Opening AN: Kept you waiting, huh? Sorry it took so long to write this chapter. explanation down below.
Eventually, Maribel stopped crying and calmed down. As soon as Sumireko had the chance, she got up from her seat and immediately began to bow. "I'm so sorry, Maribel! I didn't know that entering that room would make you feel this way!"
"Sumireko," Renko said in a stoic tone that betrayed the fury she held in. "This wouldn't have happened if you had simply followed directions."
"I a-accept your apo-apology," Maribel said between her sniffles and hiccups.
"But, Merry, she-" Renko was about to say when she was interrupted by Maribel.
"Renko, pl-please, accept Sumi-umireko's apology. I d-don't want to see y-you two fight."
Renko simply stammered, conflicted on how to respond. Eventually, she sighed and turned towards her sister. "I forgive you, but only if you promise not to overstep your boundaries and follow the guidelines, especially on the off-chance we explore Mary's dreams again."
"I will, I promise!" Sumireko said, still bowing.
Renko took another sigh before turning towards Madotsuki and Urotsuki. "I'm sorry you had to see this, you two, especially since this is your first meeting here in the Secret Sealing Club."
The two dreamers, who had simply and awkwardly listened in to the conversation between Maribel and the Usami sisters up to this point, turned towards Renko, with Urotsuki being the first to respond.
"Huh? Oh, uh, it's fine, Renko," Urotsuki said as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "Madotsuki and I sometimes experienced moments like these when we encountered each other and our other Dreamer friends."
"I concur," Madotsuki added as she nodded, her otherwise stoic expression having a hint of awkwardness. "Sometimes, intentionally or not, bad memories and/or triggers are brought up when hanging out with each other, and we help each other in dealing with them as best as we can, especially if the person brings up the bad memories or triggers to confront them."
"Still, that doesn't change the fact that your first meeting here hasn't exactly gotten off on the right foot, and for that, I apologize," Renko said as she began to bow.
"As I've said before, it's fine, Renko, really," said Urotsuki.
"I accept your apology," Madotsuki added in response.
Renko stopped bowing and took a sigh of frustration. "We're ending this club meeting early, as I feel that continuing will just leave a worse taste in our mouths than it already has. Madotsuki and Urotsuki, you two can go home if you want."
"You sure?" Urotsuki asked.
Yeah I'm sure," Renko answered. "The rest of us can clean up from here."
"Alright, if you say so," said Urotsuki. "If you don't mind me asking, assuming that there'll be a next meeting, when will it occur?"
Renko shrugged in response. "I don't know. Generally, Sumireko is the one who decides when we have our meetings, and up to this point, the Club was more of a formalized meeting between us three more than anything else."
Sumireko, who had been silent up to this point, had decided to speak up. "If it's okay with Maribel, we could have our next meeting be tomorrow." Sumireko said as she turned to Maribel, silently asking for her approval.
"I think that's fine," Maribel said as she nodded in response.
"Are you sure about that, Maribel?" Urotsuki asked, to which Maribel nodded in response once more. Urotsuki then looked towards Madotsuki for her response, silently asking if she had anything to add, to which Madotsuki shook her head in denial. "If that's the case, Madotsuki, then I guess we're done here," Urotsuki said as she got up and grabbed he things. "You coming with?"
"Yeah," Madotsuki responded as she also got up and grabbed her things. "I wouldn't want to impose on Maribel and the sisters, especially since this incident is between them." The two Dreamers soon left the room, leaving behind Maribel and the Usami sisters as the remaining members of the Sealing Club.
Madotsuki and Urotsuki had walked together in silence after leaving school, the incident over at the club still fresh in their minds. Eventually, they reached a point during their walk back home where they would go their separate ways, and as they had reached the point, Urotsuki had stopped walking.
"Well, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow, then," said Urotsuki.
"Yeah, see ya tomorrow," Madotsuki said.
Just as the two Dreamers were about to go their separate ways, they noticed a woman come around the block some distance ahead of them.
"Is that-- That's Yomika," Madotsuki said as she recognized the now-named Yomika.
"Hey, Yomika, over here!" Urotsuki as she waved at the now-named Yomika.
Yomika looked up and at the direction of Urotsuki's voice, and as soon as she recognized her, speed-walked her way to Madotsuki and Urotsuki, eventually catching up to the two Dreamers and revealing that Yomika had shoulder-length dark purple-blue hair covering half of their face and dark blue eyes. In addition, she wore a brown skirt and a green shirt with dark green sleeves and a dark green zigzag pattern going down the middle of the shirt.
