Kurumi Tokisaki

"I want his power. I want to make him mine and become one with him."

- Kurumi Tokisaki

Kurumi Tokisaki is the major antagonist character in the anime series Date A Live. Kurumi is the third spirit to be encountered in the series and is the most dangerous and lethal spirit. She is heavily obsessed with Shido and has the ability to manipulate time. Her codename is Nightmare.

Background
"I refuse to give up. Not until I have his power."

- Kurumi Tokisaki

Mana reported that Kurumi Tokisaki is the most dangerous Spirit known, who has personally killed over 10,000 people which does not include the spacequake ’s victims within that statistics. Kurumi Tokisaki used unstated and unexplained methods to personally transfer into Shido Itsuka's high school and classroom so she can get closer to him. Her purposes and reasons in this transfer are simple; consume Shido Itsuka, in doing so gain the sealed Spirit's mana he sealed. She somehow knew about Shido and his ability and the fact that he knows about the existence of Spirits. During the time when Kurumi was a Raizen high school student, she almost succeeded in consuming Shido, however she was forced to retreat after being overwhelmed by Kotori's destructive power simply because she wasn't prepared to face her but later she claimed that she could defeat Kotori if she had more time.

Later it was revealed (at the end of Volume 4) that Kurumi was given the information about Shido by a mysterious being and what seemly like she was talking to herself (in which she wasn’t), she stated her true purpose/goal was for seeking Shido out, she revealed that her true goal was to use her 12th bullet to travel back in time 30 years ago and kill the First Spirit, but to do that, she needs a large amount of spirit mana which she doesn't have yet. That's why she wants to consume Shido who holds the spirit mana of 3 spirits within him for her to be able to use the 12th bullet.

She reappears during the beginning of Miku Truth and offers to help Shido rescue Tohka Yatogami from the hands of DEM. It was later revealed that her real objective is to use Shido as a distraction for her to have a chance to search for the second Spirit, the only one who knows the whereabouts of the first Spirit.

In volume 10, Origami finds Kurumi and requested to be sent to the past with the power of Kurumi's Twelfth Bullet, Yud Bet. Kurumi jokingly asks Origami if she wanted to go back so that she can see Shido when he was an innocent child, in which Origami repilied that she wished to go back five years ago to kill the Spirit that murdered her parents, thus changing the past. After considering Origami's position, Kurumi eventually agreed to send Origami to the past and told Origami that she was using the former AST wizard as a test subject for the Twelfth Bullet, and that she would use Origami's spiritual energy to power the time travel. Origami remained adamant and assured Kurumi that she was ready to pay the price as long as she was sent back before the incident five years ago. Then, Kurumi summoned Zafkiel and shot Origami with the Twelfth Bullet.

Appearance
"A girl with astonishing beauty" as described by Shido. She appears to be elegant and also has very good manners. She is a girl with black hair in long twintails. Her right eye is red tinted while her left eye appears as a gold, inorganic clock face. The clock's hands moving in the counter-clockwise direction, representing her life, covered by her bangs only revealed when transformed into a spirit. The Astral Dress she wears is made out of crimson and black frills, giving her the appearance of an elegant Gothic Lolita with uneven twintails. On her head she usually wears a big crimson net bow, holding her hair. She also wears a crimson and black collar on her neck and wears a pair of black pantyhose (transformed or not).

Personality
"You were prepared to take a life without considering that someone could take yours. Do you still not consider that even remotely strange? This is what it means...To point a gun at living thing."

- Kurumi Tokisaki

Kurumi can be described a person whose personality is hard to read, possessing a well-polished dislike of humanity that borders on mistrust, something she shared with many Spirits in their debut. She is a skilled actress, capable of putting on the façade of an innocent, curious young girl when she needs to, shown when she registered as a student at the Raizen High School, even speaking in a very polite manner. However, under that mask lies a psychotic woman, prone to fits of insane laughter that possesses no regard for human life, regarding them as a food source to restore her own time, and thus, a disposable commodity; however, there is some sort of twisted justice behind her methods, as who she brutally murders would be rapists and animal abusers. A good sign of her sense of justice lay in her ultimate objective: to go back in time, kill the first spirit, and thus prevent the space quakes from ever happening and save (or rather erase the deaths of) millions of lives in the process. This even managed to make Phantom call her a kind person, granted sarcastically.

