Gentle sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, falling upon Origami's sleeping face.
Origami, who had been unconscious for several days, twitched her eyebrows slightly. As if sensing something, Origami slowly opened her eyes.
"...An unfamiliar ceiling."
Origami looked at everything in front of her in a daze. She knew very well that this was not her room, nor was it her bed.
Origami vaguely remembered returning five years ago with Kurumi's power and discovering that the true culprit who killed her parents was actually herself.
It was such a painful thing, yet why did she feel nothing now? Had her heart already died?
Reaching out to cover her eyes, Origami didn't want to face the dazzling sunlight. She wanted to hide in the darkness forever and never see the sun.
"Wait a minute, I remember Inaba Tsukiyo was by my side when I fainted?"
Does this mean she is now at Inaba Tsukiyo's house? Did Inaba Tsukiyo keep her at home to take care of her when she fainted?
Covering her mouth, Origami remembered that Inaba Tsukiyo's hearing was very sensitive. Although the room was sealed, she didn't want Inaba Tsukiyo to know that she had woken up.
"So I said, that girl hasn't woken up yet. Why are you taking such good care of her? It's been days, and because of her, you haven't properly enjoyed the Tianyang Festival with us! Weren't you looking forward to the Tianyang Festival?"
"I have already experienced the liveliness of the Tianyang Festival, that's enough, Nia. Origami hasn't woken up yet, and to prevent her from doing something foolish when she wakes up, I must stay by her side."
Origami could faintly hear voices coming from outside. After hesitating, Origami lay back on the bed, pretending she hadn't woken up yet.
The room door opened, and many footsteps entered Origami's ears.
"With all due respect, God. A person like this doesn't need you to personally take care of her, nor do you need to personally cook for her every day."
"Alright, alright. I know you also want to eat my cooking, Ellen. I will make delicious food for you tonight, but for now, please be quiet and don't disturb Origami's rest."
"I... I didn't mean that."
Ellen's voice softened. She was actually very jealous that Origami, who had always been hostile to spirits, could receive such attentive care from Inaba Tsukiyo.
But when it came to dealing with spirits, her past methods of treating spirits were far more excessive than Origami's.
Even if the spirits in the house had already accepted her existence, what she had done could not be erased.
The group came to Origami's bedside. Inaba Tsukiyo placed the bowl on the nearby cabinet, sat on the chair by the bed, and reached out to grasp Origami's hand.
After a while, Inaba Tsukiyo nodded in satisfaction. There were no major physical problems, and the previous injuries had basically healed.
Now the most troubling thing was when Origami would be willing to wake up. If her subjective consciousness resisted waking up, Inaba Tsukiyo would ultimately have to choose to let her own consciousness enter Origami's body to wake her up in that way.
To avoid disturbing Origami's rest, Inaba Tsukiyo had everyone else leave the room, leaving only herself to feed Origami the porridge.
Origami, who was still feigning sleep, was surprised to find that she couldn't control her body, just like a puppet on strings.
Following Inaba Tsukiyo's movements, her mouth automatically opened, making swallowing motions, and soon she had finished all the porridge.
After doing all this, Inaba Tsukiyo put the bowl aside, quietly watched Origami, and reached out to poke Origami's face.
"You're so beautiful when you're asleep, why do you always do such strange things when you're awake?"
Origami could definitely be considered a beauty; otherwise, she wouldn't have looked as beautiful as an angel when she became a spirit.
Don't think that everyone who obtains a spirit crystal will become a beautiful girl. It is believed that Mio Takamiya must have considered appearance when choosing a host; otherwise, if those with more corpulent bodies received the spirit crystal and became spirits, in a certain sense, it would worsen the already poor reputation of spirits and potentially lead to the spirit's quicker death.
Aside from these things, Origami's behavior at school was too strange. In the Imaginary Space, Inaba Tsukiyo had seen Origami secretly sneak into the changing room, holding Shiori's clothes, and sniffing them with a strange blush.
Anyone who didn't know her would think Origami was some kind of pervert... In fact, she could already be considered a pervert.
"You've caused me so much trouble this time. Missing the Tianyang Festival is one thing, but you even made me personally take care of you for so long. Don't think you can easily repay all this, not even if you're my friend."
"..."
Origami frowned slightly. When did she become friends with Inaba Tsukiyo? She and Inaba Tsukiyo were merely in a transactional relationship.
