Toujou Nozomi and the others, seeing Tokisaki Kurumi put away her spirit dress, seemed to accept her sincerity and lowered their guard. The tense atmosphere in the living room returned to calm. Seeing Tokisaki Kurumi take the initiative to back down, Yoshino also breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Tokisaki Kurumi wasn't a bad person, but if the four of them had a conflict, things would really become troublesome.
"Were you in the park that night?" Toujou Nozomi narrowed her eyes at Tokisaki Kurumi. That night, she had been too excited, only focusing on Yoshino and forgetting to be vigilant about the situation. Even if someone had been there, she wouldn't have noticed. She had been careless.
"Yes, I followed the spiritual energy fluctuations to the park, but they suddenly disappeared. However, Yoshino was still there and hadn't left, which was a bit strange, so I hid and stayed. That's when I saw Yoshino use a magic circle to summon you all." Such mysterious power! In Tokisaki Kurumi's memory, no Spirit used magic, so she had been keeping a close eye on Yoshino's situation. It was also for this reason that she accepted Yoshino's invitation to visit.
Seeing the increasingly tense atmosphere among the four, Yoshino reached out and used calming magic to help them relax.
"Sister Nozomi, Kotori, and Rin. Don't be so wary of Sister Kurumi. Even if you don't trust Sister Kurumi, you trust Yoshino, right? Yoshino will vouch for Sister Kurumi; she is definitely not a bad person. Please trust her. This home is now open to Sister Kurumi, and she is welcome to visit anytime." Yoshino looked at the three with a serious expression. She knew Tokisaki Kurumi's goal. Although she didn't approve of her doing that and it wouldn't succeed, she wanted to support her.
"Oh my, what you said truly touches me. You can also rest assured that the reason I'm visiting this time is because of a deal between Yoshino and me; I have no other intentions." Tokisaki Kurumi looked at Yoshino defending her, a trace of emotion flowing through her heart. Although she had long been accustomed to being misunderstood and becoming the most evil Spirit, having someone willing to believe in her now brought forth a long-lost feeling of emotion. If before she had only been curious about Yoshino, now she wanted to give this cute little one a good hug.
After the group finished dinner, Yoshino led Tokisaki Kurumi to the living room, personally pouring her a cup of tea and having her sit opposite her. Toujou Nozomi and the other two sat on the nearby sofa, watching the pair. This was their time; they couldn't interrupt them.
"Thank you for your hospitality. But now, could you tell me what kind of deal you want to make with me? I'm very curious." Taking an elegant sip of tea, Tokisaki Kurumi looked at Yoshino with graceful composure. She had received the hospitality; now she could see what the other party wanted her to do.
"Mm, Yoshino wants to do something, but this matter requires a lot of help. This time, I need Sister Nozomi, you all, and Sister Kurumi, to help me rescue someone. That person is currently imprisoned somewhere, and I want to get her out." Although this person would escape later, Yoshino didn't want her to suffer any longer. With Kurumi's power and the help of Toujou Nozomi and the others, this matter would be foolproof.
"You want help? That means you want to conquer a certain place. But with your strength, it should be very easy to take down that place if you wanted to, right?" Tokisaki Kurumi didn't believe there would be any problem for Yoshino alone, given the mysterious power she used that night.
"No, Sister Kurumi. Yoshino does have the ability to do this alone, but Yoshino doesn't want to expose her strength so early. That's why I need you all to help me create a diversion." If her true strength were discovered, she might become an enemy of the whole world. Governments in every world fear existences more powerful than themselves. Even if Ratatoskr wasn't an organization hostile to Spirits, she couldn't easily trust the kind of people behind Ratatoskr's Round Table Conference.
"The place I want to go is DEM, to rescue the Spirit who was captured five years ago. So this time, we need many people to distract them. And Sister Kurumi's abilities can do this very well." Yoshino looked at the pensive Tokisaki Kurumi, knowing what she was thinking. In the original story's Itsuka Miku incident, she helped Itsuka Shido stall most of the DEM members to learn about the First Spirit. Now that their goals aligned, Yoshino wasn't worried that she wouldn't help her.
"If it's that, then I can help you. However, I don't have much time left. This matter will probably consume a lot of my time, so I can only do it when I have enough time in the future." Pressing her temples, Tokisaki Kurumi was surprised by what Yoshino wanted to do. She had wanted to find this Spirit and ask her about things for a long time, but if she went alone, the plan would definitely not succeed.
This time, with Yoshino and the help of three other people of unknown strength, the chances of success were high. The problem was that her current time didn't allow her to participate in this operation. Her strength was closely related to time. If she didn't prepare well, it would affect the success rate of this operation.
"Don't worry, Sister Kurumi, this matter of yours is included in my reward." Yoshino drew a golden pentagram magic circle aimed at Tokisaki Kurumi. The magic circle emitted golden energy that slowly enveloped Tokisaki Kurumi. Tokisaki Kurumi looked at the warm light on her body and suddenly opened her eyes wide in surprise. If her bangs weren't covering her left eye right now, one would see the clock spinning continuously. The time within her body was increasing at an extremely rapid rate. Besides taking lives, this was the first time Tokisaki Kurumi knew there was another way to replenish time. She looked up and saw Yoshino, whose face was a bit pale and who was panting slightly.
"This time, the amount of time Yoshino gave Sister Kurumi should be enough for this operation, right? Yoshino has already given the reward to Sister, so Sister, you must handle this operation well." Feeling a bit weak, it seemed that thirty years of time was still a bit much. If it weren't for Zadkiel, she probably wouldn't be able to move for some time. Fortunately, she was slowly recovering now.
"...You really are, truly an idiot. Since you've already called me Sister, then I'll put on a good show this time." With so much time, she wouldn't even flinch if she went to DEM alone. Not only for herself, but also for this troublesome younger sister.
"Okay, then for this operation, let's all do our best, everyone." Yoshino made a V-sign with her hand. Toujou Nozomi and the other two extended their hands and formed a circle with Yoshino. She turned to look at Tokisaki Kurumi; now it was up to her.
"Oh my, oh my, you truly are a strange bunch. But I suppose I can't not do this either." She helplessly made a V-sign with her hand and joined the four in a circle.
"So everyone, our operation this time will be..."
"Good luck (meow) * 5"
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