"Hah~ What a huge harvest."
It was nearing evening, and the fiery red setting sun had painted the sky a dusky yellow. Yutsuki sat on a public bench to rest. Looking at the shopping bags filled with ga discs and rchandise next to her, a happy smile appeared on her face.
"Thanks, Origami. I was just worrying because I realized my allowance wasn't enough right when new gas were being released."
"What exactly do you an by this, Ryougi Yutsuki?"
Standing in front of Yutsuki, Origami looked at her with a slightly confused and lost gaze, and asked.
For the whole day, at Yutsuki's request, Origami took the train with her to Akihabara. Following Yutsuki's directions, they went to various stores to gather all sorts of gas and rch. With Origami footing the bill, of course.
It wasn't that Yutsuki's condition was hard. On the contrary, it was too simple.
Although the total cost of all these things was indeed a bit scary for a high school student, it was nothing to Origami, who had been working for the AST and living a simple life. After all, when she started her second year of high school, to prevent not being put in the sa class as Shido, she had prepared enough funds to make the teachers change their minds.
"Well, don't look at like that. My living expenses have actually been a bit tight lately. I have to buy ingredients to practice cooking, and buy concert tickets and albums for the idol I like.Ryougi-san's wallet has lost quite a bit of weight recently. For the newest release of Fairy Dream 3, I had no choice but to sell my faith."
Saying this, Yutsuki looked up at the setting sun with a slightly lancholic gaze and sighed helplessly.
"Don't try to fool with that kind of talk, Ryougi Yutsuki."
A photo album of Shiori could make Origami ignore many things and do anything. Origami wouldn't even blink if Yutsuki asked for all her money. Origami didn't believe Yutsuki didn't know this.
Seeing that Origami didn't believe her, Yutsuki gave a helpless, bitter smile.
It's true, if she really needed money, Yutsuki just had to ntion it to Kotori. Ratatoskr's operations always prioritize the Spirits' emotions first. However, Yutsuki didn't really like getting special treatnt just because she was a 'Spirit', so she only asked Reine for a monthly allowance about the sa as a normal high schooler's.
"Well, it's true that it might be hard for you to imagine. But actually, my request really was just this. Though, if you must say I had so other purpose..."
After a mont of silence, Yutsuki chuckled and asked Origami with a slightly complex look:
"Origami, can you tell ? To you, today. To a Wizard of the AST. What exactly am I?"
Origami frowned slightly, not understanding what Yutsuki was playing at.
"...An otaku addicted to gas."
"Uh... that actually hurts a bit. In many ways..."
The corners of Yutsuki's mouth twitched, and she let out a sigh.
"But, not a Spirit, right?"
"..."
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Origami was left speechless. The person in front of her was humanity's worst natural disaster, and the most dangerous Spirit to humans among them—Hacker. Even though Yutsuki no longer caused spacequakes, the faces of current Wizards would all turn pale when they heard the codena Hacker.
However, while discussing the quality of Shiori's photo album with Yutsuki, and running around Akihabara with her, without realizing it... Origami had actually forgotten for a split second that Yutsuki was a Spirit.
"Actually, my original plan today was to use this photo album of Shiori to ask you to leave the AST and join Ratatoskr."
Yutsuki shrugged and confessed straightforwardly.
Hearing Yutsuki say the na Ratatoskr, Origami didn't seem surprised. After all, Origami had vaguely noticed before that Yatogami Tohka and the others being able to attend high school normally definitely ant there was a powerful organization backing them.
"So, what about now?"
Since she said "original plan," that ant Yutsuki had already given up on that idea.
"Well, after hearing what happened between you and Kotori in the past, I understood. It's impossible for you to join Ratatoskr."
Yutsuki sighed with a bitter smile.
A girl who made up her mind to fight to the death because her parents were killed by a Spirit, and an organization whose ideal is to save Spirits. These two sides are completely incompatible, like fire and water.
If you ask what the most terrifying power in the world is, it's hatred.
As if setting all the marrow and flesh in her body on fire. In just five years, an ordinary little girl had now beco the ace of the AST. Under Origami's seemingly cold expression, who knows how deep the fire nad hatred burned.
