Chapter 55: Isn’t the Little Sister Mode of Kotori Irresistible?

After Kotori fell asleep, Su Mo carefully carried her into the Itsuka household. He gently laid her on the bed and tucked her in with his own hands. Only after completing these things did Su Mo quietly step out of the room.

“So exhausting!” Su Mo wiped the sweat from his brow. The little girl was really hard to coax. But after taking just a few steps from the door, he suddenly realized something. “Wait a minute, could it be because I gave Kotori that black hair ribbon today that the Commander personality emerged in her five years later?”

Though Kotori in her little sister mode was clingy, she was absolutely adorable. However, the thought of Kotori in Commander mode sent a chill down Su Mo’s spine. At this moment, he really wanted to slap himself—of all the gifts, why did he choose a hair ribbon? And even if he did, why did he have to say so much? If he’d only kept his mouth shut, the Commander personality might never have arisen. Wasn’t the little sister mode good enough?

Once he realized this, Su Mo could only regret it bitterly.

“Kurumi, I want to rewind time once more.” Su Mo sighed as he left the Itsuka household.

Kurumi, for her part, said nothing. She only let out a string of silvery laughter, as if amused by Su Mo ensnaring himself. As for rewinding time, that was clearly a joke. After all, he’d gone to great lengths to change history—it wasn’t as if he had nothing better to do than go through it all again.

This time, Kotori’s powers had been sealed in time, before they could spread. As a result, the city of Tenguu remained peaceful; at least, the great fire of five years ago would never happen now.

“All that’s left is to hurry to Origami’s home and send her parents to a safe place ahead of time. If I can do that, history will truly be rewritten.” Su Mo’s steps grew noticeably lighter. Everything was progressing so smoothly—this was surely the right path.

He arrived at Origami’s house and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.

Ding-dong.

The door opened, and a middle-aged couple appeared.

“Who are you?” Seeing a child of twelve or thirteen at their door, Origami’s parents looked understandably confused.

Su Mo smiled at them, revealing his bright white teeth. In the next instant, the Shakugan Sword materialized in his hand, and with a swift strike of the flat of the blade, he knocked both parents unconscious.

He didn’t have time to persuade Origami’s parents to leave with him—the simplest method was to just take them by force.

Humming as he worked, Su Mo began hauling the two adults to a nearby shelter.

“Phew…” Su Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead, muttering, “Why hasn’t the Fake Witch’s power faded yet? If it weren’t for the Throne’s help, there’s no way I could carry two adults like this in my current body.”

There was nothing to be done—the Fake Witch’s powers were quite overbearing. They could restore Su Mo to his appearance from five years ago, but his strength was also that of a child. Fortunately, his abilities hadn’t vanished; otherwise, getting Origami’s parents out would have been much harder.

Looking at Origami’s parents, unconscious on the floor of the shelter, Su Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks to the widespread availability of shelters in Tenguu City, it hadn’t taken him long to get them here. And since there’d been no spacequake alert, the shelter was empty—making things much easier for him.

He stood guard beside them, Shakugan Sword in hand.

The shelters in this country were built to be incredibly strong—even a nuclear blast wouldn’t breach them. It was black technology of the highest order; otherwise, how could they resist a spacequake? By leaving Origami’s parents here, even if a spacequake occurred outside, or a Spirit battle broke out, they would be safe. As long as he ensured their safety before leaving this timeline, he could change history.

Time ticked by.

Su Mo waited quietly in the shelter until, at last, the moment came. A beam of light enveloped him, and he vanished from that place.

…

A faint moan escaped his lips as Su Mo opened his eyes.

He found himself lying in bed. Judging from his surroundings, he was in the Itsuka home—the same room as always, with the familiar ceiling, walls, floor, and furniture. After checking several times, Su Mo was sure this was his bedroom.

He clenched his fist and looked down. It seemed he’d returned to his original form.

“Kurumi, are you there?” Su Mo called out softly.

There was no response. In this situation, it was clear he had returned from five years ago. Kurumi’s Ninth Bullet only linked targets across different timelines; it had no effect on people in the same timeline as the shooter. So he must have returned to five years later, to Kurumi's own time axis, which was why the bullet’s power had ceased.

Holding his throbbing head—he’d been in pain ever since waking up—Su Mo wondered if this was an aftereffect of time travel.

As his thoughts wandered, his bedroom door suddenly opened.

Tohka crept in, dressed in a pink dress, her long night-purple hair tied with a pale green ribbon. She tiptoed toward Su Mo and pounced.

The sudden ambush startled Su Mo.

“Tohka, what are you doing? Are you trying to crush me?” With Tohka’s body pressed to his chest, their posture was unusually intimate—Su Mo was a little dazed. In his mind, he’d just been rescuing Origami five years ago, and now, in the blink of an eye, he was faced with this.

His brain struggled to catch up.

“Ah? Sorry, Su Mo!” Hearing his words, Tohka quickly climbed off the bed and apologized.

Su Mo took a deep breath and looked around—everything seemed normal.

“What’s wrong, Su Mo? Are you still not feeling well?” Tohka asked with concern.

“It’s nothing.” Su Mo shook his head and looked at Tohka oddly. “So, why were you climbing into my bed?”

“Well… it was to help treat your illness,” Tohka replied shyly. Then, summoning her courage, she gazed at Su Mo’s face and added urgently, “Anyway, don’t worry about it. Just lie down and don’t move. If it’ll help you get better sooner, do you need me to sleep with you?”