The End of Sekaunmei (not really)

The cream was great. Just a few hours later, he felt his muscles way more relaxed and painless. He could finally get up and not fall down immediately after.

Since it was getting darker, he turned on the lights. Mirena was, again, in the bathroom, but he needed to have a shower. Ken waited a little more, but Mirena wasn’t going out. So he took courage and knocked the door.

—I need to use the shower…

Without saying anything, Mirena went out of the bathroom and sat on the cushion, next to the tiny table in the middle of the room. Ken sighed.

“It’s going to be a long two weeks.”

While taking off his clothes, he thought about the anime convention. It was in two weeks, but, what would happen then? How would they talk with Yoriyuki Yamahito? And after that, would he believe them? Can he do anything to begin with?

During the hot shower, he kept thinking the same things, over and over.

“And if she can’t return to her world, what’s next? Will she go with Yamahito? Or will she stay…? And, what do I want to happen?”

He was frustrated. In his usual quiet life, those kind of worries never appeared. As a consequence, he had no idea how to deal with them.

After dressing in clean clothes, he went out. Mirena was still there, next to the table. But she had something in her hands.

—I want to read the end… —said. It was the 14th volume of Sekaunmei. Even if she was angry at him, she still waited for him to continue the reading. Ken found that pretty wholesome, after all.

They were sitting side by side, with the shoulders barely touching. He was holding one side of the book, and Mirena the other one. Another dream situation, ruined by the mood. They started reading.

—Mirena? Mirena?! —screamed Mask. She was nowhere to be seen, completely disappeared from this world—. What did you do?! —said then, addressing the Witch.

—I just sent her to another place —she replied.

—What kind of place? Answer me!

—I have no idea; it was so different to this world. A small room with weird technology and a guy speaking bullshit in a strange language, that for some reason I could understand.

Mask had no idea what the Witch was talking about. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was as angry as never before. Mask felt a new power growing inside of him, a power that could…

—Guh! —But he fainted. The Witch attacked once again, right to the neck. The oxygen abandoned Mask’s throat and he lost the consciousness.

—I’m not going to let you give him a… how did he called it? Right, a power-up. This is my victory.

The volume continued some chapters more, describing the victory of the Witch of Barriers. She raised a huge castle out a nowhere, and established that place as her base. In the underground there was the mythical fountain of ether, and the portal to summon beings from another dimensions, ready to be activated. The last chapter ended with the narrator saying:

Dark days approach to Darmasia.

The Witch is too powerful, and not even the power of the gods can defeat her. With her barrier control, she managed to defeat God’s hand itself and overcome the world.

There is just one person who could help us in this situation, but she disappeared. The people around the world is asking, where are you Mirena?

Please come back. Where are you Mirena?

The end.

Ken was wordless. The only thing he could say was:

—I’m sorry.

—It’s okay. You say it, right? This is not real. It was never real.

—This is weird, though.

—…?

—The narrator had never been so emotionally implicated in the story before. “Who could help us”, “please come back”. I think not even the author has idea of what’s happening. Also, the line “she managed to defeat God’s hand itself” could refer to his own hand as a writer. Everything seems to point to the fact that the Witch got out of control, even for the author.

—So my chances of going back are close to none...

She was right. If Yoriyuki Yamahito hadn’t control over his own creation, Ken couldn’t think in any solution besides convincing the Witch to let her in again, but that was unlikely.

—However —he said—, we won’t know it until we try it.

—You’re right… It’s still early, but I’m tired. You use the bed tonight, is going to be the best for your muscles.

—Okay…

Ken also was tired, and the next day he had work at 10 a.m., so he had a light dinner and then went to sleep too.

After an exhausting day, both mentally and physically, a new day came. Ken’s muscles still hurt, but it was nothing. Just the typical pain you feel when you do exercise after a long time. So there was no excuse, he had to work.

Mirena was also calmer. She was angry and confused about her own feelings, but a good night of rest returned the optimism to her. Just a little bit. Also, Ken was the only one she knew in this world, so she would have to learn how to tolerate his flaws.

—Where are you going? —she asked after seeing him getting ready to leave. All the time she saw him, Ken was wearing casual clothes, a bit messy to be honest. So it was really weird (and funny) to see him in uniform.

—To work.

—You work?

—Of course. — “From where do you think I get the money?” he thought. However, mentioning the word “money” in front of her probably wasn’t the best idea.

—And what should I do?

—I dunno, just wait. And don’t eat everything. Please.

—Okaaaay.

Ken left and locked the door. At that moment, Mirena opened the window and went down the emergency stairs. Of course she wasn’t going to wait there doing nothing.

