Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - V4 Chapter 60. "Can’t Hide the Surprise, Can You?"

Chapter 60: “Can’t Hide the Surprise, Can You?”

Dinner had ended, and after taking a moment to relax, Thor and Odin finally took a taxi back to their hotel.

Thor had actually stayed behind to help clean up—But Haruko, Natsuki’s mom, gently insisted, “You don’t need to go that far. You’re our guest.”

Not wanting to cause any trouble, Thor gave a polite nod and said, “Then I’ll graciously accept your kindness.”

Before leaving, he promised Natsuki that they would meet again and even invited him to visit his homeland someday.

With that, Thor and Odin got into the taxi and left.

“They were such wonderful guests. Natsuki, you always seem to attract good people.”

“Yeah… for once, they were actually decent. Lately, it’s been nothing but mammon-mammon, susa-susa, nuranura—way too much weirdness all at once.”

“Fufu. You should cherish those connections, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

They talked while washing dishes together.

Once in a while, it wasn’t so bad to help out around the house.

Usually, Jack and Nancy took care of most of the chores.

Even Koume and Ginko often stepped in to help with the cleaning.

The only one pretending to be the head of the household, sitting there with a newspaper wide open—Was Satan.

“You seem really happy these days, Natsuki.”

“Do I?”

“You do. Not too long ago… It felt like you were always on edge. Like you were frustrated… or just completely drained.”

His mom didn’t explain, and Natsuki didn’t ask. They both left it at that.

“Lately, I’ve met a bunch of really good people—like Alphonse-san, who’s opening a diner in the shopping district, Ren Kobayashi-kun, Sado-kun the college student, Senju Nanamori-san, and Seishiro Kanna-san. It’s been a crazy two weeks.”

“Make sure you’re looking out for Kazuto-kun too, okay?”

“Of course. I’m going fishing with Kazuto tomorrow.”

“I hope you bring back lots of sashimi.”

“When have I ever caught that much fish?”

“Ufufu. That’s true.”

Natsuki had been fishing with Kazuto more times than he could count, but not once had he ever brought in a big haul—or even a big catch, for that matter.

Kazuto, on the other hand, always managed to reel in something impressive. It honestly felt like the fish liked him better.

Then, something crossed Natsuki’s mind.

“By the way…”

“Hm? What is it?”

“I know this sounds impossible, but…”

“But what?”

He knew it didn’t make any sense, and yet… the dream he’d had the other night felt too vivid, too real to ignore.

So, just to be sure, he asked.

“…There’s no way I’ve ever been to Kyoto, right?”

He spoke casually, scrubbing a dish as he did—but the moment the words left his mouth, his mom’s eyes widened. She looked genuinely stunned.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait—!”

A terrible chill crept down Natsuki’s spine.

And just as he feared—

“—Natsuki… did you remember something from when you were in Kyoto?”

Hearing those words, Natsuki was hit with so many emotions at once, he couldn’t hold them back—

“—अरे बाप रे!?”

〜〜Afterword〜〜

That was supposed to be Hindi for “What the hell?!”

If I got it wrong… my bad.

And with that—

The Kyoto arc has officially been triggered.

Next time,

We’re heading to the Abe household in Kyoto.

If you enjoyed the chapter, a follow, review, or comment would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading!