"Spirit..."
Origami pressed a hand to the phantom ache in her flank and slowly sat up, studying the small girl's face with methodical attention—trying to determine whether she bore any connection to the White Spirit.
She'd been caught up in emotion and pain at the time, but she had caught a glimpse of the moment the little girl appeared. A humanoid figure standing behind her. And on the day the Diva appeared, there had been a similar figure, though between dealing with the Diva's interference and watching the figure vanish without explanation, she hadn't been able to examine it closely.
She clenched her fist. Without jumping to conclusions, she put on her shoes, gripped the IV stand, and moved to leave. Whatever else was true, right now she simply wanted distance between herself and Spirits.
"Comforting you."
Seeing Origami's expression, Yimi had climbed onto the bed and now stood at her full height, reaching up to pat her on the head.
"..."
Origami quietly removed the small hand.
Her true enemy was the White Spirit—but that didn't mean she had any warmth for other Spirits. Lately her relationship with them had grown uncomfortably easy; she could even exchange small talk in the school hallways. She needed to be clear about where she stood.
Thud thud thud.
This child immediately started bouncing along beside her, plainly intending to follow.
"Heave-ho."
Yoshino came over and wrapped her arms around Yimi, whispering in a voice barely audible: "We can't bother the patient, okay?"
"What are you doing, blue person?" Yimi wriggled free.
Yoshino lightly patted her on the head. "Call me big sis Yoshino."
"Hmm?"
Yimi looked down and counted on her fingers—"big sis Yoshino" versus "blue person"—and concluded the second was two syllables shorter and therefore clearly easier.
"Blue per—"
"Call me big sis and I'll give you a treat," Yoshinon said, handling the negotiations herself.
"Big sis Yoshino."
...
"Huh? You're leaving already?"
"Roly is still at the pet shop." Watching the last of the IV drip, Origami removed the needle herself.
"That's easy—we can send someone to pick him u—"
Origami raised a hand to cut Shiori off, and looked at her with a complicated expression. "I'm with DEM now. It would be better if we kept our distance going forward. Spirits are my enemies. They always have been."
"..."
Was this a declaration of severance?
Still reeling from Mukuro's words, Shiori gripped her collar tight, her chest thoroughly hollow.
"Origami—about before. About the 'Calamity'—"
Origami glanced at her sidelong.
Shiori held her gaze steady. "I've seen the 'Calamity' again. I can say with absolute certainty—she did not kill your parents. Not her. On this one point, please believe me."
"Did she tell you that herself?"
"More than just that. She only became a Spirit last week—it's connected to the First Spirit. Maybe the First Spirit knows the truth about what happened back then?"
"Last week?"
"Right—which would mean Spirits may have been human before, or something like—"
Origami gave a small nod. "I see. Shiori has, of her own accord, chosen to trust a Spirit. And is asking me, of her own accord, to do the same."
"That's not it, Origami, please listen to me." Shiori hesitated for a moment. "Whether that means tracking down Kurumi or something else entirely—I'll find the truth for you. I promise."
"If you hate Spirits themselves—then I, who can seal a Spirit's power, should look more like a Spirit than anyone. Shouldn't I?"
"..."
"I understand. Please send me down." There was nothing to read on Origami's face.
Shiori watched helplessly as Origami was transported to the surface, and stood there for a long moment before something occurred to her.
Hadn't Origami just said she'd left Yimi at the pet shop...?
Shiori turned. There was the little girl, being fed snacks by Yoshino. But—hadn't this kid run off during the fight? How had she ended up back with Origami?
Yimi watched Origami's departure, then trotted over to the transport pad, stepped on it, and casually mashed a few buttons the way she'd seen the operators do.
And teleported herself right out.
A reliable meal ticket. And the grandmother-ish woman had told her to stay there.
"Wait—"
One last wistful glance back at Yoshino, who'd been feeding her this whole time.
I'll figure out a way to snack on you next time.
"Why did she go back again..."
"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am. It truly isn't because of the payment—we genuinely have no idea where she went. The lock was completely intact. There's no way a cat that size could have slipped through any gap."
The shop girl eyed Origami with a trace of unease. Origami always wore exactly the same expression.
"I remember she was in the same enclosure as the tuxedo cat... Though it's a bit awkward to say this—if you don't mind, we could compensate you with the tuxedo cat? Or throw in a kitten as well?"
Origami said nothing. She declined the owner's offer without a word, turned, and walked in the direction of home, grip tightening around the chip in her hand.
Fine. It had only been about a week. She'd gotten the cat primarily to have something to occupy her time while suspended. Nothing more.
She would not let outside things interfere with her revenge again. For five years, the one belief keeping her alive had been vengeance—and vengeance alone.
"I understand" hadn't meant she'd taken Shiori's words to heart. The opposite. She could see it clearly now: Shiori would take a Spirit's side unconditionally, every single time. And it wasn't only the White Spirit she hated—her target had always been the species called Spirit, or at least that was what she kept telling herself. Next time she'd use the blood of Tohka Yatogami, with whom she'd been growing dangerously comfortable—
Lost in thought, she stepped off the elevator and found a fur ball sitting right there in the hallway, grooming itself.
The cat had gotten bored mashing buttons. She'd accidentally teleported herself to a fish shop a kilometer away, eaten her fill, and come back.
"..."
Origami reached out and lifted her by the scruff.
"Mrrp?"
Smack. Smack. Two firm pats to the bottom.
"Mrrp!" The cat raised a paw in protest.
But then the girl shifted her hold, pulled the cat close, and buried her face in the soft, fluffy belly.
"Mrrp." Yimi raised one paw and gently patted her on the head.
"I'm fine."
Origami held the cat in one arm and used the other to open the door.
AST had sent a message—probably either a recall order or a reprimand for operating with unregistered equipment. She had no interest in either.
But now that her head was clearer, Origami set about cataloguing the strange events of recent days. There was a more serious matter that needed attention.
Her nerves weren't as oblivious as Tohka Yatogami's—she wasn't going to chalk her pet's escape up to coincidence just because the cat had come home on its own.
Origami set Yimi on the table and sat directly across from her, face to face.
She hadn't known the circumstances at the shelter, of course, so her read was still that the pet shop had failed in its duty for lack of upfront payment.
And just before she'd left for the shelter—Ms. Murasame had been evasive when she'd gone to check on the cat, and then Yimi had appeared. Yimi had run off, and Roly had materialized in the sandpit. Both Yimi and Roly had turned up on her route home more than once. Yimi was a Spirit with special abilities. Yimi and Roly had never been seen at the same time.
There was also the incident before that: Yimi had said the cat was in the sandpit, and the cat had indeed been waiting in the pipe in the sandpit.