And what followed was exactly as Gatekeeper-san had said, it was disturbing.

The first scene that reflected on the screen was that of my house, or more accurately, the restaurant.

It was completely empty, the time on that side was about 9 PM, one of the busiest times of the day, a time when all of the chefs would be busy making food and the staff would be busy taking care of the customers. Most of whom were smiling females.

But what came into my view was a completely dead place, there were no gleaming smiles, no lovely voices calling "Itsukkun" or "Toru-kun", no air of cheerfulness enveloping the entire restaurant in an environment of gentleness and calmness. There were only a few shady looking people, wearing coats and m.u.f.flers, sipping on steaming coffee and stuffing their mouths with cakes.

"Your smartphone and student ID. You left them scattered in the gra.s.s."

My arms unconsciously started wrapping themselves around Gatekeeper-san, there was no resistance, only the sound of a finger snapping, and a view of the insides of my house.

Papers were scattered everywhere, bottles of alcohol displaying themselves proudly on the floor. No part of the house was cleaned, the view moved from the hall to my father"s bedroom, and there he was, sleeping with a picture of him and me taken quite recently under his face, his hand holding a bottle of alcohol tightly in its grasp. A lot of tears could be seen on the picture that was under his cheek, snot covered his own face that was smiling as he made a victory sign with his fingers.

"My father rarely drank when we were together. Things change quickly, don"t they?"

"This is only the beginning."

"Then can I hug you more tightly?"

Gatekeeper-san gently nodded as she placed her left hand on my right arm which was covering her abdomen. I heard a snap and the scenery immediately changed.

It was an extremely girly room; teddy bears, plushies, dolls, manga, frilly dresses etc covered the whole room.

"So it"s Haru this time..."

The screen gradually zoomed in on the canopy bed which was covered in a pink bedsheet, and on top of that bed was a single girl, completely covered in a blanket. Only her eyes peeked from the small opening in her impenetrable fortress that seemed the only location for the air to enter and exit.

The eyes which peeked, were hollow, lifeless and completely cold. The eyes of a person who has lost everything, the eyes of a person whose only option left was death.

A single plate containing a lot of food was placed in front of the girl, the food had gotten cold, but still seemed edible. Considering the time, maybe it was her dinner, which she hadn"t even touched.

"Haru, I am coming in."

A lovely voice called out to the girl from the other side of the door, and without waiting for a reply, the person in question simply blasted in.

"Aunty, huh, still as abrasive as ever."

Haru"s mother stormed into the room and glanced at the figure of her lifeless daughter, a puppet whose strings had been severed.

"Haru, I know how you feel, your father and I are very disturbed and sad as well, but you can"t be missing meals for four days straight. Any more, and you"d die from starvation."

It was an exaggeration, but looking at the expression of concern and worry for her young daughter printed all over her mother"s face, none would call her out on it.

The lifeless and cold face of her daughter turned ever so slightly in her direction, both of their eyes met. Haru"s mother"s eyes had tears welling in them looking at her daughter"s state, she was desperately trying to hold them back because she was the only one who could console her daughter right now. However, Haru just uttered one line, that was enough to make those emotions run wild.

"It"s okay mother, if I die, then maybe I can be with Toru again."

Her mother couldn"t help but let out her emotions at this reckless statement of her one and only precious daughter.

"You know, Toru... I appreciate the fact that you"re hugging me so pa.s.sionately, however, please let my hand go, that finger snapping isn"t just for theatrical purpose."

"U-Umm, sorry."

"No, I don"t mind."

I let her right hand free and she snapped her fingers again, and after that, it was a kind of compilation showing me every person who was grieving my presumed demise. The compilation showed live footage in super speed, so I had to speed up my senses to catch each and every second of it.

"They haven"t confirmed your death yet, but it"s been one week and your body hasn"t been found anywhere, I won"t blame them from a.s.suming the worst."

"More than one thousand people are grieving my death even at this moment... It"s kind of sad, but also sort of satisfying."

"I am a Gatekeeper, Toru. My job is to stop people from crossing over realities by their own free will. Nowhere in my job description it mentions that I can"t have a conversation with a normal human living on one of the infinite earths."

"You"d do that for me?"