"Any news from Chie and Sabitsuki?" Madotsuki asked Yomika as soon as Yomika got within speaking distance.
Yomika nodded in response before she began to speak. "Chie is getting along better with her adopted parents. Progress is slow, but it's a start. As for Sabitsuki, she says that her mother have been making progress on creating the cure to her world's pandemic that's based on her antibodies."
"Nice to hear that Chie's doing just fine, and I hope that Sabitsuki's world recovers from their apocalypse," Urotsuki said.
"Gods bless her world a speedy recovery," Yomika said in a solemn tone. "And what about you two? Is there anything you girls would like to share?"
"Yeah," Madotsuki answered. "We made some new friends with a Dreamer and her friends at school. The Dreamer's name is Maribel Hearn, and her friends are Sumireko and Renko Usami, with Renko being the older sister."
"Oh, so you made friends with a Dreamer?" Yomika asked. "Do tell."
Madotsuki and Urotsuki nervously looked at each other, wondering who should be the one to spill the beans.
Yomika studied the looks on Madotsuki and Urotsuki's faces. "Judging by the looks you two are giving each other, I presume that something bad happened?"
"Yes, unfortunately," Madotsuki responded.
"While things started off well, it went down horribly at the end," Urotsuki added.
"Is that so?" Yomika rhetorically asked. "Mind explaining?"
After a moment of silence, Madotsuki took a deep breath and began to speak. "So it all started when we got two new transfer students for our homeroom…."
After Madotsuki had finished recalling what had happened over at the Sealing Club meeting, Yomika closed her eyes as she silently formulated a response. After a moment of silence, she opened her eyes as she began to finally respond. "I see, so that's what happened. While I personally disapprove of you two not staying behind to help smooth things over, I also don't exactly blame you two for deciding to leave if Renko said that they could handle it on their own. From the sounds of things, Renko and Maribel seem awfully close, close enough for Maribel to reveal her Dreamer status to a non-Dreamer."
"Is that a bad thing, Yomika?" Urotsuki asked.
"Not exactly," Yomika said as she shook her head. "While I had advised you two on keeping your Dreamer status a secret, at the end of the day, it is up to you on if you decide to reveal it and how you should do it, and from what Madotsuki said, it seems that Maribel had only revealed her Dreamer status to Renko and Sumireko." Yomika then turned to Madotsuki. "Is that correct?"
"Yes, indeed," Madotsuki answered.
"I see," said Yomika. "If it is possible, I would like to drop in on the next meeting of the Sealing Club."
"I'll ask for the other's permission, but assuming that they'll accept, just how will you get in?" Urotsuki asked. "While I don't doubt that your Mask Effect will make you invisible to non-Dreamers, I doubt that doors suddenly being opened by seemingly no one will make things subtle, and I also doubt that you won't be spotted by Maribel."
"I am not going to loiter around your school for the entire school day, if that was what you two were wondering," Yomika answered. "After the school day is over, I'll be hanging out at the entrance to our world at the hyper Nexus, and once the Usami sisters and Maribel approve of my visit, one of you will go visit the Hyper Nexus and inform me of their approval. While I won't wake up at your location, it doesn't matter, as I can just teleport to it."
"You sure you just want to casually reveal your teleportation to the Sealing Club, Yomika?" Madotsuki asked, her and Urotsuki already being aware of them.
"As Maribel had already shared of her Dreamer status to the Usami sisters, I might as well not hide them, as well as my status of being both a Guardian and a Dreamer," Yomika answered.
"But what if they don't approve of your visit?" Urotsuki asked.
Yomika shrugged. "If they don't approve, then they don't approve," Yomika said in a rare case of her using more casual language than usual. "So, do you two agree with the idea?"
"Alright, I guess I'll go with it," Urotsuki replied. "Worst thing that'll happen is that either Madotsuki or I will just waste a few moments traveling to and from the Hyper Nexus."
Madotsuki nodded in response. "I don't see anything wrong with it."
"Then this matter is settled," said Yomika. "I will be seeing you two and the rest of the Secret Sealing Club tomorrow."
"Bye, Yomika," Madotsuki said.
"See ya," said Urotsuki.
Yomika nodded at the two before going her own way. As for the other two Dreamers, since they had already said their goodbyes before Yomika's sudden appearance, they simply looked at each other and nodded before going their separate ways.
On the next day after school, the members of the Secret Sealing Club began to trickle in awkward silence as Maribel's breakdown yesterday was still fresh in the mind of the members. Eventually, they all took their seats around the table in the classroom, still in awkward silence.
