A/N (1): So, although I feel I rushed this chapter because I really wanted to write it, I am both happy and sorry to say that this is the last chapter in this story. I did not want to keep dragging this on, and I only ever meant this to be a ficlet of ten or fewer chapters. I *may* make a sequel in the future, but for right now it is not in my immediate plans. I am busy working on Fata Donum and finishing up Waterfall Eclipse. I do, however, have other project ideas written down, and I may attempt writing one of them soon.
Chapter Five: Back to Normalcy
Setting:
Wistal Castle, Clarines in the Grand Ballroom
The visitors watched with extreme interest and shock as none other than King Izana himself led Tomori Nao onto the dance floor. The group she arrived with couldn't help but smile at the sight, and laugh to themselves at the luck of their unofficial leader.
"I am surprised, Prince Zen, that your brother came over to us and asked Nao to dance." Kondo commented.
"Believe me, Miss Arisa, that I am too. But we like to make all of our guests welcome, even though him doing it is out of the ordinary."
"We all appreciate it though." She admitted with a smile as he led her in a spin causing her to smile. "So what do you think the king is asking Nao?"
"I honestly have no clue." Prince Zen admitted as they brushed past Shirayuki and Takajo. "But I doubt it's anything bad."
Kondo smiled at the two before focusing her attention on the king and Tomori again.
"You dance well, Miss Nao." King Izana stated.
Tomori gulped as she focused on where he was leading her.
"Thank you, your highness." She responded keeping it at small talk if she could help it.
"Not one for conversation I see."
"It's not that." Tomori answered nervously. "I am just not used to this dance so I don't want to mess up."
He didn't say anything else about it, but he did try to have a civilized conversation with her until the dance ended. Once it did, the guests thanked their dance partners and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
"So, tomorrow you will be heading back to the outskirts, right?" Mitsuhide inquired as the group left the hall to walk back to their rooms.
"Yes." Otosaka answered and then looked at Kanako who looked sad. "You okay?" He asked her with a nudge in her arm.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I just know that eventually I'll have to go back to my actual home in Tanburan, which is so boring sometimes."
"Maybe you can stay at the house in Clarines." He suggested. "You never know."
Kanako smiled at him as the group continued to walk and talk. Once they arrived in the East Wing, they went to their own rooms and called it a night.
In the morning, after a quick breakfast with everyone, the group headed with Obi back to the house in the clearing.
"I expect you guys will be heading home soon." Obi stated as he brought the horse-drawn cart to a halt.
"Yes." Takajo answered and then paused. "Well, we hope to at least." He added and then hopped off the cart and helped the girls.
Nishimori was the first one off and she ran up to the house first.
"It feels nice being back here." Nishimori commented as she opened the door and walked in.
"Yes. It does, although I really liked the bed at the palace." Tomori commented and then turned to Kondo. "When do you think we will be able to go to our home?"
Kondo did not turn around from grabbing the bag she was aiming for as Tomori asked her question. She took a deep breath and heaved the bag off the cart before speaking.
"Let me practice a bit first, Tomori." Kondo started. "I will let you know by dinner." Kondo answered as she brought in her bag.
Obi said his goodbyes and headed back to the castle to be with Zen leaving the group to fend for themselves again.
~Wistal Castle~
Obi made his way into the castle and to Prince Zen's office where Kiki and Mitsuhide were discussing castle affairs with the prince.
"Are they all settled back at the house?" Kiki inquired after the initial shock of Obi coming through the door passed.
"Yes. I should expect, Prince Zen, that they will be heading to their world at one point tomorrow."
"Okay. Check in a few days to see if they have left. For right now, I have a meeting with King Izana to get to."
Obi nodded as the prince stood up and then headed out the door leaving him with Mitsuhide and Kiki who just smiled.
"What?"
"I think you are going to miss Miss Yusa and the other ladies." Kiki teased. "You had her got along really well last night, and the whole time while she was here."
"Yes, I did, and yes, I am going to miss them, but they don't belong here." He said as he stretched and sat on the window seats. "All good things must come to an end, even if they are extremely enjoyable."
"Quite the inspirational quote coming from a less than inspirational person." Mitsuhide teased causing Obi to smirk before closing his eyes.
~Abandoned House~
Once she had unpacked her bag in her room, Kondo made her way downstairs and outside before heading to the clearing to "practice." She took a deep breath and thought of home – all of its scents and the people, among some of the things.
Before she knew it, she transported herself home, and then came back again, only to try it again and was successful. Once back in Clarines, which everyone started to designate as "World X", she headed back to the house just in time for dinner.
"How'd it go?"
"Great Nishimori! I think I finally got a handle on it. I was able to transport myself back and forth a few times, but now I am completely exhausted."
"So a good night's sleep and we can be off in the morning?" Otosaka inquired as she stuck a forkful of food in her mouth.
She nodded as she chewed before she answered.
"Yes. And after tonight's meal and tomorrow's breakfast I should be fully recharged."
Tomori nodded in agreement. She couldn't help but feel relieved that they were finally able to go home. She was also, albeit secretly excited as well.
"So, Tomori, how was it dancing with the king last night?" Nishimori asked with a grin. "And what did you two talk about?"
"It was fine." Tomori answered curtly. "He complimented me on my dancing and asked if we were enjoying ourselves. Typical chitchat. Nothing more."
"That's no fun! I had a blast dancing with Obi. He's a laugh riot. He was telling me about some of the more funny moments between Shirayuki and the king before he was the king."
