Date A Live IF: A Do-Over Date With Yoshino - At the frozen aquarium, Origami descends.

The shopping arcade in front of Tengu City Station had become a labyrinth of ice. Shidou's consciousness was sinking to the bottom of a white fog. The sensation in his fingertips had long since vanished. Frost clinging to his eyelashes crackled with every blink. Even so, his right hand alone kept its grip on Yoshino's small hand. He must not let go. If he let go, this girl would never be able to come back again. (...Yoshino.) He called her name. In a voice that made no sound. His lungs felt like they were freezing solid. The air was heavy. With every breath, needles of ice stabbed deep into his throat. —And then. The air split apart. GOOOOOOOOOOH!!! A roar. Icicles shattered. A white shadow descended, smashing through the arcade's roof. Shidou raised his face. White armor. White maneuvering boosters. White short hair. It was Tobiichi Origami. "Itsuka Shidou. Found you." Origami was clad in the standard equipment of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Anti-Spirit Team, the AST. Her silver-white CR-Unit was eerily dazzling in this world of ice. A faint heat haze leaked from the boosters on her back. Shidou forced out a hoarse voice. "Origami... why are you here..." "I was pursuing Yatogami Tohka. That stupid dog was on the move, scattering spirit-energy readings everywhere." Origami's clear blue eyes caught sight of Yoshino, crouched at Shidou's side. Water-blue hair. Lapis lazuli eyes. The rabbit puppet on her left hand. And the torrent of pale blue spirit energy swirling around her. Origami's expression changed. No—it didn't change. Her face stayed blank as her right hand moved. "Spirit confirmed. Threat level A. Eliminating." —Laser Edge. A blade of light deployed from Origami's back. The white radiance lit up the labyrinth of ice. Standard AST equipment, yet its edge could slice through iron like paper. A cold chill ran down Shidou's entire body. "Stop, Origami!!" Shidou planted himself in front of Origami, shielding Yoshino. His legs wouldn't move. His feet, numb with frostbite, wouldn't obey him. Even so, Shidou stood. Still gripping Yoshino's hand, he faced Origami. "Move aside, Itsuka Shidou. That spirit is dangerous." "I know she's dangerous! That's exactly why I'm here!" "I don't understand. You were nearly killed by that spirit." "Even so—don't hurt her." Shidou's voice shook the frozen air. He was desperate. His voice was shot. His throat felt like it would tear apart. Even so, Shidou shouted. "She doesn't want to hurt anyone! She's just scared!" Origami's hand stopped. The light of the Laser Edge froze at Shidou's throat. "...Why." Origami's voice was as mechanical as ever. But deep in her eyes, something wavered faintly. "Why would you go that far." "Maybe you can't understand. But I—" Just as Shidou started to speak— Yoshino's body gave a violent shudder. Her lapis lazuli eyes slowly opened. They were still vacant, reflecting nothing. —And then. Crack. A small sound. Frost raced across the surface of Origami's CR-Unit. "...What?" Origami looked at her own arm. The white armor was freezing white from the inside out. The light of the Laser Edge began to dull faintly from its tip. "This cold air is—" Yoshino's spirit energy was freezing Origami's equipment. An unconscious defense. Not Yoshino's own will—her fear was freezing everything around her on its own. Crack-crack-crack-crack! Origami's boosters were encased in ice and died. "...I can't move." Origami dropped to her knees on the spot. The Laser Edge lost its light. The white armor was transforming, moment by moment, into an ice sculpture. Shidou shouted desperately, caught between Origami and Yoshino. "Yoshino! Stop! She's not the enemy!" But his words didn't reach her ears. Her consciousness was still sunk at the bottom of the ice. "...Ngh." For the first time, a look of pain surfaced on Origami's face. The ice was locking her limbs in place. Origami, one of the AST's elite, was freezing solid with nothing she could do. Shidou stood before Origami. "Origami. Don't move. Don't try to resist. Yoshino's power will freeze your equipment along with you." "...Itsuka Shidou. Can you stop that spirit?" "Yeah. I will." Shidou knelt beside Yoshino. He dropped to his knees on the frozen floor. Shards of ice stabbed through his pants. Even so, Shidou spoke straight to Yoshino's left hand—to the puppet Yoshinon. "Yoshinon. Can you hear me?" Yoshinon was silent. The usual chatty voice was nowhere to be found. "You've been protecting Yoshino all this time, haven't you." Shidou stared at the puppet's face. A rabbit with an eyepatch. A comical design. But its very existence was the wall around Yoshino's heart. "So that Yoshino wouldn't be hurt by anyone. So she wouldn't have to be afraid. You've been her shield