With the weekend over, Kasumigaoka Utaha had to start attending school again.
On Monday morning, she experienced a very different routine from what she was used to.
She had Tohru's homemade breakfast in the morning, and when she left, Shichen and Chisato were there seeing her off. She even heard a phrase she hadn't encountered in a long time—"Take care on your way."
She normally didn't feel like going to school upon waking up, but as she stepped out of the café, she actually felt motivated to go. Indeed, having people around made all the difference. It felt warm and comforting, and her mood improved right from the start of the day.
Looking back, living alone never seemed so bad—until this taste of warmth. Now she couldn't imagine going back. Living together like this wasn't so bad, after all.
Once Utaha left for school, not much changed at the café. None of Shichen's "familiar faces" showed up, and the customers were basically the same regulars.
Shichen still hadn't finished setting up his game room; he planned to wait until he came back next time to decorate. After all, the voice in his head had designated this world as his "main world," which he'd be returning to regularly, so there was no rush.
Plenty of time ahead.
Life settled into a stable pattern, and so did Shichen's daily schedule. Every night, he would first accompany Utaha in his study until late, each of them reading—she wrote her novel, he read his own.
When Utaha finally got sleepy, Shichen would carry her back to her room before returning to his own room, where Tohru and Chisato slept.
At first, Utaha didn't get sleepy so soon; with fresh inspiration, she felt like staying up all night. But Shichen forcibly put a stop to that, picking her up and carrying her downstairs. After a day or two, it became their routine.
Tohru and Chisato always went to sleep early. Long before Shichen returned at night, they'd be out cold, leaving a big empty space for him in bed—clearly they'd gotten used to going to bed early with him. Even though they both technically had the stamina to stay awake longer, the comfort of sleeping next to him lulled them to sleep sooner.
If they were both already asleep, theoretically Shichen didn't have to go back to that room. He could either sleep by himself in a spare room or even keep Utaha company. But for now, he hadn't considered changing anything.
…
A few days later, early in the morning, Shichen woke up to the mechanical voice in his head:
[A month has passed. Please acquire the target's Divine Fragment promptly.]
[Acquisition method: one minute of skin contact.]
[In three days, you will be forcibly transferred to a new world to continue seeking Divine Fragments.]
Hearing this, Shichen stared up at the familiar ceiling, brows knitted.
He'd been in this world for over a month now. Peaceful days flew by so quickly. The requirement to obtain a Divine Fragment hadn't changed, but the forced departure was coming sooner.
He found one detail especially important: this world obviously still contained more Fragments, so why force him to leave for another? Clearly, whatever dwelled in his head was urging him to collect them all as fast as possible, almost as though something were pursuing them.
No point in asking—he'd learned he wouldn't get a direct answer.
It wasn't a free lunch. The ability to travel between dimensions came with the price of following whatever that voice demanded. He was being "kicked out" soon, but it wasn't forcing him to do anything else. And he himself wanted to see other worlds and meet other friends, anyway.
Besides, even if he weren't forced, he'd planned to leave soon: he'd promised to help Tohru get revenge, he wanted to visit Frieren again, and he needed more power. There was none for him to gain in this world.
Three days would be enough to bid farewell to the three girls. Tohru and Chisato were easy; the real question was what excuse to give Utaha. Probably it was best to just tell the truth.
Also, he suddenly remembered the promise he'd made to Tohru…
Shichen realized he was too awake to go back to sleep. He sat up, freeing his arms from the soft embrace on either side.
"Mmph…"
"Mm?"
Tohru and Chisato both stirred awake, drowsily opening their eyes.
Shichen's strengthened senses had let him notice them waking the moment he moved.
"Chen-dono? What's wrong?" Tohru asked, also sitting up, and leaned wearily against him.
"Hungry," Shichen said, gently pulling up her pajama top. Her shoulder looked far too white and pink, with a bit of a round white arc visible on the left side—too stimulating first thing in the morning.
