The Promise of Tomorrow

Chapter 17

7:00 PM

Shido's Residence

"Thanks for the food!" Tohka and Kotori shouted as a pile of emptied plates piled up on the table for Shido to clean which made him make a pained smile before washing the dishes. While he washed the dishes, he heard a knock on the door and saw Y/n all dressed with black biker jacket, a maroon t-shirt, white pants, and sneakers. "Ya don't mind if I let myself in, right?" Y/n asked with a smug smile.

"Oh? It seems like you're dressed for an occasion. You got a date or something?" Shido asked, curious as to why Y/n is dressed like that. "Jackass, as if I would go on a date lookin' like a punk. Someone message me an' Origami to go to the abandoned pier. Looks like that unknown number has some sweet information about the incident five years ago." Y/n replied, and unknowingly had darkened Kotori's mood.

"Are you sure it isn't a scam or a trick made by Kurumi? You need to be careful these days." Shido asked, wanting to confirm on what Y/n claimed. "I'm sure it's not. Kurumi wouldn't tell Origami where I and Yoshino was when I got rescued and we would've been probably been dead if that was the case." he answered and was looking at the window. 

"Hm? What's wrong?" Tohka asked, curious on where Y/n was looking at. "I swear I heard someone prancing around." he muttered and focused on looking at the window before turning to Tohka. "Nothing. I just thought there was someone outside. I must be getting paranoid." Y/n replied, getting suspicious of what was happening right now. 

"You're just probably tense. Relax, it's not like the unknown informant is a Spirit." Shido jested, trying to lighten up Y/n's mood. Kotori, after a while, now wore a dark ribbon and then spoke up. "I want to ask, if you ever saw the Spirit from five years ago, what will you do?" Kotori asked in a low tone to which Y/n answered, "Probably ask questions. I don't like to cause unnecessary trouble there. Probably I would ask the Spirit to help me get over my fear of fire." 

There was no hint of revenge at all. Does Y/n know who she was? No, that wouldn't be the case. He hasn't worn the necklace ever since he stayed near Tohka's residence. Wanting to push Y/n's buttons, Kotori pressed on with her questions. "Didn't that Spirit hurt your dear Origami? Are you sure that you don't harbor any kind of hate towards her?" she asked, making Y/n's expression change, but not in the way Kotori expected it to be. "That... is on myself to blame. I was back then scared of even the smallest fire. I'm the one to blame for being so weak." Y/n answered, his face filled with regret that he was such a scared weakling back then. 

"You shouldn't blame yourself for that. You were just a kid back then, and you were in front of something you would have called death back then." Shido told Y/n in a soft tone as to comfort the latter. "I guess you could say that. However, I hated the feeling of being helpless. I oathed back then to protect Origami, but all that happened was that I was protected by her." Y/n replied, his hatred for his own helplessness showing in his voice in addition to his narrowed eyes that held anger for his weaknesses.

Before Shido, Kotori, and Y/n could continue their chat, the three heard a motorcycle pass by. "Welp, looks like my ride has arrived. See ya." Y/n bade his goodbye for now as he opened the door to leave. Outside, Origami, wearing a biker suit, was waiting for him. "Wait, hold on, why are you the one driving Uncle's bike?!" he asked, dumbfounded in what was happening.

"I got permission from him. Besides, it's already nighttime, so I don't think the police will ask me for a driver's license." Origami answered in a monotonous tone while she donned her helmet and handed over Y/n's helmet. "That is not the case! Do you even know how to drive these?!" Y/n argued, worried if Origami can drive the motorcycle.