all along, haven't you." Yoshinon's mouth moved faintly. "...You're wrong." Yoshinon's mouth opened. Through the puppet's cotton, the cold reached Shidou's fingertips. "I'm not protecting Yoshino. Yoshino is the one who needs me." "I see." Shidou nodded quietly. "But you're a part of Yoshino too, aren't you? Then I'll accept all of you—you included." —Silence. The labyrinth of ice fell utterly still. Only the faint sound of Origami's breathing echoed. Yoshinon's ear twitched. Its button eye reflected Shidou, just slightly. "...Why." "Why would you go that far?" Yoshinon's question was the same as Origami's had been. Shidou closed his eyes. A memory from his childhood surfaced behind his eyelids. The crowded station. His mother's hand. When he turned around, her back was already far away. He reached out, but couldn't reach her. That feeling—as if his heart were freezing solid. Shidou opened his eyes. "Because I've been abandoned too." Shidou's voice dissolved into the frozen air. "So I get it. How terrifying it is to be abandoned. How painful it is to be alone. I understand it like it's my own pain." Shidou wrapped both hands around Yoshino's hand. "So I won't abandon you. I will never abandon either of you." Yoshinon fell silent. A long, long silence. And then— Yoshino's fingers moved faintly. Her small, frozen fingers trembled—unmistakably—inside Shidou's hand. "...Shi...dou...san." A faint voice. In Shidou's palm, her slender fingers squeezed back once more—this time, clearly. "Yoshino...!" Origami watched the scene quietly from within her frozen equipment. Her expression, covered by the white armor, couldn't be seen from outside. But her blue eyes were fixed steadily on Shidou's back. (...Itsuka Shidou.) Inside Origami's heart, something gave a creaking sound. Her hatred for the spirits who had killed her parents. That hatred was now wavering, shaken by the scene before her eyes. Shidou was trying to protect a spirit. At the risk of his life. "...Itsuka Shidou." Origami murmured softly. "Do you not hate spirits?" Shidou answered without turning around. "What I should hate isn't the existence of spirits. It's the act of hurting them." "...Spirits killed my parents." Shidou's shoulders trembled faintly. "I know." "So I hate spirits. I eliminate spirits. That is my reason for existing." "...Even so, I will protect Yoshino." Shidou kept his grip on Yoshino's hand. "I'm not going to deny your hatred. But Yoshino isn't the spirit who killed your parents." Origami went silent. The ice coated her armor even thicker. But Origami's eyes were still watching Shidou. —And then. Shidou's phone vibrated. A faint tremor. In the labyrinth of ice, the sound rang out eerily loud. Shidou took out his phone. On the screen: Kotori's name. "...Kotori!" Shidou pressed the call button. "...Shidou... can you hear me...?" Kotori's voice was buried in noise. Broken and fragmented—barely enough to make out what she was saying. "Kotori! What's happening! What about Ratatoskr!?" "...DEM's... second wave... is at the Tengu Aquarium..." Shidou's expression froze. "The aquarium!? Why!? Yoshino is right here—" "...The spirit crystal... readings... are in two places... They're using... a decoy..." —Click. The connection cut. Shidou couldn't move, staring at his phone. DEM's second wave was closing in on the Tengu Aquarium. Yoshino's spirit crystal readings were being detected in two locations? A decoy? "Damn it...!" Shidou clenched Yoshino's hand. Yoshino's consciousness hadn't fully returned yet. Only her fingers had moved. Yoshinon was silent once more. Origami was still locked in ice, unable to move. Shidou was alone. "...Yoshinon." Shidou spoke to the puppet. "You said it, didn't you. Prove it to me." Yoshinon didn't answer. "I still can't prove it. But—" Shidou pressed Yoshino's hand against his forehead. It was cold. Painfully cold. "I'm right here. Beside you both. That's all I can do right now." Yoshinon's voice echoed faintly. "...Prove it, then." "Can you really protect Yoshino?" Shidou couldn't answer. He hadn't proven anything yet. Yoshino's heart was still closed off. DEM's second wave was closing in on the aquarium. Origami was still frozen. Shidou had to carry it all—alone. "...I'll protect you." Shidou murmured. "I will protect you. Yoshino, and Yoshinon. Both of you—absolutely." Those words were quietly swallowed by the labyrinth of ice. Origami was watching Shidou's back. Inside the white armor, her lips moved faintly. "...Itsuka Shidou." No one heard that voice. Outside the labyrinth of ice, the rain was still falling. Above the Tengu Aquarium, DEM's armed helicopters were slowly closing in.

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Episode 6

Name: Date A Live IF: A Do-Over Date With Yoshino
Author: Novelia

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