This will be a suffocating Chapter. Rinnes past arc will be finished in three more episodes.

===*

One day in midsummer, after losing the WGCS qualifier, I started to make a plan for the future and gather all the information I could about the esports players I would be competing against in the future.

I decided to meet Nana in person for the first time in a while.

Thanks to the fact that my headaches are not as severe as usual, I feel that a weight has been lifted from my body today.

How embarassing Just imagining our meeting had lifted my spirits so much.

Nana had started living by herself soon after Manaka took her in. I knew about this because I had asked Manaka about it.

She did this possibly because he was afraid of being around small children and accidentally hurting them or because she felt like a stranger in a new home.

When I asked her if she wanted to live with me again right before she started living alone, she turned me down, which made me a little sad.

Even so, we kept in touch with each other often.

Although she had rejected me once, it was not as if we disliked each other.

However, Nana was basically living off the grid.

I have given her a smartphone, but she has never used it at all. This makes me wonder if she is so uninterested on the Internet?

She seems to have mistaken the phone for a watch or something.

It is not unusual for the phone to be turned off, and although she does carry it around, she never looks at the notifications on it.

It had always been difficult for me to contact her, but since she started living alone, she has been even more difficult to get in touch with.

I contacted her every now and then for six months, and only just now did I get in touch with her.

But Ive come to the conclusion that its just a characteristic that I cant do anything about because no matter how many times I tell her, she still wont improve. Shes like a late demon. {late demon: that one friend that is always late}

I was so excited thinking about my first date, but my excitement died down when I saw the clothes she was wearing in front of the station where we were meeting were the ones I had picked out for her just before we parted.

I had somehow expected this, but geez, look how stood out you are just by standing there.

Obviously, everything was wrong with her attire.

She was dressed as if it was the middle of winter even though the sun was scorching the road in the middle of summer, and yet she was relaxed, without even breaking a sweat.

Not to mention that she is now standing in front of a train station. Of course, if she was dressed like that, she would stand out.

Even in the heat of the desert, she doesnt sweat, and even in the cold of Antarctica, she doesnt shiver. With such an invincible resistance to temperature, Nana is completely unaware of the meaning of seasonal clothing.

And for some reason, though she doesnt realize it, she has a habit of continuing to rotate through the seasons clothing without me pointing it out to her.

Shes probably wearing winter clothes today because the last time we discussed what to wear was before the accident.

In Nanas mind, the season clothing is still stuck in winter, so she has been wearing winter clothes all this time.

Nothing has changed in that respect.

It was this trivial matter that made me realize that her roots of the problem still persist.

Nana, here!

Rin-chan!

?

Poof.

I was at a loss for words when she smiled at me as if a flower had bloomed.

(Eh? This is Nana? Youre kidding, right?)

My brain, which had been working at full power to the point of exhaustion and having headaches for more than three years since I was 13 years old, completely froze for the first time today.

No, indeed, her gesture while looking back at me happily when called upon is consistent with the Nana I know.

But it was usually more awkward, and she would only show one kind of smile only I could understand because weve known each other for so long.

That was the first time I had ever seen such a natural and cute dazzling smile, so I stopped to think.

Wha. whats with you, Rin-chan? Why are you suddenly hugging me?

Isnt this fine? Its been a long time since Ive seen you.

I hugged her tightly, and she looked surprised. But she looks a little happy, just like she used to.

ahaha, yeah. Ive been away for a long time. Youve lost a lot of weight. Have you been eating properly?

Ive been very busy lately. And you, you gained weight? I feel like youve put on some meat.

Eh, did I? I think Ive gained a bit, but this is about the right amount for working at construction sites.

I held Nana arms as we engaged in a conversation about trivial matters.

Its surprising that I can have a smooth normal conversation with this girl, and its frustrating that only people close to me can understand how shocking this is.

If Touka were here, she might have burst into tears already.

So, what are you going to do today?

What do you want to do?

Im fine with anything as long as its with Rin-chan.

