Ch 13: FOOTAGE

---Shido POV---

The next day, just like usual, Shidou and the others went to school and then morning homeroom started.

" Good morning everyone, now let's start the roll call " Tama-sensei said and started to open the notebook and start reading each student's name.

" Tokisaki-san? " Tama-sensei read Kurumi's turn. However, there is no response

Even though it's homeroom, Kurumi still hasn't appeared in the classroom

" Kurumi, where is she? " Tohka seemed to find this odd as well, so she spoke up

Suddenly, there was a voice of retort

" Kurumi...., she won't come " Origami said in a very calm voice

Shidou felt that there was something very strange about this, why would Origami be so sure that Kurumi wouldn't go to school? What does she know?

At that moment a voice rang out, interrupting Shidou's train of thought

" Yes " said a familiar voice from the back of the classroom

" Kurumi? " Shidou involuntarily said when he saw Kurumi

Kurumi was standing at the back door of the classroom with a warm smile

" Tokisaki-san. You're late " Tama-sensei

" I'm really sorry ma'am. I wasn't feeling well while going to school " Kurumi

" Are you okay? Do you want to go down to the infirmary? " Tama-sensei

" It's okay. I've already made you worry, " Kurumi said, bowing her head, and slowly walked towards her seat.

" Impossible.... " Origami

Suddenly hearing Origami's voice, Shidou turned to look at Origami with a puzzled face

Even though Origami didn't have too many expressions on her face, somehow Shidou knew that Origami was in shock.

And when he noticed in the distance, Rimuru was currently looking at Kurumi with a very serious expression, it seemed like something had happened between them.

Not long after that, Tama-sensei ended homeroom and left the classroom

At this moment, Shidou's cell phone rang

Look at the screen.

Shidou realized that it was a message from Kotori with a very brief content, which was " Let's go to the physics lab during lunch break. I have something to show you "

" in the end, what's going on... " Shidou mumbled to himself confusedly

After a long time, it was noon, the bell rang signaling the end of the class and the students began to prepare for lunch.

" Shido! It's time for lunch! " Tohka said and took out the bento box excitedly

" Sorry, I can't eat with you today. You should eat first " Shidou said and walked out into the hallway.

" Ah... Shido.... " Tohka called out to Shidou's name with a sad voice as he was left behind by Shidou.

This made Shidou feel an extreme sense of guilt, but had to let it go

Just as he was about to move on, Shidou saw the figure of Rimuru hurrying towards the opposite direction and then entering a hidden corner.

Although wondering, but Shidou didn't have too much time to care about Rimuru's personal affairs, Shidou lightly shook his head and continued walking.

Upon reaching the physics lab, Shidou knocked on the door and then the door opened with a sound

" You're here, Shin " said Reine with a tired voice while on the swivel chair

Beside Reine was Kotori who was currently crossing her arms and sitting seriously

" Then..., what do you want me to see? " Shido

After Shidou's words, Reine started moving the mouse, and then the screen started showing an image

and that is... <Fall in Love My Little Shido 2~Love, is it scary>

" More!? " Shido was startled to see that the scary game that was used to train Shido for cutting down the Spirits now has a part 2.

" Ah, wrong. This is right " Reine said in a calm voice

Then the image on the screen changed. What appeared above was now a narrow alley, with Kurumi's figure currently standing opposite a girl with a ponytail with many people surrounding the sky.

" That's.... Kurumi and Mana...have Origami and AST too!?....Why.... " Shido

"There's a Spirit right down there" Kotori said as if she didn't care

Right after Kotori finished speaking, Mana's body lit up with a faint light, then a white mechanized armor appeared all over her body.

As if responding to her opponent, the Shadow at Kurumi's feet climbed onto her body, forming a red dress and on her hands were two guns.

in the next moment, the device on Mana's shoulder released a beam of light, hitting Kurumi

Right now, the inside of that alley was covered in fresh blood with Kurumi lying motionless on the ground

After that, Mana gently approached Kurumi, Mana used her lightsaber blade, and neatly cut off Kurumi's head... And just like that Kurumi's life was ended.

The scenes above are extremely realistic, the feelings it conveys are too real

At those images, Shidou noticed a feeling of nausea that was constantly rising in his throat and he covered his mouth with his hand.

Mana in the screen, turned around as if she had completed a mission, then left with the AST team without even feeling a bit guilty

While Shidou was still feeling stunned by the images in front of him, Kotori spoke up

" It's not over yet, keep watching " Kotori said and Shidou also tried to calm down to see what happened on the screen.

