The Return

“Wake up Onii-chan——you lazy bum!”

“Um…what?”

Kiyo opened his eyes to see a familiar white ceiling. And then in the corner of his sight was a little girl with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and an annoyed expression.

“Mom is gonna yell at you if you oversleep again!”

Kiyo moved slightly and realized he was lying on something soft and comfortable. The sensation of the cloth where he lay, the lukewarm air filtering the room, and the smell of ginger answered the question of where the young man was. It was a place that only he would know.

“I’m…in my room?”

The little girl raised an eyebrow. She was confused by the words of the older boy.

“Um…yeah this is your room. Stop playing around Onii-chan and get up!”

“I…I can’t believe this…”

Kiyo rose and saw that he was on his untidy bed. He looked around to see his iconic bedroom which was riddled with video game cases all over the floor and empty soda cans by the table with his laptop.

“I’m back…”

Tears began to fall from Kiyo’s eyes.

“O-Onii-chan!?”

The blonde girl was taken aback by the sudden action of crying that Kiyo was doing.

“A-are you alright?”

Kiyo then finally turned to the little girl. The moment he saw her his mouth formed a smile.

“Junko!”

The little girl who Kiyo called out to and hugged with all his strength was his younger sister, Junko Hoshi. Kiyo’s only sibling and someone who the young boy loved with all his heart.

Junko was quite surprised and taken aback by the affection her older brother was showing her. She blushed in embarrassment and confusion as she tried to push him off.

“W-W-WHAT IS UP WITH YOU!? DID YOU HAVE A NIGHTMARE!?”

“N-not necessarily,” Kiyo said as he rubbed his teary face on his sister’s shoulder. “There were so many bad parts but overall…it was a wonderful dream that I would have over and over again. But…I’m just so glad to see you are alright Junko! Onii-chan is sorry for being away so long!”

“Huh? Being away? Where did you go?”

“What are you talking about!?”

Kiyo lifted his head and stared right at Junko.

“I’ve been gone for MONTHS!”

Junko looked at her brother as if he was some sort of alien. She easily peeled his hands off her and backed away from the teenage boy.

“That dream you had must have been SURREAL! You haven’t been gone for months at all!”

“H-huh?”

Kiyo’s eyes widened in shock at the revelation.

“R-really? How long has it been?”

Junko tilted her head. Her mouth grimaced due to the fact that she could not fully understand what her brother was talking about.

“How long has it been since what!?”

“Since…I left?”

“What are you talking about!? You didn’t go anywhere!”

“W-wait…what’s today’s date!”

“Check it yourself! You have a phone dummy!”

Kiyo turned to his right to see his messy countertop full of crumpled-up papers. Right at the edge of the countertop and ready to fall was Kiyo’s cell phone which to him seemed like an old tool he had not seen or used in years.

The blonde boy picked up the phone and easily turned it on with the press of his index finger. Lightening up was a simple illustration of an anime character fighting some three-headed dog monster while the time and date in bold white letters were clear as day on the top of the screen:

7:30 A.M.

March 13, 2023

Kiyo’s mouth hung open. His brain could not comprehend the truth of what his phone was showcasing, but it all made sense due to the state of his room and the way his sister responded.

“S-so…”

Kiyo slowly turned his back to Junko.

“I…haven’t been gone?”

“No!” Junko shouted. “Where do you think you went!?”

“…D-did Mom scold me last night?”

“Yeah, she did. How could I forget? She screamed so loud I swore the glass on the windows would break!”

“That means…that means…”

Kiyo got up from his bed and stared down at his own hands as if they were foreign objects.

“It’s only been a day…”

“What?”

Junko tried to listen in on what Kiyo was talking about but the boy was speaking very quietly to himself.

“I’ve been in Ihari for three months…but in this world, it’s only been a day…time hasn’t passed at all…but then…”

Kiyo held out his right hand. Junko scrunched her face in bewilderment.

“What are you doing now?”

Kiyo ignored his sister as he took a deep breath and then shouted at the top of his lungs:

“SYSTEM ON!”

“HUH?!”

