Hoshino woke up drenched in sweat. She pinched her arm before taking a deep breath.

"So it was just a dream…" Hoshino muttered as she rubbed her eye as she looked around the club room. "Where is everyone?"

She had fallen asleep while working on a few documents in the Foreclosure Task Force's office, some were regarding new students who got into trouble recently, but most were regarding the negotiations with regards to regaining some of the land that were sold to Kaiser by the previous council. Ayane was the one who was handling these, but Hoshino still had to look over them for approval.

It seemed she had dozed off while reading the last document.

"Uhe~ Did they not want to disturb me…?" Hoshino made a soft smile as she went over the last document before she stretched her arm with a yawn.

Her expression froze as she remembered the contents of her dream.

The piles of documents on her table nearly spilled as she hurriedly pulled out her phone and used its selfie function to look at herself. Her hair was the familiar long pink hair. She then turned the camera upward to show the halo floating above her head. She carefully reinforced her eyes to be able to see it clearly—its shape reminiscent of an eye.

"Like an eye…" Hoshino muttered in relief that her halo was the same as always as she remembered Sensei's comment about her shotgun's name as she placed her phone away.

"So you named your gun 'The Eye of Horus'...I guess that explains why your halo looks like an eye."

"Uhe…So you can see it clearly, Sensei?" Hoshino replied. "I did have a vague feeling about its shape."

"Why does it look like that though…?" Hoshino wondered aloud as she recalled the conversation as she picked up her rifle and shield. "I guess I'll go for a short walk to clear my head."

Her walk around the campus wasn't too special. She happened upon two separate fights about to break out. She was able to defuse the first one clearing up the misunderstanding from both sides, but she had to resort to forcefully stopping the second one before turning the situation over to Shiroko and the newly established Oasis Guardians.

…

…

…

A halo was something that every student in Kivotos possessed. It indicated their status as a Mystic. Naturally, this included Hoshino, who was currently mulling over its nature sitting by a desk inside a classroom while watching the clouds in the blue sky while her face was leaning on her hand.

Its existence was regarded as something normal in Kivotos, to the point that very few, if any, questioned its existence. Hoshino herself never thought too much about it either in the past, as it had been with her and those around her as far as she could recall, even if she couldn't see it most of the time.

To Sensei, however, the very sight was something that took him a while to get used to. As someone who originally came from outside Kivotos, the existence of the students' halos was new to him. As a foreign 'Mystic', he was particularly sensitive to the halos' appearance, which allowed him to see them clearly if he were to focus even a little bit on them.

Even if he wasn't, he could still see a circular halo floating above their heads. He was a little surprised when he found out that his students couldn't perceive halos the same way he did. At least not usually, based on Hoshino's experience. She would be able to see halos more clearly if she were to spend some time staring at someone's halo, but that was like watching how a person breathes.

Thanks to Sensei's lessons on Magecraft, Hoshino herself became able to clearly see halos at will by applying a bit of Reinforcement to her eyes. Said lessons also made her start wondering the nature of a student's halo. What happened last time only served to make her pay more attention to her own halo, if only to make sure it didn't look strange.

Hoshino lowered her phone to the desk before slapping herself on the cheeks.

"Ouch…Yep, definitely awake," Hoshino muttered as she sighed in relief. This only made what happened back when she reunited with Yume even more worrying. What happened back then could be summed up to a series of misunderstandings and bad timing, seeing as she was still recovering from a near disastrous attempt of training her control over her mystical energy better, and caused her control to slip when she reunited with Yume.

She was embarrassed that Sensei and Yume saw her like that.

And she was also feeling guilty at what she subjected Sensei to in his efforts to calm her down without hurting her after her Mystic went out of control.

She could still recall what she felt at the time. The happiness at seeing Yume after all this time, followed by the despair of watching her senior disappear right in front of her eyes was enough to push Hoshino over the edge. She just wanted to lash out at the unfairness of it all.

And Sensei was standing in front of her when it happened. Sensei managed to keep her occupied long enough for Yume to eventually calm her down.

With that said, she could still remember the sensation she felt at the time.

If I so much as reach out to it— Hoshino shook her head as she stopped the flow of mystical energy she was exuding.