"So… does anyone want to do anything today?" Sumireko eventually asked, breaking the awkward silence with the bluntness of a sledgehammer.
As silence filled the room once more, Madotsuki and Urotsuki shared a glance with each other, which Maribel and the Usami sisters took notice of. After a while, Urotsuki nodded, wordlessly telling Madotsuki that she'll be the one to break the news. "There is something I'd like to bring up," Urotsuki said.
The Usami sisters and Maribel looked at each other for a moment before nodding at each other. "So what do you have to say?" Maribel asked as the three turned to face Urotsuki.
"So remember how I mentioned how Madotsuki and I also have a small group of Dreamer friends of our own?" Urotsuki asked.
"No, actually," Sumireko answered.
"I don't think you did," Renko replied.
"And if you did, then perhaps we've simply forgotten about it," Maribel added.
"Really now?" Urotsuki asked to herself. "Did I mention that, Madotsuki?" Urotsuki asked as she turned to Madotsuki.
"I don't think so," Madotsuki answered.
"If that's the case, then I guess I really didn't mention it," Urotsuki said as she turned back towards the group. "Well, regardless if I did or not, Madotsuki and I do have a small group of Dreamer friends. After Madotsuki and I left, we encountered one of them as we walked home, and after sharing you guys with them, they said that they'd like to drop by if that's fine with you."
Maribel and the Usami sisters had looks of confusion on their faces, with Renko being the first to respond. "Uh, sure, they can drop by if they can, but from the sounds of things, they don't exactly come to this school, so how just how will they just get here?"
"Will they sneak in here like a ninja?" Sumireko asked as she got up and made sneaking motions as Renko rolled her eyes at Sumireko's antics. "Or will they use their ultimate teleportation powers to break in this school?"
"The latter, actually, and they plan to teleport here as soon as they get word of your approval," Madotsuki answered.
"Wait, really?" Sumireko asked with genuine interest as she sat down as Renko and Maribel looked also on with interest.
"You're joking, right, Madotsuki?" Renko asked.
"I wish Mado was joking, but as crazy as it sounds, she's not," Urotsuki answered for Madotsuki.
The Usami sisters and Maribel stared at the faces of Madotsuki and Urotsuki, looking for any signs of deception. After a short while, they didn't find any on Madotsuki and Urotsuki's serious faces, which caused Renko to sigh in disbelief.
"Renko!" Maribel said in a chiding tone, who had been pretty quiet up to this point.
"Hey, come on how, don't give us that, Renko," said Urotsuki.
"I apologize," Renko said. "It just sounds a bit absurd, that's all."
"No more absurd than Sumireko having psychic powers and us and Maribel having strange dream powers?" Madotsuki asked.
"Well, when you put it like that, not really," Renko answered.
"Assuming that we accept of your friend coming here, just how will you inform of them?" Maribel asked. "From the sounds of things, this friend of yours sounds like they'll pop in here right at this moment."
Urotsuki huffed with confidence upon hearing Maribel's concern. "The answer's quite simple. Once you three approve, I'll sleep and travel to the Hyper Nexus. There, I'll tell this friend of your approval, and once I wake up back here, they'll lock on to my location and teleport here."
"The Hyper Nexus?" Maribel asked. "What's that?"
"As much as I'd like to answer that, I think we're getting a bit off-track," Urotsuki said. "So about our Dreamer friend, do you three accept their visit?"
"Of course I do, I would be an idiot to pass up the sight of casual teleportation!" Sumireko immediately responded.
"I would also like to see this friend of yours, especially if they can get here as quickly as you say," Maribel answered.
Renko took a moment to reply, causing everyone else to look and wait for her response, and eventually, she made her decision. "I guess I'm fine with it."
"If that's the case, then wait a moment or two, I'll get this friend of ours," Urotsuki said as she began to rest herself on the table and close her eyes, preparing herself for travel to the Hyper Nexus.
"Wait, you're gonna actually get them now?" Renko asked.
"Yeah, I am," answered Urotsuki, briefly opening her eyes to look at Maribel as she spoke before closing them back. Eventually, Urotsuki fell asleep, and as she had done so, the rest of the Club silently waited in anticipation.
When Urotsuki came to, She found herself in a vast and infinite room that seemed to have no walls or ceiling and had various human-sized objects that were neatly arranged in a grid, each of them being an entrance to another world. As Urotsuki looked around what was essentially the Hyper Nexus, she soon found the friend she was talking about to the rest of the club, that friend being Yomika, who noticed Urotsuki's arrival.
