Collision of Heaven and Hell ✅

Epilogue

November 30th, 2029

Papa seemed more nervous than I was. He was fidgeting violently as he sat beside me on the couch. We were both watching Mama near the house phone, speaking quietly into the receiver. Tako was asleep on my lap.

Mama then hung up the phone and hurried over to us. I saw her smile and excited expression and I immediately relaxed. "Suzuhara-kouchou-sensei said you can return to in-class learning at Shirahime for your third year!"

"Yatta!" Papa cheered, throwing his arms around me. "You'll be back in school for your last year of high school, Mai-chan!"

I managed a soft laugh of relief. "I think I can do it. I'm glad I've been able to keep up with school through online learning, but I'm happy they're letting me come back to the classroom."

"They're welcoming you back if you feel ready," Mama said, sitting on my other side. She stroked my hair. "How have you been doing, Mai?"

I forced a smile at her. "I'm getting better, Mama. I feel good enough to go and celebrate at Mikadzuki Kēki, if you both are."

"That's the spirit!" Papa laughed, scrambling off the couch. "I'll let Aniki know that we're coming!"

"But dinner!" Mama protested, but Papa was already running down the hall towards their room. Mama scoffed and shook her head, giving me a disapproving look. "You've done it, Mai. You've implanted the idea and now Baku can't be swayed."

"I'm sorry," I said, but I couldn't stifle my laugh.

"We'll save dinner for tomorrow, then." She started to rise from the couch but then stopped and turned to me. "Oh! Did Yamagishi-kun confirm he got it?"

"I'll send him a text now," I said, sliding Tako off my lap. "I need to send him Tako's daily picture anyway."

"...How is he?" Mama asked as I took my picture. "I-I know he lives near Eniwa because of his PO Box, but..."

"I don't press him," I said, leaning down to ruffle the fur on Tako's head. "I ask him if he's okay, he'll answer, and I leave it at that. He likes the high school he's attending."

"I'm glad."

I looked at Mama and I saw that she wore a sad expression. "I feel terrible," she said softly. "For how I treated Yamagishi-kun. He was an innocent boy in all this chaos, but I judged him because of who his father was. I hate the people who judge you because of your father Mai, but...but I turned out to be no different, did I?"

I shook my head. "From what Chikafusa said, it wasn't easy living with Yamagishi-san anyway. But—"

An image suddenly flash over my eyes and I gasped, dropping my phone to the floor. "Mai?" Mama grabbed my shoulders, and the image quickly faded. "Mai, are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine," I said, but the air burned in my nose and mouth. I sat down stiffly on the couch beside Tako. "Just...give me a moment."

I had seen a memory of when Anjin had been shot in the head in front of Chikafusa and I. When Mama and Papa enrolled me into therapy, I was diagnosed with PTSD. I was told this was fairly common with everything I had suffered. Thankfully I was getting better. Memories of what I had witnessed during that horrible period still surfaced from time to time, but the frequency had declined considerably. I would have preferred to have had an immediate fix to this, but my doctor said that sometimes it took years for people suffering from PTSD to fully get over it. I felt well enough to return to school in March, but I just hoped that I didn't have triggers in school.

"Maybe we shouldn't go out after all," Mama said, but I quickly shook my head at her. "It's okay, Mama! I want to go out!"

"They're all going to be there!" Papa cheered when he re-entered the living room. He scooped Tako up and hugged him. "Did you hear that, Tako? Everyone wants to see Mai-chan!"