Off the train, into the rain, running and laughing — what a strange and wonderful life.
The only difference from before was that the number of people dashing through the downpour, bags held overhead, shrieking and giggling, had gone from two to three.
The three of them had talked so much on the train that they'd missed their stop — though that sort of adorable disaster was hardly worth dwelling on!
They'd missed the stop and then run in the wrong direction for a bit... also not important!
Through Chiose's tireless efforts! She! Had finally! In the real world! Become friends with Shiina Taki and Takamatsu Tomori!
And the three of them got along so well!
So well that it felt almost as if those two had known her all along. Ha.
In the bedroom where she had lived for six years, Yoshiiro Chiose shed her soaking-wet clothes without a shred of self-consciousness.
[These two are hilarious.]
Chiose thought to herself.
[One look and you can tell they're not exactly worldly little kids! Heh.]
She gave a deliberate little shimmy, just enough to send a playful ripple through her figure — and that alone was enough to leave the still-rather-modest Shiina Taki and Takamatsu Tomori staring at her with their mouths hanging open.
Pfft. Little kids were so fun.
It would've been even more fun if Soyo were here. Back in the Simulation, Chiose had always taken shameless delight in changing clothes in front of the younger ones just to watch them get flustered.
"Hehe, hurry up and change already — you're all girls, what's there to be embarrassed about?"
"This — ugh."
Taki never in a million years could have anticipated that Yoshiiro Chiose's idea of "freshen up at Tomori's place" apparently meant... bathing together? Excuse me?
This Chiose! How could she be so shameless! Did she not notice Tomori was right there!
Couldn't they just go to Shiina Taki's place and clean up properly, just the two of them — did they really have to impose on Tomori like this?
Look at Takamatsu Tomori, her face had gone completely red — clearly this was too much for her.
Fine, fine, leave it to me. I am Shiina Taki, forged in the crucible of dreams with a heart of steel!
Even if the back half of those dreams was basically just... crying. A lot.
Ahem.
Two beautiful girls bathing together was perfectly innocent in itself — but the moment someone in the room had mischief on the mind, things had a way of getting interesting.
Yoshiiro Chiose wrapped herself in the bath towel Takamatsu Tomori had handed her, a mint candy from Taki's bag tucked between her lips.
Eyes half-lidded, she looked openly and shamelessly at the two little ones fidgeting like a pair of spooked quails, and felt an irresistible tide of the urge to tease them rising up inside her.
This was reality, after all. She absolutely had to make proper amends to her victims from the Simulation.
With that thought still forming, one foot had already stepped through the bathroom door.
And that's how it went.
.....
"Hah... hah..."
"Uuu..."
Taki and Tomori looked like they'd been broken. They'd barely managed to blow-dry their hair before collapsing face-first onto the sofa.
They hadn't known Chiose for long — and yet, to their own surprise, they'd clicked instantly with the girl who had haunted their dreams for so long.
Was it because Chiose had a naturally warm personality and almost no friends to speak of? Or was it because they already knew her so well from the Simulation that talking to her in person felt like second nature?
Either way — during the tickle fight earlier, Chiose had shown absolutely no mercy, and she'd known exactly where all of their weak spots were with uncanny precision.
Chiose was terrifying!
"Little Tomori, Little Taki — I'm heading off now. We'll hang out again next time!"
"Huh? But your clothes—" Takamatsu Tomori started to protest.
"Already dry."
"But it's still early—" Shiina Taki tried.
"I need to get back and look after my little sister. She has some physical limitations, so I can't be away too long."
"Oh..."
"Don't worry! Are you two free this weekend? Come over to mine — I'll introduce you to Little Kyou!"
"Huh? Little Chiose's little sister? That sounds wonderful!"
"Definitely! It's a date!"
"Mm, it's a date!" Yoshiiro Chiose gave Tomori's borrowed umbrella a cheerful wave, pushed the door open with a smile, and stepped out.
Today had been good. Wonderfully, genuinely good.
As the front door clicked gently shut behind her, Yoshiiro Chiose stepped back into a world of one.
But she didn't feel lonely in the slightest.
Because she knew... the her that lived in the real world was about to step into a whole new life.
"And now that I'll have more lifespan to spare, I can trade some to everyone else... so we can all be friends for a lifetime."
Lifespan, youth, health — everything, absolutely everything, could be solved through the Simulation.
Chiose drew a long, deep breath of the rain-washed air, slowly exhaling the last warm traces of steam from the bathroom.
In the real world, she was going to give everyone a Happy Ending!
She was, after all, the young lady who could carry generation everyone with her and live a thousand years!
Now that she had money, it was time to spend it. Time to upgrade the quality of life at home.
"Little Kyou's favourite fruit, Little Kyou's favourite food... and Little Kyou's favourite toys!"
There were so many things to spend money on — but just thinking about all the things she could bring home for her little sister made Yoshiiro Chiose feel warm all the way through.
It was the first time since their parents had passed that she could go out and buy everything the household needed with this kind of quiet pride.
Coming out of the supermarket with a huge bag in her arms, Chiose glanced at the setting sun hanging just ahead of her and knew at once roughly what time it was.
"Little Kyou should be fine by herself at home, right?"
Straight ahead, turn, uphill, another turn, weaving through narrow back alleys with the cross-breeze brushing past her ears — and at last, Chiose was home.
Along the way, she'd nearly turned down the wrong street toward the old house from the third Simulation, and again toward the one from the second — an old habit she hadn't quite managed to shake yet.
Three crisp clicks of the lock turning, accompanied by a little girl's happy squeal — Chiose left the warm cosiness of Tomori's place and returned to the warm cosiness of her own.
Everything felt like a little matcha cake: delightful right down to the last bite.
"Little Chiose! Little Chiose! What took you so long!"
Haizuka Kyoumoto blinked her unfocused eyes and mumbled with her mouth not quite working right.
"Little Kyou! Little Kyou! It was raining outside, you know. Could you hear the rain...? And what are you eating?"
"I could hear it! It sounded really nice! What am I eating? I'm eating the fruit that big sister Sakiko from next door brought over! It's really yummy!"
Walking along the wall toward Chiose, Kyoumoto held up an apple that had been nibbled at in a few small spots.
The fruit had been washed, though whether it was Sakiko or Kyoumoto who'd washed it was anyone's guess.
"Honestly — did you say thank you?"
Chiose carefully shut the door, checked the lock twice, and then — shoes still on — scooped Kyoumoto up into her arms.
She'd been dying to hug Little Kyou all day. Any longer and it would've been criminal!
"Big sister smells really strange?"
Haizuka Kyoumoto blinked her big eyes.
"Hm? What kind of smell?"
"I'm not sure, there are lots of different nice scents... Big sister, have you been keeping other little sisters on the side——"
"Pfft — you little goofball, as if — ahem, I just had a bath with some friends, that's all. It was raining outside, remember? I didn't bring an umbrella at first so I turned into a walking waterfall."
"So big sister is a dummy."
"Goodness, being called a dummy by dummy Little Kyou."
"I am not a dummy!"
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