「…..Fuu. A lot sure happened today….」

Diving into the sofa in the living room and laying down on it, I lightly sighed.

The room was really quiet. Well, since the room itself was soundproof, and in the first place, high floors like this were far from the noises.

The horizon appeared between sunset and night, inside the room that was gently wrapped up in darkness, you could see the light of the city who still had time before it went to sleep, silently shined upon by the fading sunlight.

When I returned, Rin-chan wasn’t here.

Since she said it would be about a two day official business tour.

I knew that, but it’s somewhat lonely.

I had been living alone for so many years. Even though I had already gotten used to a life of being alone.

Within just a short period of time, a week, had I already gotten used to feeling the warmth of others?

「Rin…-chan….」

I was lonely. The moment I thought that, I naturally called out for that name.

Shifting around to change my posture, it was as if I was being wrapped up in the soft sofa as I sank into it.

Let’s sleep. If I did that, then it would be 「Tomorrow」when Rin-chan was back.

It seemed I was more tired than I thought. It didn’t take much time for me to fall asleep.

☆ (Rin POV)

「You can’t contact Nana?」

『Yes!』

Hearing Touka’s noisy voice close to my ear, because I had been sleeping all night inside the car, I was really exhausted as I grimaced.

The event had gotten longer, and then I was invited to the closing ceremony or something. Originally, what was supposed to be one night and two days became three days, making me come home early in the morning. I didn’t really mind it, but for me who didn’t have that much stamina, I was really worn out.

Though, as for what Touka told me through the phone so early in the morning, I couldn’t just ignore it.

「What’s the present condition?」

『On the day before yesterday we played together and went up till we hit Fias. You know about her streaming until 7pm, right?』

「Yeah, I was watching it during breaks, after all.」

While I was doing various stuff at the event hall, I knew that Nana and Touka safely arrived at Fias.

If she had reached that point, it was fine for me to go there and meet her. Thinking that I could finally play WLO with Nana, I couldn’t stop my excited heart.

『From my friend in the Round Table, I was told「Just as I promised a few days ago, I’d like to invite Sukuna,」so I reluctantly contacted Nana-neesama, but it didn’t connect.』

「How many times did you call her?」

『Was it about twenty times? Just in case, I also sent a message, but she also wasn’t logged in WLO.』

「I see….」

Reorganizing Touka’s info, from the night two days ago added to the entirety of yesterday, she couldn’t be contacted until the next morning.

I didn’t really know if it was from years of working or something, but as of now, for her not to contact after that much time was weird.

「Touka. From what you saw, was there something weird going on with Nana?」

『Nana-neesama is always wonderful. Just that, during the stream, I think she spaced around two times. It’s not like she was playing badly, it was just that it felt like her mind wasn’t there.』

「I see….I understand. You don’t have to worry too much. At least, you wouldn’t have to worry about her being taken away by that power of hers.」

『I’m not worried about that, but…remembering the tears on that day, thinking that she would disappear again, I just felt so scared.』

I knew the reason why Touka worried about Nana. And honestly, that worry might not be totally unfounded.

「Well, it’s most likely that her phone has no more battery and she forgot about it just like that. If I find something, I’ll contact you, so for now, Touka, sleep. You probably didn’t sleep, right?」

『Uwu…..how did you know about that…』

Rather, how was it that she didn’t know how I could tell.

Even through a call I could hear the tiredness in her tone of voice.

「Just hearing your voice I can understand it. Really, if you were that worried then contact me earlier, okay?」

『Rin-nee…..I’m sorry.』

「It’s fine. Anyway, just leave it to me. I’m sure that it’s totally nothing after all.」

『Please. Then, I’ll go to sleep….』

「Okay okay, then see you.」

Ending the call, I put my phone in my bag and thought of what might have happened. I told Touka that, but if you said that I was 100% worry-free, it would be incorrect.

My worry was not about something like her getting injured or falling ill, it was the reason why I invited her to WLO itself.

It wasn’t just because I wanted to play a game with her.

I certainly had one more purpose for inviting Nana to WLO after all.

☆ (Nana POV)

Ah, so this was a dream.

Looking at the 《Nanako -Me-》, I absentmindedly thought that.

Even if I tried to touch her, my hand would slip through, unable to make contact.

That was why I figured this was probably a dream. Although, as for why I was dreaming about something like this, or even how, I was unable to imagine.

The one before me, 《Nanako -Me-》, was crouching and silently crying.

It felt like we looked totally the same, but from the uniform she was wearing, she was probably the middle-school me.

Had it been seven years since then? I had been told by Touka-chan and Rin-chan a while ago, but yeah, my appearance had mostly stayed the same.

