Epilogue - It Was a Tennis Ball, Right

Katsuo lay on his bed, tossing the tennis ball up and catching it. The festival had been a lot of fun. He honestly couldn’t remember ever having so much fun in his life. He kept throwing the ball up in the air, and catching it back in his hand with a soft pat. Up, down, pat. He was surprised to find himself somewhat excited to return to school. Up, down, pat. Not to mention summer was just around the corner, who knew what kind of fun could be had. Up, down, smack. There were amusement parks, the beach, and maybe even a school trip! Up, down, pat.

Just thinking about all of the possibilities made him feel good. A part of himself kind of wished he had made friends back in his world. Up, down, smack. Wait… Katsuo held the ball in his hand, running his thumb over the smooth surface. Smooth? He looked at it. It wasn’t a tennis ball. He held a baseball in his hand. He gave it another gentle toss and it landed in his hand with a soft smack. Yep, definitely a baseball. He quickly set the ball on his nightstand and grabbed his phone. He opened his contacts and found Hayami’s name. That’s a good sign.

He sent her a quick message.

‘Hey, Hayami-san?’

He looked at the baseball sitting on his nightstand. Then his phone buzzed.

‘Yeah?’

‘I think something happened.’

He looked back at the- tennis ball. What? He picked it up. It was definitely a tennis ball.

‘What’s wrong? Is everything okay?’

‘Yeah, never mind. Everything’s fine, I’ll tell you at school tomorrow.’

‘Okay?’

Still a tennis ball, a fuzzy, not smooth or white, tennis ball. What just happened?