Date A Live: Practice Chapter 5
Kurumi had no idea where, or possibly in her case, when she was. She was walking around a dark area, sort of reminiscent of her shadow when she uses her Devouring City, while wearing her usual black gothic dress; but she didn't know how she got here. She kept walking, looking around to she if anything looked familiar to her such as a landmark to find her way home or a light in the distance for a way out. As she passed a certain area the camera decided to focus on, and as she stepped past it…
GRAB! WRAP!
From that same spot of the shadow, Kurumi was grabbed by a few long white arms arising from it, her right leg and arm to be exact. This very much confused her. Were her Clones rebelling against her?
She yanked her arm back with her other arm, and pulled her leg back herself. Thankfully the grip wasn't too strong so she was able to get out quite easily, the arms retreating back into the darkness. "What the hell? Are you all betraying me?" Kurumi seemed to ask the darkness itself, her voice echoing here.
GRAB! WRAP!
From behind, she was grabbed again by those same arms, this time by her other arm and leg; and a few more than before. "STOP!… I order you!" Her voice echoed again as she demanded the darkness to release her, but the arms didn't listen. They only continued to try and pull her in with them. This time it took a bit more effort, but she still managed to get free again, though not without inadvertently pulling the white arms with her. She expected to see the creepy eyes of a Clone of herself in Spirt Form…
It was a man… a seemingly random one, but it was more accurately one of the side male characters she had snacked on. This of course got the Time Spirit to recoil, shocked at what she just saw, but he retreated back into the darkness once his grip was lost. As she was even more confused, thats when a giant hole of even darker darkness (if that was possible) opened behind her… she could feel intense malice, sadness, hatred and anger directed at her; and this uneasy feeling made her turn her head slowly around…
They weren't Clones… they were people (male and female)… people she had all killed… and all for extra time…
With all that negativity directed at her, she saw no other option but to run, crying out in fear as she did so. The Shadow People only stretched their arms after her, the former Worst Spirit having to avoid or outrun them.
XXX
"Nightmare's having a nightmare! Again!"
"Really?! I thought this was a Shadow Orgy!"
Both Kortori and Michael said in that order. In the real world, Kurumi's powers were going out of control! Some white hands appeared from black masses from the walls, ceilings and floors; but they didn't appear to be actively seeking a target. They just grabbed whatever was closest to them or what they got their hands on, no pun intended; and either held onto them, and/or threw them or dropped them before seeking a new random target.
Some of the housemates were hiding from them, others (Tohka and Miku currently) ran from them, though Kaguya and Yuzuru were shown with makeshift weapons from around the house (one holding a broom, the other a chair) and using them to keep the arms at bay. The former was what Kotori and Michael were doing, hiding behind the large overturned kitchen table.
This wasn't the first time this has happened either. This was maybe the 3rd or 4th time, but it hasn't been THIS bad before. Usually it remained inside Kurumi's room, maybe red light or bits of her shadow would leak from the bottom crack of her door; but NEVER throughout the entire house!
However just like all those other times, there was only one way to stop this…
"Alright, Ladies Man; you know what to do," Kotori said.
"Me?! It was YOUR bright idea having Spirits live with us!" Michael said accusingly, poking his stepsister in the shoulder.
"Yes, cause I'M the Commander, now get in there!" Kotori said, now giving him a direct order while pointing behind herself, gesturing him to get moving.
"I don't wanna go in the clock shop…" Michael whined. Whether he was joking or being serious was unclear.
"GET. IN THERE. NOW!" Kotori ordered again through gritted teeth, her head also growing anime-style and getting above Michael's normal sized one with each sentence she spoke.
'Fuck my Dating Sim life!' Michael thought to himself before finally getting up from behind the safety of the table, where his eyes widened before he then had to duck from an incoming vase of flowers as they smashed into the wall behind him. He got back up while looking in the destroyed decorations direction, which will have to be cleaned up later, before turning back around to make his way to Kumuri's room.
It was all up to him again… he had to make his way to Nightmare's Lair and calm her down.
'Why couldn't I have gotten monster girls as house mates?'Michael thought in a complaining tone as he made his way out of the kitchen and into the living room, thinking of this one anime with monster girl waifus' in it that wanted to marry this one male stand-in character. Right now, monster girls seemed so much easier to deal with…
SLAM!
"Argh!" As he got into the hallway, a small picture crashed right into his face before falling off him. Holding his face, which now had a small bruise (and thankfully no blood) on one side, he looked down the hallway to see so many arms coming out of black masses like this one horror game he played, and even saw in a few movies. The hallway also stretched out as a visual effect.
There was no point in sneaking around… he had to make a break for it. 'Why do I have to seal Spirit Power?' He asked himself before he bolted down the hallway.
XXX
-Kurumi's Dream-
Back in Kurumi's dreamscape, she was still fleeing from the darkness and the hands continuing to reach for her. No matter how fast she ran, no matter which direction she chose, and no matter how many times she narrowly escaped they're grasp; the arms just kept coming after her in a relentless pursuit. Eventually, multiples of them managed to grab each of her limbs, holding her in place. The Time Spirit struggled in their grasp again, but either she had gotten too exhausted or their grip had gotten stronger.
"NO! Let me go!… LET ME GOOOOOOOO!"
XXX
-Real World-
In the real world, Michael had finally gotten to Kurumi's room door after dodging the white arms. Not only were red lights flashing from inside, but darkness was leaking out too… A LOT more than the other times. He couldn't help but stare, knowing how scary Kurumi's abilities were… but he shook it off and opened the door, warning bells in his head be damned. He had to get in there… he had to help Kurumi, so he opened the…
SHATTER!
"FUCK!" The very moment he opened that door, a lamp came flying out at Michael, but it thankfully missed his head by an inch in a half and smashed into the wall behind him. Something else that'll have to be cleaned up, glass shards all over the floor.
Kurumi's room was worse than the house. Clothes, hangers, pictures, small pieces of furniture… pretty much any small objects in Kurumi's room were flying around in orbit like they were caught in a tornado… actually, they were. A thick darkness was swirling in the room over Kurumi's bed, items flying around until they hit something such as other objects or the walls or floor, only to be re-picked up by the shadowy twister to go around again and repeat the cycle even if they were already busted.
In the center of it all… was Kurumi herself… sitting up on her bed in a fetal position with her knees to her chin, hugging her legs close to her, her face twisted with anguish and her eyes tightly shut, and her long silky black hair sprawled out behind and beneath her as it was not in her usual pigtails at the moment, though bangs still concealed her once clock-eye (she kept the look for style purposes). The poor girl was in her nightie, clutching herself in a ball-like state and was visibly shaking and sobbing though there were no tears.
"Kurumi!" Mike called to her, but that only seemed to worsen the Nightmare's state, and she clutched herself even harder and her face twisted even more. It also had an effect on the cyclone of madness, the speed and ferocity increasing. Having no choice, Michael had to make his way around the objects in the cyclone and into the eye of the tornado; though he did get hit a number of times, and all to the face.
Now he knows how Tohka felt when they first met the Berserk Babes…
Now right next to Kurumi's bedside, his arms in front of his face protectively, he called out to her again. "Ku-Kurumi!" He tried again, but it didn't seem like his words were reaching her unlike the other times, as the sound of his voice usually snapped her out of it. Whatever she was dreaming must really be affecting her.
He tried touching her, but that made her scream, and of course made the tornado worse. Not only that, as a shot of the house was shown, while it looked perfectly normal…
SHATTER!
