"You two go back first; it should be evening there already."
Xia Wei pushed Rikka Takanashi and Dekimori Sanae into the Heavenly Realm Gate.
The colors of dusk had already appeared on the city's skyline; the entire city seemed a bit subdued, and the streetlights along the road had lit up.
Rikka Takanashi and Dekimori Sanae stood blankly by the roadside, with the school gate not far behind them.
"We've returned from the parallel world, Death!" Dekimori Sanae put her hand on her brow, looking around.
"Ngh!" Rikka Takanashi instantly clutched her chest, looking injured: "After such a brutal battle, I'm severely wounded. No wonder Brother told us to make a strategic retreat." In reality, it was just that using too much Curse Power in a short time had made her heart beat a little faster, causing some dizziness.
"Master! Pull yourself together!" Dekimori Sanae anxiously supported Rikka Takanashi.
"It's nothing, mere evil spirits are not enough to kill me." Rikka Takanashi kept a straight face, pretending to be profound as she looked up at the sky: "The world is so beautiful; we will surely Guardian this world well."
"You're absolutely right, Death!" Dekimori Sanae also pretended to look up at the sky.
"Then, let's return to base to regroup and fight again tomorrow," Rikka Takanashi said.
"No need for further words, Master." Dekimori Sanae extended her hand and made a fist.
Rikka Takanashi also made a fist and bumped it against Dekimori Sanae's fist.
Then, the two of them skipped away happily, parting ways to go home.
They had originally intended to fly home, but as soon as they thought of doing so, Brother's warning voice echoed in their minds.
Both of them shrank their necks and obediently walked home.
Old apartment.
Tomioka Yuuta was picking up all the chuunibyou props from under his bed into a cardboard box, then frantically taping it with clear tape, sealing the entire box all around.
"I've finally sealed all my black history! I never want to recall those unbearable memories again!"
The reason he did this was entirely because Rikka Takanashi had made him relive those goosebump-inducing, wanting-to-die memories these past two days.
"It's finally done—that's great." Tomioka Yuuta pushed the sealed box of black history into a corner and buried it.
He walked onto the balcony with a relaxed expression, as if his life had been completely renewed.
At this moment, he noticed a familiar figure sneaking into a corner.
"Is Rikka Takanashi just getting home now?"
He knew that every day after school, a middle school girl would come to the school to find Rikka Takanashi and indulge in chuunibyou together.
He used to have a friend like that with whom he indulged in chuunibyou; he learned many of his chuunibyou lines and actions from her.
Thinking about it now, he just wanted to die.
"What is she doing? She couldn't possibly have tied a rope there, could she—"
Just as Tomioka Yuuta was thinking this, he saw Rikka Takanashi take off her eye patch, extend her hand, and shout the line, 'Explode! Reality.' It instantly gave him goosebumps, and his toes curled, gripping the floor.
He knew Rikka Takanashi wore a golden colored contact lens in her right eye, and seeing her right eye glow didn't surprise him; she probably bought the fluorescent kind.
But the next moment, he was dumbfounded, his mouth wide enough to fit an entire egg.
Rikka Takanashi flew straight up, then flew like a bird to his front.
Because Rikka Takanashi's room was two floors above his.
"Oh, so it's the Dark Flame Master. It seems your mission to eliminate evil spirits was completed first. Not bad."
After Rikka Takanashi finished speaking, her figure drifted, and she shot straight up, returning to her room through the window.
"No, it can't be! It can't be real!"
Tomioka Yuuta's eyes nearly popped out; he quickly leaned over the balcony railing. The wind generated by Rikka Takanashi's flight pushed him back, and he landed on the ground with a thump.
Tomioka Yuuta was stunned, and he pinched his own face hard.
"Hiss—. It's real!"
Thump, thump, thump. Tomioka Yuuta's heart seemed to be trying to jump out of his mouth as he gasped for air.
Just now, Wicked Lord Shingan really, really flew! He saw it very clearly; Wicked Lord Shingan didn't use ropes or anything!
"Too, too unbelievable! Could everything Wicked Lord Shingan said before—be true!"
Gulp~
Tomioka Yuuta swallowed, then stood up shakily, trying to recall his own chuunibyou days.
"If Wicked Lord Shingan is real—. Then what she said about me being the Dark Flame Master..."
Tomioka Yuuta looked down at his hands, panting heavily.
Thinking of this, he quickly struck a pose and shouted loudly.
"My name is the Dark Flame Master!"
"Be consumed by the Dark Flame!"
"Eternal! Seal!"
At this moment, a girl of eleven or twelve, dressed in a sailor uniform, opened the glass door to the balcony and blinked.
"Brother is starting again? He's saying things I don't understand again, even though he hasn't said them for a long time."
Tomioka Yuuta instantly stiffened, his neck turning with a creaking sound like rusted gears. An indescribable feeling of shame surged to his head, and he dropped to his knees, his hands uncontrollably pounding the floor, creating a blur of motion.
"Embarrassing! Embarrassing! Embarrassing! Embarrassing! Forget it! Forget it! Forget it! Forget it—"
"Really, dinner is ready, Brother." After his sister finished speaking, she closed the balcony door.
"..."
A tear streamed from Tomioka Yuuta's eye; it was definitely not his problem, the problem was with Wicked Lord Shingan.
Tomioka Yuuta ate his dinner distractedly.
"What's wrong, Yuuta? You seem out of sorts."
"I'm fine, Mom."
Tomioka Yuuta's mind was entirely focused on Wicked Lord Shingan truly having mysterious powers.
So I was the one with chuunibyou; you were playing for real.
But he was very concerned about what Wicked Lord Shingan had said to him.
Perhaps he really did have mysterious powers?
What young man could resist the temptation of mysterious powers?
So he had to go to Wicked Lord Shingan's house to see.
Wicked Lord Shingan's Guardian was her older sister, which meant that Wicked Lord Shingan's sister also truly possessed incredible power.
Gulp~
A family with mysterious powers living above him, that was too exciting.
Tomioka Yuuta carefully approached the door marked with the surname "Takanashi" and gently knocked.
"Coming." The voice of Toka Takanashi came.
He remembered this voice because the Takanashi family had given gifts to his family when they first moved in.
Click—
A woman who looked seven-tenths like Rikka Takanashi, an adult version of Rikka, opened the door.
"You are?" Toka Takanashi blinked, looking at the trembling boy at the door, who seemed on the verge of tears, as if he were looking at a tiger.
Was she scary? He was even trembling. Annoying, what an unlikable little brat.
"Um, I, I, I'm Tomioka Yuuta from downstairs. I, I'm Wicked Lord Shingan's classmate. I, I'm looking for her—" Tomioka Yuuta said nervously, Toka Takanashi's aura was terrifying. "I see." Toka Takanashi looked inside: "Rikka, a boy named Tomioka is looking for you."
"Oh, I know. Let him in."