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After descending from the second floor, we heard two people talking when we were about to enter the living room. The atmosphere seemed abnormal, so we observed the situation for a bit.

“…What is going on?”
“Well… I’m not sure, but… could it be…”

Mom and Dad were murmuring to each other. Kanata and I held our breaths and looked at what they were doing in the living room. The situation seemed off.

“(Big Bro, let’s watch for a bit.)”
“(Okay.)”

It was currently 6 am. Normally, Dad would’ve woken a bit later, but for some reason he was up already, and he and Mom were both looking at (what I assumed was) the date on the calendar app on their phones, while inclining their heads.

“…Maybe the calendar has a malfunction?”
“Could be… but why would it be the day our boy died, of all things…”
“For now, let’s check the TV.”

Dad picked up the remote and turned on the television. The morning program “Good Morninja”, was running.

“Morninin! It’s a new day~~! Today is the — of –! The temperature is autumn-like and slightly chilly-“

It seemed like even on TV, they were saying that today’s date was the day I had died. Our parents looked at each other, as if they had no idea what was going on.

“Eh… huh?”
“J-Just what is this…?”

Kanata and I sent each other a glance and nodded. We confidently waltzed into the living room.

“Good morning, Mom, Dad!” Kanata exclaimed.

They turned to us with a jerk. Then, they stared at us, as if we were ghosts.

“Huh…?”
“…!!?”

They were too shocked to find their words and just kept looking at us rigidly.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Kanata continued. “You’re not speaking clearly, you know? Right, Big Bro?”
“Right.”

*Crash*

Mom had collapsed to her knees and was hugging Dad’s legs. Dad, being who he was, just kept standing there with a dumbfounded look. Mom started to take deep breaths for a while, as if she was hyperventilating, likely to calm herself down, before she finally managed some words.

“Ayumu… Kanata… is that you?”
“Yes, we’re back,” I replied.
“We’re sorry, we had gone somewhere for a while,” Kanata added.

With her mouth opening and closing, Mom let go of Dad’s legs and slammed her hands onto the floor.

“Ah… ah~… God…!!”

______________
________
____

“Have you calmed down?”
“Uh huh…”

Kanata and I had made some instant coffee for our parents. The two of them were sitting on the couch, trying to listen to our story.

“Is it… is it really you, Ayumu, Kanata…?” Mom squeezed out, as she sipped on the coffee while Dad rubbed her back.
“Yes, it’s us.”

“…I wonder what happened. The date was wound back and you’re here, Ayumu. I just can’t make heads or tails of this… Right, Kanata… you said you went somewhere, didn’t you?”

Kanata nodded at Dad’s question.

“We’ll give you the details a bit later. To sum it up… it was another world, different from Earth, Heaven, or Hell. Although you probably won’t believe us.”
“…Ayumu, Kanata, you have noticed that time has been rewound, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”

Although it wasn’t on the level of Kanata’s IQ, Dad was much smarter than a normal person, so he had apparently already grasped that much from our conversation.

“Does that mean… that you two caused time to reverse in that so-called other world?”
“Hm~, well, we might have… I guess?” I tried. “More importantly, do you believe what we’re saying, Dad?”
“Right now, everything feels unreal, so I don’t have much of a choice other than believing you. Besides, you wouldn’t lie about such a thing,” he said, while smiling at us.

…Kanata and I having such girlish faces was half this man’s fault.

“Thanks, Dad.”
“It’s fine. What do you think, dear?”
“…I don’t understand it.”

Mom was shaking her head while wiping off her tears with the handkerchief Dad had handed her unnoticed. Once her eyes were clear, she looked at us.

“…Still, I can see that you really have come back… Welcome home, you two.”
“”We’re back.””

Kanata and I – although we were no longer at that age – threw ourselves at our parents. The tears started to flow. Just like when I had reunited with Mika. Mom and Dad held us in a tight embrace as we cried.

I had no idea why they didn’t lose their memories of the time we were gone. Maybe only our parents, plus Mika’s and Shuu’s families kept those memories. That was how it felt.

Well… But right now… it’s just our family.

TL notes:
The parents don’t have names. I even read ahead a lot further in hopes of them being mentioned at some point, but no dice. This is no big issue now, but will become annoying once the three families have their talk together.

Also, that theory about World Transfer Privilege I mentioned, now that we’ve seen how the transfer works:
My guess is that people from other worlds inherently have the World Travel Privilege, but it is lost once their absence in their original world has consequences that affect Anazumu (or other worlds).
In Mika’s case, she originally had the option to go back, but because of her funeral, Kanata, Sakura, and Shuu went to Anazumu together. Without the funeral, they likely wouldn’t have been in the same place when the summons happened (while they go to the same school, they are three grades apart) and only one or two of them would’ve been brought there. So, from the moment they appeared in Anazumu, Mika likely lost the option to go back.
To restore her (and Ayumu’s) “environment” on Earth, time literally needed to be rewound, which makes it plausible that some cost was involved.

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