"You allowed me to make out with you for thirty minutes."

"Fair enough."

"It"ll be the same kind of telepathic connection we both share, I will have access to your line, but I promise that I will never use it."

"W-W-W-wait a minute, are you saying that you will connect me to a person from my old world, permanently?"

"Yes, but only one person..."

"What is the catch?"

"There"s no catch whatsoever. As I said, you can perceive this as an indirect connection between you and that person, which goes through me."

"Haruki Hayawaka."

"That girl with the lifeless eyes?"

"Yes."

"Fine."

She snapped her fingers and I started feeling a bit of tinge in my brain.

"Aaaah~"

I screamed as that tinge turned into an indescribable and unbearable pain. I writhed on the ground while struggling to preserve my consciousness.

"And, done!"

I stopped my struggling and stood up while caressing my head.

"Ah~ before you go."

She stole my lips again. What is with her and kissing?

After separating from her and saying my farewells, I chanted the teleportation magic and returned to my room.

"s.p.a.ce Magic- Conveyance."

This is an intermediate-tier spell of the s.p.a.ce element. The amount of mana required is relative to the distance which you wish to cross. However, the mana requirement is extremely strenuous, even for travelling the distance of about two kilometres, you"ll need the same amount of mana as while casting a divine cla.s.s spell.

I directly teleported into my room on the fifth floor.

"Welcome back, Master."

"Have you been waiting here for the last hour?"

"It is as you say."

"I"m fine for now, go get some rest. I gave away almost all of my money to those from the special squad, we"ll be having an early start tomorrow."

"Understood. Good Night, Master."

"Good Night."

Kuromi elegantly bowed and exited my room while slowly closing the door behind her as she left.

"Now then."

I retracted all my emotions and resolved myself for the awkward conversation that is about to take place in my mind.

I found the explicit line that connected me and Haru, via Gatekeeper-san.

I adjusted to its frequency and initiated the telepathic conversation.

"Haru?"

"Haruki Hayakawa!!??""

"Hehe, looks like I am starting to have delusions as well... I am hearing his voice from inside my head."

"This start is so cliche. Haru, if you don"t realize that it"s me talking to you right now... I"ll eat all your pocky which you keep hidden in your pocket so that you can eat them during the cla.s.s."

"It"s me... Toru!! Oh, come on!"

"...Toru?"

"Finally!! I am alive you big glutton!"

"I swear I"ll go out with that girl you hate so much if you don"t talk to me right now!"

"...Toru?"

"Please say something further, I mean, think something further."

"Is this a dream?"

"Yes."

"Why would a dream character claim that it"s a dream? It"s breaking the fourth-wall."

"... You finally say something, and it"s this? Why did I even contact you in the first place?"

"Wait a minute... Is that actually you, Toru?"

"One and only."

"There are many people with the same name."

"You picking a fight?"

"What"s my favorite food."

"You"re a glutton. I"d say that your favorite food is the whole Indian cuisine."

"Fair enough... Who am I in love with?"

"Wait... What? You"re in love!? Why didn"t I hear about any of this? Don"t tell me that it"s me!"

"Didn"t you try to set me up with Ito-san on the day I disappeared?"

"...More importantly... What the h.e.l.l is going on?"

"Yeah, about that... Different world, magic, telepathic connection, and don"t worry, I am fine."

"That so? But we found your phone and ID near the lake..."

"Yeah, my bad. It appears that my curiosity got the better of me. This line will always be open, you can contact me anytime. And please eat, the you from before couldn"t live without food for four hours, and now you skipped for four days!?"

"How do you know that?"

"And what"s with "It"s okay mother, if I die, then maybe I can be with Toru again"???"

"If your eyes weren"t that lifeless and your face weren"t hidden behind that blanket, then my heart would"ve probably skipped a beat."

"Don"t worry, it was just an one time thing. I can"t watch over you anymore. I"ve got a little bit of a life here. I am still trying to find ways to return back to our world, but my efforts have been in vain. Please inform my father tomorrow about my condition. I can communicate with him through you... So please, mediate between him and me."

"Tell me more about this new world of yours."

"With pleasure."

After that, I spent the rest of my night telling Haru everything about this world (girls excluded).