Fang Wuwei stared intently at the ethereal figure before him, convinced that this was Rikka's father.
When he first arrived, this figure was nonexistent, but it suddenly appeared once Rikka and Toka arrived, staying by their side ever since.
During their intense fight, it was clear that the figure was extremely flustered, attempting to stop them with its non-existent body… There was no mistake; this had to be Rikka's father.
Fang Wuwei met the figure's gaze until the figure nodded, acknowledging its identity…
Fang Wuwei was extremely excited. He felt he was finally on the verge of discovering the truth of this world. Ever since he realized this world was not merely a simple romance anime, he had been actively exploring its hidden secrets. He believed that the chuunibyou fantasies of Rikka and others might very well be real, so…
He had a million questions, but seeing the figure before him gesticulating with incomprehensible movements, Fang Wuwei realized that the other party seemed unable to communicate with him…
No big deal; he could try something.
Fang Wuwei's right eye slowly rotated. For the first time, he used the Mangekyo's ability on the figure before him.
Tsukuyomi!
The figure felt a momentary daze in its spirit. The next instant, it found itself in a blood-red space, with an unknown depth of water beneath its feet, yet it stood steadily upon it. Overhead, the sky was dominated by a terrifying, blood-red moon.
"This…? Eh? I can speak now?"
"Mr. Takanashi, welcome to the world of Tsukuyomi."
Just as he was confused and surprised, Fang Wuwei's voice came from behind him.
He turned around and saw Fang Wuwei looking at him. With the help of the illusion, he had returned to his appearance before death, no longer a blurry figure but a person—a person who would drive Rikka and Toka mad if they saw him.
Facing this character, who was completely absent from the original plot, Fang Wuwei felt for the first time that events were unfolding far beyond his expectations, yet he still wanted to explore…
"Child, I ask you, who are you?"
However, Mr. Takanashi was very wary. Why did he know about his family, and how long had he been watching here?
Fang Wuwei understood his wariness. If he had a daughter in the future, he would probably be the same.
"I, my name is Fang… No, Fang Wuwei, a close friend of Rikka and Yuta. Yuta is the boy who just stood in front of Rikka, Rikka's boyfriend."
"Eh?! Rikka has a boyfriend?!"
Mr. Takanashi was very shocked. He hadn't seen them for several years, and both children had grown up…
Although Mr. Takanashi still didn't fully believe what this man said, he probably had no choice but to believe. He could drag himself, who had already become a ghost, into this unknown space, so he probably also had a way to deal with him…
An exorcist?
Mr. Takanashi sighed. He knew he had been dead for three years. In these three years, Rikka had never visited this place, and he couldn't easily leave, which meant he had no idea how Rikka and Toka, these two good sisters, had become like this over the years…
Looking at Mr. Takanashi, who was frowning and sighing, Fang Wuwei sat down cross-legged. The space around him slowly began to change. The blood-red moon disappeared, replaced by a classical wooden ceiling, and the ground was no longer water but tiles…
He seemed to have arrived at… a cafe?
(Within the Tsukuyomi Space, all time, space, and matter are controlled by the caster.)
"What would you like? Anything is fine."
"…Then please give me a cup of coffee…"
Fang Wuwei lightly tapped the table, and the next instant, a steaming cup of coffee appeared before him.
"It seems you have many questions. Go ahead and ask; I will tell you as much as I can. In return… I also have some questions for you."
Mr. Takanashi silently picked up the coffee and took a sip, feeling the taste in his mouth that was exactly like his favorite coffee when he was alive. After a moment of thought, he nodded.
"Then, please tell me, why did Rikka become like this…? Why did Toka fight Rikka so fiercely…? And who exactly are you?"
"Ah, that… It's a long story… Let me think where to begin…"
— — — — This is a cute dividing line — — — —
On Yuta's side, after catching up, he found that Rikka had disappeared. So he immediately rode his bicycle, rushing back over ten kilometers to Rikka's grandparents' house.
Ignoring the pain in his feet and his hunger from not eating dinner, the first thing Yuta did when he returned home was to run upstairs to look for Rikka.
However, pushing open Rikka's door, he saw only an empty room.
