NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game

by Little Merger

A 30-year-old NEET is reincarnated into the body of an otaku that choked to death on instant noodles. As he comes to grips with his new life, he realizes that this world is subtly different from Earth. The denizens of this world are far better looking, and this new world also possesses futuristic technology as well as mysterious Yin Yang masters! After reincarnating, he realized th

4. 97

NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game Leveling System #Chapter 97 - Once Again, This Is All That Happened - Read NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game Leveling System Chapter 97 - Once Again, This Is All That Happened Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 97: Once Again, This Is All That Happened

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Yes, the beautiful blue-haired "girl" was Hoshi Amami wearing female clothing and a wig.

"Hehe, you saw through me as expected…" Hoshi rubbed his head where Seiji had struck him as he laughed and stuck out his tongue.

"Of course I saw through you, idiot!" Seiji struck him lightly on the head one more time.

"Ouch…"

"Then don't do such a thing!! Do you realize that right now I really want to fucking beat you up!!?"

"But Senpai, yesterday you said that you were really looking forward to the classical scene of being confessed to on a rooftop… I just wanted to do something for you." Hoshi was now cradling his head with both hands as he knelt on the floor. Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.

"Do something for me!? What the hell!? A boy confessing to me like this will leave me with nothing but a bad memory!!! Also, stop acting cute, you bastard!!"

Seiji's roaring rang throughout the entire rooftop, and it seemed to pierce through the heavens.

'Okay, take a minute to calm down.'

…

After a one minute cooling-off period.

Seiji was finally able to calmly face Hoshi, who had now taken off his wig.

"Where did you get these clothes and the wig from?"

"I borrowed them from a classmate in drama club. I later learned that she was an acquaintance of Wakaba-san, so I asked my classmate to contact her, and Wakaba-san helped me…"

"I see."

Seiji's face twitched slightly as he recalled Chiaki's unnatural expression. He felt like he really wanted to beat someone up right now.

It was definitely a plot, damn it!

"Honestly, making me see such a thing in the early morning… I feel like all the energy's been drained from my body."

"But… Wakaba-san said that Senpai would be happy to see such a scene?" Hoshi nervously poked his index fingers and thumbs together, forming a diamond with his hands.

"Chiaki!!"

'There's a witness statement providing concrete evidence. She is hereby judged guilty, and a beating will be administered to Chiaki the next time I see her!'

Seiji clenched his fists tightly. "I wouldn't be happy at all! Even though a trap character can be cute, to me, they're only cute when they're in 2-D!!"

"Oh… How regrettable; I had confidence in myself…"

"What the hell's with saying it's regrettable!? Don't have confidence in yourself in such a strange way!!"

"But this is just how I am."

"It doesn't matter even if it's true! Anyway, didn't you want to become manlier!?"

"Yeah, even though that's the case…" Hoshi smiled. "I'm beginning to feel like being a girl wouldn't be all that bad either."

"Stop! If you dare to continue this, be careful as I'll really beat you up!!!" Seiji forcefully commented.

'I knew Senpai would react like this,' Hoshi thought to himself as he smiled wryly.

'But this is how I really feel, Senpai. There's no way I can finish expressing all my gratitude and adulation towards you. If there's another life, I'd want to turn into a girl… But, right now, in this life, I'm a boy. That's why…'

"Just joking, I'm a boy after all, so… I'll become stronger in the future." Hoshi looked directly into Seiji's eyes. "I'll work hard to improve myself and get stronger, in order to become… someone worthy of being Senpai's junior!"

Seiji was stunned.

He could feel Hoshi's determination.

A momentary silence fell between the pair.

"What's this about being worthy? You're my junior regardless of whether you're worthy or not." Seiji chuckled as he averted his gaze and looked towards the sky.

"But it's great that you have the determination to become stronger. Just maintain your spirit, and don't forget your goal as you continue taking steps forward."

"Yeah…" Hoshi turned around and also looked up at the sky.

The two of them gazed off into the distance and remained silent for a few seconds.

"How… is the situation?" Seiji broke the silence first.

