Date a live - spirit child

Ch.13 The Setup

The group is about to warp to their next destination, when Ellen hatches an idea. She tells everyone in a thinking voice.
"Hey why don't we take this ship with us?"
The idea never came to anyone yet, and thinking about it, the ship has enough places to sleep, a fully stocked kitchen, and will save them whatever money they have in long run. Kotori then brings up something that may halt that plan. She points out that if they do in fact take the ship, then they may arouse suspicions from a different Ratatoskr. Despite this, they take the ship anyway under the logic that Ratatoskr wouldn't just attack them without any reason. So Ellen attaches her bracelet to ship'rs weapons mechanism and fires a large time vortex for them to pass through. They also decide to give the ship a new name; they call it Bifrost, named after the burning rainbow bridge.
Moments later, the party and their newly acquired ship reach the next timeline without any problems. They deploy the ships cloaking abilities to stay out of sight since they appeared near the city this time. They then get ready to use the teleporters to descend to the city in the hopes of finding Tohka or Origami, but Aki makes a request of Ellen. The group is together near the teleporters, when Aki asks Ellen in an earnest tone.
"Ellen, can I ask you to do something for me?"
Ellen and Aki haven't interacted much, but she still says in a polite tone.
"Sure, if I can do it."
"I want you to give some pointers with some sword stuff."
"You mean sword training?"
Aki nods with a somewhat down look.
"Yeah, I'm not good with swordplay, but I figure that if I got some training, then I'd be a better help."
Aki realized after he beat Geri, that he needs some training to better use his sword rather than rely on the energy he can use with it since it will make him a better fighter and therefore useful person to the group. Ellen looks a little unsure, but says.
"Our abilities are different, but if it's just with using a sword, then I'll do what I can."
Hiro steps in to the conversation and says.
"You know Aki, I am a kendo champion. Why not ask me to train you?"
Aki shakes his head lightly.
"No, but thanks for offering Hiro. It's just that I'd rather have Ellen do it you know."
Hiro doesn't say anything else since he respects his comrade's wishes and Ellen doesn't oppose it. This is also wise because without any communicators they can't report back to the ship. With all that done, Shido, Kotori, Kurumi, Saori, Mana, Akane, and Hiro all use the teleporter to warp to a safe spot in the city.
Once in the city, Shido and the group debate where to look first; Shido considers looking at the school like he did in Saori's time, but then Kotori notices something, a poster advertising a concert, but what really catches her eye is the name of the musician. Kotori reads what the poster says to everyone.
"It says tonight at six, performing for one night only, Mirai Izayoi!"
The name Izayoi catches everyone's attention. Upon closer inspection of the poster, the group sees a teenage girl wearing a Raizen uniform crossed with an aqua green pop star outfit complete with matching gloves and a emerald pendant ; she has waist length light indigo hair and funnily enough, it is styled the same when Shido had to cross dress as a girl, and she has amber-brown eyes. She is smiling and is winking in the picture while in an idol pose.
As she looks at the poster, Saori thinks to herself.
" So, this is a Miku timeline. Sounds like the perfect place to have fun."
Kotori is chuckling a little since Mirai looks a lot like Shido did when he crossed dressed as a girl. Hiro then thinks to himself about the time his mother told him about that time as well and can't help but snicker a little. Kurumi has a mischievous smile as she suggests.
"Why don't we have Shido dress as a girl? Then we'd have twins."
Shido has an annoyed look as he says.
"Yeah, how about we not."
Back to the point, the group thinks that it might be fun to see the show and it even advertises that tickets are free for this show since it is being sponsored by Asgard Electronics as a charity event so paying into it is optional. Everyone agrees and checks the time on their cell phones, but, Hiro, Akane, and Saori's cell phones have different times than Shido's, Mana's, Kurumi's, and Kotori's. This is when they realize that the timeframes are different between the different dimesions which is something they hadn't really taken into account yet. This can mean that years could have passed in the base timeline. However, Kotori points out.
"If that is the case, then we'll have who's ever behind this fix everything."
Shido, at this time, can't worry about this since Tohka and Origami could be in danger, or alone and scared. He wants to make sure that they get home with him. Everyone up to now has been nothing but help on his mission and he can't let that determination be shaken.
He doesn't say anything, but instead looks at a nearby clock that is displayed in the area, and it says one in the afternoon, so they have time before the concert. The party decides to split up and look around town for a little while. Shido, Mana, and Kurumi go off together to look at the school in this time, Saori goes off on her own, and Kotori goes with Akane and Hiro to find out more about Mirai.
