"How is that even possible…?"
Shichen stared in disbelief at the sight in front of him—at Origami, left all alone where, just a heartbeat ago, her parents had been.
He knew the First Spirit's Angel was ridiculously broken, but she didn't have time or space abilities. At least, she wasn't supposed to.
Tokisaki Kurumi had gained control over time via her, sure—but the powers she distributed weren't ones she herself used. They manifested differently depending on who received them.
She couldn't have opened something like Reincarnation Paradise, right?
If she had, if she'd unfolded an entire "Adjunct World," then she really would be omnipotent—a literal god who could do whatever she liked.
But Shichen hadn't felt any barrier distortions at all.
So how the hell had she done that?
"Dad… Mom…?" Little Origami's tiny, helpless voice snapped him back to reality.
She was on the verge of despair. Her parents had just… vanished… right in front of her.
"Origami, don't be scared. I'm here," Shichen said quickly, voice soft and steady.
"Onii… chan…" Origami looked up at him weakly, eyes full of tears, looking like she might burst into sobs at any moment.
"Origami, trust me. As long as I'm with you, your mom and dad will be okay. I'll find a way to bring them back."
"Onii-chan I trust you!" Origami sniffed and nodded hard.
Her parents' sudden disappearance terrified her, but this Onii-chan had just saved them earlier. If it was him saying it… she was willing to believe.
"Ahh, ahh… looks like you really treasure this little girl, don't you, Shichen?" Mosaic's voice slid in, dripping with jealousy.
"Mio. Don't you dare lay a hand on Origami," Shichen said sharply, his tone turning cold as he fixed his gaze on her and finally called her by name.
"…"
Mosaic—Mio—fell silent for a moment before replying, "Fine… Shichen, don't be mad."
"I'm not mad. I know this is my fault. I left you alone for god knows how long. If you need to vent, complain, take it out on me—that's fine. But you can't cross the line any more than this."
"Shichen, you…" Mio's tone shifted. Combined with their current situation, something clearly clicked for her.
"So that's how it is… This 'you' is from the future too, isn't it?"
"Seems that way… Still, I should apologize," Shichen said, looking straight at Mosaic.
"Apologize?"
"Maybe you had your reasons, maybe there were accidents I don't know about—but I left you alone for so long. I made you try to find me by any means you could think of… You must have been so lonely. I'm sorry."
"Shichen, you…"
"I know an apology doesn't fix anything. It can't compensate for how much you've had to endure. But I…"
"No. It's enough," Mio said, shaking her head. He could almost hear the smile in her voice.
"You really are… as kind as ever."
"Mio…"
"I get it. I won't pick on the little girl anymore. But as for the big one over there? I won't do anything about her—that was your idea, letting me blow off some steam."
"Fair enough. I'll handle the rest," Shichen said with a wry smile.
"Since this you came from the future, I'll just keep going with my plan—until I meet you. When that time comes, I'm going to make sure you never leave me again."
"Don't worry. When that time comes, there's no way I'll leave you," Shichen replied, smiling.
"Then… let's meet again in the future."
With that, Mio vanished. Origami's parents did not reappear.
So it really was going to be like she said—meeting again five years later.
And Shichen had no way to track them. Against the First Spirit's world-scale power, he just wasn't there yet.
Sure, he'd mastered a lot of laws, could cross between worlds—but he hadn't reached the power level of the world itself.
Right now, he could only say that below world-class… there was no one who could match him.
Reaching world-class would be simple enough in theory: absorb the First Spirit's blood, make her his Familiar, synchronize with her power, merge completely.
Didn't sound that hard.
But that wasn't his goal.
When it came to the First Spirit—to her—Shichen wanted her, the person, far more than he wanted her power.
He really was that simple.
"Onii-chan…"
Once Mio was gone, the little Origami couldn't hold back her helplessness any longer. She turned and ran on tiny legs, throwing herself into his arms.
"Onii-chan!"
"It's okay. It's okay," Shichen said, hugging her and gently rubbing her head.
Her small body was so light, trembling in his arms, absolutely terrified.
"I-I was so scared…" Origami sobbed, pouring her fear out into the warmth of his chest.
