Fortunately, the explosion that occurred nearby temporarily diverted the media's attention away from the hospital.

Seizing that opportunity, Erika and the others were guided by hospital staff and entered the building through a back window.

It seemed the Hiyami couple had also managed to get inside safely. Being mobbed by reporters like that was the last thing Erika wanted, so it was a lifesaver.

That being said, Erika and Yoshino had effectively vanished right before being loaded into ambulances.

Erika expected a sarcastic remark or two, but surprisingly, they didn't receive any.

Perhaps the people transported earlier had covered for them, or maybe the staff was just too frantic anticipating a surge of patients from the explosion—pondering this, Erika and her group were guided to an examination room.

Then, down the hallway, they spotted Rea and Yumemi, who appeared to have already finished their examinations.

The two of them broke into smiles the moment they spotted Erika.

Rea was the first to rush over, throwing her arms tightly around Erika.

"Welcome back, Erika!"

"I'm back."

When Erika patted her head, Rea's eyes grew misty with tears.

Meanwhile, Yumemi approached with a walk that exuded composure, and gently embraced Erika from behind.

"Welcome back. You didn't get hurt?"

"Against opponents of that level, I'm perfectly fine. But thanks for worrying about me."

At the same time, as if in competition, Gii had wrapped herself around Erika's arm.

Daichi, who only knew the situation up to the first floor, had his eyes wide round in surprise.

"Things have gotten pretty crazy while I wasn't around, huh."

"Hehe, being so popular must be tough."

Yoshino laughed, sounding like it was someone else's problem.

Then, energetic footsteps approached her from behind.

"Big sis!"

"Big sister!"

"Ugh!"

Receiving a tackle from Hiiro and Ai into her back, Yoshino let out a groan.

And the two girls immediately wrapped their arms around her.

"You're not one to talk, Yoshino."

Chihiro said with an exasperated look, while Kiori chuckled beside her.

"Hey, hey, Big sis, Mom and Dad are here. Let's go see them quickly!"

"Ai thinks both of them will definitely be overjoyed."

"Ai. Before that, you need to rejoice in your reunion with me~!"

Saying that, Kiori pulled Ai away from Yoshino and hugged her.

"Hyan?! Ah, Ki-nee!" (TL Note: she call Kiori as Ki nee, nee mean sister)

"Come on, you have something to say, don't you?"

"I'm home!"

"Welcome back. Your mom and my brother-in-law are safe too, we'll go see them later."

"Yeah... but."

Ai made a puzzled face.

Kiori tilted her head, "Hm?"

"Did something happen to Papa and Mama?"

Ai's parents had been kidnapped just today.

There was no way she could have known yet.

"Ah—right, I have to start from there. Yeah, something happened. A lot happened because of the Kaisei kyou... but in the end, they were rescued without a scratch."

Saying that, Kiori showed a lonely expression.

She had made that face several times since they were at the facility—and each time, Yoshino had harbored doubts, not knowing the reason.

Everyone had been rescued safely, hadn't they?

Well, it was true that many ordinary people had fallen victim to the Kaisei kyou, but the way she grieved looked as if she had lost someone close to her.

Then, perhaps noticing Yoshino's gaze, Kiori steeled her resolve and spoke.

"...Yoshino, there's something very difficult I need to tell you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I don't intend to take up much of your time—but would you prefer to hear it before or after you see your parents?"

The seriousness of it was evident from Kiori's expression.

Chihiro, Hiashi, and Ai also looked anxious at the unsettling atmosphere hanging in the air.

Yoshino paused for a moment before answering.

"Before. My conversation with my parents is probably going to be a long one."

"You're right... It's been a long time, you'll want to take your time."

I'm sorry to bring this up at a time like this—while thinking that, Kiori moved with Yoshino to a deserted rest area.

◆◆◆ 

After buying a sweet coffee for Yoshino and a café au lait for herself from a vending machine, Kiori sat facing Yoshino across a table.

"It's about Renjo san."

Kiori opened her mouth, looking awkward.

Yoshino was surprised to hear that name come up.

"You knew Renjo senpai?"

"I met him after you passed away, Yoshino."

"Does that mean..."

Just hearing the timeline gave her a bad premonition.

And that premonition was about to hit the mark.

"Yes, we were investigating the Kaisei kyou together. A man named Tsumori san, the director of Fantasy Land, was with us too."

"Tsumori Takuro..."

"You know him?"

"A lot happened inside the school, so I only know his name. He was close with our family, right?"

