Date A Live - Volume 11.5 - Chapter 2

2
“Uuuu… One more time, Origami.” 
Sitting in the living room of the Itsuka residence with a video game controller in hand, Tohka shouted aloud enthusiastically. She was a young girl who possessed characteristically unique features, including long dark hair and crystalline pupils. 
Nevertheless, her regular face was often distorted and twisted nowadays due to profound regret. 
The reason was simple. On the monitor before Tohka’s eyes, a fallen avatar and the characters {K.O.!} were glimmering intermittently. 
“The result is the same no matter how many times you try.” 
The person who had replied was the girl sitting beside Tohka, Tobiichi Origami. At the moment, she was attentively staring at the screen with a relaxed expression that was the complete opposite of Tohka’s demeanor. 
Overall score - five losses out of five battles. Originally, Tohka had only decided to swap places with the Yamai sisters after witnessing them play and thinking that it would be quite amusing to have a go. Yet ever since she started the game, Tohka had been repeatedly defeated and toyed with by Origami using her superb techniques over and over again, unable to seize even a single victory. 
Seeing the two of them compete with each other emulously in a rather one-sided battle, Kaguya spoke from behind their backs. 
“Kaka, worthy of thy standing indeed, Origami. Verily I must not brush aside my kin’s sufferance. The time hast arrived for this me to be your adversary.” 
“Criticism. Kaguya cannot even win against Yuzuru.” 
Sitting next to her twin sister, Yuzuru said so with an underweening puff. In response, Kaguya then yelled in an unsatisfied tone. 
“T-That means of subjugation is unacceptable! Not in the least elegant!” 
“Denial. A win is a win. Kaguya only requires observing herself being slaughtered until she becomes enraged with irritation.” 
“U-Uguuu…” 
Kaguya bitterly groaned with remorse. In reality, even if it was the chess game in which she was a grandmaster, the times where she had the tables turned against her through a magnificent counterattack accounted for the vast majority. 
“E-Everyone… Please get along more…” 
“Games are supposed to be for having fun!” 
From behind the Yamai sisters, Yoshino’s frail voice could be heard along with the ventriloquism of the rabbit puppet, Yoshinon, which Yoshino had mounted on her left hand. At the rear of the living room, Yoshino, Natsumi, and Miku were watching the gaming group’s intensifying showdown together while gracefully sipping black tea. 
“Right, relationships come first. Just like Natsumi-chan and me!” 
“…There’s nothing between us. Speaking of which, why are you getting closer to me little by little? It’s creepy.” 
“Eh? I’m not closing the distance or anything. If you had felt something like that, it must’ve been an illusion. In Natsumi-chan’s heart, my existence is becoming more and more significant!” 
“…Uh, that, anyway, can you remove your hand that’s attached to my knee? Also stop wriggling your fingers every now and then.” 
Miku and Natsumi thus began the attack and defense war between them. 
Although she had gained awareness of the combat occurring on the other side, her own battle took precedence within her train of thought. Tohka shook her head and issued a declaration in a loud voice. 
“Alright, I won’t stop until I vanquish you! Time for the tiebreaker, Ori—” 
However, Tohka’s war cry halted midway. Her ears seemed to have detected some sort of suspicious sound. 
“—?” 
With Origami leading in front, everybody else gradually noticed the oddity and suspended their dialogues while pricking their ears up. 
“…This sound is…” 
“It’s coming from the front door… I think. Has Shidou-san or Kotori-san returned…?” 
“No, these footsteps don’t match any of theirs.” 
“Un. So, is it a guest?” 
“Hmph, they would press the doorbell if they were so.” 
“Assent. In other words—“ 
“—Burglars.” 
Origami’s statement caused the Spirits to catch their breaths altogether. 
“I-It can’t be, doing something so bold in broad daylight…” 
“They could be bandits too. In short, somebody other than Shidou or Kotori has intruded into this house without pressing the doorbel . That’s a certain fact.” 
“W-What should we do…” 
Yoshino softly enquired, her voice flustered with fright. But Origami only remained silent and gazed at the connector door which linked the entrance with the living room. 
“……” 

“I’m not sure why, but I feel there’s a sense of reminiscence even though this place is ours.” 
“Ah, yeah.” 
Standing at the entrance to the Itsuka residence, Haruko and Tatsuo said so while sighing with considerable emotion. 
Short hair, powerful-looking pointed eyebrows, and a pair of red pupils. Always disagreeing with R-ratings and having a broad stance, the wife Haruko was the counterpart of her husband Tatsuo, the person who was always smiling under his dark green glasses and had a distinguishing hunchbacked posture. 