Several long white arms broke out of some of the windows, waving in the air outside. Back in Kurumi's room, Michael heard the shattering sound and looked to see a newly formed black mass on the floor, but luckily as Kurumi was unstable, the arms just acted without guidance and thankfully didn't go after him. But that in itself was also a problem. Neighbors didn't need to see this; and even though the Female Trio and Hiroto knew about Spirits (which wasn't his fault. Natsumi just HAD to turn everyone else into kids that one time), this was a side of his life he didn't need them to see.
He had to calm Kurumi down, and fast!
He got in front of her on her bed and touched her again, but when she started to recoil, he grabbed her arms so he could look into her face. However, she violently thrashed about which brought his grip on her arms down to her wrists, and also pinned him on top of her. She even tried kicking, but she was almost completely underneath him right now so that barely did anything. She was acting as if she was being attacked.
"KURUMI! IT'S ME! EVERYTHING'S OKAY, JUST CALM DOWN!" Michael called out to her a third time, but she only continued to violently struggle in his grasp even as he held her down. Her arms and legs continued to flail, and her head shook violently back and forth with her eyes shut even tighter.
In Kurumi's dream, it was shown Michael grabbing her only made the pulling of the white arms stronger, Dream Kurumi crying as they pulled her.
This was so bizarre to Michael. In terms of power, Kurumi was one of the strongest Spirits he's ever known, able to take on several other Spirits and not bat an eye or break a sweat unless she was forced to use more Time; even when she used to devour people for more life in a bloody mess… but looking down at her now… in such a vulnerable state…
He had one idea… would it work? He had no idea. It was as stupid as the trust fall off the roof that one time, for she could very well end up killing him if her out-of-control power got worse from this idea… but if it worked…
He quickly let go of Kurumi, allowing her freedom, but he grabbed her shoulders just as quickly and pulled her up. She flinched at his touch and was gonna thrash again to push him away, but Michael quickly let her go again before grabbing both her cheeks; then smashing his lips into hers while closing his eyes.
-Kurumi's Dream-
The arms continued to pull on her, feeling like they'd drag her down or pull her apart in halves if they decided too. Poor Dream Kurumi had her eyes shut tightly… but that's when she felt light hit her face, and the arms loosened their grip on her before finally letting go and slithered away like snakes. She still refused to open her eyes… that is, until an echoing male voice said:
"Kurumi."
She opened them, and looked in the direction of the familiar voice, to see Michael… literally a few feet away from her, on a staircase exactly like the one at school when they had first met during the 'what panties are you wearing' moment. He was holding his arm out to her, offering it like back on the school roof, except this time he had a serious look on his face.
-Real World-
Kurumi's only visible red eye shot right open with a shocked look on her face, and she gasped but that was muffled by the kiss the real Michael was giving her. The camera cut to a sideview of them kissing with her on the left and him on the right. She was stunned. She didn't know what to say or do as her mind was still racing.
"M… Michael…!" Was the muffled word that came out of her mouth as Michael continued to kiss her, not letting go of her face. Calming down, not only did the darkness twister around them finally begin dissipating (the flying objects dropping with nothing keeping them afloat), which it already was the moment she woke up, but her eyes slowly shut before kissing him back, a single tear going down her visible eye.
Outside, the white arms around the house also began sinking back into the black masses they came out of, which included the ones going out the windows, all arms dropping whatever they were holding. The household calmed down as well, the crimson masses vanishing, seeing Michael has once again neutralized the threat.
As Kurumi and Michael continued to kiss, Kurumi pretty much sunk into it, now feeling safe with her snapped out of her bad dream. Her arms, which were on his chest to probably push him off while she was dreaming, were now shown to be slowly wrapping around Michael's body, her hands almost acting like a bow that tied them together. They held their position for a few moments when Kurumi went to back off for air.
Michael however, had other plans.
The second she attempted to part, Michael leaned forward and pulled her closer, still holding her face and refusing to let go. Kurumi moaned a bit loudly at this, not expecting it, and felt his tongue slip into her mouth. Michael felt this was necessary, as this was the most severe nightmare The Nightmare had thus far, and wanted to make sure she was fully over it.
Kurumi may have been a little shocked at Michael's boldness at this particular moment, but she knew why he was doing it. It was to make sure she was ok; that she was emotionally stable after waking her up… and its not like this was a bad thing, nor was she gonna ask him to stop.
She gave soft moans as Michael kept the kiss active, his tongue ramming into hers and forcing hers to wrestle his. Her arms were now tightening around him, bringing him closer. The tongue wrestling got so intense, you could see the brawl play out in they're cheeks. Kurumi's moans also got a bit more high pitched from the lack of air, but that didn't seem enough for her to want to part. If anything, it made her want to continue for as long as possible.
"Mm… mm… mm… mm… mm; mm; mm; mm-GAAAAAAA…" was the sound Kurumi made as the kiss reached its end just as Kurumi was on her last bit of air, and Michael broke the kiss himself after forcing the Worst Spirit to continue it. When they parted, a thin thread of saliva connected them for a second before the line snapped, Michael also breathing in fresh oxygen a few times, but not nearly as much as Kurumi had too as she didn't have time to prepare for the kiss at all.
As they panted (again, Kurumi more-so), they kept eye contact the entire once their eyes opened, not removing it for a second. They're shoulders rising and falling as the duos' lungs gulped up air which seemed like forever, they're breath each hitting the other person as they exhaled, both they're hearts beating against they're chests from the rigorous activity they both shared.
Their breathing out eventually slowed down once they gathered enough air to continue breathing at a normal pace, though still had their eyes locked on the others. "Ha *inhale*, ha *inhale*, ha *inhale*.. ha *inhale*.. ha *inhale*… ha *inhale*… ha *inhale*…" Kurumi inhaled until she breathed normally, even though her heart was still racing from the experience. "… … … good morning…" Was all she could think to say.
Michael's response as he refueled his oxygen tanks was: "… Yeah… sounds about right…" As he continued to pant a bit more with Kurumi, he had let go of one side of her face. The hand that fell ended up being gently grabbed by one of Kurumi's, where they either purposefully or subconsciously interlocked their fingers, also very reminiscent of the school roof incident.
XXX
As a result of Kurumi's last nightmar… scratch that, night TERROR. She was not permitted to sleep alone until the entire dysfunctional family could figure out how to deal with that. However, Kotori did have the idea since it appeared only Michael could get through to her, perhaps that could also be a cure, or at least until they could find a more permanent solution.
You probably already know where that was going.
Since Michael was the only one that could stop her, the Nightmare was allowed to sleep with him until the terrors ceased or again, till a more permanent solution was found. As you could imagine, Michael (and quite a number of the other girls) protested; not just because of Kurumi's dangerous powers, but for a beautiful girl and a handsome man sharing a bed together could only lead to a few possible outcomes.
In Dating Sim terms: 'trigger an event'.
Even Kotori admitted she didn't like this anymore than they did, but they couldn't risk Nightmare getting a nightmare so bad, she might end up seriously hurting somebody. Michael inevitably gave in, as if this was gonna make Kurumi feel better, or at least lessen the terrors to a less severe and more manageable state, then he'll have to resist his young hormones should they come about.
Despite his reluctance at first, it actually wasn't as bad as Michael thought it would be; not because he didn't want to sleep with a highly attractive girl, but he assumed she would take advantage of the opportunity and relentlessly tease him. Much to his surprise, Kurumi didn't try anything. Not even once. She would dawn her nightie every night, he be in gym shorts and a t-shirt, then they'd both go to sleep together. It was totally innocent.
