Chapter 637: Cruel Fate

*Hick...hick*

After traveling through the timeline, Yoshino found herself wandering through the World. Due to the distortion between space and time, Yoshino ended up 27 years in the past, exactly one year before she received her powers.

Of course, she didn't know this. She was so overwhelmed with grief over her loss that she spent an entire year lamenting her weakness, wandering wherever the wind took her, until one day, she encountered her mother...

This marked the beginning of the darkness within her.

Twenty-six years ago, Yoshino was a sickly child raised by her widowed single mother.

Because of her illness, Yoshino spent most of her life in the hospital. To Yoshino, the small hospital room and its window were the only world she knew. She couldn't go outside, and all she could do was wait for the inevitable end, though she was unaware of this.

One day, her mother Nagisa, her only relative, gifted her a rabbit puppet named Yoshinon. This puppet was meant to symbolize her mother always watching over her, even when she was busy with work. After all, it was impossible for Nagisa to always be at Yoshino's side in the hospital. They were alone in this world, so they only had each other.

Everything was fine, despite Yoshino's illness. There was still a glimmer of hope in the darkness, which Nagisa believed in. Even the frail Yoshino planned to create a puppet of herself to give to her mother.

Unfortunately, one day, Nagisa never returned.

Yoshino was heartbroken. She cried because her mother no longer visited her, thinking the worst—that her mother no longer loved her and had abandoned her. Her condition worsened to the point where she even struggled to breathe.

Everything became darker, and Yoshino was on the brink of death.

Then, Mio Takamiya appeared and gave her a Sephira Crystal, thus awakening the power of Zadkiel.

At the same time, as Yoshino transformed into a spirit, the other Yoshino who had traveled through time went into shock. Her mind shattered, and the Reiryoku in her body changed...

The Demon King within her broke its seal, and her emotions turned negative...

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

What she saw before her was her mother's grave.

[Nagisa Himekawa]

Upon becoming a spirit, she lost all her memories as a human, so she never intended to search for family or friends. The only thing she had was her puppet, Yoshinon. However, after being with Yuki, she regained her memories, as well as the reason behind her puppet.

Yet, even though her mother gave her the puppet, she was also angry because she had been abandoned in the hospital. Fortunately, thanks to the company of Miku and Yuki, she gradually forgot everything and started a new life...

But now, she couldn't stop crying...

It turned out that her mother hadn't abandoned her; she had died in an accident while working to pay the hospital bills...

Her mother always loved her, so much that fate was cruel.

And, of course, Yoshino couldn't bear it. She hugged Yoshinon and screamed, as large clouds began to form around her, everything around her darkened, creating a space where she isolated herself from the world.

The Demon King took her place. However, at that moment, the pair mark on her chest glowed, the crown formed an avatar, and embraced the child in despair...

"Yuki-san?"

And, of course, Yoshino couldn't forget that warm light. She opened her eyes, and her 'hero' was there with her again. Her tears fell even faster, and she clung to her Hero...

"Yuki-san! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's all my fault! If it weren't for me, Miku-san, Mama, they wouldn't have died! It's my fault! I'm such a coward! I'm useless! I hate myself! I hate myself!!"

"It's okay, everything will be okay..."

Yoshino cried and apologized countless times. The people she cared about in her life had sacrificed themselves for her. Her selfishness had caused their deaths, which is why she hated herself. She was alive at the cost of others' lives, even Yuki, although he was with her now. Deep down, she knew that the 'Yuki' she was hugging wasn't the one who sent her here to save her. Worst of all, she couldn't face life; she didn't deserve to live, she was such a coward.

So, she cried until she was exhausted enough to fall asleep...

Yuki smiled, taking Yoshino into his arms. It wasn't that he didn't understand Yoshino; however, he was merely a remnant of energy left by the mark on Yoshino. His form existed because Yoshino had wished so strongly to see him again...

But he didn't have much time. He walked slowly as the energy left in Yoshino began to dissipate. Before Yoshino woke up, he needed to stop the Demon King...

Fortunately, there was a way to return everything to normal. The Yoshino from this timeline was still floating in the dimension of the Neighboring World.

Without further delay, Yuki sent Yoshino to that dimension and began the fusion of the two Yoshinos, the Angel Yoshino and the Demon King in his arms.

This prevented paradoxes and also avoided drawing the attention of the First Spirit, but it also made Yuki pay a price.

The pair mark on Yoshino's body could no longer recover; he could no longer protect this little one.

But this didn't discourage him. On the contrary, it strengthened his resolve to reach a happy ending. He had to do it for Yoshino and all the spirits.

So, as he dissipated, Yuki left the gentle Yoshino to sleep, waiting for the day when they would meet again...

As for Yoshino, this didn't affect her, as she was still a newly created spirit, and the Yoshino from this timeline was also still asleep. Simply, as time passed, the fusion of the two progressed, and strange memories began to awaken one by one...

Like most spirits, Yoshino often appeared in the world through spacequakes, although sometimes she appeared quietly, without causing a spacequake.

When she appeared in the world, her spiritual powers would cause it to rain, whether she wanted it to or not.

Because of this and the spacequakes she caused, Yoshino had very little or no contact with others.

Instead, she constantly had to flee from the AST, who were always trying to kill her. However, despite the AST's attempts to kill her, Yoshino never fought back because she didn't want to hurt anyone. All of this made Yoshino become withdrawn and very lonely.

In her loneliness, Yoshino unconsciously used the puppet on her left hand and ventriloquism to create another personality to keep her company, called Yoshinon.

Yoshinon embodied the person she wanted to be—strong and unafraid to speak her mind—and stayed by her side, just like that Boy in her dreams. Yoshinon was a replacement for Yuki, or rather, the only one who had said he would never leave her alone, the Hero who saved her.

Eventually, Yoshino even stopped speaking for herself and instead let Yoshinon speak for her.

---

"So that's what happened, huh?"

Holding the fainted Yoshino after the shot, Yuki smiled bitterly. As the bullet shared consciousness with another timeline, Yuki was present and lived through what Yoshino had experienced, so he understood the pain.

And if possible, Yuki hoped this would be enough, but he knew this was just the beginning...

"Ahhhhhh!!"

The next to suffer was Origami. Yoshino is the key that the Yuki of that timeline left in her to open this state of consciousness, to prevent more holes in time and avoid a collapse.

However, being the key, Yoshino was connected to Origami, whose past is also trapped in the timeline...

So, just like Yoshino, Origami is also experiencing an entire life, traveling and accompanying her 'past self.' Unfortunately, no matter how much she tries, she won't be able to change it; the timeline has collapsed and no longer exists.

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TN: My head is spinning cuz of all those timetravel , timeline and timeparadox bs 😖