"Mhm, I got it," Yui Kotegawa replied obediently, nodding her head.
However, her face still brimmed with curiosity, her eyes locked intently on Eriri's face.
That adorable expression—clearly dying to know but forcing herself to hold back—made Eriri unable to resist pinching her cheek.
"But before that, I still need to bring over Akiho and Haruna."
Hearing this, Yui blinked in confusion.
"Eh? Eriri-nee, are you going to pick up Akiho-nee and Haruna-chan?"
"Yes, but not in the way you're imagining."
"Huh? Not in the usual way? You're not just going to their house to get them?" Yui's confusion deepened.
Eriri didn't answer. She just smiled and turned slightly to the side, raising her right hand and making a downward motion through the air.
To Yui's astonishment, a brilliant spatial portal suddenly formed in the space ahead. On the other side, the figures of Sairenji Akiho and Sairenji Haruna could be seen lying on a bed reading manga.
"Is that Akiho-nee and Haruna-chan?" Yui couldn't believe her eyes and rubbed them to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
But her shock was quickly replaced by another emotion—
"That's... so amazing!!!"
Yui's eyes sparkled as she stared at the magical-looking portal, her heart racing with excitement.
At her age, children are naturally curious and full of imagination—Yui was no exception.
"Oooh!!! Is this magic? Eriri-nee, are you one of those magical girls from TV?"
Yui's delighted exclamations carried through the portal, reaching the ears of Akiho and Haruna on the other side.
"Haruna, I think I just heard Yui's voice. Something about magical girls," Akiho said, not even lifting her gaze from the manga.
Haruna blinked in surprise and looked over at her sister with a puzzled expression.
"Onee-chan, I think I heard it too..."
"Eh?"
Now curious, Akiho finally lifted her eyes from the page. The two sisters looked at each other, the room falling momentarily silent.
At that moment, they heard a voice they had longed for coming from behind them.
"Akiho, Haruna-chan."
"It's Eriri-nee!!!" they cried out in unison upon hearing the familiar voice.
They jumped up from the bed and turned toward the source of the voice, faces alight with joy.
There, in their room, a mysterious portal had appeared—and on the other side stood the person they missed so dearly.
"Wow, it really is Eriri-nee!"
Akiho shouted, crawling across the bed to the footboard, happily waving at Eriri through the portal. She didn't even have time to be shocked by the portal's magical nature.
She quickly noticed Yui Kotegawa, Nemesis, and Eve beside Eriri on the couch, and cheerfully greeted them too.
"Neme-chan, you're here too! So I really did hear Yui's voice just now."
Haruna followed Akiho to the foot of the bed and also greeted Eriri and the others with a bright smile.
Only after their greetings did the two finally turn their full attention to the portal itself, and soon they felt the same rush of excitement Yui had.
Unsurprisingly, they began asking similar questions, brimming with awe and wonder.
"No rush, no rush. I know you've got lots of questions for me," Eriri said. "But why don't you come over here first? I've got a few things to tell you all—including the answers you're curious about."
Akiho and Haruna trusted Eriri completely, so after hearing her words, they didn't hesitate at all. They immediately stepped into the portal.
...
"We really came all the way from our house in a single step... this is amazing! If I had this power, Mom wouldn't need to take Haruna and me to school anymore," Akiho said, staring at the familiar living room in awe.
Yui, sitting beside her on the sofa with Nemesis and the others, nodded in agreement. "Exactly, I was thinking the same thing."
Nemesis, hearing their conversation, puffed up with pride. "Hehe, that kind of thing is easy. I can do it too~"
Her words immediately drew the attention of Yui, Akiho, and Haruna.
"Eh? Neme-chan, really?" Akiho asked in surprise.
"Of course! Watch this."
Nemesis stretched out her right hand, and a circular spatial portal appeared before her. At the same time, an identical portal formed right in front of Akiho.
Her hand reached through the portal and pinched Akiho's cheek.
"Heh heh, see? Told you," Nemesis said smugly, withdrawing her hand as the portal vanished.
"Mhm, I believe you now! Neme-chan, you're amazing!"
Though Nemesis's portal looked different from the one Eriri had used earlier, there was no doubt that it had the same space-traveling ability.
After seeing it for themselves, Yui and the others believed her without question.
Now they couldn't help but wonder—if Nemesis could do it, could Eve do it too?
All three turned to look at Eve.
Eve responded only with a sweet smile, and then casually replicated Nemesis's trick.
Eriri, holding Eve on her lap, and Tearju—who had just entered the living room—didn't join the interaction. They simply watched with warm smiles.
Still, the three girls couldn't help but turn their attention to Tearju.
"Since Neme-chan and Eve-chan can both do this space-travel thing... Tearju-nee, do you have a cool power too?" Akiho asked, eyes sparkling.
Yui and Haruna also locked their eyes on Tearju.
Feeling their expectant gazes, Tearju waved her hands and said shyly, "Ah, um... I don't have powers like that."
Despite her answer, Akiho remained enthusiastic.
"That's okay! Even if it's not that kind of power, I'm sure you have something amazing, right? You and the others are probably secret heroes who protect the world, right?!"
"Ah—well..."
Tearju found herself at a loss for words. It was true she had some supernatural abilities, but nothing close to Nemesis or Eve—and they weren't heroes by any means.
Thankfully, Eriri cut in at that moment, ending the conversation and giving Tearju a break.
"Alright, alright, no need for wild guesses. We're not some secret heroes protecting the world~" Eriri said softly, her face showing a mysterious smile.
"Next, I'm going to tell you our story. Pay close attention, okay?"
"Mhm, we got it!"
Hearing this, the three girls immediately dropped their questions for Tearju, sat up straight, and turned their eager eyes to Eriri.
Over the next while, Eriri explained everything—her story with Nemesis and the others, as well as the existence of the multiverse.
Throughout the entire explanation, the three girls listened with mouths agape.
Especially Akiho, who was a few years older than Haruna and Yui and had a better grasp of the world around her.
But Eriri's story shattered everything she thought she knew.
If someone else had told her they came from ten years in the future and from another universe, she might have just assumed they were delusional.
But hearing it from Eriri, she didn't doubt a single word.
After finishing, Eriri smiled and asked, "Alright, that's what I wanted to share. So—how do you feel now that you know?"
Swallowing nervously, the three girls glanced at each other, and in each other's eyes they saw the same feeling—excitement.
"That's... That's amazing!" Akiho shouted excitedly. "Eriri-nee, you're all incredible! The future, and other worlds—so cool!"
Haruna, meanwhile, looked at Nemesis and Eve, who appeared to be about her age, with awe.
"I can't believe Neme-chan and Eve-chan are only about one year old..."
"Hmph. Age means nothing to us. I can change my form whenever I want~" Nemesis said proudly.
"Like this."
She activated her transformation ability, her body changing from that of a young girl into that of a eighteen-year-old, her yukata enlarging proportionally.
She tossed her long hair back and flashed a stunning smile.
"How's this form? Haruna-chan, you can call me Neme-onee-chan now~" Nemesis said with a grin.
Haruna was taken aback. Even though she already knew about Nemesis's powers, seeing it firsthand still amazed her.
Eriri hadn't hidden anything about Nemesis and Eve being bio-weapons, nor had she concealed their signature abilities.
She had already accepted Akiho, Haruna, and Yui as part of her family. Otherwise, she wouldn't have stayed to spend over two months with them.
So she had no reason to keep secrets from them.
Besides, she knew they wouldn't judge Nemesis and Eve negatively.
After these two months, Eriri fully understood their personalities and values.
While they might not be entirely different from who they would've become in the original timeline, some change was inevitable.
And just as she expected, the revelation about Nemesis and Eve didn't change their attitudes at all.
Seeing Nemesis's transformation, Akiho crawled over and stared at her in amazement.
"Wow, Neme-chan, that's your transformation ability? Amazing!"
She grabbed Nemesis's arm and gave it a squeeze, completely in awe. Everyone could clearly see the envy in her eyes.
"Of course it is~" Nemesis said proudly, transforming herself back into her original young girl form.
Thanks to Akiho's interruption, the conversation naturally drifted away from the topic of age.
Meanwhile, Yui, who had been as excited as the others during Eriri's story, suddenly fell silent as she remembered what Eriri had told her earlier.
Now, she understood what Eriri had meant when she said her new manga wouldn't be seen for another ten years.
She looked up at Eriri, her heart suddenly heavy with reluctance.
"Eriri-nee... are you going back to the future?"
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