"Yeah... Did Tsumori san end up dying inside after all?"

"He died, but he wasn't killed by a monster. He was shot by a woman from the Kaisei kyou named Ooki."

"Ooki? Wasn't she a teacher at Hikarinomiya Academy?"

"Yes, and she's also the culprit who killed me."

"Wha— That woman did it?!"

Kiori instinctively stood up.

It was the truth finally coming to light after six years.

She couldn't hide her shock that the culprit had been somewhere so much closer than she had imagined.

"And what happened to Ooki?"

"She died. In the end, she turned into a monster."

"I see..."

Karma had come full circle, and punishment had been dealt.

Hearing that conclusion, Kiori felt relieved for the time being and sat back down in her chair.

"But... I see, so Tsumori san also ended up..."

"...The way you said that, don't tell me Renjo senpai also?"

With a small nod, Kiori confirmed it.

Yoshino cast her eyes down, her voice trembling as she said, "No way..."

"Even though he had a wife and daughter."

"About that—"

"Could it be those two were also...?"

"Or rather, his family being killed was the starting point, and Renjo san had become a member of the Kaisei kyou."

"That's impossible! Someone overflowing with such a strong sense of justice would never join the Kaisei kyou!"

Yoshino raised her voice.

Kiori looked down apologetically.

Seeing that, Yoshino caught herself, apologized with a "S-Sorry," and calmed herself down.

"I understand how you feel... I was shocked too when I found out Renjo san betrayed us. To think we had been pursuing the Kaisei kyou together for six years."

"Were you almost killed too, Kiori?"

"No, me... I was the only one he wouldn't try to kill. Instead, he was trying to distance me from the Kaisei kyou by killing the people around me."

"...To do such a thing... Renjo senpai..."

To Yoshino, Renjo was the senior detective who had mentored her ever since she was a rookie.

That's why Renjo had grieved from the bottom of his heart when Yoshino died, and resolved to pursue the Kaisei kyou.

She could never have imagined that his sense of justice would be the trigger leading him down such a tragic path to ruin.

"How... how exactly did he die in the end?"

"After parasitizing Chihiro with a Blood Sheep, it seems everything reached its limit for him. Right in front of my eyes, he shot himself in the head..."

"Suicide... I see, so that's what happened."

"I know it's not the kind of thing to talk about right before you reunite with your family. But I felt I had to properly convey it to you, Yoshino."

Kiori's voice trembled, and tears spilled from her eyes.

Looking at her biting her lip, Yoshino felt the sheer length of those six years.

For Renjo and Kiori, who had absolutely no connection before, to become so close—and then to meet such a decisive, devastating end.

And Yoshino shed tears as well.

Looking up at the ceiling, reminiscing about the strict yet gentle figure of Renjo mentoring her.

"At the very least, I want him to be happy with his family in the afterlife."

Renjo himself probably intended to go to hell.

But Yoshino couldn't help but wish for that.

Precisely because she had actually seen the sight of that happy family.

As the aroma of coffee drifted from the cup in her hand, the scenes of the past floated even more vividly in her mind.

◆◆◆ 

Finishing her talk with Kiori, Yoshino returned to Hiiro and Ai.

The two of them worried about Yoshino's dark expression, but she only said "I'm fine, let's go," and didn't offer any details.

Then, led by the two of them by the arms, they headed to the waiting room.

There—stood the figures of her parents, anxiously waiting for something.

Yoshino didn't feel nostalgic.

After all, to her, she was still a 26-year-old from six years ago.

She didn't remember the time she spent as a spirit, so it felt like seeing them for the first time in maybe a week at most.

However, their clearly aged appearances made it impossible not to feel the passage of time.

Well, Hiiro and Ai's changes were much more drastic, so it wasn't to the point of being shocked.

"Well then, Ai is going to head back. See you later."

"Yeah, see you later, Ai."

Hiiro waved to see off the departing Ai.

Perhaps noticing the voices of their exchange, the father and mother of the Inoue family turned their gazes toward Yoshino and Hiiro.

Their eyes met.

Tears welled up.

The mother covered her mouth with her hands as tears streamed down her face, and the father also stood up with misty eyes.

The daughter who was supposed to have died six years ago was standing right there—

They had heard from her daughter that she had come back to life, but they couldn't believe it until they actually saw her like this.

And even now, seeing her in the flesh—they still couldn't completely believe it.

To think such a miracle could exist.

"Yoshino... Ah, Yoshino..."

"Yoshinooo!"