She was terrified at finding out that she had this side to her. Sensei strongly encouraged her to take a break from Magecraft training, but she didn't really want to stop it. Magecraft is fun to learn, after all. She wanted to ask for Sensei's guidance by overseeing her training more often, and she knew that he would drop everything to help her if she just asked.

Which was precisely why she didn't. Sensei already did so much for Abydos, and even got hurt helping her last time. If she asked for his help now, it would mean that Sensei would have to spend more time in Abydos when he could be helping other students. It would also interfere with Yume trying to reintegrate herself to society.

It was for this reason that threw herself into council work to make sure that Sensei and Yume wouldn't worry about her. Also, it didn't really sit well on Hoshino to let her recently revived senior to immediately go back to doing paperwork and dealing with something like negotiating with Kaiser. That, and it wouldn't exactly be a good idea to send her to a meeting only for her to dematerialize halfway through.

Naturally, the people around her started noticing this strange behavior of hers. Ayane and Serika thought it was odd that she was no longer taking naps as frequently as before, but found it a welcome change. Shiroko started dragging Hoshino with her to do combat drills more often. Nonomi was the same as always, though she occasionally spots her looking at her with worry.

When Yume visited last week, she noted that Hoshino's current behavior was reminiscent of how she was during her first year when she wasn't being grumpy and started sharing some stories to her juniors, much to her embarrassment. She and Nonomi got along swimmingly as they gossiped between themselves.

Hoshino had to admit that it was quite the sight, seeing Yume being silly while talking with Shiroko, Nonomi, Serika, and Ayane whenever she visited like they were old friends. It was as if she never left.

And from Yume's point of view, she never did.

"But what is up with her sense of humor? Is that what spending a few years as a ghost does to you…?" Hoshino muttered in exasperation as she stared at the afternoon sky. The sound of students who were leaving the campus was heard. "...I want to see Sensei and Yume…I miss Sensei's cooking…"

"Why not make some time to visit them, then?" Hoshino was a little surprised that she didn't notice that Nonomi managed to sneak behind her. "Everyone else already visited SCHALE at least once these past few days aside from you. I'm actually planning to go there now!"

"Uhe…It seems you're getting better at sneaking around. I wonder if this old timer is getting rusty?"

"I'd like to say that this is payback from that time, but I'm pretty sure the reason you didn't notice me was because you were lost in your own thoughts," Nonomi said with a smile as she positioned a chair right across the desk. "What's happening with you recently?"

"What do you mean?"

"You should be happy that Abydos' situation is finally turning around. More than that, the fact that President Yume has returned, as peculiar as her current situation is," Nonomi said before she put a hand on her chin. "Hmmm…? Could it be that you're feeling envious about how President Yume is always next to Sensei—"

Hoshino's face slipped from her hand and nearly hit her head on the table.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Hoshino said as she looked at Nonomi. "Where did that come from?! You know why Yume's around Sensei! If I have any complaint, it's that he did all that without giving me—us a heads-up! I still remember how Ayane nearly lost it when she found out about the situation!"

"Yeah, she kept muttering about how her understanding of common sense is being destroyed whenever Sensei uses his magic," Nonomi said. "With that said, she was definitely happy about the situation. Too bad President Yume couldn't join us yet."

Sensei didn't expect that Yume still needed time to get used to her new body while training to control her supply of magical energy, so both the President and Vice-President of the Abydos Student Council decided to use that time to interact with students from other schools as a way to strengthen connections with the other districts.

"It was a good plan given the circumstances," Nonomi said with a giggle. "With that said, I'm sure that any student who sees how close Sensei and President Yume are would feel a little envious. Imagine if they knew that Sensei and the President were bonded to their soul! It feels incredibly romantic, don't you think?"

"Uhe~ When you put it that way, even this old timer is starting to feel left out!"

"I see~!" Nonomi said as she clapped her hands in delight. "Then what's the problem? Just go visit them! I won't pry about what happened when you reunited with President Yume or why you're feeling guilty about something, but I don't think Sensei and President Yume blame you for that."

Hoshino wanted to say something, but she couldn't really muster the words to say anything. She looked towards the oasis and saw some members of the Oasis Guardians keeping an eye out on things while talking to Shiroko, who was overseeing their training.

"...I guess you're right," Hoshino said.

"Great! I'll inform Sensei that you're coming too!" Nonomi exclaimed with a smile.

…

…

…

Hoshino and Nonomi arrived at SCHALE half an hour later.

