Epi.9-2: Rin’s Unwanted Reunion

The door suddenly flew open.
“Misaki-san! It’s me!—Wait! Ah! It’s the girl I saw the other day!”
Yuka pointed at Rin.

“You’re loud the moment you open the door,”
Misaki frowned.

“I met her the first time I came here. She’s cute, right?”

She quickly stepped closer to the two and peered into Rin’s face.
Rin turned her face away in silence.

“You’re blushing—so cute.”
Yuka was poking Rin’s cheek with her finger.

“I’m not blushing! Stop it!”
Rin brushed Yuka’s finger away.

“Rin clearly doesn’t like it. Stop that.”

“Oh—so your name’s Rin-chan. I’m Yuka. Nice to meet you.”
Misaki’s warning seemed to go completely unheard as she smiled at her.
However, Rin glared at Yuka and looked away.

“Oh! That’s right! I’ll have Rin-chan appear on today’s stream too!”

Seeing Yuka get so excited she looked ready to scream, Misaki let out a sigh.
“Hey. Don’t push things forward while ignoring how Rin feels.”

“I see…”
Just when it seemed she had reconsidered—
“I’ll get some cute clothes just for you, Rin-chan—okay? Please!”
She clapped her hands together with a sharp clap! and bowed her head.

After a slightly long silence, a small voice spoke.
“…I don’t need clothes. …If it’s just a little…”

She should have ignored it and walked away—
so why had she agreed?
Rin herself didn’t understand the reason.

She was noisy and kept touching her unnecessarily.
She didn’t seem to care that Rin moved or spoke.
…It felt like she’d had a similar experience long ago… but she couldn’t remember it.

“Yaaay!”
Still seated, Yuka threw both arms up and swayed her body unsteadily.
Depending on how you looked at it, it almost seemed like she was dancing.

“But there’s still quite a while until the scheduled stream time, you know? It’d be cruel to make her wait that long.”
She said it in a way that subtly urged Rin—who didn’t seem very eager—to be let go.

“Ah—right.”
Yuka placed her index finger against her lips, her gaze wandering as she thought about something. It seemed she had come up with an idea.
She clapped her hands and, with a beaming smile, declared, “Then let’s do it now! …Umm… an ambush stream! That’s what it’s called!”
She blurted it out with momentum, but almost immediately frowned.
“Huh… wait… was that not it…?”
she muttered to herself in a small voice.

“…You mean a guerrilla stream?”

“That’s it! Exactly! Misaki-san, you really know your stuff!”
Yuka got even more excited.

“…Fine, but didn’t you say you were doing a stream with a one-hundred-percent supernatural encounter rate? Sayuri and Shinobu still haven’t come back.”
Misaki said this while wetting her throat with the liquid in her glass.
Those words carried the meaning of wanting to let Rin go, but of course, Yuka didn’t notice.

“Heheh—Rin-chan is a doll that can move and talk, right? That means Rin-chan is a supernatural being too!”
She raised both hands as if cheering and even let out a high-pitched squeal herself.

Misaki let out a single sigh, then muttered quietly,
“Wouldn’t that mean it’s game over if Rin just stays still?”

“Rin-chan wouldn’t do something like that. Right, Rin-chan?”
She smiled at Rin.

“…”

“Huh? Hey—Rin-chaan.”
She waved her hand in front of Rin’s face, as if checking her awareness.
However, Rin didn’t move a muscle.
Just like an ordinary Ichimatsu doll.

“Why are you being so mean to me? Hey, Rin-chan.”

Whether the doll talked or whether it moved, she didn’t mind—in fact, she was delighted.
One moment she was laughing, and the next she looked like she was about to cry.
She never listened to our side’s circumstances, always putting her own first.

—She remembered.

This woman was like a child.

“…You’re loud.”
Rin’s cold voice was directed at Yuka.

“Rin-chan talked to me! That means we’re totally in love with each other, right?”

“…Hey, seriously, you’re really loud.”
Misaki’s resigned voice didn’t reach Yuka, but the eyes with which she watched the two of them were gentle.