Chapter 486 Explaining The Truth
"So I was killed on the spot. Remember when I told you that my links were damaged? That was due to this. Before I was killed, the guy named Duan Han Yin, who used to be my friend, made sure to break all of my links so that he could guarantee that I died.
"However, what he didn't realise was that after I died, I was reborn as a Snow Girl. With my rebirth as a monster, I had lost all of my memories and had to try to survive without knowing anyone. If not for me finding a disguise skill in the first dungeon I was in, I would have probably been killed again.
"It was also during this that I started to meet my current party. As I continued to level up and go to new places, Yuki noticed my presence and sent a letter to the both of you which resulted in us finally meeting. It was also during my meeting with you, Keomi, that I found out more about myself or rather, Kuromi, through the library located in Miriel.
"At that time, I still thought that me and Kuromi were different people so I felt a little guilty not telling you the truth. But not long ago, after I classed up to B rank, I found out that me and Kuromi were the same person. It was just that our soul was from two different periods of time that somehow merged into one body. And now that I have Kuromi's memories, you can say that we've merged together again." Shiro explained briefly as both Keomi and Keiko closed their eyes for a moment.
"So you're saying my sister is dead?" Keomi frowned.
"Not exactly since we're the same person." Shiro shook her head.
"I see… Who's this Duan Han Yin and what level is he?" Keomi narrowed her eyes as Shiro could detect faint signs of killing intent.
"No idea. But don't act stupid, I'll make sure to avenge myself dummy." Shiro chuckled while patting Keomi's head.
Looking down, Keomi clenched her fists in frustration since her sister had already died once and she didn't even know about it.
"Does mum and dad know?" She asked.
/p>
"Hell no. If they knew, they would turn the world upside down to find the one who did this. Let's not trouble them though since I can handle it myself if you give me enough time." Shiro shook her head since she didn't want her parents to interfere. First is because she didn't know what level Duan Han Yin was and the danger he posed to her parents could be quite big.
She didn't want to play with chances when it came to her parent's life.
"So what do you think Keiko? You haven't said anything yet." Shiro asked.
"I… *sigh* Is it ok for me to get some fresh air first?" Keiko shook her head.
"Yeah that's fine. Just talk to me when you've thought about it." Shiro nodded her head since this was probably quite hard to take in for someone who could only rely on Kuromi when they were younger.
Watching Keiko teleport away, Shiro could only sigh softly.
"So Shiro." Keomi called out.
"Mn?"
"You're still my sister right? Even though you said that 'Kuromi' had died already, you and her are the same person right?"
"Yeah. We're the same person. While the personality is a little different, our souls are two halves of the same piece." Shiro nodded her head.
Hearing this, Keomi stood up and hugged Shiro as she felt relief in her heart. Even though her sister had died once, she had come back for good.
"I'm glad you're back." Keomi muttered while keeping a tight hold on Shiro, almost as if she was afraid that she'd disappear if she let go.
Smiling softly, Shiro hugged Keomi back while waiting for her to calm her emotions.
While this was happening, Keiko stood on the roof of the hotel with a difficult expression.
Sighing for a moment, she sat down and looked at the city lights.
"I was wondering who had appeared with such a strong mana fluctuation but it turns out that you're Shiro's cousin." Nan Tian said as he landed near her.
"Who are you?" Keiko frowned since she could not see through this man's disguise.
"I'm just someone that Shiro saved when she was younger." Nan Tian shrugged.
"I see..." Keiko nodded her head.
"You seem quite down. Want to talk about it?" Nan Tian asked since it would be good for him to help Shiro's cousin whenever he could.
"No particularly. I can't even confirm that you truly know Shiro since you could just be bluffing." Keiko frowned since she wasn't about to release important information to someone whom she had just met.
"Hmm… in that case then I suppose I do have one way to prove things. Do you know about the truth between Kuromi and Shiro?" Nan Tian asked.
"What kind of truth?"
"Well… I suppose two sides of the same coin would fit the explanation without giving too much away." He smiled.
"You know about the state of their soul don't you?" Keiko narrowed her eyes.
"Yup. It's been quite a strange relationship you know? I was saved by Kuromi, then kidnapped by someone. Years later I found Shiro and discovered an interest in her only to then find out that she was technically the person that had saved me when I was young." Nan Tian laughed while sitting down.
"And from your expression, I suppose you can't accept the fact that they're the same person easily now, can you?"
"What do you know?" Keiko frowned.
"Not a lot but at the same time, I do know that it can be quite a strange sensation. I'll be honest with you, what I felt for Kuromi was gratitude since she saved me as a child. As for Shiro, I felt curiosity which slowly turned into romantic interest. Personally, it doesn't matter to me regardless of the fact that she was Kuromi or not since I built a new relationship with her. Perhaps you're struggling between the two connections that you've built so far. One that you've built with Kuromi and one that you've built with Shiro." Nan Tian smiled.
Pausing for a moment, Keiko narrowed her eyes at Nan Tian.
"Why are you trying to comfort me."
"Let's just say that I don't like to see Shiro being worried. She genuinely cares for you and probably even more after getting Kuromi's memories so if you reject her, it would most likely make her sad and that's not something I want to happen. After all, it's quite hard to get Shiro to genuinely care for you so it's best that you treasure it. I don't exactly know what she has gone through but there are quite a few traces of having trust issues within that girl." Nan Tian smiled.
Closing her eyes, Keiko thought about what he had just said about the two connections that she had created between Kuromi and Shiro. Looking back, she noticed that they were quite similar. While Shiro did act a little different to how Kuromi did, the thoughts behind the actions stayed the same.
Thinking about this, her worries soon faded away.
"Seems like I overthought things a little. I'll need to apologise to her." Keiko muttered.
"Welp, it looks like my job is done. Oh and if you don't mind, you can put in a few good words about me to Shiro as payment for my counselling services. Not everyone gets this privilege after all haha." Nan Tian laughed.
"Who even asked for this service to begin with? But yes, I will keep that in mind." Keiko smiled before teleporting away.
Seeing that Keiko had left, Nan Tian kept a smile on his face as he was glad that things worked out.
"I would say that you owe me one but it seems like you wanted to talk to her yourself and I kind of beat you to it." He called out as Shiro flickered next to him.
"Can't fool you huh?" Shiro chuckled.
"I hope the way I convinced her was to your liking. Since I went out of my way to do this, don't you think I should get some kind of reward?" Nan Tian asked with a smile.
"Hmm… I suppose it might have turned out differently if I did it so I do indeed owe you a favour. And since you want a reward, what kind of reward do you want?" Shiro asked.
"Maybe a kis-"
"Do you want to die?" Shiro narrowed her eyes.
*Cough!
"Fine. I'll keep this reward for now so that I can cash in on it in the future then." Nan Tian smiled.
"Sure, if that's what you want." Shiro nodded as she prepared to leave.
"Also, thank you for talking to her, I owe you one." She smiled before jumping into the rift.
Raising his eyebrows, Nan Tian stood rooted in his spot before smiling softly.
"You're welcome."