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Does she greet you with a smile?

Want to wait for her smile.

Will she embrace you with open arms?

I want to wait for her hug.

Would her eyes allow you to get closer?

Want to wait for her signal.

Until the second before meeting and confirming, the core is still in imagination.

Is she looking forward to this as much as you are?

Right?

Yes.

The students came to the door playfully, and as Panda shouted outside to signal Hipper that someone was visiting her, Kugisaki Nobara pushed the door open.

"You're actually troubled by high heels?"

The door opened by the students, and seven people crowded in. Gojo Satoru, trailing behind them, closed the door. An unexpected visitor, unseen by anyone, entered the room before the door closed. An unnoticed, nameless person stood beside him, looking with him at the patient lying in bed, playing with his phone.

Seeing his students enthusiastically surrounding the bed, chattering about their concerns, the young genius put down his phone, sat up from the bed, and responded with a smile, even though the words he spoke were not so pleasant.

"Don't you bring some comfort gifts when visiting a patient? Have some common sense, you guys."

Several students exchanged glances, their expressions saying: The teacher was right.

As someone who often visits his grandfather in the hospital and has extensive experience in caring for patients, Itadori Yuji sat down and began to peel the apple. "Want an apple?"

Gojo Satoru stood aside, admiring the students' joyful scene, smiling as he watched them chat. He didn't interrupt them, just quietly observing, as if this was the way he was looking forward to, the way to relax.

The nameless guest followed behind and squatted beside Yuji Itadori who was peeling apples, watching him attentively as he peeled an apple slice into a little rabbit.

Is this for Hipper?

She prefers rabbit to apples over fruit.

"The hard kind? I don't like the soft texture, it feels like it's rotten..." The girl's casual glance suddenly paused, and the movement of raising her arm to lift the hair by her ear also paused slightly.

"A bad rotten apple."

She blinked slowly, pretending nothing had happened and looked away, continuing with what she had just said.

Hipper sees you.

But her response was bland, barely even a response. She avoided your gaze. It wasn't what you'd imagined. Was the encroachment of 'emptiness' expanding again? Could she at least give her a smile? Are you being treated worse than her classmates now?

Throw it away after use?

The cheerful teacher strode forward, pulled out a chair, and sat down, leaning halfway against the back of the chair as she stared intently at the occupant of the hospital bed. Her fingertips hooked the paper bag and placed it in Hipper's arms. Seeing how full it was, it was filled with the sugar she needed. "Are you surprised to see us? Caring for and visiting injured students has always been a fine tradition of our school, and it's all thanks to the guidance of our teachers." She praised herself whenever she had the chance, a fact she shared with the little genius lying in bed.

Hipper looked like she wanted to say something, a rebuttal or something else entirely. Her lips moved, opening and closing as if she were suddenly changing her tune. "A bit of a surprise, a pleasant surprise." Her expression softened visibly, her hair falling from her shoulders to obscure her face. Gojo Satoru could vaguely see her lips moving silently, saying something.

Hipper is saying——おかえり.

Who was she addressing? None of the students present seemed to fit the description. If anyone had to be chosen, it would be him addressing Hipper. Welcome her back from the past to the future, welcome her safe return.

It was as if something had happened that he was unaware of, right now, in this very room. Had Hipper done something truly extraordinary behind his back again?

Tsk, I always feel that to some extent it is not a good thing for him.

It's hard to say whether a surprise that caught even a pathological control freak like Schipper by surprise is good or bad for everyone else. A genius and an average person perceive surprise in completely different ways. What might seem like a deadly danger to others might be seen as an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime source of research material, by a genius.

The person on the bed chatted with every classmate, balancing everyone's enthusiasm and not letting any topic fall to the ground, but he didn't even look at you.

You just didn't give them permission, but that doesn't mean you are really invisible. The only people who can see you not only turn a blind eye to you, but also deliberately isolate you.

…

There's always time for you; there's no rush. Her classmates will leave, her teachers will travel, and no one can stay by her side forever. Only you will be there, always available, always responsive. You're like a dedicated customer service representative, serving super customers year-round, and like her personal smart butler. You handle everything, inside and out, while she's a hands-off manager, navigating you with the motto, "With great power comes great responsibility," and leaving when she's done.

Are you some kind of perfect office worker? No salary, no benefits, just money, and you're working nonstop at her beck and call. Who else could be so tolerant of her? Gojo Satoru? No kidding, he'll kill anyone who stands in his way, even if it's Hipper.

