Chapter 44: Heart's Return
Long black twin tails, one long and one short, hung at either side. Her left eye was gold, her right was crimson—heterochromia that could steal a man's soul with just a glance. Lips delicate like sakura petals, skin as white and smooth as pearls, together framed her breathtaking beauty.
She wore a gothic lolita-style dress of blood red and black. Her slender waist looked like it could snap with a touch. Sleek black stockings embraced her thighs, and one couldn't help but wonder what her dainty toes inside those tall black boots might feel like... Ahem.
Eric looked at what only he could see:
[Name: Kurumi Tokisaki]
[Age: 16]
[Physique: 2 Stars]
[Martial Arts: 2 Stars]
[Marksmanship: 5 Stars]
[Observation Haki: 0]
[Armament Haki: 0]
[Devil Fruit: 6 Stars] (Her Slow-Slow Fruit power has been transformed into the angel's time-based ability)
[Angel Equipped: Zafkiel – the long and short clock hands take the form of a musket and a flintlock pistol, capable of firing time-manipulating bullets. The clock face houses various powerful abilities, each corresponding to a number. But using the angel consumes large amounts of time value (lifespan).]
[Bond Level: 1 (Casual Friend)]
[Overall Power: 4.5 Stars] (Player and bond limit currently caps her stats at four stars)
[Note: Codename "Nightmare." This is a clone once killed by Tohka. Though a clone, she now possesses the same angelic powers as the original. Due to her death, all previous memories were lost and are unrecoverable. The system has informed her that you are her lifesaver.]
"Uh… You were gravely injured by a blue-haired girl named Tohka. I saved you," Eric said.
From behind him, two pairs of eyes bore into Eric , tormenting him for his pervy thoughts.
"Oh my, is that so?" Kurumi smiled sweetly and performed a polite curtsy. Then—before anyone could react—she swiftly raised an old-fashioned musket from who-knows-where and pulled the trigger. BANG!
Eric had already activated his Observation Haki and dodged. He gestured to the others not to interfere. "Hold on, let me explain."
"That was dangerous. Can you not shoot so casually?"
"Hmph, not an ordinary person after all. You dodged it effortlessly."
"Lies have limits. Where's the evidence of life-saving treatment?" Smart as she was, Kurumi didn't believe words alone. Though her memory confirmed he'd saved her, she suspected he could alter memories. For now, she trusted only her own power.
She leapt backward and created distance. "Zafkiel! Yud (Bullet Ten)!"
The golden clock face in her left eye spun quickly. She aimed her pistol behind her at the ten o'clock numeral. Black mist from Zafkiel's tenth mark flowed into her gun. Kurumi then fired at her own head.
"…! Nothing… no memories?" Kurumi, fully aware of her abilities, looked visibly shaken.
"Okay, I'll be honest. You died in your original world, and I summoned you here from the land of the dead." Eric told her truthfully.
"That's ridiculous!" Kurumi shouted. "You have that kind of power?"
"Isn't your Zafkiel just as ridiculous? You can manipulate time, even travel through past and future!"
"You… know quite a lot about me," she said with a half-smile, half-smirk. "Could you be a stalker?"
"I'm not!" Eric denied vehemently—though under his breath he muttered, "If someone looked like you, it'd be hard not to be…"
"Thank you for summoning me here. I suppose I owe you my life. But this is goodbye." Kurumi turned to leave, not intending to stay with them.
"Wait!" Eric called out, "Can I ask why you want to leave?"
"Even without memories, I'm sure I've killed many… maybe tens of thousands. Would you really take someone like me in, Mr. Nice Guy~?" Kurumi turned her face slightly, calm yet burdened.
Of course Eric understood. As a true otaku, he'd seen the masterpiece Date A Live. Kurumi had captivated countless men with her looks and tsundere charm—Eric included.
Her past was heartbreaking. Trusting Mio, she became a spirit and helped exterminate others like her—until she realized the Flame Spirit was her friend, and understood she'd been killing humans all along. She nearly snapped.
And the tens of thousands she'd killed were mostly criminals. If anything, Eric wished he could punish that kind of trash himself—even if some of them weren't quite worth killing.
She was inherently kind—shouldering too much in silence, trying to change the past alone.
"I know your past! I know how good you are, even though you carry such pain!" Eric shouted, pouring his heart out. "You're not alone now! I'm here to share that burden with you! Akame and Chiron will help too! Don't try to carry it all yourself!"
Crack The icy wall around Kurumi's heart began to fracture.
[Kurumi Tokisaki's affection increased. Bond Level: 1 (Casual Friend) → 2 (Close Friend). Bond Point +1]
'As expected of a tsundere, she hides what she truly wants deep inside.'
Eric rushed ahead and stood in front of her.
"So don't go!"
"Move aside!" Kurumi gritted her teeth and pointed her gun at his heart. "Or I'll shoot!"
"I'm not moving even if it kills me!"
'Is this really how I'm gonna die—from tsundere love?'
Whether it was her tsundere instinct or something else, Kurumi pulled the trigger—but instinctively shifted her aim downward. The bullet struck Eric 's abdomen, leaving a bleeding wound.
With Observation Haki, Eric knew exactly where he was hit. He even forced himself not to turn into lightning (Logia users auto-elementalize if attacked by someone without Haki) so he could take the bullet directly.
"You! Why didn't you dodge?!" Kurumi panicked. This man had summoned her from death, and now she'd wounded him.
"I told you—I wasn't moving even if it killed me!" In that moment, Eric dropped all hesitation, pouring out everything he had hidden inside.
"Your guilt—I'll carry it. Your sorrow—I'll bear it. If you're ever lost, lean on me. If you face the impossible, use me. You're not alone anymore. We'll carry it together!"
[Kurumi Tokisaki's affection reached max. Bond Level: 2 (Close Friend) → 5 (Life-Bound). Bond Points +9]
[Achievement unlocked: "First Full Bond (First Casanova Win)." Achievement Points +2]
"?" A big question mark floated over Eric 's head.
"...Really?" Kurumi whispered uncertainly.
"Of course. You can always trust me. I'll walk beside you forever."
Kurumi leaned in and quickly kissed Eric 's cheek, then smiled shyly, her cheeks tinged red.
Eric , holding the kissed spot, was stunned. No words—no poetry—could describe that smile.
From afar, Chiron and Akame muttered, "Didn't know our captain had potential as an adorable freeloader."
"Mhm. But it's kind of…" Akame couldn't quite explain the feeling, only that it made her chest tight.
"…" Chiron stayed quiet too. He didn't fully understand the affairs of men and women—and didn't dare interfere.
After watching the two stare at each other for fifteen full minutes, Chiron and Akame—both outside their view—decided enough was enough.
Akame, blunt as ever, said, "Eric , your stomach's still bleeding."
"Ah… it hurts!" Eric nearly collapsed. Apparently, love really is a powerful painkiller—he hadn't even noticed the pain until now.
"Eric ! Dalet (Bullet Four)!"
"Wait! Using your angel's powers will shorten your lifespan! Just wrap it up—it's a small wound."
"...Eric ~" Kurumi, touched that he cared about her well-being, gently tended to his wound.
[Ding… You have two new messages]
[Monthly Quest 4 Complete: Five-Person Crew. Rewards: 1 Achievement Point / 2 Bond Points]
[Achievement Unlocked: "Elite Five-Man Team." Achievement Points +1]
(END CHAPTER)
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