This is not the date I wanted.

Westcott chuckled and said confidently,

"Don't worry. I understand from the battle just now. Now the elves except Liang Yi Meng Yue must be in that airship. As long as they are still Woodman's subordinates, they will never attack."

【understood. 】

After ending the call with Allen, Westcott analyzed the current situation. There was no doubt that things were gradually developing in his favor.

"What on earth will happen next?"

Watching the fierce battle between the two sides on the screen, Westcott crossed his legs and muttered to himself with interest.

If there is one thing that makes Westcott feel uncomfortable, it is that at this moment, no matter Fraxinus or Liangyi Mengyue, there is a person who should be there - Gokawa Shidao.

It was because the young man who possessed the power to seal the elves was not anywhere on the battlefield at this moment that Westcott was certain that the battle between Liang Yi Meng Yue and Yuan Yi Origami would be a fight to the death.

(Did he feel the resistance from the failed contact with the Reversal Spirit just now and feel overwhelmed? Or...)

——————————————————I was the dividing line five years ago——————————————————

Five years ago. August 3. Amamiya City, Nanko-cho.

It was a hot summer day with the sun shining brightly in the sky. At this moment, in the ruins full of flames, a little boy with short blue hair was pulling a little girl who looked the same age as him out of the ruins that were about to collapse.

"Origami! Can you hear me, Origami?"

Shidou kept calling the other person's name, but the little girl at this moment seemed to have lost her soul, and her eyes became extremely empty.

No—“empty” might not be the right word this time.

Anger, resentment, loss, sadness—all the negative emotions that humans have are intertwined together, making her eyes extremely chaotic.

"Father...Mother..."

Seeing Tobiichi Origami so confused, Shidou couldn't help but hug her tightly in his arms with heartache.

"It's alright. It's alright now..."

"……Who are you……"

Origami's eyes focused slightly on Shidou. Looking at the girl's appearance at this moment, thinking of the thorny road she was about to go through, and the ruthless and cruel truth she would face in the end, Shidou couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

“Origami… You will know it one day. You will know everything…! But – please remember! You are not alone…”

"What are you talking about..."

Origami made a puzzled sound. This was understandable, but Shidou did not stop talking.

"I will bear your sorrow! I will bear your anger. If you feel lost, please rely on me! If you encounter setbacks that you cannot face alone, you can use me as much as you want. It doesn't matter if you vent all your problems and emotions on me. So, so - please don't despair!"

“…——Ah, wah…, wuwu, wahhhhh… ahhhhhh…”

As if she had reacted to Shidou's words, tears gradually welled up in Origami's dull eyes. She grabbed Shidou's clothes and cried uncontrollably.

After an unknown amount of time, Origami stopped crying and stood up from Shidou's arms.

"……Thank you so much."

Origami wiped her tears with her sleeves and looked at Shidou with her red and swollen eyes.

"Excuse me... who are you?"

"I am--"

After hesitating for a moment, Shidou replied,

"Itsuka Shido. A resident living nearby."

"Itsukawa... Shidou..."

Origami silently recited Shidou's name and turned her back to him, not wanting him to see her expression.

"… Is what you just said true? Will you really take on everything for me?"

"Of course!"

Hearing Origami's words, Shidou nodded firmly.

"Is that so? Then - I entrust my tears, my smile, my happiness to you. This time, it will be the last time I cry, and the last time I smile."

She whispered the oath to herself. Origami turned around and showed Shidou a smile that Shidou had never seen from Tobiichi Origami before—a smile moistened by tears.

"But this anger is mine. This ugly feeling - I will kill her. Kill that - angel, no matter how long it takes, no matter what means are used, I will kill her."

In a flash, the girl turned her back to Shidou again, and her voice began to lose its warmth.

"So, until I kill the angel, all those things will be kept in your hands."

After saying that, the little Avenger left here alone.

"So... is that what's going on? Origami..."

Silently watching Origami leave, Shidou pursed his lips with some sadness.