In hindsight, Kurumi possesses some degree of innocence that her psychotic behaviour have not entirely ruined; she has a soft spot for small animals and other creatures. She once slaughtered four humans not because she needed to replenish her time, but because they were trying to kill a kitten. She also appeared to have some desire for a normal life, a chance at redemption, as Shido was able to speak with one of her many timelines and nearly convinced her before the true Kurumi interrupted.

Her ability to summon shadow clones of herself from other timelines adds even more complexity to her character. The clones are essentially herself, which means they have the same personality, but they also have free will to an extent, even if they share memories, goals, fears, and obsessions. In some non-canon stories, the clone Shido seduced shows some "independent" attitude, almost rebellious, and openly acts lovey-dovey with Shido, which causes troubles to the "main" Kurumi and even leads to confrontation with her. It's also hinted that the experiences a clone lives affect the the main one since, after helping Shido locate Tohka (so Kurumi could track the Second Spirit) and parting ways, Kurumi is shown talking to her clones and being happy because she received a pat on the head from Shido.

Indeed, Shido's kindness towards her has proven to be beneficial to both her and everyone around her as indeed, they are no longer in constant danger; a major sign of her kindness is shown at the end of Volume 6, where she offers Shido help to rescue Tohka. Amusingly, she seems to really enjoy teasing Shido aside from her heavily hinted feelings towards him, this is the reason why she hasn't devoured him yet, even when doing so would allow her to accomplish her goals near-instantly.

Kurumi appears to have a liking for cats, as shown by her brutally murdering a group of men who were shooting at one with pellet guns. In an Omake, it is shown that she can be quite embarrassed about this, as when she was caught by Shido and Tohka she ended up going so far as to have one of her clones pretend to be the real her and "dispose" of her so that she could get out of it without ruining her reputation.

Powers & Abilities
"It doesn't matter anymore which one of us is original...If it doesn't lets kill all before us."

- Kurumi Tokisaki

Angel: Zafkiel

Weapon: Clock, Flintlock Pistol, Musket

Astral Dress: Elohim

Skills: [A gun with special bullets that can activate different effects depending on the bullet]


 * First Bullet: Aleph (Accelerated Time, aka super speed power on target object or subject) Activated by pointing at 1 o'clock time on the clock.


 * Second Bullet: Bet (Slows down time on target object or subject) Activated by pointing at 2 o'clock time on the clock.


 * Third Bullet: Gimel


 * Fourth Bullet: Dalet (Rewind Time on target object or subject) Activated by pointing at 4 o'clock time on the clock.


 * Fifth Bullet: Hei


 * Sixth Bullet: Vav


 * Seventh Bullet: Zayin (Temporarily Freeze Time on target object or subject) Activated by pointing at 7 o'clock time on the clock.


 * Eight Bullet: Het (Creates a clone of the target object or subject) Activated by pointing at 8 o'clock time on the clock.


 * Ninth Bullet: Tet


 * Tenth Bullet: Yud (Peeks into the past of a target object or subject) Activated by pointing at 10 o'clock time on the clock.


 * Eleventh Bullet: Yud Aleph


 * Twelfth Bullet: Yud Bet (Travel through time at the cost of a spirit's power) Activated by pointing at 12 o'clock time on the clock.

Kurumi has the ability to manipulate the 4th dimension, mainly time, but her main power is associated with controlling shadows. Shadow is her primary power while Time is her secondary power in terms of usage. Combined with the power of time, she can create a clone with all her experiences, memories, abilities, etc. These clones are less powerful than Kurumi herself as she has mentioned in the last chapter of volume 3 and in the epilogue of volume 4.

Her "Angel" is powerful, but is also like a double-edged sword. Each time she uses its abilities, it consumes a bit of her Time (life). So, in order to get back her own time, she has the ability to consume other people's "Time" to refill hers. She has two intricately designed guns as weapons, which resemble the hands of a clock: the musket (long weapon) for the minute hand and the flintlock (short weapon) for the hour hand.

