Eriri and Ruri walked arm-in-arm down the sidewalk like the closest of girlfriends, drawing admiring glances from passersby.
Eriri had changed her outfit by now, wearing something similar to Ruri's style. After all, her earlier light dress was far too eye-catching for winter weather.
Her hairstyle had changed too. It was no longer the glamorous twin tails nor simply flowing down her back like a waterfall. Instead, her hair had been divided into multiple thick braids, gathered together at the back. Her once floor-length hair now only reached her lower back after being folded and styled.
"If only you'd arrived a day earlier, we could've spent Christmas together," Ruri said with a trace of regret as she glanced at the Christmas decorations that still adorned the streets.
"Well, even though I missed Christmas here, it's less than three months until the holiday back in our world. We can always have a big celebration then," Eriri replied with a gentle smile.
"Mmm, that works too. I bet it'll be really lively."
Imagining a festive Christmas celebration with Eriri and the other chat group members, a look of anticipation bloomed on Ruri's face.
Ruri's new home wasn't far from the center of Chiba City, so she and Eriri decided to walk rather than take any transportation.
They didn't rush; instead, they strolled at a relaxed pace, chatting as they made their way toward their destination.
By the time they reached the commercial district, half an hour had passed.
The commercial street was Chiba's most bustling area, filled with the largest crowds. Since it was the end of the year and schools were on winter break, the foot traffic was several times heavier than usual.
As Eriri and Ruri were about to turn left at a crosswalk, a cheerful voice called out from the right.
"Oh my, oh my, if it isn't Miss Kuroneko~"
Despite the noisy street filled with chatter and footsteps, the voice—though slightly buried—was clearly heard by both Eriri and Ruri. Even without heightened senses, their natural hearing was sharp enough to catch it clearly.
They both paused and turned their heads toward the voice.
About seven or eight meters away stood a beautiful girl with pale blue, shoulder-length hair, smiling warmly and waving as she slowly approached them through the crowd.
Within seconds, the girl—whose looks rivaled even Ruri's—stood before them.
Seeing her, a look of surprise appeared on Ruri's face.
"Saori? What are you doing here?"
"There were some family matters to take care of here. And since both Kuroneko and Kotorin live nearby, I figured I'd drop by to hang out. I just parted ways with my family when I ran into you. What a lucky coincidence!"
This elegantly dressed girl, clearly from a wealthy background, was Ruri's fellow otaku friend and the administrator of the online group "Otaku Girls Unite!" Her handle was Saori Bajeena.
Of course, "Saori Bajeena" was only her online alias, just like how Ruri used the name "Kuroneko."
Her real name was Saori Makishima—a refined young lady with both grace and stature in every sense.
At just fifteen years old, Saori already stood nearly 180 centimeters tall and had a mature figure that rivaled that of a grown woman.
While Eriri was quietly studying Saori with interest, she suddenly noticed that Saori's gaze had settled directly on her after she finished speaking.
A moment later, Saori spoke again: "Miss Kuroneko, is this the friend you mentioned before?!"
Saori's blue eyes locked onto Eriri, filled with curiosity and admiration.
Hearing that, Ruri instantly understood whom she was referring to.
She nodded and said, "That's right. But how did you know?"
"It was obvious! Didn't you say before that your friend was the most beautiful person in the world? I thought you were exaggerating, but now..."
Saori trailed off there, but the awe on her face made it clear what she had left unsaid.
Then she nervously greeted Eriri. "Nice to meet you. I'm Saori Makishima. My online name is Saori Bajeena. I'm part of the same online community as Miss Kuroneko."
Despite her tall and elegant appearance, Saori had until recently been a shy, introverted girl who easily became flustered—especially when in her "ojou-sama" mode.
In the original story, the Saori of that time wouldn't have had the courage to greet someone like Eriri. She might not have even had the nerve to say hi to Ruri.
However, thanks to Ruri's influence over time, Saori's shy personality had improved significantly. Now, even when not in her otaku attire, she could talk normally with strangers.
When Ruri first joined the chat group and saw memory clips of herself, she had considered skipping the "Otaku Girls Unite!" meetup.
But after repeated invitations from Saori, she ended up going to Akihabara for the gathering anyway. After all, their online friendship was a strong one.
Just like in the original, after the first meetup ended, Ruri, Saori, and Kyousuke and Kirino Kosaka had a second meetup.
As a result, Ruri became familiar with the Kosaka siblings. But due to Eriri's presence, Ruri had no special feelings toward Kyousuke. At most, he was just a regular friend.
They only spoke occasionally when she was talking to Kirino.
Since Ruri was no longer the same as her original counterpart, Saori's real identity had also been revealed much earlier than in canon—within a few weeks of their offline gathering, Ruri had created an opportunity for the truth to come out.
Seeing the nervous look on Saori's face, Eriri gave her a gentle smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Eriri Spencer Sawamura. It's a pleasure to meet you too."
Saori blushed at the smile, her shy nature threatening to resurface. Her eyes darted around, unable to remain focused on Eriri.
