After sending his reply, Rei Ao logged off again.
He was back in the quieter, everyday world he originally belonged to.
Light shifted.
Space itself seemed to be crossed with ease by an unseen force.
His figure appeared in a spacious living room with a modern vibe, accented by a few decorations with an otherworldly flair.
"Welcome back, Rei Ao-dono."
A gentle, slightly respectful voice sounded. A girl in a maid outfit—with a conspicuous green dragon tail—Tohru, smiled at him.
Beside her stood Mai Sakurajima in relaxed loungewear. She only gave him a small nod, but there was a trace of concern in her eyes.
Rei Ao dipped his head in acknowledgment, then let his gaze fall on the guest sitting on the sofa.
She was a girl with a pretty silver bob, cool in demeanor and fine-featured—Shirogane Kei, Shirogane Miyuki's younger sister.
She sat very straight, hands on her knees, a little stiff with nerves. The moment Rei Ao appeared, she stood up.
"Rei Ao-senpai," she said, clear-voiced but tense.
"Kei, you're here." He smiled, easy and natural. "Mai, Tohru, I need to talk with Kei for a bit."
Both women were quick on the uptake.
"I'll go check on the laundry," Mai said, rising.
"I'll prepare some tea and snacks," Tohru added with a bow.
They left the living room, giving Rei Ao and Shirogane Kei the space to talk.
With just the two of them, a brief silence settled.
Kei lowered her head, twisting the hem of her shirt without realizing it, unsure how to begin.
Rei Ao took the seat opposite her, unhurried, and broke the silence with a gentle question:
"You came to see me on purpose—what's on your mind, Kei?"
Kei drew a deep breath, lifted her face, and met his eyes; a tangle of emotions flickered there as she said, earnest and serious, "Senpai, I came to promise you again… about that matter—I won't tell anyone. Not my brother, not my parents."
"'That matter,'" of course, meant the cross-world trading chat group with Rei Ao as its admin.
After he invited her into the group and she learned what it really was, she'd been stunned beyond words. Only now had she fully recovered her composure enough to come here.
Seeing how tense yet sincere she was, Rei Ao couldn't help a small smile.
"I know. I trust your word, Kei."
His tone was calm, with no hint of doubt.
Besides, even if she wanted to, the group's rules wouldn't let her reveal it.
Paradoxically, that made Kei's feelings even more complicated. She now knew a secret she shouldn't have, and had glimpsed a world far beyond anything she'd imagined. The girls in the group from all those different worlds—some powerful, some strange—and the way they interacted with Rei Ao-senpai… that obvious closeness and trust left Kei with an indescribable sense of distance, and a faint, nameless frustration she couldn't quite define.
Who exactly was Rei Ao-senpai?
With power that could connect different worlds, why was he staying in their seemingly ordinary world, living the life of a normal student?
And what was he really to those girls in the group?
Questions knotted in her chest like a ball of string. She knew she had no right to pry, but curiosity—and a subtle sense of loss—refused to settle.
Watching her lowered lashes and heavy thoughts, a look of understanding flickered in Rei Ao's eyes. He leaned forward slightly, softened his voice, and prompted gently, "Kei, are you curious about the people and things in other worlds?"
Kei's head snapped up to meet those eyes that seemed to see straight through a person.
Curious? How could she not be!
Worlds of sword and sorcery?
Worlds where people have superpowers?
Worlds with terrifying ghouls?
And those goddesses and Heroic Spirits who looked like they'd stepped out of myth…
Each phrase hinted at a vastness she couldn't even picture.
Of course she was curious.
She nodded before she even realized it.
Rei Ao smiled, an invitation in it. "If there's a chance, I can take you to visit the other members' worlds."
"Seeing with your own eyes is always more vivid—and more fun—than hearing about it."
"R-really?"
Kei's heartbeat quickened, and a spark of anticipation lit her gaze.
Visiting other worlds—wasn't that the sort of thing that only happened in fairy tales?
"Of course," Rei Ao said. "We'll just wait for the right time."
It was only a small promise, but it was like a beam of light cutting through Kei's earlier tangle of feelings, washing away the vague sense of distance and loss, and replacing it with a bright longing for the unknown.
…
While Rei Ao and Shirogane Kei were speaking in his world about secrets and what might come next—
In Tokyo, in another world—
Thunder rumbled.
Rain hissed.
The sky hung low and dark as a fine, steady drizzle fell, draping the bustling city in a gray, misty veil.
Neon bled into soft blurs behind the curtain of rain. On the streets, people hurried along, umbrellas bobbing like little moving mushrooms.
In one corner of the city, inside a cramped, timeworn room of an older apartment building, a girl sat curled on the old sofa by the window, knees hugged to her chest, staring out at the endless silver threads of rain.
She looked around eighteen, with slightly messy long black hair. Her features were delicate, but her face was pale, marked by a trace of wear that life had left behind. Her clothes had been washed so many times they'd faded.
Her name was Amano Hina—an ordinary girl.
Rivulets streamed down the glass, smearing the world outside—and, it seemed, her view of the future—into a blur.
The room was quiet, save for the patter of the rain.
Hina reached out and absently traced aimless shapes on the fogged-over pane.
Rainy days like this always left her with a restless itch.
~~~
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