Chapter 110: Reunion

—February 11th, Saturday

Bathed in the morning sunlight, I slowly opened my eyes. A certain feeling of conviction stirred within me, prompting me to call out to her.

“Good morning, Alicia.”

『…Good morning, Ikuto-san.』

Hearing her voice for the first time in three days felt so nostalgic that tears welled up in my eyes and streamed down my cheeks. Since Alicia shared my senses, she must have noticed immediately.

『I must have worried you quite a bit… um…』

“I heard everything from my father… about you, Alicia.”

That alone seemed enough for her to understand everything.

『I see… I’m sorry. I was keeping something from you.』

“It’s okay… I already heard the reason from Yuna.”

『I was actually planning to tell you much earlier. But… spending time in this world with you, experiencing everything together, it was just so—so much fun… and I started wanting to stay in those moments just a little longer. I kept putting it off… this is all my fault. I’m sorry.』

Truthfully, there was a part of me that wished she had relied on me more. But at the same time, I had been unable to talk to even my childhood friend about myself—so I wasn’t exactly in a position to judge.

“I was so overwhelmed just dealing with being in Alicia’s body… it makes sense if you couldn’t lean on me because of that. Honestly… if I had known that I was the reason you’d disappear, I might not have been able to accept this body because of the guilt I’d feel towards you…”

『Keeping it secret was entirely my selfishness. Ikuto-san, you’re not at fault in any way!』

Alicia said it firmly, refusing to acknowledge any responsibility on my part.

“…That’s…”

I felt like she was giving me way too much credit. Still, no matter what I said now, I knew Alicia in this state wouldn’t change her mind. Thinking that, I decided to shift the topic.

“I asked before… but there’s really no magic to return to normal?”

『There isn’t. Magic to extract a soul from a body has been studied since ancient times as a means of immortality. But… there are no records of anyone succeeding.』

“Then… what about the magic you used on me?”

『What I used on you, Ikuto-san, was a world transfer spell. By exploiting the identical nature of our existences, I tricked the world during the transfer into recognizing us as a single being, and moved your fading soul into my body. Honestly, it was a desperate gamble… calling it a miracle that it worked wouldn’t be an exaggeration.』

Identical existence. Born on the same day, at the same time, but in different worlds—our souls were said to be remarkably similar. When I first heard about it, I remember wondering how that could be possible when our appearances and even our genders were completely different. Apparently, Alicia was able to summon me because of that trait.

『That’s why… reversing it is impossible. Originally, my soul should have been lost during the transfer. So… in this world, my existence is something like a bonus. I think the time I’ve spent in this world with you has been a reward from Lady Minstia.』

“...!”

Her detached tone squeezed painfully at my heart.

As I fumbled for words to respond, the sound of knocking on my door interrupted my thoughts.

“…Alice, are you awake?”

It was Yuna.

I quickly activated telepathy to reply.

『I’m awake. Good morning, Yuna.』

『Good morning, Yuna-san.』

It sounded like the same greeting was said twice, but of course, Yuna would never mistake our voices.

“…! Alicia!”

As soon as she heard Alicia’s voice, Yuna flung the door open and burst into my room. Still in her pajamas, Yuna rushed over to me on the bed and wrapped me in a tight embrace.

“I’m so glad… we could meet again…! Welcome back, Alicia.”

Since yesterday, it feels like I’ve been getting hugged nonstop, I thought to myself.

『I’m back… I’m really sorry for all the trouble and worry I caused… for everything…』

“It’s fine. You don’t need to worry about that…”

『…Thank you, Yuna.』

And just like that, the three of us quietly basked in the warmth of our reunion.

Grrrmm…

My stomach growled, breaking the calm of the morning and immediately lightening the atmosphere.

“Fufu, you must be hungry. Mom’s making breakfast, so let’s go to the living room.”

『Yes!』

Come to think of it, last night I had been so absorbed in reading through the materials Dad left me that I only ate the rice balls Yuna brought up to my room. It’s strange how, once you realize it, hunger hits you all at once.

Together, we headed down the stairs to the living room.

The comforting smell of miso soup greeted us as we entered.

Looking toward the kitchen, I saw Mom standing at the counter like always.

“Good morning.”

『Good morning.』

When we greeted her together, Mom’s expression briefly turned to surprise before she smiled warmly and welcomed us.

“Good morning, both of you.”

“I’m here too! Good morning, Mom!”

“Good morning, Yuna. Breakfast is almost ready, so go ahead and take a seat.”

We took our usual seats at the table.

After chatting with Yuna for a bit, Mom finished setting the breakfast on the table. It was the usual fare—rice, bacon and eggs, and miso soup.

