Once we arrived at the mall, Hana peered around and hummed in thought. “I don’t think Yui-senpai and Rei-senpai are here yet.”
“We’re kinda early,” I said.
It wasn’t long before we heard Yui’s voice. “Hana-chan and Rin-senpai!” she called. “Good morning!”
She practically bounced over on a cloud, her long light hair swaying behind her. Her bright eyes had a way of drawing in everyone around her. From her expression to her stylish clothes, her energy screamed ‘cutesy girl,’ but, you know, in a good way.
Rei arrived next. Her straight hair was styled and the ends hovered just above her shoulders. “Long time no see, everyone,” she said calmly.
Appearance-wise, Rei was cute too, but pretty was probably the better word for her style. Ask any passerby and I bet they’d say the same thing. Though if they actually talked to her, they’d see that she was a little absent-minded, but her immature side popped out easily, and her cuteness wasn’t lacking by any means… What was I saying?
“I haven’t seen you two since snacks at the guild,” I said. “How’ve you been?”
“Good! I was sooooo glad to hear you’d be here today!” Yui answered first.
“I as well,” Rei added.
“Yeah? I’m glad to see you too,” I said. They didn’t seem to say it out of politeness, so I relaxed a bit.
“Now that we’re all here, let’s get going!” Hana said impatiently, taking the lead.
I hurried after her. “Hana, if you walk that fast, we might get separated.”
“Don’t worry, oniichan! It isn’t crowded today.”
Just five minutes later, we got separated. Yui and I somehow found ourselves with Hana and Rei nowhere to be seen.
“I didn’t think we’d actually lose each other,” I said.
Yui laughed. “All we did was check out a shop window for one second and they vanished without us!”
Hana and Rei were both the type to take the lead, so they didn’t notice us stop.
“Hana said we’re here for fun more than actually buying anything, so we can just window shop,” I said. “Still, I didn’t expect to split up so fast.”
“Ha, right? I’m surprised too. This doesn’t usually happen when I hang out with my other friends.” She scratched her cheek, visibly puzzled.
She was such a social person that I imagined her with a boatload of friends. I could picture her on hangouts like these all the time, laughing up a storm.
Hana had a lot of friends too, but when I thought about it, she didn’t see them that much. Without our parents around to help us, she spent a lot of her spare time on housework. That sucked, but she had some time for herself. Though…if I was home, she was usually home too. Then again, I didn’t really know what she did daily since I became a full-time adventurer.
As for Rei, I couldn’t fully guess. I thought she was the closed-off type at first, but we were similar, weren’t we? Kind of paradoxical. We both liked our solitude but also liked having friends.
Not that I intended to analyze Rei too deeply.
“They left us behind, so why don’t we go somewhere too?” I suggested.
“Really? Shouldn’t we wait for them?”
“I sent them a text saying we can regroup later, since waiting is a waste of time. How about we poke around together?”
Yui’s eyes almost crossed for a second, but she shook out of it swiftly and smiled wide. “S-sure! I’d love to!”
As we strolled around the various shops, we meandered toward our meeting spot with Hana and Rei. Along the way, we tried on sunglasses and necklaces at an accessory shop, where a salesperson thought we were a couple. When I denied it, Yui glared at me. It wasn’t my fault other people misunderstood us! Overall, though, we had fun.
As we walked on, Yui began to tell me about her family.
“Huh, so you also have a little sister?” I asked.
“Yeah, and that’s it. Just us two sisters.”
Something about her slotted into place when she said that. Sure, she was a little clueless here and there, but I sensed she was a top-notch big sister.
“What’s she like?”
“Um, she’s quieter than me. Her health is kind of crummy, so when the seasons change, she tends to get sick and miss school. I think that’s part of why she’s so quiet…but she’s still really sweet! Super lovable too!”
“It sounds like you care a lot about her.”
“Yeah, I do!” She nodded, beaming.
I totally understood how it felt to have such a special little sister. Seeing the pride Yui had in her sister made my heart feel full too.
“Oh!” Yui exclaimed. “I have a picture of her. Wanna see?”
“Can I?”
“Of course.”
She handed me her phone, which showed a picture of her posed beside a younger girl with a neat bob. Her demeanor looked docile, especially when compared to Yui’s.
“Her name is Sae. She’s in her third year of middle school. Isn’t she cute?”
“Yeah,” I said as I passed her phone back. “She’s just as cute as her big sister.”
“Meep?!”