Mana goes with her brother because she doesn't like the idea of him being alone with Kurumi. Shido hopes to use this opportunity to talk with Kurumi while they walk towards the school and hopefully get closer to her since he hasn't forgotten about his desire to save her. He is also concerned for her, especially after the fight the Kokoro, so he asks her.
"So how are feeling after that fight with that woman?"
Kurumi casually responds.
"I'm feeling fine. Why do you ask?"
"Well, because I'm worried that you got hurt."
"You don't have to be concerned for me."
Shido gets a little more serious.
"But I am. Kurumi, I want to help you, I want to help Saori, and I want to help Tohka and Origami. I can't do it all alone, but I can do my best and I will do save everyone no matter how hard it is; because I trust everyone, including you."
Mana closely pays attention to Kurumi, since she has a mischivious look as gets closer to Shido and says.
"You trust me? How do you know I won't just leave you, or just plain betray your feelings?"
Mana equip her realizer and shoot, when Shido shakes his head and starts patting Kurumi on her head and replies gently.
"I just said I trust you, so I won't worry about that."
Kurumi just closes her eyes and smile a little more genuine since she is enjoying Shido rubbing her head. Mana backs off but still wants to keep an eye on Kurumi. She walks to Shido asks in a sweet tone.
"Big brother, would you rub my head?"
Shido smiles bigger and uses his opposite hand to rub Mana's head which causes her to put on a big smile. They then continue their way to the school, but they then bump into a gloomy looking girl wearing the Rindouji uniform with an aqua green jacket. She has short black hair with a light indigo fringe in the front, and green eyes. She gets up immediately and leaves without saying anything. Shido wanted to help her up or at the least apologize for not looking, but may get the chance later at the concert if she shows up.
Elsewhere, Kotori and Akane are at an internet café looking up stuff about Mirai, and Hiro is getting them refreshments from the snack bar. The two fire users are sitting next to each other and talk while they do research. Kotori starts it by asking.
"So me and Shido made you huh?"
Akane is oddly comfortable confirming this as she casually answers.
"Uh huh, and you still haven't popped out a baby brother or sister for me yet."
Kotori becomes flustered and says.
"Well that...."
Akane interrupts as she adds.
"Takes time, and your father and I need to work things out, and blehblehbleh."
"Not exactly what I was going to say, but pretty darn close. You ARE my daughter."
Akane gets a little sarcastic as she adds.
"You're not as cool as my mom yet, but give it a couple years."
Kotori then thinks of something.
"Hey, are there any spirits that you know about that we don't know about yet?"
Akane isn't sure of which spirits that the base timeline has seen and says that she needs to be elaborated, but then she sees something that gets her and Kotori laughing. On Mirai's profile page, it says that her real name is Shiori. The idea that she looks almost exactly like Shido in his female disguise, and her name is Shiori, causes the mother-daughter duo to burst out laughing. Hiro rejoins the ladies with beverages and chips for snacks, and then he sees them laughing and out of curiosity, looks at the screen and then begins to smirk himself.
On the Bifrost, Ellen is currently training Aki with some swordplay skills as Aki himself develops his own techniques with his energy abilities in his spirit form. Ellen is equipped with her wiresuite and only uses the blunt edge of her sword to help with the training. After two hours of training, Ellen says.
"Okay, it's time for a break."
Ellen and Aki sit down, drink cold refreshing water, and eat apples for a snack. Ellen wonders about something, so she asks Aki.
"Why did you reject Hiro's offer to help train you?"
Aki looks a little concerned and responds with a question.
"Can I ask you not to tell anybody why?"
Ellen nods and Aki explains.
"There are two people in our group that I don't trust. Those two are Saori and Hiro. Saori is obvious, but Hiro...I can't really explain it, but he has the eyes of a killer."
Ellen puts on a look of confusion.
"The eyes of a killer?"
"I don't think he's evil or a traitor, but he just gives me an uneasy feeling when I'm around him. I don't want Shido to worry, so please don't tell him, Ellen."
Ellen nods but then asks.
"You know, I used to be DEM best wizard, so why don't you distrust me?"
Aki shakes his head and smiles warmly.
"I like you Ellen. You really remind me of my mom, and I consider you a friend."
Ellen smiles and says.
"Well I'm glad to your friend Akihiko. How about we get back to training?"
Aki stands up and readies himself for more training.
Back in the base timeline, Shinra is talking with Westcott who is becoming impatient with his masked partner. He expresses his displeasure rather casually.
"Shinra, why haven't we made in any headway into reaching our quota?"
Shinra answers in a plain tone.
"I dunno, maybe it has something to do with your inept staff."
Isaac retorts.
"Oh, last I checked, Ellen is the only one I sent with some bandersnatches, and yet your three friends have botched it multiple times."
Shinra chuckles a little.
