"Where have you been?" Vanilla asked upon Chocola's return.

Chocola did not reply, but she hugged her sister very tightly. Her sister nuzzled her back. She did not mind that; she enjoyed it. Chocola then went through the meeting she had with the magical girl, and something strange popped into her mind. Everyone slept in their own bedrooms, and Chocola understood why that was the case—to keep things civil, but she found that to be somewhat out of character.

"Vanilla, would you mind if we slept together from now on?" Chocola offered with a smug on her face.

Vanilla was shocked in the first second, but then her face began shining with pure bliss and happiness. She did not answer but instead hugged Chocola really tightly, and Chocola had no choice but to cutely nuzzle her back.

"Ok, ok, it's time for work." Chocola announced it after a minute; they opened the front door a few moments later, and the day went by.

In the evening, Vanilla gathered all her stuff and brought it to Chocola's room. She brought her own pillow, too. Chocola was super happy too; she hugged her sister from behind, and the sister began to quietly purr. Chocola did not purr, but she had purry dreams that night.

A cute noseboop woke Chocola up; the sun was shining, and her sister was already awake. They helped each other to dress up and quickly met up downstairs, ready for another beautiful day.

The day turned out to be quite tiring, especially for Chocola. The house recently added a new item to the menu, and it turned out to be quite popular.

After the hard day was over, Chocola flopped onto her bed. Face down, hands wide apart. Yet her left hand's fingers noticed something strange and leathery. She checked and found a notebook under Vanilla's pillow. It was her diary.

Chocola was immediately curious. But she remembered the witch's words about theft, and she did not know if this would count as theft. She decided not to take any risks and to be smart about it. She placed it back under Vanilla's pillow and finally fell asleep.

Another cute boop woke Chocola up. It was raining today. Unlike the day before, there were only a few guests.

"I guess the clear sky really does affect the mood." Chocola sighed sadly.

"Yep. But, uhm, want a cup of coffee, my dear sister?" Vanilla was as cheerful as ever. Completely unaffected by the weather.

Chocola nodded, and a few moments later she sipped coffee. It tasted wonderful. Better than before. Vanilla really knew how to make coffee, and she was clearly getting better at it. Chocola then remembered the diary and began scheming.

"Vanilla, we're sisters, right? It means we share all items, right?" She inquired. Chocola explicitly did not mention the diary. It was a sneaky trick to get her permission.

"Of course, sister. You can even read my diary!" She quickly answered. Chocola twitched. How did her sister know?!

"A diary? Why do you have a diary?" Chocola played innocent.

Vanilla looked around; two of them were alone.

"When I became Vanilla, I was incredibly nervous and uneasy. I was terrified I would get kicked out. But then I found the diary, and it really helped me. It turned out I was not the only one who had these kinds of thoughts; previous Vanilla had them too." Vanila began blushing, and it quickly grew to make her entire face cherry red. "If you do read it, please don't tell me about it. It's too embarrassing!"

Chocola nodded and continued sipping her coffee. Vanilla's blush added a peculiar taste to it. The guest came a few moments later. Chocola stood up to serve the guest, and flustered Vanilla hid behind the counter.

After work, Chocola hid inside the bedroom, sat at the table, and opened Vanilla's diary. She flipped pages until she reached the last entry. But it was not the text that caught her attention.

On the page, below the short text, was a full-page pencil drawing. It was actually very beautiful. It depicted them both sleeping together, with Chocola hugging her sister from behind. Vanilla had the most comfy smile too.

"Wow." Chocola exclaimed to herself. Vanilla had real talent. The lines were smooth, with varying thickness, and carried such a warm style with them. Different and distinct from official Nekopara art, but just as adorable, if not more.

"I love my sister!!! My sister is the best!"

The entry was short, and the handwriting was choppy. Chocola noticed a strange circle in the drawing and gently washed out the lines inside. She had no other way to describe it than 'a teardrop Vanilla tried to wipe away'. A strange emotion began bubbling up inside Chocola. She ignored it for now, or at least tried to.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Chocola flipped one page back. The text was longer.

"A senior adventurer visited us. Before the dungeon, before he stepped through the portal, he used to be a barrista in Amsterdam, Netherlands."

Chocola paused reading; it really said 'portal', not an 'orb' or magic. Also, dungeon? Aren't 'cultural exchange' characters forbidden from entering one? She kept reading.

"We talked about coffee making, and he said it was fun to talk about the world he left a long time ago. This world has no electricity, and we don't have espresso machines, but he gave me a small device. He taught me how to make all kinds of yummy coffee! It was fun! I want to make a perfect cup for Chocola, but I need to practice first."

There was a picture too, depicting a small pot somewhat resembling an Italian Moka pot. And a picture of a cup of cappuccino. The cup's surface had a drawing of Chocola's smiling face.

