"Why do I have to carry her?" the princess complained as she stepped out of the portal connecting the Restricted Space with reality. We were still standing right in the middle of the track field, yet the sight was completely different. No scattered ice-pillars, no snow, no purple moon... it was a little scary how surreal it felt for a moment; like I was so used to the extraordinary that the mundane started to feel strange instead.
I heaved a sigh and glanced at my companions.
"Because you are the only one who can," my assistant answered her flatly. "The others are all too tired."
"I'm tired too!" Elly cried in response, yet continued to carry Snowy on her back all the same. Beside her, Angie was supporting Josh, who was back to normal. After the transformation wore he was hit by a mild case of hypothermia, so Angie was using some sort of magic on him to keep him warm. The guy was totally out of it. It made me smile sardonically and I began mentally preparing myself for a night spent explaining everything to him.
Suddenly my world began to tilt to the side and it took me a long second to realize I was swaying, and so I forcefully corrected my posture. After the crisis was over, so was the adrenaline surge, and it made me acutely aware of just how messed up I was. Everything hurt. Even parts of my body I didn't think could hurt were in pain. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths to get the world to stop disappearing into a black tunnel, and when I opened them again I found the class rep standing by my side with a solemn expression. She looked worn and ragged, her stockings torn at the knees and her face bruised, but she was as composed as ever. She just finished closing the gate and gestured for me to stand a couple of steps away from the rest of the group. I obliged.
"We did something outrageous today..." she whispered in a low voice.
"I... For a moment I thought I was going to die. I thought we were all going to die."
"Yeah... But we could have."
"But we didn't," I stressed again. "We pulled through, got Snowy and Josh back and everyone is alive. That's all that matters."
"And what about next time?" She gestured towards the unconscious form of the Abyssal girl. "They are going to try and get her back. Others would try to do it too. What are we going to do then?"
"We'll figure out something when the time comes. Let's not try to cross the bridge before we get there."
She fell silent for a moment and then muttered, "I'm not sure I will be able to think of anything."
"Fine, then I will think of something. Are you happy now?"
She looked at me like she was appraising me before her thin lips curved in a small smile.
"If it's you, I think we might be all right."
"Ugh... Please don't put pressure on me like that. I have enough problems already."
"And yet you keep taking more burdens upon yourself without even thinking. I wonder if—"
"Sorry for interrupting," I spoke while raising a hand, "But could I have a request?"
"Certainly. What is it?."
She gave me a weird look and was probably going to ask me something silly, like if I meant it ‘right now'. By that time, my face was already approaching the ground at an alarming speed. There was a weird "Nyeh," sound that probably came from my mouth upon impact, and I could hear a series of alarmed exclamations of ‘Chief!' and ‘Leo!', but I didn't care. I was too tired. So I took one last breath, and for the first time in two months... I slept.