they confronted each other atop the school. Back then, he had managed to convince Kurumi – or rather, her clone – that there was another way forward. Kurumi herself had not been as convinced as her clone, leading to her first death. He had grown a lot since that time, and just like that time before, Tohka's words came to mind.

Show her another way.

"Kurumi, we've made a great team together. We've fought together, saved people together, we even changed the world together. Let's have one great date together – just us. No Ratatoskr, no one in my ear telling me what to do, no plan to ask you for a kiss at the end. Just you and me, together. And whatever happens after, we'll walk that journey. Together."

By the time he had finished speaking, Kurumi was no longer looking at his hand, but watching him talk. A small but genuine smile lifted her face, and he suddenly realised that Kurumi had taken his hand in hers.

"Let us go then, Shido-san. Lead the way, and show me your truth."

.

.

.

Chapter 06: The Promise She Kept

If asked later, in a time when Spirits and spacequakes were but a memory, Kurumi would have truthfully replied that she could not remember all that many specifics about their date together that night. But the feelings – those she could remember all-too-vividly.

There was that tension between them; some of it a natural consequence of their conflicting goals, but the rest from that force that drew them irrevocably closer together. When they first stepped out of that building and into the city beyond, when Shido had proffered his arm for her and she had taken it gently, it had not been completely comfortable for either of them as they walked into the night: there was a hesitancy to it and their steps were out of sync, as they alternated turns in tugging the other forward.

But like ice thawing, it wasn't long before they settled into a smooth, easy pace: Kurumi moulding herself to his side, Shido's arm snaking around her waist as they walked side-by-side, arm-in-arm, melting into the crowd gathered in the pedestrian heart of the city.

And what a crowd it was! The streets were packed with humanity, thousands of people and hundreds of couples flowing through the space in great rivers of movement. The great spacequake thirty years ago did not leave Japan, which was relatively untouched by the disaster, unscarred; realising that their futures could be snatched away in but an instant, people had come out in droves to enjoy their lives to the fullest, resulting in a booming nightlife for Tengu City. You didn't so much hear the noise of the night as much as you felt it: a cacophony of thumping bass, of distant bleating horns, and a thousand different conversations layered on top. It added an electrifying element to the air around Shido and Kurumi as they moved amongst the bustling crowd, and the atmosphere was so lively, almost infectious in its energy, that one couldn't help but to keep pushing onwards through the crowd, and see all that the space had to offer.

Vendors had come out in force to accommodate the surging demand, shouting over the din to be noticed, while lining the streets with their carts and stalls, offering trinkets, food, and games. It was that last one which caught Shido's attention, as he nudged Kurumi and led the two of them towards a game offering various plushies for the lucky victors.

"Shido-san?" Kurumi asked by way of question.

He only flashed her a reassuring smile. "I thought I'd show you something that I'm actually good at, since you're usually always showing me how amazing you are."

Kurumi's cheeks flushed at the shameless compliment, even as she took a step back to allow him time to shine.

"Do your best!" she called out, clapping her hands together.

Shido's boast turned out to be exactly that, as he was nothing short of terrible. It was a silly game, with low stakes, but Shido's ability to feel shame was apparently even lower as he struggled valiantly against the odds. Kurumi laughed and cheered with every failed attempt, and it wasn't long before she was cajoled into playing, the vendor acquiescing and allowing them to work together as a team.

Together, they were able to achieve what Shido's skills – or lack thereof – was unable to accomplish alone. The buzzer rang, sounding their victory, and Kurumi, oh-so composed and poised Kurumi, couldn't help getting caught up in the moment. Before she knew it, she had hugged Shido, laughing and cheering as they celebrated. She flushed red when rational thought caught up, separating with an embarrassed cough. Shido, thankfully, made no mention of it as they made their way to the prize stand, where Kurumi hung back while Shido chose.

So caught up in her thoughts, that she was startled out of them only when a chestnut-coloured cat plushy with large, shining beads for eyes, was presented to her.

"Here Kurumi. For you," Shido said, holding out a stuffed toy.

"Shido-san, what's this?" Kurumi tilted her head at Shido, her gaze narrowing. Memories – unwelcome ones, the ones which made her heart seize up - were dragged out when she saw the cat and its colour.

"Ah," Shido scratched his head in embarrassment, as if all the floundering he did before meant nothing, "I saw that plushy and it somehow reminded me of you. I, ah, don't know how to put it exactly, but it felt like it was the right one for you. That it'd be something you would like."

Kurumi turned the soft toy over in her hands. The memories usually hurt – anything to do with her mistake typically did – but now they stung far less when she held the toy in her hand and thought of who had given it to her. Her smile and gaze softened as she played with the toy, enjoying the fuzzy felt rubbing against her skin, and the slight give of the toy as she squeezed with her fingers.