"My sisters… they're going to leave home and temporarily live with my grandparents," Hoshi said in a soft voice. "And me… I'm also going to leave home and live together with Aunt Rika."

Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What about your parents, then?"

"Grandfather wants them to truly self-reflect on their own actions and decide if they will get a divorce or continue living together… something like that."

Another brief silence fell.

"It seems like you must have had quite the imposing family meeting."

"Yeah, as Senpai instructed me, we talked to Aunt Rika and told her everything. Then… Aunt Rika went and brought along my grandfather and grandmother, as well as my uncle."

"My grandparents… they're really strict. Father… he's afraid of them." Hoshi smiled wistfully. "If only I could have seen the truth much earlier and asked for help… from Aunt Rika, my grandparents, and my uncle… Things wouldn't have become the way they are today."

Seiji had no words to say in response.

"I regret it so much… But I also feel that it's wonderful how things didn't turn out even worse. My sisters truly wish to change themselves now, so they… will definitely become better than before under my grandparents' guardianship.

"My parents… are being watched over by my uncle, and I think they'll reflect on themselves as well. I'll continue to work in my aunt's confectionery store to train myself and become stronger."

Hoshi's smile kept increasing in brilliance as he looked once more at the tall figure besides him. "And I feel like the best part of it all was meeting you, Senpai. Even though I suffered a lot recently, if I think of it as something I needed to go through in order to meet Senpai, I feel like I can accept it all."

'Thank you for saving me. Thank you for saving my sisters. Thank you for preventing my entire family from sinking into a bottomless abyss. Thank you for everything… I'm grateful to this world for allowing me to meet you.'

Seiji smiled and turned around to look at the person beside him.

"Don't say it like I'm someone incredible, silly. I'm simply your Senpai, as well as your friend; that's all there is to it."

That's all there is to it.

This was simply another case of "that's all there is to it."

Hoshi kept smiling. His current smile was the most joyous smile of his entire lifetime!

He couldn't restrain his tears any longer, and they began rolling down his cheeks.

Ahh—he hadn't wanted to cry; he didn't want to seem unsightly in front of this person anymore.

But he couldn't stop himself.

"Thank you… Senpai…"

"You've finally stopped apologizing; at least that's progress."

Seiji looked deeply at Hoshi's brilliantly smiling yet tear-stained face.

Then, he averted his gaze, turned around, and began walking off.

"I've received your gratitude. No need to be courteous with me, junior."

He casually waved his hand as he walked off.

Hoshi etched the handsome figure's back into his memory and slowly bowed deeply towards Seiji.

…

Ding!* A notification came from Seiji's system.

A notification appeared in front of him.

[A male friend of yours now has a friendship rating towards you of over 100. The [friendship] option is now available. You can now see your male friends' friendship ratings towards you, and if a male friend with 60 friendship points or higher gives you any gifts containing their emotions, you'll also receive rewards through the [gifts] option.]

[A person now has a favorability or friendship rating towards you of over 100 for the first time. You have now acquired this person's character reward card.]

Seiji was speechless at the situation.

What the hell, favorability… whoops, friendship rating over 100!?

This… could only be Hoshi.

If 1 friendship point equaled 1 favorability rating point, then this value… was even higher than Mika's favorability rating towards him!!

Seiji received yet another shock from his system.

Boys actually had a friendship rating, and it could even surpass 100…

When Mika passed 90 points, his system had informed him that she would readily agree to become his intimate girlfriend. Now Hoshi's friendship rating was over 100, what would he do?

Heavens, stop imagining such a thing!

Hoshi Amami! Your friendship is too much for me, hey!!

Seiji clutched at his face in frustration.

It was a good thing that a new option appeared, but his current feelings… were indescribable!

System… this is your idea of a joke, isn't it!?

You're just a freaking dating sim system, but you have an option like [friendship]!? How can this be seen as anything other than a joke!!!

If Seiji's anguished mental shouting had been physical in nature, surely his shouting would have pierced the heavens!

He needed three minutes to calm down.