Now that doesnt answer anything. That part of you has never changed.

She was as selfless as ever. But it was also clear that Nana really wanted to be with me.

This kind of unselfishness is both her greatest flaw and her charm.

Lets buy some clothes for the time being. Youre wearing winter clothes in the middle of summer, and you have been standing out like a sore thumb.

Ah, so thats why? I was thinking thats why people are looking at me so much. Come to think of it. Its already summer.

The change in temperature is something she can sense but doesnt pay any attention to. I cant say enough how much Nana is a misfit as a creature, but still, I am amazed at her indifference to not comparing her outfit with those around her.

In the past, if Nana was an absent-minded person, she was blatantly uninterested in her surroundings, and her indifference would have been understandable back then. Its like [Ah, she is the kind of spaced-out child].

But the current Nana is more expressive and able to show her emotions, to the point that I was surprised to see her do so.

But thats exactly why the gap is more obvious than ever.

Doesnt anyone at work say anything about your lack of season awareness?

I go to work in uniform, so its been a while since Ive worn plain clothes. People are nice to me because Im young, but they dont socialize with me.

So thats how it is?

I see some things that have changed, but I feel that most of things that havent.

I think that fundamentally, she is still the same as she was before. It seems she picked up some social skills in the past six months, but how she values them is pretty much the same as before the accident.

Somehow, this makes me relieved.

After all, I love Nana, and I want her to love me.

I dont care about her talents or abilities.

Indeed, a part of me is satisfied with such a vulgar desire for monopoly.

Lets go. At least five outfits are needed for now.

I Dont need that many?

Of course you are! Im going to buy enough to fill up your room. {that 13 meter room?}

Why are you so worked up?

Nana was confused since she had never been in a similar situation ever.

Thats how shes always been. Clothing is pointless for Nana, who is unaffected by temperature differences. She has no desire to improve her appearance. She has almost no sense of shame, enough that walking around naked in the street would not embarrass her in the least.

In a game, she would willingly wear clothes that increased her status, but such a convenient item does not exist even in the modern age.

In the end, clothing is nothing more than an unwanted piece of cloth for this child.

This is the one thing she has disliked since she was a child. She was a child who did not want to go shopping for clothes.

But she doesnt really hate it, thats why she didnt resist. Nana was always willing to go along with me for whatever reason, which was one of the best things about her.

But I might have overdone it a bit by playing with her clothes for almost two hours.

I felt a little sorry for her when I saw Nana slumped over in her long-sleeved red cat-ear parka, which didnt fit for summer either.

Well, Ill see you later. Though I dont know when the next time will be

Hahaha.

Dont laugh and [Hahaha] me! You should try to keep in touch a little more.

Ha-ha-ha. Of course, Ill try.

I wonder?

We spent the whole day enjoying our date, which was filled with nothing more than a casual conversation.

I was about to leave when Nana suddenly cuddled me and said,

Ill be rooting for you.

And without waiting for my reaction, she slipped away from me by running through the crowd.

I had not mentioned WGCS even once during our date today. I didnt even mention my headache, of course.

Part of me didnt want to worry her, and part of me didnt want to rely on Nana.

So I told Nana that Id been living alone with ease, but apparently, I couldnt hide it from her.

Really now? that kind of cheating.

No good.

My face must be turning red now.

Its not often that Nana hugs me, And since this was the first time I had seen her in six months, it was unbearable.

It is so easy for me to hug her, but why do I get so nervous when she does it to me?

I feel like I could fight for the next year.

When was the last time I felt my heart beat so fast?

After more than half a year of WGCS, I had fully replenished my [Nana Energy], and that day I had a good nights sleep, the best I had ever had.

===*

This is how Rinne replenished her energy. Rinne is 100 times more thrilled with Nana than she thinks she is.

One of the reasons Nana has become so sociable is because she found a mentor in socializing.

TL note:

Damn lucky construction manager. He got she-hulk to work for him.