"Thank you, Shido-san. I appreciate the gift."

He smiled back at her. "Any time, Kurumi."

That old, guarded tension had long since faded away, and the comfort that Kurumi felt from Shido's arm around her and his physical closeness, was only matched by the warm contentment that grew within her as they continued forward. Around Shido, the masks were dropping. She could be Kurumi, the girl underneath, not Kurumi the Third Spirit, Kurumi the Worst Spirit. The change reflected in her demeanour as the night wore on: there was a lightness to her laugh, a twinkle in her eye as she smiled, and a flourish to her steps as she danced away from Shido on occasion, dress whirling up around her in a flurry of orange and black.

Even as she twirled away, just out of Shido's reach, he couldn't help but see flashes of Kurumi's past. He remembered Kurumi Tokisaki, the girl with two scarlet eyes, ivory skin, and hair as black as midnight, the one with a smile on her face and justice in her heart, the one who been killed long before she had any chance to experience the dizzying highs and lows of teenage relationships. It was a time that had been stolen from her, a life never lived, and Shido promised, even if it was only to himself, that she would have the chance to experience this at least once. So he threw himself into the chase, eliciting a brilliant laugh from Kurumi as he caught her by the hand, and pulled her along into the crowd and the night beyond.

As the hour grew later and the crowd drew thinner, Shido and Kurumi found themselves wandering further and further from the bustling main streets. The almost-overwhelming noise died away, with only their footsteps, the wind and the occasional distant whirr of tyres on asphalt taking its place. Their pace slowed as they wandered without a destination in mind, meandering through the winding streets of Tengu City. Neither said anything, content.

So the heavens instead spoke for them, with a sudden rumbling of thunder and rapid downpour that sent them scurrying under the porch of a nearby closed business, huddling together within the cramped space.

"Well Shido-san, I suppose this is it," Kurumi said as they watched the rain fall and listened to the pattering of raindrops on their shelter. "Not exactly the glamorous end to the date that you were hoping for, isn't it?"

"Not quite," Shido shook his head, before pointing forward.

Kurumi glanced over towards the area that Shido was indicating, unsure of what he was pointing at until -

There. Tucked away neatly in a corner of a parking lot, sat a small ramen truck. The owner had unpacked the sides, lifting them up until they resembled the wings of a butterfly. Long wooden benches served as seats, and rigid sheets of plastic hung from the metallic wings, tied down to the ground to protect the diners within from the elements. A softly-glowing red lantern hung from the nearby street pole, like a light guiding weary travellers. The promise of hot food, with the steamy heat of noodles and soup and shelter from the rain, was as appealing as a blazing fire on the hearth.

"You must be starving, Kurumi. Let's get something warm to eat, alright?" Shido did his best to sound nonchalant, though there was no masking the eagerness in his eyes. Faced with that, Kurumi didn't have the heart within her to refuse his offer.

They splashed over to the truck, through the puddles and the rain, Shido holding his jacket over Kurumi's head; an unnecessary, but appreciated gesture nonetheless, especially given that Kurumi was still clutching the plushy. The elderly owner ushered them in upon seeing them, fussing and scolding them about the rain and their lack of preparation, speaking in that paternal manner one only gained from experience. He sat them down next to each other, returning to the bubbling pots of soup with their orders. There were no other patrons at the cart, so they leaned against each other, Shido damp and slightly breathless from the run, Kurumi merely closing her eyes and enjoying the company, listening to the rain pattering on the roof and the ground around them, and the clattering of various utensils as the man prepared their food.

It wasn't long before two steaming bowls appeared before them. Thanks were offered before Shido and Kurumi tucked into their meals, the hot soup and noodles a salve to the chilly, nippy weather beyond the cosy warmth of the little truck. They ate quietly, the space filled with the sounds of noodles being slurped, utensils clattering against the bowls and cookware as the owner stirred and watched over vats of soups, and the muted sound of the small television mounted on the wall.

The owner waited until they finished eating before speaking up. "How was everything?"

"It was good. Have you been doing this for a long time?" Shido asked, reaching across the counters to pass over their payment.

The old man snorted a laugh, putting the money away before walking over. "Ha! Not as long as you'd think. I used to be an accountant, before the great spacequake. Of course, right after that, everything went downhill and I got laid off. I spent years trying to get back to where I was. Nobody was hiring. Wasted a lot of time trying to chase back that past, trying to relive something that wasn't going to happen again."

