Does fate really exist?
Sitting in the very back corner of the bus, watching the scenery beyond the road roll by, Kurumi found herself thinking that.
She did not believe in sothing as vague and insubstantial as fate. Rather, even if fate truly existed, Kurumi would be the sort to choose rebellion against it. Otherwise, she would never have spent half her life attempting sothing as mad as changing history.
And yet, over these past few days, she truly had felt the existence of sothing similar to fate.
The proof was the strange incidents that had been happening around her one after another.
From major things like dangerous buildings collapsing, to minor things like giving way to an elderly person... To others, none of these were especially important events. But in Kurumi's eyes, all of them had been subtly influencing her actions.
At first, she thought soone was secretly manipulating her. But after carefully observing for a while, she discovered that these incidents did not have any obvious connection or pattern. They were either pure coincidences, or cases where she had been indirectly affected by unrelated trivial matters.
As if she were being manipulated by an invisible hand.
Perhaps that feeling was what people called fate.
At first, she had been irritated. Why was it that when she rely wanted to find a place to rest, strange events kept obstructing her? If soone had deliberately done it, their thod was far too roundabout.
However, after she was drawn in by an advertisent for a bus tour and boarded the bus, she passed the night very peacefully.
Only afterward did she vaguely understand that those bizarre coincidences were not stopping her from sleeping. They were urging her to set out.
Today was the third day since she had left the underground. During that ti, she had ridden buses, subways, trains, planes—without realizing it, by the ti she noticed, she had traveled nearly half the length of Japan.
Along the way, she had passed many cities that were more or less the sa. Whenever she thought of staying sowhere, those strange phenona would happen again, constantly reminding her that this place was not the end of her journey.
At first, she tried to resist. But after attempting it several tis, she noticed that even what she thought of as resistance had already been anticipated by the other party.
A chill could not help seeping down her back.
The only fortunate thing was that Kurumi did not sense any malice aid at her or at any specific person.
Was this fate at work? Or was soone secretly manipulating things?
What was the goal?
Where was she being taken?
Just as Kurumi was trapped in confusion, the bus suddenly slowed down. The abrupt inertia interrupted her thoughts.
(What happened?)
Kurumi raised her head in confusion.
It seed that sothing had gone wrong with the engine. The vehicle had stalled midway, and the driver left his seat, preparing to get off and check the situation. The tour guide sitting in the front row was soothing the confused passengers.
(Have we arrived?)
Kurumi thought as she looked toward the town not far away.
After these past few days, she had more or less figured out so of the patterns behind these bizarre phenona. For example, right now, if Kurumi continued to stay on the bus, the vehicle would likely remain unable to start. In the end, the driver would choose to have it towed into the town for repairs, and the passengers would have no choice but to rest in town.
Conversely, if she chose to get off here, the bus would probably return to normal very soon.
After a short mont of thought, Kurumi chose the latter.
(After all, this is my own business. There's no need to trouble outsiders.)
Leaving the bus, Kurumi followed the road to the outside of the town and slowly inhaled.
"All right... Is this the final destination, or the starting point for the next stop?"
Her heartbeat quickened slightly. After exhaling the breath in her lungs all at once, Kurumi composed herself and walked into the town.
It was an extrely ordinary town.
Looking around, the tallest building in the entire town did not exceed six stories. Though the streets were slightly narrow, because there were not many passing vehicles, they instead felt sowhat spacious.
Continuing onward, deeper into town, she could also see several awkward statues of unknown aning placed conspicuously in the center of a park. At a glance, they were clearly failed works made in an attempt to increase the town's fa.
Ordinary.
That was Kurumi's impression of the town.
Small though it was, it had everything one needed. It was neither as crowded and noisy as a big city, nor as remote and deserted as the countryside. Whether in good ways or bad, this town remained at just the right level, which instead made Kurumi feel sowhat comfortable.
Kurumi strolled along the streets as if sightseeing. When she reached an intersection, exaggerated laughter suddenly ca from around the corner.
