Chapter 270: Return to the Past Begins
As they arrived at school, after Franklin finished arranging everything, the class bell rang. Teacher Shiori smiled as she pushed open the classroom door and walked in.
"Everyone, it's been quite a while since we last met. School just started, and then we had to take time off again because the campus was damaged by a spacequake. It's really been troublesome.
But where there's misfortune, there's also good fortune. For various reasons, two new students have transferred into our class. Very beautiful new students, at that. Let's welcome them."
As the classroom door opened, following Franklin's prior instructions, Tohka obediently followed behind Kurumi.
At this moment, she was silently recalling what Franklin had told her: "Aside from writing your own name, you can just follow Kurumi for everything else during the self-introduction."
The two walked into the classroom one after the other. When she saw Franklin, the nervousness on Tohka's face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of joy.
After writing their names, the two stood on the podium and looked out at their classmates.
Tokisaki Kurumi stepped forward with a faint smile. Her elegant bearing and peerless beauty instantly made the boys in the class suck in a sharp breath.
"My name is Tokisaki Kurumi… and I'm temporarily living at Mr. Franklin's house."
"Eh—?!"
In an instant, the atmosphere in the classroom turned deadly serious. Feeling the boys' gazes filled with envy and jealousy, Franklin scratched his head in mild distress.
Teacher Shiori immediately stepped in to smooth things over.
"Hahaha… what a very distinctive self-introduction. You must be Mr. Franklin's distant relative, right?"
Kurumi smiled but didn't explain further.
"Ahem. Since this involves personal privacy, let's have the other student introduce herself."
"My name is Yatogami Tohka… I'm also temporarily living at Franklin's house. I have a very good relationship with Lin.
We're not related. We even slept together last night, and in the future, I want to be with Lin forever."
In an instant, countless gazes turned toward Franklin, leaving him utterly helpless.
"Ahem. Yatogami-san, there's no need to say things like that out loud. Please be mindful of privacy.
There are two empty seats in the back row. Tokisaki-san and Yatogami-san can sit there for now."
With everything temporarily settled, Franklin finally let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing Tohka's slightly dissatisfied expression at having to sit so far away from him, Franklin discussed it briefly with Origami and instantly swapped seats with her.
As for the classmates' memories, after a slight interference from Franklin, no one noticed the change at all.
One dull class after another passed, and soon it was noon.
Franklin realized he truly could not tolerate high school classes anymore. Hearing the same knowledge points over and over again was unbearable.
After finishing lunch, Franklin brought Kurumi, Origami, and Tohka up to the rooftop.
After confirming that no one would come to disturb them, Franklin let out a breath and looked at Kurumi.
"At this time, no one should come up here. I originally didn't want to trouble you so early.
I planned to wait until our relationship was closer before making preparations.
But now it seems better to do it a bit earlier. That way, our relationship will become even closer."
Hearing Franklin's words, Origami's face reddened slightly, while Tohka instantly stepped in front of Franklin and Kurumi.
"Lin, what are you saying? This is school…"
"I won't allow it… that kind of thing, that kind of thing can only be done with me…"
After the two finished speaking, Tohka looked at Origami in confusion.
Meanwhile, Kurumi, listening to their completely off-track words and seeing their expressions, found her own expression growing more and more subtle.
"Um, Mr. Franklin, I'm not that casual of a person. I still place a lot of importance on that kind of thing.
If you have those kinds of needs, I think Origami-san and Tohka-san can fully satisfy you."
Franklin pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation. He really shouldn't have moved so fast—what exactly were these two thinking now? Their minds were completely filled with lewd thoughts.
"Uh… you've misunderstood. That's not what I meant."
Taking a deep breath to calm his chaotic thoughts, Franklin continued.
"I just want to borrow Kurumi's Twelfth Bullet to send Origami and me back to five years ago, to the time when the Flame Spirit was born.
There are some things that need to be done to complete the closed loop, and it can also be considered fulfilling an old promise between Origami and me."
The moment Franklin finished speaking, Kurumi's strange expression turned into a faint smile.
"So Mr. Franklin is asking me for help. In that case, can I make some excessive demands?
For example, giving me the Longevity Fruit right now."
"Longevity Fruit?"
"Longevity Fruit? Is it a really tasty fruit?"
Ignoring Origami's and the foodie Tohka's confusion, Franklin decisively shook his head at Kurumi.
"I'm coming to you just to make things simpler. You can make some requests, sure, but if they're too excessive, I can still go back to the past on my own. It would just be more troublesome—not impossible."
Hearing this, Kurumi recalled the memory of the last time time had been reversed. After thinking for a moment, she decisively nodded.
"I can agree to that, Mr. Franklin. But I want to know—what exactly is your purpose in going back?"
Franklin gently took Origami's hand beside him. After exchanging a smile with her, he looked back at Kurumi.
"You can see this yourself as well, can't you? To put it simply, it has something to do with the Origin Spirit. As for the specifics, you'll have to observe them yourself."
When she heard that it was related to the Origin Spirit, Kurumi's expression completely changed.
"It seems I was a bit over the line. Mr. Franklin is working hard to search for clues about the Origin Spirit, while I almost feel like I've been holding you back."
She no longer hesitated at all.
"Zafkiel! Twelfth Bullet!"
Feeling the sudden drop in Kurumi's spirit energy, Franklin casually waved his hand. In an instant, vast spirit energy poured in, replenishing everything she had just consumed.
"Don't rush yet. There's still one more thing that hasn't been done."
As he spoke, Franklin took a pure white Spirit Crystal out of his chest pocket and then looked at Origami beside him.
"I'll need to trouble you one more time now. Origami, are you ready to become a Spirit?"
Hearing Franklin's words and seeing the familiar Spirit Crystal, Kurumi's expression shifted slightly, and she instinctively became guarded.
Seeing this, Franklin immediately explained to prevent another misunderstanding.
"This was left behind by Phantom the last time we encountered her. I think she did it intentionally.
As for the reason, it's still unknown. But it just happens to make up for one of the closed-loop conditions in the past timeline."
At this moment, Tokisaki Kurumi thought of many things and made many guesses, but she didn't ask further questions. Instead, she simply looked toward Origami Tobiichi.