"Yo, Yomika!" Urotsuki said as she waved at her. "The Usami sisters and Maribel said that they're cool with your visit!"
"Is that so?" Yomika rhetorically asked. "No use in waiting any longer. I will be there shortly, just give me a moment or two to teleport to your location."
"Take all the time you need," Urotsuki said before she pinched her cheek and woke herself up.
The Sealing Club saw Urotsuki rouse from her quick dream.
"So is Yomika coming?" Madotsuki asked.
"Yup, just give her a moment to lock on to our location and she'll be here any minute now."
Not long after Urotsuki spoke, a small and black vortex suddenly appeared between Madotsuki and Urotsuki, and just as quickly as it appeared, Yomika had also appeared, with Maribel and the Usami sisters learning very quickly that the vortex originated from left eye, which glowed an unnatural icy blue as the vortex had shrank back to nothingness before Yomika's eye faded away to a dark blue.
"Greetings to you three," Yomika said to Maribel and the Usami sisters as she took a small bow and they looked on in surprise. "My name is Yomika. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"That was fast," Madotsuki commented, which Urotsuki responded with a snort of amusement.
"A good thing, should you be in danger," Yomika said in response.
"How kind of you to care for us that much," Urotsuki quipped.
"Whoa, so you can teleport, Yomika?" Sumireko excitedly asked, interrupting the three Dreamer's conversation. "How does it work?"
Yomika looked at Sumireko, wondering if she should actually tell her. While she did receive word from Madotsuki and Urotsuki that Maribel confided her Dreamer status to the Usami sisters, Yomika herself was still unsure if she trusted Sumireko. In the end, Yomika's internal debate had only lasted for a brief moment before she ultimately decided to share her information.
"I don't know everything about how my teleportation works, but to keep it short and concise, how my teleportation works is that I have a vague feeling of where Madotsuki and Urotsuki are, though outside of actually teleporting to them, it never gets more specific than their general direction and an imprecise feeling of distance. For privacy's sake, however, I weaken that feeling even further so that it only tells me that they are in this world, and only lift that restriction when I intend to teleport to them."
"She rarely ever teleports to us, however, and perfers to either simply visit our homes through normal ways, or meet up with us at the Hyper Nexus," Urotsuki added.
"That reminds me, Urotsuki," said Renko as she turned to face Urotsuki. "You never did explain what the Hyper Nexus was when I first asked."
"Ah, right, apologies for that," Urotsuki said. "To put it simply, the Hyper Nexus is a higher dimension that contains gateways to real worlds that has at least one Dreamer, ours included."
"Wait just a minute, are you telling me that there's a gateway to many worlds, and that not only is the Multiverse Theory is real, but that both you and Urotsuki have casually traveled to other worlds?" Renko asked again.
"We've only traveled to one other world so far, but yeah, basically," Urotsuki responded.
"That's so cool!" Sumireko exclaimed. "So what did the other world look like?"
Madotsuki and Urotsuki flinched in response to Sumireko's question, which the rest of the Sealing Club took notice of.
"Umm… about that…" Madotsuki said hesitantly. "It's not doing too well at the moment."
"Things hadn't been too well over there for the past few years," Urotsuki added.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Maribel said solemnly. "I hope that world gets better soon."
Urotsuki chuckled at Maribel's words. "If it's of any consolation, our Dreamer friend over there has nerves of fucking steel for weathering the storm over there."
"Oh, you have a Dreamer friend over there?" Maribel asked. "What's their name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Glad you asked," Urotsuki said as she grinned. "Her name's Sabitsuki."
"Sabitsuki looks rough on the outside, but she's actually a nice girl," Madotsuki added.
"Can you tell us more about Sabitsuki?" Sumireko asked.
Yomika, who had been content to let Madotsuki and Urotsuki do the talking up to this point, decided to speak up. "No," she immediately and bluntly answered.
"Why not?" Sumireko asked again.
"I can answer that, Yomika," Madotsuki said. "We promised Sabitsuki that we wouldn't tell anything about her other than her name and the general state of her home."
"I'm assuming that you three also can't tell us why?" Renko asked.
"That would be correct," Madotsuki answered.
"Pretty much, yeah," Urotsuki responded.
"Indeed," Yomika replied.
"Aw man, I was hoping to get to know them somehow," Sumireko said.