The man shook his head, before taking their bowls and putting them away, continuing with his story. "In the end though, it was probably for the best. I don't think I was very happy in my old life. I was just working with numbers all day, didn't mean a thing really. But someone once told me something that I always remember now: people who are sick, aren't always sick from the body, or the mind. Sometimes the sickness is of the soul. So if I can warm someone's soul up as much as their body, if I can make one person leave here happier than when they were when they came in, then I'm doing good."

The man sighed, and for a moment, he looked every single one of his many years.

"Young people like yourselves should be applying yourselves diligently at school and getting ready for life. So go on, get," the man shooed at them, but followed them to the step outside of the shelter, the rain having stopped. "But, I'm glad you came out here and had fun. That's how life is really meant to be. Take care, you two."

"Thank you for the meal," Shido and Kurumi said in unison, bowing to the man. Shido lifted the flap in the plastic sheeting for Kurumi, and together, they left the cart, and its warmth, behind.

Sufficiently warmed through, the pair took their time to stroll through the streets of Tengu City. Hand-in-hand, fingers intertwined, they walked at a measured, sedate pace. Neither were in any hurry to end things. By happenstance, their wandering eventually led them to the edge of a park.

"Ara, this looks familiar, does it not Shido-san?" Kurumi looked at him, a small smile on her face.

Subconsciously or not, their journey had taken them back to where their date on Valentine's Day had ended – where Kurumi had challenged him to learn the truth about her. The same challenge that led them to sharing a bed, and the same challenge which now led them back to where everything had begun.

They followed the winding path through the park, with but themselves and the sounds of their footsteps for company. Their shoes crunched on wet gravel, and the smell of rain lingered in the air, permeating their senses along with the scent of damp grass. The rain had long stopped, but the wind reminded them of its presence, nippy gusts blowing through randomly. Kurumi pressed herself to Shido's side with the wind as a pretense. With a full belly and a warm body beside him, Shido couldn't help but let a warm, pleasant buzz fill his being as they walked together.

"So," Kurumi suddenly broke the silence, "Was this what you had in mind, Shido-san?"

"Yeah, this is a bit more like it," Shido replied.

"And I suppose that I will have more of these dates to look forward to if I were to surrender my heart to you?" Kurumi asked teasingly.

Shido couldn't help a nervous laugh, raising his spare hand to the back of his head as he chuckled. "Well I mean the other Spirits will also need attention, but if it's what you like then sure I can definitely arrange for that."

"Many more such dates with Shido-san for company. It is not an unpleasant thought," Kurumi mused.

"Kurumi? Do you mean…?" Shido abruptly halted, the unexpected words sending his heart racing.

Kurumi hushed him, placing a finger on his lips. She drew closer, close enough that Shido could see the discord in her face. One didn't need Raisel to know what dilemma Kurumi was struggling to articulate.

Whatever Kurumi had to say was suddenly interrupted by the sound of multiple girls giggling in concert. The voices sounded exactly the same, but offset from each other by milliseconds; turning a normally innocent noise into an eerie disquiet that sent the hairs on Shido's arms standing on end.

"Found you~" a voice sing-songed from above.

Shido and Kurumi startled back, glancing around before looking up. A cloud of identical girls wearing an approximation of a nun's habit stared down at them, giggling in concert. Recognising the danger, Kurumi instinctively pulled Shido behind her, dropping the plushy into her shadow just as the girls began stage-whispering, masking their mouths with the back of their hands as they spoke.

"Awwww, did we interrupt something?"

"It was such a nice moment they were sharing – a two-person world is pretty wonderful no?"

"I was rooting for the boy too," one of the Nibelcol pouted.

Another sighed wistfully, fluttering her hands beneath her chin, "I wish someone would find me a boy who looks at me the same way he looks at her~"

All the while, the giggling never stopped: the incessant noise grated on Shido's ears, but far more disturbingly, their gaze never left him. He shivered under their eyes; while the other Spirits looked at him with varying degrees of affection, curiosity, or downright lust, these Spirits – for they could be nothing but – leered down at him with shimmering malice in their eyes. There was no mistaking it: for all their innocent words and voices, these girls were deadly murderers in their own right.

"Shido-san," Kurumi's voice was low, as a pistol appeared in her off-hand. She spared a single glance back, and Shido could only see determination in her eyes, any trace of humour or levity long gone. "Run. Get away from here."

"I'm not going to leave you!" Shido tried to muscle his way in front of her, but the Spirit had an iron grip on his arm, yanking him back.

"That is not up for discussion!" Kurumi said, urgency leaking through her voice as even more Nibelcol began appearing, gathering in a cloud. They simply floated there, staring down at them, as if awaiting some invisible signal to attack.

They didn't have to wait long, as a voice spoke out from amongst the group, resonating with all the authority of the crack of thunder heralding the inevitable storm. "Girls, time to make Master proud. Bring him the boy's head!"