Why was it that this girl was crying again?

When was it that I last cried?

Ah, that was right. It was the time my father and mother died in an accident.

Since the moment I found out was really sad, I remembered it even now.

A turning point in my life. Including the fact that I had also left Rin-chan’s side for the first time, it felt as if the world had changed.

But…..was that the t r u e r e a s o n w h y I w a s c r y i n g ?

The moment I thought that, I knew I was waking up from my dream.

As if refusing to remember it, the scenery began to blur.

While on my way to disappearing, the crying 《Nanako -Me-》met eyes with me.

Those eyes…they were so terribly blank, as if they reflected nothing.

So strong that it could make me stop breathing, they held a violent emotion so hot that they seemed they could burn through anything.

☆ (Rin POV)

What awaited me as I returned home was a house with no presence of anyone.

While sighing, I dragged my feet to the living room, and as if not allowing me to feel her presence, Nana was sleeping on the sofa.

「Haaa…..as I thought.」

Looking at Nana who was sleeping and her phone on the ground blinking, I once again sighed.

Based on the situation, it looked as if she had been sleeping since the night before yesterday.

She simply was asleep and so she couldn’t take the call, and because the result was so mundane that it could sneer at Touka’s worries, I once again sighed.

「Nana, it’s already morning, you know.」

As I shook her shoulders, her body twitched. For a moment she smelled with her nose, and noticing that it was my scent, her body that stiffened up had relaxed.

So she didn’t feel like waking up at all. With that, I sighed for the third time and sat on the sofa beside Nana, who was curled up.

My dear father had made me a courtesy car. And because of that, it was made with functions like a VIP room, but still, being inside the car for the whole night was tiring.

And moreover, this was after weathering through the two extra days of the event, and since it was prolonged, I thought I should return home quickly because Nana might’ve been feeling lonely, and I even returned home with a car.

But I returned to this. This girl, without any words of appreciation just sleeping deeply. It should be fine for me to get mad, right?

Just when I was about to make a circle with my fingers, thinking of flicking her head, I saw a trace of tears on Nana’s face.

「….I see, so it was just as I thought.」

Along with the anger that had dispersed, I released my circled fingers.

I had predicted it, but life in WLO had stimulated Nana more than I had imagined.

「Right now,」 Nana shed tears. Exactly how shocking this event was, the only one who knew was probably me.

That was a sign. The cover on her strongly sealed memories, this was certain proof that it had loosened.

I thought the cover wouldn’t loosen immediately. But still, it had come to the point in which all that was left was to pull the trigger.

「If I were to be honest, I think that I want her to keep forgetting it.」

Nana had forgotten it….no, it was more that the memories were sealed in, and they were limited to one thing. The time wouldn’t even fill a day, it was a really short memory.

However, that little bit of lost memory was about the time she was broken to the point that no one could help her.

That was why, with her self-preservation instincts, she locked up those memories.

And then, thanks to losing that, Nana had grown up to be the cheerful Nana she was now.

「Fue….Rin-chan….?」

「That’s right, you sleepy head」

「You sure are early. I thought you would arrive at night」

The time Nana woke up, she said that in such a floaty tone that I couldn’t feel a single particle of her head working.

She was shaking her head to fight away the sleepiness. That appearance of hers was just like an animal, and because she sank into the sofa, you could tell that she was about to lose to the sleepiness, which was really cute.

「Rather, I returned late, you know?」

「Nu?」

「I’m not early, Nana just slept too much. More than a day, you know?」

As I said that, Nana picked up her phone from the floor, and seeing the home screen, I saw her eyes widen a bit.

But it seemed it was not that much of a shock, as she once again collapsed on the sofa and used my lap as a pillow.

「Since I slept, it can’t be helped….」

「Well, that’s true, but-」

「And so, one more time….zzz.」

It seemed that she was that tired. I brushed Nana’s hair as she slept again for the second time in an instant.

Nana was seeking sleep, so it meant that there was something where she had to sleep to recover.

I thought that it wasn’t a problem with her body, so just as I thought, there was probably something that had put a burden on her mentally.

For now, I should contact Touka regarding Nana’s safety, and then I also entrusted my body to sleepiness.

Unlike Nana, who had monster-like stamina, I was a proper indoors person. And because I was woken by Touka so early in the morning, I was sleepy too, and then there was Naan, who was sleeping so well right in front of me, which made me even more sleepy.

There was a bit of anxiety regarding it, but as of right now, it was advancing smoothly.

While putting my expectations on the girl who had finally gotten near opening the door to her memory, I slowly entrusted my body to the invading sleepiness.