At this moment, the screen only showed Kurumi's body lying in a pool of blood, and suddenly...

A small spark flashed in the air next to Kurumi's corpse, then from the air, two figures appeared, it was Rimuru and Ciel.

Ciel was holding the sword and it seemed that the small spark just now was caused by her blocking something, while Rimuru was sitting next to Kurumi's corpse as if to confirm something.

Then, Rimuru stood up, looked at a hidden corner that <Ratatoskr> 's Camera couldn't see, and then... the screen suddenly turned black.

" As you just saw. Yesterday, Tokisaki Kurumi was killed by Takamiya Mana of the AST and it seems, Rimuru and Ciel were there, after they showed up our tracking device was broken. so it's impossible to know what happened after that " Reine said in a calm voice

" But Kurumi....she, is going to school as usual today. As for Rimuru.... " Shidou said in confusion, but Kotori spoke up and ignored Shidou's expression

" After seeing Rimuru and Ciel's presence, we considered and let you secretly enter Rimuru's room and find this " Kotori said and took out a box and gave it to Shido.

Shido took the box and slowly opened it, inside was a raizen school girl uniform but it was torn in some places and there were a few small blood stains on it.

" This is... " Shidou said in surprise

" This is Rimuru's uniform from yesterday, based on it, one can infer that Rimuru fought someone, and it's very likely that it was Kurumi ." Reine

" Kurumi!? " said Shidou while still looking at his uniform, still stunned

" That's right, As you can see, even though Kurumi was killed yesterday, she could still appear today, plus Rimuru was fighting someone, it could be... " Kotori said and then paused for a moment as if to give Shidou time to prepare for his next sentence

" What...? " Shidou also asked nervously

" Having more than one Kurumi, or so to speak, clones, " Reine said calmly, ruining the tense atmosphere.

< Rimuru was injured..., but she didn't say anything, is that why she came home late yesterday? > Shido feels sorry for Rimuru for some reason

But as soon as Shidou made a puzzled face, Kotori spoke up

" But as long as Kurumi is still alive, we have to continue the fight. That's why today, I have to ask Kurumi for a date . Currently, Kurumi's strength is still unknown. We won't be able to do it. As for Rimuru and Ciel, we'll have to ask them later " Kotori

" ...Understood, I'll do as you ask, " said Shidou, still feeling uneasy in his heart. There were a lot of questions and worries in his mind.

---Rimuru POV---

After lunch break, Rimuru quickly went to a hidden corner and hid his presence

<< Okay, let's go follow her >> Rimuru originally didn't trust Kurumi and didn't know what she was going to do, so always be careful, to avoid her causing trouble again

When he returned to the classroom with his presence hidden, Rimuru heard Origami talking to Kurumi

" I have something to tell you " Origami said with a cold look at Kurumi

" What does Origami-san need from me? " Kurumi

" Come here " Origami said briefly and walked out of the classroom

Kurumi hurriedly stood up with a slightly flustered face

<< She is such a good actress, sometimes a good student, sometimes like a madman >> Rimuru said and followed them

They went to a place where there wasn't a single person passing by

" What's wrong? I haven't even had time to eat lunch yet " Kurumi

Origami stood facing Kurumi and said

" You should have died yesterday " Origami said with a unchanged expression

" Aah~aah, you were there with Mana-san yesterday, right? " Kurumi

Immediately Origami seemed to have sensed something unusual, Origami quickly jumped back away from Kurumi.

But before Origami could retreat, something grabbed her ankle

Kurumi's shadow had already expanded without Origami noticing it. And from there, countless arms grew holding Origami

<< Ciel, should we act >> Rimuru decided to consult Ciel as the situation was gradually becoming tense

<< No sir, currently Origami personally has no evidence to prove that you are a spirit, and right now this is just a clone of Kurumi, you can easily defeat her if need be> > Ciel

<< ...Okay, I'll listen to you >> Rimuru said and continued to observe them

" Hihihi...no matter how much you struggle, it's no use " Kurumi said with a creepy smile on her face.

Kurumi's attitude was completely different from before. in front of Kurumi right now was an Origami shivering with fear

" Yesterday I had to thank you for cleaning up My Body. " Kurumi

Kurumi approached Origami while pulling up her hair causing her left eye that was originally hidden to appear. It had not the details of a normal eye but twelve digits and two hands. Exactly, it's a watch

" What did you come here... for? " Origami still managed to ask a question, even though his throat was being squeezed by the hands.