"I had fun too." Takajo inputted. "Even if I didn't want to dance, it was fun dancing with Shirayuki." He added and then turned to Otosaka. "What about you?"
"I think I tripped and messed up once or twice, but it was nice dancing with Miss Kiki." Otosaka answered after swallowing.
"Prince Zen was awesome to dance with. He's so kind." Kondo added. "And I can tell he's really in love with Miss Shirayuki." She added with a smile.
"I still love her hair color." Nishimori said with a smile. "It's so bold, and beautiful."
"I agree." Kondo said with a smile.
They continued their small talk as they finished their meal. Once the chores were finished, they organized everything for an easy out for when Obi came back and relayed the message of their departure to Prince Zen and Shirayuki. Kondo helped out before making her way up the stairs to her room that she shared with Tomori and laid down on her bed before dozing off to sleep.
In the morning was crunch time. After breakfast, the group had Kanako write a note for Obi to deliver to Prince Zen, which was to be left on the coffee table in the house. They changed into the clothes the came into this world in, except Kondo, and they headed to the clearing with Kanako trailing behind.
"Okay, so give me some space. I really have to focus to make a wide enough opening for all of us."
Everyone listened and stepped back a couple of feet. Kondo focused on their "world" with everything she could muster and opened a cross-dimensional gate big enough for the group to walk through. Before making their way through, they waved back at Kanako and disappeared through the portal.
They were back home, and the smell proved it, but they weren't in the alley they came back in. The only two not surprised were Kondo and Otosaka.
"Where are we?" Tomori asked.
"Sorry. I could get us home, but not where we crossed over. We'd have to be in Tanburan for that." Kondo apologized. "We are in Kyoto, so if you guys don't mind, we're going to have to take a bus to get us all back home."
Tomori was about to scold Kondo, but Nishimori interrupted.
"Awesome! Modern transportation! This is great! I'll treat for the ride!" She said as she pulled out the cash she had stuck in her pocket. "Since we couldn't use this over there, I have enough for everyone." Nishimori added excitedly as they headed over to the closest bus stop and read the schedule.
After getting on a bus, they relaxed and sat down.
"It's so nice to be in a civilization that has electricity and vehicles with engines." Takajo said with a sigh causing the others to let out a small chuckle.
They got off the bus not far from where they originally disappeared.
"So, I guess we should all be on our way. See you around?" Kondo asked, slightly afraid.
"Well, that's up to you." Otosaka asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Tomori started as she approached Kondo. "Our offer still stands. You can still attend our school. You'd still be welcome there"
"You still want me to?"
"Yes." They all answered her calmly causing her to smile.
"Okay. Should I just go there in the morning?"
"Oh, honey, it's not that kind of school. We have awesome dorms." Nishimori answered. "Tonight, for safety, you can room with me and tomorrow we'll see about a permanent solution."
"Oh, okay." Kondo replied in a nervous half smile.
There was a sudden rustling behind them her and she turned around quickly and gasped.
"Oh, damn!" Takajo stated as Nishimori stopped and stood tall.
Except it wasn't Nishimori Yusa. Instead, her sister, Kurobane Misa, was now in control of the younger sister's body.
"Run!" Tomori yelled as she grabbed Kondo's hand. "Kurobane – distract them!"
"On it!" Kurobane yelled as she formed flames in her hands and then shot fireballs at the men that were coming after them.
The others ran away and Kurobane soon followed, as they ran for their lives towards their school.
Kondo looked back at Kurobane and shook her head. She ordered Tomori to let her go, which she reluctantly did, and stopped to garner her energy and focused on creating a portal to get rid of the enemy.
Once Kurobane was clear, the portal was opened enough for the men chasing them to fit through and Kondo quickly closed it off and ran to catch up with everyone.
A few minutes later and they were all together again. And smiling.
"Where did you send them?"
"I don't know." Kondo said with a grin. "But I think I sent them into a volcano."
"V-volcano?" Takajo asked surprised. "A volcano?" He repeated in shock.
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to send them to World X. That would be too nice."
"But a volcano? Even I am shocked at that." Otosaka agreed with Takajo.
Kondo Arisa smiled a genuine unforced smile at her new friends. And laughed.
Three days later, she was getting used to her new school, living in a dorm, having fun with kids her own age that also had special abilities. Tomori offered her a spot on the Student Council, but she declined but remained friends with the small group. She did, however, offer her services if needed and they gladly accepted it.
A/N (2): So this is now complete. Thank you, everyone, for sticking with this for this long. The one chapter a month updates I am sure were pure hell, but since the new season of Akagami no Shirayukihime will be starting soon, anyone who is a fan of that must be thrilled. I know I am.
DeadmanWonder: Sorry I never got to talk about the time exchange thing. I completely forgot. I will make a note for the sequel, if that ever gets written. Thank you for sticking with this story.
Sophia Yee: Thanks for your interest, and sorry for ending this now. I appreciate the review and am happy to know you liked this enough to want more.
Thank you to the following for following: Code-Emperor07, DeadmanWonder, Meyumi, Naomi334, Remonalin, dianne-gonzalez512 (hyphened because a period gets weird), dreamangels508, fluffytriangles, and lilliweenie.
Thank you to the following for adding this to your favorites: DeadmanWonder, lilliweenie, and gmpricess-s (hypened because a period gets weird).
Thank you for those who have ever reviewed before this: Convergence-Eternal, dianne-gonzalez512, Marianneanimelover, guest (from 09/20/15), DeadmanWonder, Naomi334, and Sophia Yee.