"Touché, but the last time I checked, my three friends haven't come back with holes in their stomachs."
Isaac shrugs and says.
"Okay fair enough."
Ellen returned to headquarters thanks to Freki's help and she had to report her failure. Shinra has mostly been lying low for the time since then and has even called upon Freki to undergo a task to appease Isaacs's impatience. Geri and Kokoro returned to report what happened and Shinra isn't happy with what Kokoro did. He raises his tone to her.
"Kokoro, I told not hurt the girls. Why did you not listen to me?"
Kokoro has worry in her voice as she explains.
"I was just trying to..."
Shinra isn't in the mood for excuses and dismisses her, she runs up to him with tears in her eyes as she desperately says.
"Please don't hate me."
Shinra puts his hands on her shoulders and says.
"I'm mad at you, but I don't hate you. I need you to do something for me now that I think about it."
Kokoro puts on a smile.
"Anything, just name it."
Shinra explains her mission and she leaves with great enthusiasm. Shinra later returns to Isaac with a new plan. He brings up the briefcase that contains those two gauntlets from before, but says that next time Ellen should wear one. Shinra then tells his partner what the weapons are called.
"You see, Isaac, these are called Mana Eaters."
Back in the other timeline, Shido and the others meet up at Tengu stadium after spending the day doing their own things, except Saori who hasn't shown up yet. They can't wait any longer and go inside the stadium. The stadium has is packed with people waiting to hear Mirai sing. Shido and the others look around the snack stands for something to eat during the show, when they hear a familiar voice.
"I want all of these!"
Shido turns to see this world's version of Tohka. She is at a crepe stand buying all the crepes that are being sold. She is wearing a dark plum suit, with a cream colored tie, white gloves, and has her hair in the same fashion only longer. Shido is tempted to talk to her, but then he looks at Hiro who has a mortified look as if he's about to scream. Hiro looks at Tohka and begins to have flashbacks from his time when the Tohka he knew died. He maintains his composure and doesn't make a scene but immediately moves to the seats to see the show. Shido, feeling worried, follows him to make sure he's okay. When Shido sees him, Hiro has a bottle full of pills in his hand and he opens it to take a couple. Shido asks about the bottle and Hiro explains.
"I'm sorry if I worried you. These are my medicine; I suffer from PTSD sometimes. It's triggered when I see somebody I've seen die."
Shido decides not to talk more about this in a public place and lets Hiro's medicine help him privately. The show is almost ready to begin, so everyone starts getting into their seats. Hiro calms back down in a couple of seconds as his the others sit next to him.
Elsewhere, Saori is alone in a park at dusk around six at night. She then looks around and thinks.
" Maybe I can have a little fun here."
Saori then goes to a soda machine to buy herself a cold tasty beverage. She puts in her money and reaches to grab when she feels a second can inside the machine and thinks.
" Hmm, so that's what their game is."
Saori pulls out the second can and it is just a melon soda with a weird label.
" Amateurs."
Saori opens the can of melon soda and takes a long sip. She then collapses on the ground, and a group of three young adults, two males and one female, appear from somewhere else and grab her. They then take her into a van that has been parked elsewhere. A few moments later inside the van, one of the guys says.
"I can't believe we got one, and she's hella fine."
The girl adds while grabbing a video camera.
"Yeah, I never thought that this plan would work."
The second guy then gets ready to take off Saori's clothes, when her eyes suddenly open and she spits out a pill. The three are surprised until Saori says.
"Hey, I'm in the mood for fun. So why don't we get started."
The two guys are excited and prepare to move until Saori tells them to halt and makes a couple of demands.
"First, I'd like the camera, and secondly, we do this my way."
The girl hands Saori the camera and the guys appear to be drooling almost and one asks.
"So what do you have in mind hot stuff?"
Saori smiles as she answers.
"Have any of you three heard of Lingchi?"
One guy answers.
"No, but it sounds kinky."
Saori then says.
"It's Chinese, but we'll go with more western notions."
The three look excited as Saori then puts on a more sinister smile, and moments later outside the van, screaming can be heard.
Back at stadium's backstage, Mirai Izayoi, real name Shiori Itsuka, is getting ready for her show. She is wearing the outfit she wore in the poster and is being talked to by her manager, a girl around her age named Hibiki Keieisha. Hibiki wears a simple brown outfit that makes her look like a secretary; she also wears neon green earphones and has a gold necklace in the shape of a music note, and has a tattoo on her left hand that looks like a metronome. Hibiki is on a cell phone talking about business deals for Mirai and being careful about it. She is chatting rather fast and ends a couple of phone calls with one word. Mirai is taking deep breaths to relax before the show; she does this frequently. Mirai's cell phone begins ringing and she answers it, but when she grabs the phone with her right hand, she winces a little; she happily says upon answering.