No wait, after three minutes, Hoshi will probably come downstairs as well…

Seiji could only sigh to himself as he continued walking.

He should have been happy about unlocking a new option, but right now he didn't feel like inspecting it more closely at all.

When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he suddenly caught sight of two identical beauties standing there.

It was Rion and Kotomi Amami.

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Chapter 98: Connections

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Yesterday night was the longest and slowest night of Rion and Kotomi Amami's lives.

Everything they built was destroyed.

But a new ray of hope shone through their despair.

They sat in their grandparents' yard, watching the night sky. In their hearts, they felt a peaceful calmness which they had never felt before.

Rion, we made so many mistakes.

Kotomi, we did so many foolish things.

Foolishly making so many mistakes, doing wrong by so many people, seriously hurting the most important person… it wouldn't be enough no matter how much they apologized.

They… were finally able to see just how ugly and terrible their past selves had acted.

They felt awful, regretful, sad, pained, and yet… a burden had been taken off their shoulders.

It was as if they'd been released from an invisible dark cage and were able to see the endless sky again.

The sky wasn't anything new to them.

It was something they possessed before, but abandoned unknowingly. Only now did they finally see it again…

It was as if they had truly returned home.

Ah, so it had been like this.

Ever since that day when they stumbled upon their father's secret, they… lost their way.

They discovered a dark and narrow alley, believed that it was the correct path, and continued walking down it.

If they had persisted in walking down that path, it was likely they would have remained lost forever.

However, someone found them and pulled them back onto the path to home.

One person withstood the terrible agony of digging up his own past scars and reached his large hand out to them.

Another person withstood all the terrible things they had inflicted on him and reached a much smaller hand out to them.

This is the wrong road; come over to our side!

Being pulled along by the large hand and the small hand, they finally…

Rion…

Kotomi…

We've… returned.

The lost sisters finally recognized their own misdeeds.

The two lost little girls finally returned home.

…

Seiji merely glanced at the twins before he continued walking without missing a beat.

The bandages on Rion and Kotomi's faces slightly dampened their beauty, but apart from that, they didn't seem too different.

The biggest difference was their eyes.

Even though he only caught a brief glimpse of them, Seiji saw a clear light shining in the twins' eyes.

Maybe they wouldn't be able to make a complete turnaround so quickly, but they'd still made a good start.

Anyway, it didn't have anything to do with him. He no longer had anything to say to them.

Seiji silently walked in between and past the twins.

"Seigo Harano…" a voice spoke up.

"We hate you."

"Since you defeated us so utterly."

"That's why…"

"We'll become stronger… and prettier than before!"

"Just like you."

"And then we'll surpass you."

"Finally, we'll overturn things and defeat you!"

The twins' voices quavered with emotion as they took turns to speak.

Doubtlessly, this was something akin to a revenge declaration.

However, it didn't sound dark at all; instead, it sounded bright.

Seiji smiled. "If you can come, then come. No matter when, I'm always happy to accept a challenge… Just like I said before, I'll play with you anytime. Even though you're older than I am, I'm your senpai in life experience. As former scum, I'll wait for you… my senpais that are also former scum."

He left them with that sentence as he walked off.

Rion and Kotomi's faces were now covered in tears.

They only had one sentence left in their hearts that they couldn't say, wouldn't say, didn't dare to say, but they would say eventually one day: "Thank you."

…

Ding!* Seiji received yet another notification from the system as a block of text appeared in front of him.

[A female character now has a connection rating that's 50 points higher than their favorability rating, so your [connections] option is now available. You may now inspect all connection ratings of all characters with over 50 favorability/friendship/connection points.]

[Two female characters have a connection rating that's 50 points higher than their favorability rating; you've received the special reward of [Item Duplication card!]

[A male character has a connection to you of over 100 points, and you've already received his character reward card. His character reward card has now been increased in level!]

Connection rating?

Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

'Something wondrous has come out again. You've been quite active today, system of mine.'

Two female characters with a connection of over 50 points… This could only be talking about the twins.

