CHAPTER 88: WILL YOU COME BACK IF I GROW BIG BREASTS?!

Across the square, Mina was in the middle of an animated retelling to a small group of her friends.

She stood at the center like a performer, hands on her cheeks, cheeks still flushed from earlier, while the others gathered around her in a semicircle. Every word from her lips was met with wide-eyed giggles and soft, embarrassed squeals.

"...and then he actually kissed me!"

Mina declared, beaming, rocking from foot to foot.

"Just a little, right here—" She tapped her cheek with a fingertip. "But it was warm and..." She broke off into a sheepish laugh. "I don’t know! I can still feel it!"

Her friends laughed, hiding their faces with their hands, but Mina was too wrapped up in her own excitement to notice.

In the back of her mind, she was already plotting what she would do with Mika later.

She wanted to spend the whole day with him, no, more than a day, maybe as long as he stayed. She’d thought of showing him around the village, though...well, if she was honest, she didn’t know it as well as she once had.

Still, there were things she could share, small, personal things.

She could make some of the local dishes for him, the ones she had always loved growing up, so he could taste what she and the others enjoyed. She could show him her favorite tree on the edge of the meadow, and the little places where she liked to sit and think.

Maybe she could even show him how she’d been training to hunt demonic beasts, not just to impress him, but to share something of herself, her skills, her culture.

In short, she wanted him to know her, not just the girl who had asked for a kiss, but the person behind it. She wanted to grow closer. She wanted to know him in return.

And she was already smiling to herself, her eyes bright with expectation.

But when she turned toward him...the smile froze.

Her breath caught. Her eyes widened. For a second she simply stared, not believing what she was seeing—Mika, already stepping onto the very boat he had arrived on looking like he was about to set off.

And without thinking, Mina bolted. Her shoes slapped against the new stone tile ground as she sprinted toward him, weaving through startled villagers. She barely heard their voices as she closed the distance.

"Mika!" She blurted the moment she was close enough, her voice rising with panic. "W-Where are you going? Are you really going home?"

"Are you really going back so soon? You’re not going to stay any longer?"

Her words tumbled over each other in a frantic rush.

"I-I had so many plans, you know! I wanted to, there’s so much I wanted to do with you! I was going to show you my favorite places, and make you something to eat, and, and—"

She broke off, her chest rising and falling quickly.

Her eyes searched his, and she looked so lost, so desperate, that it nearly stopped him in his tracks. Her voice then softened, the tremor in it more noticeable now.

"...And now you’re leaving. I-If you go, there’s no one to do those things with anymore..."

"...What am I going to with myself after that?"

Seeing the tears welling in her eyes, Mika let out a long, slow sigh. He didn’t want to see her like this.

Truth be told, he didn’t want to leave either. He had grown attached, not just to her, but to the strange warmth of this place. But there were some things he couldn’t simply ignore.

He reached out, gently placing his hand on her head, fingers brushing against her hair in a comforting pat.

"It’s alright...it’s alright." He said softly, a small, gentle smile on his face. "I don’t want to go either. But, Mina...just like how you have your family here, I’ve got mine back home. They’re waiting for me."

Her brows drew together.

"They’re...not exactly normal." He added, chuckling lightly. "They’re...well...risky. The type who sneak around my back all the time. And if I don’t come back right away, they’ll notice my absence immediately and, trust me, they’ll throw a fit."

"...The kind of fit I really don’t want to deal with."

At that, Mina let out a small, involuntary giggle, even through her tears.

There was something oddly endearing about the idea that someone like him, strong, confident, untouchable, was afraid of his own family.

She then tilted her head up at him, the beginnings of a mischievous smile tugging at her lips as she suggested,

"I-If they’re that scary...then why don’t you just come live with us instead? I’ll treat you gently. I’ll take care of you with all my heart. I won’t treat you badly at all."

Mika’s smile deepened, but there was a hint of sadness in it.

