"Now we can finally talk face to face."

Suriel is so cute. You knew she had a sweet personality already, but seeing her without her mask on makes it obvious just how cute she is. You can already feel your face getting a little warm, but you try to shake that thought away. Be cool, Rin. Don't be an idiot around her just because she's a cute girl!

"I- yeah, it's nice to be able to talk like this!" Your reply is with a bit of a stammer, but you're still trying to be cool here.

"Mmm!" After saying that, Suriel taps her chin thoughtfully. "I still wish I could tell you my real name, but that's still off limits. But maybe I can give you a hint...?"

She summons a cup of tea too, probably to help her think of what to say for a hint or something. You have no idea what could be a good hint though, but you can at least encourage the hints at least. "Yeah? If you give a hint I'll try to guess!" You're not the best at puzzles but she knows you pretty well by now, it shouldn't be too difficult right?

Then she hands you the cup of tea, and you just stare at it for a moment. "Oh! Um, thanks? But didn't you make it because you were thirsty?" Come to think of it, she didn't even drink from the cup did she?

Then Suriel laughs. "It's a hint!"

"Oh! R-right! A hint!" So now you're staring down at the cup of tea. Something about this is a hint. The cup is white with pink dots, so that's probably not a hint...the tea is green though...

...c'mon gear, turn in his mind...

"It's okay if you don't get it, I just... wanted to give you a shot, since we aren't allowed to tell you ourselves. You can still call me Suriel." She's smiling as she says it, but that just makes you more determined to figure this out.

Finally, something clicks. "...Midori!" The tea is green, Midori is a girl's name, it all fits!

But Suriel just laughs again. "No, that's my friend's name! It's not about the colors, okay?"

"Oh." Okay. Not about the colors. Tea...Tea... "Tea...Ocha?"

"You got it! Or most of it, anyway."

"Ocha-chan~" You feel proud of yourself now. That was a tricky hint, but somehow you managed to puzzle it out! ""r maybe just O-chan." That feels like a cuter way to say her name.

"That's close enough. I'll answer to whatever you want to call me, Okumura-kun."

"Okay~!" But there's something else he needs to say here, isn't there? "Oh, but if we're sharing names like this, you should call me Rin."

You swear you can see her demeanor change into something a bit softer after you say that, and it makes your face feel warm again. Does she like the idea of going by first names? You hope so, it would be nice to use a less formal way of addressing each other. Just the thought of it makes the fondness you already feel for Suriel grow.

Fortunately she confirms it a moment later, saying, "Okay... Rin."