" Ufufu, If I say ' come to school to try it out ' , I'm not really lying. But still... My main goal is still... Shido-san" Kurumi said with a smile weird laugh

Origami couldn't keep calm when she heard Shidou's name, but kept quiet

At this moment, Kurumi showed a very happy expression, her smile widening even more

" You know, he's so nice. He's great. He really... looks delicious . Aah~,aah! I crave him. I crave him. I want him. .. his power. I want to achieve him. I want to merge with him " Kurumi said then stepped back and started laughing with a creepy laugh.

Then Kurumi slowly approached Origami again, Kurumi's left hand touched Origami's chest while her right hand was playing with the dress.

" Origami-san, you're great too! Looks delicious. But... this fun will be for later " Kurumi

After saying that, Kurumi slowly walked away and then suddenly disappeared

The shadows that occupied the area also began to shrink and disappear. And Origami seemed to be thinking about something. While observing Origami, Rimuru was startled by Ciel's voice

<< Report: finished analyzing Tokisaki Kurumi's personal skills >> Ciel suddenly spoke up after a long silence

<< Oi! Ciel, you startled me... all right, so can you tell me what that black shadow was just now >> Rimuru

<< Yes master, it's a Shadow Manipulation skill as far as I know, it allows her to manipulate the dimension in the shadow >> Ciel

Upon hearing the explanation of Kurumi's ability, Rimuru knew how Kurumi was able to detect Rimuru even if he concealed his presence, possibly by noticing that his shadow space was bent. Kurumi tried shooting at the suspected person

<< Ball control... space... okay thank you Miss Ciel >> Rimuru said and teleported away as well.

Leaving Orgiami still sitting on the ground with her face still shocked from what just happened

---Shido POV---

" Sorry for being so sudden... Kurumi, are you free tomorrow? " Shido

" Tomorrow? " Kurumi

" Ah... if you're free, I'd like to take you around the city" Shido

" You mean… you want to date me? " Kurumi

" You can say that too... How do you see it " Shidou

" Of course! It's a pleasure " Kurumi

" Then let's meet tomorrow at 10:30 before the ticket office at Tengu station ." Shido

" Yes, I'll go there " Kurumi said with a big smile, then left happily

At that moment Origami immediately pushed Shidou into a corner with a sharp gaze

" What did you say to her " Origami said in a calm voice, without a hint of intonation

" No, it's nothing... " Shido stammered and felt like he was being questioned right now

" Answer now! this is very important " Origami

If Shidou continued to be interrogated like this, he might accidentally reveal what happened just now. After Shidou thought that, he pushed Origami away and quickly left the place leaving only a " Sorry ".

After a while, When Shidou came home

" Are you having dinner at my house tonight? " Shidou asked Tohka but got no reply

Tohka, who followed him from school to home. When she entered the house, Tohka suddenly locked the door again, then went into the living room and lowered the window curtains

" It's not even dinner yet, or you should go home and come back later " Shidou said, still not understanding what Tohka was doing all this for.

But Tohka didn't answer. Instead, Tohka slowly removed the bow tie on her body and combed through the buttons on the top of her shirt, revealing part of her chest.

After that, Tohka held the ticket with her mouth, and slowly crawled closer to Shidou on all fours

" To...Tohka... C...C...What's going on " Shidou said while panicking and didn't know what Tohka was trying to do.

" It, it didn't work?... Next is... " Tohka said and quickly took out a sticky note.

" Okay! " Tohka said with a determined voice after reading that paper

Then Tohka put the tickets into her exposed chest, Tohka slightly leaned forward and looked at Shidou.

" Shido... hey " Tohka

" ...yes " Shidou was so flustered that he used honorifics

" Tomorrow... will you go on a date with me " Tohka

Right after that sentence Shidou partially grasped the situation

With a face covered in sweat, trembling hands quickly reached towards Tohka's chest and took out the ticket and said

" Okay! " Shidou said in a trembling voice

After hearing Shidou's reply, Tohka immediately stood up happily

" Woah! they're right. Tomorrow at 10 o'clock, at the Pachiko statue in front of the station. You promised it! " Tohka

Saying that Tohka adjusted her skirt, ran out of the living room, unlocked the door and returned to the spirit house

While still confused, Shidou's cell phone rang

When I turned on my phone, it was Origami's call

" Origami, what's wrong? " Shido

<< I can't let you go alone, tomorrow at 11 o'clock at the fountain in front of Tengu station. Never seen or returned >> Origami said over the phone in a monotone voice without emotion

" Drench th... " Shido was about to say something, but before he could say it, Origami hung up, not giving Shidou a chance to refuse.

Shidou could only look at the phone screen in confusion

---End Chapter 13---