In fact, the girl was a cuddler; which he wasn't gonna lie, was kind of adorable.
Its been a few days since that last night terror, and while there were some bad dreams here and there, all of which seemed mild, she appeared to recover once Michael or herself either did one of 3 things:
A) Snuggle closer.
B) Hold his/her hand and gently squeeze.
Or C) Let her hug him, which included him being spooned a few times.
The sun rose on a new day with Michael waking up first, small streams of light coming in from the windows closed blinds. He would have sat up, but something, or rather… someone… prevented that. Kurumi had Michael's arm on lock, using it as a pillow, her arms wrapped around it and held it very close to her chest. It wasn't close enough for him to feel softness, but if she hugged him any tighter…
The Nightmare had a smile on her face, her chest and shoulders rising calmly in a normal breathing pattern… she looked really cute as she slept, and he hated to disturb her considering the situation. It didn't appear she had a night terror either, just a peaceful sleep, which was probably a first in a long time as she used to always be on the move.
Seeing as school was out for today for the students, its not like they had to go anywhere, so Michael just let her sleep… she deserved it after all she'd been through. He laid in bed with her for about an hour, just looking up at the ceiling as she slept, she even began clutching his arm even closer to her heart among other things in that same area, which Michael couldn't help but flush a bit from.
Michael: … (rolls eyes once) you can stop pretending now…
Surprisingly, he got a response after a few soft giggles. "Did I make it that obvious?" The Goth Spirit asked. Though her eyes were closed, she still smiled.
"Your eyes have been fluttering the past hour…" Michael said dryly, revealing she was faking it the whole time, or at least a good portion of it. "You know I gotta get breakfast started. Otherwise Tohka's gonna start breaking down doors." He added a dry joke.
"I can make a time loop if you want." Kurumi suggested, probably joking but it may have been half-serious.
"You DO realize I have the giant floating wristwatch now, right?" He said smugly, but it was quickly discarded when Kurumi rolled over quickly on top of him like a predator pouncing on its prey, and also pinning both his arms down. Even with her power sealed inside him, she was still quite strong.
"A quick kiss should open that path back up… that's how the other girls cured you, riiiight?" The Nightmare said, mentioning when Michael and the sealed Reiryoku within him went out of control as she leaned in a bit closer. He swallowed some spit, but not just because a hot girl was on top of him… it was due to the fact that in the struggle, he had noticed one of the top buttons of Kurumi's nightie got undone, showing the top of her breasts.
"Uh… I was High. Don't remember much from that." He excused, which actually wasn't a total lie, he only remembered bits and pieces from that whole experience. He also tried focusing on her eyes (at least her unhidden eye), but part of him kept forcing his eyes to glance downward a few times at Kurumi's cleavage.
She noticed his eyes darting, but didn't understand why… until she put two and two together before looking down herself, then looked back up while smirking at him. "And here I thought you were sophisticated," she threw a jab at him as she leaned in. Her chest was close to his own, but she didn't press into his and merely hovered over. She really didn't mind him looking at her, she knew she was attractive to pretty much anyone. Plus it was fun to tease him.
Michael forced his eyes too look directly at hers, but that didn't help at all. In fact the uncertainty of whether or not she WOULD press into him only further fueled his boyish imagination. She even hovered her lips over his, seeing if that would get a reaction.
He wanted too… goddamnit, his body wanted too… and it took EVERY ounce of willpower within Michael to not lean back up and kiss her. Unfortunately, this got the wrong result, and a confused Kurumi backed off. "Michael… do you not… want me?" She felt the need to ask, recalling another (and much less severe) night terror she had.
Now Mikey felt a bit guilty, and it was kinda his fault. Kurumi had completely misunderstood his body language, and she looked like she was about to cry because of it. He had to say something, or she might get upset. "No. It's not that, its…" He began to explain, but sighed and trailed off while glancing away as it played out in his head. How was he gonna say this without sounding like pussy?
"… It's what?" Kurumi asked, needing to know the answer when he didn't finish it.
"… I want too…" He said, which Kurumi paid attention to his tone. "I can't lie… part of me really wants too. And its taking allot in me not to push you down right now." He admitted.
"Then why…?" Kurumi asked him why didn't he, not fully understanding his line of thinking. If he wanted too, and she had no issue with it, then what's the problem?
"Because its not what you need right now." He calmly cut her off, and spoke softly. Kurumi blinked and gasped softly at this as her visible eye widened a bit. Seeing her reaction, Michael slowly began to get up and Kurumi didn't try to pin him anymore. As he sat up, they were still a bit on top of each other as they both sat up in the bed.
"Listen…" In the movement, he gently took a hand and interlocked his fingers with hers, giving her a gentle squeeze which subconsciously made her lock her fingers back. She could feel the blood pulsing in-between them. "You've been having really bad nightmares the past couple of days, and I don't want to continue being a cause of any more."
Kurumi's eyes widened a bit more. He knew?! "H… How did…?"
"You'd sob my name… several times…" Michael cut her off again. Kurumi had nothing to say, she was caught. "You shouldn't keep that crazy shit your seeing to yourself. Like I told you on that roof; like a generic harem protag, I want to take whatever burden you have away. But I can't do that if your not gonna be honest with me."
Kurumi didn't know what to say, being caught again. Michael squeezed her hand a bit harder, also rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand in circles, which honestly felt pretty good to her. "Whatever your dreaming about me, you need time to heal… and going bump in the night like a rabbit with me is only gonna mask it." He said with serious eyes. "And if our shadows merging cases you more problems… I can never forgive myself for that, regardless of how good it'll feel."
Kurumi was speechless, blinking a few more times and feeling very touched by his words. Even while fighting his own bodily urges, he STILL looked out for her. First the roof, then over how much Time she kept spending prior to sealing her, now this… despite all the torment she put him through, he refused to give up on her, no matter how many times she'd push him away.
He once called her out saying along the lines of: "Your not not in love with me… your afraid to love me! You think loving someone is a weakness!" He wasn't wrong either. She had fallen hard for him, but refused to admit it… even to herself. She saw it as a distraction from achieving her goals… and look where she was now. Going as far as sharing the same bed with him!
It was here Michael leaned in to kiss her, but planted it in her forehead before looking directly back into her eyes which she copied. "I'm not going anywhere… and when your ready to talk, I'll be right here… you know that, right?" He said, knowing how hard it was for Kurumi to open up. She's been alone for so long, he understood it must have been hard to open up to people without lodging a special bullet in their brain.
Kurumu really shouldn't be surprised anymore, but she couldn't help but be. Michael had a tough side, but also a compassionate one, which allowed him to understand what she was going through. For her sake, he wanted them to take it slow. She could feel her heart warm up her entire chest.
She wanted to kiss him… She REALLY wanted to kiss him again… but if she did, he could probably no longer deny his bodies urges, and thus defeat the whole point of this conversation. At least he was being honest about his guyish hormones and not denying they occurred. All she did was nod at him, to which he gently pulled her into his chest using the hand he was holding hers with, using his free hand to hug her and rub her back.
Kurumi returned the hug herself with her own free hand, her head under Michael's neck. Just being in Michael's arms gave her a huge sense of security, like nothing and no one could touch them as long as he was there. Just like the kiss from a few days ago, she sank into this hug; holding the man who promised, and did, save her. And the man who continued to do so in her time of need.
XXX
A little later that day, Kurumi was dressed in her normal attire in the living room. She was watching TV out of boredom… some stupid show Tohka and Yoshino got her involved in that had the stereotypical drama and predictable plots of a soap opera. It was what Michael would call cringeworthy, and yes it definitely could be, but it did have decently written characters that were mildly entertaining at times.