Mirena followed Ken at a prudent distance. After more than a whole day living in our world, she realized that her appearance was very eye-catching, especially her red hair. Because of that, following Ken without being noticed was a great challenge.

Luckily, Ken’s gait played in her favor. He was always looking down and forward, with quick and big steps. Even if a clown appeared next to him doing acrobatics above a bear, he wouldn’t realize. He had his mind focused on his goal: the subway station.

There was a mysterious-looking stairs in the middle of the sideway. To Mirena, it looked like the stairway to hell she saw in one of her adventures, so she was scared. But since the people came in and out like nothing, and Ken too, she became emboldened and went down.

Maybe it wasn’t hell, but it was pretty close. It was very, very crowded. As a consequence, the air was suffocating. Also, the illumination was poor and there was a lot of noise. Especially freaked her out those metallic and squeaky sounds that she couldn’t recognize.

It was at that moment that Mirena realized how generic was Ken’s looks. He didn’t have main character aura at all. Instead, he was like one of those extra characters in anime that are just silhouettes in the background. Because of that, following him swimming in the human wave was really hard (besides, her not so tall height didn’t help at all).

All her train of thought derailed when the subway came.

It came with an astonishing sound, like imposing its presence. It was a huge and long machine, similar to the basilisk she fought with Mask to rescue the king of an insular kingdom.

She was still surprised about the humanity being able to create such monster for their benefit. Soulless machines (because Ken already explained to her that “modern cars” are not animals that cutely fall asleep smiling), always obedient and easy to control.

—Hello —said someone next to her, pulling Mirena back to the real world. It was a young male with blonde hair, a piercing in the nose and a shirt with the top button detached.

—Hello —responded her by courtesy.

—We didn’t meet each other before, didn’t we?

—No, I don’t think so. —While talking, she was constantly looking at Ken’s direction. At least, his long hair was something remarkable, something that made him stand out from the other males.

—Who are you looking for? Your boyfriend?

—I don’t have a boyfriend.

—That’s good.

At that moment she remembered the advice Ken gave her in the gym:

“Some people can be malicious and have second interests, especially with girls… like you.”

But he also said:

“Everyone lies in this world.”

She realized that, in order to ride the subway, she needed money, because everything needs money in this world. And she didn’t have any. So she had a genius idea:

“I’m going to take advantage of this guy who seems interested in me. Love it or hate it, this is how this world works, so I have to adapt in order to survive.”

She wasn’t scared about what the man could do to her. Because of her innocence, coming from a world were barely bad things happens? Maybe. But also for the security that comes from having a 60kg. of grip strength and an intense training in martial arts.

—Actually —she said, pouting and playing shyly with her fingers—, this is my first time here and I forgot my wallet…

That attack hit harder than her grip strength. The random ikemen was almost blooding from his nose. She didn’t need anything more. So easy as that, she got on a wagon in the same subway than Ken.

All the sits were in use, so they went standing. Ken was in another wagon, but she could spy him through the window on the door.

—So, what’s your name? —asked the ikemen, who was still following Mirena. Now she had to think a way to get rid of him.

—I’m… Argentina. From Gonzales María… —Even she was confused. Lying wasn’t yet her specialty.

—That’s a cute name —responded the ikemen—. But not as cute as the one that carries it.

—Hey, let’s play a game.

—A game?

—Yes. I think in a color, and you try to guess which is it by doing questions. But I can only answer those questions with yes or no.

—Hmmm I don’t know… I mean, I want to know more about you…

—If you win, I’m going to give you a special prize.

Since she was acting pure and innocent so far, that sudden sexy tone of voice was another fatal blow for the ikemen, who fell again in Mirena’s trap. She just gave random answers, making impossible for him to win the game.

Red, blue, brown, violet, turquoise, green, light-blue, the ikemen named the entire spectrum and kept losing over and over.

—Oh c’mon, I think you don’t want me to win.

At that moment, the subway stopped in another station and Ken was leaving. She had to be quick.

—Try once again.

—Okay, I say… orange.

—Correct!

—What?

—Now close your eyes...

For the third time in a row, the ikemen was tricked with the most basic and obvious lies. Maybe he was stupid, or maybe his blood was concentrated in other places but the head. Or maybe both. Of course, when he opened the eyes she wasn’t nowhere to be seen. Also, he realized that the subway he got on wasn’t the one he was supposed to ride, so he was lost. What will happen to the ikemen? We will never know.

All this happened without Ken noticing it. He just did the usual road to work and was finally there, the mart. And also was Mirena, amused as always with the huge and new buildings she was discovering in this brand new world.