“Huh?” What? Why had Yui reacted so weirdly? Her face was red as a boiled crab. As I tried to puzzle out the problem, she pouted and grumbled at me.
“R-Rin-senpai!” she scolded. “You can’t say stuff like that out of nowhere! I bet you say those things to Rei-chan and Hana-chan too!”
“What’s the problem? I’m not following.”
“Go back over your own words and think again!”
“Okay.”
I couldn’t ignore her, given how insistent she was, so I backtracked what we’d said word for word. First, she showed me the picture of her cute little sister, Sae-chan, and then she asked me if I thought she was cute, and I agreed. She was cute in a similar way to Yui. I mean, I only said the truth—
Wait. Now I saw why her face was so red. The way I phrased it…I admitted she was cute, didn’t I?
“Uh, I didn’t mean it like that…but I also didn’t not mean it like that?” I scrambled. Denying it felt like the wrong way to go too. Should I lie or be honest? I did think Yui was cute. That’s the reason I said it in the first place!
If Rei was the unobtainable beauty up in her tower, Yui was the sort of open girl who was kind to everyone, including the boys in her class who would get the wrong idea and end up heartbroken over it. How would you even sum up that sort of girl?
Okay, I was getting off track. Back to the topic at hand.
A gloom fell between us. Neither of us knew what to say. Lucky for us, someone else appeared.
“I’m sensing tension right out of a romcom,” Rei said.
Hana turned her nose up. “We take our eyes off you for one second and this is what you do?”
Both of them wore sulky expressions. Yui and I scrambled for excuses, but internally, I was grateful the two of them showed up to break the awkwardness.
After that, the four of us stuck together and wandered the mall until eleven a.m., when we stopped for an early lunch at the food court. We secured some seats, then Hana and Yui went to find their food first while Rei and I stayed behind.
“Rin,” she said.
“Yeah?”
She scooted next to me and leaned in close enough that people around us couldn’t hear. “I need to talk to you about something—alone.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s been a while since you rescued me, and I’m curious how much stronger you’ve become.”
“You mean, what’s my level?”
Her eyes were earnest. I didn’t know why she wanted to know, but she already knew about Dungeon Teleportation. No reason to hide the truth from her.
I held up four fingers. Rei’s eyes widened as she understood that I’d reached level 40,000.
“You grew that much? Wow… Speaking of, has anyone else learned about your power?”
“Hana knows everything. It was the right time. Also, the guild master, Claire, and Yagami-san’s party know what I can do in battle. Just a matter of time until they learn the extent of Dungeon Teleportation’s secrets, probably.”
“Oh. So many people already know,” she replied, her face falling. She let a few seconds of silence pass. “Remember when I said I wanted to dive a dungeon with you again someday?”
“Of course.”
“I truly meant it. I’ve gone with Hana and Yui, but it’s different with you. I want to be helpful to you. I want to be someone you can depend on,” she said. “But as hard as I’ve worked since then, I’ve barely surpassed level 1,000. I doubt I’ll ever give you real support.”
“…Rei.”
She looked so depressed, that was all I could manage. What else could I say, when she was basically correct? My level had already blown so far past hers. Even if I dove with her for training, we couldn’t seriously tackle the same dungeon together anymore.
Dungeon Teleportation blessed me with the power to level up faster than anyone else, but it also put distance between me and others. I pursued strength because it was my goal, but I never considered who I would leave behind.
I recalled what Claire said to me a week ago—the only adventurers who became world-class were the ones with promising unique skills. They soared over the drudgery of others and reached great heights through luck.
I’d fought so many powerful enemies, sometimes clawing my way back from the brink of death. I felt like the power I’d gained by surviving was earned. On the other hand, if it weren’t for Dungeon Teleportation’s unique abilities, I never could’ve gotten this far. From my lofty position, what was there to say to her? I had no idea, but I couldn’t say nothing.
I put my hand on her head. When words failed me, this was all I knew how to do.
“Rin?”
“Sorry. You can push me away if you don’t like it.”
She looked a little surprised, but then she smiled softly.
“I don’t mind.” She rested her head on my shoulder.
I stayed silent and let her. Rei’s regrets wouldn’t disappear with this. We both knew that, but in that moment we shared how much we respected and cared for each other. I was sure of it.
“Just when I looked away again! Oniichan, I swear!” Hana grumbled.
“I knew Rei-chan would try something similar…no, she did more!”
Rei and I jolted apart and froze.