As ti goes on, this sharp knife will one day be honed to an incredibly sharp edge by hatred.
"But, like I said. Not just , but Tohka, Yoshino, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Miku(kinda)—none of them ever wanted to harm humans. They just want to live an ordinary life as an ordinary human. I just wanted you to understand that. Although I won't tell you to give up your hatred, please, I'm asking you..."
Asking her what? Yutsuki looked at the completely unmoved Origami, and the words she wanted to say got stuck in her throat.
Give up on revenge? Let Tohka and the others go? What right did she have to say such things?
Origami was forced to give up her everyday life as a normal person because of Spirits. To ask Origami to treat Tohka as a normal person... if she said that, Yutsuki would hate herself.
Or rather, as a Spirit herself, she didn't have any room to negotiate with Origami in the first place. Nor was there a need to communicate.
But imagine, even though she's still far from it now, one day, Origami will beco a Wizard even more terrifying than Ellen. And then, like a Grim Reaper harvesting lives, she will slaughter all the Spirits.
On the other hand, if she doesn't succeed, Tobiichi Origami will also break down and head towards destruction.
Yutsuki knew that no matter which ending, soone would definitely get hurt.
"Please... don't do anything that would make Shido sad."
Finally, Yutsuki said slowly.
Hearing Yutsuki's last sentence, Origami's pupils dilated slightly.
"...Ryougi Yutsuki. A year ago, you hacked into DEM Corporation's computers, right."
After a long silence, Origami didn't respond to Yutsuki's words. Instead, she asked a question.
"Yeah, what about it?"
Yutsuki nodded and answered. But she didn't understand why Origami was bringing this up now.
Probably only Origami herself knew just how much resolve it took for her to say these words.
"Did you happen to see a file in there, about five years ago—"
Just halfway through her sentence, Origami's vision suddenly went dark, and the scene before her suddenly turned into a burning ruin.
______________________________________________
"Ah. Father... Mother... ahhh... ahhhh..."
Amidst the debris of the ruins, a young girl stared at the countless scattered pieces of flesh and bone in front of her, letting out a cry from the depths of her throat that couldn't even be considered crying or wailing.
Looking up into the dim sky. What the girl saw was an unknown being with the appearance of a girl, shining with a dazzling light.
That was the culprit behind it all.
Unforgivable!
Unforgivable—!
I will definitely—kill all the Spirits with my own hands!
The shout full of resentnt and anger, as if warning Origami who had let her guard down, kept echoing in her mind like a demonic voice.
______________________________________________
"Origami! Tobiichi Origami!"
"—!"
At Yutsuki's shout, Origami suddenly snapped back to reality. She suddenly realized her back was covered in cold sweat.
Yutsuki asked, looking confused:
"Five years ago was when Kotori first went berserk and caused the fire, right? Did you have sothing you wanted to ask?"
"..."
"What's wrong? Are you too tired? I have water here, do you want a drink?"
Seeing Origami suddenly covered in cold sweat, Yutsuki asked with so concern. She took a bottle of water out of her shopping bag and offered it to Origami.
"Stay away from !"
Origami violently swung her hand, slapping Yutsuki's hand away. The cap of the water bottle flew off in mid-air, causing the water in the bottle to spill onto the ground.
"Tobiichi Origami?"
Yutsuki frowned in confusion. She felt that Origami, who seed like she could be reasoned with just a mont ago, had now completely shut Yutsuki out. Her eyes were filled with undisguised hostility.
"As I thought... it's impossible."
Clenching her fist, Origami muttered to herself with an emotion Yutsuki couldn't understand.
"Ryougi Yutsuki, maybe it's really like you said. There are Spirits in this world without malicious intent. But the existence of Spirits is wrong to begin with. So that no one else suffers the sa fate as , I will defeat all Spirits—every single one of them!"
As if turning her heart into cold iron, Origami ruthlessly declared to Yutsuki.
Saying that, Origami turned around with a cold face and left.
"...Even though I have no idea what you were thinking about for that split second."
Yutsuki scratched her hair in displeasure and sighed. She took out the Shiori photo album she had prepared from her bag and asked Origami:
"Do you not want the photo album anymore?"
"..."
Origami silently turned back around and took the photo album from Yutsuki's hands.
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