She also has the ability to call and dismiss spacequakes at will, as shown in the series while she confronts Shido on the school's rooftop.

To activate any power she needs, she first needs to call her Angel (regardless of whether or not the Angel has been summoned already), and to position her flintlock at the number of the bullet on the angel (as mentioned above). Next, she needs to shoot the bullet at the target with the gun. In case she needs it for herself, she will be required to shoot it at herself.

Only the original Kurumi is capable of using her Spirit powers but her clones aren't to be taken lightly, as they can use her guns, summon the  and can even summon Spacequakes.

The Black visitors
Kurumi transfers into Shido's class revealing herself to be a Spirit to get closer with Shido. During her time touring the school with Shido, who was oblivious of the fact that they'd been followed by Origami Tobiichi and Tohka Yatogami. That time Shido is attempting to seduce Kurumi, she is also attempting to do the same thing to Shido. After school, Kurumi kills three delinquents that she met while walking along the streets and is then confronted by Mana Takamiya. Mana then runs into Shido later on that day. Taking her to his house, what Mana shares about herself leads to a quarrel between her and Kotori and when she was asked by Shido where she works, she ultimately leaves everyone with more questions than answers. During school the next day, Shido finds out that Kurumi was killed during her confrontation with Mana yet she appeared at school. Origami questions Kurumi in a secluded place and finds out that Kurumi is ultimately after Shido.

Triple Frenzy Tune
Shido invites Kurumi out but is forced on a polygamous date when Tohka seduces him and Origami forces her plans upon him for a date. Shido is unable to deny any of them as Tohka would be heartbroken, Origami would be suspicious and his plans to seal Kurumi depend on the date. With their dates occurring around the same time and their entertainment venues located rather close to each other, Ratatoskr assists Shido by teleporting him to each girl's location while monitoring their emotional levels. After Shido leaves Kurumi, she finds some boys shooting at a stray cat and convinces them to let her play with them. Ratatoskr loses sight of Kurumi as Origami Tobiichi and Tohka Yatogami run into each other. After they both proclaim they are trying to find Shido for their date, Origami runs off concerned there may be another. Shido returns to look for Kurumi but finds blood, body parts, and Kurumi killing a man. As she holds Shido within her clutches, Mana Takamiya intervenes wearing her CR-Unit.

Ranging Nightmare
Mana kills Kurumi and explains everything to Shido. After that he is forced away, he then avoids Origami and Tohka after running into them because of seeing the death Kurumi caused. Tohka finds out the reason for Shido's behavior and continues her date with him to try to cheer him up. After gaining some insight to Kurumi, the next day Shido declares to Kurumi that he'll save her. Kurumi goes to the school rooftop while encasing the school in her field which eats the time of people therefore making them faint to dissuade Shido from trying to save her. At the same time, Mana is currently confronting Kotori about Ratatoskr and attempting to use it as leverage against Kotori so she'll release Shido from the potential danger he's in. While Kurumi is threatening the school and the town, Origami and Tohka are engaging in battles with other copies of Kurumi. Shido convinces Kurumi only for her to be killed by another Kurumi. As Tohka and Origami show up, it's revealed that the hands in Kurumi's shadow are actually the hands of other copies of herself. Kurumi takes everyone as hostages and attempts to summon a spacequake only for it to be blown away. Kotori appears, explaining the cancelling of the spacequake while in her Spirit form. She has that time taken back her Spirit powers from Shido temporarily to fight Kurumi.

Spirit of Flame
Kurumi and Kotori Itsuka started fighting after a short conversation. Kurumi used one of her skills which is her seventh bullet, Zayin, to make Kotori stay still, creates copies of herself, and shoots Kotori a few times. Kotori fell over after Kurumi's last shot but Kotori's healing skill enables her to not die and to heal from her wounds. Then, the shocked Kurumi sent her copies to kill Shido, but he was pushed away by Kotori and the copies were killed. In the heat of the fight, Kurumi used one of her skills to inhibit Kotori but it only worked for a while. Kotori used her weapon to shoot Kurumi's angel after the frightened Kurumi summoned her copies to shield her. Shido immediately stood in front of Kurumi to shield her, knowing Kotori is no longer herself when he tries to reason out to her not to kill Kurumi. After the shot was launched, Kotori suddenly regained consciousness and changed the direction of the shot hence saving Kurumi.

