Chapter 159 Gratitude from Our Strange Connection (1/2)

Hearing the words the dumbfounded Kusunoki-san muttered, I also became surprised as if time had stopped.

[……How did you know that name, Kusunoki-san……]

[……………..]

Kusunoki-san doesn’t say anything. She just froze with her eyes wide open, and after a moment…… tears appeared in her eyes.

I was surprised by those tears, but I was even more astonished by the words she said next.

[……I’m…… “Hibis”……]

[……Eh? Eeehhhh!?]

K- Kusunoki-san is Hibis-kun!? That is…… N- No, she certainly had the same age as him.

To be honest, I’ve always assumed that he was a boy since he told me that he was a boy right from the start but…… There are many people who play online games with false genders, such as Nekamas and Nenabes.

(T/N: Nekamas is a boy pretending to be a girl, well this one should be quite well known, there are lots of them in MMOs. Nenabes is the opposite, a girl pretending to be a boy.)

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[Kusunoki-san…… is Hibis-kun?]

[……Yes.]

Kusunoki-san nodded at my words, holding back her tears as I asked her, still quite dubious if she’s telling the truth.

……The world really is quite a small place, and even though we are in a different world now, coincidences really happen in places you least expect it. I never expected to see Hibis-kun again here right at this moment.

No, to begin with, she’s a girl who is four years younger than me…… If I hadn’t been summoned to another world, there’s no way we would have even talked with each other like this.

Just accidentally getting caught up in a hero summoning, and among the people that were also caught up was a girl younger than me, who just so happened to be someone I met in an MMO with tens of thousands of people playing, and that girl remembers me…… I think that’s already enough to be called a miracle.

[Ciel-san!?]

[Wha!? Wait, K- Kusunoki-san!?]

[Ciel-san…… As I thought…… You’re Ciel-san……]

[……Unnn. Errr…… It’s been a while, I guess?]

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[ ! ? ]

Kusunoki-san, who jumped in to cling to my chest, was slightly trembling.

And with her voice blurred with tears…… She called the character name I used to use in that MMO many times. Yeah, how should I say this… Being called with that name in real life feels kind of embarrassing……

[……Why….. Why did you…… leave……]

[Eh?]

[……I…… I’m always…… always…… feeling lonely……]

[……Kusunoki-san.]

It’s no exaggeration to say that me and Hibis-kun…… Well, Kusunoki-san were always together in that MMO.

I just happened to be the one who approached her when she was a newbie, but Kusunoki-san was always attached to me so much that she always spends the majority of her short log-in time with me.

When I told her that I was retiring three years ago, unlike usual, she connected with me for hours and said goodbye to me.

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Honestly, I felt like I had a little brother at that time too, and that’s why he was my biggest reason as to why I regret retiring.

[……I’m sorry, I was just taking exams at that time…… I lost my parents back then, and my relatives were the ones taking care of me at that time…… I can’t trouble them by becoming a ronin……]

(T/N: A middle schooler/high schooler that has graduated but has failed to enter a school at the next level.)

[……It’s okay. I’m sorry…… I’m the one who was being childish.]

The main reason I retired from online gaming was to take college exams.

I thought that I would cause trouble for my aunt and uncle if I became a ronin, so I stepped away from online games to concentrate on my studies.

Once I left the game, I didn’t have much of a chance to get back to playing…… and in the end, I never went back to that game until now.

Kusunoki-san said that she’s still playing that game.

I may just be being conceited…… but perhaps, Kusunoki-san…… was waiting for me to come back for a long time.

[……I see, Kusunoki-san is Hibis-kun huh.]

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[……Yes.]

[……Well, it’s not like I’ve seen you before, and I’ve always thought you were a boy…… But you’ve grown up huh. I’m glad we met again.]

[……Ciel……-san…… I…… I……]

Putting my hand on Kusunoki-san’s trembling head, I stroked it as gently as I can.

Kusunoki-san looked like she really was overcome with emotion, and in the end, with large drops of tears streaming down her eyes, she tightly clung on my body.

Although being hugged by a lovely high school girl is a great situation to be in…… There’s an important problem here.

The place where we’re in isn’t exactly my room where we have some sort of privacy, but we’re in the main street…… Yep, in the middle of the main street.

A man and a woman hugging each other in the middle of such a busy street, and the woman is crying while holding onto a man…… Even if I’m the passerby, I would also stop and watch.

[K- Kusunoki-san!? For now, let’s change places!?]

[Eh? Ahh……]

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Hurriedly grabbing Kusunoki-san’s hand, we quickly left the place at a fast pace as I was exposed to strange stares from all directions.