THE FOLLOWING MORNING

"... once again to our top story:"

My head feels like concrete. My eyes screw themselves shut at the feeling and then it hits me;

I can move. I'm back.

My eyelids are heavy, but I try to steadily force them open. There's nothing but a blur until I blink everything into focus. Without moving my head, I can see Yukari to my left, asleep in a chair next to me.

I guess some things never change...

She doesn't look that much older than I remember, or maybe that Featherman costume she's wearing makes her look-

The news program on the TV over her shoulder grabs my attention. It must've been left on all night. The anchor's voice that woke me up has been replaced by the reporter's. Maybe I can find out where – maybe when – I am...

"The small town of Inaba is waking up this morning to a bizarre trail of destruction. The damage appears to extend from several businesses in the town's shopping district all the way to a crater on the outskirts. Several people, including this amateur photographer, have already started crafting theories as to its origin."

"That's a crop circle! It's Martians, I tell ya! Just like that Junes kid said!"

Well, at least it's better than that Nyx cult.

The news story keeps going.

"Local residents initially suspected foul play conducted by the local Junes branch. However, this theory was almost immediately shot down when it was discovered that the store had arguably suffered the worst out of all of them, with its receiving bay, front entrance, and several aisles destroyed by what police suspect is a stolen bulldozer.

The branch's manager issued a statement, offering to join with the other local businesses to recover from this incident as a community."

It continues, but it looks like I'll have to wait for everyone to wake up before I get any answers.

There's sunlight coming in through the window next to the TV. I don't know how long I've been asleep since... even since I woke up in Yukari's arms. She'd been crying, and now I wonder what happened when they showed up on graduation day.

How was I so stupid? I should have told them, or at least made a plan.

"Mmm..."

Yukari stirs for a bit before she goes back to sleep.

Taking a breath, I try to brush my regrets to the side for now. My head is still pretty heavy as I roll it to look at the foot of my bed, and I see them.

Everyone's here at last.

It's pretty easy to recognize most of them. Ken's changed the most, but it's easy to recognize him cause he hasn't changed his hair since he was a kid. Junpei looks the same, just got a proper beard now. Fuuka, with Koromaru sleeping in her lap, seems as gentle as ever. Aigis is sitting down against the wall, but I'm not sure what she's doing because us watching each other sleep was always kind of one-sided.

With nobody else in my field of vision, I tilt my head to the right to find another bed next to the door, with Mitsuru in it. She seems fine, but...

What did they go through to get me back?

Akihiko's sitting at the foot of her bed. Shirtless. I'd be worried about his state of mind if his face didn't look like he was already facing other problems, even in his sleep. The door's open just a crack, almost like someone left the room. One of the nurses, or..?

I shrug it off and try to get some more sleep. Where I am, what's happened, where to go from here...

There's plenty of time to find that out later.