"Classmates' Reunions" (043)

"... Let me have a look at your eye..." While Ayuka was treating Codey's wounded eye she slowly removed the eye bandage, which made Codey feel humiliated.

"... I know that's probably upsetting... so if you don't want to look at it... please don't..."

When Ayuka reached for a cream, she simply grinned. "It doesn't matter... I've seen worse..." Because Ayuka's head was concealing his eye, no one else could see it.

Tim, on the other hand, felt bad about it. "... hey, Codey... I apologize once more for what happened..."

"Don't apologize... if you had to do it to stop me, there's no point in complaining... I'm simply grateful you were able to stop me... after all, this scar won't last forever... In less than a month, it should be completely cured."

"Even though I know it was for the best, I feel compelled to apologize... That wouldn't happen if I just kept my cool..."

"All fine, just take a break..." When Ayuka applied the cream slowly, Codey smiled. "... urgh...", and he was in excruciating pain, yet he stayed composed.

"It had been a week since Ayuka experienced her third nightmare... I'm hoping our preparation pays off in the end..."

Tim agreed with what Codey said at first but then changed his opinion.

"... I'm a little apprehensive about the Spiritual Hoaxers getting involved. There had been no indication that they were attempting to attack us. They could attack us at any moment..."

"They should be unable to do so. They have no idea where we went, and they have no hope of finding us... We were going to use the wormhole anyway..." While washing Codey's eye with water, Ayuka explained.

"Even so, I'm concerned about the others... For a long time, we haven't seen any of our classmates... They need to be driven to stress."

But then someone knocked on the door, and Tim had to answer it. "Make sure to hide with Codey, Ayuka... I'll go see who it is..." The door, however, slammed and opened right there.

"Damn it! You fools, don't you see we're waiting outside?" Nobuhiko, whose head was on fire, screamed. Elliot, Kiyoshi, and Shigeru, as well as Yumi, stood by his side.

"You didn't have to smash the door down..." Shigeru asserted as he crossed his arms and turned to the side.

"Keep your mouth shut! I'm going to do whatever I want!" Nobuhiko screamed and then pointed at others.

"You folks leave us alone in the school without even informing us that you're coming! You have no right to say that! There's a need for a debate here!" Yumi, on the other hand, swiped her right arm across Nobuhiko's face and silenced him.

"Awww! Hi there! It's great to see you again!" Yumi was pleased when she called. "I didn't expect we'd be able to locate your whereabouts *that* quickly!"

Tim and the rest of the group were nervous and uneasy.

"Kiyoshi, Shigeru, Elliot, Yumi, Nobuhiko, Wh-How'd you end up here?" Tim, his arm raised in front of his jaw, was perplexed.

"You're inquiring about us? Let's get this party started. We had a feeling you'd gotten yourself into some sort of difficulty. As a result, we came to find you. You know, we were worried sick!" Kiyoshi explained, his face beaming with delight.

"I-I mean, sure... But, first and foremost, how did you end up here?" Tim gasped, puzzled.

"I informed them about the 'Spiritual Realm' you used to talk about... I was prepared to go alone and inquire if you were present, but they appeared from behind and offered to assist me in the event that I needed assistance dealing with some enemies."

"Oh, Elliot, you can be useful after all."

"What are you talking about, exactly? It's not like I came here to assist you! I came here solely for the girls, particularly Ayuka!" Elliot yelled, pointing directly at him.

"... of course you would ..."

"Now, now, now! Let's not get ahead of ourselves and get into a debate! It doesn't matter where we discovered you; what matters is that we found you! We'll be happy to help you in any way we can! After all, I'm sure you came to this realm for a cause, right?" Yumi laughed and chuckled.

"Yes, that's OK. We can provide you more information on that. So, at first, Codey and I decided to go look for the girls after they were kidnapped by that Genpaku guy. As you can see, we rescued them, but the Spiritual Hoaxers must still be stopped. Our first goal was to save them; the next step is to apprehend the villains."

"Exactly who *Spiritual Hoaxers* are you referring to?" Kiyoshi scratched his red hair, puzzled.

"Oh, that's right... I suppose we'll have to educate you on it as well..."

Tim described everything that had happened up to this point, and luckily, everyone agreed to assist.

"I see..." Shigeru had been standing behind Kiyoshi, who was seated.

"Like cowards, you fled..." Kiyoshi's eyes twinkled at that very time.

"... come on, man. You don't have to state it in a way that implies they've done something wrong..." When Kiyoshi saw Shigeru look to the side and close his eyes, he clutched the top of his head.

"S-Sorry, I apologize for the inconvenience. Shigeru is Shigeru, and he didn't intend anything bad!" Kiyoshi laughed and turned to face the others.

"In some ways... Despite the fact that we didn't have any other options, I believe he has a point. Basically, it was either do or die." Tim sighed as he explained.

"Talking about making a successful getaway! That must imply that Nina and Alpha were also rescued, right? If that's the case, where have they vanished to?" Yumi pondered, her index finger resting on her brow.

"Oh, they're so... Those two, I believe, went grocery shopping..." Someone slammed the door shut again just then.

"Are you kidding me!?" Tim screamed and backed away.

"Yah! So what if we went to the shitty grocery store? That dreadful supermarket didn't even have any goddamn meat - not even a frigging traditional chicken or noodles or something! Tell me! No! Spell it for me! What kind of goddamn supermarket doesn't have meat?"

When Alpha pointed at others, she became agitated. "... please accept my apologies... I attempted to tell her, but she just didn't care..." Nina sighed and grabbed her glasses.

