Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - V5 Chapter 25: “Ain’t It a Beautiful Morning?”

Chapter 25: “Ain’t It a Beautiful Morning?”

—He was dreaming.

Little Natsuki walked through the streets of Kyoto, holding hands with a young Madoka.

He looked just like a doll, chattering happily about something, his whole face lit up with a bright, beaming smile.

It was a shame he couldn’t hear what he was saying.

—Then the noise started.

Like an old TV losing signal, static crackled across the memory—zzzt, zzzzzk.

Even as the interference buzzed, little Natsuki and Madoka kept walking together. But somewhere along the way… the once-busy alley had gone quiet. Everyone else was gone.

Natsuki didn’t understand what was happening.

And just as confusion began to set in—

Someone appeared behind Madoka, whose face had suddenly gone pale.

A woman.

Her face was blurry.

Too much noise.

The memory refused to show it clearly.

—The static grew louder.

Then it happened.

The woman struck Madoka.

Madoka had tried to protect him, standing in front of him with trembling arms spread wide.

He still couldn’t see the woman’s face.

But he saw it—

Those glossy lips of hers, curling into a faint smile as she touched them.

“Mmm~ You look absolutely delicious.”

The woman seized Natsuki and opened her mouth wide.

Madoka fought back. He tried to stop the woman.

But he was struck again. And again—until he stopped moving.

Little Natsuki screamed.

“My, what a sweet little treat. Time to dig in.”

The woman sank her teeth deep into Natsuki’s neck.

He felt it—that sharp, stabbing pain. The sickening sensation of something sucking out his blood.

It made him want to throw up.

Then came the claws.

Her long, sharp nails pierced straight into his belly.

—A scream tore through the air.

And as young Madoka reached out to him in desperation, little Natsuki was left behind…
His insides torn apart, his blood draining away—

While that monster of a woman feasted.

■

“—मैं आपको कभी माफ़ नहीं करूंगा!”

With that sudden burst of Hindi, Natsuki shot upright in bed.

“…Natsuki-kun, seriously? Yelling first thing in the morning? And what even was that? Some kind of foreign ‘good morning’ or something?”

“It was Hindi. He said, ‘I will never forgive you.’ Natsuki… do you have some Indian ancestry or something?”

Kazuto, who’d crashed at Natsuki’s place the night before, sat up groggily from the futon on the floor, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Right next to him, Satan—who’d more or less moved into Natsuki’s room at this point—offered a translation with a shrug.

“Who knows? Sorry about the yelling. I had another dream… about that time in Kyoto. When the oni attacked. Guess I got a little too into it.”

“Yeah, but like—who just busts out Hindi in their dreams? Then again, I guess that’s peak Natsuki. Makes no sense, so it totally checks out.”

It was 7 a.m.

The perfect time to wake up.

After breakfast, Kazuto said he’d head home.

He actually wanted to come along to Kyoto, which was honestly really sweet—

But if anything happened to him, Amaterasu would definitely lose her mind.

So Natsuki politely turned him down.

Kazuto had tons of potential, sure.

But that power of his still hadn’t awakened.

There was no reason to force it.

No need to throw him into a battlefield just to speed things up.

Seishiro and little Yoshimasa weren’t coming either, of course.

Seishiro came from an old family tied to the Institute, and fighting oni solo in Kyoto wasn’t exactly something they allowed.

As for Yoshimasa?

Yeah… five-year-olds and demon battles don’t mix.

Yusuke wanted to come too.

But before Natsuki had even locked in the trip, Lilith had already asked him to swing by her café—

And Yusuke, being Yusuke, said yes without thinking twice.

Honestly, Natsuki figured that worked out best.

After everything Yusuke had gone through in the other world, the last thing he needed was another fight.

The only one who agreed to come along without a second thought… was Senju.

His exact words were:

“Someone’s gotta be there to make sure you don’t accidentally level Kyoto, right?”

The guy clearly cared.

He just had a very weird way of showing it.

Natsuki pulled open the curtains.

The weather outside?

Absolutely beautiful.

“Ahhh—perfect weather for some oni-slaying. I bet this is exactly how Momotaro felt back in the day~.”

Natsuki stretched, a big grin plastered across his face, clearly soaking in the vibe.

Behind him, both Satan and Kazuto muttered under their breath, “Pretty sure Momotarō wasn’t that chill about it…”

～～Afterword～～

Next time’s all about Yusuke-kun!