Having lived together for a long period of time, a husband and wife couple’s appearances would resemble each other more and more. That may be so for other married couples, but it did not apply to the Itsukas at all. When they stood side by side, the two could be pictured as a female heroine and a civil official; an indulged young woman and an attendant; or a bridesmaid and groomsman who were invited to a wedding ceremony. 
“Saa, let’s get inside.” 
“Un, okay…… Ahh! Ouch!” 
At that moment, Tatsuo accidentally treaded a step over, and he toppled onto Haruko. 
“Ahh… Yaa!” 
As a result, Tatsuo’s head was buried directly into Haruko’s bosom, which had turned around after being startled. It was simply a clichéd occurrence distinctive to manga and anime alike. Haruko hanged her shoulders down and deliberately sighed. 
“…Really, you’re just like how you used to be.” 
“S-Sorry…” 
“It can’t be helped. I’m already used to it too. If I were the old me, I would flatten you in an instant.” 
“Uuuu… the memories of being crazily beaten up in the past.” 
Tatsuo then apologized as he up righted his posture. He was always like that in the past. Haruko made a wry smile and steadily extended her hand towards the door knob. 
“Alright. The earlier we… Hm, ara?” 
In that instant, Haruko subconsciously inclined her head. 
“What’s wrong?” 
“The house is supposed to be empty. But the lock here is open.” 
 
“Heh… That’s exceptionally rare considering it’s the diligent Shidou we’re talking about here.” 
“Un… Even if the public security in Japan is very good, this is way too thoughtless. 
Proper care must be taken.” 
The two conversed so and leisurely passed through the front door. However, contrary to their expectations, Haruko discovered another questionable aspect and wrinkled her brows. On the porch, there laid a considerable number of female shoes tidily placed together. 
“Seriously, are of these Koto-chan’s? She bought so many when we weren’t here… And we haven’t even seen all these styles…” 
“Ahaha, could it be that this was why Shidou didn’t allow us to go inside?” 
“Ah—, maybe. After all, Shii-kun has always had feelings for his adorable sister.” 
Haruko simultaneously expressed her annoyance and shrugged her shoulders while taking off her shoes and entering the house. Beside her, Tatsuo imitated her actions and stretched his body. 
“Phew, home sweet home. The employee living quarters weren’t that bad, but I’d rather stay at home more than anywhere else.” 
“I get what you’re hinting at. We are Japanese people.” 
The couple heartily laughed like old times and opened the door leading to the living room. 
——Just then. 
“Heh?” 

“Eh?” 
Haruko and Tatsuo exclaimed at the exact same moment. 
That could be considered to be a normal reaction. Just during the split second the couple stepped into the living room, it was already too late when they had noticed the several silhouettes which rapidly leaped out of the shadows and onto them, subduing the couple while pinning them on the floor. 
“W-Wha!? What in the world is going on!?” 
“H-Haru! Are you alright!?” 
In spite of their desperate struggle to kick their legs around, both of their hands had been firmly restrained, rendering the couple unable to move freely at all . The two painstakingly attempted to turn around in order to examine their attackers’ 
identities. Soon after that, however, Haruko experienced another shock. The culprits apprehending Tatsuo and her were two young girls; not only that, but their facial features were flawlessly identical - twins. 
“Humph, resistance is futile.” 
“Warning. Please cooperate.” 
“W-Wha……” 
The sudden development of their state of affairs caused Haruko’s eyes to flicker in bursts of black and white. Cleverly concealed under the shade of the sofa, numerous teenage girls appeared one after another in quick succession. Moreover, they were eyeing the two of them with looks of suspicion. 
“Um… so these are the burglars?” 
“T-They don’t look like burglars to me…” 
“You’re too naïve, Yoshino. Bad people don’t have the word bad written on their foreheads.” 
As above, the girls discussed certain unclear or meaningless details. 
The word burglar surfaced within Haruko’s mind in a split second. However, as she observed the appearances of the newly emerged girls, she was unable to harbor any notions towards that. well , perhaps it was as the girl on the left who bore a fierce expression had said: bad people don’t have the word bad written on their foreheads. 
At that moment. 
“——Guah!” 
Just as Haruko began to get bogged down in confusion, Tatsuo’s blood-curdling shriek came through behind her. 
Turning around, only the figure of another girl could be seen walking out of the shadows. One hand was choking Tatsuo’s neck, and the other was holding a smal knife and pressing it against the side of Tatsuo’s head. 
“T-Tatsu-kun!” 
“——Who are you people?” 
The girl, whose expression remained unyielding, emotionlessly interrogated them with an ice-cold tone. Her stoic unyielding character caused Haruko to sharply inhale an out of the blue breath, sensing by instinct the dreadful terror which emanated from the girl. Judging from her natural movements, the girl appeared to be already accustomed to employing her pocketknife for purposes beyond mere threats. 