Just what exactly did that sentence mean? What exactly was… a connection rating?

Seiji was curious about his new option.

He returned to the classroom.

"How did it feel, Seigo? Receiving the forbidden love confession from your middle school junior! Allow me to interview you… Eek!!"

Chiaki greeted him with an evil grin, but instantly received a merciless blow, causing her to collapse onto her desk.

Mika and all the other students were shocked into speechlessness.

Yep, everything was peaceful and calm today in Year 1, Class 5.

There were a few minutes remaining before class started.

Seiji held complex emotions towards Hoshi's prank on him, but he still needed to check out his system's new options.

Seiji opened up his system's menu.

First, he checked the [connections] option.

According to the system's explanation, a connection rating meant how strongly a boy or girl was connected to him, and it usually had a direct relationship to favorability or friendship rating, but it was also independent.

Typically speaking, the connection rating would increase in tandem with favorability and friendship rating, but there were also exceptions.

Seiji understood it as a classic example of the two main characters of the anime Naruto.

Before Naruto and Sasuke finally made up with each other, their favorability towards each other… whoops, friendship towards each other definitely would have had a low value, but their connection to each other would be strong.

Hmm… at least from Sasuke's angle, his connection rating to Naruto must have been at the max! It was probably so high that Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto.

After Seiji suddenly thought about Hoshi, he felt like he could understand Sasuke's feelings a little bit better!

Cough cough.* Seiji veered himself away from that line of thought.

At any rate, this was what connection rating meant. Now that he understood it, if he looked at it more closely…

Mika's connection rating with him was similar to her favorability rating towards him. Chiaki's connection rating was higher than favorability rating; in conclusion, both of them seemed normal.

Hoshi… er, Seiji decided to skip over him.

Rion and Kotomi Amami… both of their favorability ratings were about 30, but their connection ratings… were both over 90!!

Seiji squinted at the number for several seconds to make sure it was real.

That was right; it was over 90!

This number was even higher than Chiaki's connection to him! They were at the same level as Mika!!

Was this… two female versions of Naruto!?

No, no, that didn't feel right!

Then… two female versions of Sasuke?

It still didn't seem right!

Seiji's thoughts were thrown into disarray.

Okay then, mix it up; two female Sasukes with Naruto's connection rating!

That was much better… not!!

What the hell was with his chaotic analogy!? An endless barrage of comments flew through Seiji's mind.

But he still couldn't think of any better way to understand this.

He really wanted to ask someone for help regarding this matter!

Seiji sighed deeply. 'Forget it… this probably isn't something that's bad anyway.'

Seiji finally decided to leave this matter alone.

'Let's take a look at the actual rewards.'

Two female characters with a connection rating 50 points higher than their favorability led to him receiving a reward called the [Item Duplication card].

When Seiji looked at this in his [items, he was stunned!

'Wtf, this is… a godly card!'

It had no effect on skill activation or ability learning cards. But it could duplicate precious one-time items like [encouraging heart]; in short, it was basically an extra copy he could use at any time he wanted!

Really… an excellent reward.

Duplication… Seiji couldn't help wondering about those twins. Did he receive this as a reward because he reached the condition required, or was it because he reached the condition with the twins?

This was something only the system would know.

Seiji was still filled with complex emotions as he finally took a look at Hoshi Amami's [character reward card].

Although he was mentally prepared for any possibility, he was still shocked when he read the card's effects!

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Chapter 99: Character Reward Card

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

[Character reward card "Hoshi Amami"—in my eyes, you're the light itself.]

[This card will have an everlasting passive effect. This card cannot be used or disappear.]

[All basic stats increased by a bonus of 2 points. (Connection rating has surpassed 100; another 1 point bonus awarded to all basic stats.)]

[Encouragement effect improved by 20% for all characters with optimistic or bright personalities. (Extra 10% awarded for connection rating.)]

[Suppression effect improved by 20% against all characters with negative or dark personalities. (Extra 10% awarded for connection rating.)]

[Additional ability 1: Light which dissipates darkness from the brink of despair.]

