Author: SS Samurai	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: rm31439	English Source: Re:Library

I went to school for the first time since returning to Earth. For some reason, things felt fresh. I spent too much time chatting with Rir on the app, so I ended up arriving at school later than normal.

Well… there were tons of things to think back on just from today, but… I finished my club activities without incident and made it back home after walking for about two and a half minutes from the train station.

“I’m home, Mom.”
“Welcome back! Uhm… did everything work out after such a long time? How was it at school and your club?”
“Mh… lots of stuff went down. I’ll tell you during dinner.”
“I see. It will be done in around 15 minutes. Your father will be home on time today, so let’s all eat together.”

So, Pops would be returning a bit earlier today. Certainly, before we went to Anazumu, Ayumu’s and Mika’s successive accidental deaths had been the biggest news. Since those events didn’t happen, he probably could go home sooner. That was convenient. There were some things I had to talk with my parents about.

“Right, I’ll go put my stuff away, then.”

I went to my room on the second floor and stored away my school uniform. The judo club at our school allowed us to leave our martial arts uniform there, except for cases when we took it home to wash it, so it was currently there.

Anyway… my judo skills today sure were somethin’ else. Our instructor (affectionately named “Gorilla Sensei”) looked shocked.

Looks like parts of my Martial Arts skill carried over to this world. Though it bugs me that it feels like it ain’t my own strength… I’m not sayin’ that it made all the work I put in so far useless… there’s probably no reason to loathe it that much.

Come to think of it, I wonder what club Rir will join once she gets here. Maybe she’ll also join the judo club? Or take some administrative post? Or she might pick another club… well, it’s also possible she’ll just join the going-home club.

It’s her, so I can see her sayin’, “I’m going home together with you, Shuu” and somehow manage it so she’s done at the same time I am. Somehow… imaginin’ her bravely waitin’ for me… that’s somethin’ that strikes home.

Huh, when did she become so indispensable to me? I’m feelin’ lonely. Not havin’ her next to me and hearin’ her say “woof” makes me feel way too lonely. How strange.

Even though I only saved her because I felt sorry for her at the start, she made me feel this way. I cared for her to the point where I lost myself and ran amok after she was killed… At the start, before she confessed to me… no, before we started to take walks together, I never thought of her that way.

Right… she’s probably lonely, too, ain’t she? Thinkin’ that we can immediately meet up in Anazumu kinda feels strange.

Right, that’s probably how Ayumu and Mika feel about each other. In the end, I never knew what it meant to be in love. How Mika acted during those two weeks after Ayumu’s death; it seemed abnormal to me, but it might’ve been a natural reaction.

Ha-ha, that reminds me.

Those two dating became the talk of the school. It spread throughout the whole school in the blink of an eye, and it was only a question of time until the whole town came to know. After all, those two were famous (for being cute) so they had quite a lot of secret fans, even though they weren’t celebrities.

One of my seniors at the judo club, (a boy) who’d been seriously trying to confess to Ayumu, was in mourning… maybe? He seemed to have lost his grip on reality, talking about them as if they were a yuri couple.
I mean, I can’t deny that’s how they look.

Still, they acted way too lovey-dovey at school, so the teachers might start to take notice, even if they both look like girls.

“Food is ready!”
“”Right!”” Pops and I replied almost at the same moment.

Mom was probably grinning in the kitchen… at least my intuition told me so.

I was hungry, so I rushed down into the living room and sat down on the dining table right away. Since Pops was there for dinner today, we had hot pot. Kimchee hot pot. On that note, contrary to his appearance, Pops didn’t aggressively try to take charge when we had this dish.

“How did it go, being back at school after such a long time?” he asked me while he distributed the food.

It seemed like Mom was still as curious about it as earlier.

“Well… I mean. Just like always, y’know. Only, during judo, maybe ’cause of my experiences in that other world, my skills were somethin’ else.”
“…Shuu, they already call you the strongest in town, what are you going to do if you get even stronger? Win another inter-scholastic tournament?”
“Ha-ha-ha, Mom! For men, it all comes down to gettin’ stronger!”
“I guess that’s true.”

Well, as for that title; I got (stuck with?) it after suppressing scores of hoodlums¹ (one of them apparently the strongest in the region) who’d been raiding our school.

On that note, back then, I fought them without weapons and managed to capture most without striking them, so the police didn’t find fault with my actions. My opponents, on the other hand, were using nail bats, so they were taken into custody.

“Anyway, if I had to say, guess the biggest news was about Ayumu and Mika dating. That’s about it.”
“I heard about that, they must’ve been acting like lovebirds during mating season,” Mom replied.
“That story has also reached my ears,” Pops added.

The hell…? Pops is one thing, but if Mom heard about it, then it must’ve already spread throughout the whole region.

“…By the way, when will that girlfriend of yours, Rir, be coming?” Mom asked.

Oh, I was tryin’ to find the right timing to bring it up, but to think she’d do it for me. Great, let’s use this to get to the topic of Norway.

“As a matter of fact, she’s already on Earth.”
“Oh-ho, does that mean we’ll meet her soon?”
“Well… that’ll take a few weeks at least. Y’know, she’s pretty far away.”
“Huh… do you know where she is?” Mom asked.
“In Norway,” I replied after swallowing a piece of napa cabbage.
“”…What?””

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