"Mm. I know."
"But as long as you're here, I can handle it. I'm really glad you're here, Onii-chan."
"Is that so? Thanks for trusting me," he said softly.
"I want to know Onii-chan's name," she said, pulling back and staring up at him with earnest eyes.
"My name is Shichen," he answered with a smile.
"Shichen-nii!" she immediately upgraded the title.
"Mm." He chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Shichen-nii, what about her…?" Little Origami asked, looking up at the raging Spirit Origami still suspended in the sky.
Shichen had already locked the older Origami down inside a barrier. If he hadn't, the city would've been rubble by now.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot. Wait here a little while, okay? I'll go help her," he said.
"Okay. I got it!"
"Good girl." Shichen set the younger Origami back down and flew toward the restrained older one.
"AAAAAAHHHHH—!"
With space locked down, Origami couldn't move freely. She could only twist and thrash, roaring in mindless rage.
Shichen watched her for a moment, then sighed and raised his hand to her head.
"Purify."
Holy light flowed around her, and the madness in her eyes quickly faded, replaced by clarity.
"Shichen-nii…" As soon as she returned to herself, Origami's body went limp, and she collapsed toward him.
Shichen caught her and, instead of immediately restoring her stamina, simply held her as he descended, landing in front of little Origami.
"This Onee-chan looks just like an angel…" the young Origami breathed, staring at her future self.
She didn't blame her older self at all. She knew very well that all of this was that "Mosaic woman's" fault.
"Like an angel, huh? I'd say so too," Shichen nodded.
"Who is this angel onee-chan? Is she your girlfriend, Shichen-nii?" Origami asked with wide eyes.
"Mm… Not quite," he admitted after thinking about it.
"I see…"
"Come on. Let's head back to your house. I'll explain your parents' situation properly, but you'll need to be ready for it."
"I'll be fine. If Shichen-nii's with me, I can take it."
"If I'm with you, huh…"
"Shichen-nii, don't worry. I know you're not from this time. I heard everything that mosaic person said," little Origami said quietly.
"You… heard all that?"
"Mm. I know my mom and dad are still alive. And I know I'll meet Onii-chan again."
"You're really tough, you know that? …And all this is my fault," Shichen murmured.
"No. If you hadn't saved us, things would've been much worse," she replied.
"That's because… No, never mind," Shichen cut himself off.
It wasn't exactly easy to explain—for starters, if he hadn't brought future Origami back here, none of this would have happened. But at the same time, this point in time was always supposed to be like this.
Was the future affecting the past, or the past affecting the future?
Even with temporal powers, he couldn't say.
It wasn't so much that he couldn't escape time itself; it was that in this world's past and future, he couldn't step outside the rails—not while the First Spirit existed. He could only become part of history, not rewrite it however he wanted.
Unless he drank her blood and made her his Familiar. Then he could ignore this world's cause-and-effect and do whatever he liked.
But even then, he doubted he'd want to change anything. He'd never allow a true tragedy to stand.
Following behind little Origami, Shichen carried the older Origami back to her home.
Her place was just a normal apartment, but it had that cozy "family" feel. Unfortunately, for the time being, she was alone.
Shichen laid the older Origami down on her own bed to rest, then sat in the living room with the younger one.
"Shichen-nii, aren't you in a hurry to go back?" little Origami asked.
"Not exactly…"
"You're worried about me, right? It's okay. I can handle it," she said with a small smile.
"But…"
"You should trust me, Shichen-nii. Since you came from the future, that means you know the me from there, right? The me in your time… she's okay, isn't she?"
"…When you put it that way…"
"If you worry about me too much, I'm just going to get spoiled," Origami said, still smiling.
"You're really something… All right then. How about we at least eat dinner together? Let me cook for you."
"You're going to cook, Shichen-nii? Yes, please!"
Without waking the older Origami, Shichen and the younger one shared a simple dinner together. After that, he finally took the older Origami back to the present.
He didn't jump to any other branch timelines. Instead, he brought her straight home.
Since the First Spirit had said Origami and her parents would meet again in five years, finding them in the present was the priority.
The past was already set.