[After using this ability, energy and mental spirit will be restored to the maximum value. In the following two minutes (extra 1 minute awarded for connection rating), nothing you do will consume your energy or mental spirit. Limited to one use per day. "In the deepest depths of despair, one ray of light heralds hope!"]

[Additional ability 2: Lightning Strike (fighting skill activation necessary.)]

[Fighting suppression-type skill: A strike at lightning speed (Consumption of energy and mental spirit decreased by 35% due to connection rating). Energy and mental spirit will be consumed. "The power of lightning is contained within my fist!"]

[Additional ability 3: Writing with the power of light (writing skill activation necessary.)]

[Writing passive skill: Increases ability to write about optimistic or bright characters by 50%. The written product's ability to draw in readers will be increased. Mental spirit level will be consumed (35% extra writing ability and 10% reduced mental spirit consumption due to connection rating). "Take a good look; this is light in physical form!"]

[Additional ability 4: ??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

[Additional ability 5: ??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

…

Seiji's eyes widened in surprise as he read over the character reward card.

What… where did this piece of godly equipment come from!?

After he finally regained his senses, this was the first thought that popped into his mind. This reward card was akin to obtaining a mega-powerful piece of equipment in an MMORPG game.

This character reward card couldn't be used or lost… wasn't that just like an item bound to his account?

And it had so many effects, and all of them seemed rather powerful! Judging by the number of effects listed, it totally seemed like a piece of orange-grade legendary equipment!

And the card even contained quotations about the effects. It all seemed so pretentious…

Even without the quotations, the card names and effects already seemed like a full onslaught of middle school syndrome… no, pretentiousness.

'Alright, calm down a little.'

Seiji really wanted to make more comments about the quotations, but he felt helpless about it, so he decided to leave it for the moment.

Taking another look at the effects, 3 to all stats for the first one… According to his system, the 3 was a bonus which didn't count towards his base stats.

This meant that if his base stats had a maximum cap of 100, and Seiji raised something like [academics] or [physical ability] to the cap of 100, this 3 effect would still take place, so he could increase his stats beyond the limit!

Seiji had already discovered that the higher his base stats went, the more difficult it was to raise them.

His [academics] and [physical ability] stats had increased rapidly in the beginning, but it was now incredibly difficult to raise them any higher. It felt like he was approaching a bottleneck.

Seiji was certain that a bottleneck really existed.

After all, this was realistic. The more you increased your stats, the more difficult it would be to further increase them.

Otherwise, if he could continue to raise them limitlessly… [physical ability] alone would turn him into One Punch Man without even needing three years' time to train.

That was why the bonus 3 to all stats was so valuable! As Seiji's stats reached closer to his stat cap, the value of this passive ability would increase proportionally.

Next, the two bonus effects which encouraged bright characters and suppressed dark characters.

Seiji's understanding of this effect was that it would be easier for him to cause fear or worry in people with dark, negative personalities. And, inversely, it would be easier for him to encourage and boost the morale of bright, optimistic personalities.

Although it was difficult to envision the effects, it still sounded useful.

Not only that, there were a total of… 5 added extra abilities!

This was truly a piece of legendary equipment!

Cough cough…* He was getting off topic again.

Of the 5 abilities, only 3 were displayed as active.

The other 2 were inactive, and their information window was filled with question marks. The prerequisite he needed to fulfill was probably related to with activating other skill areas.

As for the 3 abilities he already had…

[Light that dissipates despair from the brink] was equal to yet another full recovery plus three minutes of a superhero state… whoops, three minutes of using abilities with no cost!

If he combined this ability together with [Bullet Time, or the other additional ability, [Lightning Strike, it seemed like an excellent combination!

Seiji tried imagining what would happen if he used [Light that dissipates despair from the brink, [Bullet Time, and [Lightning Strike] in tandem on a really strong opponent… Whoa, it seemed like his attack rating would go through the roof! It carried the wonderful feeling of using an ultimate ability!!

Yep, this definitely worked; it definitely seemed possible!

Seiji couldn't restrain himself from breaking into a smile.

