one last nightmare

Everything normal again

After dating Tohka and the rest of the girls these  last two weeks, both Shido and his wallet were exhausted after entertaining these girls.
It sure was fun with any one of them and they were all grateful for being saved by Shido. And also these dates were great, but Shido couldn't help to think about the one girl he couldn't save, Kurumi.
She did threaten him a few times, scared him in more than one occasion, showed him what awful things she did or was capable of doing, but she also helped him. She helped him without asking for help, but also when he was in trouble she came to aid him in his quest. She probably did this with ulterior motives, but at those times he was happy to have her at his side.

He actually didn't know what to think about Kurumi. It was almost like she had a split personality, well she pretty much acknowledged this, but explained the different personalities were time fractures of herself.

Which, according to her, explained everything.

Anyway, sometimes she was the cutest girl or the most sensual girl Shido had ever met, but at the same time he was afraid, no terrified of her.
That crazy murderous look in her eye. Yes, only one eye, one psycho eye! Her other eye seemed to be a clock? It was sometimes hard to look at her, her two different eyes, because either eye got Shido distracted. One red eye and one golden eye.

There was one occasion that made even Kurumi feel uncomfortable, he stared way too long at the golden clock eye. It looked weird, but at the same time it had a certain beauty to it.
Unique, that's something it certainly was. Her other eye looked more...normal....except it was red. A very deep mesmerizing, bright red, ruby-like color.
She had really long black hair and she wore it in only two ways. In school she had two more loose ponytails, but in her other form she had two really tight ponytails, one longer than the other.
Together with her red and black, Moulin Rouge, maid-like outfit. It somehow matched the craziness beaming from this girl.

At school she wore of course her school uniform to blend in, but she also covered her "special eye" with her hair.
A lock of hair covering that particular eye was probably enough to make her look like a natural school girl. Well, it worked! Her poor disguise worked like a charm, every guy in school fell for her beauty, not ever thinking about to look at her other eye. Her model-like figure, the giggling, her sensual walk and the continuous flirting also made sure to distract the guys, but she was only interested in Shido.

07:00

"Uughh!"

A sudden kick in Shido's stomach brought him back to reality.

Kotori, Shido's little sister, was the one responsible for the daydream-kick.

"You were daydreaming, Shido. Again!", she said while putting her lollipop back in her mouth, "I know this because you burned my PANCAKE!!"

Still bending over and trying to recover from her stealth attack, he panted: "I can make...ugh...you a new one. Ugh, you don't have to kick me in the gut! Why didn't you just called my name?!"

"Uh, I did big brother! I called you for at least ten times already."

"That's still no reason to kick someone in the stomach!"

"Yes, it is!"

They were not real siblings, but living together like this, already a few years, sure made it look like they were real siblings. Shido really took good care of the younger girl he was living with.
Before meeting Tohka and all the other girls they actually lived a pretty normal life. No parents around, but Shido took care of almost all the chores around the house. Trying to fill the void for his adoptive sister.
He later found out that she could handle more than he first thought, she being the commander of the Fraxinus, a giant airship hovering above their city, commanding adults around.

But after their date, their feelings towards each other did change a little, but all the normal routine stayed the same. And their normal routine meant that Shido would be baking pancakes for Kotori this morning.

A now little bit more serious and concerned Kotori asked again, but now in a loving voice: "What is on your mind, Shido? Do you want to talk about it?"

Shido threw the burned pancake in the trash can and poured a new pancake mixture in the pan, while thinking of her question.

"Kurumi...", he simply blurted.

Kotori was shocked by his answer, almost swallowing the lollipop in her mouth.

"Nightmare? You were thinking of her?! You burned my pancake and made me almost swallow my lollipop and it was all because of her?!"

"Uh....yes?", he stuttered a bit, almost ashamed to say it out loud.

"I don't need to remind you why she's called "Nightmare", do I?!", Kotori shouted angrily and still being astonished.

"I can't help it, Kotori. She is the only one I couldn't....save."

"She has killed a lot of people, Shido. Probably more than you can imagine.", Kotori said with her eyes closed and shaking her head.

"Yes, I know, but she...", he defended rather quickly.

His gaze shifted to their fruit bowl and continued in a more monotone pace: "...she did helped me a few times. When Tohka needed to be rescued from DEM, she helped me with Mika, she protected me..."

"Let's talk about this another time, Shido.", Kotori replied calmly at first but then yelled at him: "BECAUSE YOU BURNED ANOTHER PANCAKE, YOU NUMBSKULL!"

"But I thought..."

"PANCAKE!"

Kotori kicking him, throwing stuff at him and the name calling was all part of their morning routine, but him being absent like this? No, this was something new. Kotori was worried and a little bit jealous of course. Ever since they went on a couple of dates, she started to be more jealous of the other girls.
She wasn't his real sister after all and that meant she had as much right as the other girls to be with Shido. To spend time with him.

They didn't speak for the next couple of minutes and Shido baked a huge tower of pancakes in a record time. He placed the pancakes in the middle of the table and showed his affection for her by kissing her on the cheek and patting her head.

"Feel better now?", Shido asked teasingly.

"What was that for?!", she screamed and acted like she didn't like it.

But she wasn't the only one acting. She noticed that Shido seemed to be forcing himself to keep up their home routines, the teasing, their sibling-relationship, but after their dates together something did change. For both of them.
Normally they would have two more guests at the table, but Tohka and Yoshino were temporarily staying at Miku's place.

Shido and Kotori quickly finished up their meal and got ready for school.

They walked together. It proofed to be a quiet walk this time.

While walking to school, he felt being watched. He did look around but didn't see anybody.

He expected it to be his favorite stalker.

Kurumi.