Kamen Rider Date A Live

————Now that the couple has finished their conversation, let's return to the main topic————

As for why these four people were surprised... well, anyone who sees this scene for the first time would be incredibly surprised and frightened.

hand.

White hands.

Countless white hands.

Countless white hands emerged from Kurumi's strangely enlarged shadow.

Moreover, that's not all! The fair hand, which had only just revealed its elbows, slowly revealed its full form on the ground.

"What...ah...this...!!"

Mana couldn't help but let out a shout.

But that's to be expected, because of those white hands.

Everyone is "Kurumi".

They almost completely buried the vast woodland clearings, so many of them that they were countless.

Kurumi Tokisaki and her companions, dressed in spirit costumes, emerged from the shadows, each with a crazed smile and tears.

"Yes."

"That's right."

"Even for Shido-kun, this is going too far."

"Ara ara ara".

"As expected of Shido-kun."

"You regained your composure so quickly."

"However, you probably already guessed it."

"Because I mentioned it when I was on a date with Origami."

"Hehehe! But now, the answer might be revealed."

"Sa, sa."

"Want to play?"

"It looks delicious."

"I just don't know if it's safe to eat."

"bring it on?"

"Give it a try?"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Countless Kurumis were laughing, talking, and crying. One after another, one after another…

"What exactly is this...?"

"Mana spoke up. Kurumi, holding a gun, spread her arms and raised her chin."

"Whoosh!! How about that? Spectacular, right? This is my past. My resume. It's me in different timelines."

"Varied--"

"And the first time I came into contact with Shido-kun, I was also one of his clones, but unfortunately I was killed by Origami-kun. By the way, Shido-kun, I'm not a clone, I'm real."

"But as expected of Shido-kun, he calmed down immediately upon seeing this scene... Oh dear, don't think I would do anything to Mana-san. For me, the most important target is still Shido-kun."

"Hoohoo—and in the end, 'we' are just my clones, manifestations of the past. Although we can summon spirit armor and weapons, we can't use angels like I can. So Shido-kun and the others can rest assured."

Kurumi continued.

"Hey, Mana-san, do you understand now? Here's why you absolutely can't kill me."

Mana held her breath, and Shido did the same, involuntarily holding his breath as well.

However, these words didn't sound so good to Xingye and the others.

Although this ability is quite tricky, it is by no means without a solution.

If it comes to a war of attrition, the immortal Evangelion is the least afraid of it, and Nanoha and the others... a single Starlight-Break could destroy about a third of Earth.

Even if Kurumi is incredibly powerful and could destroy the Earth, she still wouldn't survive. Of course, that's assuming Nanoha and the others are willing to do it and Kurumi doesn't retreat back to the neighboring world.

...Okay, you guys are really something. Talking about this with you guys is just asking for trouble. Let's check on Shido and the others.

"Stop being so arrogant!!"

Hearing Kurumi's almost blatant provocation, Mana's anger surged uncontrollably!

There's no way around it. Although Mana is extremely powerful, frankly speaking, she's just a girl of about fourteen years old. Compared to Kurumi, who has lived for countless years and witnessed the wickedness of the world and the pain of separation and death, she's really too inexperienced.

(Mysterious voice: So, does that mean Kurumi might be a waifu/p...? (Dragged away by Kurumi who suddenly appears))

However, before Mana could use the manifestation device to attack Kurumi, someone stepped forward and stopped Mana's attack. Although Mana's attack might have been suicidal.

"Enough! Really!"

Shido's deep voice reached Mana's ears, and Mana instinctively stopped her attack. She sensed an aura emanating from Shido, like that of a wild, untamed beast!

But the aura vanished immediately, so quickly that one might doubt whether the sensation was merely an illusion.

"Mana, Kurumi. I have no intention of taking back what I just said..."

As Shido spoke, Mana's confusion and bewilderment deepened, while the frenzied killing intent emanating from Kurumi and the others surged even more fiercely! However, the tears that Kurumi and the others had just stopped began to flow again.

"I want to understand Kurumi, I want to protect Kurumi. I want to know why Kurumi is doing what she's doing... It may sound a bit arrogant, but until I know what Kurumi's purpose is, I will not let anyone take away any of Kurumi's lives!"

The Cost of the Ninety-Seventh Contract

The Cost of Power (Chapter 97)

P.S.: I've recently become obsessed with "Touhou Chronicles." Although I finished writing it yesterday, I forgot to upload it. As compensation, I'll post two chapters today and one tomorrow.

"My last guess is about the question I asked you on the first day, Kurumi."

"Oh dear, Shido-kun, is there anything else you want to say? I'm a little surprised by your reasoning skills, but this level is nothing for me..."

Kurumi's strange smile suddenly froze, because Shido's next words made Kurumi feel fear for the first time!

"So, Kurumi, what exactly is your purpose in doing this? I think I'm starting to figure it out."

Shido's confident smile reappeared.

