I quietly locked the door behind me, before I promptly launched myself straight onto my bed. I grunted slightly as my face plunged into my pillow, and I sighed in relief as I finally let myself relax.
It'd hadn't even been a full day since I awoke from my coma, and I already felt like I was more than ready to sleep for another two weeks.
Waking up to find the Tokyo Hospital guarded by dozens of armed soldiers was already crazy enough. Being forced into an impromptu interview right after stepping outside for the first time was tiring, and the fact that I had to do it while enduring the gaze of hundreds of civilians was far from pleasant.
But as if that wasn't enough, Secretariat then promptly rolled up in her limousine, followed by several jeeps occupied by half a dozen soldiers each. And they practically greeted me like I was royalty as Secretariat came to pick us up and bring us back to Tracen Central.
And then, once we finally made it to Tracen, Director Akikawa was there to greet us with another platoon of armed soldiers behind her, saluting me as I stepped past the gates. It also didn't help that we weren't exactly alone when I arrived, and the whole thing was seen by dozens of juniors I didn't recognize.
Suffice to say, when I finally found the chance, I made my escape and locked myself in my dorm room.
I breathed softly as I rolled around, staring dully at the ceiling. The room was fairly dark, lit only by the faint streaks of sunlight that slipped past the window blinds. If I looked hard enough, I could catch glimpses of the dust that floated across the air. It wasn't difficult to tell that this room hadn't been lived in for quite some time.
In truth, it really hadn't been that long since I last came here. I mean, I'd stayed away from this dorm room for way longer before. And yet, after spending way too long trapped in that same white-walled hell, constantly poisoned by the smell of antiseptics, I was more than happy to finally be back here.
I sighed softly.
Now that I was here, it really sunk in that the {Story} was finally over. The main big bad of this journey had been defeated, the great Gift I'd received from the beginning of this journey had been returned, and now I returned to the normal world a changed person—having turned into a Proxy of a God. My Hero's Journey was fulfilled.
And it really was strange to think that I was quite literally a Demigod. I was a normal human in my past life, reincarnated into this world as a normal umamusume, and then proceeded to become a Demigod as I approached the end of my career in Japan. I mean-, I'd heard of exponential growth before, but even this felt a little ridiculous.
Still, at least not much really changed even after I apparently became a Demigod. I was still a normal umamusume in most–
My thoughts were cut short when the dim room suddenly turned bright. I saw that I'd unconsciously raised my hand some time during my ponderings, and my eyes went wide as I realized that a miniature sun was floating atop my palm, expanding and contracting as rings of coronal plasma rose from the sphere of condensed plasma.
I quickly shook my hand in fright, and the miniature sun thankfully disappeared moments after. But the room still remained uncomfortably warm, and as I brought my hand back down, I could faintly see cracks of gold that stretched across the tips of my fingers. The cracks were quickly healing with every passing second, but seeing them again sent a visceral shiver up my spine.
To say that I was shocked would be a severe understatement. I hadn't even been consciously thinking about it, yet I'd somehow created a miniature sun over my palm. And though nothing had happened in the end, my instincts told me that if I'd let that sun explode, the aftereffects would've devastated everything around me.
I remained motionless for quite some time, before I hid my face in my hands.
This day was just getting better and better, wasn't it? Not only had the entire country seen me being treated like royalty, but now I was apparently capable of creating actual stars that I could hold in my hands.
I was fairly sure this was a Sports manga last I checked. When the hell did all this get added in? Was the damned genre changing or something!?
Ah, whatever. My head hurts.
I'm just gonna go and sleep. Maybe this world would make a little more sense when I next woke up.
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A few minutes after Blossom Star fell asleep, the door quietly opened as Oguri Cap came in, her steps completely soundless. She sat down on the edge of the bed Star was sleeping on, and she smiled faintly as she patted Star's head.
She knew how stressed and overwhelmed Star had felt throughout most of the morning, and she was glad that Star had calmed down enough for her to finally fall asleep. Though perhaps that wouldn't be an accurate assessment—it'd be more apt to say that Star had been completely overwhelmed and decided to sleep it off.
She remained there for quite some time, content with just sitting next to her after being separated for so long. The three weeks she spent separated from Star had been the most agonizing experience she'd ever gone through, even though she knew that Star was still in the same building.
Spending so long without Star–
If there was a hell, then that certainly would be it.
…No. That didn't matter. Something like this would never happen again. And if Star attempted to try and injure herself again, then Oguri would physically tie her up to make sure she couldn't.
That aside,
Oguri frowned slightly as she ran a hand through Star's hair. Her hair had turned completely white now, whiter than even Oguri's own hair. It was a change that'd been expedited by the awakening of Star's Domain—had Star's True Blooming occurred as normal, her hair would've slowly turned white over the next several years.
The fact that they both had matching hair colors made her quite happy. But she did feel that it was somewhat of a shame that Star's chestnut-colored hair had completely vanished. Her chestnut hair had always paired wonderfully with her rosy cheeks whenever she blushed.
Regardless, she quite liked the change. It made Star seem a little more mystical—as if the Goddesses themselves had shaped Star in their image.
…
After watching Star for quite some time, Oguri began feeling a little tired herself. She yawned softly as she slowly blinked. She stared at the sleeping Star for a moment, before she promptly laid down on the bed and hugged Star as if she was oversized plushy.
Oguri hummed softly as she leaned close and took a deep breath. Her ears perked up as she smelled Star's familiar scent, and her tail began wagging slightly. It was the scent of summer pollen—the breadth of Summer itself, forever contained in the heart of a shooting star.
This was it. More than any place, more than any moment;
She was finally home.
And so, with the girl she loved in her arms, Oguri smiled softly as she slowly drifted to a dreamless sleep.
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AN: Happy Lunar New Year everyone. It's the year of the Uma now, and since I'll be spending it with my family today, there'll probably only be one chapter today. Let's hope this year is better than the last now that we have GolShi as our lord and savior.