"Mother! I was wondering when you were gonna call me."
Mirai usually receives phone calls from her mother before shows. Miku and Shido can't attend the concerts live because recently Miku had a baby boy, and the loud noises aren't good for his ears and Miku loves holding him too much. She wishes her daughter luck and expresses her love, and then hangs up. Mirai then talks to her manager in a casual manner.
"Hibiki, will consider what I was asking you earlier?"
Hibiki pulls down her earphones and answers seriously.
"Shiori we can't afford it right now, and we may have to reimburse the snack stands because of Tohka's appetite. She's a great bodyguard, but she eats too much. So if you want me to even think about it, you have to fire her."
Mirai pouts as she says in a childish tone.
"Well I'm not doing that."
Hibiki shrugs and says.
"Well then, you have your answer. By the way, I got your medicine for you."
Hibiki hands Mirai a plastic medical bag that has medicine in it. Moments later, Mirai then gets the signal to start the concert.
In the audience seats, Shido sits between Kotori and Mana; Kurumi was sitting next to him before, but she got too clingy and Mana made her switch seats. The lights go dim and then music begins playing. The stage lights light up and then Mirai comes dancing on stage holding a mic and addresses the audience.
"Welcome everyone! I hope we have an awesomely fun time tonight. To open the show, I'll sing one of my personal favorites."
Mirai begins to sing a song with a very upbeat tone and everyone starts cheering right away. Shido notices how happy and genuine Mirai looks as she sings. It reminds him of Miku and even then, she gives off a happier feeling. After a half hour of songs, Mirai decides to take a short break so the audience can get more refreshments, use the bathroom ect. Seven minutes later, the show resumes and this time Mirai brings out a guitarist and a pianist who perform the instrumentals from now one. There are two more breaks with ten minute intervals, and then finally after two hours, the concert ends at 8:27 PM, and Mirai tells her audience.
"I wish I could sing for you more, but I'm afraid I've run out of time, but don't be upset, because it won't be long before I sing again for you all!"
The crowd cheers loudly and even the party cheers for Mirai since she gave a stellar performance. As they exit, Shido and his friends can't help but talk about how awesome the concert was. However, as they talk about how great the concert was, they hear police sirens. This made bad when they see police officers escorting Mirai into a police car, and she's crying heavily. Shido runs up to see what happened but is blocked by the crowed. He does see enough though to tell Tohka is upset; he can't hear what she's saying, but he does see her practically destroy a police car by slamming her fist into it. Kurumi then fades into the shadows to find out what's going on. She gets inside the building and remains hidden, but she does find the source of the issue. She sees on the floor of Mirai's dressing room, a girl lying on the ground dead. She doesn't know her, but the girl on the floor is Mirai's manager Hibiki Keieisha.
Kurumi reports everything to Shido. They then get to a safe area and wave to Ellen, who is currently doing a check to see if they are ready to be picked up since Aki became exhausted a little while ago. Aboard the Birfrost, the group decides what to do; they can't leave Mirai like this; Shido believes she didn't do it. The media does in fact say that she murdered her manager. Kurumi considers just breaking her out, but then Hiro objects by saying.
"If we just break her out, then the media will have a field day with it. She won't be able to appear in public again."
Shido agrees with Hiro; he doesn't want Mirai to go through a similar experience her mother did. Also the thought of what Miku may do to help her daughter makes him feel uneasy. Mana then asks.
"So what do we do?"
Hiro gives the answer.
"The only thing we can. We have to defend her by means of the law and the court. We're dealing with laws here, not spirit problems."
Everyone looks at Shido and gives a "why are looking at me" face. Kotor and Akane say back to back with mischievous grins.
"So."
"Shido."
"Will have to."
"Become."
Shido then goes.
"Oh no!"
Kotori and Akane point as they both shout with enthusiasm.
"Shido Itsuka, Ace Attorney!
Shido retorts.
"Why can't Hiro or Ellen do it!?"
Hiro and Ellen have their fingers to their noses and Shido gives them a "really" look. Everyone then notices that Saori isn't with them, so they decide to find her.
Back at the park, Saori exits the van she had her fun in and says.
"Thank you, it was really fun, but you three did give in too fast. Two hours is too quick for this method."
Saori takes the camera she is holding and reviews the recording. She is disappointed and so drops the camera and stomps on it while casually saying.
"I'm no director."
She then is teleported to the Bifrost a little later and is informed about the plan. She then thinks.
" A trial? Now this sounds interesting."
Shido has a very uncomfortable look, but the others seem to visualizing him as a lawyer. Kurumi then says what everyone is most likely thinking.
"He needs a suit."