She heard the teleportation effect of Fraxinus in this very room, and turned to the right to see Michael had appeared out of nowhere. He was dressed pretty good too, wearing khaki pants and a blue shirt. "And you said phasing and entering was still illegal…" Kurumi jabbed at him with a smile, bringing up the reconnaissance mission when they gathered info on Muki, which was now ironic as Michael just did the same thing himself.
"Its my house." Michael countered with a smile. "Now get up, we're going on a Date." He added.
Kurumi blinked. "A Date?"
"Did I stutter?" Michael asked her before walking over and gently grabbed a hand of hers, guiding her up. He then held his ear with his free hand for some reason. "K, Spock. Beam us up." He said and the very next second, both him and Kurumi were surrounded by lights and disappeared from the room, ending up in a new room which was the teleportation chamber for Fraxnius.
"Send us down, Kotori I. Kirk. Like we agreed" Michael spoke into the headpiece again, being vague on purpose which Kurumi could tell immediately. What was he up too?
"You do realize I have no jurisdiction there, right?" Kotori said with her arms folded in her captains chair, also her trademark lollipop in her mouth. "Once we drop you off, we can't pick you back up, or be there to help you if something goes wrong."
"Yeah, I know…" He told Kotori, then his head and mouthed to Kurumi with a smile: "That's exactly the point." NOW. Kurumi was even more interested… a place Ratatoskr had no jurisdiction, which means they wouldn't be spying or interrupting their date?… Michael was definitely up to something, what was her Macho Spirit-Sealer's big plan this time?
Kotori sighed. "Can't believe I'm doing this…" she mumbled under her breath as she remembered earlier from this morning.
-FLASHBACK-
Very early in the morning, Kotori heard loud knocking on her door, walking her up. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she walked over to her bedroom door and opened it to see Michael standing before it. He was supposed to be sleeping with Kurumi due to the arrangement, meaning he obviously snuck out.
"Michael?…" She said sleepily, looking back into her room at her alarm clock. We couldn't see the exact time, but a '2' was at the beginning. "Ugh, you know what time it is?" She added in a bit of a cranky voice as she looked back to her stepbro, which was ironic considering she had her white ribbons on at the moment
"Listen, I need a favor," Michael either ignored or refused to acknowledge the time of night and got straight to the point. "Kurumi's been getting worse, we both see it…"
"Ya think? That's why she's sleeping with you until we figure it out." Kotori said.
"Kotori, this won't be an overnight thing, she needs help." Michael said.
"Thanks, Officer Obvious. You want a badge for that?" Kotori asked with sarcasm.
"I want you to send us here tomorrow…" Michael shoved a paper into the tired Commander's chest. She sleepily looked at it, then she slowly began to wake up some more upon confirming what she was reading, looking at it in shock. "It'll help her… I know it will…" he said with confidence before his little sister could respond. She only looked back down at the paper and back up at her brother before the flashback ended.
-END FLASHBACK-
With some reluctance, Kotori ended up pressing the proper button, making Michael and Kurumi vanish again.
XXX
When the light effect stopped, Kurumi and Michael found themselves in an alley. "Oh, Michael; you…" The Time Spirit went to make a (most likely suggestive) joke, but the human just grabbed her hand and pulled her along. They exited the alley where he let go of her hand and saw they ended up in…
Actually, what was THIS city? This looked nothing like Tengu City at all. Kurumi began staring around in awe, never having seen this before. It was a city, just not the one she's been lurking in the shadows of for the past couple of years of her life. Not only that, a lot more text on buildings was written more in english than usual.
"W… Where…?" Kurumi started to ask.
"Its home… at least it was to me once before." Michael said. It didn't take long for Nightmare to understand the context. He traveled to Japan to find out why he was left behind by his farther, and of course learning why once they rescued Tohka from DEM. So that means…
"Welcome to the Big Apple… New York City." Michael revealed as the camera zoomed to show the scope of the city they ended up in. It was gigantic! Kurumi couldn't help but continue looking around in awe like an easily-impressed child, her mouth slightly agape.
Of course, while this could be a fun experience for Kurumi to get a taste of a different Culture (instead of seeing Michael logging into the American side of Twitter), with them in a country that was majority english-speaking…
"Oh yeah, put this on!" He suddenly added as if he forgot something important. He handed Kurumi… a band aid? She couldn't help but stare at it with confusion. What would…? Oh, right. This was how "Michelle" came to be. "Just keep this on, and anything you say is automatically translated to english."
"Uh…" Kurumi said, trying to understand as the last time, this gadget only changed the pinch of the wearers voice. Unless it had different settings or it was a different one entirely, how was this gonna help? This was all so sudden and a bit too fast, even for her. She still put it on her neck before hiding it in her collar.
"Basically, your getting Dubbed over." Michael joked. He then slipped a special earpiece into her ear, which she didn't expect at first and recoiled, but calmed down once she saw Michael working on her ear and adjusting the objects position, also hiding it behind her long hair. To bystanders, it looked like a boyfriend helping his girlfriend with either braiding or jewelry. Nothing strange about that.
"And this translates anything you hear into Japanese… gotta love Ratatoskr for something." Michael said. "And if all else fails…" He then grabbed her hand again, and also held them both up to their necks in height, now interlocking fingers which they normally only did alone. Kurumi couldn't help but get a small flush on her face, one she wasn't forcing either. With his hand holding her own, even though she could clearly take care of herself, she felt safe. "Just stay by me, ok?" He gave her a smile, which rendered the teasing Time Spirit silent.
He was going pretty far, and he appeared to have thought ahead of everything beforehand so there would be no screw ups this time around. All Kurumi could do was nod. Hand-in-hand, the Nightmare and Spirit Sealer walked down the pretty crowded sidewalk with Michael leading the way.
It didn't seem too different from Tengu at all. People were still bustling by, cars still beeped… though one odd thing Kurumi noticed was the insane amount of piercings some people would have… and mostly on girls. And they would be in strange spots like on the lips or cheeks. One girl they passed even had some around her face, large hoops in her both earlobes, and some across her eyebrows. It seemed a little excessive.
Don't get her wrong, Kurumi understood fashion, but she couldn't help but be flabbergasted at what she was seeing. Earrings were one thing, but that…
"Michael? Why are…?" Kurumi tried asking out of genuine curiosity, but Michael seemed to sense exactly what she was gonna ask and just pulled her a bit harder along.
"Just. Keep walking…" Was his answer. Some things were better left unsaid…
XXX
They kept walking through the city as if Mike was leading her somewhere. Where, she didn't have the foggiest idea, but she enjoyed her time with him. They stopped at a few spots along the way. First they went to a small shoppe that sold treats such as ice cream and candy. Michael ordered a milkshake, while Kurumi got a parfait.
However as both took a sip of each of they're treats, Kurumi gained a mischievous smile on her face. When Mike finished his sip, Kurumi continued hers, but made sure some dribbled out of her and down her chin before licking it up. And considering it was vanilla colored…
"I know what your doing," Michael slowly crossed his arms and a smug smile, fully aware of her little trick. "Its not working."
Accepting the challenge, Kurumi then extended her leg and rubbed it against his own slowly. He did react slightly to it as Kurumi kept eye contact with him, her smirk not having vanished. Keep in mind, they were not at a booth, so if someone happened to walk by…
Michael did manage to kept a reasonably straight face, but the Goth Spirit had only just begun. Her next attack was then raising her leg up, getting her foot out of her shoe, then pushing that very foot lightly against his crotch… and here is where he started to begin cracking. Not losing eye contact or the smirk still, in fact the smirk got wider, she applied some pressure to his area a few times. It was so cute to see him try and remain composed, and she wasn't done just yet.