"Oh, then I'll make breakfast!"
Fully awake now, Tohru flipped herself off the bed and dashed out of the room.
"I'll help," Chisato offered, about to get up.
"Wait," Shichen said, placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her sitting, meeting her gaze.
"Huh?" She blinked in surprise, heart skipping a beat. "Chen-nii, are we…going to do something while Tohru's gone?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter." Shichen flicked her forehead with a wry smile.
"Ow…" Chisato rubbed her head, pouting disappointedly.
"Heh, I actually have something important to tell you," he explained.
"What's that?"
"I might need to leave for a while."
"Eh?" Chisato's face froze. "Leave?"
"Mm." Shichen nodded.
"Chen-nii, you're not planning to leave us behind, are you?" she asked anxiously, throwing her arms around him.
"How could I?" Shichen shook his head in amusement, stroking her hair. "Don't forget how we met."
"Of course I'll never forget! It's forever etched in my memory!" Chisato declared, clinging to him.
"But right now, I don't have what it takes. I need to go gain power."
"You don't need power, I can protect you, and Tohru too," Chisato insisted.
"Silly girl, haven't you thought about one thing? If I never gained the ability to see you as a child, then you wouldn't be here with me now—and history would change."
"Ah?" She pulled back slightly, tilting her head at him.
"Without me meeting your younger self, we'd never be together, right? So I need to find the power that made that happen," Shichen said, caressing her cheek gently, smiling.
"Chen-nii… If you put it that way, I can't stop you, can I?" Chisato conceded, pouting.
He laughed softly. "I'll definitely come back before long. Meanwhile, stay here with Tohru, and keep the café going."
"Promise you won't be gone too long," she murmured, hugging him tight again.
"Of course," he agreed. Though he wasn't entirely sure how time would pass in each world—maybe faster, maybe slower—there was a good chance he'd be back relatively soon. The voice wouldn't let him delay too long, anyway, because this world still had more Fragments.
"Chen-nii, can we just stay like this for a bit?" Chisato asked, voice muffled in his chest.
"Sure, not just for a bit." He leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Huh?" She looked up, face lighting up in a grin.
"Chen-nii… Could we maybe…" She closed her eyes, eyelashes trembling, leaning in.
"Nope," Shichen refused outright.
"Why not?" She opened her eyes, displeased.
"Because I haven't met your younger self yet. You can endure until then."
"What difference does that make?!"
"It matters to me. Otherwise, something feels missing."
"Gosh, you're such a pain, Chen-nii."
"Haha, but you still like me best, right?"
"I love you," she teased, hugging him again.
"Then I'll give you a small reward." He planted a kiss on each cheek.
Chisato lifted a hand to touch where he'd kissed, eyes shining, corners of her mouth turning up involuntarily.
"Hehe~ I guess I can wait, then."
"That's enough, right? Tohru's waiting. Let's go help make breakfast."
"Let's just cuddle a little longer…" she begged, hugging him again.
"How much is a little?"
"One minute? Wait—three minutes!"
"Geez, greedy."
"I promise—only three."
"All right."
Nearly ten minutes later, they finally went downstairs. Tohru was, of course, annoyed with Chisato for taking so long. But Chisato didn't care; she had a goofy grin plastered across her face, as if in a trance.
Tohru didn't get it, but she dropped the subject—she had breakfast to make for Chen-dono.
Just before they finished cooking, Utaha came down on schedule, already changed into her school uniform.
During breakfast, Shichen didn't mention his upcoming departure to Tohru or Utaha; he'd talk to them separately. Afterward, Tohru and Chisato cleaned the kitchen, while he walked Utaha to the café entrance.
"I'm off," she said, ready to leave.
"Okay, take care," Shichen replied.
"I'm not a kid," Utaha scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, by the way—I'll bring you a homemade lunch at noon."
"Huh? …Wait, what?!"
~~~
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