Kotori's parents were the kind of people who were almost never home—not because anything bad had happened to them, just because of work—so she ended up living in the apartment long-term, sharing a roof with Shichen.
Come to think of it, the Kotori of "now" was only in her third year of middle school and already living with him… that sounded a little questionable, didn't it?
Good thing he was a decent man.
Kotori's current house wasn't far, and the flames from earlier hadn't spread this way.
Because Kotori was now able to control a Spirit's power, the fire had already gone out on its own. Aside from some damaged houses and greenery, nothing else was really affected. No one had been hurt.
So Shichen didn't interfere further.
When they reached the Itsuka front door, Shichen had originally meant to slip away quietly—but Kotori's tiny hand clung tightly to his, refusing to let go.
He couldn't bring himself to just walk off.
Kotori hadn't brought a key, so she rang the doorbell. The door opened a moment later.
"Kotori, you're back—Shichen-nii-san?!"
"Hm?"
The woman at the door looked like a scaled-up version of Kotori: slightly more mature features, short hair—but otherwise nearly identical.
Shichen didn't react much to her appearance; he'd already known Kotori took after her mother.
What did surprise him was that she recognized him.
No—on second thought, that actually made perfect sense.
"Mom, can Onii-chan come in too?" Kotori asked sweetly.
"Of course he can!" Kotori's mother—Itsuka Haruko—stepped aside with a bright smile.
"Come on in, Onii-chan."
"Sorry to intrude…"
Kotori tugged him inside.
"What are you talking about, Shichen-nii-san? 'Intrude,' he says…" Haruko huffed, clearly displeased with that wording.
"Uh…"
Shichen wasn't sure how to respond. The truth was, he really didn't know Haruko all that well.
"Still, it really is amazing. You haven't changed a bit, Shichen-nii-san," she said, looking him up and down in amazement.
"…Is that so."
"Oh, right! Tatsuo, get over here! Look who's here!"
"What's going on?"
A gentle male voice drifted over, followed by a bespectacled middle-aged man walking into the entryway.
"So it was Kotori who came back? I thought something was on fire nearby—are you okay, Koto—Shichen-nii-san?!"
"Uh, yeah. It's me," Shichen said, a little helplessly.
"It really is you! Shichen-nii-san, where have you been all these years? What about Miss Mio?" Kotori's father—Itsuka Tatsuo—rushed over excitedly and grabbed Shichen's other hand.
"Oh, she's not here. I just happened to see Kotori and thought she looked a lot like Haruko…" Shichen replied vaguely, sticking as close as he could to the general truth.
"I see… So it's thanks to Kotori we're seeing you again." Tatsuo's face lit up with genuine joy.
"Mom, Dad, you two know Onii-chan?"
"Of course we do! Your mother and I both owe Shichen-nii-san a lot. If it weren't for his help back then, who knows what would've happened to us," Tatsuo said.
"So Onii-chan is our whole family's savior, huh~" Kotori said happily.
"Our whole family's savior? What do you mean?" Haruko latched onto the important phrase at once and looked at Shichen seriously.
"Oh, Kotori almost got caught up in the fire earlier. I happened to see her and brought her away from it," Shichen said, sneaking a meaningful look at Kotori.
Kotori's lips curled into a smile—she understood.
"So that's what happened… Kotori, why did you suddenly run off like that?"
"Um… I just wanted to go outside and play for a bit."
"Good thing you ran into Shichen-nii-san. What if something had happened to you?" Haruko scolded.
"Sorry," Kotori apologized immediately.
"All right, all right. Nobody expected a fire to break out; don't be too hard on her. If we blame anyone, we should blame the fire itself."
"Since Shichen-nii-san says so… Still, we really are fated to cross paths with you, aren't we, Shichen-nii-san?" Haruko smiled warmly.
"Haha… Yeah, I guess we are." Shichen gave an awkward laugh.
They really were connected. In the future he'd end up stealing their daughter away, becoming both their "big brother" and their future son-in-law.
Life was weird.
"Oh, right—we were just about to have lunch. Shichen-nii-san, won't you stay and eat?" Tatsuo invited.
"Yeah! Please stay for lunch, Shichen-nii-san. We've missed you," Haruko added.
"I'm afraid I can't…" Shichen shook his head apologetically.
"Eh? Why not?"
"I've got something important I still need to take care of…"
"Ah… that is a shame," they both said, faces falling in disappointment.
