Assuringly, once I arrive in my room, it looks just like we left it.

  Well, the black goo that oozes out of my console is disturbing, but I suppose only a side-effect of the transport.

  Yeah, nothing I need to face just now.

  I probably only have to place Dad next to this stuff to get rid of it.

  Before I do anything else, I reform Chiaki within my room.

  I realized now how it works, which means that I'm basically fully disassembling Chiaki with a tendril I poke through dimensions, guide her soul through my body, and putting her back together wherever I want her.

  While doing so, I pay extra strict attention that everything with her is exactly as it should be.

  Brrr, that part where she was a man really puts me off as a thought.

  Nonetheless, I manage to set her up again in my room.

  She doesn't even look as out of it as usual, which is proof that you can get used to basically everything.

  The same goes for me.

  I have to focus a bit, because it's been a bit since I used my completely human form and right now have a bit of dysphoria going on after realizing the true mechanics behind this illusion of a normal body.

  Before I'm even properly settled down, my door bursts open and Kuri rushes in, throwing herself right around me.

  "Mum! What happened?! Something happened! I don't know what! You were gone and then back!" (K)

  Kuri seems to be rather out of it.

  She's tightly clinging onto me and looks as if she's about to cry.

  Which would result in a spillover of miasma that wouldn't be good for the neighborhood.

  "Okay, Kuri. This is very important. How long were we gone?" (I)

  "Too long! I couldn't feel you anymore! You just vanished! But not as usual. It's like you were completely away without a trace!" (K)

  So we were gone for long?

  That could be really bad.

  I should speak with my parents as soon as possible.

  But how do I explain this to Dad?

  No, any second I stall longer, they'll feel worse.

  "We need to sort this out. Come, Chiaki!" (I)

  We head into the living room, where I find them both.

  Dad sitting on the couch, looking at Mum, who is currently picking up a cup from the ground.

  "Is it broken?" (Chr)

  "Doesn't seem so. We were lucky. Just good that she held back." (S)

  They don't look as if they were about to print out missing-person posters.

  Well, Mum would probably know that this wouldn't work in the first place.

  "Uh, hi?" (I)

  I hope my reappearance won't be too much of a shock.

  While I doubt there's much that can surprise Mum at this point, even if Dad's weird reality field cancels out everything strange for him, I wouldn't know how it would rationalize away that me and Chiaki were gone.

  "Hello there. Nice to see you still with each other." (S)

  Yeah, I worked very hard for this.

  "Uhm, hello, Mrs. Nomia." (C)

  "So, you two. Were you able to sort out whatever there was between you?" (Chr)

  I can honestly say no, because it got rather complicated.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Mum gazes at us, seemingly having noticed something

  "You two... don't look all that well. Did something happen?" (S)

  "I-I'd like to return the question. Did anything happen on your side?" (I)

  Hopefully, she can discern what I mean in that regard.

  Some form of understanding, or at least the beginning of a hunch, forms on her face before she answers.

  "No. Aside from Kuri suddenly jumping up, dropping her cup, and after getting away from your dad, turning into a torrent of darkness that flowed straight towards your room. No, nothing. Your Dad, of course, didn't notice." (S)

  Right, seems like things got a bit wilder here.

  Now Chiaki looks at me questioningly, but first, I have to ask something.

  "Didn't you say we were gone a long time, Kuri?" (I)

  "An eternity! I was worried!" (K)

  Okay, this mini-demon's perception of time is officially screwed.

  Nonetheless, I should answer Mum properly.

  "You see, there was something rather big going on, and I don't quite know how to explain this yet." (I)

  "So, are you two now an item?" (Chr)

  "What!? No!" (I)

  Where does he get such ideas?!

  "Grmbl"

  The building quakes, everything shivering ever so slightly.

  Dad, of course, doesn't notice.

  "Sorry for assuming then." (Chr)

  I only saved her from some otherworldly entity and even this got botched.

  "Things didn't exactly go without a hitch. We still have a lot of issues to go around, so we can work on them." (I)

  "I understand. Then maybe it might be better to have a mother-daughter talk later on. One about your unique situation. Is this alright with you, honey?" (S)

  "Sure. It would be rather awkward if I'd force myself into girl-problems." (Chr)

  I'm pretty sure my kind of problems don’t qualify as merely "girl-problems".

