“I’m home.” On the other side of the city, in an apartment that was small and even looked a bit shabby.
Chisaki returned to the apartment, carrying her newly purchased items with a hint of fatigue.
She wore only the right side of her white wired earphones, which were playing pop songs from this world.
“Chisaki, you’re back!” Just as Chisaki took off her shoes, a pink-haired furball pounced over and gave her an enthusiastic hug.
“Amis, aren’t you streaming today?” Chisaki asked, tilting her head in confusion as she looked at Amis, who was dressed in loose loungewear.
“I gave myself a day off!” Amis said with a bright smile, taking the shopping bag from the other girl’s hand.
“Eh~ You bought so much stuff.” Amis took the items out of the shopping bag one by one, sneaking a strawberry she had just bought to eat on the side.
“You should wash the strawberries before eating them,” Chisaki reminded her.
“Oh, it’s just one, it’s fine,” Amis said playfully.
Chisaki walked over to Amis, casually picked up a box of Pocky, skillfully tore open the packaging, and started crunching away on them.
“Where are Lynae and the others?” Chisaki asked about the whereabouts of the other two.
“Siggy is probably still hanging out at the zoo; she loves birds the most, after all.” Amis tapped her cherry-red lips in thought.
“Lynae, on the other hand, told me she was on her way back.” “I met the Senior.” Chisaki dropped a bombshell in an extremely flat tone.
Amis’s smile froze on her face the moment Chisaki’s words fell.
“…For real?” Amis’s voice was very soft, like a feather landing on the ground.
“My instincts won’t be wrong.” Chisaki’s gaze was exceptionally firm.
Some bonds cannot be erased, even when crossing worlds; this was the reason for Chisaki’s firm conviction.
They had once saved Honami City together, an experience that had made the bond between them exceptionally deep, which was why she recognized at a glance that Kather was the Senior she admired.
Amis took several deep breaths, patted her cheeks, and returned to her relaxed, lively self.
“Let’s wait until everyone is back to discuss this; it’s still too early to talk about it now.” Amis said with a squinting smile.
“Okay.” Chisaki nodded, acknowledging Amis’s decision.
…
When the hour hand reached six in the evening, two different sets of footsteps sounded outside the entryway.
“I’m home!” A sweet, clear girl’s voice and a vibrant, energetic gyaru voice rang out simultaneously.
“Lynae, Siggy, you’re both back!” Amis ran over to greet them with a smile.
“We happened to pass by the zoo on the way back, so we brought Sigrika-senpai back with us.” Lynae explained, a helmet tucked under her arm.
“You didn’t speed or run any red lights, did you?” Amis asked.
“No, no, Lynae-kohai is very law-abiding!” Sigrika poked her head out from behind Lynae to vouch for her.
As the three were chatting, Lynae suddenly smelled a delicious aroma.
“What’s that smell?
It smells so good.” Lynae sniffed carefully again, then suddenly choked and coughed twice.
“Cough, cough, why is it a bit spicy?” “Oh, Chisaki said she recently learned some of this world’s cuisine and wanted to try making it for us.” Amis explained.
“It smells so good, it must taste amazing!” Lynae was a total foodie, and she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva when she heard there was something delicious.
Sigrika bypassed Lynae and Amis to go help Chisaki; it was very much her style.
“Oh, let’s not just stand here, let’s go help too.” Seeing Sigrika go to assist, Lynae quickly said to Amis.
Getting a free meal had never been Lynae’s style; food made through everyone’s collective effort was the most delicious.
“Sure, let’s go!” Amis strongly agreed with the suggestion and pulled Lynae into the kitchen with her.
The already narrow kitchen seemed even more crowded with the arrival of the four young women, but they all enjoyed it; the warm, cozy atmosphere added a touch of brightness to the somewhat shabby apartment.
“Let’s eat!” The girls sat around the dining table and performed their pre-meal ritual.
Afterward, accompanied by the delicious meal, they began to share their experiences of the day.
Lynae was a girl who couldn’t sit still; even when she didn’t have a part-time job, she would go for rides everywhere, recording the beautiful scenery along the way.
“The breeze here is quite comfortable; I think this could be my regular spot for rides!” Lynae held up her phone, pointing to the photo she had taken.
“Look, isn’t the scenery pretty good?” “Hahaha, why does it look like your hair is about to be blown away?” Amis couldn’t stop laughing as she looked at Lynae, whose hair was flying wildly in the photo.
Chisaki and Sigrika couldn’t help but smile too.
“Strong winds are good; otherwise, why would it be called a joyride?” Lynae said as she picked up another piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth, looking quite satisfied.
“Oh, by the way, speaking of which, I found a bird in the zoo that looks just like Yingying the parrot!” Sigrika had been a member of the Avian Enthusiasts Club at Star Torch Academy.
After coming to this world, her greatest interest was observing various different types of birds.
“Look, it’s this one.
It’s called a macaw.
Its feathers are so beautiful, so colorful!” Sigrika introduced it to the three people in front of her, pointing to the photo on her phone.
“It really is, just like a rainbow.” Lynae leaned in closer to observe and realized it was indeed multicolored, unable to help but exclaim.
“Don’t underestimate it, Siggy.
Although Yingying the parrot and the macaw look very similar, macaws are actually quite fierce.
It’s said that if they get aggressive, they can bite off an adult’s finger.” Amis said, squinting her eyes mischievously and acting very serious.
“Birds are human friends.
As long as they are raised properly, they won’t hurt people on their own,” Sigrika said with a smile, sharing her view.
“At least the macaws I’ve seen are very friendly to people.” “It’s just that I don’t know where Nia went.
I really wanted to take her to meet my new friends too…” After feeling a bit sad about Denia’s unknown whereabouts, Sigrika realized she had finished her rice and got up to refill her bowl.
The young girl was still growing, so it was good for her to eat more.
Chisaki didn’t have much to share, mainly just some of her insights on cooking and her amazement at the wide variety of dishes in this world.
But from her slightly excited tone, one could tell that she truly enjoyed the feeling of gradually accumulating cooking experience.
Amis gazed gently at the meal before her and the three people chatting animatedly, suddenly feeling a great sense of accomplishment.
She was no longer that little girl who needed others to protect her; she could now support others in her own way, whether in Solaris or in this so-called real world.
But occasionally, in the dead of night, she would still think of the person who had once brought her warmth.
This world was completely different from Solaris; there were no laments, no Threnodian, and no conspiracies or suspicions.
Everyone was very kind and gentle.
In such a world, he must be living safely and happily.
It would probably be better not to disturb him, right?
But…
“What are you thinking about?” Xiao Ai pulled herself away from her wandering thoughts and realized that Chisaki had been looking at her for some time, and Lynae and Sigrika had also noticed her abnormality.
“…I miss him.” Amis’s voice was very soft, but it made everyone’s heart sink.
The originally warm meal was suddenly shrouded in an invisible sorrow.
They all missed the Rover very much, but they had long ago sworn an oath to each other not to disturb his current life.
If the Rover in this world were just an ordinary person, then their arrival would undoubtedly be a huge trouble for him.
But this group of gentle, slightly foolish girls had forgotten one thing: they had never asked the Rover himself what he actually thought.