Chapter 377 378: Long-Awaited Reunion

The café didn't have cola, so Jhin settled for switching his drink to black tea. In his past life, work demands had made him treat coffee like water out of habit, but now that there was no need for that, he wasn't about to touch coffee voluntarily.

He took a sip of the black tea Chisato had brewed and gave it a middling review. After all, this was a café that needed to turn a profit, so the leaves were never going to match the premium stuff bought for home use.

"Before we get into the real conversation... the one hiding in the closet — ma'am? Miss? Aren't you planning to come out?"

Chisato froze for a second, her head swiveling rapidly left and right. "There's someone else in the shop?!"

The drone that had been hovering in midair the whole time, serving as mere decoration, let out a sigh. "Are you even human?"

As the sound of a closet door opening and closing echoed from the staff break room, a blond loli — or rather, a young girl — emerged, wearing an oversized hoodie and a black cat-ear... no, bunny-ear bow headpiece. She spoke in a tone far too mature for her apparent age. "Just call me Kurumi."

"A c-closet alien!?"

"No, this is a legal loli," Jhin declared with absolute certainty. "An extremely rare creature."

"Don't talk about a person like they're some rare wildlife pet," Kurumi said, climbing onto a stool by the counter and propping her small face up with a sleeve that hung well past her hand. "Jhin, weren't you going to tell a story?"

"Right... before the story, you two need to understand a concept first — timeline disruption..." Jhin gave a rough summary of the circumstances behind how he and Chisato had met.

Naturally, this drew skepticism from Kurumi. "That story is pretty poorly made up."

Since Chisato had lived through it herself, she believed most of it, though she still found the supernatural elements a bit hard to swallow.

"Kurumi, this café — it's not actually yours, is it?"

"Right, I'm just the acting store manager for now. What does that have to do with your story?"

"Because this café was bought by my sister, Kazami Kazuki."

"Wait a second..." Kurumi's cute little face lit up with disbelief. She pulled out a tablet and dug through it for a while, then set it aside with a scowl. "Fine, I believe you. That damn Kazuki, keeping it a secret that she has a little brother this whole time."

"What were you just looking at?"

"A contract that, in hindsight, is obviously one giant trap dressed up as a deal."

Someone tugged twice at his sleeve. Jhin turned to look at Chisato. "What's wrong? Something else you wanted to ask?"

"Big Brother Jhin, I... can I hug you?"

"Sure, no problem."

The instant she got the go-ahead, Chisato flung her arms wide and threw them around him, stamping her feet in excitement. "Finally... I've finally found you again. I... I searched for you for so long. If this café hadn't existed, I probably would've—

gone abroad to keep looking for you."

"Sorry about that... I only realized the timeline was disrupted the second time we met. By the time I tracked down your address, it had already become now."

"Big Brother Jhin, you're not going to disappear on me again after just one visit, are you?"

"Don't worry, the timeline disruption is over. I'm here to be the store manager now — isn't that right, Kurumi?"

"You sound exactly like Kazuki just now. No wonder you two are siblings." Kurumi, remembering how she'd been played by her sister, felt her irritation flare up. She grabbed her tablet and headed for the break room. "You two go ahead and catch up. I'm heading back."

Once Chisato's emotions had settled a little, she gripped Jhin's hand tightly and told him everything she'd been through over the years. Since he was the one who'd saved her life, she even told him about the existence of DA and Lycoris.

Not long after her congenital heart condition was cured, the radio tower incident happened. With her rapidly improving physical abilities, she'd made short work of the terrorists trying to blow up the tower, wiping them all out.

But when she saw the blood on her face and the bodies scattered across the ground, she thought of Jhin — the big brother who had given her a brand new life. What would he think if he knew she was out there burying other people's lives?

From that point on, she switched to non-lethal rounds and stopped taking part in extermination missions. As the hero of the radio tower incident, she had a lot of freedom and authority within the organization, and in her spare time she did what she could to help others.

Big Brother gave me a second life, so I want to be like him — I want to save more people, because life is the most important thing there is!

Holding onto that thought, she stayed with Lycoris for a few more years, until she ran into Jhin again and got the café's address. As the assassination missions within the organization grew more frequent and clashed more with her ideals, she left Lycoris and became an unofficial outside helper for DA's missions instead.

Who would've guessed she'd end up staying at this café for years more, with Jhin vanishing again like he'd evaporated into thin air. All she could do was help people while she waited here.

"I'm sorry..." Jhin gently stroked the top of her head, an ache in his chest. "You waited all these years. It must have been so hard."

A sting hit the bridge of Chisato's nose, her eyes reddening, tears nearly spilling over. But she sniffed and turned her face away, muttering, "It wasn't hard. As long as you came in the end, Big Brother Jhin, that's all that matters."

What a strong kid.

In Jhin's memory, Chisato was still that small young girl. Now she'd simply, suddenly grown up — like a stray kitten he'd happened to save that had suddenly grown into a cat, one that had been waiting for him this whole time.

"Since today's the day we're reunited, let's go celebrate!"

"Really!?"

"Of course. I'm the store manager, after all — whether we're open or not is up to me!"

"Long live Big Brother Jhin!"

"Kurumi! Are you coming or not?"

The drone wobbled slightly and let out her true, unmasked voice, young and childish. "Is it far?"

"If you don't feel like walking, I can carry you on my back."

"No need. I can walk myself."

Kurumi, lying back in her sleek, high-tech mechanical chair, reached up and checked the "l0licon" option on the projection screen, then sighed and pushed open the closet door. "Well, this is going to cost me."

"La la la~" Chisato hummed a cheerful tune as she walked beside Jhin. As if something had just occurred to her, she clasped her hands behind her back and asked, "Big Brother Jhin, how old are you now?"

"Seventeen this year."

"Eh, no way, that's got to be a lie — we're the same age!?" She suddenly grew excited and pressed further. "What month were you born?"

"...month!"

"You're even younger than me!!!"

Her life-saving hero and shining first love turning out to be younger than her — who could possibly handle that!?

Chisato felt an odd itch at the bridge of her nose. If she kept staring at Jhin like this, something very unfortunate might come

trickling out. She quickly turned her head to look at the scenery around them instead. "Then... then I'll just keep calling you Big Brother Jhin."

"I don't really mind what you call me. But you'd better not go thinking about becoming my sister's rival, because my sister will get angry."

"Heh~ so you're actually scared of Kazuki." Kurumi covered her small mouth, snickering.

"No, no, no. I'm just worried about whatever happens to the person who tries to become my sister."

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