Finally, she reached over and grabbed his milkshake, which thanks to her planning if he tried to move froward, it would only increase the pressure to his package area, which she could see he figured out too by his facial expression. Now with a new weapon in hand and no way for him to stop her, she agonizingly slowly opened her mouth over the straw (making sure to show her tongue) before enveloping it between her lips.
She then took one sip… then another… then another… She had also raised her chin up a little so he could see her throat move every single time she gulped, also making sure to gulp extra audibly so he could hear each and everyone swallow that went down her gullet.
After 4 gulps, she released both her foot off him and her lips off the straw, but not before giving a clearly seductive-sounding "aaaaaaaaaah" upon stopping. That was quite the show she had just put on, Michael was pretty shaken up by the experience. Licking him on his cheeks or biting his ears were one thing, but holy shit…
"Ara, Ara. You look hot, Mikey. Why not take a drink?" Kurumi joked with him as she pushed his shake back slowly across the table, letting the sound of the glass sliding fill the air. This was her killing technique… the indirect kiss. She loved seeing the dismay on Michael's face over the footsie-play and swallow show she put on, now all that's left was this.
Much to her surprise, his embarrassment faded away and he took a sip of his milkshake, but made sure to finish it all which included the slurping sound a straw makes when there's barely anything left. He even mockingly mimicked her "aaaaaaaaaah" once he was done, but with an overdramatically open mouth.
"We don't believe indirect kisses in America." He said with a cocky smile. Kurumi did give a cute pout… she thought she would see him crack that time…
XXX
After that, they then entered a small pet store. Kurumi went into a little play pen with some puppies just like the other customers. After sitting down on her knees some pups did come up to her, but they all left as quickly to go either play or keep sniffing other people due to overexcitement. One gray puppy did stay behind, which Kurumi picked up, said puppy now licking her face.
"Hehe! I think this one likes me." She said as said puppy kept giving her kisses.
"It's probably just the ice cream…" Michael sarcastically said.
"And I think your just jealous," Kurumi shot at Michael while looking at him, then turned her head back to the puppy before talking to it in a tone one would use when speaking to a baby. "Isn't that right? Yes he is; Macho Mikey jealous he's not as cute as little ol' you!" She added, and giggled a bit when the puppy licked her face again.
"And this is all coming out of the 'Worst Spirit'… ooooooooooooh!" Mike continued to jab at her, making a mocking 'boo' noise while vibrating his open palms. To think this girl was a mass murderer at one point…
They went to another pen, this time with kittens and both members of the couple got involved instead of only Kurumi. She got a kitten very similar to the cat one of her Clones tried saving, while Anthony had a full grown black cat on his lap that he was petting. And this cat was purring.
"I think this pussy likes me." He said, getting a giggle from Kurumi.
"Now imagine if we did that cat cafe…" she said, mentioning the time she suggested this with a mental image spawning, then began hugging and nuzzling Michael back then for the image of him wearing cat ears was too much for her.
"And like I told you, I'm a dog person." He brought up, using the same denial as last time this was brought up. They left the pet shop afterward, not buying any animals… though Kurumi was shown outside trying to get back in as Michael pulled her arm back to get away from the store to prevent this.
"Awwwwww! Just another minute! Why can't we buy one? I could carry them all in my shadooooooooow!" Kurumu whined as she tried to stay, but Michael telling her 'no' multiple times and even added 'bad kitty' once.
XXX
They also passed a store with a female Mannequin in its window… wearing lingerie…
"NO! NO! I AM NOT DEALING WITH THIS AGAIN!" Michael was trying to pull himself away from Kurumi this time, whom was trying to pull him into the store in question by his arm.
"Come on! You said I was Fan-Fucking-Credible." Kurumi said.
"No, that was your 6 hundred and 26th sister!" Michael argued back.
XXX
The couple walked down another sidewalk still hand-in-hand, this one with less and less people this time, which was a bit strange to both kids but for different reasons. For Kurumi, dead streets usually meant trouble like gangs or the like, not that she couldn't deal with that. For Michael, 'That's weird… this streets usually always busy… its not closed today, is it?' He couldn't help but think, hoping he didn't make a miscalculation. If he did, the main purpose of coming here would amount to practically no reason.
Further ahead, 2 cars were shown to have had crashed into each other but instead of calling the proper authorities, the 2 male owners of those cars were in a heated argument. If it continued, there was going to be swinging.
2 older men, looking to be in their early or late 50's, were watching this play out from their stoop of their home building behind them, sitting on the stairs while each had a beer in a glass bottle. Both men were caucasian and wore somewhat raggedy jeans and T-shirts. One man had dark sunglasses, while the other wore a worn baseball cap; which was so worn, most of the letters had fallen/faded off.
"I got the Nissan." Said the man with the glasses.
"Eh, my moneys on the Toyota." Said the baseball cap man, both men obviously making a bet.
A few seconds after making the wager, both Kurumi and Michael showed up on the scene, though Michael had lead them towards these men. "Hey, um…" He went to get their attention.
"Not now, kid!" Said Baseball Cap, waving him off without even looking who it was.
"Go play hopscotch or something!" Added Glasses, not looking at Michael either. Both kids looked at what the older men were focused on and while Kurumi didn't get it (well, she did; but didn't understand why), Michael pinched in-between his eyes with his free hand and slightly shook his head once.
As the car owners argued, the one by Nissan made the first punch, suckering the Toyota opponent in the face. This also got some attention from other bystanders who began watching out of shock, or got their phones out and held them sideways. The Nissan owner continued yelling even as the Toyota owner reacted accordingly, processing the fact he got punched.
"HA!" Glasses Man laughed, then looked right at Baseball Cap, whom had a blank face upon losing the bet. All Glasses did was hold out a hand and wiggle his fingers. Baseball Cap, not making eye contact with Glasses while holding his blank expression, reaching into his shirt pocket and pulled out a 20, slowly handing it to Glasses who took it eagerly.
That's when the fight between the car owners further escalated, and the Toyota owner returned fire with a punch of his own, shocking bystanders (those with and without phones out) as the argument turned into a physical brawl, with both men falling to the ground on each other with the Toyota owner ending up on top.
Glasses now copied Baseball Caps blank expression from before as he handed back the money with equal speed when it was handed to him, not looking at his drinking partner either. Baseball Cap gently pinched the bill before gently taking it back with a silly smile, and returned it to its shirt pocket home while giving it a few pats.
"Nice to know you asshats haven't changed." Michael told them, which of course got both men to snap their heads in his direction. They looked like they were gonna tell him of, but they appeared surprised seeing whom addressed them.
"Son of a bitch…" Said Baseball Cap
"Mikey?… That you, boy?" Asked Sunglasses, leaning from behind Baseball Cap.
"Does anyone else bother talking to you rum-soaked geezers?" Michael answered their question with a question. The too old men grew happy faces, also laughing upon finally recognizing him.
"When the hell'd you get back, Mi-…" Baseball Cap was going to greet, but thats when both older men finally noticed Kurumi… and the interlocked fingers… "Hoover Damn…" the Baseball Capped man continued.
The Sunglasses man lifted up his dark sunglasses as if to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him, not to mention Kurumi was an attractive young lady. "Mike… Dat girl your woman?" He asked. "The hell you find a pretty little thing like her?"