A flicker of movement rippled across the gathered Nibelcol – like a snake rearing back before the strike – before they lunged forward as one.

Kurumi reacted instantly, shoving Shido away.

"Go! Get Shido-san to safety!" Kurumi ordered, speaking to seemingly thin air, even as she spun around, guns raised. She was already firing before she stopped moving, powerful and precise shots tearing into the Nibelcol swarming down at them. Pieces of paper fell from the sky like raindrops as every bullet struck home. Yet, heedless of injury or loss, the Nibelcol kept coming. The storm of gunfire suddenly tripled in volume with a deafening thunderclap, as a hundred guns fired as one. Kurumi's clones joined the fray, adding their own firepower to their progenitors'.

Drawn to the sudden threat and prospect of a fight like moths to a flame, the Nibelcol squealed and dove towards the Kurumis, forgetting about Shido. And like a flood smashing into a barrier, the Nibelcol collided with Kurumi and her clones in a maelstrom of frenzied violence. Paper swords with razor-sharp edges flashed and rent through flesh and bone, conical spears impaled their gasping victims, and sheets of paper buzzed through the clones like deadly insects.

But for every clone that died, they exacted a commensurate price upon their killers. Ancient muzzles erupted into life, the archaic nature of the weapons belying their deadly efficiency as they blew apart the daughters of the All-Knowing Demon King. Nibelcol screamed and died as gunfire tore through their bodies. Anarchy reigned, and the difference between life and death lay not in skill or plans, but in sheer luck.

Yet in spite of the confusing carnage, in spite of being surrounded by identical clones, Kurumi herself was breathtaking and unmistakable. She was a whirlwind, a blur of constant motion and violent retribution as she blazed away with pistol and musket. She danced and weaved through the attacks of the Nibelcol; graceful, fluid, untouchable – nimbly twisting away from a sudden swing of a sword, artfully ducking beneath a sharp thrust from a spear. Kurumi answered every attack with one of her own, rolling into her enemy's guard and snapping off powerful shots from her pistol. The Nibelcol died in droves before her. Such was her prowess, such was the disparity between the fully-fledged murderous Spirit and the pseudo-Spirits, that Kurumi hadn't even summoned Zaphkiel's full form, even as she planted a beautiful shot between the eyes of a lunging Nibelcol.

Shido stared, dumbstruck at the sheer violence occurring in front of his eyes. His senses finally caught up with him, and he instinctively reacted to summon Sandalphon, anything to help out Kurumi. But before he could so much as move, Shido felt an icy feeling running up his leg. The shadows suddenly grew beneath his feet, and a clone began to pull him down into its depths. "Let's get you to safety, Shido-san."

"Not so fast!"

A Nibelcol collided with them. The clone was cut down before she could retaliate, and Shido was thrown out of the shadow and onto the ground with a painful grunt. If that wasn't enough, a piece of paper shaped into a plane pierced through his right arm multiple times. Before he could scream, the Nibelcol shoved him onto his back and pinned him to the ground with her foot. He had no way to defend himself – Camael was already at work, iridescent flames licking around the wounds, but until they finished, he was helpless, unable to so much as lift an arm to defend himself. More Nibelcol gathered around him in excitement. An electric tingle ran through his body, as the Nibelcol expanded a territory below him, blocking off any chance of Kurumi's clones grabbing him through her shadow.

"Master really really really wants you dead!" The Nibelcol pinning him down giggled, raising her paper sword above her head before plunging it straight down.

Shido cried out fearfully, his one good arm rising protectively on instinct when a bullet struck the blade. The impact knocked the sword off its deadly course, plunging into the ground next to him instead. The Nibelcol barely had time to give a dumbfounded 'eh?' before a second bullet punched through her head.

Everyone around him turned to face the direction of the bullet, even as the Nibelcol disappeared into a fluttering piece of paper. Another Kurumi stood there, guns raised and fury in her eyes. Even though she was exactly the same as every other Kurumi clone, Shido knew instinctively that she was the same clone from the night before, from Tanabata. The fragile pause was shattered, as Kurumi wordlessly charged into the group of Nibelcol surrounding him. The action was mirrored by several other clones who had spotted Shido's dilemma. Startled into life and caught off-balance, the Nibelcol nevertheless reacted quickly to deny Kurumi her goal; one of them immediately stepped up to Shido with her weapon raised, while the others moved to form a wall of their own bodies. The giggling quasi-Spirits moved quickly, with the fluidity and eerie coordination of a single gestalt entity.

Kurumi was faster still.