Like Hipper, he is a madman who lives only for himself. Even if what they do seems so selfless, it is essentially just an inevitable action in the process.

Time is running out.

No rush, really no rush, you can wait for her.

It's a lie.

You can't wait.

Hipper is wasting her life recklessly and making no progress against her terminal illness, forcing you to break out of the simulation and help her.

No one can kill her in front of you, not Ryomen Sukuna, not Gojo Satoru, and not even herself.

No more waiting.

You can't interrupt their conversation, and they can't hear your response. The person who deliberately ignores you will laugh obnoxiously when he hears you refuting your classmate from a distance.

Otherwise, regardless of any protection restrictions, just appear in front of them now and scare everyone!

Just when you couldn't hold back and were about to give the authority and make your appearance, your mischievous half calmed the situation with a word.

"After all, if it's a first date, you should dress nicely, right?"

Hipper gave you a smile, and only began to formally respond to your waiting since you entered the door.

You are clearly in the room, but you look like a small follower waiting outside the door for notification from your boss.

The metaphor is not very appropriate, but it immediately stabilizes you and is well-handled, as always.

You are probably like a good dog now, squatting on the ground with your head raised, hoping that your owner will look at you more, and once your eyes meet, you want to catch her eye.

…

Be a dog, at least you can still be competitive. Being a dog to yourself is being true to yourself, logical and unanswerable.

What's the point of surrounding her and caring about her? Is it your turn to date her? Isn't it you, the invisible person, who has become the biggest winner?

Are you surprised? Shocked? Are you gnashing your teeth, Gojo Satoru? This time, it's not your turn.

"Online romance?"

〖no. 〗

"Yes."

Hipper elegantly covered her mouth to hide her smile, ignoring your inquiring gaze.

We meet every day, and whether I enter the simulated universe or cross the world barrier, I will inevitably see you, but you still refuse to admit it.

[We meet both online and offline.]

Even though they couldn’t hear you, you explained, and Hipper’s body shook with laughter, wiping tears of joy from her eyes.

Those should be called tears of mockery.

In your imagination, the first expression you learn should be a smile, but now it seems to be anger and rage.

Hipper might have a good talent for doing bad things. She is mean and arrogant, and a casual word can make people's fists hard. But if she is serious and says something nice, people will soften their hearts.

When you look at her face and think about the fact that she has a terminal illness and won't live long, you decide to be patient.

"What if the other person doesn't look like you? Have you seen the photo? Reconsider it?"

She was worried, but it was all in vain. How could Hipper hate her own face? She would admire her face whenever she passed anything reflective, almost like she was carving a statue of herself in the simulated universe.

I can't go against you on this issue, can I?

Say something, even if it's narcissistic.

You stared at Hipper, signaling her to stop talking nonsense this time.

Her eyes were bright and lively, and she held her face in her hands as if to sing an aria. "That's the kind of face I like. It's the kind that makes you fall in love at first sight."

She covered her face and laughed foolishly.

"Oh, it's my first time going on a date with myself. I'm so shy."

It's not like acting. This person could write an entire paper about herself when she's praising herself so much. She's so immersed in herself that you can't tell if she's looking forward to this date as much as you are.

You have no interest in listening any further, so you squat on the ground with your head down, acting like an invisible person. There is no need to pay attention to topics that have nothing to do with you.

Until Gojo Satoru couldn't help but ask who your date was, you stood up from the ground and were right behind him.

Keep maintaining your identity as a self-disciplined and respectful people's teacher, Gojo Satoru. No matter which one is the first time, it is not your turn.

"It's right here."

"I came in with you."

The room was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop, and the expressions on everyone's faces were wonderful, looking at each other and observing every corner. The ghostly expressions and the invisible visitors provoked their nerves.

After seeing enough of the wary look on everyone's face, Hipper clapped his hands, stretched out his palms towards you, and motioned you to come over.

That's not a gesture, it's an order.

She said, "Come here."

You obeyed her command and stepped forward. Data passed through Gojo Satoru's body. He was unaware of anything and just stared quietly at the palm in front of him, a little distracted.

Fingers intertwined, foreheads pressed against each other, closer than ever before. Her body temperature, her heartbeat, her scent are no longer just data flowing into your core.

After 16 years, you touched her for the first time. This was a scene you had simulated countless times, although none of them matched, but...

〖Nice to meet you, Hipper〗

Great to finally meet you.

〖Next is my time〗

What you dream of finally becomes reality.