The girl who appeared above Yoshino's head was wearing a form-fitting dress that hugged her curves, a voluminous skirt like a blooming flower, and a veil of light extending from a halo floating around her head. All of it was composed of astonishing pure white. Her appearance was like a bride's gown, only suitable for a pure maiden—or perhaps the figure of an angel descending from darkness.
Noble, distinguished, and elegant. Countless words of praise could be used to describe this person, but Yoshino saw a sense of destruction in her. She could clearly feel the other party's current emotions: full of disgust, shock, and… despair.
That figure, upon seeing Tobiichi Origami's parents, was also full of shock. Her hands trembled as she realized what she had done, trying to touch the bodies of Tobiichi Origami's parents. But she recoiled her hand, as if afraid of something, and then her whole body began to tremble. She clutched her head, began to twist her body, and started muttering something.
Just then, the small Tobiichi Origami on the ground looked up, revealing an expression of despair and anger. With tears streaming down her face, she looked at the holy figure above and spoke. Although her voice was drowned out by the surrounding sirens and the sound of collapsing houses, her voice was clearly audible to them, who possessed superhuman strength.
"It was you! It was you who… my dad and mom! Unforgivable! I will never forgive you! I'll kill you! I will definitely kill you with my own hands!!!!"
The anger and despair in that childish voice were clearly heard by the Tobiichi Origami standing nearby. She slowly looked up at the figure in the sky, and it completely stunned her. Because the face of the holy, angel-like Spirit opposite Tobiichi Origami right now was identical to her own. The only difference was that she was a Spirit, and Tobiichi Origami was human.
'A Spirit, is this me? Impossible! I'm human! I'm not some Spirit! Wait! That crystal just now! It was also a crystal that could turn people into Spirits, which means! It was me… it really was me!!' Tobiichi Origami felt her heart gradually being painted black.
Listening to the words she had spoken when she was young, Tobiichi Origami understood everything. She understood it all. Just as Toujou Nozomi and the others had said, there were indeed other Spirits present in the Tengu City fire five years ago besides Itsuka Kotori. That Spirit was Tobiichi Origami herself, who had returned from the future to the past to save her parents!
"So… it was me, it was me who… my dad and mom…" That's right, the beam of light that directly struck Tobiichi Origami's parents was released by her own 'Angel of Extinction' after she became a Spirit. She was the real murderer. The Spirit she had always wanted to kill as her life's motivation was… herself?
"Ah! Ah! Ah!!!!!!!!" *2
The two of them let out desperate roars at the same time, but their reasons for doing so were different. One was due to the pain and despair of knowing the truth of what happened, and the other was due to the despair of having killed her own parents with her own hands.
Amidst these desperate roars, the Spirit Tobiichi Origami began to distort and then disappeared. The Little Origami also fell into a coma due to excessive grief. Only the Tobiichi Origami nearby was still screaming, crying while shouting.
Her heart kept asking, why is the truth so cruel? Why?!
Yoshino, watching all this, shook her head with a hint of pity. She quickly walked to Tobiichi Origami's side, bent down, and slowly embraced her with her arms. Then, she used her ability to slowly bring Tobiichi Origami back from her despairing consciousness, but no matter how Yoshino tried, it didn't work. This girl, who wouldn't shed a tear even when she had scars, this incredibly strong girl, was now crying like a little girl in her arms. Even though Yoshino had used her ability to calm her down, the moment she thought of what had just happened, she couldn't control her tear ducts.
"As expected, you can't accept what just happened, Tobiichi-san. Then go and deny that it's a fact now. If you really don't want to see such an outcome, then go and deny it," she whispered into Tobiichi Origami's ear, continuously comforting the Tobiichi Origami in her arms. Although a Little Loli comforting a maiden looked strange no matter how you saw it.
But it was this kind of comfort that slowly calmed Tobiichi Origami down. Feeling the warmth from Yoshino, Tobiichi Origami seemed to feel her heart, which had been made incomparably cold by despair, gradually warming up. After her emotions slowly settled, Tobiichi Origami also turned her head to look at Yoshino.
"I… my parents… I killed them with my own hands. When you asked me if I would regret it, was it because you already knew the truth?" Tobiichi Origami asked Yoshino with a choked voice. She remembered that Shiina had said from the beginning that she didn't want her to feel regret when she knew the truth.