"You did make a perfect cup… Silly…" Chocola smiled to herself, but the previous emotion grew stronger. Chocola felt a tear form in her eye. She closed the diary and pushed it away from herself.

Why was it making her so emotional? Chocola did not know. But she felt it. It was sad, it was happy—all intermixed. It was not love; it was similar yet different.

Chocola thought keeping the diary closed would help her, but she kept thinking about Vanilla, and it only made her emotions stronger.

She opened the diary again, this time on the first page. The handwriting here was pretty; it was cursive and stylish, yet still easy to read. Different from the latest style, which did not use cursive. The pages did not contain pictures or drawings.

Chocola read a few sentences, but they were not that informative nor caused any unusual feelings either. She skipped all the pages until she reached the end. The last page is in cursive.

"I've enjoyed my time here! It taught me how beautiful my life can be. However, I miss my parents—my real parents. Chocola, my brother, misses his friends too. So I think it is time for us to poke the orb, and I hope we're going to stay nice and friendly to each other in real life too. So, to whoever reads this, see you next time!"

"I've talked to Kate; she said it is possible to return to this world in a different way, but she did not specify how. I guess we will have to find that out and will definitely come visit this place again, this time as guests!"

Chocola smiled. This 'project' was truly something; she understood the author of the entry too. It gave her some peculiar information too. The entry had warmth but did not cause the same emotions as pages with pictures in them. She flipped the game and gulped, because she knew the page would contain a drawing.

"Hello diary! I arrived a few days ago and only found this diary today! I haven't seen Chocola yet, and it feels rather lonely here, so I've decided to work on my drawing skills too."

The page had a picture of Vanilla holding her right hand in a thumb-up position. It was cute, but not as good as her latest drawings. Chocola's ear twitched. It was fun to learn how much Vanilla progressed with her drawings.

Quickly, she counted the pages. There were 11 days worth of cursive handwriting. She squeezed the remaining pages, pages with printed handwriting and drawings, and the slice was at least 10 times thicker. Current Vanilla has been here for months! The entry did not make her overly emotional, so Chocola continued.

She flipped ten or twenty pages forward.

"Chocola arrived! I was happy at first, but she was so cold to me! Maybe it is just shock. Maybe she will warm up to me."

Chocola felt sad. The text was not about Mary, but as a person playing Chocola, she still felt responsible. This adorable Vanilla did not deserve this.

She flipped a few pages forward, but things did not improve.

"I envy the previous Vanilla. She joined this world together with her brother, so they were friendly to each other.

The drawing depicted Chocola reading the book, completely ignoring her sister, who was cleaning the table behind her.

The painting made Mary sad. It was torture. She did not want to continue. She skipped nearly all the pages.

"Chocola asked me to steal. I refused. I am not going to participate in her schemes!"

Chocola laughed, but the strange emotion began bubbling up. She flipped to the next page.

"Chocola is gone. Why does it feel so sad? She never paid much attention to me, so why does my heart ache so bad?! Was I a bad sister?! Did I do something wrong?"

There were no drawings on this page. Just a bunch of dried teardrops. Chocola's emotions intensified, but it was still bearable. Vanilla was such a gentle soul, a true jewel.

Chocola read a few more pages; they felt lonely. Despite loneliness, Vanilla did not quit. She quickly flipped through the pages until she saw the painting of Chocola once again.

"Chocola has returned. She made me angry, but I think we can be friends. I will try my best, I promise!"

The drawing depicted Chocola tying up a ribbon in Vanilla's hair. It looked so adorable. So cute and adorable, yet tears began to collect in Chocola's eyes. Chocola had a theory about why this made her feel this way. The answer was on the second page.

"I think I finally found my Chocola. She's so great, smart, and simply adorable. She makes me feel like a real sister.

I think this is it—true paradise!"

A big drawing followed the short entry. Both of them were working together, with a happy smile on their faces and their tails intertwined. The drawing was smushed in multiple places with lots and lots of teardrops.

Chocola closed the page, and her own tears fell onto the table. She tried to stop, but she could not. Her emotions were out of control. Those were not "gentle magical suggestions." Those emotions came from Mary herself, as strong as ever. And more and more tears flowed with every passing second.

She hid the diary and curled up in her bed, sobbing all to herself. Chocola cried because she did not realize how much she meant to her sister. She cried because she did not notice how precious her sister was. Chocola cried because she hated herself like never before, and she hated herself because she knew she would have to leave her sister.

Vanilla heard Chocola crying and immediately ran to her. She did not say a word but simply curled up around Chocola. Vanilla did not notice, but that made Chocola sob even louder.

It was evening, and it was the first night Chocola had trouble falling asleep. Nevertheless, she still managed to do so before midnight.