"Yah! Come on, you wussies! Tell me!"

"You went to the grocery shop, right...? So there wouldn't be anything involving meat, of course." Tim expressed his concern.

"That is something I will not believe! Every store *should* have meat, especially when it comes to food, like damn! I'd best give them storekeepers some goddamn meat-selling courses!"

"And she's not willing to listen... As usual, I didn't have high hopes." Tim let out a sigh.

"W-Wait! What are you doing here, you five?! I was under the impression you were in Enrokonai City!" Nina ran in front of Yumi.

"Aww! Nina! You've arrived! It's great to see you again!" Yumi and Nina yelled in unison as they pressed their palms together, clapped, and rose them together.

"You betcha!"

In the end, they were both excited and chuckled.

"Was it intended to be a greeting?" Shigeru looked to the side, perplexed.

"Yup! Yes, it was! Why would you ask such a dumb question?" Yumi, with a charming expression on her face, was perplexed.

"Perhaps it was because it didn't make sense..." When Yumi pointed towards Shigeru, he turned away once more. "Yo! You've got a lot of nerve mucking up a girl's greeting!"

"Now, now... let's calm down..." Nina blushed as she smiled. "Lemme in if you want to dispute!" When Nobuhiko's hair caught fire, he screamed.

Ayuka swooped her finger and froze his head, rendering him speechless in the face of what he had just witnessed.

"Whaaaaat the heeeeelllllllll?!"

"I believe you require some chilling..." Ayuka gazed to the side, her arms crossed beneath her chest. "You want to go? Then fight me! Nobody bothered with my hairy head!" Nobuhiko screamed and pointed at Ayuka.

"I'm still not seeing any hair on you..."

"HOW MANY TIMES! I HAVE HAIR! ARE Y'ALL BLIND?!?" his skull erupted again.

"It's actually... pointless to try to cool 'em down..." grumbled Ayuka. He roared, "Yeah! Because I'm filled with flaming passion and hunger! Nobody can calm me down, ya wackos!"

Unimpressed, Codey wondered, "Why did you bring the literal "hothead" of our class?"

"Are you having any sort of issue, Demon?"

Codey, on the other hand, flatly denied it. "Perhaps, but also possibly not... I won't get into specifics."

"Hah! That's exactly what I was thinking, one-eyed Demon!"

"What a jerk! Stop calling me the One-Eye Demon! The Half-Demons' signature mark is having one eye that is different from the other!" Codey yelled, and the two of them got into another squabble.

"Wow... they two seem to get along... hmm..." Kiyoshi embarrassedly scratched the tip of his hair and smiled. "As usual, useless..." Shigeru added, provoking both Codey and Nobuhiko at the same time.

"What've you got to say?!?" They both yelled at the same time, pointing at him.

"You're a bunch of boozoos... jeez, chill or somethin'... Literally," Yumi scratched her silver hair and said.

"Hold on... H-Hold on... Isn't Elliot supposed to be here?" Everyone was perplexed and looking about as a black figure appeared behind Ayuka, its arms raised high above her shoulder.

"It's boob massage time!" Elliot shrieked and grabbed beneath Ayuka's armpits with his arms, then began harassing her breasts right away.

Her eyes widened as she saw hands stroking her breasts while bouncing and squeezing them. She couldn't help but feel humiliated.

"It's so mushy! Miss. Ayuka has always had the biggest boobs on the earth, and I've always known it! Tell me your cup size because I need to know for the future! Maybe I'll be able to get some gorgeous bras for you!"

"Leave me alone!" She shouted, humiliated.

"Put a stop to it! Please!" She yelled, due to her being exhausted.

"Hahaha! When I fool about with your large and beautiful boobs, you're feeling weak! That's always been your weakness and it always pays off!" When Ayuka observed Tim's fist which was scorching she readied and then he finally stepped forward.

"Gah!" Ayuka called and ducked.

Tim's fist slammed into Elliot's head, cracking his skull as he flew through the same wall that was torn down three times now, causing flames to fly about the room.

"God frigging damn it! Stop touching her one time in your life!"

Elliot's body was smashed in the wall, and he was exhaling steam and sporting a large bump on his skull. "Yo, there, dude! That guy is far nasty than I imagined! He's got no right to touch a female like that! Ima gonna smash his skull even more than it already is!" Yumi clenched her muscles, despite the fact that she lacked any, and prepared to kick Elliot's ass.

"Do ya mind if I give 'em a quick lesson, aye?" She inquired as to when everyone had agreed. "You may punish him in whatever way you see fit..." Tim was the one who spoke up.

"Aw, HELL yeah! Ima punish him so severely that he won't know what's like to be alive!" Elliot yelled as soon as she moved in front of him because he felt his head being seized.

"With a damned proper corpse just like yours, it's time to play some Crush Candy!"

"Uh-oh... Copyright alert..." Ayuka called.

Yumi pushed Elliot to the ground by lifting him high above her head.

The ground fractured, and fragments shot into the room, slamming Tim in the face and knocking him to the floor... again.

"... I'm always... always... hit by rocks..."

"Wah! Ehhh! Whaaaaaa! Stop! Neenah! Waaaaaaaaaa!" However, Nina was confused when she heard another strike. Codey's hand gradually covered her view.

"Look away from that... It's bad for your eyes..."

Our heroes were taken aback when they met up with their classmates, and they were ready to fight the Spiritual Hoaxers right away. With more people and greater power, it was only a matter of time before the Spiritual Hoaxers were defeated... or so they thought.

To be continued...