Shidou Itsuka
Neither warm nor friendly, it is appropriately to say Kurumi had a thing for Shidou. Kurumi first sought out Shido in order to consume him and gain the mana of the three spirits he had sealed up to that point. While he attempted to seal her like the previous spirits, she played along, then made it clear that she could not be saved. She is very teasing and flirty towards him especially in regards to the time he was forced to dress up as a woman named Shiori. After Shido nearly gave his life to defend her from Kotori, she appears to have been more affectionate of him to the point where, at least for now, she has made no further attempts to consume him. She has offered him her help on occassion, but made it clear that she had her own reasons for helping.

Kurumi appears to be something of a Yandere.

AST
In Kurumi's eyes, the AST is no threat to her. She has allowed Mana Takamiya to kill her clones in the past pretty much just to mess with her when the real Kurumi appears again out of nowhere, furthermore she doesn't hesitate to pin Origami Tobiichi to a wall and note her intent to eat her despite how powerful a wizard the latter is, however she seems to be savouring Origami for after she consumes Shido. However, she acknowledges Mana's abilities to a point, noting that Shido would be safe with Mana protecting him in her stead during their assault on D.E.M's Japanese HQ. Funny enough, Kurumi admits to liking killing others but also liking being killed by them (her clones experience is hinted to translate back to her), so it can be inferred that she has only been killed by Mana in the past because she let her kill her, this is proven more than true when she effortlessly defeats Mana in the first battle where the real Kurumi was even present.

Trivia

 * Kurumi’s left eye represents her “Time” (lifespan). Each of the roman numeral in the “clock” also represents one different skills each, but only the original “Nightmare” is able to use all twelve. It is also hinted that each time she travels back in time after being killed, one of the skill from this “clock” is deactivated.
 * She is the spirit that Mana Takamiya killed multiple times in the past, though those that Mana killed were actually just clones created by her angel, but with the price being sacrificing some of her time, so she began to take people’s time.
 * That said, the real Kurumi doesn't even consider Mana to be worth her time and proves to be vastly superior to her when they actually do meet and fight.
 * Kurumi likes to wear black colored clothes. She wears black winter uniform when she goes to school and wears black gothic dress when she goes out.
 * Kurumi has the character "three" (狂「三」） in her name. It refers to third Sephira on Kabbalah's Tree of Life, "Understanding."
 * The numbers she speaks out is actually are the Hebrew Alphabet.
 * Zafkiel's (Kurumi's angel) bullet names are originally from the Hebraic Alphabet. For example, Aleph, the first bullet (from 1 o'clock) represents the name of the first letter.
 * Elohim means "God" in Hebrew.
 * Zafkiel, her angel is an archangel. The angel is sometimes equated with Zophiel/Jophiel, but other times considered to be a different angel. Zaphkiel is "chief of the order of thrones," one of the 9 angels that rule Heaven and also one of the 7 archangels. Zafkiel is also associated with the planet Saturn.
 * Her angel, Zafkiel's name means "beholder of God" or "The contemplation of God."
 * Her threat level is S-class, higher than Tohka (but lower than Inverse Tohka) which makes her officially the most dangerous Spirit to be known in her standard form.
 * Her "Inverse/Dark" form is yet to be revealed.
 * Kurumi's Angel is classified as an S-class Angel, the highest class until now. It was also classified as "???" in an Ars Install preview, hinting that Kurumi's powers can't be measured by conventional scales.
 * In the anime, Kurumi might have appeared in episode 5 as a cameo (at exactly 2:45, the girl with the red umbrella).
 * The author himself says that kurumi is a yandere while her fans says she's a Queen of Yangire.
 * Kurumi is one of the most strongest spirit, her inverse form is unknown.