59: Back to reality

"Milla-nee! Lady Milla! What's wrong with you?"

Grace was calling out to Milla in all ways possible. She stood there all lifeless on the ground like a ragdoll. Until eventually she opened her eyes.

"Milla-nee, are you alright?"

"He…hehe… hehehehe!"

Milla started to laugh like a maniac as she brought up both her hands to her cheeks.

"It worked! Haha! It actually worked!"

"Milla-nee… what's going on? You're scaring me."

Milla turned around to Grace. 

"I'm good. No, better than good! I feel perfect. I even have a small command to issue. Grace, I order you: kill yourself!"

Grace was shocked. She took a few steps backwards and raised her scythe towards Milla.

"Who are you? What did you do to my Milla?"

"What are talking about?"

"The first order my mistress gave me after her long slumber was to live, to not die even if she herself orders it. I know my mistress very well. I would never mistake her. You aren't her! So I'll only say this once more. What did you do to her?"

◇　◇　◇

I violently woke up and forced my body to stand up. My vision slowly came back to me. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was sitting in an empty classroom. It wasn't just any classroom. It was my classroom. I couldn't believe it. Is this another dream? No. Wait. How am I even able to remember this place. I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts. Something isn't right. My home, my parents… my years spent on Earth… I could remember everything.

This shouldn't be possible. I burned every memory I had from my past life except for Shiori when I fought the Demon God. Am I dreaming? I hardly banged my head on the desk. Ouch! It hurts. It really hurts. Yup. I'm awake alright. But if this isn't a dream what's going on? I stepped out of the classroom. It was definitely my school. It was probably around noon. I should probably mention that I was my old self again. Ryusei Homura. This also shouldn't be possible since my body is supposed to be buried in the Olympia Empire. I tried looking for someone. I managed to find a teacher who stayed overtime. The info I got from him was shocking.

The class I was in… my class… it was a dead class. Class 2-B was empty. No students were registered in that classroom. He even thought I was messing with him cause I didn't want to believe him. He forcefully pulled my student ID from my breast pocket. It was written clear. I was part of class 2-D. Nothing makes sense anymore. But I couldn't pry any further as the teacher forced me to go home. So I walked out the school gate. But I didn't go home. I need to figure out what's going on here.

First I took a stroll around the city. It looks the same as I knew it. Then I brought up my phone. The date… it was the same date we got summon in the other world. Did not even a day pass over here? I checked my contacts all of them were there. Well almost all of them. The few classmates that I had in my phone vanished. I actually wondered if I should go to Shiori's parents and ask them if they remember her.

But then again it might be awkward. Although Shiori and me were childhood friends I hardly talked to her parents. Sometimes they even considered me a bad influence. I think I kept walking randomly around the city until it was dark. I miss my loli eyes. They could see much better. It's like suddenly downgrading from ultra 4K HD to a blurry black and white old TV screen.

I ended up strolling around an empty street. I started to doubt myself. Could all of that really have been just my imagination? Do I have some sort of brain disease? Did I ate some funny mushrooms or something?

"Yo! Isn't it past your bedtime? It's really dangerous to be walking this street at night."

3 thugs appeared from the corner of an alley.

"You're pretty lucky you ran into us. We're willing to walk you home if you give us all your pocket money."

"Beat it! I don't have time to deal with trash like you!"

Wait… why did I say that? In a situation like this I would normally throw my wallet and run as fast as I can in the other direction. But… I was talking as if I was still Milla.

"Huh!? You got a death wish or something?"

The one that looked like the leader of the bunch pulled out a pocket knife.

"We won't kill you, but we need to teach you a lesson, kid!"

He swung his knife towards my face but…

*Clang*

It fell on the ground.

"AAA! Damn it! That hurts! You broke my wrist! Don't just stand there. Beat him up already!"

*Bam… wham… punching sound effects*

A few moments later I was dusting off my uniform. All 3 of them lying unconscious on the ground. I wasn't an athlete. I wasn't strong. So how did I beat them? It was thanks to Persia. Even if I lost my power, it was still a form martial arts. Wrists, joints, knees, neck… striking all the human weak points as she taught me helped me deal with these idiots

But I was grateful. Persia's style was still engraved in my mind. This clears any doubts I had before. It wasn't a dream. I ended up talking to myself.

"Just what the hell happened? This… isn't right."

"Took you long enough to figure it out."

A voice called out from behind me. There's no way I could mistake that voice.

"Tenebria!?"

As I turned around there she was. The Demon God I'm familiar with. A pink haired loli wearing a gothic lolita dress.

"Honestly, how slow can you be? You should have figured it out the moment you woke up."

"Tenebria, what's going on?"

"I'll explain everything, but for now we need to keep walking. I can't stand in one place for too long. I'm already breaking a shit tone of rules for trespassing on another God's domain, so I can't let my presence be known."

I simply nodded. When she got near me she grabbed my hand and we started walking. Umm… why was she holding my hand? She's not a kid and this isn't a date… is it?