Kotori scowled. “That guy came to all of us? I mean, yeah, we don’t know if it was the same guy, of course. But it’d be a little naive to think there’s no connection.”
Certainly, it was possible that he was just a weirdo, but he also might have been a DEM operative. She didn’t know what this guy was after, but everyone here was a Spirit with catastrophic powers. There was no harm in being careful.
“I’ll put in a request for stronger security for all of you for the time being,” she said finally. “If you notice anything strange, report it right away.”
“Roooger! I’ll contact you in a jiffy!”
“…Ah, security’s great and all, but could you get me an assistant while you’re at it? This chapter’s a real doozy. Specifically, I’d like someone talented and teensy whose name starts with N.”
“…Hey, Kotori? I wanna change my name. How do I do that?”
The Spirits all nodded their agreement. Well, Kotori did feel like there was a bit of unwanted business mixed in there, but she decided to ignore that.
There was one girl, though, who hadn’t responded—Origami. She was simply staring silently at the floor, not uttering a single word. While she was normally a girl of few words, Kotori felt like this was different from usual.
She peered at the other girl’s face. “Origami? You okay?”
“…All good,” Origami replied. “My head just hurts a little.”
“Then it’s not all good. Don’t push yourself. We should get you home if it’s bad.”
“…Please.” Origami’s voice was unusually weak.
Kotori was actually worried now. She walked over to the other girl and leaned down, offering her shoulder. “Come on,” she said. “Can you stand?”
“…I’m fi—” Origami put her hand on Kotori’s shoulder and tried to get to her feet. But in that moment, all the strength drained from her body, and she fell forward with a thud.
“Origami?!”
“Wha—?!”
“I-is she okay?!”
The Spirits all cried out in surprise. But this was to be expected. Maybe they wouldn’t have been nearly as shocked if it had been anyone else, but the one who had collapsed was the girl of steel, Origami.
Kotori inhaled sharply and reached for her phone to request backup from Fraxinus. She didn’t know what was going on but bringing her to the ship’s infirmary would be much faster than calling an ambulance.
Yet her hand froze in midair above the call button.
“…”
Origami had yanked herself upright as though nothing had happened.
“Origami? Don’t force yourself to get up,” Kotori said hurriedly. “We don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
But Origami shook her head firmly from side to side like she’d never been feeling poorly at all. Looking straight at Kotori, she said, “Mm-mm. I’m fine. I’m sorry to have worried you.”
Her tone was very clearly different from before.
“…”
Kotori felt a bead of sweat roll down her cheek. “O-Origami?”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Um. I’ll just ask to be sure. You are Origami, right?”
“What? Yes, I am. What are you talking about?” Origami said and gave her a wan smile. The Spirits shivered at this expression, so full of vitality.
“E-eep…!”
“Shiver. Do you have a high fever? No, Master Origami, it can’t have already reached your brain…”
“Someone! Help! Please heeeelp Origamiii!”
“Huh? Is that how I come across…?”
Origami smiled lifelessly at the overreactions. Her expression quickly hardened, and she looked at them all. “Well, setting me aside. Do you really mean what you all said? None of you actually remember…him?”
“Huh?” Kotori furrowed her brow and put a hand to her chin. “ ‘Him’… You mean the mysterious guy making rounds?”
Origami nodded firmly. “And from the look of you, you really don’t know him, then. This has to be Mukuro—”
“Mukuro?” The unfamiliar name made Kotori tilt her head. She’d never heard of a “Mukuro” before.
“You can’t mean you don’t remember her, either?” Origami opened her eyes wide in surprise. “The Spirit who was in space! We all fought together there!”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Kotori said, arching her eyebrow.
“…Is that it?” Origami grimaced like everything had suddenly clicked into place. “She is thorough. I suppose this means she locked not just memories of him but of herself as well. And it’s true that this way no one would go looking for her…”
She fell silent for a moment, seemingly troubled, then abruptly shifted her gaze to Natsumi. “Listen, Natsumi,” she said. “Can I ask you something? Would it be possible for you to copy Michael with your Haniel?”
“Huh?” Natsumi stared blankly at her. “What’s Michael? An Angel?”
“Yes.” Origami nodded; her eyes fixed on Natsumi’s. “It’s a key Angel with the power to lock anything in creation.”
Natsumi averted her eyes to escape the other girl’s heated gaze. “…You can’t be serious. I’ve never heard of it. How am I supposed to make a fake without an example to work from?”
“I…I guess so.” Origami scowled and covered her mouth with a hand as she muttered, “So even if she didn’t intend to, she sealed Haniel? That is not great… What are we going to do?”
“H-hold up a minute. You’re not making sense, Origami,” Kotori said, perplexed. “What are you even talking about? Who’s Mukuro? And this ‘him’… Do you know that guy?”
“Yes.” Origami nodded as she stared directly into Kotori’s eyes. “You all know him, too. You—no, we, all of us were saved by him—by Shido Itsuka.”
“Shido…” Kotori furrowed her brow slightly at the name. She felt weirdly like she’d heard it before, or maybe not. The other Spirits seemed to have similar reactions.
But.
“Unh…ngh?”
Just like Origami earlier, another Spirit dropped to her knees, clutching her head.