Such an anomaly naturally caught his grandmother's attention; there weren't many boys who would indulge her granddaughter's antics.
"Grandma, where's Rikka?"
"She just took a taxi back. She should be at the beach now, right? Shortly before she came back, others said they were going to set off fireworks and left."
"Okay… Thank you!"
Having obtained important information, Yuta, dragging his exhausted body, set off again, cycling towards the beach.
But reality disappointed him—Rikka was not at the beach; in fact, after some inquiries, Rikka had not been there at all.
If that was the case, it could only mean that Rikka had once again evaded this cruel problem. So where would she escape to?
Yuta already had the answer in his heart. He sped towards the train station on his bicycle. He had to be by her side tonight…
Having put on his shoes, he no longer felt the pain in his feet while cycling, but his heart felt an unprecedented ache…
Finally, arriving at the station just in time, he boarded the last train just in time. He hadn't seen Rikka the entire time. He was making a huge gamble, gambling that Rikka had gotten on this train and escaped back home.
Fortunately, he gambled correctly, or rather, his understanding of Rikka prevented him from losing the bet.
In the empty train car, Rikka, who was staring blankly out the window, saw a panting Yuta in the reflection of the glass.
"Yuta…!"
The moment he saw Rikka, Yuta's heart relaxed, and the fatigue in his body made him unable to hold on. He sat down on the seat diagonally opposite Rikka and gasped for air. Tonight, he had cycled for dozens of kilometers, and there wasn't a single part of his legs that wasn't sore.
"I almost didn't make it…"
"Why…"
Why, do you still choose me?
Facing Yuta's rhetorical question about where he was going, she gave her own answer.
"Indeed, the power of the Bureau is already too strong in this land, and the barrier's power is also very strong. I retreated."
"Which means going home, right?"
Rikka didn't answer the question, only silently stared out the window, not knowing if she was looking at the scenery or at Yuta's face reflected in the glass.
Rikka didn't speak, and Yuta didn't speak either. The two of them silently waited for time to pass in a quiet silence…
"Yuta… Yuta, where did you get the power of the Black Flame?"
Yuta instinctively wanted to stop Rikka from bringing up his old chuunibyou past, but in the end, he decided to tell her everything…
"At first… it was just when I was chatting with friends. Everyone was excitedly discussing where to go play, but I always felt something was off, as if only I was different from them. You could call it a sense of disharmony, or a strange feeling of loneliness, detached from the world…"
At that time, he perhaps simply believed that the normal world wasn't suitable for him, which was why he chose chuunibyou with Wuwei and… Shichimiya Satone.
(It's strange that what I'm writing here corresponds to Episode 8 of the first season. In this episode, Yuta, who talks about his chuunibyou experience, says that the feeling of loneliness detached from the world made him choose to hide in the world of chuunibyou, awakening on his own. But everyone knows that Yuta's chuunibyou was infected by Shichimiya… Perhaps KyoAni didn't think there would be a second season here, so they didn't introduce the character of Shichimiya.)
"Did a dark consciousness awaken memories of another world?"
"Perhaps, it was roughly that feeling, so at that time, I…"
Yuta recalled that old notebook, that memory that even now would make him immensely ashamed, and buried his head, unwilling to remember anymore.
Coming back to his senses, he looked at Rikka, only to see Rikka, who had removed her eye patch, revealing her Evil King's True Eye, staring intently out the window. Just as he was curious about what was outside and looked along with her, he found in the reflection of the glass that Rikka was looking at him.
"Our gazes met."
The two of them, through the reflective window glass, stared intently at each other.
After a long while, Rikka put her eye patch back on.
"Like this, we have forged an even closer contract, Dark Flame Master."
Yuta, who had been somewhat stirred, instantly deflated upon hearing this sentence. He knew she would never change her ways.
"Be swallowed by the Black Flame!"
Rikka extended her hand and spoke Yuta's classic line, scaring Yuta into quickly grabbing her small hand, stopping her from acting chuuni, acting out his own chuuni.
Their clasped hands felt a little warm, and their eyes, no longer separated by glass, gazed deeply at each other.
A smile appeared on their faces, and love emerged in their hearts.