"We can't exactly just get up and meet up with Sabitsuki, Renko." Renko said in response. "While I can assume that it's possible for Merry to enter the Hyper Nexus, the same can't be said for us."
"Well yeah, that's why I want to know her through Madotsuki and Urotsuki."
"Actually…" Maribel said, interrupting the Usami sisters's conversation. "...I think you two can enter the Hyper Nexus."
"Wait, really? How?" Sumireko said with excitement.
"What do you mean, Merry?" Renko asked.
"Well, if you two were able to enter my dreams, then it can be safe to assume that you two can also enter the Hyper Nexus the same way," Maribel explained.
"Alright everyone, listen up!" Sumireko said excitedly as she slammed her hands on the table, getting everyone's attention. "Today, the Secret Sealing Club will attempt to enter the Hyper Nexus!" Sumireko then paused briefly for dramatic effect. "Or die trying."
Maribel covered her mouth with her hand as she chuckled at Sumireko's chunni behavior while Renko sighed as she rolled her eyes.
"Say, Renko, is Sumireko always this dramatic?" Asked Yomika.
"Yes, unfortunately, and 'dramatic' is one way to put it," Renko answered.
"Hmm, I see," Yomika replied.
"So, Yomika, you cool with bringing Renko and Sumireko along to the Hyper Nexus?" Urotsuki asked.
"If Maribel trusts Renko and Sumireko, then I see no problem bringing them along," Yomika answered as she nodded before turning towards Maribel. "However, I do wonder just how you plan to bring the Usami sisters along, Maribel."
"The idea's quite simple," Maribel replied. "Just as how we all held hands to enter my dreams…" Maribel briefly paused as the Purple-Dressed Woman incident inadvertently popped up in her head, which Renko took notice of. "...We close our eyes and hold hands while all of us Dreamers try to take us to the Hyper Nexus. Does everyone agree with it?"
"Hell yeah, I do!" Sumireko said with her signature excitement.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Urotsuki answered.
"It's worth a shot," Renko responded.
"I can go with that," Madotsuki replied.
"That sounds agreeable, Maribel," Yomika said as she nodded.
"Now that everyone's on board, does anyone have any questions?"
"I do, actually," Renko answered before turning to Urotsuki, Madotsuki, and Yomika. "How exactly did you three discover the Hyper Nexus?"
"No clue," Urotsuki answered with a shrug. "About a month ago, we were about to take a tour through my dreams, and next thing we knew, we somehow ended up in the Hyper Nexus."
"What about you two, Yomika and Madotsuki?" Renko asked again. "Do you know?"
"Unfortunately, I do not, Renko," Yomika answered.
"I'm just as lost as they are," Madotsuki replied. "sorry about that."
"No worries, Madotsuki," Renko responded. "It was just a curiosity, of mine, that's all." Renko then turned to Maribel. "That was the only question I had, Merry."
"Anyone else have any questions?" Maribel asked.
"None here," Yomika answered.
"I don't," Urotsuki replied.
Madotsuki simply shook her head in response.
"Nope, now let's go!" Sumireko said with a hint of impatience.
Maribel chuckled at Sumireko's eagerness. "If that's the case, then let's begin. First, I want everyone to hold hands." Once everyone had done so, Maribel resumed speaking. "Next, I want everyone to close their eyes while us Dreamers think of sending us all the Hyper Nexus."
"Are you sure this will work, Maribel?" Yomika said as she and everyone else closed their eyes.
"Madotsuki had also proposed that we do this when we entered my dreams, so why not try it now now?"
"Understandable." Yomika and the rest of the dreamers then began to think of heading to the Hyper Nexus. After a few seconds of waiting, everyone felt something pull at them, but instead of the pull being sleep, it was the pull of teleportation, causing the members of the Sealing Club and Yomika to disappear.
When the Sealing Club and Yomika reappeared, the first thing they saw was the Hyper Nexus and its various entrances to real worlds.
"So this is the Hyper Nexus," Maribel said as she, Sumireko, and Maribel looked around to examine it.
"This is a pretty big place," Renko commented.
"Big? I bet that this place is as large as the universe! Entrances as far as the eye can see!" Sumireko said.
"Don't go running into them now, Sumi," Renko reminded.
"I know, I know," Sumireko responded. "These do lead to actual real worlds, and I'm not stupid enough to get lost in one." Sumireko then turned towards Madotsuki, Urotsuki, and Yomika. "Now that I think of it, it does bring up a question. Just how do we get back to our world? Considering that these are real worlds, I doubt that we can just simply try to wake up."