(No! Impossible! I didn't give anything away! I need to calm down!!)

"Oh dear, Shido-kun, what are you talking about? Even you, Shido-kun, would never guess what my purpose is. Please don't joke like that."

Kurumi tried her best to keep her voice as usual, but her usual catchphrase "Ara ara" turned into "Ara ara ara ara," clearly indicating that Kurumi's inner emotions were different from her outward composure.

"Kurumi, you're starting to waver. And do you think you can hide your wavering from me?"

Shido spoke slowly, his pace slowing down towards the end, almost as if he were deliberately trying to provoke Kurumi. It was unclear what Shido was planning.

"Kurumi, your purpose... although this is just my most basic guess... well, that's normal, since there's so little usable information!"

Shido shrugged, spread his hands, and shook his head as he said, "By the way, the kitten had already climbed onto Shido's head, and because of Shido's head shaking, its eyes started to burn like mosquito coils."

By the way, the reason Shido picked up the kitten earlier was to treat the abrasions and bullet wounds caused by the BB pellets on the kitten's body.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Shido is a nice guy (mysterious voice: I think he is pretty much one). In a sense, it's just that he's treating the kitten's wounds while carefully examining them.

As Shido stopped shaking his head, shrugging, and spreading his hands, he picked up the kitten again and spoke.

"I suspect that your ultimate goal, Kurumi, is related to the spirits, right?"

"!!!!!!"

Kurumi could no longer maintain her usual mysterious smile, revealing her greatest, and perhaps last, fear!

"...As I thought... It seems I wasn't wrong, Kurumi. This is the first time I've seen such a look of fear on your face, Kurumi."

Seeing the fear on Kurumi's and the others' faces, Shido continued.

"Since the first step was correct, I can now begin to speculate on the next step."

If Shido had a pair of glasses right now, he would definitely push them up and unleash the 'Glasses Death Ray'.

"However, this speculation was based on knowing about your abilities, Kurumi. But now, judging from what you just said, I also know what your abilities are."

"Kurumi, as an angel of spirits, your ability is to manipulate time, right? After all, Kurumi just said, 'This is my past. My resume. It's my form in different timelines'...right, Kurumi?"

"However, as Kurumi, your angel must be an object. Just like Tohka's angel is a giant sword, and Yoshino's angel is a giant puppet, Kurumi, your angel must also have a form. If I'm not mistaken, just like your left eye, which is different from ordinary people, the form of your angel is a clock."

"And if all of the above guesses are correct, Kurumi, your ability is definitely not singular. You have the ability to manipulate time, probably like the twelve numbers on a clock, you have twelve different abilities, right?"

"One of those abilities is what we're seeing now—Kurumi, your ability to summon your past clones, right?"

"However, Senior Yiwen told me that nothing can be obtained without a price. Of course, there are some things that one is born with that others may never obtain in their entire lives. Like Kurumi and the others, as soon as you came into consciousness into this world, you discovered that you possessed great power. But is this really without a price? No, the price has already been paid, and Kurumi, you must have received it long ago. The price..."

"Time, such a powerful force, always comes at a price. I don't know what your price is, Kurumi, but it's definitely related to the murders you've committed."

"From the time I've spent with you these past few days, I've come to realize that you're not a murderer who enjoys indiscriminately killing innocent people. This means that you kill with a purpose. It's probably related to how you use your abilities."

"Although I don't really believe my own guess, because Tohka and Yoshino didn't have any side effects when using their angels, if there really are, it's probably the same as Kurumi's ability, which comes at the cost of time. Right, Kurumi?"

"...Although I've already said this once, I still have to say it again. It's such a waste that you're not a detective, Shido-kun."

Kurumi continued speaking with a slightly self-deprecating smile.

“That’s right, Shido-kun. Anyway, I’m not afraid for you to know this. Shido-kun, you guessed right, my angel is indeed in the form of a clock, allowing me to use twelve abilities. And the reason I kill is indeed because the price for using my abilities is time, or you could say lifespan. And this eye of mine…”

Kurumi pointed to her golden left eye and said.

“It represents my lifespan. It is proof of my being a spirit, and I call it the ‘eye of the clock.’ As I absorb and use my power, it rotates forward and backward… After saying all this, has Shido-kun guessed a little bit?”

Kurumi's self-deprecating smile vanished immediately after she finished speaking, and she looked at Shido with amusement.

"Ah... Kurumi, you've been so blatant, how could I not know... But, the price for using your angelic abilities, I was right, it's lifespan... Ah, that kind of thing."

"So, we know the reason for the murder. Kurumi, you should have the ability to absorb other people's time, right? Since spirits can die, it means that the lifespan of spirits, that is, their time, is limited, just like that of humans."

"With your own time, Kurumi, it's clearly impossible for you to use your abilities continuously. Therefore, absorbing human time becomes your only option, Kurumi. Am I right?"

"But this has created a new problem, Kurumi."