Now, he finally understood why Tobiichi Origami, a complete stranger to him, accepted his abrupt confession without hesitation and was so madly infatuated with him.

After being hit by Kurumi's "Twelve Bullets", Shidao went back five years to the day when Kotori turned into an elf, and came to save Origami's parents who were killed by "Origami" in the past.

However, Shidou failed.

The reason was very simple. Shidao didn't know the exact location of Origami's former home, he only knew that she lived in Nanjia Town. In desperation, he could only check the names on the house numbers one by one. As a result, he was regarded as a suspicious person by the local residents when he just read half of them, and they called the police to arrest him.

Finally, she used the Seven Sins' Fake Witch to transform herself into a child and get rid of the police. However, at this moment, Kotori seemed to have been transformed into an elf by the phantom, and the huge fire soon engulfed the entire city.

Later, when Shidou returned to Nanjia Town again, what he saw was Origami's parents being swallowed by a pure white beam of light; Origami the child who fell into a daze due to excessive despair; and Origami the elf who collapsed and disappeared in the sky.

【Mr. Shidao.】

The voice of Kuang San rang in his mind. At this moment, the other party, who was in the 'present' five years later, completed the cross-time and space communication with himself at this moment through his angel's "Nine Bullets".

"kindness……"

After Shidao took a deep breath, his expression gradually calmed down. He didn't have the time to blame himself now.

[I'm afraid that the reason why Origami is so inexplicably obsessed with Shidou is because Shidou will go back to the past and form a bond with her in some form.]

In the memory of a few minutes ago, the girl explained her guess to Shidao and Kurumi.

[But this also indirectly shows that Shidao, you did not successfully rescue Origami's parents in the world five years ago, so this is what happened now. The cause and effect of this time has reached a cycle.]

The development of the matter was basically consistent with Mengyue's guess.

At that time, Kurumi and Shidou felt disappointed by Mengyue's conclusion, and Mengyue changed the subject.

[If you want to break this cycle, Shidao, you must find Kurumi again five years ago and convince her to help you travel through time and space. Only then can you change the past.]

[Really? To what extent have you thought about this... Miss Meng Yue.]

"yes……"

Shidou and Kurumi sighed at the same time.

Slowly standing up from the ground, Shidao patted the dust off his body, took out his mobile phone, looked at the clock he had calibrated in advance, and after confirming the time and place, he memorized it firmly in his mind.

[So after returning to the past, Shidou, the first thing you have to do is not to save Origami, but to investigate the time and place when Origami's parents were killed. Then - find Kurumi from five years ago and convince her to help you travel through time for the second time.]

"Well, no problem. Next, Kuang San, do you still remember where you were five years ago at this time?"

[I remember it. But Mr. Shidao, can you tell me why you and Miss Mengyue were so sure that I would be here back then? ]

"Well...it's a long story. I'll tell you when I have the chance."

[It’s a deal. Yes—if I remember correctly, I should go this way.]

Following Kurumi's instructions, Shidou took a step forward on the fire-filled street.

【Hey... Mr. Shidou. 】

On the way to find her past self, Kuang San seemed to be unable to hold back the doubts in her heart and suddenly spoke.

"what's up?"

Shidou wiped the sweat off his head. It must be said that the summer here was already very hot, and with the fire, Shidou felt sweat all over his body just from running for a while.

[Although Miss Mengyue didn't tell you, you actually know what she is doing at this moment. ]

"Ok, I know."

Hearing Kurumi's question, Shidou did not waver at all and nodded calmly.

"We have known each other for a while. I have a rough idea of ​​what Meng Yue is planning to do. I'm afraid that at this moment, she is preparing to fight with Tobiichi Origami and intend to kill Origami."

Shidao knew very well that, unlike himself, Ryougi Yumezuki's wish was not to save the elves, but to protect her home. So for Origami, who was endangering her home at this time, the girl would definitely choose to eliminate it without hesitation.

