บท 360: Multidimensional Pen-Pals

Megumin hops through the Dimension Gate with a serious expression, staff in hand as she twirls it. "Behold! The great and powerful Megumin has conquered the bounds between worlds! Time and space bend at her will! Kneel down before I-Ouch!" she's interrupted from her monologue as Michael chops her head.

"Stop being annoying and go back through the portal." he chides as if speaking to a child.

"Ooouh! You always interrupt me Michael! And why is it only me who gets hit!" she points over at Illococoo and Tiffania, "Why never them!" she asks with a clearly fake aggrieved expression, playing it up for Takashi and his group who were now giving him the stink eye...

He shakes his head with a playful smirk, "For your information, I do hit Tiff... Just not how you'd expect... As for Illu? She's not as annoying as you are."

"Mou, Michael-chan, you shouldn't be mean to children!" Shizuka says as she walks over and envelopes Megumin into a sudden hug, drowning the girl in her breasts.

"Bubuu-C-child!?-boouf!" Megumin struggles out as she drops her staff in a panic, trying to flee the incredibly soft and envious prison. Finally, she manages to escape though, "ENOUGH! BOOB MONSTER!" she exclaims, extracting herself and slapping Shizuka in the breasts a couple times...

"Hyyyaaan!"

"With these fake things!"

"Kyyyan!"

"A child!?"

"HHyyaaaa! T-that's enough! I'm going to-" Shizuka pleads as she futilely attempts to protect herself...

"Alright, that's enough playing around!" Michael states as he grabs Megumin's collar and casually tosses her through the Dimension Gate, allowing her to land on the stone roof of the College with a thud.

He shakes his head and looks back towards Saya and Saeko, "If you two are ready, say your farewells, I'd rather not have Tiff hold the portal open for too long."

They nod, each saying their goodbyes to their friends one last time... With Saya notably ignoring Takashi and Rei.

Michael shakes hands with all of them except Shizuka, who hugs him like she'd done to Megumin, much to Tiffania's obvious ire... "You guys take care now, we might come back in a year or two to see if you're dead or not."

Takashi scoffs, "Gee, thanks..."

"Better than not coming back at all, stupid." Saya remarks as she steps through the Dimension Gate. She immediately regrets it of course, as her attire was not at all suited to the Skyrim climate. The temperature didn't transfer through the portal for obvious reasons.

Saeko gives them all a brief nod before following, stepping through as if she were a woman on a mission.

A final wave and Michael was also back home, Tiffania shutting the Dimension Gate behind him.

*Glomp!*

"You're back!"

He smiles as he brushes a hand through her hair while the other fiddles with one of her long ears. "What, did you think I wouldn't make it?"

She leans back while shaking her head, inadvertently slapping him in the neck with her ears, "No, but I was still worried!... Plus..." she turns to face the shivering Saya and Saeko, "Who are they?"

"These two are Saya and Saeko respectively, they don't speak Tamrielic or Halkeginian so they'll have to stay with us until they pick it up. Then they can do what they like... Neither were all that interested in staying in their world... You saw it through the portal, it was worse than it looked." he remarks.

"Tell us about it over dinner, none of us have eaten yet... Your-. Friends look cold too." she adds, hugging his arm and escorting him towards the kitchens. The others followed dutifully.

Once the group had gathered food, they went to the Hall of Attainment and sat in the dining area, where Michael began to explain the basics of what'd happened in the other world.

To say they were shocked by the existence of dead or dying worlds would be an understatement, their shock quickly gave way to pity for Saya and Saeko however, making the duo uncomfortable by all the attention.

"Why didn't you bring the others with you?" Tiffania asks, "Did they not want to come?"

Michael nods, "Yeah, they still had families over there. No matter how fucked the situation, most people wouldn't ditch their families-..." he pauses and takes a moment to compose himself due to the memories his own words had caused to spring up, "Anyway, I had to be careful who I brought back." primarily due to Peryite and Namira, he mentally adds.

"How did you meet Michael? He didn't try to... Seduce you, did he?" Megumin asks Saya and Saeko.

The group continue to talk about how their respective time apart had gone, Michael learned about Tiffania's struggles with her many suitors in his absence, and was thankful to Maria for her stepping in to intervene when things got difficult... Not so much Megumin however, as the girl had blatantly taken advantage of it all to earn some gold...

"Huh, I did get you guys some souvenirs, but it looks like Megumin will have to wait for hers." he states as he begins retrieving things from his inventory, much to the horror of the explosion girl.

"W-what! But I was good! No explosions! no fights!... I studied too!"

"Didn't stop you from taking advantage of your master though, did it? You'll get yours when you make it up to her." he says before handing Illococoo a couple of things. The first was a pile of science books that held information about physics, chemistry and other topics. This was all to help her understand the universe better, and in turn, help her master the Thu'um faster... After all, the Thu'um was all about knowledge and understanding... What could she achieve once she learned about atoms and nuclear fission?

The next thing he gave her was multiple ointments from petshops which were specifically designed to be applied to the scales of lizards. Sure, she wouldn't be able to use them anytime soon, but he looked forward to the time when she could shift forms freely.

He got a cheerful hug in return, the girl laughing as she held the ointments, much to the confusion of Megumin, Saeko, and Saya.