Even though he'd only met low-stat opponents… whoops, people weaker than him, he still didn't forget that this world had a hidden side to it. Spirit-branded Retainers… Yin Yang Masters… and so on.

No matter what, becoming stronger was never a bad thing.

[Light that dissipates despair from the brink] was doubtlessly a godly ability.

As for [Lightning Strike, the other ability, apart from being able to work in tandem with the first ability, it was a suppressive ability, not an ultimate ability. Hitting someone with it wouldn't kill them… probably.

This meant that he could use it on normal people without worrying about the aftermath too much. The drawback was that while the attack was fast, its power was lacking, and it would take many hits to defeat a truly strong opponent. The strongest advantage of speed lied in aiming at the opponent's weak spots.

Yep, it seemed like a normal fighting ability. Of course, when used in combination with [light that dissipates despair from the brink] and [Bullet Time, it turned godly.

The final ability, [writing with the power of light, was the only one usable in daily life as it was a passive buff to his writing skill.

Seiji decided to test out the buff's strength immediately.

He grabbed a pen lying nearby and opened his notebook.

Then, he began to imagine.

A girl wearing a holy crown was clothed in white ceremonial clothing. She stood alone, surrounded by pure white flowers, displaying a beautiful, pearl-white smile…

Swish…* His pen instantly began moving.

While writing, a subtle feeling of heat coursed through Seiji's fingers. He concentrated, allowing the warm feeling to spread throughout his entire hand.

[Writing with the power of light] activated!

After a short pause, words instantly began flowing out from his pen, describing the character and scene that Seiji wanted.

Swish swish swish…* Finished.

It took only a few minutes to finish writing.

Seiji's eyes instantly lit up as he read his own writing.

Amazing!

The words on his notebook described a holy girl smiling livelily in a flower garden.

Although the word count wasn't high, it was easy enough for readers to imagine that beautiful and saintly scene and feel as if this girl was wonderful, pure, and holy.

Seiji read it for quite a while. Then, he tried to write the exact same scene without making use of his passive ability.

After comparing the two finished products, he noticed a significant difference!

While his writing when he didn't use his newly acquired ability wasn't bad, it still seemed lacking in comparison to when he used the ability. It was basically like the difference between a newcomer to writing and a veteran author.

Seiji finally had a measure of how useful his ability was.

"It's quite strong, but not easy to use…" He rubbed his chin in contemplation.

After all, if he wrote a light novel, his ability would make the bright, sunny characters stand out, which caused the other characters to pale in comparison and thus affect the entire story's balance between its characters.

This limited its usage, which was why he said it wasn't easy to use.

But the ability was a strong one, and writing a light novel with a bright and sunny main character was something he could consider.

Seiji suddenly had another idea: he could simply make all the main characters into the bright and sunny type!

A group of bright and sunny characters… like a group of holy knights?

This seemed like a good idea!

Seiji was unable to stop his imagination from running wild.

Holy knights… a school… a youth who aimed to become the strongest knight… the holy girl in the flower garden… classical… cliffhanger… sudden downturn…

'Even though writing a classical story that the general audience would like is fine, in the end I still want to write something relaxed and more interesting to me!

'The female main character is a clumsy and dense girl who wants to become the strongest knight, and the male main character… let's make him into a highly skilled otaku who wanted to become a priest acolyte but accidentally became a student at the holy knight academy!

'The story's temporary working name shall be "There's Definitely Something Wrong with My Holy Knight Career Path!"'

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Chapter 100: Hello, I'm Living Next Door Starting from Today

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

During class, Seiji spent about half an hour writing the character settings for "There's Definitely Something Wrong with My Holy Knight Career Path!"

After using his newfound writing skill several times in a row, he noticed that his concentration level was rapidly decreasing. He realized that this was an aftereffect of draining his mental spirit.

"Concentration" was also connected to "mental spirit," so using it up would affect his mental acuteness. Seiji could feel a tangible difference now that his mental spirit was depleted.

