Date a live - spirit child

CH.21 Inverted Views

Shido and Miku, still ignorant to the fighting, are discussing anything that could possibly help them in his search for his Tohka and Origami. Miku does mention one thing to Shido.
"Well...about a month ago, I was taking a stroll with my children to get some ice cream. We were having a grand time, and I saw a strange man looking at us for some reason. I couldn't see him too well. But I remember him because I could tell he was wearing a black mask."
Miku mentions that she pretty much forgot about the masked man because she was so focused on the scandal that Axel Gibson had caused. Miku then goes on to talk about how delusional her daughter can be, but explains the reason for it. In sweet tone, Miku tells Shido.
"Since she was born, I made sure that Shiori grew up in a very loving environment. She just refuses to see any bad in people. My husband helped as well; I wanted children even before we were married. I may have even taken a little too long to get Shiori to try eating solid foods. I just can't believe how sweet she became."
Shido is about to comment on the situation, but Miku then adds a surprising add on to her explanation.
"Speaking of my husband...I can't tell you how many times I've told him that he's allowed to invite other women into our bedroom. I even gave him a list of choices that I'd have no problems with."
Shido then gets flustered and starts to have dirty thoughts, but snaps himself out of it. He then wants to ask about anything else about the masked man, but before he can, Kurumi appears from the shadows of the room. She has her usual air around her, as she casually tells Shido, without paying attention to Miku.
"Shido, I need to get you to the ship."
Shido is naturally confused and asks.
"Why?"
To which Kurumi replies, in sultry tone.
"So I can eat you up."
Shido gets flustered and shouts.
"Don't say that in front of..."
He then realizes that they are standing in front of Miku, who actually has a happy blush with a "tell me more" smile on. So Shido instead says.
"Okay, maybe not the best example, but you shouldn't say..."
Kurumi then puts her finger to his lips and says.
"Just kidding. (Gets slightly more serious) We have some bats in the belfry. Five, to be exact."
Shido, at first, doesn't get it, but a second later, he does. He agrees with Kurumi, but asks her.
"Can you take Miku and her family aboard as well? I don't want them getting hurt."
Kurumi casually sighs and sarcastically complains.
"But that sounds like a lot of work. Of course, I can be persuaded..."
Shido is expecting her to say something dirty, but she instead offers.
"I'll do it, but I want you to pat my head later."
Shido gives a relieved sigh and agrees. Miku is especially happy to see Kurumi, and tells her.
"I'm a very successful business woman now, Kurumi. What do you have to say to that?"
Kurumi inspects Miku and responds.
"I'd say puberty was inordinately kind to you."
Miku doesn't exactly get what that means, but she takes it as a compliment. Shido then tells Miku about the situation as he understands it. In the past, Miku would have jumped at having a female audience, bu,t now, her first response it getting her children to safety, so she asks Miku to escort her to the baby's room. Kurumi complies, while Shido decides to find Shiori and her brothers to get ready to get to safety aboard the ship.
Outside in the front, the boys are doing their best to hold off the five wizards. Hiro is fighting with Artemisia, Mana, and Origami; while Aki is combating with Jessica and Collette. Hiro is holding his own against his three opponents, but he is having difficulties with three tough opponents at once. He is currently dodging Mana's blades from her Vanargandr, while also trying to avoid fire from Origami's weapons. The real trouble comes from the fact that these two seem to be working in tandem with each other's strengths. Mana with close range and Origami with long range; the fight is becoming more difficult for the Anti-Wizard soldier as the fight has taken to the night skies. He hasn't gotten much of a hit since one wrong move could result in a grave injury. Artemisia is sitting on standby as to avoid messing with Origami and Mana's teamwork. Hiro has already coated all but his head with his armor. He is waiting for the right moment to attack.
Likewise, Aki is having many difficulties with his opponents, but has fringe benefits. Collette and Jessica have no coordination as a team. In fact, Jessica can't aim properly without hitting Collette due to her moving in the way. Jessica is frustrated at her comrade, and voices her disdain with a frustrated tone.
"Move out of the way, Collette! I can't get a clear shot."
Collette stops her assault, kicks Aki away casually, and floats towards Jessica with an unfriendly frown. She gets in Jessica's face and tells her.
"I don't take orders from inferior grunts such as you, Bailey."
Collette then attacks Jessica by slashing her across the chest with her (Collette's) rapier and causes Jessica to make a slow decent to the ground. Aki notices this and becomes disgusted as he shouts to Collette with anger.
"Why'd you do that!? Isn't she supposed to be your friend!?"
Collette refuses to respond. Instead, she holds out her rapier and her Realizer begins to glow dimly as she carves out a star shape, rushes her hand through it, and calls out.
"Aure Dominium!"
A spiral of dark-purple energy that resembles stars emits below Aki's feet. He tries to jump out of the way, but he can't move as the energy explodes from below him and blows him through the manor in a diagonal direction.
Hiro is still trying to analyze the situation because no one is making progress with dealing any damage. He then looks at Artemisia again and notices the she's moving her eyes and following his movements. He then hatches a plan because he's on to her.
Inside the bedroom where they are hiding, Ellen is waiting for any word on the proceedings. Shiori and her brothers are trying to remain calm. Tohka is still out cold from her injuries. She has no idea that there are five wizards against their two fighters. Things are only worse as Aki bursts through the wall of the bedroom and is covered with marks from the blast. He is frustrated as he realizes that Collette never took him seriously. He fails to notice the others in the room due his frustration. He stands up but it hurts to do so. He drops his sword, and thinks.
"I...won't...be made fun of!"
