EX-1: Hayato’s Homecoming
At the behest of the young Goddess Parion, I was summoned to the Saga Empire as Hayato the Hero. I had more than a few brushes with death, but finally I fulfilled my mission, and now I’ve returned to my old beloved homeland. (Hero Hayato Masaki)
“Seems like Parion can only keep our worlds connected for so long. I’d better get going.”
Gentle blue light enveloped me from the heavens.
“Take care, all of you.”
As my companions and Satou and friends looked up at me, my body floated into the air, and my vision was filled with blinding light.
Faintly, I heard Rin, Mari, and the others crying out my name in sorrow.
Sorry, Rin. Sorry, Mari.
I silently apologized to my dear companions in my heart.
<Gratitude, Hero.>
I heard a staticky voice, like a radio that’s not quite tuned correctly.
This adorable young voice belonged to Goddess Parion.
The images that flowed into my mind along with her voice conveyed her emotions to me.
She seemed to be thanking me for defeating the demon lord. It was a shame, I thought, that I couldn’t see her girlish young form in the stark whiteness that filled my vision.
<Separation, apologies.>
Don’t worry about it. I’m the one who made that choice.
I shook my head at the goddess’s remorseful communication.
<Happiness, future blessings.>
Yeah, I’ll make sure I end up so happy that Rin and the others won’t have to worry about me ever again.
At that, the little goddess sent me an image of a smile.
Good. Kids are supposed to be happy!
“Where am I…?”
I awoke to find myself standing on uneven stone paving.
The grounds of a shrine…?
That’s right! This is where I was when I got summoned.
“I made it back…”
I raced down the steps.
Sprinting through the red torii gate, I jumped out toward a road that stank of exhaust fumes.
“Eek!”
Next to me, I heard a girl scream.
I must have startled her by jumping out so suddenly.
“Sorry—Tachibana!”
“Huh? Masaki?”
When I found myself looking at the cherubic face of my childhood friend, Yumiri Tachibana, I hugged the delicate-looking girl on the spot.
“Ack, w-wait! Hayato! At least pick a more romantic spot for this…!”
Her flustered words, and that voice I hadn’t heard in so long, struck my heart so deeply that I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Come on, Hayato, what’s gotten into you?”
“Yumiri… Yumiri, I’m back. I really made it back…!”
As I sobbed pathetically, Yumiri gave me a gentle embrace despite her confusion.
“Here, I got you a Pecari. It’s your favorite, right?”
“Yeah, thanks. I can’t believe I finally get to drink Pecari again…”
As I started to tear up again at the sight of the sports drink she offered me, Yumiri pressed a handkerchief into my hands.
Her face was flushed, possibly because I hugged her like that earlier.
“…Hmm?”
“Now what is it?”
Yumiri gave me a quizzical look.
“Why are you in a school uniform?”
I didn’t remember her being into cosplay.
“Seriously, what’s with you?! We were just in school together a few hours ago!”
A few hours ago…?
I gazed into Yumiri’s eyes.
“Wh-what?!”
Yumiri crossed her arms in front of her chest, taking a guarded pose.
I was acting weird enough to look downright suspicious, but I didn’t even realize that until I went home later.
At this moment, there was something far more important to worry about.
“What’s the date, month, and year today?!”
“Huh?”
I grabbed a very confused Yumiri by the shoulders.
“Please, just tell me!”
“Um, okaaay… March third, 2013, and would you like the time as well? It’s twelve fifteen PM.”
While I wasn’t sure about the time, I knew that date without a doubt.
Today was the very same day that I was summoned.
“But I thought there was no such thing as Time Magic…”
“Oh god, you’re not going through another one of your weird role-playing phases, are you? I told you to leave that stuff in middle school…”
Ignoring Yumiri’s remark as I muttered to myself, I started patting my own face.
“Seriously, are you feeling all right?”
“A mirror! Do you have a mirror?”
“Um…yes?”
Looking increasingly concerned, Yumiri held out a small hand mirror, and I used it to look at my own face.
…It was the same as the day I got summoned.
