Hearing the words Kusunoki-san muttered in her dazed state, I froze as if time itself had stopped.
"......Why, Kusunoki-san... How do you know that name?"
"......"
Kusunoki-san didn't answer. She remained motionless, her eyes wide with shock, until a moment later, tears began to well up in them.
Her tears startled me, but the words that followed were even more staggering.
"......I am...... 'Hibis'......"
"......Eh? Wha— Eeeeehhhh!?"
K-Kusunoki-san was Hibis-kun?! There was no way... No, wait, she was certainly at the right age.
To be honest, I had always assumed Hibis-kun was a boy because that’s what she’d told me at first. However, people playing as the opposite gender in online games—whether they were "nekama" or "nenabe"—were hardly a rare occurrence.
"Kusunoki-san is... Hibis-kun?"
"......Yes."
In response to my question, which I asked while still half-doubting my own ears, Kusunoki-san nodded while desperately trying to stifle her tears.
......Coincidences were truly strange things. I never could have imagined that I would reunite with Hibis-kun here, of all places, and at this exact moment.
In the first place, she was a girl four years younger than me. If we hadn't been summoned to this otherworld together, I doubt we would have ever even crossed paths, let alone spoken.
To be caught up in a Hero Summoning, to find a younger girl there, and for her to coincidentally be the same person I met in an MMO played by tens of thousands of people—someone who had remembered me all this time... That was nothing short of a miracle.
B-But what was I even supposed to say? Hibis-kun, whom I’d thought was a boy all this time, was actually a girl—and now she was standing before me, having grown into a beautiful young woman.
While I stood there paralyzed, unsure of how to break the silence, Kusunoki-san closed her eyes for a second... and lunged at me.
"Shell-san!"
"Whoa!? W-Wait, K-Kusunoki-san!?"
"Shell-san...... It really is you, isn't it? Shell-san......"
"......Yeah. Um...... long time no see, I guess?"
"—!"
Kusunoki-san, who had buried her face in my chest and was clinging to me, was trembling slightly.
In a voice thick with tears, she called out my old MMO character name over and over. It was... well, it was more than a little embarrassing to hear it again.
"......Why...... did you...... just disappear like that......"
"Eh?"
"......I was...... I was so...... so lonely...... all this time......"
"......Kusunoki-san."
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Hibis-kun...... no, Kusunoki-san and I were always together in the game.
Our friendship had started simply because I’d reached out to her when she was just a beginner, but she had become incredibly attached to me. She spent nearly all of her limited login time by my side.
When I told her I was quitting three years ago, she stayed online for hours—unlike her usual self—to mourn our parting.
To be honest, I had felt as though I’d gained a younger brother, and leaving Hibis behind had been my greatest regret when I walked away from the game.
"......I'm sorry. I had my entrance exams right then. I lost my parents a long time ago and was being raised by my relatives...... so I couldn't afford to fail and become a burden to them by spending another year as a 'ronin' student......"
"......It's okay. I'm sorry...... I'm the one being childish."
The primary reason I’d retired from the game was my university entrance exams.
I felt that if I failed and had to live another year on my aunt and uncle’s dime, I would be a burden, so I cut ties with online games to focus entirely on my studies.
Once you step away, it’s hard to find a reason to go back. In the end, I hadn't logged in even once since then.
Kusunoki-san had said she was still playing that game.
It might have been conceited of me to think so, but...... perhaps she had been waiting for me to return all this time.
"......I see. So you really were Hibis-kun, Kusunoki-san."
"......Yes."
"......I mean, I’d never seen what you really looked like, and I’d just assumed you were a boy all along...... but you’ve really grown up. I'm happy to see you again."
"......Shell...... san...... I...... I......"
I placed my hand on her trembling head and stroked her hair as gently as I could.
Kusunoki-san looked overwhelmed with emotion. Finally, large tears spilled from her eyes as she squeezed me even tighter.
Being embraced by a lovely high school girl was certainly a wonderful situation to be in, but...... there was a glaring problem.
We weren't in the privacy of my room. We were on a main street. A very busy main street.
A man and a woman were hugging in the middle of a public thoroughfare while the woman sobbed. If I were a passerby, even I would have stopped to stare at the spectacle.
