“I’m back.”
On the other side of the city, inside a modest, even somewhat shabby apartment.
Chisa returned home somewhat wearily, carrying the things she’d just bought.
She wore a white wired earphone only in her right ear, playing this world’s pop songs through it.
“Chisa, you’re back!” The moment she took off her shoes, a pink-haired bundle of fluff came flying over and hugged her enthusiastically.
“Aemeath, no stream today?” Chisa tilted her head in puzzlement, looking at Aemeath, who wore loose loungewear before her.
“I gave myself a day off!” Aemeath beamed, smoothly taking the shopping bag from Chisa’s hands in passing.
“Wow~ you bought a lot of stuff.”
She pulled items out of the shopping bag one by one, sneaking one of the freshly bought strawberries into her mouth along the way.
“Strawberries should be washed before eating,” Chisa reminded.
“Come on, it’s just one.
No big deal.” Aemeath said playfully.
Chisa walked over beside Aemeath, casually picked up a box of Pocky, and expertly tore open the packaging.
She began munching away with crisp little crunches.
“Where’s Linae and the others?” She asked about the other two’s whereabouts.
“Siggy’s probably still hanging around the zoo.
She loves birds the most, after all.” Aemeath tapped her cherry lips in thought.
“Linae did tell me she was on her way back.”
“I ran into Senpai.” Chisa dropped this bombshell with an exceedingly nonchalant tone.
Aemeath’s smile froze on her face the instant those words landed.
“…For real?” Her voice was very soft, like a feather falling to the ground.
“My senses don’t lie.” Chisa’s gaze was especially resolute.
Some bonds couldn’t be erased even across worlds — that was the reason she was so certain.
They had once saved Honamy City together.
That experience had made the bond between them exceptionally deep.
So she had recognized at a single glance that Xiao Ling was the Senpai she so admired.
Aemeath took several deep breaths, patted her own cheeks, and returned to that easygoing, bubbly demeanor.
“This is something we should wait until everyone’s back to discuss together.
It’s still too early to talk about it now.” She said with narrowed, smiling eyes.
“Alright.” Chisa nodded, approving Aemeath’s decision.
…
The clock’s hour hand reached six in the evening.
Two more sets of footsteps rang out beyond the entryway.
“I’m back!” A sweet, clear young girl’s voice and a lively, energetic gal voice sounded at the same time.
“Linae!
Siggy!
You’re both back!” Aemeath ran over to greet them with a beaming smile.
“I happened to pass by the zoo on the way back, so I picked up Sigrika-senpai along the way,” Linae explained, a helmet tucked under her arm.
“No, no!
Linae is very good about following the rules!” Sigrika poked her head out from behind Linae to vouch for her.
As the three were chatting, Linae suddenly caught a very appetizing scent.
“What’s that smell?
It’s really nice.”
She sniffed more carefully, then was suddenly driven into a small coughing fit.
“Cough, cough.
And a little spicy, too.”
“Oh, Chisa said she’d recently picked up some of this country’s cooking and wanted to try making us something,” Aemeath explained.
“If it smells this good, it’s gotta taste amazing!” Linae was quite the foodie herself.
Hearing there was good food, she couldn’t stop swallowing in anticipation.
Sigrika, meanwhile, slipped past Linae and Aemeath to go help Chisa in the kitchen.
Very in character for her.
“Aiya, don’t just stand there.
Let’s all go help together.” Seeing Sigrika go lend a hand, Linae quickly said to Aemeath.
Freeloading had never been Linae’s style.
A meal everyone worked hard to make together was always the most delicious.
“Sounds good, let’s go then!” Aemeath voiced strong approval for this proposal and pulled Linae along into the kitchen with her.
The already narrow kitchen became even more cramped with the arrival of four grown girls, but they all enjoyed themselves.
The warm, homey bustle added a touch of brightness to this somewhat shabby apartment.
…
“Thanks for the food!” The girls sat gathered around the dining table and performed the pre-meal ritual.
Then, accompanied by delicious dishes, they began sharing the experiences of their day.
Linae was a girl who couldn’t sit still.
Even when she didn’t have a shift, she’d ride around everywhere, recording the beautiful scenery along the way.
“The breeze here feels really nice blowing.
I think it could be one of my regular cruising spots!” She held up her phone and pointed at the photos she’d taken.
“Look, isn’t the scenery pretty good?”
“Hahaha, how come it looks like your hair’s about to get blown right off?” Aemeath couldn’t stop laughing at the photo of Linae with her hair flying wildly about.
Chisa and Sigrika couldn’t help smiling too.
“Strong wind is the best part!
Otherwise why call it cruising?” Linae said, then popped another piece of meat into her mouth, looking thoroughly satisfied.
“Oh, right!
Speaking of which, I found a bird at the zoo that looks a lot like Chirpy!”
At Startorch Academy, Sigrika had been a member of the Birding Fan Club.
After arriving in this world, her greatest interest was observing all kinds of different birds.
“See, this one right here.
Its feathers are so pretty, all colorful and bright!” Sigrika pointed at the photo on her phone and introduced it to the three before her.
“They really are.
Just like a rainbow.” Linae leaned in closer to observe, found that they were indeed multicolored, and couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration.
“Don’t underestimate it, Siggy.
Even though Chirpy and macaws look a lot alike, macaws are seriously tough.
Rumor has it that when they get fierce, they can bite clean through an adult’s finger.” Aemeath narrowed her eyes craftily and said this with a straight face.
“Birds are friends to humans.
As long as they’re raised properly, they won’t actively hurt people.” Sigrika smiled as she gave her own take.
“At the very least, the macaws I’ve met were all very affectionate with people.”
“It’s just…
Nia, I don’t know where she’s gone.
I wanted to bring her along too, to meet the new friends I’ve made…”
After a brief moment of melancholy over Denia’s unknown whereabouts, Sigrika realized she’d finished her rice, got up, and went to get another bowl.
The young lady was still growing.
Eating more was a good thing.
Chisa didn’t have much to share.
She mainly talked about some of her cooking insights and marveled at how vast the variety of dishes in this world was.
But from her slightly excited tone, one could tell she genuinely enjoyed the feeling of gradually accumulating cooking experience.
Aemeath gazed tenderly at the food before her and at the three chatting so animatedly.
She suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment.
She was no longer that little girl who needed others to protect her.
She could use her own methods to hold up a sky for others — whether in Solaris, or in this so-called real world.
But occasionally, in the quiet of the deep night, she would still think of the person who had once brought her warmth.
This world was completely different from Solaris.
No Lament, no Tacet Discords, no conspiracies and suspicions.
Everything was peaceful, everyone was gentle.
In a world like this, he could surely live safe and happy.
It’d probably be better if she didn’t go disturb him, right?
But still…
“What are you thinking about?” Aemeath jolted out of her swirling thoughts and found that Chisa had, at some unknown point, turned her gaze her way — and Linae and Sigrika had also noticed her anomaly.
“…I miss him.” Aemeath’s voice was very soft, yet it made everyone’s heart sink a little.
The previously warm and cozy meal was suddenly shrouded in an invisible grief.
They all missed the Rover dearly.
But they had long since made a vow to one another — they would not disturb his current life.
If the Rover of this world was just an ordinary person, then their arrival would undoubtedly be a huge burden on him.
Yet these girls, so gentle that they were almost foolish, had forgotten one thing — they had never asked the Rover himself what he actually thought.
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