  I'm not even sure my body qualifies.

  Though, as much as it freaks me out on a regular basis, I might have to appreciate more that some of the biological issues that beset my body ever since I hit puberty don't concern me anymore.

  Might be a bit unfair towards other members of my sex, but that's the only point I'm not going to complain about.

  "Alright then. I'll talk with my daughter for a moment. Chiaki, you can make yourself comfortable here, right?" (S)

  "Oh, sure." (C)

  As Mum announced, we head back to my room.

  Once the door is firmly closed, and my mother looks at me with expectant eyes, I take the chance to finally have the breakdown I suppressed for so long.

  I literally drop to my knees and start crying.

  "Waaahhhh! Mum!!" (I)

  "Iori!" (S)

  Before I have the chance to sink any lower, my Mum already has her arms wrapped around me.

  "Iori! Calm down. It's all good. No need to cry. Calm yourself down and tell me what happened." (S)

  "I, I just can't! It's too much! Why can't a single day be normal?!" (I)

  "Shh. Sshhhh. It's good. Just talk to me." (S)

  And so I do.

  Half sobbing, half talking, I tell her everything that happened.

  How we got abducted.

  How I had to play this game in order to get Chiaki back.

  And... the big finale.

  To the end, she looks at me with a rather blank expression.

  Next, she hugs me tightly.

  When I try after a while to break it up, she won't let go.

  At this moment, I become aware of the trembling and the distinct wetness on my shoulder.

  "Mum?" (I)

  "Just, just a bit longer, okay?" (S)

  Alright...

  Eventually, we have to separate again.

  Mum rubs her eyes and surprisingly quickly seems to have caught herself again.

  "I'm sorry, Iori. I'm sorry, you have to fight those fights alone. That I can't support you in any meaningful way. That I can't even give you advice on how to handle your problems." (S)

  "Mum, you..." (I)

  "But I promise you that you can always feel at home here. That I will give it my all that you will never feel unwelcome or lost, because if nothing else, I will be here. I will listen, and I will be there for you." (S)

  "That, that's enough." (I)

  What else could I expect from my mum than this level of support?

  To do everything she can to help me push through even my hardest times.

  It's not on her to fight my fights.

  She's really great at what she does.

  "Fine. Then we really should get ourselves orderly again. I didn't want to embarrass you, but you got a bit of black ink on your face." (S)

  An eye-perspective from outside my body reveals that she's right.

  I didn't even notice how hard I must have cried.

  I seriously need to scrub that off if I want to consider myself presentable again.

  "Do you still have that conditioner bottle to dump this stuff in?" (S)

  Oh, right! I left it there on the sideboard.

  After all this time, I should be happy that it didn't come to life.

  As a somewhat unfairly convenient skill, I can just control the ink and tell it to flow into the bottle.

  I could also have opened a portal into my dream, but am a bit concerned about possible consequences.

  The only weird thing about the conditioner bottle is that when I fill it, it feels like there's no end to the bottom.

  Yet there are certainly worse bottomless pits than this.

  Once I'm done, me and Mum are ready to head back into the living room.

  At least, I don't need to worry about puffy eyes with this body of mine.

  Though, Mum seems as well to have some healing factor going, as her face is pristine again as well.

  "There you are! So did you two have a good talk?" (Chr)

  "It was very fruitful, thank you. Yet we shouldn't pester Iori so much about this." (S)

  Thanks for the assist, Mum!

  Yet now she's looking with a difficult expression at Chiaki.

  Might've been the stabbing part.

  Nonetheless, as we for some reason still have the same day, even though we spent a lot longer in that fantasy realm, it's late evening before the weekend.

  We relax together with Chiaki till her visit comes to an end without further incidents and I get to set her off.

  At the door, we talk one last time.

  "By the way, could I come over again tomorrow? I'd like to visit Soraja." (C)

  Right, contact has to go through me.

  I can't really deny her the visits to her patron goddess.

  "Sure. It's not like I had anything going on this weekend." (I)

  At least I hope.

  There aren't any further otherworldly invasions planned this weekend, right?

  I seriously wouldn't appreciate that.