Raising their voices, her parents rushed over.

Seeing their expressions, the reality finally washed over Yoshino anew.

Ah, I really did come back to life, she realized.

Her usually blunt father hugged Yoshino tightly.

Her mother cupped Yoshino's hands in both of hers, as if to confirm her actual existence.

"Yoshino... Yoshino, is it really you?!"

"Yeah, it's definitely me."

"Yoshinooooo... Y-You're really alive... Yoshinoooo...!"

"Mom, you're crying too much. Ahaha..."

No one knows how to respond in a situation like this.

But just watching her parents rejoice from the bottom of their hearts that their daughter was alive, something warm welled up in her chest, and tears naturally fell.

Beside her, Hiiro had long since been crying so hard her eyes were bright red.

"Your room... it's exactly the same as it was six years ago."

"Yeah, we can all live together again anytime!"

"Big sis, let's go home. The four of us, to that house!"

When people see the void created by someone's death, they strongly realize their loss.

A room that is no longer used.

A room where time has stopped for six years.

The people living in that house must have remembered Yoshino's death and grieved every time they looked at it.

But that void was being filled.

A miracle so impossible it couldn't even be wished for had occurred.

Once again, that warm house would be made whole.

"Yeah... let's go home. To our house."

Is it really okay for me to be alive?

Such a doubt within Yoshino was fading away.

Because just by her being alive, there were people who rejoiced this much.

◆◆◆ 

Meanwhile, in the hallway in front of the examination room where Erika and the others were, the relatives of the survivors were being guided by nurses and appearing one after another.

While most of them shed tears during their touching reunions, Rea was no exception, finally reuniting with her father.

Sitting next to Erika, the moment she spotted him standing at the end of the hallway, she sprinted toward him with all her might.

"Daaaaaaad!"

"Rea, is that you, Rea?!"

"It's me, I made it back alive!"

"Thank goodness... Rea, I was so worried about you...!"

Watching the two hug tightly, Erika and Yumemi exchanged words.

"There are actually quite a few families like that in the world, aren't there."

"We're the exceptions, after all."

"Is that so..."

Then, a commotion arose in the hallway.

The next to show their faces were the Hiyami couple.

Ruka stood up and welcomed them.

Gosei, wearing a suit and an intensely strict face as always, stopped in front of Ruka, relaxed his expression, and smiled.

"You're back."

"Is that a problem?"

"No... this is fine. Welcome back, Ruka."

Her father patted his daughter's head, welcoming her return.

Her mother also had a gentle expression, quiet but seemingly happy.

If they reach the True World, that's fine.

If she returns, they will rejoice in that, too.

People possessing that kind of distinct compartmentalization—that was the Hiyami couple.

On the other hand, Ruka stared at the parents in front of her with a grim expression.

"That's enough already. It's plenty that Marin is back."

"We can't do that."

"Jeez, you warn her too. I don't want to see Erika—"

Next, it was the Kuragane family's turn.

It seemed Marin, who had met them a step ahead, had pulled their arms and half-forcibly brought her parents here.

And when her eyes met Erika's, her mother made a blatantly disgusted face.

"Honestly, why did you have to come back?"

Erika felt a sense of relief at her unchangingly trashy mother.

And she answered the question in her heart.

—That's obvious, to settle the score for your sins.

She didn't say it aloud.

But just thinking that she could finally face her on equal footing—no, rather, with Erika in the superior position—made it impossible not to curl the corners of her mouth up into a smirk.

"Get out of the way!"

Bumping shoulders and fuming in anger was Yumemi's mother.

Dragging her husband along, she strode over to Yumemi, looking inexplicably displeased.

"Mother."

The response to the daughter who called out to her was not words.

It was the dry smack of a slap across the face.

Even the noisy hallway fell dead silent at this.

All eyes focused on the Ikuna mother and daughter.

Then, Yumemi stood up and clenched her fist.

"Oh boy."

Erika gave a wry smile.

The next moment, Yumemi's right straight punch buried itself into her mother's face—

"gya?!"

She was blown backward, slamming back-first into the wall.

Incidentally, it seems Yumemi had completely forgotten at this moment that her physical abilities were enhanced from being added to the party.

Sudden violence.

A high-powered punch impossible to expect from a young girl.

A mother sent flying.

The entire sequence of events was far too shocking, causing the hallway to fall into an even deeper silence.

The curtain rises on a turbulent scene—

Using the hospital as a stage, a chaotic family meeting was about to begin.