The sun felt almost foreign, for a solid moment. The grip of silence came undone when everyone’s breathing quickened, going closer and faster to the threads of sunlight, and... they were finally outside. Cool, fresh air accompanied by the setting sun in the horizon. Everything so vibrant and real in their natural colors, like out of a dream... Seeing the dome from the far distance felt entirely unreal.
It was quiet, peaceful, save for the few sounds of distant car engines. The seer’s eyes had widened at the sight of cars and emergency personnel, waiting just outside of the dome. She breathed out a soft, “Woah,” completely shocked by it. The thought came to her, wondering how long had people been trying to rescue the class? There were nights where she slept, wondering if anyone even knew if they were gone, knowing that they were in danger. The seer held onto these thoughts as she followed a few of the survivors, nearing the crowd.
Surely, they noticed. People were able to point out the kids from a distance, and there was an immediate rush as the survivors came closer. She felt so tired, immediately feeling even more exhausted by the adults. Her head buzzed with static, trying to make sense of the noise around her in order to hold back a headache. ... Actually, there was a specific noise that stood out from the rest of the chatter, and her eyes widened as she picked out a body running towards the group.
Running towards her, actually.
The familiar voice of her mother screaming became all the more real, and panic began to set in immediately. “...ou?! ...sOU!! ... USOU!!!”
Surely, no one in the group would know who this woman was referring to. Not unless they could hear Stella mumbling to herself, her panic becoming loud.
“WoahwoahwOAHWOAH M- MOM-- MOM---”
Usou was quickly taken aside from the group of people, her mother grabbing her into a tight hug. While the woman was only a few inches taller than her and much skinnier than the seer, she had a powerful strength that was able to lift her daughter from the ground. All the while, Usou was still repeating in a squeaky voice, “MOM!! MOM!! MOM!!!”
It didn’t look like her mother was planning on listening to her pleas. She weeped angrily into Usou’s neck before pulling away and glaring at her with wet eyes. “Y- YOUU!! YOUUU!!! HOW DARE YOU KEEP YOUR MOTHER WAITING!!!” Usou looked a mixture of terrified and shocked when hearing those words, practically speechless. Naturally so; this was the most emotion she had ever seen her mother possess. Her mom was usually a strict woman that often offered kindness to her daughter in certain moments of the day.
“W- Wh--”
“T- THE TRAVELLING! WE HAD TO TRAVEL!! THE SICKNESS!! AND YOU!! YOU JUST-- YOU-- YOUUU- YOUUU--”
“Y- YOU COULD’VE DIED... YOU... I... I don’t...!”
“I- I don’t know what... I would’ve done... if you had... !!”
The tears were streaming at this point as she held onto Usou for dear life. Her words were terrifying along with watching her usual stoic form crumbling to that of a child. She kept whimpering while combing her hand through her daughter’s hair, refusing to let to go of her. Usou lip quivered, but she sniffed before trying to comfort her mom.
“M- Mom, it’s fine! It’s fine now! L- Let me go, okay??”
Then another voice came in; her father, attempting to comfort his wife as well. “Come on, Mama, you’re scaring her with all your yelling!” he said with a slight crack in his voice.
Yes, he completely was in tears at the sight of his only daughter. The grown man sniffled before rubbing his face into his arm, trying to wipe off the tears with a hearty laugh. He was, however, still completely in tears, but his sharp teeth shined in his smile.
“Am I? Kahaha! ★ Well, look at that, I really am... I’m sorry, Usou, I guess I just can’t contain myself then... I hope we’re not totally embarrassing you in front of your friends or anything, kahahaha!’
“No, uh... no, it’s fine, Dad. You’re both fine... I get it...” She smiled limply in her mother’s arms.
Among the hubbub of it all, Usou’s entire figure were being inspected by her tearful parents, as well as several kinds of words being shared. Her mother still in tears over the idea of her daughter being caught in the perils of danger so many times, while her father trying to stay cool and keep face in front of Usou. The seer had imagined herself shedding more tears when reuniting with her loved ones, but she couldn’t find it in her to squeeze any out. Maybe the city had gotten all of her crying out of her?
Perhaps, she thought to herself. She tried to reassure her parents that she was fine, that she hadn’t suffered any sort of serious injuries, amazingly. It didn’t stop her mother from checking her head for any sort of physical trauma while scolding her for... some reason she didn’t understand...
But beyond that, another person came into the mix of Usou’s family with a smile and a laugh. She had almost entirely forgot about her grandmother, and the fear that she during one of the motives came back to Usou at the sight of her.
“Hahahaaa! There she is! We’ve been waiting for you, Usou~! Look at your Mama and Papa; they haven’t stopped crying since we got here! No one wanted to listen to me, I kept telling them, over and over--!”
“‘Hey! Why are you two freaking out?! Of course she’ll make it out of there! Seven, I told you, the big seven!’ But what’s a girl to do when everyone keeps turning an ear away from her...” She sighed, shaking her head.
...
All the while, Usou could only stare in shock. She had thought the worst when MonokumAI had threatened to take away their loved ones. Seeing the picture of her grandmother with no context given had made assume that she could’ve been kidnapped, tied up, tortured, readied to be killed... Yet here she was, in front of her! Spouting things the way she always did!
Usou tore herself away from her parents, burying herself into the arms of her grandmother with a tight grip. Her grandma yelped, looking down at her as she began to tear up into her sweater.
“S- Soba--!! Soba! I thought- how did you- ?!” She began spitting out questions without thinking, before saying, “I- I missed you so much! So, so, so much!! I’m so sorry, I didn’t--”
“Usou! Stop that! This is supposed to be a happy moment, and you’re crying all over me! Look at you!” She then held Usou’s face in one hand, squishing her cheeks, “You’ve gotten so skinny! You need to eat more-- what have you been doing in there? Eating just Macdolly’s??” She clicked her tongue, wiping the tears off Usou’s face.
“... ... ... Y- yes... ?”
“You’re such a troublesome girl! Haha! I’m so proud of you though- you’ve really gotten stronger, haven’t you? Just like I thought you would! You saw things that I never thought you would be able to see! Haha! I’m kidding, of course; I knew you could do that too!”
“S- Soba... b- but how? You...”
“And how, what? Come now, Usou! Just because you’re one of those fancy little Superity Duperidy High-School Levelidys--”
“--doesn’t mean you’re anywhere near my level, you know! At least... not yet, anyways! Ha!”
“Enough of that, though! Introduce me to your friends!! I’ve been wanting to meet these kids ever since I saw them!”
