"It wasn't me. Whenever someone says something like that, the ending usually turns out awful." Shadow Clone's words left Ichimokuren looking as though he had swallowed a fly. Would it kill you to say something nice?
Watching the girl walk out of Youji's house, Jiu Ming could no longer hold back. She wore a black sailor-style school uniform, with long black hime-cut hair. Those distinctive features alone were enough to tell who she was just from her back!
"Ai Enma?"
"...It's me."
She turned around and stared at Jiu Ming for a long while before continuing, "You went against the course this place was meant to follow. Aren't you worried something like this might happen?"
She meant Jiu Ming suffering the dream's backlash. His wanted poster was still hanging high and proud.
"If I were worried, I wouldn't have done it. What about you? Are you just going to keep watching like this?"
"Of course not. You were the only one discovered. Nothing happened to me at all," Ai Enma said flatly.
"Huh? Then where were you before?"
"...I've always..." Ai Enma suddenly revealed a startled expression. It looked exceedingly strange on her face to Jiu Ming. What could possibly have surprised her?
The next instant, Jiu Ming understood what had happened. The modern dreamscape began to crack apart, but this collapse was completely different from the previous ones!
The fractures spread rapidly outward with Ai Enma at their center. Overlapping images appeared on her body—one was herself with her eyes open, while the other was Youji with her eyes closed. Was the reason she had walked out of Youji's house because she had transformed within the dream?
As for the timing... they had reached the end of this cycle's loop.
"What the hell is the original body doing?"
Outside,