"Kukuhahahaha——Let us settle this, my other half! Let we children of the typhoon decide victory on this straight path!"
"Acceptance. In this four hundred and fifty second contest, the victor shall be Yuzuru!"
The instant the words fell, two figures flashed past Kurumi's eyes. Because it was so sudden, Kurumi instinctively leaned back. As a result, her shoe sole accidentally stepped into a gap between paving stones, and she fell onto her rear.
"Just now, that was..."
Hearing that familiar tone, surprise appeared in Kurumi's eyes. However, the other party had run too quickly. By the ti Kurumi raised her head to search, the two were already gone.
"Wait! Yuzuru, Kaguya!"
Afterward, a woman who seed to be chasing the two arrived one step later, helplessness written all over her face.
"Honestly, how old are you two already? Still being so rash even on your way to work. Hm?"
Noticing Kurumi, the woman stopped.
"Little miss, are you all right? Are you hurt?"
The woman worriedly reached out to Kurumi.
"..."
Kurumi stared at the other person's face. After a mont, she asked sowhat doubtfully.
"Yatogami... Tohka?"
Hearing Kurumi call out her na, Tohka froze for a mont, then tilted her head in great confusion.
"Hm? Why do you know my na? Do we know each other?"
"...No."
After calming herself from her shock, Kurumi shook her head and took Tohka's hand to stand up.
"You just look a little like soone I know. I accidentally mistook you for her."
"Oh, I see. The person you know is also nad Tohka? That really is a coincidence."
Without doubting Kurumi's casually invented lie at all, Tohka nodded in understanding.
Seeing the other party's reaction, Kurumi could be certain that the person before her was Yatogami Tohka herself.
Unlike the Tohka in her mories, the woman before her was slightly taller, and her figure had beco more graceful than before. She had lost so of her girlish purity and innocence, but had gained a asure of maturity and dignity.
Thinking about it carefully, this was not strange. After all, seven full years had already passed since she and Tohka had last t.
"Sorry, Yuzuru and Kaguya startled you. How are you? Does anything hurt? Should I take you to the hospital?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."
"Umu! If you're fine, that's good. Oh right, this is the bakery I run. If you're interested, you can co by and take a look."
As she spoke, Tohka took a flyer from her bag and handed it to Kurumi.
"Tohka... Bakery?"
Looking at the overly simple and direct shop na on the flyer, Kurumi could not help breaking into a slight sweat.
Tohka introduced it enthusiastically.
"As an extra note, our shop's signature product is special kinako bread. It's very popular with the neighbors. As an apology, if you co to my shop, I can let you eat for free."
"Mm... Thank you..."
"Report. This is Tobiichi Origami. I have discovered soone attempting to abduct an underage girl. Requesting imdiate support."
At that mont, a voice suddenly cut into the conversation. A policewoman with long white hair was walking toward them while holding a radio.
Tohka's face instantly filled with displeasure.
"What nonsense are you saying, Tobiichi Origami? Who is abducting a minor?"
"Right in front of my eyes. I personally witnessed the cri scene."
Origami calmly countered.
"Completely wrong. I only helped her up out of kindness because she fell down. Is this what you call being a police officer?"
Ignoring Tohka's explanation, Origami turned her gaze to Kurumi.
"A face I haven't seen before... You're not from this town, are you?"
"Yes... I'm here for sightseeing."
"Sightseeing? Are you a student?"
"No, I'm already an adult."
"An adult... Excuse , may I see your ID or driver's license?"
"Mm."
Kurumi nodded and handed Origami the ID that Naia had forged in advance.
"Tokisaki Kurumi... twenty years old."
Reading the information on the ID, Origami's expression softened slightly.
"Mm. Sorry. Thank you for your cooperation, Tokisaki-san. Although this town doesn't have any famous scenic spots, I hope you have a pleasant visit. While I'm at it, may I ask whether the woman beside did anything suspicious to you?"
Kurumi shook her head.