Energy and mental spirit… perhaps they were the equivalents of HP and MP, but it was rather inconvenient that Seiji was unable to view a physical stat for these two values.

'System, could you help me out with this matter?'

Naturally, the system didn't respond.

'Fine, it's a dating sim system, not an RPG game system. I'll give it some allowance.'

After making those comments to himself, Seiji lazily stretched before standing up.

An ordinary and peaceful school life awaited him.

Everything that occurred yesterday happened in the course of a single day, but it seemed to take a lot longer than that.

"Heh heh, Seigo…" The tomboy grinned evilly as she approached him.

"If you dare to bring up what happened this morning one more time, be careful 'cause I'll hit you again!"

"Eek! So violent~"

"Stop pretending like you're a masochist!"

"Seigo…" Mika started.

"Mm? Mika, what's the matter?"

"Um, I'm actually a little curious…" The pigtailed beauty was acting bashful. "That person… was he beautiful after wearing female clothing and a wig? Did you take a picture of him?"

Seiji was rendered speechless for a full three seconds by the unexpected attack before he was able to come up with a forceful retort. "Who would take a picture of that!!?"

A peaceful and joyous daily life was indeed the best… right?

…

After classes had ended in the afternoon.

Seiji received a text message during lunch break, so he headed for the student council office at this time.

After he arrived.

"These… I'll leave them to you, Haruta-kun."

Natsuya Yoruhana's expression was serious as she placed a leather briefcase in front of Seiji.

"The talismans are inside?" Seiji took the briefcase and tested its weight.

Natsuya sighed. "Yeah. I made them as quickly as I could. Please take great care with them as you make your delivery."

Seiji nodded. "I will."

From what Seiji could see, the student council president seemed rather haggard compared to her normal appearance. Her pale complexion added a different touch to her beauty; she now seemed weak and lovely.

She was probably fatigued from creating such a large amount of talismans.

"I'll take these immediately over to them… As for how to use the talismans, it's fine to just have people walking about while carrying a talisman on their bodies, correct?"

"Yes, that's the case."

"Understood. I'll be leaving then." Seiji stopped before he turned around and said, "Take a good rest, Prez; your complexion doesn't seem so good."

A hint of surprise showed on Natsuya's face, before she displayed a soft and gentle smile. "I don't really have the time to rest… But thanks for your concern, Haruta-kun."

The beautiful missus' smile in her slightly weakened state was a sight to behold.

'This smile was definitely worth the trip!' Seiji praised it in his heart.

Seiji finally left the student council room.

The leather briefcase filled with talismans wasn't heavy at all.

But as he thought about what they signified, Seiji felt the briefcase's weight increase.

After he delivered the briefcase, the strengthening of the detection spell would begin. After that, the attempt to stop the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer would begin, and Hitaka Shuho would do battle with the Snow Girl.

A battle between Spirit-branded Retainers… how would that look like? And what would the result be?

Seiji didn't have a strong impression of Hitaka Shuho. After all, he'd only met her twice, and the red-haired girl had always acted cold towards him. They'd barely exchanged any words, but still… she was someone he knew; someone he'd shared tea together with.

What was she like as a Spirit-branded Retainer? Would she be injured, or even… die in battle against the enemy?

Seiji didn't know.

This upcoming Yin Yang Master duel could have possible repercussions for the entire school. The duel would begin soon, and he knew what would happen, but he couldn't predict the result.

'Forget it; I should stop thinking about it. It would be better to believe that Hitaka will be able to defeat her opponent, and Natsuya will end up victorious in this duel.'

At least for the time being…

Seiji left school carrying the leather briefcase.

He didn't notice that a pair of eyes were watching him from afar.

"Seigo Harano…" a voice softly spoke his name, and the sound quickly dissipated into the wind.

The leather briefcase was successfully delivered to the Juumonji group.

Michirou Juumonji's expression was grave as he received the briefcase and promised that he would handle the talismans carefully.

Just like last time, Seiji politely rejected the invitation to eat dinner with the Juumonji family.

Also, just like last time, Michirou didn't insist. His eyes flashed with an enigmatic light as he politely said goodbye.