"Yes, we did know the truth from the beginning. After all, we've been trying very hard to prevent you from seeing Itsuka Kotori's Spirit transformation. We just didn't expect DEM Industries to use this method to deepen your hatred towards us. It's estimated that if you hadn't come to us first to confirm the authenticity of things this time, you would have gone back to DEM Industries' headquarters to undergo Westcott's body modification to gain powerful strength to deal with Spirits. After all, the strongest Ellen was taken away by Ratatoskr, and even Takamiya Mana defected to Ratatoskr. You, who hates Spirits, are his target now."
"Westcott!" If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have known these things. But what should she do now? She had always lived with the motivation of finding and killing the person who killed her parents. Now that the killer was herself, what should she do? Should she commit suicide?
"Tobiichi-san, let me ask you. Do you want your parents to be alive?" Yoshino asked, looking at the crying Tobiichi Origami in her arms. If she didn't do this, Tobiichi Origami would live in pain from now on, wouldn't she?
"Alive? But history can't be changed, can it? You said that too. If you forcibly try to change history, then the future will also change. Can your ability prevent these problems from happening?" As if hope had rekindled, Tobiichi Origami clutched Yoshino's clothes, looking at her with some expectation. She remembered that many miraculous things had happened to the Spirit in front of her, and people with physical abilities like Toujou Nozomi were also by her side. Then she really might be able to save her parents!
"No, my current ability cannot change history." Yoshino shook her head, denying her idea. She didn't have that ability yet, and even alaya wouldn't allow her to do such a thing.
"I see. That's true, who would have that kind of ability?"
"No! I don't have the ability to change history, but I have a way to deceive history. If my idea can be realized, then it might be possible to deceive history!" Yoshino interrupted Tobiichi Origami, speaking loudly. This could be considered a way to repay Tobiichi Origami's spirit crystal. She would try her best to see if she could let her parents live!
"What are you saying…" Just as Tobiichi Origami was about to ask something else, her body began to twist in a vortex, interrupting what she was about to say.
"It seems the power of The Twelfth Bullet has been exhausted. Now, you go back and wait for my Little Darling. I will try my best to complete this matter." After saying this to Tobiichi Origami with a smile, she completely disappeared from her arms.
After Tobiichi Origami completely disappeared from her arms, Yoshino stood up and looked at the unconscious Little Origami, worried that she might be in danger in the sea of fire. After sending her to a safe place, Yoshino went to the top of a building and once again activated Tokisaki Kurumi's spiritual power within her body, and her right eye once again transformed into a golden clock.
"Are you really going to do this, Yoshino? You might fail if you do this, you know? After all, no one has ever tried to deceive the world, and the chance of success is very low," Shiina couldn't help but ask, looking at the antique rifle that appeared in her right hand. It knew what Yoshino was about to do, but this matter might be dangerous, and it didn't want Yoshino to take risks for Tobiichi Origami.
"This is what I want to do, and I believe Sister Nozomi and the others will support me in doing it. Shiina, you should also understand Yoshino's actions, right? Haven't you always wanted Yoshino to grow? You won't stop me, will you? Zafkiel!" As soon as Yoshino finished speaking, the giant clock appeared behind her again, and dark energy surged into the gun in Yoshino's hand.
But this time, the gun did not vibrate as violently as before, appearing quite ordinary.
"Since you've decided, I have no right to refuse your idea. I just hope your growth will prevent Toujou Nozomi and the others from bullying you so easily, or that you'll be able to resist them." Shaking her head, Shiina said with a hint of helplessness.
"Haha, let's talk about those things later. After all, we still have plenty of time, don't we, Yoshino?" The energy for The Twelfth Bullet had been fully injected, and Yoshino pointed the gun at her temple, speaking to it.
She was indeed not good at refusing their requests; she didn't know if she would succeed in the future.
"Yes, we still have plenty of time."
"Bang!?"
With a gunshot, the bullet carrying the energy of The Twelfth Bullet struck Yoshino's body. Her body twisted again, and Yoshino's form slowly began to disappear in the Spatial Quake.
'You must succeed, Yoshino.'
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