"No. She only asked whether I was hurt."
"I see. It seems you are innocent, Yatogami Tohka."
"I said that from the beginning! Honestly, is this what you call being a police officer?"
Tohka complained indignantly.
"I knew that, of course. That was only a joke to liven the mood. I didn't actually turn on the radio."
"I think you were simply picking a fight..."
Sighing speechlessly, Tohka looked at Kurumi and said with a wry smile,
"Don't misunderstand. This girl is called Tobiichi Origami. She lives in the sa apartnt building as . Although she's a little strange, she isn't a bad person."
After briefly introducing Origami to Kurumi, Tohka adjusted the bag on her shoulder and prepared to leave.
"Well then, I should get going too. Kurumi-chan, rember to co visit my shop."
"Mm... If I have ti, I'll go take a look."
"Do your best. Don't let your shop go bankrupt."
"Hmph! Even if you co, I won't sell you any bread."
"Then I'll continue my patrol as well. If you run into any trouble, you can find at the police box up ahead."
After that, Origami gave a salute and said goodbye to Kurumi.
(Their reactions... Did they fail to recognize ? Or do they not know at all?)
Watching Tohka and Origami leave, Kurumi could not help frowning in thought. Judging from the conversation just now, both of them seed to be eting Kurumi for the first ti, which made her sowhat confused.
However, compared with that, what shocked Kurumi more was their change.
After becoming a Spirit, cellular aging would be suppressed by spirit power and beco extrely slow, almost negligible. Kurumi had lived nearly twenty years since becoming a Spirit, but her appearance had not changed significantly.
But now, Tohka and Origami's bodies had indeed matured with the passage of ti.
And what surprised Kurumi most was that she could not sense even a trace of spirit power from either of them.
In other words, they were no longer Spirits now. They were living ordinary lives as normal humans.
To be honest, although she knew the Inversion problem had already been solved, Kurumi did not know what had happened to the Inverted Spirits afterward.
(Were they all... saved?)
With a bit of curiosity and unease, Kurumi walked in the direction Tohka had co from.
After walking for about five minutes, she soon found, in front of a two story apartnt building, a blue haired woman holding a rabbit puppet and talking with a man in a suit and glasses.
That was undoubtedly the grown up Yoshino.
This ti, Kurumi did not choose direct contact. Instead, she hid in the shadows and quietly observed.
"Here, Editor-san. This is the one, right? Natsumi-san's manuscript."
"Yes! That's right! This is it! Thank goodness, we finally made it before the deadline!"
"Ya~ Sorry, Editor-kun. Natsumi-chan doesn't really like going out, so you had to personally co all this way."
"No problem at all. Basically, manga artists are all full of individuality. This little thing is nothing."
"Um... If you don't mind... would you like to rest for a bit and have so tea?"
"Ah——Although that's a very tempting offer, I still have work... While I'm here, Hikawa-san, do you know where Honjou-sensei is right now?"
"Nia... She was indeed here yesterday."
"Mm~ I rember hearing her say she was going to Hokkaido for research. She left early this morning."
"Damn it... She escaped? The deadline passed ages ago——Anyway, thank you very much for the information. I'll be going now!!!"
"Please take care on the road..."
After seeing the editor off, Yoshino turned and returned inside the apartnt. A while later, she ca back with a broom and began sweeping up the nearby trash.
(Looks like... the Spirits Shido-san saved all live in this town.)
Kurumi thought.
Ever since she entered this town, those bizarre phenona from before had stopped happening. If "fate" truly existed, then its goal had been to guide her to this town where Spirits lived.
(But what aning is there in showing this...? How they live now has nothing to do with . And also...)
What happened to Yutsuki-san?
Although she had kept deliberately avoiding this question, after seeing the Spirits living peaceful lives, Kurumi could not stop the thought from arising.
"Obaa-chan, good morning."
Obaa-chan?
At that mont, one of Yoshino's words suddenly caught Kurumi's attention.
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