"All right, all right! Don't cry, don't cry!"
Once again gently wiping away Yukina's tears, Nao smiled as she comforted her. But by the end, her own eyes had reddened as well.
"Mm! This is wonderful! Nao is back! We can be just like before again!"
Yukina tightly clutched the fair, soft hand wiping her tears. The corners of her mouth lifted into an incomparably radiant smile, and she rose lightly onto her toes, nearly jumping for joy.
Without a doubt, even though Yukina's soul was already in her twenties and she was no longer truly the little girl she appeared to be, she still could not contain her excitement and delight in this moment.
In fact, until the second before Nao emerged, Yukina had not known she would be so happy to see Nao brought back to life.
If she had to describe her relationship with Nao...
At first, she had met Nao through Hirohiko. Since Nao was her best friend's girlfriend, they had naturally ended up living together.
Later, unexpectedly, Nao stayed for a very long time. She even became the only person capable of making Chiba suffer setbacks. Yukina had keenly sensed that Chiba was almost a little intimidated whenever he saw Nao. It was then that Yukina and Nao grew closer and closer, gradually becoming best friends who could talk about anything.
They would even chat for ages every night before going to sleep.
Nao became Yukina's first female friend. Although Nao always appeared cold and distant in front of others, Yukina knew that she was warm beneath that cool exterior. At least, after learning about Nao and Hirohiko's past, Yukina understood very clearly that Nao had not accepted the younger brother of the man who killed her own brother from the start. She had only