Her pistol snapped up and despite its flintlock appearance, squeezed off several shots in quick succession. The bullets whipped past the cordoning quasi-Spirits and smashed the new Nibelcol standing over Shido off her feet. Before the other pseudo-Spirits could finish gathering into a solid line, she smacked into their formation like a freight train. Bowling the Nibelcol over from the impact, she burst into the middle of their formation and spotted their goal: Shido.

Without stopping, Kurumi bulled through the Nibelcol to Shido, reaching down the instant he was within arms reach. Gripping the startled boy by his jacket, she spun and bodily threw him out of the closing Nibelcol in a single, smooth motion. The instant before he hit the ground, his shadow swelled up, and another Kurumi reached up and grabbed him, quickly dragging him into the safety of the shadows.

"Kurumi!" Shido screamed, futilely reaching out for her. The last he saw of her was her sad smile, before the shadows closed up over him again.

Kurumi heard his scream, and took heart in the knowledge he would be safe. All of the Nibelcol had been committed now and more clones were arriving to reinforce their compatriots. DEM couldn't hurt him anymore.

That fact though, didn't change the reality or gravity of her own situation: she was now surrounded by innumerable – and very hostile – Nibelcol, incensed at being denied their prize. Along with the addition of a barrier underneath the earth that prevented her from escaping, Kurumi's fate was sealed. With all roads leading to the same destination, there was but one course of action left to take: she raised her weapons, daring – nay, challenging – the Nibelcol to attack.

And attack they did. As they lunged at her, a single thought passed through her mind.

I will gladly sacrifice everything for you without hesitation. Even my life.

Kurumi kept her promises.

She would keep this one too.

The first Nibelcol to charge her died with a pair of holes blown in her chest. So did the next, and the next. Kurumi kept firing, at one target, and then two, and then three. Then the fourth reached her, and she lashed out with a boot. Bones splintered and crunched, the Nibelcol collapsing to the ground with a cry of pain and a shattered knee. Before the Nibelcol could recover, Kurumi planted the muzzle of her musket against its forehead and fired. By the time the paper fluttered to the floor, Kurumi had already spun around, avoiding a thrust from a spear which coincidentally stabbed another Nibelcol rushing up behind her, and shot the offender through the chest.

It was an action steeped in heroism, full of courage, bravery, and self-sacrifice. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, it was also an action steeped in hopeless inevitability.

She was too slow to avoid the next attack; a sword which slashed through her Astral Dress – the pale imitation offering nowhere near the level of protection its true counterpart did – and drew blood, sending her to the ground with a pained cry. Defiant to the end, she rolled to avoid the follow-up stab, and raised her pistol, firing non-stop. Nibelcol collapsed and turned to paper all around her but even more took their place as the remaining infernal quasi-Spirits reached her and struck out with their weapons, moments before the reinforcing wave of Kurumi clones crashed into them.

For the fourth time in as many days, Shido was once again surrounded by the inky darkness of Kurumi's shadow, an occurrence that he was becoming distressingly familiar with. This time though, rather than swim aimlessly about the black, he was immediately crowded by multiple clones. They bombarded him with questions, checking on his being, making sure there weren't any unnoticed injuries that he had suffered.

"Kurumi, wait! Stop it!" Shido tried to swat away prying hands, twisting about, unable to see the clone who had saved him. "What happened to her? Kurumi!"

"Shido-san, please be patient. You are in grave danger," one of the many clones surrounding him said. "We must take you to one of the safe houses, away from DEM's reach. Me shall meet you there."

Shido opened his mouth to argue, but then remembered the sudden violence that he had just left behind. They were just trying to keep him safe. With that thought, he nodded, and stopped struggling – not that he had any other choice, regardless. Satisfied with his acceptance, the clone before him gratefully dipped her head in thanks, before hugging him and taking him up through a sudden hole that opened above them. He took a deep breath as they passed through the mouth of the opening, steeling himself for whatever came next.

It was a macabre sight: Kurumi's clones, in varying states of pain and injury, lay splayed across the cavernous room. The room itself was that of an old disused warehouse, which had since been appropriated by Kurumi and converted into a makeshift hospital. Uninjured clones moved between those less fortunate, administering whatever aid they could. The nature of the weapons that the clones had fought against – massive swords and spears – meant that there were very few survivable injuries, should one be hit. A number of clones were missing limbs, others sported gaping wounds, and while some had managed to avoid significant injury, they were few and far between. Just as distressing as seeing the injured though, was just how few they numbered. Kurumi had thrown what looked like hundreds of clones into battle, but here the injured barely numbered twenty – and Shido had the sinking feeling that it wasn't because they were safe and unharmed.

"Kurumi? What is this?" Shido swallowed as he glanced around the room.

The clone who had brought him answered, her face solemn. "It is exactly what it looks like, Shido-san. This is where we are bringing those amongst us who have been injured whilst battling DEM. We are trying to save as many as we can."

