Unleash the Chuunibyou!

Chapter 35: Back to Algus

"Hani, it's almost time for me to go." Fumiko said in a strained tone as she attempted to get away from her friend's clutches.

"Just a little longer." Hani mumbled while refusing to release the bearhug.

"You said that an hour ago." Fumiko replied dryly.

"Do you really have to go?" Nio asked while seeming sad even though they'd only just met a few days ago.

"There's some things that I have to do." Fumiko replied with a smile. "But don't worry. I'm sure that we'll see each other again."

"Magic class has gotten really interesting since you gave everyone your lesson." Kae enthused. "We're doing all kinds of interesting things now!"

"Remember my warnings though, otherwise disaster might fall." Fumiko warned.

"Okay!" Both twins replied at the same time.

"It truly is a shame. Having you around really was like having another daughter, albeit a more mature one that didn't get into trouble." Gona explained while giving a sidelong glance towards Hani who quickly avoided the woman's gaze.

"And you remind me a lot of my aunt." Fumiko replied truthfully while thinking that they were both kind and scary. Though, strangely, she was having difficulty even remembering her uncle's and aunt's faces even though she'd just seen then before she was run over and sent to Hail. And seeing as trying was giving her a headache, she decided on worrying about it later seeing as Hani increased the pressure of her hug.

"I'll never be able to thank you enough for helping me." Hani whispered after a few moments of silence.

"You helped me too, so it's mutual." Fumiko replied before she finally broke away from her friend. "But if you really want to thank me, then just remember our last conversation and be prepared for the worst. Though, not so much that you become paranoid."

"Yeah... Sure thing..." Hani managed to give her a sad smile as Fumiko took a deep breath and prepared to walk away.

"Good bye everyone, please take care of yourselves and thank you for looking after me this past couple of days!" Fumiko waved at the family before turning around and beginning to walk towards Citadel's main gate. And try as she might not to look back, she couldn't help it before she saw that they were still waving and she had to quicken her step so that she didn't stay. She couldn't stay, because otherwise she wouldn't be able to save those she might call friends in the future...

Continuing to walk down the road once past the gates, Fumiko continued until she thought that no one was watching her before she summoned Arashi to her side and immediately jumped on it so that it could carry her. And after quickly travelling down the road some more past a few farmhouses, she finally rocketed into the sky, bracing herself against the wind as she began to head towards Algus. However, while she'd known that her staff was faster than birds, it appeared to be faster than monsters too as she'd taken off right about the time when the forest in front of her had become alive with activity as what she guessed was a flock of small harpies fell from the branches and started chasing her through the air. 

Leaving the harpies behind her, Fumiko began to enter the mountain ranges of the Raven Kingdom once more, passing over several villages and forests on her way before she started seeing the snow-capped peaks that indicated that she was getting further north and closer to her destination. However, as she began to see the familiar mountains which resided around Algus, she looked behind her and became saddened by the fact that Hani wasn't riding behind her this time. And while she knew that she would eventually get used to being away from her friend, it was currently hard to find herself alone again before she passed over another few mountains and eventually saw Algus in the distance.