Junko was spooked by the sudden scream of her brother and lost her balance as she fell onto his dirty bedroom floor.

“W-what’s wrong with you?!”

The young girl’s question was valid because her older brother was doing nothing but standing and holding his right hand out into empty space. Nothing significant happened as Kiyo stood completely still, and the birds outside chirped.

“My powers…are really gone…”

Kiyo sounded slightly disappointed after realizing the truth that his strength of the “Chosen Hero” was supposedly gone but a second later he shrugged and walked out of the room——he wore a smile that said nothing but pure happiness.

“We have school right?”

Kiyo asked as he hurried over to the bathroom.

“I’ll freshen up! Tell Mom, I’ll be done in five minutes!”

“W-wait—“

Kiyo slammed the door behind him and began to freshen up. Junko got up on her own and slowly walked over to the living room, where their mother was supposed to be.

“Did he get possessed by a spirit or something…?”

***

Kiyo finished his business in the bathroom quickly, skipping around and singing as he did. Once he exited, he looked neat and smelled like a perfectly tended guardian. The young boy then went back into his room and put on his school uniform. Just the act of trying on his old uniform made the boy feel so nostalgic.

After Kiyo was fully clothed he hurried over to the kitchen where there was a beautiful adult woman with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail. She had bags under her eyes and wore the clothes of a waiter. That woman was Asami Hoshi, Kiyo’s mother.

The moment Asami saw Kiyo she frowned and folded her arms. The day before Kiyo was summoned into the World of Ihari, they had an intense argument about how his grades back in school were declining. In the end, Kiyo stormed off and went to bed. To Kiyo, he disappeared for months while for Asami it was just the other night.

“Kiyo!” Asami shouted. “Don’t think just because you have a school that you can get out of this! I am going to pay for a tutor to help you because your grades are horrendous! If you want to get into a good college you have to—”

“MOTHER!”

Kiyo jumped over to his mother and hugged her. Asami closed her mouth as her eyes widened in shock and confusion. It has been years since Kiyo had ever showcased such love towards his parent, the last hug she ever received from him was when he was twelve.

“K-Kiyo!? What’s gotten into you!?”

“I’m sorry Mother but—I’m just so happy to see you!”

“W-what are you—is this a scheme to get out of our conversation!? Well, I’m not falling for it! I am going to hire a tutor and that’s final—”

“Alright!”

Kiyo broke the hug and stared right into his mother’s eyes. He smiled warmly at her while giving her a comical thumbs-up.

“I agree! Let’s hire a tutor!”

“Kiyo! You can’t…wait what?”

Asami looked at her son with complete disbelief written all over her face.

“Y-you’re fine with…a tutor?”

“Yes!” Kiyo stated loudly. “I am very bad at studying! Hope you find the best tutor! Alright, Mom, I’m off to school!”

“W-wait—”

But the teenage boy had already run out of the house while giggling to himself. Asami continued to look at where her son once was, completely stun locked by the out-of-character interaction. Junko then walked up to her mother with the same confused expression.

“I have no clue what’s wrong with him,” Junko admitted. “It’s like he got possessed. It’s freaking me out!”

Asami shook her head.

“I can’t believe that boy actually said yes to getting a tutor! He has always neglected his studies while reading manga! Has…has something happened to him? Now I’m concerned!”

“Concerned about what?”

Junko asked her mother. Asami wildly shrugged.

“I-I don’t know! I just feel like something is different about him…maybe he’s got a girlfriend?”

“Onii-chan? Ha!” Junko chuckled as she grabbed a slice of toast from the table. “That dummy is gonna be single for the rest of his life! He can’t even talk to the middle-aged lady next door without turning red, much less anyone his age!”

Asami sighed.

“You shouldn’t say things like that about your brother! He’s just at that age! And when you get as old as him you will experience it too—”

“EW! MOM!”

Junko covered her ears.

“I DON’T WANNA HAVE THAT TALK RIGHT NOW! I GOTTA GO!”

“H-hold on, Junko!”

But the young girl was already out of the house and heading towards the direction of her school at top speed. Asami was starting to get a headache.

“My children need to learn how to slow down…”