But even as he looked around, his heart leapt into his throat when he realised that the one Kurumi he was looking for was not among the injured.

"Shido-san," Kurumi's voice called for his attention, and he looked over at the source, only to see a clone emerging from the shadow. She was carrying another clone and –

Oh no, oh no, no no no…

Heart palpitating fearfully, Shido sprinted over as the clone laid the body down and took a step back. The closer he came to them, the greater the dread weighed down on him, yet he kept pushing onwards. He stopped short as soon as he reached the clone, hesitating, almost as if recognising what was in front of him would make it real.

Kurumi – her clone, the clone – was a mess. Her beautiful Astral Dress was ruined, mangled and torn in almost every way imaginable, exposing the once-perfect skin beneath. Deep cuts and weeping wounds marred her body, arms and legs. Her face, previously statuesque and stunning, was discoloured from all the bruising and scars, and her soft lips were dry and cracked.

He raised and lowered his outstretched hand several times, indecisive, unsure if she was even alive.

Kurumi's chest rose shallowly.

Shocked into action, Shido all but threw himself down before gently picking her up and resting her against his lap, heedless of the blood that now covered his hands and clothing. The sheer number of injuries covering her was astounding. By all rights, she should have been dead.

"Kurumi?" he gently called out to her, voice cracking, as he carefully brushed blood-matted hair out of her eyes. By the time he lifted his hand away, her eyes cracked open, and a spark of recognition ran through them.

"…Shido-san," she breathed. "You're alright…"

"Hush," he said, putting on a brave smile that was completely at odds with everything he felt inside. "Don't talk. Save your energy okay? The real you will be here soon, she can help you…"

She shook her head weakly. "My time is up. Do not fret Shido-san...I am not afraid."

A tired smile lifted her ruined lips, and she spoke softly, slowly, almost to the point he had to lower his head to hear her. "Do you remember what I promised you that night? That I would give my life for you? I always keep my promises, Shido-san. I am so glad to see you safe; that is reward enough for me. Truly, I could not have asked for a better death, knowing that you are alive, and that you are here with me in my last moments."

"Don't say that! You're not going to die! Kurumi will be here soon, so please hang on!" A frustrated cry tore its way out of his throat as he watched Kurumi cling on. "I never asked you to make that promise!"

Another shallow breath fell from her lips, and she raised a shaking hand to cup his cheek. "It's alright, Shido-san: I wanted to give you that promise.."

A cough wracked her body, but she held on, summoning the last of her fading strength to speak. "Shido-san…please, take care of her. In this lonely world, you are the only one she can trust. Show her the life beyond our goal. You have shown me so much in our short time together, Shido-san, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Perhaps, I am still a bit naïve…but in the end, I am still me. Show me how to live, Shido-san. Promise me this, please."

His reply was immediate. "Of course."

For what else could he say?

Kurumi's smile grew by a fraction. "Thank you, Shido-san."

Her hand fell off his cheek as she closed her eyes, never to reopen them again. Shido felt his heart stop.

"Kurumi?"

He gently shook her.

"Kurumi!"

There was no reply. The dead could not.

An overwhelming wave of grief wracked his body, and Shido could only give a choked sob past his ruined throat, burying himself into her head as he held Kurumi's ruined body tighter. Sheer helplessness washed over him, and he wanted nothing more than to scream, shout and cry. It was an odd feeling – how many clones had been killed in front of his eyes? – but for one reason or another, the occasions had never been this close, or this raw. Seeing her life fade away while he held her was enough to nearly break him. She had always deserved more.

"Shido-san…"

A voice identical to hers spoke up, shook him from his grief and caused him to look up through blurry, tear-stained vision. Kurumi, the real Kurumi, sounded uncertain, a conflicted look on her face as she watched him cradle her clone.

She rallied, shaking herself out of her reverie.

"We have to leave, Shido-san. If DEM are attacking, they must have some plan of sorts, and will not stop until you're dead."

When that did little to move or invoke a response from Shido, Kurumi tried again.

"Shido-san, please: we have to move. She has achieved everything that she was created to do, and gave her life in order to protect yours." Kurumi paused, before adding, "Please, do not let her good death pass in vain."

"Death?" Shido turned to look at her, and any response Kurumi had died before she could say it, as she saw the sheer pain and sadness in his eyes.

"She - you - she's dead, Kurumi. There is no such thing as a good death - how can any death be good?"

Kurumi recoiled, unprepared for the stinging venom in Shido's voice – something so unfamiliar to her, that it caused an unsettling rumble deep within her gut.

"All this fighting, all this killing? When does the killing stop, Kurumi? When? When all of your clones are dead? When I'm dead? Or when the First Spirit is dead? And what if you don't succeed? Will she kill you, too?"

