Back in the present, not even a minute had passed. Yatogami Tohka and the others were all still at home waiting for him, still wearing their Astral Dresses.
"Shichen!"
"Onii-chan!"
"Shichen-nii!"
"Shichen!"
As soon as they saw him, everyone rushed over.
"What happened to Origami?"
"She ran into the First Spirit. Origami lost control again," Shichen gave a brief explanation.
"Eh? Why is the First Spirit targeting Origami so much?" Tohka asked curiously.
"Well… I'm not really sure either." Shichen thought about it, but decided not to give a full explanation.
It wasn't necessary.
He set Origami down on the sofa, then looked at Kotori.
"Onii-chan?"
"Kotori, we finally meet again," Shichen smiled and opened his arms to her.
"Onii-chan!"
Kotori froze, then suddenly understood and flung herself into his arms in delight.
"Great! You're finally my Onii-chan for real!"
She clung to him like an octopus, legs wrapped around his waist, her head rubbing back and forth against his chest, her face full of excitement and joy.
Shichen laughed and hugged her, patting her back.
"Shichen, what's going on with you and Kotori?" Tohka couldn't help asking.
"Well, that's a secret between me and Kotori."
"Eh?"
"Looks like something happened between Shichen and them in the past that we don't know about," Kurumi chuckled.
"If I've gone back in time, how could nothing happen?" Shichen shot back.
"You're impossible~" Kurumi pouted.
"All right, business first." Shichen put Kotori down and walked over to Origami to heal her.
"Heal."
Green life-light wrapped around Origami. Her complexion visibly improved, turning a healthy pink.
"Mm…"
Origami slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Shichen.
"Shichen-nii…"
"How do you feel?"
"I'm fine… but I think I've caused you trouble again."
"Trouble for me is fine. I'm your Onii-chan now, you can dump as much trouble on me as you like," Shichen said carefreely.
"Shichen-nii…" Origami forced out a small smile.
"By the way, Origami—looks like we've met again," Shichen said with a slight smile.
"Eh?"
Origami froze, staring blankly at him. Then her eyes widened.
"Could it be… Shichen-nii, you…?"
"That's right. That's exactly what you're thinking. You've had it rough all these years," he said, squatting down to gently rub her head.
"Shichen-nii!" Origami sat up at once and threw her arms around him.
"Thank goodness! We finally met again!"
"Yeah. I'm sorry I made you endure so much for so long."
"It's fine. As long as I can meet you, it's worth any amount of hardship!" Origami shook her head vigorously.
"Origami…" Shichen hugged her tighter, full of guilt.
He could have done more… but in the end he'd chosen to respect the past as much as possible. This world's timeline wasn't his to casually tamper with. Changing the past could warp the future.
Especially a future he already knew.
But there was no point in worrying like that. He knew himself better than anyone—if the future did change, he would make sure it changed for the better.
Wandering through other dimensions, learning too much, had made him wary of the unknown.
That was wrong. With that mindset, he'd never accomplish anything.
It took sacrificing Origami—and the others—for him to finally snap out of it.
"Eh? What's with Shichen and Origami? I'm totally lost," Tohka said, confused.
"I'm guessing it's not just Kotori he did something with in the past—Origami too," Kurumi analyzed with a smile.
"So what exactly happened between Shichen and them?" Sawa asked.
"You'd have to ask them. I wasn't there," Kurumi shook her head.
"Forget it, I'm not telling you," Kotori huffed, crossing her arms.
"Kotori~, tell us~" Tohka tried to coax her.
"No way. That's between me and my Onii-chan."
"How can you be like this…"
"All right, all right, don't start arguing. You're ruining a really touching moment," Shichen let go of Origami and cut in helplessly.
"Shichen-nii, are you okay?" Yoshino asked, worried.
"I'm fine." Shichen smiled, ruffling her hair, then got up and held a hand out to Origami.
"Let's deal with the important part now."
"Important… part?" Origami put her hand in his, confused.