From their reactions, Shichen could tell his relationship with them really must have been pretty good. It made what he knew he'd do later feel a little heavier.
Well… they could keep calling him "big brother," and he'd call them "Father-in-law" and "Mother-in-law." Everyone wins.
"It's not impossible, though. If I wrap things up early, I could come back for dinner," Shichen added.
"Really? That'd be wonderful!" Their smiles came back immediately.
"Then it's settled. I'll go handle my business first."
"All right. Take care, Shichen-nii-san…"
"Onii-chan, you're leaving already?" Kotori grabbed his hand again, eyes full of reluctance.
"Yeah. I've got important things to deal with," Shichen said gently, crouching down to ruffle her hair.
"But… I still have so many things I want to talk to you about…"
"It's okay. We'll have plenty of chances later. We're definitely going to see each other again."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Pinky promise!"
"All right. Pinky promise."
After hooking pinkies with Kotori, he quietly reminded her not to use that power casually—and then he left.
Outside, the streets had mostly calmed down. A few fire engines were still parked along the road, but they'd already finished their work.
Shichen withdrew his gaze, ready to home in on Origami's spiritual energy again when—
BOOM—!
Suddenly, an explosion echoed from far away!
He frowned and looked in that direction—only to see a pure white figure floating in the sky.
It was Origami.
What the hell…?
There was no time to think. Shichen immediately flew toward her.
Even from a distance, he could tell something was wrong—Origami looked like she'd lost control again, her eyes wild with madness.
Was this the First Spirit's doing again?
But why?
No time.
He picked up speed, closing the distance in an instant.
Origami had gone berserk, unleashing her Angel without hesitation and blasting everything around her. If this kept up, something terrible was going to happen.
"Help… help…"
Suddenly, Shichen heard a small, trembling voice he recognized, though it sounded younger.
He followed the sound. Amid the wreckage of a ruined street, he saw three figures—two adults and one small child.
The one who'd spoken was the tiny one.
She had pure white hair and a small, beautifully sculpted face, now twisted with fear.
Shichen recognized her at once.
It was Origami—when she was a little girl.
Now this was a familiar scene… and yet not.
He had no choice. For now, he abandoned his charge at Spirit Origami and dove toward the younger Origami instead, throwing up barriers to shield them from the raining blasts.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to you," Shichen said with a gentle smile, looking back at the child Origami.
"Th-thank you… for saving us…" her parents stammered, immediately offering their thanks.
"Who are you?" little Origami asked in a small, shaky voice.
"Just an Onii-chan who happened to pass by," Shichen replied lightly.
"Onii-chan… Thank you!"
"It's nothing~"
"I knew it… so you are connected to her."
A mosaic voice suddenly sounded beside him again.
Shichen nearly jumped. He turned, exasperated. "Why are you still here?"
"I was just about to leave when I noticed her… So in the end, your last core turned out successful," the mosaic said, sounding dazed as it stared up at Origami in the sky.
"So you appeared too, then…" she muttered to herself.
"What 'appeared'?"
"It's nothing. In any case, it was all worth it."
"…Forget your motives for a second. Why did you turn Origami into that?" Shichen demanded.
"Because I smelled your scent on her."
"My scent?"
"Mm-hmm. So I got jealous and had to do something bad."
"That's it?"
"Is that not enough? You left me waiting that long and wouldn't let me lose my temper even a little?" she shot back.
"I… you…"
He only half understood the details, but the gist was clear: at some point, he'd left her behind and she'd been waiting ever since.
In that case… yeah, she had some right to be angry.
"Fine. I'll allow it," he said.
"Knew it~ You're still as soft as ever, Shichen," she said, oddly pleased.
"…So can you turn Origami back to normal now?" He couldn't tell if her tone was praise or mockery; with her, it was always hard to say.
"Nope. You seem to care about her a lot, so you can handle it yourself."
"You really are impossible…"
"Oh, right—gotta hand out a little punishment to this girl too," Mosaic suddenly said, drifting over to stand in front of the young Origami.
"What are you going to do?" Shichen narrowed his eyes.
"You two came here from five years in the future, didn't you? In that case, let me give her a tiny punishment: she and her parents can meet again in five years."
"What?"
Shichen didn't have time to react before the parents shielding little Origami simply vanished.
No flash, no distortion—no trace of time or space being disturbed at all.
~~~
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