“Wait. Why are you wearing a suit, anyway? Did you have an interview for a part-time job?”
“It’s kind of a long story…”
Basking in the happiness of the young goddess’s surprise gift, I told Yumiri about my journey to a parallel world.
Although she didn’t even remotely believe me at first, I was able to convince her by folding a coin into quarters with my forefingers alone. Once she believed me, she scolded me that destroying hard currency is a crime, which was very typical of the girl I remembered so fondly.
That being said, I only had a little bit of my power left.
I couldn’t use my skills anymore, and my physical strength was almost tragically less compared to my time as a hero in the other world, but I still had more than enough unusual strength left for a simple demonstration.
In fact, I had a hunch that I might be able to make it as a pro athlete if I trained a little.
I also had about ten pounds of gold in the form of wire wrapped around my waist that Satou had made for me, saying he got the idea from some old novel. It might even be fun to start a business while I was still in school.
“Mm-hmm, that sounds rough. So, did you leave any lovers or a wife and kids in this parallel world of yours?”
Her tone was light.
Clearly, she still didn’t entirely believe me.
Well, fair enough. If someone else tried to sell me the same story, I’d probably just laugh them off, too.
“No, no lovers or wives or anything like that.”
There’s only one person for me.
I gazed at Yumiri until her cheeks turned red.
I’d better not mention my honey—I mean, Princess Arisa.
“Sorry, Yumiri, I’ve gotta go home and tell my little sister I’m back.”
When I stated this with a serious face, Yumiri looked oddly disappointed, then waved me off with a deadpan roll of her eyes.
“Bye, then. See you tomorrow.”
Her casual farewell brought a smile back to my face.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
“Okay!”
Yumiri looked satisfied with my response.
“You’re a friend of Ichirou’s…?”
A pretty woman with an energy that strongly reminded me of Satou looked at me doubtfully.
“Yes, I came to deliver a letter from him.”
“How old are you, exactly?”
“Tw…seventeen.”
I nearly blurted out my age from when I was in the other world.
“Did you meet him when you were in grade school, then?”
What does she mean…?
“No, just about a year ago.”
As soon as I gave that response, her expression went blank and cool.
“I see.” She turned away from me to head back inside. “Go home.”
“W-wait, please. At least take the letter…”
“If this is a prank, go try it on someone else.”
With that icy response, she slammed the door right in my face.
“Crap. Now what…?”
I wanted to give her the letter directly and tell her about Satou’s current status in the other world…
As I walked around looking for a mailbox, to send the letter, it started to rain. I jogged down the street at a brisk pace, looking for a convenience store, to wait out the rain, only to spot a girl in the corner of a park arranging her jacket over a soaked cardboard box. Judging by the name tag on her uniform, she was probably in middle school.
I searched my bag and found a folding umbrella. I’d forgotten that I left it in my bag back before I was summoned.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
I held out the open umbrella to the girl.
There was a puppy inside the box.
“Thanks, mister.”
The girl turned around and thanked me earnestly.
I was lucky she didn’t think I was trying to hit on her, because I really wasn’t. My virtuous nature must have shown through.
“…Aah! Hey!” the girl exclaimed suddenly. “That’s Ichirou’s handwriting!”
She snatched the letter that was peeking out of my breast pocket.
“Where did you get this?”
“Sa…I mean, Ichirou Satou asked me to deliver it to his family.”
The girl’s name was Kouhai Mitsumi. As it turned out, she was Ichirou Satou’s childhood friend, and as close to him as a family member.
When I explained to her that I’d tried to deliver the letter to the Satou family and gotten turned away point-blank…
“Ichirou went missing while he was staying at a college boarding house.”
That explained the reaction.
“Miss Kouhai…”
“Just call me Hikaru. Otherwise it sounds like I’m your junior at school or something.”
While I had to wonder why she didn’t just go by Mitsumi, I figured I would go along with her request.
“So, Hikaru, you believe me?”
“Yeah, sure. I mean, this is definitely Ichirou’s writing.”
“Then do you think you could bring this letter to his family for me?”