"That is actually a good question, Sumireko," said Yomika. "Normally, Madotsuki, Urotsuki, and I either use our Effects that bring us back to our Nexus to return here or we just return to the location of the entrance in the other world and think of either the Hyper Nexus or our home before entering. I can only hope that the latter is also true for both you and Renko."
"As good an answer as any, I suppose," Renko said in a slightly disappointed tone.
"Come on, don't be such a downer, Renko!" Sumireko responded. "We're here now, so nothin' ventured, nothin' gained!" Renko then turned towards the Dreamers. "Where to?"
"I donno," Urotsuki answered as she shrugged. "We're kinda spoiled for choice here with the sheer amount of entrances there are."
"How about the Torii gate over there?" Madotsuki answered, pointing towards a bright red Torii gate that was much smaller than usual, with the Torii gate being just large enough that a single human could walk right through it.
"Ah, an eye for the traditional, I see," Urotsuki quipped. "Why not? It's not like there are an infinite of other entrances we can't try."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sumireko said as she skipped over to the Torii gate, with everyone else shortly following her.
Once the group got to the Torii gate, they all wordlessly got into a single file line, with Sumireko at the front, followed by Maribel, Renko, Urotsuki, Madotsuki, and Yomika.
"Nice to see that everyone was nice enough to get in line," Urotsuki commented in amusement, which caused the Sealing Club, minus Sumireko, to chuckle in response.
Sumireko took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," she said before walking through the Torii gate, disappearing as she did so, with everyone else following shortly afterward.
After the Sealing Club and Yomika entered the Torii gate, they found themselves on the grounds of a relatively small Japanese Shinto shrine. While everyone looked around with wonder and curiosity, Sumireko looked around with surprise, as while she hadn't exactly been to this shrine before, this world had an aura that felt exactly like the one she visited in her dreams while spreading the Occult Balls all over it.
"I like this place," said Urotsuki. "It's beautiful in its quaintness and simplicity."
"I can only hope that we're not trespassing around here," Maribel said with worry.
"Well, if you're worried about that, the sooner we leave, the better the chances we won't get caught," Urotsuki as she began to walk towards the pathway leading towards the shrine and steps.
"Wait a minute, all of you," Yomika said, stopping everyone from walking as she looked around with her eyes narrowed.
"What is it, Yomika?" Madotsuki asked as she and everyone else turned towards her.
"Don't you all feel something strange about this world?" Yomika asked everyone, causing Sumireko to flinch in shock.
"Uh, n-n-no, I don't feel anything off about this world," Sumireko said nervously.
"You okay, Sumi?" Renko asked her sister, putting her hand on one of Sumireko's shoulder.
"Huh?" Sumireko said in response. "Oh, oh yeah, I'm fine, heh heh! Nothin' to worry about!" Sumireko said as she scratched the back of her head.
"She's probably just nervous about traveling to another world, Renko," Maribel said. "After all, you only really hear of it in isekai stories."
"Well, if that's the case, then you have nothing to worry about, Sumi," said Renko. "If worse comes to worst, Yomika can probably teleport us back to the Hyper Nexus, right?"
Yomika simply nodded in response without looking at Renko, as most of her attention was on focusing on this odd feeling she's getting.
"Now that you mention it, Yomika…" Madotsuki said, pausing in the middle of sentence to double check her senses. "...Yeah, something is a bit off with this world, though I can't exactly explain it."
Upon hearing Madotsuki's words, both Maribel and Urotsuki tried to sense anything that might feel off or weird.
After a few seconds of silence, Maribel wss the first to speak up. "I'm sensing something odd, as well, though like Madotsuki, I also can't explain it."
"Ditto here," Urotsuki added.
"I don't sense anything at all, though considering all of your responses, I can only presume that only Dreamers can sense what you're sensing," said Renko.
"If that's the case, then I will explain this odd feeling," Yomika said. "While this world does feel like a real world, at the same time, it feels like a Dream World, and that has interesting implications."
Closing AN: Initially, I planned to have the Sealing Club members deal with the fallout of Maribel and the Usami sisters meeting the purple-dressed lady, but after two months of writer's block, procrastination, and inexperience on writing how characters deal with emotional triggers, I cut my losses short and decided to just skip ahead a bit. I'll definitely come back to this and expand on it once I feel that I'm confident enough writing it, but for now, we'll just have to settle with a truncated version.
As for the title and chapter name changes, my ambitions for this fic eventually made me realize that I should change them, as I plan the story to continue far beyond this current arc.