“This will really take us home?” Yogiri asked, doubtful.
“Of course. I am well aware of how dangerous you are. I’m not plotting anything at this point. I honestly want to get you back home and keep you from ever coming back here.”
“Maybe it’s not our place to say this,” Tomochika replied, “but this world seems to be in pretty rough shape. Are things going to be okay?”
“There are still some survivors out there, so we’ll find a way. I’m not planning on holding you responsible or anything. Now come on, get going!”
“You really are just shooing us away, aren’t you?! But wait, what was all our hard work for, then?”
“Your hard work ended up bringing you here, didn’t it?”
“Really? I find it hard to accept that...”
But in the end, it seemed they had indeed needed to deal with the Great Sage, and it had taken quite a bit of growth for them to get that done. In some ways, it felt they had just been drifting along with the current, and there had probably been an easier way for them to get home, but there was no point worrying about it now.
“If we can get back home, I don’t think we need to worry about the details,” Yogiri decided.
“Ah! But are we going back in these clothes?! Or does that count as a detail we don’t need to worry about?”
The two of them were still decked out in their villainous attire. Who knew what kind of comments they’d get back home?
“Okay, okay. There! Happy?”
With a word from Kouryu, Tomochika’s outfit transformed. She was once again wearing the same school uniform she’d been wearing upon arriving in this world. Naturally, Yogiri had undergone a similar transformation.
“And here’s your stuff too. Everything you had on the bus.”
Their bags suddenly thudded to the floor in front of them: Tomochika’s travel bag and what appeared to be a large backpack belonging to Yogiri.
“Okay, now I’m really starting to feel like he’s pushing us out!” Tomochika said.
“Anything else?” Kouryu asked. “If you want to take anything back with you, I’ll get whatever you want.”
“Bringing back stuff from another world would probably just cause problems, so I guess not,” Tomochika said.
“All right, shall we get going?” Yogiri asked.
“Sure. I think he’s made it quite clear we’ve worn out our welcome.”
Tomochika stepped over to the sphere. Opening the door, she saw a flat floor inside. The interior was furnished with chairs and a table, so it seemed they could relax within. Yogiri followed her as she boarded the strange craft.
“I know he said it’ll take us home, but it doesn’t quite feel real, does it?” Yogiri commented.
“Yeah, claiming a ball like this takes you between worlds feels like a bit of a stretch.”
The Celestial Axis was something like an enormous pipe. Apparently, it wasn’t a physical place, but a conceptual corridor that connected different worlds, although the explanation had gone entirely over Tomochika’s head.
“But if this is actually going to take us home, it’s kind of a moving experience, isn’t it?”
“How about instead of wallowing in your emotions, you just get going?” Kouryu suggested, interrupting them before they could start reminiscing.
The door of the sphere shut of its own accord. It wasn’t like they couldn’t open it again, but the message from Kouryu was quite clear.
“Man, what a jerk! Surely we can talk a little bit, can’t we?!”
“A little, sure.” Kouryu’s voice came through a speaker somewhere in the sphere, allowing them to converse with him while he was outside. “I’ll give you five minutes. When you want to leave, hit the start button on the middle console.”
“That anxious, are you?” Tomochika replied. It seemed the god wasn’t willing to forcibly send them away, likely for fear of making them angry. As such, he had left the timing of their departure to them.
“Oh, what about our surviving classmates?”
“I’ll go talk to them later. I can send anyone who wants to go back after you.”
“Why don’t we all go back together?” Yogiri asked. It seemed he felt it was better to return as a group, to which Tomochika agreed.
“Don’t worry about it! You two need to go now!”
“Man, this guy is desperate!” Tomochika exclaimed.
“Anything else?”
“Hmm. There are quite a few people we know in this world. I feel bad leaving without saying goodbye to any of them.” Tomochika was thinking of all the people who helped them throughout their journey.
“If you have a message for them, tell me. I’ll send it along for you.”
“Couldn’t you use your powers to take us right to them?”
“And what if that ended up causing more trouble? If you really want to go home, you shouldn’t be risking your chance here.”
“I guess that’s kind of true.” After talking it over for a short time, the two of them came up with a number of messages for the people they’d be leaving behind.
“Is that all then? No regrets?”
As Kouryu continued trying to hurry them along, Tomochika found her initial irritation towards him turning into sympathy.
“Not really. I think I’m good to go,” Yogiri said.
“Me too, but going back being so easy feels...too easy.”
“Oh, actually, there was one thing I was thinking of asking you once we finally found a way back,” said Yogiri.
Tomochika looked at him, curious. He sounded strangely serious compared to his usual self.
“We were never friends before we came here. We really only stuck together because we didn’t have any other choice.”
“Ah, I guess so. We’d never really interacted before all this. All I knew about you was that you slept a lot.”
“So, I was wondering if we’ll go back to being strangers when we make it home.”
“Come on, I don’t see that happening.” Tomochika wasn’t nearly so heartless as to say, “We finally made it home; thanks for all your hard work. Okay, goodbye.” After all they had been through together, they had definitely formed some kind of bond.
“So...umm...when we get back...” Yogiri seemed to be having difficulty getting it out.
“Huh? Wha?”
Hold on, what is this? Is this a confession? Tomochika’s internal monologue started racing. Wait, is that how you feel about me, Takatou?! I mean, I can’t say the thought didn’t occur to me, and it’s not like I haven’t thought the same thing, but here? Now? I guess it’ll feel less genuine if it’s after we get back...
“Can we be friends?” Yogiri asked.
“That’s it?!” Tomochika reflexively shouted back.
“Oh... Is that a no?”
“Not at all! We became friends a long time ago, didn’t we?!”
“Really?”
“Jeez, how low can your confidence go?!”
“Then...”
“Yes, yes, we can be friends! Okay?” Feeling like her concerns had been ignored, Tomochika gave a blunt reply.
“Then, thanks. I look forward to our friendship.” With that, he stuck out his hand, leaving Tomochika confused for a moment. “Uh, it’s a handshake,” he explained.
“Do friends need to be that formal?!” Still, it wasn’t like she was going to ignore him or brush him off at this point. “Me too,” she finally replied, and though a little bit timidly, she took his hand in hers.
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