"HOOOSHIINOOOO!" Yume exclaimed as she flew out of the building and greeted them while she barreled down. Hoshino had half a mind to step aside, but stood in place when she saw Yume slow down and didn't reject her hug.

"Yume, you're going to…suffocate…me…!" Hoshino said while her face was squeezed between the older girl's chest.

"Ah, sorry about that!" Yume said as she let go before she turned her attention to Nonomi. "Hey, Nonomi!"

"Hello, President Yume!" Nonomi cheerfully replied as they high fived with both hands.

After entering the building, they started walking towards the elevator, including Yume, who decided to walk for a change.

"How are things in Abydos?" Yume asked before she returned a greeting from a student from another school who they passed by the hallway.

"Things are doing well, President Yume! The newly established Oasis Guardians you brought up last meeting really took a load off things," Nonomi replied. "Having a club dedicated to defending Abydos lets the rest of us focus on other things, like buying back the land from Kaiser or introducing improvements in the district."

"Those youngsters still need more training, but Shiroko's doing a great job so far," Hoshino added as they arrived in front of the elevator and pressed the button. "This old timer is really proud."

"I wish I could help you more directly, but Sensei said that it'll be another few weeks before I can stay in Abydos for more than two days…" Yume dropped her shoulders.

"Then why don't you preside over the unveiling ceremony for the Guardian uniforms?" Hoshino suggested. "It wouldn't take too long. Maybe you can even go for a short bath in the oasis."

"Is that really fine?" Yume said. "I was gone for two years, after all."

"Why wouldn't it be? You're still Abydos' President, after all," Hoshino said. "Besides, the formation of the Oasis Guardians is your idea."

"I think you're doing just fine, President Yume. Your situation is really unique, after all," Nonomi replied as they stepped into the elevator, with Yume greeting a purple haired student from Millennium who got out of the elevator. "Speaking of which, just yesterday there was a group of middle school students who were inquiring whether Abydos was accepting enrollment for next year. They said they heard about the school from you."

"Oooh, I think I know which group you're talking about!" Yume said with a smile.

"By the way, that Millennium student we passed by just now seemed familiar. I'm pretty sure I saw her with Sensei a few times in the past," Hoshino muttered.

"Oh, that's Miss Yuuka, the treasurer of Seminar!"

"Uhe~ So that's the famous treasurer," Hoshino said. "I heard from Sensei that she was the one who proposed the creation of SCHALE's restaurant."

"Yup, I was there when you had that conversation with Sensei in the park that night!" Yume said.

"I see—Wait, what—" Hoshino was at a loss for words.

"The park? At night! With Sensei?!" Nonomi, on the other hand, leaned closer as her face clearly showed her excitement. "Was it a date?!"

"No!" "Yes!" Hoshino and Yume said respectively.

Hoshino turned to look at Yume while red in the face. "What are you talking about, Yume?! If you were there, then you should also know that I crossed paths with Sensei while out on a patrol—Ah."

"Patrol? At night…? No wonder you were always sleeping during the day…" Nonomi said as she connected the dots. "Even back then you were working extra hard, Hoshino… You should have relied on us more."

"I…This old timer's relying on you now, aren't I?" Hoshino said.

"I guess you're right~!" Nonomi said. "Though now I know whether you went on a patrol the night before or not based on how sleepy you are during the day!"

"Uhehe…" Hoshino said as she scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

"Hehe~" Yume giggled. "I'm glad you have great juniors, Hoshino."

"They're your juniors too, you know?" Hoshino replied while Nonomi nodded in agreement.

It has been decided for a while now that the 35th chapter has to be about Abydos. The specifics of the chapter, on the other hand, was something that I had had to wrack my brains.

The most obvious would be Hoshino's reaction to Yume's return after the past few chapters focused on Yume reacclimating herself to the land of the living. Ideally I would have loved to read V1C3 in its entirety first before releasing another Hoshino-centric chapter, but that would mean waiting until the end of January.

With that said, here it is!

As usual, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

PS. To those who were a little confused about the previous chapter, it was a return to the previous anachronic format after successive chronological chapters that began in Chapter 22. The previous chapter takes place 3 weeks after Shirou arrived in Kivotos, which means it was way before Shirou formed a contract with Yume, which explains her non-presence.