"Thank you so much!" Kanae bowed in front of the other members.
"It's fine, Kanae-san. This is our mission and duty to help friends!" Yahiko grinned widely as he patted his chest.
"In the end, Kiriya-san was the one who finished the fight. We only helped a little," Mei replied. Her eyes looked toward Kiriya, who was standing calmly, from behind her glasses.
Of course, a gaze that clear would not escape notice. "Being able to do it this far is already quite extraordinary. You all have grown so much." Kiriya patted the shoulder of Yahiko, who was right to his right.
"Yes, Kiriya-san!"
Ethan opened the system and read the countdown timer. "We still have a full day before returning to our original world. In my opinion, we should spend our time here to rest and give ourselves a reward."
The others nodded to his words.
"Hmm, I want to buy some souvenirs for Rose and Mia." Ethan walked away holding his chin, thinking about what he could buy for his daughter and wife.
"Ethan-san, I'm coming along! I also want to buy more for my friends at home!" Yahiko rushed to run after Ethan who left while daydreaming.
"What about Kiriya-san and Mei-san?" Kanae asked the remaining two.
"I… might rest and work on the assignment I brought inside the Item Storage." Mei gave an awkward smile.
"Alright, if you want to! Then, Kiriya-san?"
"I might walk around and see what Japan looks like in the Taisho era," Kiriya replied.
'The Japan before the great war,' Kiriya continued in his mind.
"Alright. Does Kiriya-san need a guide?"
"No need, get some rest, Kanae."
Kiriya walked away toward the exit gate. The place where they rested was one of the inns owned and managed by people who owed to the Demon Slayer and the Ubuyashiki family.
'Is there Nakuru family in this world?' That was what made Kiriya curious and the reason he chose to look around.
Kiriya's body passed right through the pedestrians walking by. They didn't even realize that they had bumped into and passed through the body of someone standing in the middle of the street.
Magic is very convenient.
Kiriya used a flight spell and lifted into the air. With one spell, Kiriya shot forward and broke through the air barrier, reaching subsonic speeds like a jet plane.
As Kiriya slowly stopped, he descended on top of a hill where a shrine would be built in the future. That was what happened in Kiriya's world.
"Hundreds of years ago in this world… I am truly curious about how the scenery looked hundreds of years ago in my world."
Looking down the hill, the landscape of the area was the same as what was in Kiriya's memory with a few significant differences, such as an additional hill on the adjacent hill. The absence of a river cutting through and irrigating the rice fields. Down to the hundreds to thousands of trees covering the entire land.
A chair formed from the earth beneath him and he took a seat. Kiriya took a drawing book and also a pencil from within the Item Storage. In his silence, Kiriya began to scratch the surface of the paper with pencil to capture the scene of another world.
***
The sun is setting down.
"I'm back." Kiriya returned to the inn and met the others' gaze.
"Welcome back, Kiriya-san." Kanae greet with a smile.
"Where are you going, Kiriya? Me and Yahiko are not seeing you anywhere." Ethan asked.
"Visiting some place I knew from Japan of my world."
"Oh! Sounds interesting. What does it look like?" Yahiko turned his head from the sweets on the table. Though, his hand still picks one of the sweet dango.
"Not quite similar, but I can still see the familiarity. Then, I'll head to my room first. I need to do something."
"Sure! Oh, and Kiriya-san!"
Kiriya turned back to Kanae.
"Can you call Mei-san when you're going to your room please?"
"Alright."
Kiriya walked away from the others. Not to his room, but to Mei's. He knocked on the door.
"Mei, It's me, Kiriya. I need your help."
"... You can come in." Her voice came from the inside after a second.
With her permission, Kiriya opened the sliding door and stepped inside.
The room was like a typical inn room. Just like Kiriya's room.
Mei sat quietly under the lamp with a dozen papers and a laptop on the table. Her eyes did not shift focus even after Kiriya came in and approached her.
"What happened?" She asked and stopped herself, to see Kiriya.
"Can I see your Command Seal?"
"Hm—? Sure…"
She's startled by the sudden question, but agrees and takes the black glove off from her right hand. The red mark is located on the back of her right hand. Three triangles that form smaller triangles in their intersections. The repeating forms make it into some kind of fractal.
"Can I touch your hand?"
"... It's fine… I guess."
Kiriya moved his hands and reached Mei's right hand. His finger traced the back of her hand carefully as he observed the mark.
She could feel every touch from Kiriya's warm hands. His rough palms held her hand carefully and his fingers traced the back of her hand slowly. His gaze to the action was deep in focus. Mei could feel her ears heat up. If not because she knows he has some mental problems, she'll think he's trying to test her resilience on purpose.
"... Hmm."
"... Is… is something wrong?" She asked hesitantly. Her words stutter in her lips.
But Kiriya shook his head and let go of her hand. "Nah. Nothing. I'm just curious about how it actually looks. I know a little, but this is actually the first time I've seen it myself."
Mei put her glove on again. However, she could still feel the warmth and sensation from Kiriya's large hand against her hand. It was too much for a girl like herself, whose daily routine was holding books and pens.
Mei shifted her focus back to her work to reduce the turmoil inside herself.
"It seems I'm interrupting at the wrong time."
"Eh, um. No, not really… I'm just re-evaluating my completed work."
"Is that so?" Kiriya turned his head and peeked at Mei's papers and laptop screen. There were some things that could be understood, but others looked way too advanced for an art science student.
"Get some rest, the others asked me to call you."
"Has it been that long?" Mei widened her eyes when she looked at the clock. "Almost seven hours…"
Mei let out a heavy sigh and gathered all her files back together into one and put them into the Item Storage along with the laptop that was still active.
"Let's go." Mei stood up, followed by Kiriya, and walked out of the room.
"... Are you afraid of the future, because death will come to you, Mei?"
The silence was loud between them when Kiriya posed that question.
"... I don't know. Before, I always thought that death would come to everyone without exception… so I thought I would be ready because I already knew death was coming… After joining Fire Moth, I thought that I was more afraid of failing to save humanity against Honkai than death itself. But… in this mission, after facing death directly, I'm not sure. I don't know whether I'm afraid or not."
"I just don't want the pain of the process. But, death itself… I'm not sure, Kiriya-san."
Kiriya nodded lightly.
"It's okay, Mei. Being confused is normal. Everyone knows they will die one day, but not everyone has the privilege to get a second chance to live in the future like all of us."
Kiriya also considered it.
What happens after the mission is over? The next mission for new members? What about those who don't have the chance to become immortal? Will they grow old and die?
Will all members become immortal and experience this cursed cycle over and over again for eternity?
What if one of the members chooses to die rather than be saved?
Not everyone wants to be saved or needs it.
'What is the meaning of your existence?'
What is the meaning of this rebellion?