Chapter 277: Nagisa Himekawa
"Hm? Lin, why are you back so quickly?"
"Lin… welcome back…"
Seeing Yoshino run over, Franklin smiled and directly lifted her up, letting her sit on his forearm.
"Yeah. Something happened at school. Looks like I'll be taking another long leave of absence."
Hearing Franklin's words, Yoshinon instantly jumped up excitedly. "That's great! That means we can go to the arcade and the amusement park again tomorrow!"
Franklin smiled, then turned his gaze to the silently standing Reine Murasame.
"Sorry for the trouble. After today, Reine, you should be able to be a lot less busy."
"Is Little Lin planning to ask the commander to approve some leave for me? I'm not that tired. I really don't need it."
Looking at the obvious fatigue on Reine Murasame's face, Franklin felt a bit helpless.
"Then let's go on a trip together. You can decide the destination. We'll use 'accompanying the Spirits on dates' as the reason—getting funding should be pretty easy that way."
"The school situation will probably require a long leave anyway. When the time comes, Reine, you should come along too."
Seeing Franklin's determination, Reine Murasame nodded lightly.
Franklin then looked toward Yoshino and Yoshinon.
"There's one more thing I came back for this time—helping Origami and Chiyogami revive their mom and dad…"
Hearing Franklin's words, Yoshino curiously looked past him. When she saw the two Origamis, her eyes instantly widened.
"H-how can there be… two Origami-sisters…"
At this moment, Yoshinon didn't care about that at all. She had only heard Franklin say that he would help Origami revive her parents.
If Origami's parents could be revived, then why couldn't her own mom?
Her eyes, filled with hope and longing, turned toward Franklin.
In the next instant, they met Franklin's smiling gaze.
"Of course, besides Origami and Chiyogami's mom and dad, there's also Yoshino and Yoshinon's mom."
As he spoke, Franklin stopped teasing them. His domain spread out and instantly located the two formations underground.
In the next moment, three bodies with almost no signs of life appeared.
Franklin pressed down with one hand. Illusory World Genesis activated. After confirming that all three souls were perfectly intact, Franklin reshaped flawless new bodies for them.
Origami was already fairly grown, so for her parents, Franklin set their ages to the age they were at before their deaths.
Yoshino and Yoshinon were still very young. For Nagisa Himekawa, who had been single for many years, Franklin directly set her at the most youthful and radiant age, naturally repairing all flaws as well.
As long as they underwent minor purification at intervals, these three bodies could completely avoid aging and death.
After everything was finished, Franklin snapped his fingers lightly, and Nagisa Himekawa opened her eyes.
From the moment she heard Franklin's words until now, Yoshinon's mouth hadn't closed once. When she saw her mother open her eyes, Yoshinon immediately threw herself at Franklin.
Large tears streamed down as she cried. She was both overwhelmingly happy and unbearably sad, which left the memory-lacking Yoshino feeling confused.
Looking at the blue-haired girl sitting up with a dazed expression, Yoshino looked toward Franklin.
"Lin… that's my mom… but why don't I remember anything…"
With one little cutie in each arm, Franklin couldn't even free a hand to pat their heads.
Smiling at Yoshino, Franklin transmitted the backed-up memories to both Yoshino and Yoshinon at the same time. While the two froze, processing and merging those memories, Nagisa Himekawa, who had just awakened from the car accident memories, staggered slightly as she stood up.
She curiously observed everything around her, finding everything unfamiliar and new.
It wasn't until she saw Yoshino that a glimmer of light finally appeared in her empty eyes.
"Yoshino…"
That familiar call rang out. As memories of everything returned, both little girls burst into tears.
Seeing Nagisa Himekawa rushing toward them, Franklin snapped his fingers, freezing her in place.
"Ahem. Ms. Nagisa Himekawa, please calm down for a moment. Allow me to introduce your daughters first, so we don't end up with something heartbreaking happening in a minute."
Hearing Franklin's words, Nagisa looked confused. "My daughters? I only have one daughter—Yoshino…"
Franklin cut her off directly. "Now you have two. This is Yoshino, and this is Yoshinon.
"Although she started as a hand puppet you gave to your daughter, she now possesses the same memories as your daughter. And during the time you were gone,
she has always been the embodiment of a knight, standing in front of Yoshino and protecting her.
"I hope you can give them equal love."
After saying this, Franklin set the two little girls down and, at the same moment, released Nagisa Himekawa's restraints.
Yoshino didn't rush toward Nagisa right away. She understood what Franklin meant. Gently taking Yoshinon's hand, she ran toward their mother together with her.
At this moment, Nagisa Himekawa didn't fully understand what had happened, but she had heard and understood what Franklin said earlier.
Looking at the girl who looked exactly like her daughter, yet had hair that blended blue and grayish-white,
Nagisa Himekawa could tell that Yoshinon had definitely gone through a lot. She didn't favor one over the other, instead pulling both daughters into her embrace.
Franklin snapped his fingers lightly and directly sent the three of them back to Yoshino and Yoshinon's room.
"For now, stay here and catch up properly. You can talk about anything—no need to hide it, no need to bottle it up.
"Anything that makes you unhappy, you can tell Mom, because she's your mom. There's no need to worry about anything. And I'm here."
As Franklin's words fell, all the grievances they had endured over the years surged up at once—loneliness, isolation, and the constant pursuit by AST.
Those painful memories caused Yoshinon, who had always stood firmly at the front, to break down and cry out loud.
Seeing this, Franklin withdrew his domain.
The most fragile side should be shown to Mom. As for himself… perhaps he wasn't worthy of that yet.
Shaking his head slightly, Franklin turned to look at the couple lying on the floor. With another snap of his fingers, the two opened their eyes as well.
Waiting anxiously at the side, Origami Tobiichi and Origami Chiyogami tightly clutched Franklin's arm.
They were nervous, excited, their emotions incredibly complicated, yet they didn't know how to express them.
Franklin said nothing. He interlaced his fingers with both girls, continuously soothing them at a subconscious level.
"Where… am I?"
"Dear, where is this?"
As the two sat up, Franklin coughed lightly.
"Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, this is my home. You've been asleep for five years.
"Five years ago, you nearly died in an accident. In order to change that fate, Origami went through a great deal of suffering.
"But it's all over now. You survived perfectly, and nothing like that will ever happen again in the future."
The two finally steadied themselves and staggered to their feet, staring at Franklin as if he were insane.
But when they saw the two Origamis, both of them froze on the spot.