Chapter 21

"Phew..."

When I woke up, Rin was already out of bed, and I was the only one left under the covers.

While yawning, I headed towards the living room and heard not only the smell of food but also the sound of voices.

I thought it might be a phone call, but I could sense someone else besides Rin. Wondering if it was a visitor, I opened the living room door.

"Good morning. Is someone here?"

"Good morning. It's someone you know."

It seemed that Rin and the visitor were sitting at the table, having a conversation, and I could see them clearly.

Blonde hair, blue eyes. A very beautiful girl with a strikingly Western appearance.

There were differences in height and other details, but I definitely recognized her face.

According to Rin, she was someone I knew, so it must be her.

"Could it be Tōka?"

"Yes! It's been a while, Nana-nee."

The girl—Tōka—said this with a smile like a flower.

☆

Her name is Tōka Takamasa. As her name suggests, she is Rin's relative, a cousin.

She is the daughter of Rin's uncle, and her mother is British.

Her appearance is very different from a typical Japanese person due to her strong genetic inheritance from her mother, but she was born and raised in Japan.

We used to play together a lot when we were young, and especially since Rin doted on her, I naturally became close to her too.

We were good friends until about halfway through junior high school.

"Wow, you've grown so much. The last time we met, you were shorter than me."

"I've only grown taller... I'm embarrassed."

"That's not true, you look cool."

Even sitting down, she seemed tall, but standing up, she was even more impressive. She must be well over 180 cm.

Her limbs were long, and her height was tall. Her modest demeanor only made her beauty stand out even more.

She was so much taller than me that I almost had to look up at her.

"Nana-nee, you haven't changed at all."

"Nana has been like this for about 10 years. It's as if time has stopped for her."

"Maybe the two of you have grown too much..."

We chatted about trivial things. It had been a long time since we last met, and although her appearance had changed a lot, Tōka was still the Tōka I knew.

"So, why are you here so early in the morning?"

"To see Nana-nee. I received a message from Rin-nee that you were here."

"To me? I'm happy, but why?"

"Eh...?"

If there was something Rin needed, it would make sense, but I couldn't think of any reason why Tōka would want to see me.

But when I said that, Tōka froze like a stone.

She didn't even react when I waved my hand in front of her. What happened all of a sudden?

"Rin-nee... Nana-nee..."

"Okay, okay, I get that you're shocked, but don't cry. It's better that you weren't forgotten."

After comforting Tōka, who was on the verge of tears, Rin sighed and said,

"Nana... How long has it been since you last saw Tōka?"

"Since junior high school... about 6 or 7 years?"

When I thought about it, it was after my parents died in an accident, and I was going through a lot. I didn't even have the time to play with anyone.

I was so exhausted that I didn't even hear Rin's words.

Since I couldn't even spend time with Rin, it's no wonder that my relationship with Tōka faded away.

"You probably didn't know, but in your hometown, you were rumored to have disappeared. After you moved to your aunt's place, Tōka even cried, saying 'Nana-nee is dead.'"

"Wait, Rin-nee, don't say that!"

"What, you're kidding?"

Tōka, who clung to Rin in embarrassment, had forgotten her formal speech and was flustered.

It had been a while since I saw her act so cool and then immediately lose her composure.

She used to not use formal speech with us, but she always spoke formally to others.

Still, to have been rumored to have disappeared. Come to think of it, I might have disappeared without telling anyone except Rin and her parents.

I attended the graduation ceremony... but the only contacts in my mobile phone were Rin, my former workplace, and the temp agency.

So, the rumor that I had disappeared was not entirely unfounded.

"Rin, didn't you tell her anything?"

"Yes. It was fun."

"Well, I do have some responsibility, so I'm not going to blame you... I see. Sorry, Tōka. You came to check on me, didn't you?"

I had no right to blame Rin for her casual response, so I apologized to Tōka.

She looked a bit sad for a moment but quickly returned to a happy expression.

"Anyway... um, to prevent this from happening again, why don't we exchange contact information?"

"Sure, that's fine."

I didn't register the contacts of my coworkers, but Tōka was like family.

Since we had met again, it made sense to keep each other's contact information.

Thinking this, I handed my outdated mobile phone, which I hadn't changed in 8 years, to Tōka.

It was quite a rare device compared to the constantly evolving smartphones.

She seemed familiar with it and quickly exchanged contact information, returning the phone in just a few seconds.

"Hehe, Nana-nee's contact information..."

"Tōka, you're drooling."

"Liar... I'm not drooling!"

"I told you before you started drooling. I understand your excitement, but try to be a bit more composed."

"Ugh, okay."

For some reason, it was nostalgic to see Tōka being scolded by Rin.

Tōka, who was the youngest, always acted like an older sister to Rin...

I remembered that Tōka admired Rin and they were very close sisters.

"Anyway, we might have a lot to catch up on, but let's have breakfast first. We also need to discuss today's plans."

"Plans?"

"I didn't call Tōka here for no reason."

Rin sighed with a look of exasperation.

"Nana-nee, it's about WLO."

"Oh, I see. ...Tōka, you're playing it too?"

"It's not just that, Tōka is a streamer. I'm the one who got her into WLO."

"Touka, you're playing it."

The point is that they are not just playing together.

"Tōka is in the first wave, but she can't spend as much time as I do, so she's still around the fourth town, right?"

"No, I'm still busy with university, so I'm exploring around the third town."

"Oh, then you're close to me."

I'm in the second town, so Tōka is just one town away.

"Tōka, do you want to collaborate with Nana?"

"I'd love to!"

"Can you meet at Dualis by noon?"

"I can! I'll take the spot next to you!"

"Sure. Come back before 12:00."

"Got it! Nana-nee, I'll be back soon."

It seemed that some kind of agreement had been made, and Tōka left in a hurry.

"She's gone."

A sudden reunion followed by a sudden departure... yeah.

Without overthinking, I sat at the table and started eating the butter roll.

Tōka, the tall, clumsy, half-Japanese beauty, is one of the most affectionate characters in the story.