Michael looked at Kurumi, who happened to look at him at the same time, then glanced away with a red tint on her cheeks. It was hard to tell if that was a genuine reaction, or if she was being cutesy on purpose. "She found me actually…" Was all Michael could think to say as he looked back at the men.
"Well, wherever she found you, keep her close. She's gorgeous… like my 12th wife." continued Sunglasses. He wasn't trying to hit on her, even to his buddy Kurumi was an insanely beautiful girl with a mysterious charm. She was so pretty, its almost like she wasn't even human…
Kurumi looked down while putting her free hand close to her chin, doing more cutesy crap upon the compliment. "… t-thanks" she said. Again though, it was unknown if she was being serious or not.
And 12 wives… thats more than double of Kyouji's…
"Ha! Ani't that cute?" Asked Baseball Cap, him and his drinking buddy both seeing the Time Spirits reaction.
"Heh. Shy ones' always the frisky ones', eh?" Asked Sunglasses, his tone giving off joking vibes, then both men laughed. Michael couldn't help but sweatdrop. They got the frisky part of her right…
"So, Mikey; who are they?" Kurumi finally asked Michael as she leaned to whisper to him, deducing that Michael and these men were very familiar with each other.
"Just some guys I knew when I was stuck at the orphanage." Michael revealed to her. "One in the caps Kenny; the one with the specs is Kyle." He added their names. "Listen, love to stay and chat, but we gotta get going to Spring Studios." He then said to both men, which both the name and his sense of urgency caught Kurumi's attention. Spring Studios, huh? Wonder what was so important about that?
Michael gently lead Kurumi past the old mens stoop, both walking side-by-side, and two seconds after they pasted them…
"Heh! Good luck with that!" Kyle said with a single laugh as the couple went to leave, which made them stop and both turn their heads back to them. "No one's went there or anywhere near 6th Avenue since the place was shot by one of dem sky quakes a year ago. Blown to smithereens."
Kurumi noticed Michael's expression change to shock, then questioning. "Wait, seriously?"
XXX
The scene changed to Kurumi and Michael standing in front of a gated-off location (no longer holding hands) in the shape of a large rectangle. There was nothing there, just a crater that probably held something there at one point.
Michael had slowly walked over to the gate before gripping his fingers in the holes of the fence. "Michael?… You ok?" Kurumi felt the need to ask, the Worst Spirit could feel his emotions bubbling. When she tried reaching for him, he gripped the fence harder, showing his frustration.
"This was it…" Michael started, which Kurumi paid attention too. "It was gonna be perfect… be the best part of our Date… but we're too late." He was now squeezing the fence so hard, his own hand was shaking. "It was gonna help you… get you free of those damn terrors…" He added while looking down, sadness now mixed in with his current emotions.
Kurumi widened her eyes again. So this all wasn't just for a simple Date with Kotori and others not peeking on them… it was for her. He went out of his way just to find something to help her with her night terrors, and halfway across the world no less. She felt bad for him, trying to imagine how much planning he had to do to make all of this possible, but what could she do? How could she help with something destroyed a year ago?
Wait… maybe she can…
Walking up to Michael with a serious look on her face, her date heard her quick steps and looked at her to see the expression she was wearing. "Kurumi? What's th…?"
GRAB! *Smooch!*
Grabbing Michael's shirt and yanking him down to her height level, she smashed her lips into his while closing her eyes before he could ask what the problem was. He was caught off guard, so his eyes remained open as the Spirit kissed him. In doing so, her body began glowing, regaining some of her Astral Dress back as Michael inadvertently gave it back to her due to his surprise. She only regained the dressy parts of it, so her hair did not rearrange itself into her Spirit Modes uneven twin tails, nor did she gain back the boots or the net bow. It's unknown if she regained her clock eye, as that eye was still covered by her bangs.
She broke the kiss then, not needing anymore of her power at the moment. She reabsorbed enough for her own plan. "I call forth; Zafkiel!" She announced while raising a hand, then the tocking sound of her Angel gonged before appearing behind her. After that, her musket arose from a black mass below her, and she pointed it to the 12. "Yud Bet!" Upon that, dark energy filled her gun around swirling around a bit before actually entering. Kurumi did all this with a smile on her face.
It didn't take long for Michael to comprehend what Kurumi was going to do, he just wasn't sure how she would use it and even then, did she have enough Time stored up for it? "Kurumi? What are you doing?" He asked.
Kurumi had her gun position at her chin as she gave her signature soft chuckle. "Well, if there's nothing here now; why not go back to when there was?" She suggested. "One year isn't too much Time to spend. It's not like our presence will be long enough cause a brand new reality… And! We'll be back before anyone knows we're gone." She added with a smile.
Michael couldn't lie, that was a good idea. If the Studio wasn't here at this point in time, they can go back to the moment in time when it was. One year didn't seem like a big deal either, but the real issue he had was: this was Kurumi's most riskiest Bullet. One that ate away at her more than any of her other 11. It didn't seem right to waste her own Time just for this.
"Mikey… I'm perfectly okay with this," Kurumi stated, as if reading Michael's mind. She said this in her usual tone, but it also had a hint of seriousness (which she hardly used) and authenticity. She really wanted to see what Michael had in store, having gone as far as he had, and as Kotori had no leeway here, it was up to her. Michael had already sacrificed so much for not just her, but all the others girls of this crazy harem. He literally came back to the same place that his father left him to rot, even after learning the truth about why his dad did so… just to try and make her happy.
If it took shaving one small year off her life… then so be it.
Hearing that from her, Michael would be a fool to argue with her. It was also a little funny… Kurumi was the type of person that would help or seek out someone ONLY if they aligned with her own goals, her tracking him down that fateful day being a prime example. As of modern day, that appeared to change. Ever since he saved her from Kotori's rampage by literally blocking her deadly flames, which she felt she probably didn't deserve, the Time Spirit slowly seemed to help people without any provocation. A perfect example was assisting Origami and letting her go back in time temporarily… and although that did cause another incident, she still worked with Michael to undo the unintentional mistake.
"You know staring isn't polite," Kurumi joked, interrupting Michael's thoughts. Apparently in his deep thinking, he had a been staring at Kurumi unintentionally the entire time. "Not that I mind… I AM best girl."
"I'm just… a little surprised by you, is all." Michael said, which did get Kurumi to look at him questioningly. "Before; you were all about doing things all by yourself, and only with yourselves," he continued. "But now… even if you have your moments sometimes, your somewhat open to the idea of teamwork. Hell, you've even helped us out; even if whatever bullshit we were dealing with had no correlation to your own mission." The praise did get Kurumi to lower her gun and her mouth to open a bit, not expecting to be revered all of a sudden.
"You've really grown as a person, Kurumi… and I know sometimes it's tough for you, especially being around other people who aren't trying to kill you every 5 seconds. But you've been handling it pretty well ever since you came to live with us." Michael continued, Kurumi's reaction to the praise continuing to the point where she was no longer holding her gun up high; it was dangling to the side, shock written all over her face.
"I could only imagine what you're going through, how strange all this must be to you. You've come a long way and I just… well… I'm proud of you, Kurumi." Michael's last words DID get surprised look out of the Worst Spirit, and it wasn't cutesy crap either. It was a 100% genuine reaction.
While they would normally go back and forth with conversations like this, and sometimes flirtatiously… Kurumi was drawing a blank. She could not think of a single thing to say to counter Michael's words of admiration… and ALL were directed at her.
"… heh… flattery will get you nowhere…" She said after recovering, smiling her trademark smile at him, whom smiled back at her with an equal type of smile.