"Shido-san…"

"I don't want to lose you anymore, Kurumi! Any of you! Why can't you see that?"

If Shido had been more rational, he might have paused there. Admitting any more was tantamount to a confession to Kurumi, and with that, his reiryoku, and his life, would be forfeit. But Shido couldn't think about that, wouldn't think about that. In truth, the game itself didn't matter to him anymore. Losing his power didn't matter, and sealing Kurumi's was even further from his mind. All that mattered was the girl before him - not the Spirit Kurumi Tokisaki, but the girl beneath, the one who had suffered greatly in her misguided attempt to better the world, and was desperately trying to fix the mistakes she had made.

"I care about you, Kurumi! I want us to be together, to do what we did before and to keep having the experiences we did today. I just…I just want to make you happy, and give you the chance to live the life that you never got. Why can't you see that?" By now, Shido's grief had boiled away into anger and frustration.

But it was perhaps the greatest testament to Kurumi's emotional turmoil that she barely paid heed to the anger and frustration in his voice, to his declaration that he cared for her, that his heart did belong to her; a victory in the strictest sense. All that was on her mind were the roiling emotions and feelings that had been building up for the last week - from her clones observations of her time with Shido, to Origami questioning her motives, to her frazzled mind trying to comprehend her actions as she reset the day again and again and again. All of it was building up, and threatened to overcome her as she tried desperately to figure out what she truly desired.

Hearing of and being reminded of their game, and its consequences, Kurumi seized upon that lifeline to anchor herself, and her stance instinctively hardened. "I can't give you my reiryoku. You know why, Shido-san; I showed you why. The only way I can make up for a lifetime of mistakes is to kill the First Spirit…and return everything back to zero."

"There is always a way! You don't have to deal with your pain alone. I can-"

"And what do you know of pain, Shido-san? What do you know of loss?" Kurumi interrupted. Her voice, initially sharp and disdainful, became quieter, more bitter, and filled with self-loathing. "Have you ever killed your best friend, while enjoying the process?"

For that, Shido had no answer. An awkward quiet descended between them. Their breathing - Shido's sharp and pained exhales, and Kurumi's steady and long-drawn breaths, was the only noise within the room.

Shido was the first to break the quiet, his voice fatigued and monotone. Gone was the anger and the pain from before. "We can't keep letting who we were before become who we are now, or will be in the future, Kurumi. We have to become better. For someone who can control time, you can't let go of the past - and maybe that's your curse. Everyone would love to just go back and fix our mistakes, and you called it drinking out of a chalice filled with poisoned wine. But most of us can't, Kurumi. We have to live with what we've done, and we have to keep going forward. You're so focused on the past and trying to change it, that you can't even begin to see the potential future ahead of you."

Kurumi didn't respond; barely even looked up from the ground. Everything that she had tried to avoid talking about finally came up to the fore, and it forced her to confront the reality of her goal. Caught between timelines, travelling back and killing the First Spirit to bring Sawa back to life would mean the end of her blossoming relationship with Shido, and the promise that he had given her of a better future together. Never once had she ever questioned the power she had received, but now, she was beginning to see why having the ability to control time was a forbidden fruit.

"Kurumi."

Hearing her name in his voice, soft and without any condemnation or judgement, caused her to look up and into Shido's eyes. She never had the time to truly see what he thought of her after he knew her motives more deeply than anyone else in existence; never gave him the time to process it either, trying to fall back on what she knew best: being seductive, flirtatious to throw everyone off, keeping her cards as close to her chest as possible.

But as she looked at him, looked into his eyes and saw the pain from his loss, and the determination to save her from herself, she knew. Those were the same eyes – filled with a different emotion perhaps – but the same eyes that had stared up at her when they made love. She knew that whatever he spoke now, that was his truth.

"I won't pretend that it will be easy for you, or that I fully understand what you're going through. There's a lot to do, and you still have to face a life of atonement. But I can promise you, I'll never give up on you. I'll be here for you until the end. You won't have to face your future alone anymore."

Seeing how Kurumi had yet to respond, he took a deep breath, and plunged into the dark.

"Kurumi, everything we've gone through, everything we've done together, it is all leading to this: you've been fighting so hard all your life. Let me help you, please: let me help you find a better life," Shido stepped up to Kurumi, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "And if you think otherwise, that there is any insincerity in my heart, then you can have what you want – the reiryorku in me. I won't fight you anymore."

Kurumi sucked in a breath. Shido had thrown the ball into her court now, and everything that she wanted was suddenly within reach: the power of nine Spirits, enough reiryorku to travel back thirty years into the past, and prevent the Spirit of Origin from coming into existence – and by virtue of that, preventing her transformation into the Third Spirit, and the subsequent death of her friend by her own hand. Everything Kurumi had been dreaming of, had been longing for, was there for the taking.