At most, she had frequent contact with Illya, one of Inaba Tsukiyo's subordinates, and their relationship could be considered friendly.
But she recalled Inaba Tsukiyo once turning into Medusa, and her ability to transform into others.
Well, Origami immediately thought that Illya at school was very likely Inaba Tsukiyo in disguise! This person had been staying by her side all along! Watching her constantly.
Thinking of this, Origami immediately reached out and grabbed Inaba Tsukiyo's hand, which was still poking her cheek, and opened her eyes.
Completely oblivious that Origami had already woken up, Inaba Tsukiyo stared blankly at Origami, and the two quietly looked at each other, the atmosphere becoming awkward.
"You... are Illya, aren't you?"
"...Mm."
Although she didn't know why Origami was asking this question, she still nodded, which made Origami's expression change.
"Why? Are you trying to monitor me as Illya? Your interactions with me at school were just to gain my trust."
"You're thinking too much. Not to mention what I would need from you, why would I specifically try to gain your trust? You're just a girl obsessed with revenge, and I have no interest in you at all."
Of course, one would also have to add her strange behavior. When it came to Shiori, Origami could definitely be called a strange person.
Origami believed Inaba Tsukiyo's words, but she noticed Inaba Tsukiyo secretly looking at her, her rarely opened eyes actually peeking at her, as if confirming something.
Well, although in some special matters, Origami could be called a master, in other aspects, Origami could be considered very pure.
If Kurumi were here, she would definitely see Inaba Tsukiyo's little thoughts. Even Nia or Yoshino might have noticed.
In fact, Inaba Tsukiyo genuinely wanted to be friends with Origami, but facing someone as stubborn as Origami, she felt that if she said it out loud beforehand, Origami would look down on her, so she could only use such a direct excuse to refute.
But... oh dear! This is really annoying! Why is she so bothered! She's been taking care of Origami all this time, why does she have to suffer like this!
"You get some good rest! I'll come back to find you when you've calmed down!"
Inaba Tsukiyo wanted some peace and quiet. She temporarily didn't want to see Origami's 'annoying' face. She was going to use the power of the Herrscher of Reason to make an Origami-shaped punching bag and beat it up properly!
"Wait a minute." Origami reached out and grabbed Inaba Tsukiyo's hand, "Don't go."
Just like in a TV drama, where the male lead pulls back the female lead who is leaving in a huff.
Huh? Wait, why does this scene feel so strange? Why is Inaba Tsukiyo so naturally categorized as the female lead?
"This time... thank you. Although you pretended to be Illya and stayed by my side, I'm really grateful for what you did for me."
"...Tch! Who wants to stay by your side? It was just to see Shiori's interesting performance at school, don't be so conceited."
Shaking Origami's hand away, Inaba Tsukiyo said unceremoniously.
Returning to the chair by the bed and sitting down, Inaba Tsukiyo looked at Origami, who was sitting on the bed, and fell into a brief silence.
"I told you, when you woke up, there was something I wanted to tell you. Now that you've woken up, it's time to give this to you."
Inaba Tsukiyo's words left Origami a little confused. Recalling what she heard before she fainted, Origami's gaze became serious.
Under Origami's serious gaze, Inaba Tsukiyo took out a machine from the Imaginary Space. It was an ordinary camera, as ordinary as could be.
Inaba Tsukiyo simply operated it for a moment, then clicked on a certain video clip.
Then, after handing the camera to Origami, she turned and left the room.
At this moment, it was better to let Origami watch this memory footage alone.
She did not check the contents of the camera immediately upon receiving it, because it was left for Origami by her parents.
Her duty was, at a specific time, to make Origami understand what she and Origami's parents had left behind, hoping she could move past it.
Quietly leaving the room, only Origami was left in the entire room, staring blankly at the camera in her hand.
It wasn't a complicated operation; just clicking a button would play the video inside.
As the video played, Origami saw the images within, and the initial scene made her eyes widen.
This scene was Origami's childhood home, the home that had disappeared due to the great fire in Amamiya City.
The camera fell onto the quilt, Origami covered her mouth, crystal tears gathered in her eyes, and uncontrollable sobs escaped.
Even if Origami usually faced others with a stoic expression, she couldn't maintain a detached emotion at this moment.
If she let go of her hand, she would probably burst into tears, just like the Little Girl who needed her parents' comfort in the past.
When she saw two familiar figures appear in front of the camera, tears finally flowed uncontrollably.
"Dad... Mom..."
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