"Alright… let's do this." Michael said, confirming he was ready to try Kurumi's idea. Not losing her smile, she raised her gun at him. "Uh… l-ladies first?" He squeaked while losing his smile. Even if they were on the same side now, this part never got any easier…
"If I did that, it'd be a waste of Time. I can't come back for you until Yud Bet wears off. And its not like your gonna find me in America either." Kurumi said, not losing her smile.
"You get some sick pleasure out of this, don't you?" Michael asked. He of course understood what she meant. By sending him first, she can then send herself immediately after.
Kurumi gave a soft chuckle before responding. "Maybe a little…" she said, now clocking the gun. "Now hold still. This'll only take a second. I'll catch up with you."
Michael sighed. "Ok. Let me just mentally prepare myse…" He was saying, but Kurumi's smile widened and her head tilted a bit.
BANG!
Michael didn't even have a second to scream as Kurumi shot him with Yud Bet. Once he heard the bullet sound off and saw its muzzle flash, he shut his eyes. He of course also felt the bullet itself impact him. Once he reopened his eyes, Kurumi was nowhere in sight and…
Hang on… where'd the fence go?
Having noticed the absence of the long fence out of the corner of his eye, Michael slowly turned to the gated off crater… only it wasn't a crater anymore. It was a long and tall building now standing in the originally gated off spot. Looks like it was a smooth sailing, he had successfully traveled back in time a year prior to Spring Studios destruction thanks to Kurumi's 12th Bullet.
Question was: where was she?
Darkness suddenly blocked Michael's vision, and giggling filled his ears. "Guess who!"
"Kurumi 3 hundred and 91?" Michael answered. His sight returned to him and he turned around to see Kurumi had finally joined him, the girl having playfully covered his eyes from behind and had recalled her Astral Dress so she was back in her black gothic one; but was it the real Kurumi, or another Clone?
"No silly. It's me. I told you I'd catch up with you." Kurumi said cheerfully, insisting she was indeed the real Kurumi.
Michael just stared at her. "… take out Zafkiel."
Kurumi blinked. "… huh?"
Now here's where Michael got a little cocky, thinking he figured her out. "I mean, if you ARE the real Kurumi, that SHOULD be no problem… riiiiight?" He said as he leaned in closer to her. He wasn't wrong with the assumption, as while all Kurumis' looked the same and used the same guns, big shadow bubble and Vector Arms; only the true Kurumi could use the Zafkiel Angel.
It looked like this Kurumi got a bit nervous, but then she recovered. "In front of all these people?" She asked with a bit of sass.
"In front of what pe…?" Michael began to ask, but then realized they weren't in the present. They were back in time. With one glance around, he saw many other people walking around and past them, so unless they wanted to cause a panic with a giant random clock gonging out of nowhere… "Goddamnit…" He deadpanned.
While he still wasn't entirely sure if this was the real Kurumi or not, he didn't have time to discuss it further either. It would cause a scene and the LAST thing he needed was more paradoxes under his belt. Also, depending on how much energy Kurumi spent on Yud Bet, they only had so long to make this date worth all the effort it took to get here before they would return to their original time period once its effect wears off; plus he wasn't willing to ask (or in that case, allow) Kurumi to drain herself even more than she did. Not just because she was a deadly fighter and her powers helped immensely in certain situations… but because he genuinely cared about her well-being.
"Alright…" Mike sighed. "May as well get inside in time for the show."
"Show?" Kurumi/Possible Kurumi Clone asked.
"You'll see… any Kurumi would love this." Michael said.
Kurumi looked playfully offended by his last comment. "You really don't believe its me, do you?"
"You order yourself to kill yourself on a regular basis!" He responded back, which was a fair point, Kurumi couldn't deny.
"Then its your job show me a good time before then!" She said with a cutesy smile, then hung off his arm after wrapping herself on it like she usually did. This did nothing to confirm or deny if this was a Clone or not, as EVERY Kurumi did this. Michael could even feel both her breasts envelop his arm.
"You do this on purpose, don't you?" He asked as they both walked into the giant studio, but all he got as an answer was her cutesy giggling.
XXX
Once they got inside, Kurumi had noticed a sign that said "Fashion Week", but of course she couldn't pronounce it. The tech Michael gave her only applied to spoken speech. When she asked what it was about, Michael cheekily responded with: "A week full of fashion."
She gave him a blank stare, though she kinda walked into that one.
As they waited in line to sign in like everyone else, Michael further explained it was a week of the year, sometimes twice a year, where models would show off whacky dresses and such. It was only held in New York, London, Milan, and Paris; so Kurumi being from Japan never could experience this. It was kinda strange to her, as she figured America was a more serious country in comparison to Japan's 'we don't give a shit, we just want to entertain'.
Once they signed in at the reception desk… actually, how were gonna avoid a paradox if they wrote down their actual names? Kurumi could get away with it being who and what she was, but probably not Michael.
"Sir, can you please sign on the line?" Asked the receptionist, whom was getting annoyed at Michael asking why he must sign or can't they just go in as he already paid.
He hated to do this, but… "I'm sorry, ma'am. It's just that, if I have to sign in…" Michael began, then invisible sound waves came out of his mouth when he added: "I'll have to hate you forever."
Immediately, her expression changed from annoyance to dismay once those waves hit her. "Wait! No! Don't hate me forever! Here!" She quickly printed and handed Michael a ticket. "Go! Go have a wonderful time, just don't hate me!" The woman practically begged.
"That's so sweet. Thanks!" Michael said to her, gently taking the ticket and then adding a wink at her, which she smiled in relief at. Both him and Kurumi went around the desk to their destination as the woman waved to them.
"And they call me the Worst…" Kurumi jabbed at her date. The boy had literally just used Muki's power to get what he wanted, despite what he told the Pop Idol numerous times.
"It's not gonna exist later…" Michael excused in a whisper as Kurumi's Bullet would probably run out long before they could get into trouble for that, be it physical trouble or paradoxical trouble. He honestly saw no other choice.
XXX
The couple then found they're way to the designated room, which had a large stage in the back. Many people had also arrived, but thankfully Kurumi and Michael acquired 2 seats in the front to get a close up look when the show officially starts.
The lights dimmed, signaling that the show DID in fact start, and that's when the models came walking out. One by one, a boy or a girl would come up to the stage to show off whatever outfit they wore. Some were pretty normal and some were pretty and/or flashy… though others made Kurumi question the sanity of these people. One woman wore what looked like another human on her… and it moved, so she actually was… And this continued for quite a few number of models, male and female. It would be male-wearing-male, female-wearing-male, male-wearing-female, so on and so forth.
Michael, and very openly, called her and the other girls weird… but this…
"They must have high core body strength, eh?" Michael whispered a comment to her, and it was a perfectly timed joke, but she didn't laugh because she was even more confused. What was the point of bringing her here?
"Not that this isn't an interesting experience," Kurumi began to ask in whisper. "But why? Why'd you want to bring me here just for this?"
"You don't get it?" Asked Michael rhetorically, which made both her visible eye widen and her mouth open a tiny bit. "It's burden. Weighing you down as you walk through life… trying to crush you like the weight of another person…" He was looking back at the stage as he said this, then slowly looked back directly into her visible eye. "But they keep moving… even with all that weight trying to stop or slow them down." He continued, then the camera cuts back to the stage with more of those body-carrying models walking on, presenting what they got, then exiting. "That they, like anyone else, have the power to keep moving forward; live with that weight for the rest of their life, even as it hangs off them like a very heavy backpack."