"I’d love to." He admitted quietly. "But...as scary as they can be, they love me twice as much. And just like I can’t live without them, they can’t live without me either. So I have to go back."

Mina’s smile wavered at the conviction in his tone. She could see it in his eyes, he meant every word. So, she took a small step back, her voice softening.

"...It’s fine. I understand. Everyone has family waiting for them. I’m glad you have such a loving family."

Then her lips curved into a playful smirk.

"But...if they bully you too much, you can always come back here."

Her smirk faded then into a more hesitant expression.

"...You will come back, won’t you?"

That question stopped him cold.

Mika didn’t answer right away. The truth was...he didn’t know.

The rift that had brought him here was dangerously unstable. Even if he returned home and tried to locate this realm again, finding be extremely difficult, even for him.

Rifts didn’t follow the natural laws of mana or space. They were tied to chaos, something he had yet to fully comprehend. There was no reliable record, no clear formula to track them.

And there was another danger, one he didn’t want her to even imagine: the Will of the World itself.

He’d already tangled with it in another realm, and he’d learned just how dangerous it could be when it took an interest in someone. If he got too close to her, if he made her too important in his life, the will could use her against him, turn her into a hostage, or worse.

He had safeguards in place to protect his own family and the people he cared about back home.

But Mina, here in this separate realm, was beyond those protections.

So he stood there, silent, looking at her, unable to promise something he wasn’t sure he could give, and unwilling to lie to her face.

And noticing this, Mina’s breath caught.

She saw it, right there in Mika’s eyes, that hesitation, that silent truth. He didn’t have to speak for her to know what was coming.

And it hurt...Gods, it hurt more than she thought it would.

Her chest tightened as if someone had wrapped a rope around her heart and pulled. She had been bracing for disappointment, but knowing it and feeling it were worlds apart.

In just under an hour, in only a handful of words exchanged, she had grown attached, too attached, to this strange, powerful man who had fallen into her life like a lightning strike.

And the thought of never hearing his voice again, never seeing that reluctant smile or the warmth in his eyes, felt unbearable.

Her vision blurred. She wanted to cry right there, to break down in front of everyone. But some stubborn part of her refused to crumble.

No...If fate wanted to rip him away, she wasn’t going to go quietly.

So, she darted her gaze around, desperate for...something. Some way to anchor him here.

But all she saw were villagers staring back, some with pity, some with the kind of quiet sympathy that made her throat ache even more. She almost lost her composure entirely...until her eyes caught on something.

...An idea sparked.

Before Mika could speak, before he could try to gently let her down, Mina hastily wiped at her eyes and blurted, almost in a frantic rush,

"You have to come back, Mika! You most definitely have to come back to me!"

Mika blinked in surprise. "Mina—"

"Because—" She cut him off, her tone suddenly laced with exaggerated indignation. "If you don’t, you’ll completely miss seeing me grow up to be plump and thick andhave...have b-big breasts like my mother!"

She even cupped her hands in the air for emphasis and the crowd went dead silent.

Mina’s mother, who had been watching from nearby, instantly went red, her mouth opening but no words coming out. "Mina! W-what are you—?"

"There’s no way you could resist something like that, Mika!"

Mina continued, full of confidence.

"You told me earlier you thought my mother was attractive, right? Well, since I’m her daughter, it’s only natural I’ll grow up just like her. And when I do, I’ll let you take me away! No way you could say no then!"

Hearing this, Mika’s lips twitched. Not because he was taking her "offer" seriously, but because of absurdness of it and also because he was struck by the sheer determination in her voice, wrapped in ridiculousness though it was.

The villagers, on the other hand, were a mess of reactions.

Mina’s father had gone stiff, his eyes narrowing at Mika like a hawk sizing up prey. The village women were whispering and glancing between Mina’s mother and Mika, while Mina’s mother herself was fidgeting under her husband’s stare...and sneaking her own shy glances toward Mika when she thought no one noticed...