“Got it. Sure, I’ll get his mom to accept it. I promise.”
Hikaru struck a dramatic pose like something out of a manga. I handed her the letter.
…Phew. Now I’ve fulfilled my promise to Satou.
“Sa-tuu…?”
Hikaru tilted her head.
Oops. I must have said that out loud.
“You mean the dog Ichirou’s grandfather had?”
“Dog…? No, it was Ichirou Satou’s nickname.”
“Oh, right. He did always go by that in games.”
Now I’d accidentally learned the origin of why his name was pronounced “sa-two” in the other world.
For a while after that, Hikaru and I chatted about Satou, until eventually the rain let up and we decided to go our separate ways.
And yes, I wound up taking the puppy home.
We had a big yard at my family home, and my little sister had been wanting a dog.
“Thou must build a home, Hero.”
A voice spoke behind me.
I turned around and saw Hikaru standing in a regal pose, her arms folded.
Her black hair now looked rainbow-colored, like light through a prism.
“A home…?”
“It can even be a doghouse, as long as it is big enough to fit a person inside. And thou must hang this nameplate upon it.”
I automatically accepted the nameplate, a board inscribed with the name Satou. The penmanship was impeccable; Hikaru must have taken some serious calligraphy classes.
“But why—?”
Before I could finish asking what the home was for, I looked up to see that Hikaru was gone.
I felt like I’d been bewitched by a fox spirit or something.
“Woof!” The puppy barked in my arms.
“Guess I’ll make a little house for you, huh?”
“Woof!”
The dog gleefully licked my face.
Behind the friendly pup, I saw the nameplate still in my hands.
“All right! Your name’s gonna be ‘Satou.’”
I held the puppy up as I declared its new name.
“Whuzzat, big bwudder?”
My little sister Aika, who was barely three years old, tottered over to me with her nigh-incomprehensible baby talk.
“I’m making a doghouse.”
“Doggy! Gedda doggy?”
Aika clambered onto my back, looking excited.
She was every bit as adorable as I remembered.
What a little angel.
“Yep, a real cute one!”
As soon as I got home with the puppy in tow, my mother whisked him away to get his vaccinations.
“Yaaaay!”
Aika hopped up and down for joy.
I quickly caught her before she could tumble off my back, placing her safely on the grass.
“Wanna ride da doggy!”
“Oh yeah? Let’s hope he grows up big real soon, then.”
The puppy was definitely a large breed, anyway.
“Uh-huh!”
I couldn’t wait to add photos of my adorable little sister riding around on her dog like a princess on horseback.
Aika watched me work on the doghouse for a while. Eventually, she started nodding off, so I paused long enough to put her on the sofa inside.
“…There, all done.”
As a finishing touch, I nailed the Satou nameplate to the doghouse.
It was the one I got from the rainbow-haired version of Hikaru, of course.
I was guessing that this version of her wasn’t quite human—not a ghost or an apparition, but something divine in nature, like the young goddess who summoned me to the other world.
I didn’t know why she wanted me to build a doghouse and put this nameplate on it, of course.
But there had to be some important reason.
“Maybe I’ll even get to see Satou and the others again someday.”
I stretched as I murmured to myself.
Then I clapped my hands together to get rid of the dust and wood chips.
“Hayato, you hooome?”
Just then, I heard Yumiri calling to me from the front door.
Ever since our recent reunion, she’d gone back to calling me “Hayato” like she did when we were kids, instead of “Masaki” as she’d started doing when we got older.
The kids at school teased me for a while, but I was so happy to have my lost teenage years back that I just leaned into it until it eventually died off.
“I’m hooome!”
I called Yumiri into the yard to show off the doghouse I made.
Before long, my mom’s car pulled into the garage. The puppy must have finally finished all his shots.
I could already hear him yapping away excitedly.
It was going to be another lively day, that much was for sure.
“Satou, Japan’s as peaceful as ever today.”
With a murmur to my friend in a parallel world, I gazed up at the blue sky, past the cherry blossom trees that were just beginning to bud.
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