[Unexpectedly calm...] Seeing Shidao's calm reaction, Kuang San couldn't help but ask in surprise, [So, Mr. Shidao thinks it doesn't matter even if Miss Origami is killed by Miss Mengyue?]

"how is this possible?"

Shidou shook his head and said with a wry smile,

"I just know that even if I think about it now, it's meaningless. What I'm going to do now won't change at all."

[If you still cannot change the past the second time after gaining sufficient intelligence, then no matter what the reason is, you must give up and return to the present. Remember, this is not a suggestion, but an order!]

Recalling Mengyue's last words, Shidao knew very well what the girl wanted to express at that time.

Meng Yue is a very comprehensive person. Regarding Shidao's sudden idea of ​​"changing the past", she took all the possibilities into consideration and worked out a complete plan.

Twice, Mengyue allowed Shidao only two chances to travel through time and space. If the conditions were met and he failed the second time, it would not be a failure caused by insufficient information, but the cause of death of Origami's parents would be attributed to some "malice" from the world.

Then, even if he travels through time and space again, he will only repeat the same mistakes, causing Shidao to fall into endless self-blame until he destroys himself.

Therefore, in order to leave a way out for Shidou who returns to the past, Mengyue chooses to stay in the "present" and fight a life-and-death battle with the reversed Origami.

If the past can be changed, that would be great. But even if it fails, it doesn't matter. Because what awaits Shidao in the future is not despair.

However, perhaps in that future, there will be two people who leave Shidao in different forms.

This was not Meng Yue's willfulness, but a concession and compromise she made between Shidao's decision and her own wishes.

"I don't have time to look ahead or behind. I have to respond to Meng Yue's efforts, devote all my energy to saving Origami's parents, and prevent that 'future' from becoming a reality. This is the only thing I can do now."

It is precisely because he understood this that Gokawa Shidao did not waver, but took firm steps forward.

After hearing Shidao's answer, Kurumi couldn't help but fall silent.

Shidao did not choose to accept this cruel reality. Instead, after clearly realizing the cruelty of reality, he concentrated on doing what he should do to the best of his ability.

[…Really, Mr. Shidou has really grown up a lot. I can’t help but fall in love with you.]

"Well, as the object of your crush, could you please be so kind as not to eat me in the future?"

Shidou pretended to be relaxed and joked with Kurumi.

[Unfortunately~ I will never give in on this point. 】

In the present world, Kurumi seemed to be in a good mood, with a cheerful smile on her face.

【We're here. 】

A few minutes later, under Kurumi's instructions, Shidou climbed to the roof of a building near the fire scene.

After taking a breath, Shidou looked around. No one was on the roof. Looking around, he could only see the blazing streets and the sirens of ambulances and fire trucks blaring everywhere downstairs.

"No one, did you remember Kurumi wrongly?"

Shidou couldn't help but ask in confusion.

[Hehe, who knows? I have always been very careful.]

In Shidao's mind, Kurumi laughed in a mysterious way.

"Oh my, there are actually customers coming for something like this. It's really rare."

As soon as the words in his mind fell, Shidao heard a familiar voice from behind. At the same time, he also clearly felt that someone was holding a hard object like a gun against his back.

"Wait a minute, I have no hostility."

In order not to irritate the person behind him, Shidou raised his hands and slowly turned around.

Then, Shidao saw a black-haired girl wearing a fancy black gothic lolita dress and covering her right eye with a medical eye patch. There was no doubt that this was Tokisaki Kurumi from five years ago.

[Congratulations, Mr. Shidao. I have no memory of meeting Shidao in the five-year period, which means that at this moment, you have successfully changed the past. ]

Hearing Kurumi's words in his mind, Shidou couldn't help but ask in a low voice with some confusion.

"Kyousan. Why did you wear an eyepatch five years ago? Were you hurt?"

[…Please don’t worry about this. Mr. Shidao, don’t you have more important things to do? ]