“If you refuse to answer, I’ll severe this man’s fingers one by one.” 
“Hiii…!?” 
“H-Hey, Origami…” 
The girl’s comrade furrowed her eyebrows squeamishly. 
“There’s no problem. Although it’s a stale exaggeration, the results are still excellent. Pure pain is one thing, but the possibility of losing vital organs such as the fingers incites more fear when torturing someone.” 
“O-Origami…?” 
“Furthermore, the effectiveness is increased when there are two people. If there is an intimate relationship between them, one victim may be unable to bear witnessing the other suffering in excruciating agony, and he will confess everything. Otherwise, if both do not share any faithful connection between them and one victim hears the other bemoaning his fate, he will infer that the same torment will be inflicted upon him, producing a similar effect.” 
“H-Hiiiii ——“ 
While the girl explained apathetically, her simple vociferation seemed to be extremely efficacious on Tatsuo as he quiveringly emitted a timid voice. 
“I-I didn’t mean it that way! I was just telling you not to overdo it!” 
After listening to the purple-haired girl’s words, the girl who was holding a knife in her hand let out a snort, beginning to ponder deeply. 
“What you say makes some sense.” 
“D-Do you understand now?” 
“True, compared to cutting the fingers off, I should peel the nails off first instead. 
How silly of me.” 
“You didn’t understand at all !!?” 
The purple-haired girl yelled at the knife-wielding girl, causing her to incline her head inconceivably. 
“Then a truth serum?” 
The other girls shook their heads in disbelief, face palming. 
It looked as if the other girls had meant to adopt a more humanitarian, not to mention, legal method. At least, they weren’t intending to kill Haruko if she didn’t speak, or forcing her to give her bank credentials and so on. Haruko thoroughly strained her body and tried hard to squeeze her voice out of the depths her throat. 
“I-I’d like to ask who in the world you people are…! What are you doing in someone else’s house?!” 
“What we’re doing… looking after the place?” 
The purple-haired girl gingerly slanted her head and replied so, as if it was plainly obvious. 
Haruko felt like she had been treated as a fool. However, that soon proved to be incorrect. The instant she saw their genuine expressions, she could tell that they were not lying. 
But if that were the case, what was that all about? Could Haruko have entered the wrong house? 
This paradoxical thought flitted across Haruko’s mind instantaneously, only to be negated shortly afterwards. The living room in her field of vision was, without a doubt, a section of her house, the house which Haruko and Tatsuo had purchased using a 30-year loan, their beloved ?MY HOME?. 
Of course, it would be a different matter if the neighbors had renovated an interior that was exactly alike to the hilt. But taking into consideration that this was not some sort of game, an unfortunate coincidence as such was utterly improbable. 
“Looking after the place… I don’t remember ever asking someone to do that.” 
“Hm? A conciliatory utterance.” 
“Astonishment. We don’t remember ever being asked by you as well .” 
The twins, who were detaining Haruko and Tatsuo, gave out their reply. Hearing their presumptuous and disconnected statements, Haruko broke into a fit of rage. 
“What have you been discussing ever since before!? Entering other people’s houses without permission…” 
Just as Haruko declared that, the girl who had been pressing a knife against Tatsuo suddenly widened her eyes as if she had finally realized something crucial. 
“Muuu… What is it, Origami?” 
“Could they be…?” 
The girl called Origami swiftly sheathed her knife and fished out a cellphone from her pocket, beginning to operate the device. 
Subsequently, she proceeded to shift Haruko and Tatsuo to the front and quickly alternated her line of sight between their faces and the screen of her phone. After confirming something, Origami got up and pried the twins’ hands open, releasing the restraints. 
“W-What’s the matter?” 
“Doubt. What’s wrong, Master Origami?” 
The twins enquired in surprise, but Origami did not pay a shred of attention and instead started to greet Haruko and Tatsuo gently. 
“Are you alright? You can relax now, Otou-sama, Okaa-sama.” 
“Hah…?” 
“What did… you say…?” 
Haruko’s and Tatsuo’s eyes gathered into a dot. If nothing else, the girl was now absolutely imperceptible to be one who would say distressing things such as cutting fingers, peeling nails, and so on. 
Haruko was not the only one. The other girls also exhibited clueless expressions similar to the couple’s. 
“Eh? Are they Origami’s parents?” 
“But… aren’t Origami-san’s parents…” 
“No.” 
Origami lightly shook her head. 
“These two… are Itsuka Tatsuo and Itsuka Haruko. They’re Shidou’s and Kotori’s parents.” 
……!?? 
Having heard Origami’s verification, the girls’ stunned faces turned into blank sheets of white.