"K-Kusunoki-san!? Let's move somewhere else for now!"
"Eh? Ah......"
Feeling agonizingly awkward under the curious gazes of everyone around us, I hurriedly took her hand and led her away from the spot at a brisk pace.
Kusunoki-san seemed startled for a moment, but she didn't resist. She simply looked down bashfully and followed me.
We eventually reached a small, quiet square and sat down side-by-side on a wooden bench. That was all well and good, but now... it was incredibly awkward.
Kusunoki-san kept her head bowed, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, fidgeting restlessly.
She looked adorable, but since she wouldn't say a word, the silence felt heavy enough to crush me.
"U-Um, Kusunoki-san?"
"—!? Y-Y-Yes!?"
"......Are you okay?"
"I-I-I'm perfectly fine!?"
When I finally worked up the courage to speak, Kusunoki-san turned toward me in a panic. The moment our eyes met, she turned bright red and jerked her head away.
"......Earlier, you said 'I knew it.' Did you suspect I was Shell?"
"......No, I wasn't certain. But when I considered the timing of when you retired and our age difference, I thought that maybe, just maybe......"
"I see. Sorry, I didn't catch on at all......"
"No, I didn't have much confidence either. Your name is Kaito, so I wondered if you took 'Shell' from the 'Kai'—as in shellfish—in your name, but then I worried that was a bit too simple to be true......"
"......Sorry for being so simple."
"Eh? Ah, no! Th-That’s not what I meant! I wasn't making fun of you, Miyama-san!?"
The origin of the character name she’d guessed was exactly right.
Since my name was Kaito, I had simply taken the "Kai" and replaced it with the character for "shellfish." Yeah... it was incredibly embarrassing. It felt like my cringey past was being laid bare.
"......I also chose my name...... Hibis, from the hibiscus, which is a flower in the mallow family—the 'Aoi' family. I thought my online self should be someone different from my real self......"
"I see...... Still, life is full of coincidences, isn't it? To think we'd reunite like this."
"Yes. I was surprised too...... but more than that, I'm just so happy."
"......Happy?"
Kusunoki-san lowered her face bashfully again and whispered softly.
When I tilted my head, curious about her words, she turned her flushed face toward me and gave me a shy, flickering smile.
"......Because...... I was hoping...... that Miyama-san would be Shell-san......"
"—!"
Kusunoki-san was, without question, a beautiful girl.
With her silky, glossy black hair and her perfect posture—likely the result of some disciplined upbringing—the term "Yamato Nadeshiko" felt like it had been coined specifically for her.
Seeing her smile like that, so shy and vulnerable, was so cute that I felt the heat rush to my face in an instant.
"Ah, u-um, Kusunoki-sa—" "Aoi." "—Eh?"
"Please. Call me Aoi...... just by my name. And if possible, without the 'san' or anything like that......"
"U-Um, then...... Aoi-chan, maybe?"
"Yes!"
When I said it, Kusunoki-san—Aoi-chan—beamed with a smile of pure joy.
Seeing that expression, so full of unreserved trust, it finally sank in: Aoi-chan really was Hibis-kun.
I felt a strange, ticklish sensation in my chest as I spoke up, trying to hide my flustered state.
"Bell's probably getting bored, so shall we continue our walk?"
"Yes."
As I rose from the bench, Aoi-chan followed suit.
But as I turned to head toward Bell, who was waiting a short distance away, I felt a tiny tug on my sleeve.
It wasn't a forceful pull, but a soft, hesitant touch that asked me to stay. I stopped and turned back to her.
"......Um."
"Yeah?"
"......Could I...... come along on your walks like this again sometime?"
"U-Um. Yeah, of course. I don't mind at all."
"......Thank you so much. I look forward to spending more time with you, 'Kaito-san'!"
Looking at Aoi-chan’s radiant smile—a smile that looked as though a heavy fog had finally cleared—I couldn't help but smile back.
Dear Mother, Father—Aoi-chan was actually the same girl I used to play MMOs with, someone who had looked up to me back then. While the sheer magnitude of the coincidence was staggering, what truly filled my heart was a deep sense of gratitude for this strange connection.