Date A Live: Starting as Acheron

"Ugh…" Origami stirred from her sleep. What… happened? There was… Shidou… "[NIGHTMARE]!"

She sat up, her eyes still bleary from her impromptu nap-

BONK-

Before she could even blink, something heavy slammed into the back of her head. 

"Go back to sleep. These aren't the Spirits you're looking for."

That was the last thing Tobiichi Origami heard before succumbing to the darkness once again.

——————I am the dividing line that shifts perspectives——————

Hopefully that keeps her under for now… Kyo scratched his head wearily as he watched Origami's head slam back into the ground. Did I go too rough on her? 

…nah, she deserves it.

"Ko…tori…"

Kyo sighed. "You're not on a pause menu, Shidou; grab the three unconscious people and hightail it out of here already."

The boy in question was still flopped over on the floor, his face looking like he'd just learned his entire life was a lie. Upon hearing Kyo's words, his eyes suddenly lit up in realization, and he nodded and ran over to Tohka and Mana's fallen forms. 

How none of those three got hit by stray bullets is a mystery to me, Kyo mused as turned his attention back to Kotori, still enveloped in flame and floating down from the sky. Kurumi was frozen in place, looking at the descending figure with a mixture of shock and distaste.

"How did you do that?!" She demanded.

"You didn't know? S-"

"Shut up and stop monologuing to the enemy," Kyo butt in. "You gonna help me fight or what?"

"Tch. Fine. But you owe us one, Kyo." Kotori smirked, placing a hand on her hip.

Kyo sneered in return. "Sure. And I'll be sure to send the fee for every piece of property I saved from Tohka's rampage to Ratatoskr. It's over 700 billion yen, and yes, I did in fact do the math." Or at the very least, I got [Raziel] to do it for me.

"Are you two done quite bickering?" Kurumi asked sarcastically, aiming her pistol at Kotori and her rifle at Kyo.

Kotori snuck in one last glare at Kyo as the raging fire around her condensed into a giant red-and-black halberd. "[Camael]!"

"And here we go again," Kyo sighed as Kurumi's shadows began condensing around him once more.

——————I am the dividing line that shifts perspectives——————

"Wow, things are getting really messy over there," Nia sighed as she peered through her binoculars over a thousand feet in the sky. "What do you think, Ms. Kusakabe?"

"Would you please shut up already?!" Ryouko shouted. "What the hell did you do to us, anyway?" The AST leader, along with the rest of her squad, seemed to be floating calmly in the air. However, upon closer inspection, every single of their faces was filled with terrible dread.

"Eh, me? Nothing much, nothing much," Nia said as she casually tossed [Raziel] up and down in her hand. "Just a little bit of reality manipulation. That's all."

"You did WHAT?!" Ryouko grit her teeth as she tried again to move an arm, a leg, anything other than her eyes and mouth. Nothing.

"You'll be fine," Nia comforted. "[Raziel]'s perfectly safe. Not a single one of my clients has ever left a bad review."

"Doesn't that just mean you've killed everyone you've ever come across?!" Ryouko sighed in defeat. "Just… take mercy on my squad, alright?" 

Looks of despair and unwillingness quickly spread amongst the ranks of her soldiers.

"No! Team leader!" 

"If you have to die, we'll die too!"

"We're all in this together!"

"SHUT UP IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!" Ryouko roared.

Nia scratched her head awkwardly. "Um…"

"Sorry for the trouble, but please, take mercy. Spare their lives," the AST captain begged.

"No, seriously, you'll be fine," Nia insisted. "I'm just here to make sure none of you get injured by Kuru- er, you would know her as [Nightmare], wouldn't you? Anyway, I promise you, no one under your command is dying today."

"No one? Both Mana and Origami are down there, on that roof!" Ryouko spat.

"Heh, you don't have to worry about that. Two of the Spirits down there are protecting them, and even if they fail, I have one final failsafe." Nia smiled and held open her book for Ryouko to read.

——————I am the dividing line that flashbacks——————

"Hey, Nia? I have a bit of a bizarre question."

"Hm? What is it?" Nia handed Kyo another half-finished page. "Here, finish this please."

"Sure," Kyo sighed as he picked up his pen again. "Anyway, I was wondering about [Raziel]'s abilities. Beyond the universal search function, obviously."

"Eh? Oh, are you talking about [Future Prediction]?" 

"Mmhmm. Since [Raziel] can peer into the information of other Spirits, what is the limit of your ability to predict the future of other Spirits?" Kyo hunched down over the page, carefully inking in various landscape details.

"Oh? Why do you ask?" Nia grew a mischievous grin, leaning over the table to get a better look at Kyo's face. "Could it be that you want to set up a certain 'chance encounter' with another Spirit, maybe?"

"Uh… sure, let's go with that." 

"Well, that's actually a really good question! Why don't we ask Mr. [Raziel] what they can do!" [Raziel] shimmered into existence beside Nia.

"Are you telling me you don't know the limit of your own powers?" he asked with a blank look on his face.

"Said the pot to the kettle. Didn't you say you went too far with your own powers to get in the state you're in?" Nia stuck out her tongue.

"...touché," he conceded, sinking into his chair. 

"Hehe, score one for me, zero for you!" Nia pumped her fist in the air before quickly flipping through [Raziel]. "Alright, let's see here… [Future Prediction] can only be used for a maximum of twelve hours a day, and it has a 99.99% chance to work against any being who doesn't possess Reiryoku. For those who do possess Reiryoku, uh…"

Nia squinted her eyes. Kyo raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Uh, there's a bunch of really complicated-looking math behind it, but it's safe to say that it'll probably fail on any unsealed Spirit," Nia concluded with a grin.

"You're looking way too proud of that statement." Kyo shook his head, but Nia could see a small smile on his face too.

—————I am the dividing line that flashes forward—————

Ryouko narrowed her eyes as she scanned the inside of [Raziel]. "What… is that supposed to do, exactly?"

"Yeah, I know, it wouldn't work on her usually. But since Kururin's clones are only made with a small portion of Reiryoku, it works really well on them!" Nia gave the dumbfounded woman a thumbs up.

On an otherwise blank page was a single sentence: "For the next twelve hours, Tokisaki Kurumi cannot take any action that would result in someone's death."

——————I am the dividing line that shifts perspectives——————

"Cough, cough…" Kurumi glared at the two Spirits, one with blazing red eyes, the other with faded blood-red eyes, as they pointed their weapons at her once again. "It looks like you weren't as strong as you claimed, Kyo, to require the help of Flame Girl over here."

"I hope the irony of that statement isn't lost on you," Kyo scoffed back. "No one else currently alive on this planet is better than you at just endless throwing lives at their problems."

"Kihihihi! Is that so!" Kurumi laughed, though this time Kyo noticed a tinge of weariness. 

"Yep. Now then, why don't you-"

"Why don't you pick up your weapon again?" Kotori said as she pointed [Camael] at Kurumi with a bloodthirsty smile. "Otherwise, you'll die here." 

"Oh, great." Kyo facepalmed. "The number of crazy people on this roof just went up to two."

"Kotori?!" 

Kyo slowly turned his head to the rooftop entrance, where an unfortunately familiar blue-haired boy now stood. "Nevermind," he groaned. "I spoke too soon."