"It really is Rin..."
"Rin!"
After Nonon Mozunoya confirmed that the person before her was neither an illusion nor a dream.
The composure she had forced herself to maintain instantly crumbled.
Her eyes reddened, and she rushed straight over, crashing into Onigawara Rin, who had just stepped out of the gate of light.
"Waaah!"
Had this been before.
That impact probably would have sent the equally petite Onigawara Rin stumbling, or even sent them both tumbling into a heap.
But now.
After being tempered in the Dungeon, she was no longer who she once was.
Onigawara Rin's stance remained utterly unshaken, exceptionally steady as she caught the sobbing Nonon Mozunoya.
She did not even sway.
"Waaah... Rin."
Nonon Mozunoya clung tightly to Onigawara Rin's waist, burying her face in her chest, her voice muffled as she cried, tears and snot streaming down her face.
"I thought... I thought I'd never see you again!"
"You promised you'd teach me the secrets of Jikishinkage-ryū..."
"How could you break your promise? Waaah..."
"What are you crying for?"
Listening to Nonon Mozunoya's incoherent sobbing and feeling the trembling body in her arms.
The softest part of Onigawara Rin's heart was touched.
She patted Nonon Mozunoya's back somewhat clumsily. Though her own nose stung a little too, she tried hard to maintain her dignity as her senior.
"Haven't I come back to see you?"
"And... I'm even stronger than I used to be now!"
Meanwhile.
On the second-floor balcony.
"Oooooh! Miss Mary!"
A shout brimming with passion rang out.
Everyone turned to look.
There.
On the dormitory's second-floor balcony stood a girl wearing a curly blond wig, mismatched colored contacts, and an elaborate lace dress.
She struck an extremely exaggerated pose.
"Sōchōka..."
Having just stepped out of the oval gate of light, Kikakujō Mary