Mom sat down, and with Dad already off on an overseas business trip since before I got back yesterday, this was everyone at home for today.

We all said, “Itadakimasu,” and began eating.

『It’s so delicious… truly.』

Alicia said, savoring every bite.

Over the past eight months, Alicia had completely grown accustomed to the taste of home.

Mom and Yuna both had gentle tears in their eyes as they watched me—us—eating.

I, too, enjoyed the meal a little more slowly than usual, quietly finishing every bite.

Since today was Saturday, we didn’t have school.

We agreed to Yuna’s suggestion to relax together in the living room.

Mom said she’d wash our pajamas, so I went back to my room to change. I picked something casual—a loose pink dress, a white cardigan, and black fleece-lined leggings.

After tossing my pajamas in the washing machine, I returned to the living room. Mom had already prepared some tea on the coffee table by the sofa.

Alongside it, she’d set out individually wrapped chocolates, so we enjoyed a light tea time.

『Haah…』

A soft, content sigh escaped Alicia’s lips as she savored the sweetness of the chocolate. Compared to the restlessness of the past few days, this peaceful moment felt almost surreal.

“…So, Alicia, how long do you think you’ll be able to stay synchronized like this?”

Yuna had changed and come back to the living room, and her question snapped me back to reality.

『As long as I get a rest day every other day, I should be fine… at least for now.』

Hearing Alicia’s words, I couldn’t help but frown.

That was less than half the time she used to manage… just like Hisui said, Alicia had really been pushing herself too hard.

『Really, I’m fine! As long as I rest properly, I won’t suddenly lose synchronization like before. I can still be with everyone for a good while longer.』

Alicia spoke in an especially cheerful tone, trying to lift the heavy atmosphere.

But seeing her force herself to sound upbeat only made it more painful, and it didn’t have the effect she wanted.

“Alicia…”

Yuna also looked pained.

“Alicia… I’ll help you. I promise.”

I said, declaring my resolve to Alicia.

“I will definitely find a way to save your soul, Alicia… so please, believe in me and wait.”

『…Thank you, Ikuto-san.』

Alicia replied, though I felt like there was a trace of hesitation in her expression. She was happy to hear it, but I could sense she was also thinking about how difficult it would be in reality.

“Ah, I’ll help too!” Yuna declared, raising her hand energetically.

“Of course, I’ll do everything I can as well. Alicia is precious family to us,” Mom added warmly.

『…Everyone…』

At some point, Mom had returned to the living room and joined in. Her name had appeared several times in the report Dad compiled. I’d have to ask her about it in more detail later.

“…But for now, why don’t we have a birthday party today?”

“Ah… right!” Yuna lit up.

『I want to have a birthday party too!』 Alicia eagerly agreed.

Hearing Mom’s words, Yuna and Alicia immediately nodded.

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

Honestly, I wanted to get moving as soon as possible to help Alicia, but she’d been looking forward to this birthday party for a long time. There was no way I could bring myself to object.

Telling myself that rushing wouldn’t help anything, I forced down my sense of urgency.

“Since it’s the weekend, let’s start the party at lunchtime.”

“Good idea! I’ll check with everyone about their plans!” Yuna said cheerfully.

We were originally supposed to have the party two nights ago. But everything got postponed because of what happened with Alicia.

“We’ll take care of the preparations, so you go talk with Alicia,” Yuna said.

“…Are you sure?”

“You said you’d be thinking of ways to save Alicia, didn’t you?”

“…Thanks.”

I thanked her and returned to my room to talk with Alicia.

That said, most of what needed to be covered was already in Dad’s report, so it mainly turned into a review session. I supplemented a few additional points from a magic user’s perspective, asking Alicia for details and jotting them down.

A message came in from Yuna.

Apparently, the three people we invited—Souta, Hisui, and Suzuka—were all free to come over at lunchtime today.

Not long after, Souta and Hisui arrived. The two of them had been worried about Alicia and came early to check in on her.

Hisui had also helped Dad with researching the concept of souls, so we sat together in the living room to go over some of that.

Before long, Suzuka arrived too, and the birthday party began.

Everyone gave me presents. Yuna had bought a cake, and together—me, Yuna, and Alicia in spirit—we blew out the candles. We enjoyed Mom’s homemade feast, played Wii games together, and had fun with board games like The Game of Life. It was a day filled with smiles.

Of course, with Alicia’s situation still unresolved, I couldn’t truly enjoy myself from the bottom of my heart.

But I didn’t let it show even for a second. I kept smiling, because I wanted Alicia to be able to smile too.