He summons the orb of darkness that Shinra originally produced and summons the dark sword. The sad of image of his mother appears again, but the surge of energy from the sword heals most of his wounds. Ellen speaks to him as she is worried for her friend.
"Aki, what's happening? Are you alright?"
Aki turns to her, and replies with a normal small.
"Everything will be fine, I'm taking control."
He grips his sword and runs through the hole. He makes his way back to Collette to resume the fight. Back to Hiro, he is getting ready to make his move. Artemisia then charges with her sword to run Hiro through. He figured this way their plan, and he aims his body in a way that Artemisia will hit him resulting in the loss of his right arm, but his free left arm will be aimed at the back of her neck, his intent is decapitation. But before any of this can be done, a blast of fire stops her in time. Kotori is floating close by with her angel, Camael, in hand. She has a confident smile as she quips.
"Whew, I made it just in time."
Origami sees Kotori and her anger is present, so she sets her sights on Kotori. With his movements less restricted, Hiro dashes at Origami and collides with her to stop her from shooting at Kotori. The good Mana returns as well and immediately goes after her other self. Kotori sees the damage done to the manor, and decides to check on her brother for good measure.
Aki returns to his battle area, only to see Collette is missing. He is made because he really wants another swing at her. Instead, he sees Jessica, now standing up despite the visible injury she has. Aki asks, with impatience.
"Where's the blonde lady?"
Jessica is sweating as she declares.
"Forget her! You're fighting with me."
Aki then rebuttals.
"You're hurt. I don't want to fight you."
Jessica manages a cringed smile as she laughs slightly, and adds.
"Don't worry about that...I have a gift from him."
Aki doesn't really know about Westcott, and doesn't know who she's referring to. Jessica then opens a small compartment on her Realizer, and pulls out a gauntlet-shaped object. She puts it to her hand and a bunch of wires come out and embed into her skin as it attaches to her right arm. She cringes and lets out slight screams of pain as the process. By the end of it, the gauntlet turns silver and engulfs most of Jessica's arm. The gauntlet also shows a red glowing gem on the back of the hand. Jessica has a more sadistic grin as the arm then opens little holes on the right side of the arm and energy emits out of it as feather-like energy emits from them and forms a wing made out of red energy. Then the tips of the fingers emit the same energy to form talon-like blades. Aki, not surprised by anything at this point, readies his dark sword, and prepares to fight with Jessica.
Hiro, now alone with Origami in sky, readies his dual blades for a one on one fight with her. He is seemingly unfazed at the idea of fighting his mother, but she asks, in a serious tone.
"Why do you look like me?"
Hiro just casually answers.
"Because I'm the son of a different Origami Tobiichi. But not you. You are an animal."
Origami doesn't understand why this young man would say such things. She then expresses this by saying.
"Why would you say such a thing?"
Hiro, still casual, responds.
"You are a part of DEM, you tried to hurt my aunt, and that makes you a rabid animal."
Origami, now frustrated, retorts.
"She killed my parents, your grandparents! How does that make me an animal?"
Hiro simply says.
"Parents are supposed to die first."
Now Origami is upset and begins opening fire on Hiro, which he dodges with ease.
The two Mana's are now attacking each other using their two Realizers. (For all intents and purposes the DEM Mana will be referred to as Mana with bold letters to avoid confusion when she is being singularly addressed) Mana is trying to reason with her other self as they fight.
"DEM is lying to you. Do you know what they've done to you?"
The other Mana just gives a blank stare, her eyses are lifeless, and then her good counterpart notices that she has a scar on her forehead. Mana then gets it, DEM lobotomized this one. Mana feels pity for her other self and decides to put her out of her misery. But this won't be easy, as Mana is just as tough as her good counterpart.
Inside the manor, Shido, Miku, and Kurumi have arrived in the bedroom where the others are. Ellen is informed of the situation. Ellen decides to switch places with Kurumi so she can fight with the others. With that agreement, Ellen equips her Realizer and dashes out of a nearby window and flies high to see where the action is happening. She looks at the front and sees the fighting, but from behind, she is shot at by Collette's J'accusse attack. Collette wanted this from the start, so she waited for Ellen to expose herself. Ellen immediately reacts to Collette's attack and puts up a territory. The blast is blocked, but it is so powerful that puts a large crack in Ellen's territory. Collette has a smirk and she declares.
"I've been waiting for a chance like this, Mathers. Now I can prove my superiority without damaging my status."
Ellen looks at Collette and retorts.
"It's Itsuka."
Collette shrugs and wastes no more time, and charges at Ellen with her blade in hand. The only one left with no opponent is Artemisia. However, as she watches, Saori becomes curious about something she has yet to test with her power. She has decided to get involved and will appear once the fighting starts to get boring.
Ellen's fight with Collette is going fine at the moment. Whenever Ellen can't dodge Collette's attacks, she merely puts up a territory. Collette starts chuckling as she compliments Ellen's skills.
"This is exactly how'd I hoped this would be. Your perfect territory hasn't dulled despite your betrayal."
Ellen doesn't respond to Collette's banter. Collette then says.
"It took me a while, but I've finally developed a technique that will pierce through your territory."
Collette charges her rapier causing it glow brightly and an orb of energy to gather at the hilt. Ellen puts up her territory to block it. Collette charges and stabs her rapier at Ellen's territory. It puts a small dent, but nothing serious; until, she calls out.
"Fer-De-Lance!"
The orb at the hilt surges to the tip of the blade and gives so much force that it causes Collette's rapier to pierce through the territory and she stabs Ellen in her left arm. Ellen pulls back before she loses her arm. Ellen clutches her injured left arm and thinks that she may be in trouble with her opponent. Collette laughs at her achievement and appears to be ready for another strike.