Taki's mouth fell open.
Miko stood before him, dressed completely in black. Her hair fluttered as if the wind obeyed her. He froze, still sitting on the ground, eyes wide.
"Miko too… got possessed?" he whispered. His voice shook as he turned his gaze to Rieko, who was tossing the white siblings around like rag dolls. Then back to Miko, who was calmly cutting through Deetee's peasants like shadows of ash.
"My best friends are possessed by the devil," he muttered.
He tried to stand, but his whole body screamed in pain. After Deetee slammed him against that tree, and the peasant, he could feel his bones protesting every movement. Still, he pushed himself up, grabbed his cracked glasses, and forced his body to move toward Miko.
"Mi… Miko…" he called out.
He didn't know what he'd see, his best friend or something else wearing her skin. But as he watched, her black hair faded back to soft pink, her uniform returned, and her eyes fluttered. She looked lost, dizzy.
"Miko!" he shouted, rushing forward. He caught her before she could fall, both of them collapsing to the ground together.
She let out a weak laugh, voice trembling. "Taki, all of that, they just disappeared. I don't even know how. It was scary and awesome at the same time. It felt like a video game or something."
Taki blinked, adjusting his glasses with one cracked lens. "Miko… is that you?"
"Of course it's me, idiot," she mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder.
Before he could reply, a cold breeze swept past them. They looked up. The white siblings stood ahead, glowing faintly. Charlie's hair floated around her like mist, pale as snow, her eyes blank and shining. But what caught Taki and Miko's attention wasn't that,
it was Rieko.
Bobby and Juwon White had her unconscious body pinned to her knees. Each had a hand on her shoulder while Charlie murmured something under her breath, a strange chant echoing around them.
"What are they doing?" Miko whispered, still weak.
Taki frowned. "I don't know. But I don't think it's good."
Then they saw the blood, thin trails running from Rieko's nose and ears.
"No! That's not a good sign," Taki said, panic in his voice. "I have to stop them. Miko, stay here. I don't care if I have to carry you both on my back, we're all leaving this forest. Three or none."
He gently set her down and sprinted forward.
"What are you guys doing?" he shouted.
Charlie didn't respond. Her eyes were pure white as her voice rose louder, her chanting sharp and harsh. Juwon and Bobby didn't even look at him, they only focused on her.
"Stay away from her! You're killing her!" Taki yelled, running straight at them.
He leapt onto Bobby, dragging him away from Rieko's body.
"What do you think you're doing, fish boy?" Bobby snapped, kicking him aside.
Taki hit the ground hard but got back up, his body shaking. He grabbed Bobby's hair and pulled with all his strength. He wasn't thinking about pain or fear anymore. Rieko was his first best friend. She was his sister, not by blood, but by heart. After his mom, she was all he had.
And no one, no one, was taking her away from him.
Bobby shoved him off again, stronger this time, and Taki went rolling. But he got back up, panting, and charged at Charlie instead. He jumped on her back, wrapping his arms around her neck.
"Stop it! Don't do this to Rieko! Don't take my family!" he screamed.
Charlie's chant faltered. Her eyes twitched as she tried to shake him off. "What are you doing? Let go of me!"
Juwon dropped Rieko's body and ran toward them. "You freak! Get off Charlie now!"
Both of them tried to pull Taki away, but he clung tighter, repeating through gritted teeth, "No one is taking my family. No one."
Meanwhile, Bobby hesitated. He looked from Taki to Rieko, unsure. Then his eyes hardened. He picked up his half-broken bat, pressed a button, and a sharp blade slid out from the end.
He remembered something, cutting off a demon's horns would weaken it. Maybe even destroy it.
He moved toward Rieko.
But before he could reach her, Miko appeared, stumbling but standing tall, blocking his path.
"Stay away from Rieko, you dumb sibling," she said.
Bobby froze. "Dumb?"
The word hit him like a slap. His face twisted in anger as he grabbed her arm and shoved her aside.
"Get out of my way, you demon!" he shouted, raising the blade.
Before he could strike, Miko grabbed his leg, using every bit of strength to hold him down.
"Not a chance! That girl might be crazy, but she's my first real friend!" she hissed.
Taki was still clinging to Charlie's back, Miko still holding Bobby's leg, when suddenly everything slowed down, like time itself had stopped. Rieko, who had been unconscious, slowly sat up as if waking from a deep dream.
Everything froze. Even the binders hesitated, unsure whether it was fear or the sense that another chaos was about to begin. They could have bound her while she was out, but now she was awake.
"Guys," Rieko said softly, rubbing her head, "I just had the craziest dream. I was with a demon king or something. It felt like I got isekai'd into a video game and…"
She stopped. Her eyes widened as she looked around at the five faces staring back at her. "Wait… the White Siblings? Why are they here?"
Taki quickly jumped down from Charlie's back and rushed toward her. Miko let go of Bobby's leg and joined him.
"Are you really Rieko?" Taki asked, his voice shaking. Her horns were gone, but her hair and eyes were still green, not black like before.
"Who else would I be?" Rieko replied.
"Just tell us, Rieko," Miko said carefully. "Are you really you, or that alien demon thing?"
"You want proof?" Rieko said, smiling a little. "Ask me anything. I'll answer."
Taki didn't waste a second. "If √(x + 1) = x – 1, what's x?"
Rieko paused for a moment, then answered calmly. "Square both sides. x + 1 = x² – 2x + 1. That gives x² – 3x = 0. So x = 0 or 3. Only x = 3 works."
Taki nodded, tears welling in his eyes. He wasn't done yet. "If 2(x – 4) + 10 = 0, what's x?"
She smiled faintly. "2x – 8 + 10 = 0. That's 2x + 2 = 0, so x = –1."
Miko stepped forward next. "If an object keeps accelerating in space without any opposing force, what happens to its velocity over time?"
Rieko lifted her gaze, her expression soft and sure. "It becomes infinite. There's no air resistance, no friction, nothing to slow it down. According to Newton's first law, if no force stops it, it'll keep accelerating forever. Infinite time means infinite velocity."
Her voice cracked a little on the last word, and Miko's and Taki's eyes filled with tears.
"Rieko…" they whispered together, before pulling her into a tight hug. All three of them cried, holding on as if they could stop time themselves.
But their reunion didn't last long.
The White Binders still stood there, silent but tense.
They didn't believe it, not yet.
And they still had one mission left.
Would they succeed now that the real Rieko was back,
or would the three best friends finally find a way to go home, together?