Chapter 354 - 7: This Kitty Says No

Chapter 354: Chapter 7: This Kitty Says No

"You really are Reine, aren’t you?" Facing her directly, Itsuka Shiori asked the question.

Murasame Reine finally set down the little bear in her hands and looked up at the girl who was identical to the person she loved.

Her expression remained utterly calm, eyelids drooping as though she might die from exhaustion at any moment. "I am Murasame Reine, but that identity is merely a part of Takamiya Mio—"

"I’m asking about Reine!"

Reine showed no emotional reaction to the shout. "Shin, interrupting another person without permission is very rude. If you were trying to win me over right now, you would have already lost every first-impression point."

"Exactly. That means you are Reine." Shiori seemed to be repeating the same sentence, yet her voice relaxed.

Smiling, the girl pointed to her own head. "In Shinji’s memories, Mio would never speak in that lecturing tone."

Reine closed her eyes. "A person cannot deny that her past self was also her merely because she changed. The memories belonging to ’Murasame Reine’ can be treated as another set of memories, but that does not change the fact that I am still Takamiya Mio."

"There is no meaning in keeping me alive, Shin. The death of one half does not mean Takamiya Mio has ceased to exist. If I someday recover my power, I will probably become that same Takamiya Mio again."

Shiori shook her head and took Reine’s hand. "I can feel it. Reine is Reine."

She looked at the other woman with both nervousness and anticipation. "Reine has always given me a motherly warmth. So please search your heart carefully now. For the Reine you are, who is number one: Takamiya Shinji, who exists only in what remains of Takamiya Mio’s heart, or me—the daughter you watched over so carefully?"

"Shin..."

Reine opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Shiori chuckled softly. "Reine... No, Mom. I am not carrying any devices. Before coming inside, I specifically asked Kotori to disable every listening device, and I also had everyone keep an eye on the others. No one can hear our conversation now."

Reine glanced at the one-way window and answered without expression. "During your first date-training session, when I put the earpiece on you, you—my daughter—misunderstood and thought I wanted to kiss you..."

"You noticed that back then?!"

Shiori hurriedly released her hand. Unable to continue the conversation, she fled in embarrassment.

As soon as she came out, she happened to see Origami standing there in a daze.

"Origami?" Shiori nudged her worriedly.

"I’m fine."

Origami clutched her head in pain.

Alongside her original memories, she now possessed another set: memories from a life in which her parents had survived.

It felt unreal. The two sets of memories made her feel like someone unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

One thing was certain: her consciousness had not remained in the past as the effect of the Sixth Bullet: Vav would normally dictate. Once the change was complete, it had returned to the present.

As though suddenly remembering something, Origami rushed outside. Only when she saw Yimi chasing a snack cart did her heart settle slightly.

Perhaps because the timeline had been overwritten, Yimi did not appear in Origami’s second set of memories. The child existed only in the memories of the first timeline.

"It changed."

"It changed? But... I still remember you being a Spirit, Origami, and I remember..." Shiori took Origami’s hand again and looked at her with concern.

Shiori herself also remembered everything. Based on the possibilities shown in all kinds of films and television dramas, Origami might merely have created a separate timeline.

"No. It truly changed." Origami shook her head gently and showed Shiori her phone.

The sole contact once labeled "GunGun" was gone. In its place were Father and Mother.

History’s corrective force still led to Origami becoming a Spirit, so the overall course had not changed. But she herself had prevented her parents from dying at the hands of her time-traveling self. More than that...

Origami slowly sat down and pressed a hand to her chest.

They were still alive.

"It changed?"

Kurumi lowered her arm and looked sideways at Origami.

The Twelfth Bullet: Yud Bet had a time limit. Once the spirit power stored within it was exhausted, Origami would return, allowing Kurumi to see what had happened.

The Sixth Bullet should, in theory, affect only Kurumi herself. Then again, perhaps that was merely because Kurumi had only ever used it on herself.

Could the effects of the two bullets overlap? They should not. At the very least, that kind of reaction should never have occurred.

Something else must have happened when the shot struck Tobiichi Origami. It was probably connected to the instant Ain Soph collapsed. To learn what had happened, they would have to ask the Takamiya Mio side that remained within Murasame Reine.

Was there still a chance?

To investigate, they would have to restore Takamiya Mio’s power—at least enough for her to barely manifest part of Ain Soph. Perhaps gathering the power of every Spirit could accomplish that.

Kurumi lowered her gun for the time being and looked toward the room holding Reine. No matter how gentle Shiori and Kotori’s attitudes became, Kurumi was a true victim. She could never believe that Reine was somehow no longer Takamiya Mio.

After several decades, even if everything were changed, Sawa would already have reached menopause, wouldn’t she?

Shiori had just made her relationship with Mio clear. If Mio saved Takamiya Shinji, then Shiori might never be born.

When Kurumi began gathering time in preparation to change the past, she had already accepted that the butterfly effect might make the present timeline even worse. But she would never accept a result in which Shiori ceased to exist.

That was not the only difficulty. There was also the butterfly effect, the problem of traveling so far into the past, and the need to ensure that history’s corrective force did not drive Mio to another extreme.

Taken together, those problems made the task nearly impossible. The mere fact that Takamiya Mio’s cooperation would be required already repulsed Kurumi. She could not trust that woman under any circumstances.

But perhaps the child who seemed to be a god like Mio—and who could survive independently from a past timeline into the present—could overcome every obstacle.

Rather than seeking Reine immediately, Kurumi first walked over to Yimi. "It has been a long time, little girl. Do you remember Onee-san?"

Yimi responded just as politely. "Long time no see, dumbass otaku."

"..."

Kurumi decided to excuse it as childish innocence. She reached out and stroked Yimi’s head, paying special attention to the two cat ears. It would have been even better if Yimi were still in her kitten form.

"Heh-heh. Could you help Onee-san with something?"

Kurumi clapped her hands. "Onee-san can buy you lots of delicious food and even feed you personally. It concerns Reine-sensei."

"Mm." Yimi glanced toward Reine’s room.

She had been about to agree.

"The sins of the guilty should be repented and atoned for by the guilty themselves." After all, Yimi was not him.

A voice Yimi had not heard in a long time sounded beside her ear. She did not need to turn around to know she would not see the saint. He always vanished after saying a single line.

Normally, a timeline should not be altered. Even if it was, the fact that it had "been altered" should itself be part of that timeline.

If this world truly allowed change, then Takamiya Mio—both victim and perpetrator—or rather, Reine, the surviving half of Takamiya Mio, should make amends herself. It should not be done by Yimi, who had committed no wrongdoing.

That would be better for both Takamiya Mio and her victims.

Yimi lowered the little paw she had raised and gently shook her head at Kurumi. "I won’t help you."

If Yimi helped Tokisaki Kurumi, she could undoubtedly beat the timeline itself into producing the perfect outcome.

But if a path truly existed that could change everything, only Reine’s own efforts to change it would make her worthy of anyone’s forgiveness.