[Absolutely not!]
As soon as Shido stated his proposal, Kotori's resolute opposition ca from the other end of the phone.
[It's too dangerous. Shido, have you forgotten? Tokisaki Kurumi has always been looking for a chance to eat you.]
"B-But, I really think this is a thod that can solve the problem. As long as we go back to the past and save Origami's parents who were originally going to die, the grudge between Origami and the Spirits will naturally cease to exist. She'll be able to live as a normal person."
Shido explained hastily.
[Perhaps this thod is indeed viable. Then what guarantee does Shido have that Tokisaki Kurumi possesses the ability to go back to the past?]
"Ugh... none, I just had a vague feeling..."
Faced with Kotori's questioning, Shido was left speechless and explained haltingly.
True, he didn't know if Tokisaki Kurumi had the ability to go back to the past. This idea of his was rely based on the assumption that an Angel capable of manipulating ti should have such an ability.
[For such an imagined possibility. I refuse to let my brother do sothing so dangerous!]
"It's fine, Kotori..."
Kotori's attitude was very firm, but knowing she was just worried about his safety, Shido couldn't help but scratch his head, feeling troubled.
"No, it might actually be true." At this mont, Yutsuki suddenly interjected, "I once heard from Kurumi when we cooperated before that her goal is to go back to the past. Then she should also be capable of ti travel."
"Is that true? Yutsuki?"
Shido couldn't help but say, overjoyed.
"Mhm."
Yutsuki nodded affirmatively.
She rembered during the Miku incident, when she and Kurumi went to search for the Spirits imprisoned by DEM, Kurumi once revealed her wish to go back thirty years to find the Origin Spirit.
As for what she wanted to do? Although she didn't get to finish because Tohka inverted right then, Yutsuki could roughly guess the gist of it.
"If we ask Kurumi for help to go back to the past, she probably won't refuse. After all, she probably hasn't actually used that ti-traveling ability yet. Being able to find a guinea pig to practice on might be exactly what she wants." Saying that, Yutsuki glanced at Shido, smiled bitterly, and shook her head, "However, just like Kotori-chan, I'm not very optimistic about this thod."
"Why? Didn't you just say this plan is viable, Yutsuki?"
Seeing Yutsuki pour cold water on his proposal, Shido asked, completely baffled.
Yutsuki shrugged and analyzed calmly.
"Well, traveling through ti to save the past isn't that simple. Things like ti paradoxes... although no one has truly traveled through ti to prove it, you can't just ignore them either. Shido, have you ever thought about what the 'present' we live in will beco even if you change the 'past'? The flapping wings of a tiny butterfly can cause a massive tornado disaster. What if this puts everyone in danger?"
"That..."
Shido was instantly left speechless.
Indeed, if it only involved his own safety, Shido wouldn't care much. But if, as Yutsuki said, actions in the past could potentially harm everyone in the present, Shido really couldn't act recklessly.
"...Sorry, I was thinking too naively."
Looking at the dejected Shido, Yutsuki sighed sowhat helplessly and said.
"Of course, I'm not saying your thod won't work, Shido. Considering the current situation, it can even be called a very bold and daring idea. However, we have too little intel in our hands. How exactly do we go back to the past? What kind of price is required? Who killed Origami's parents five years ago? How did they die? Who exactly is that still-unknown fourth Spirit? We know nothing about these things. Under these conditions, even if you really went back to the past, it would be aningless. One careless mistake, and the truth might end up being that you, Shido, accidentally killed Origami's parents. If that happened, I'd really have to say 'Hehe~'!"
Halfway through her half-joking words, Yutsuki's laughter abruptly stopped. An intense pain pierced Yutsuki's brain without warning, her beautiful cheeks contorting in agony.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Yutsuki!? Yutsuki, what's wrong?!"
Her vision gradually sank into darkness, and Shido's anxious shouts seed to fade and blur. Right at this mont, a cold electronic voice rang in Yutsuki's mind.
[—Version update complete—Conditions t—Triggering probability passive—Glimpse into the Future—]
Subsequently, images flashed through Yutsuki's mind like a film reel.
A shattered full moon... Despairing rain of light... A completely destroyed city... And amidst all this, a tyrannical Spirit like a Demon King—Tobiichi Origami...
"...!"
Then, Yutsuki's vision returned to the school infirmary once again.
"Yutsuki, are you okay? Is there sothing wrong with your body?"
Seeing Yutsuki calm down, Shido asked with a worried face.
"I'm fine..."
Panting heavily a few tis, Yutsuki shook her head to clear her mind. Then, she realized that in her right hand, she was holding her Angel—Ratziel, which had been destroyed by Origami earlier.
(The images just now... what was that? Did Origami invert?)
Yutsuki couldn't help but ponder. The Origami that appeared in the images just now felt very similar to the inverted state of Tohka she had seen before.
Obviously, the images she just saw weren't reality. Although Origami had beco a Spirit, she hadn't inverted yet, and Tengu City had only had its residential area destroyed by Origami. But looking at Ratziel in her hand, constantly flashing with strange light as if warning her of sothing, Yutsuki really couldn't treat it as just a bad daydream.
(Wait... going back to the past... Origami becoming a Spirit... the unknown fourth Spirit from five years ago...)
Several seemingly unrelated clues suddenly connected. Suddenly, a terrible possibility surfaced in Yutsuki's mind.
"Kotori-chan!"
Yutsuki grabbed the phone and yelled.
[Whoa—what's wrong, Yutsuki-nee? Shouting so suddenly.]
"Imdiately contact Marina and Maria. Have them compare the spirit waves of the unregistered Spirit from five years ago with the spirit waves of Origami, who just beca a Spirit! Hurry!!"
[U-Understood.]
Although she didn't understand why Yutsuki suddenly said this, sensing the anxiety in Yutsuki's words, Kotori seed to realize sothing was wrong and hurriedly contacted Marina and Maria to carry out the task.
"Yutsuki, did sothing happen?"
Seeing Yutsuki suddenly pacing restlessly on the hospital bed, Shido asked sowhat worriedly.
"A bad feeling... I hope I'm just overthinking it."
Yutsuki showed a bitter smile, her fingers tapping rapidly on the desk, waiting for Kotori's result.
Then, after a long minute passed, the other end of the phone finally gave an answer.
"The results are out, Shido, Yutsuki-nee."
For so reason, Kotori's voice had beco terrifyingly serious.
"After repeated comparisons by Maria and Marina. I can say with 100% certainty. Origami and the unidentified unregistered Spirit from five years ago—are the sa Spirit."
"Wha—!"
Hearing this overly shocking news, Shido couldn't help but hold his breath, his eyes widening to their limits.
"Damn it—you've got to be kidding !"
Seeing her worst guess beco reality, Yutsuki gritted her teeth and hurriedly got out of bed.
"Shido, we must leave imdiately. To find Kurumi."
"Eh? Wait, Yutsuki, I still don't understand what happened..."
However, before Shido could finish asking, the scene outside the window shocked him speechless.
As night fell, the full moon hanging high in the sky was split in two by a rift that appeared out of nowhere.
The black rift continuously expanded, gradually swallowing the moon in their vision.
Then, Yutsuki and Shido saw a Spirit wearing an Astral Dress resembling a black wedding dress, hugging her knees, burying her head in her chest as if rejecting everything from the outside world, floating in the night sky defying gravity.
"O-Origami...?"
Recognizing the true identity of that Spirit, Shido couldn't help but utter a bewildered sound.
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