But Kurumi hesitated.

For a while, there was silence. Shido and Kurumi, the boy who loved Spirits and the Worst Spirit, classmates, enemies, partners by circumstance, lovers: whatever happened next would determine everything that they meant to each other. Kurumi's clones, ever-present, stayed hushed and watched carefully. Hands tightened, lips were pursed, but their gazes never wavered from Kurumi and Shido as they finally reached that point of no return.

But before that summit could be crested, the tense quiet was abruptly broken by a series of bright and cheerful chimes. Both Shido and Kurumi's eyes went to his pocket, where his phone was happily buzzing away as Shido took two steps back and pulled the phone out.

He frowned as he saw that it was Kotori who was calling. Kotori knew what he was doing: for her to call now was unusual. Taking a brief moment to compose himself, Shido took a breath and exhaled before answering. But before he could so much as get a word in, Kotori's voice was already crackling through the speaker – loudly. "Shido, where the hell are you?"

"I'm with Kurumi," Shido screwed up his brow and pursed his lips, frowning as he took note of the urgency in Kotori's voice. "Why, what's the matter? Are you okay?"

"Forget about me: DEM's just launched a huge attack on our facilities. I have no idea how they found us, but it can't be a coincidence that we just suddenly picked up a large scattering of reiryorku as well as Kurumi's signature. Tohka, Origami, and the Yami twins are out on defence, but I need to get you to safety now . Where are you?" Kotori demanded.

"Wait, Tohka and the others are fighting? Are they hurt?"

"Shido, I don't have time for twenty questions! Just tell me where the hell you are!"

"I'm with Kurumi," Shido said, Kurumi tilting her head and coming up closer as she heard her name. "We can't just leave her behind if DEM is attacking-"

Kotori cut him off.

"Bring her with you if you have to, I don't care!" Kotori's next words were muffled, as she spoke to someone else. "Reine, get me his location now !"

"Shido-san," Kurumi spoke up. Their previous argument forgotten, there was only a look of concern in her eyes. "If DEM is attacking then we have to leave-"

The roof blew in.

Kurumi's instincts took over: she yanked Shido towards her even as she leapt away, turning him around to shield him with her body, but it was too little, too late. Something struck the floor with all the force and subtlety of a meteor, and the blast wave from the impact flung them into the far wall. Dust and debris went flying, obscuring vision and sending chunks of concrete whipping across the room.

Kurumi groaned as she came too, and tried to suck air into her lungs. Every muscle and nerve in her body ached from the impact, and pain overwhelmed just about all of her senses.

"Shido-san? Are you okay?" Kurumi panted through unsteady breaths. She groped around blindly for the boy, eventually finding and patting his chest. That it rose and fell with his breathing was the only indication that he was alive, but Kurumi still took a measure of relief from it. She rose and began to move to take him down into her shadow, safely away from DEM's reach-

Something moved within the dust cloud.

Her instincts screamed danger again, and three of Kurumi's clones threw themselves at whatever was obscured within the haze. All three fell backwards, bisected, even as Kurumi drew her pistol and stepped forward.

There was a metallic thump , and another explosive detonated right at her feet; low-yield, so instead of bringing the building down, the explosion simply tossed her right back into the wall. Kurumi collapsed onto the still-unconscious Shido; bruised and battered, but alive. The force of the impact would have pulverised any normal human, but Kurumi was a Spirit, protected by her Astral Dress and gifted with an enhanced physiology; as it were, the jarring detonation and impact merely knocked all the wind out of her, instead of reducing her bones to fine powder. Nevertheless, everything still ached .

Any reprieve Kurumi had was brief. She heard the clink of armoured boots striking concrete, and barely had time to lift herself up before a foot none-too-gently shoved her off Shido. She reacted on instinct and rolled with the push and smoothly rose into a crouch, her pistol summoned to her hand and instantly aimed in the direction she had been pushed from. Even with a pounding headache, her every sense was alert and hunting for the threat, preparing for the follow-up attack.

Nothing came.

Blinking past the pain, the first sight caused her heart to seize up. Ellen Mira Mathers, clad in a platinum, gold-edged combat suit, hefted an unconscious Shido over her shoulder.

Ellen turned to face her, and smirked. "You survived. Consider yourself lucky that I have orders not to kill you yet."

Before Kurumi could pull the trigger in response, the thrusters on Ellen's combat suit flared to life. The wizard rocketed off through the gaping hole in the ceiling and into the night – taking Shido, and Kurumi's scream of anger and loss, with her.

TO BE CONTINUED...