Noticing Saori's awkwardness, Ruri quickly spoke up to prevent things from getting too uncomfortable. "Saori, since you're here, why don't you come hang out with us?"
In truth, Ruri was feeling a little conflicted. Though she didn't say it out loud, she had hoped to spend some one-on-one time with Eriri.
Still, leaving Saori behind wasn't something she could bring herself to do.
Ruri's words quickly pulled Saori out of her shy state. Still, seeing the two girls walking arm-in-arm, she hesitated at Ruri's suggestion.
"Um... Would I be intruding on your outing?"
"Not at all. The more, the merrier," Ruri replied casually, waving her free left hand. Now that she had made the decision, the small twinge of disappointment in her heart faded.
Eriri also gave Saori a friendly nod, showing she didn't mind at all. That brought a bright smile back to Saori's face.
"Alright then, I won't be shy. Thank you."
And so, their duo became a trio. Saori, still feeling a little embarrassed around Eriri, walked beside Ruri, placing Ruri in the middle.
However, unlike Eriri, Saori didn't link arms with Ruri, and Ruri had no intention of doing so either.
As time passed, Saori and Eriri gradually warmed up to each other. The initial nervousness melted away through their ongoing conversation.
Eventually, Saori even moved to Eriri's other side, placing Eriri between her and Ruri.
"Miss Eriri, I didn't expect you to be an otaku like us! What kind of works do you enjoy...?"
"Wait, you're a doujin artist? That's amazing...!"
...
Along the way, Saori bombarded Eriri with questions like an endlessly curious child, and Eriri answered each one without reservation.
Because Saori assumed Eriri was a local from Chiba, she never asked about her origins. Had she done so, Eriri might have casually revealed that she was from another world.
By around five in the afternoon, their little outing came to an end.
"Alright, that's it for today. Saori, do you want to stay the night at Ruri's place with us?"
Eriri's suggestion tempted Saori, but thinking of her parents, she regretfully shook her head. "No need. My family is waiting for me. I'll be heading back to our Tokyo home soon."
Then, brightening up, she added, "Miss Eriri, Miss Kuroneko, thank you both for hanging out with me today. I'll be in Tokyo for the next few days. If you come to visit, I'll be sure to give you a proper tour."
"No big deal. We're friends, right? Hanging out together is only natural," Ruri said nonchalantly.
Eriri nodded as well, smiling. "Yeah. Let's do this again sometime."
"Mhm! It's a promise then!" Saori beamed, her eyes full of excitement for their next get-together.
After Saori left, Eriri and Ruri decided to head home too.
This time, they didn't bother walking again. Once was enough for sightseeing.
So Eriri used teleportation to instantly bring the two of them back to the Gokou residence.
Even though they vanished right in the middle of a bustling street, it didn't cause any disturbance. Not even the passersby who had been secretly watching them moments ago noticed anything strange about their disappearance.
Meanwhile, about a hundred meters down the road, Saori suddenly stopped.
"Oh no, I forgot to get Miss Eriri's contact info."
Realizing her mistake, she quickly turned around to look back at where Eriri and Ruri had been. But they were nowhere to be seen.
Stunned, Saori froze on the spot, unsure of what had just happened.
But Saori didn't dwell on it too much. She simply assumed that Eriri and Ruri had already left.
"Oh well, I'll ask Miss Eriri for her contact info next time we hang out," she muttered softly, then turned and continued walking toward her destination.
...
"We're back!"
"Welcome back, Eriri-nee, Ruri-sama."
"Welcome home, Ruri-nee, Eriri-nee. Did you have fun today?"
As soon as Eriri and Ruri appeared in the living room, they were greeted warmly by Tamaki and Hinata.
Neither of the girls was surprised by their sudden appearance. They were already used to supernatural phenomena.
The Oreimo world was originally one without any mystical or supernatural elements, so it was impossible for anyone to become a superhuman through conventional training.
Therefore, Ruri's personal growth depended entirely on the chat group's point system. And since Hinata and Tamaki weren't members of the chat group, they couldn't rely on training to gain supernatural power either.
However, that didn't mean they were powerless.
Ruri had become something of a gacha addict, willingly spending points. She had once spent over a hundred million points to obtain a Rinnegan.
Before that, in over ten thousand high-tier draws, she had acquired many items of moderate value—including several Devil Fruits.
And Devil Fruits were one of the easiest ways for someone to gain supernatural powers.
As a result, Hinata and Tamaki, having consumed Devil Fruits, had already stepped into the realm of the superhuman.
Not just them—even their parents had gained some abilities from Devil Fruits.
That said, such powers were essentially useless in a peaceful everyday world. At most, they could be used for self-defense in case of things like a robbery.
Ruri patted Tamaki on the head, then smiled and replied to Hinata, "Yeah, it was fun. We happened to run into Saori on the street, so the three of us hung out together."
"Eh?"
Hinata was stunned. She had suppressed her own desire to tag along just so Ruri could have a private date with Eriri—and yet it still got interrupted.
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