Kurumi then remembered, her eye widening a little more. This was sort of the same conversation they had back on the school roof with Michael promised to help her, only now it had a visual representation. "You see now?" Michael asked her as he grabbed her hand and lifted it up, reminiscent of the school staircase when they first met. "We all have things trying to weigh us down, things we've done or things we've said. That'll never go away, but if you keep your head held high and leave it behind… it'll never stop you." He finished as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, still not having broken eye contact.
Kurumi understood… she understood all of it… and a small tear welled up in her visible eye, which in turn the emotions she was feeling made her squeeze his and back. Her heart felt like it was going to explode with how warm and tight her chest had gotten all of a sudden.
CLICK!
Suddenly, all the lights went out, some people getting out their phones for light. Michael himself also got surprised, looking around a bit. A power outage?… It didn't last long as the lights turned back on after a few seconds, and on the stage now was…
Michael: Kurumi?!
Indeed she was, but in her complete Spirit Form now. The boots, the dress, the net bow and hairstyle, the works; including her clock eye which was now visible. Everyone of course was a bit surprised, even some of the show runners, one of them looking on a clipboard to see if this was part of the show.
Michael looked to his side… only to see his hand was holding air. "*sigh* You take an eye off a time traveler for one second…" he sighed to himself in a mutter. Its not he could stop whatever mischief she was about to pull unless he wanted to embarrass himself.
Was he sitting with a clone the whole time, or did she sneak off in the darkness and took her Spirit From then?… He may never know.
Kurumi was of course smiling the whole time, gave a soft chuckle, then bowed in an elegant greeting-like fashion as she usually does while grabbing 2 sides of her crimson dress to the audience. Everyone was confused. Was this part of the show?
After finishing her bow, Kurumi did a few twirls while using her arms akin to dancing, showing off all the frills and backless part of her Astral Dress, and the freedom of her hair with how her twin tails flowed with her twirling. Everyone watching blinked, mesmerized by the sudden girls appearance and performance.
"… I'm at a loss for words, Dave." Said a female next a male, his name Dave, at a white table with mics on them. They were Judges apparently, and were just as speechless as everyone else.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Susan." Said Dave, answering the woman next to him. "Our surprise guest has a beautiful frilly dress to match her astonishing good looks, twirling along that stage like she owns it."
Upon his answer, Kurumi was in the middle of swaying with a smile and an arm in front of her face before she raised that arm straight up.
TOCK!
Her Angel Zafkiel appeared behind her immediately after, its gong echoing a few times. While this didn't surprise Michael, it made everyone else reel back a bit… but for the love of them, they couldn't take their eyes off the display. Out of nowhere from the floor, Kurumi had gotten both her guns, and began positioning them in random formations akin to time on a clock. She didn't load any Bullets of course, that would be wasteful.
The crowd stared in awe. For all they knew, this was amazing special effects and/or highly convincing prop work. As for her freaky eye, that could just be a mere contact lens.
"Wait… her prop guns… her pigtails… the clocks…" began Dave. "I think her theme is the passage of time!"
"Really! How impressive! That dress and props must have cost a fortune!" Said Susan.
"Yeah… props…" Michael muttered under his breath with A single finger rubbing a temple. Don't even get him started on the fortune part; as her, Tohka and Muki were always the most expensive out of any of the girls.
Kurumi finished her performance with her musket pointed 12; and her pistol slowly pointing to it as it passed 9, 10 and 11 before officially landing on 12 with both guns. This is where she then held both guns straight forward to the audience and said: "… Bang."
…
…
…
Everyone erupted in cheers and stood while clapping their hands, some whistles even went out. Michael didn't do so right away, he just sat down with his arms folded. But after rolling his eyes, he gave in and stood up, joining in on the clapping. It looked like Kurumi had a bit of fun, which was a bonus.
Kurumi just gave another bow with her guns to her side as she could no longer grab the sides of her dress with her hands currently full.
XXX
The scene changes to the Spirit Mansion, though it was at nighttime with no lights on in the house at all. Tohka was shown hugging her favorite pillow while asleep, Yoshino was also asleep in her bed with Yoshinon still attached, the Yamai sisters slept side-by-side while facing each other… the entire house was asleep.
The screen shifts to Michael's darkened room, though on the floor and dark mass spawned before 2 people arose from it. It was of course Kurumi and Michael, the 12th Bullet having worn off some time ago and they just got back.
Even as Kurumi got changed and bathed in the connected bathroom while Mikey got undressed and showered in another (as per the arrangement of them sharing a room to prevent any… accidents), she couldn't help but replay the entire day over in her head. Waking up with Michael today, him taking her out on the fly, and honestly having a good time. Even the fashion show in the past was enjoyable… even if the reason the lights went out was her fault…
The only evidence we see was mental images of a Kurumi trying (and failing surprisingly) to sweet talk a security guard after he found her wandering towards a room marked "Employees ONLY", and when that didn't work she pinned him with the white arms of her clones before entering said room anyway.
Don't worry. The guard was fine, and was not killed nor eaten… just left horrified.
Her Macho Michael went above and beyond for her today… and all to help with her night terrors. Kurumi couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty, for she still hasn't told him about a single one. He only correctly guessed some had to do with him, which some in fact did. He wanted to help and while the date did to an extent, she couldn't help but think: she should tell him the truth?
Michael had just gotten back to his room, his dirty clothes having been tossed in the laundry room already, knocking on the door before him (again, as to avoid any accidents). "Kurumi?" He called to her softly as to not wake up the rest of the house. They'd normally would have gone to sleep in Kurumi's room, but neither high schooler wanted to make too much racket going back and forth, so they decided to use his room instead.
However, there was no answer.
"Kurumi?" He asked a little louder this time, but still silence. Did she go to sleep already? The light was still on so probably not. "Kurumi. I'm coming in." Michael warned as he opened the door slowly. When he did open it, he saw Kurumi sitting on his bed, feet on the floor and the girl looking down at them. "Oh. Your still awake." He said as he walked in and closed the door behind him. "You made me nervous for a second, thought I had to take you to the Nurse's Office."
Despite the old joke, there was still not an answer.
"… Kurumi?" He called her name for the 4th time, but she did not respond. Fearing the worst, he walked quickly over to her and sat next to her. "Kurumi, are you ok?" He asked, sitting on her left side.
She didn't answer… at least not verbally. She had placed a hand on top of one of his that was resting on the bed, which upon feeling this he looked down to see it. "…" She muttered something, but Michael didn't hear it.
"Hmm?" The Spirit Sealer asked.
"… I'm ready…" She said, lowly.
Michael had a normal expression at first, but then his boyish hormones began kicking in into what that could possibly mean and he got a tad bit nervous. Sure he's done the deed with Tohka already, but… "Uh… y-y-your ready?" He asked.
Either Kurumi didn't notice or chose to ignore the perfect opportunity to make fun of him just now, for all she did was slowly turn her head so her right eye could be seen. She also began clutching her other hand… just thinking about this made her nervous, but this had to be done. She owed him that much. With a single nod, she said: "To tell you everything…"
Michael immediately got the message. "You mean, about your dreams?" He asked, making sure. He also flipped his hand so both their palms were flat against each other.
"… like the fashion show… and how you promised on the roof…" Kurumi said, not taking her eye off him, slowly squeezing his hand.
"Like a generic harem protag…" Michael added, confirming to her he was here to listen and try to take whatever burden she was feeling away, also squeezing her hand back in reassurance.
Kurumi took a shaky deep breath in, exhaling out the last of her nerves that were holding her back… and she began to tell him everything.