Shichen pulled her up and caught her as she threw herself into his arms again, then lowered his head to meet her eyes with a smile.
"Let's go pick up your parents."
"Eh? You mean…?" Origami's eyes filled with disbelief.
"Yeah. I've already found them."
"Then please, Shichen-nii, hurry and take me to them!" Origami said, unable to hide her excitement.
"Don't worry." Shichen ruffled her white hair and looked over at Tohka and the others.
"I'll go with Origami and be right back. You guys wait here for us."
"Okay."
They all knew what had happened with Origami's parents. None of them intended to tag along—after five years, there would be a lot for that family to say to each other.
Shichen hugged Origami, then warped them to a park near where he'd first arrived.
When he'd come back earlier, he'd already sensed her parents' presence—despite feeling nothing beforehand.
He didn't have to think hard to know the First Spirit had done something.
Five full years, just like she said.
"Shichen-nii, where are my mom and dad?" As soon as they arrived, Origami started scanning the area.
This was the place where she'd first met him, but it looked totally different now.
"Right there." Shichen pointed toward the roadside a short distance away, where something began to shimmer.
A moment later, two figures emerged out of thin air—a middle-aged man and woman.
The instant she saw them, Origami's eyes filled with tears and she broke into a run.
"Dad! Mom!"
"Huh?"
They stared at her, stunned, confusion written all over their faces—until she grabbed hold of them.
"You're… Origami?" the woman ventured, shocked.
"Eh? You're saying she's Origami? That's impossible…"
"Dad, Mom, it's me, it's really me. I'm Origami."
"What is going on… Our benefactor!" The man finally noticed Shichen and recognized him too.
"Uncle. Auntie," Shichen greeted, walking over.
"Uncle?"
"Auntie?"
They stared at him, puzzled. That title threw them off. Shouldn't he be calling them "sir" and "ma'am"?
"Heh, here's the thing. You've actually jumped forward five years," Shichen explained.
"Five years… in the future?"
"You still remember what happened that day, right? That 'mosaic' person."
"Of course! Where did that mosaic go?"
"She's not here anymore—but she threw you five years ahead. To now. You might not feel like anything happened, but five years really have passed."
"Ah…?"
Origami's parents clearly didn't understand, but the world around them really did look completely different from what they knew… and the girl in front of them really did look like an older version of their daughter.
It was hard not to believe.
Shichen took them back to Origami's house, then left them alone.
The rest was up to them—this was family time; those missing five years were something only they could fill in with their own words.
They'd fallen behind the world by five years, sure, but that wasn't too big a deal. They weren't just ordinary parents anymore; they had an amazing daughter—and Shichen's help.
Catching up to society wouldn't take long.
They didn't lack for anything.
The "loss" had its upside too: skipping five years meant they were effectively five years "younger" than other people their age.
Seen from a certain angle, that was a good thing. Even so, what the First Spirit did wasn't exactly a kindness. Whether she deserved punishment would be up to Origami to decide—after Shichen had subdued her. Otherwise Origami wouldn't be able to lay a finger on her.
A week later, when Shichen saw Origami again, she was smiling—not wearing that perpetually blank expression anymore.
After five years, she'd finally gotten her parents back. No one but her would ever understand how those years had felt.
Five years ago, she'd still been just a child.
The fact she'd managed to hold on… it was incredible.
"Where are Uncle and Auntie?" Shichen asked from the sofa.
He was visiting Origami's home today.
"Dad and Mom went out," she replied with a smile.
"Out?"
"Mm. They want to get a feel for this era, see it with their own eyes." Origami said as she sat down next to him.
"I see… Origami?" Shichen turned as Origami suddenly hugged his arm.
"What?" she asked, still smiling.
"What's this about?"
"Is it not allowed?"
"That's not the issue here…"
"Then there's no problem." Origami tightened her grip around his arm, soft curves pressing firmly against him. "From now on, I can finally do what I want."
"Do what you want, huh…"
"Shichen-nii, right now… we're the only ones at home~"
~~~
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