Yuta had successfully completed his task, but his phone had run out of battery and turned off, so he didn't have time to send Rikka a message to let her know he was safe.
He just thought that since he was going back soon, a little while wouldn't make a difference... and a small surprise for her would be nice.
Yuta thought this way, but Rikka on the other side didn't think so.
At this moment, everyone in the association was still gathered in the school club room. Every other day, they would legitimately gather everyone at school under the guise of Club Activities for parties and fun.
Only today, Rikka was not in a good state.
Yuta and her mother had left early in the morning by train to fight for her independent living.
But until now... besides the email confirming their arrival at the destination, Yuta hadn't given her any other reply... This made her unable to put her mind at ease.
Did her grandfather not allow it? Was the matter not going smoothly? Were they still negotiating?
Was it... that she would ultimately still have to be separated from Yuta?
Anxiety, sadness, fear... Various emotions echoed and lingered in Rikka's heart.
Rikka looked up at the sky, hoping for Yuta to return with good news, sitting on the ground with eager anticipation, waiting for good news.
This abnormality was noticed by Totsuka, her Master's servant, and she naturally wouldn't stand by. She walked over and put her hand on Rikka's shoulder.
"Master... Dark Flame Master will definitely succeed, death."
"But... this should have been the battle of my Evil Kings True Eye, and I can't leave everything to Yuta..."
"Even so, Dark Flame Master hopes to leave it to him, death, and hopes that Master you can wait patiently for him, death_yo."
As a servant, Totsuka was actually Rikka's closest best friend, her most familiar companion, so how could she not see Rikka's unease?
Just then, a door opening sound came from behind. Rikka quickly turned to look, how much she hoped it was Yuta.
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"Has Togashi-kun returned?"
The newcomer was Nibutani, wearing a red and white cheongsam and with her hair in a bun. She had just finished her drama club activities and hurried over. She was also very concerned about Rikka and Yuta's issue.
"Not yet, Morisummer-chan~"
Koushou, who rarely didn't take a nap, greeted Nibutani with a lazy voice when she saw her come in.
Seeing that it wasn't Yuta, Rikka was naturally disappointed again, but Totsuka, seeing Nibutani's attire, suddenly felt a surge of combat desire.
"You! What's with that outfit, death!"
Nibutani held her slender waist, with one side of her perky butt sticking out, and spoke helplessly, of course, she was helpless towards Yuta.
"This is for drama club practice... Really, I told Togashi to contact us immediately if he ran into trouble..."
"What can a fake like you do in the final duel, death?"
Totsuka didn't care about any of that. Since Nibutani was here, it was a good time to have a fight.
Without much more talk, Totsuka rushed forward on the spot and began to exchange martial arts with Nibutani.
Having fought with Nibutani for a long time, Totsuka had learned many fighting styles. From her initial flustered responses, she could now calmly take Totsuka's punches and kicks.
Looking at the two entangled in combat, Koushou narrowed her eyes, watching the beautiful scene of the two.
It seemed that with the addition of this cheongsam, Nibutani's movements were filled with the shadows of traditional martial arts.
"Speaking of which, Morisummer-chan always comes here wearing her drama club costume."
"That's because changing clothes is too much trouble, and anyway, only you guys are here."
Nibutani posed, forcing Totsuka back, and answered the question.
"Is that so? So that's it... I thought Morisummer-chan wanted to make Totsuka happy~"
Hearing this, Nibutani immediately became anxious, her face flushed as she loudly retorted.
"Ha~ Why should I do anything for this middle school kid..."
In her haste to clarify, Nibutani completely ignored Totsuka's attack, and then Totsuka ambushed her! She was tripped by a slide tackle and fell to the ground.
Before Nibutani could recover and stand up, Totsuka took a small hop and sat on Nibutani's thigh. Someone suddenly jumping onto her leg hurt a lot, making Nibutani instinctively cry out in pain.
"I'm not a middle school kid anymore, death! From spring on, I'll be an upperclassman just like you, death!"
Totsuka sat on Nibutani, swinging her pigtails, swaying excitedly and forgetting herself, her face filled with exhilaration.
"But you're still a junior, don't get so smug riding on someone else!"
Having fought with Totsuka so much, Nibutani had long become an "expert on Totsuka." With quick eyes and hands, she grabbed the sandbag at the end of Totsuka's pigtail, then swung it, hitting Totsuka in the face and sending her head back.
"How dare you do that, death? Thunder Hammer!"
"Ow, ow... I'm telling you! Give me a break!!"
Nibutani and Totsuka began their daily squabble. Koushou, seeing this, also hid out of the combat range to avoid being affected, and went to find Rikka, who had turned back to look out the window.
"I really hope Togashi-kun succeeds."
"Mmm."
Everyone was happy, only Ikenouchi Maki, who had been shrinking in the corner, silently put down the book in her hand, on the verge of tears.
This book was a high-level ninjutsu book that Fang Wuwei had copied from Naruto. She had asked Fang Wuwei for a copy to learn, but was told:
"I already told you... you're not cut out to be a mage."
Alright, alright, I won't learn those ninjutsu, can I learn taijutsu instead?
I think this Eight Inner Gates is still quite charming...
But she was told she still couldn't learn it.
With such feelings, Ikenouchi Maki had been dispirited but refused to give up... If I don't learn it, can I at least look at it? This Flying Thunder God looks so cool...
But now she couldn't even bring herself to look at it anymore... So noisy, Woo woo woo...
People's joys and sorrows are not the same; I only find them noisy.
Just then, the door of the association was pulled open again. Hearing the sound, Nibutani and Totsuka also stopped their entanglement and looked outside. Rikka also saw who had arrived in the reflection of the window.
Yuta, grandly returned!
"Yuta!"
Rikka called out sweetly and quickly ran over to Yuta.
"Sorry for the wait, my phone ran out of battery."
Seeing the barely concealed anticipation and unease on Rikka's face, Yuta felt a surge of pride from the bottom of his heart.
"How was it?"
"You need to get ready quickly. Starting tomorrow, you'll be living alone here."
Rikka's hopes had come true. Yuta returned with good news, and also brought her a new life.
In her surprise, Rikka found it difficult to express her feelings at this moment in words. Tears of joy slid from the corners of her eyes, unable to conceal the excitement in her heart. Rikka rushed up and hugged Yuta's neck, pressing herself tightly into Yuta's embrace.
"Yuta... Yuta Yuta... Yuta! Yuta, thank you! Yuta... Yuta Yuta Yuta..."
Yuta also couldn't hide his joy, letting Rikka call his name in his arms, his face also showing an undisguised smile.
Listening to Rikka's incredibly excited, happy, and joyful voice in his ear, Yuta felt... everything was worth it. All his efforts, all his persistence, finally received the best reward at this moment.
Watching the two embrace, seemingly reaching a perfect and complete ending, everyone felt relieved and silently rejoiced for the two in their hearts, blessing them.
Only Ikenouchi Maki silently took out her phone and snapped a picture.
"...Why are you taking pictures too?"
"Master said long ago that if Dark Flame Master came back, Rikka would definitely be very excited, and if the two hugged, he told me to definitely take a picture..."
Nibutani was utterly speechless. Fang Wuwei wasn't even here, and he was still so fixated on this?
"Speaking of which... where is he? He hasn't been here these past few days."
"I don't know... I heard he's preparing things to go to the inner world."
Nibutani was completely and utterly speechless. Goodness, Rikka and the others only fantasized, but this guy was actually a doer?