What was going on?

One time didn't mean much, but for this to happen twice… Seiji felt something was slightly abnormal. Not because of Michirou not insisting on dinner, but because of Michirou's strange attitude!

It didn't seem like malice or a plot of some sort, and it was difficult to describe.

He didn't understand it at all.

Seiji was too lazy to think more deeply into Michirou's motives.

He didn't expect that he wouldn't need to think about it anymore, since he would learn about it soon!

Seiji returned to his apartment.

He had only rested inside for a minute when he heard a knock on his door.

'Is it Mika?' Seiji stood up and opened the door.

And the result was…

"Hello, I'm living next door starting from today, so please take good care of me."

He was greeted by the sight of a beautiful girl with curly blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and a delicate appearance smiling at him brightly. The girl wore a light blue one-piece dress and exuded a seemingly gentle aura.

Please take good care… what the hell!?

Seiji stared at the beauty in front of him in astonishment. "You… you're living next door?"

"Yep, this is a moving-in present for you. My dear neighbor, please don't mind this insignificant present and receive it." The blonde girl held out an exquisitely packaged cake towards Seiji.

"Oh, thanks… what the hell!" Seiji almost reflexively accepted the present, but he instantly recovered his senses. "You're living next door starting from today!? What's going on, Kaede Juumonji-san!!?"

That's right; this gentle blonde beauty happened to be the daughter of Michirou Juumonji, who he had just talked to. She was a mafia boss's daughter!

Kaede flashed a pretty smile. "I want to temporarily leave home and live by myself, and my father agreed, that's all!"

It sounded quite normal, but that wasn't the problem!

"I want to ask why you're living here!? You're… a missus from a respectable family! And this is a simple low-class apartment!"

"My apologies for this being a low-class apartment." Nozomi Uehara suddenly appeared out of nowhere and let out a sigh.

"Ah… Mrs. Landlord!?" Seiji was surprised by her arrival. "No… that's not what I meant! I meant…"

"Harano-kun, you don't need to try and explain; this isn't a high-class apartment anyways." Nozomi didn't seem to mind too much as she looked at the blonde-haired girl and continued, "That's why I was curious as well: why would a beauty like Juumonji-san who is accustomed to a comfortable life want to live here? I asked her this question already.

"She told me that she was an acquaintance of yours, Harano-kun, and that she knew you lived here… She didn't bring too much money from her home, so living here next to you would help her save money as well as giving her a feeling of safety."

Nozomi fixed her eyes on the handsome boy. "This apartment's greatest benefit is the cheap rent. As for a feeling of safety… Harano-kun, did something happen between you and Juumonji-san in the past? Exactly what type of relationship do the two of you have?"

The landlord's amber eyes, which bore a strong resemblance to Mika's, blinked repeatedly and shone with a curious light.

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Chapter 101: I Don't Need to Know Your Feelings Towards My Younger Sister!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji didn't get a chance to answer Nozomi Uehara's question as Kaede had already answered for him.

"Harano-kun saved me once before! On the street… when I was being harassed by someone, he acted the part of the hero and saved me."

Nozomi looked at her searchingly upon hearing this. She noticed the blonde beauty had a coy look in her eyes and was blushing slightly.

"That's why I… feel gratitude towards Harano-kun, and I know that he's a really strong boy. I'll feel very safe being by his side."

Seiji had no idea what to say to all this.

Nozomi covered her mouth to suppress a smile as the curiosity in her eyes changed into a look of understanding. She looked back and forth between Kaede and Seiji.

"I see. I understand now; this… is just like my daughter's situation."

'Hehehe, Haruta-kun, you're such a…'

All of Seiji's hairs stood on edge as he saw the landlord's smile, which was filled with such deep meaning!

Mrs. Uehara, just what exactly does that expression of yours mean!?

I'm still inexperienced and can't understand it!

"Oh my, the same as your daughter?" Kaede blinked innocently and displayed an enigmatic smile. "Your daughter… was also saved by Harano-kun in the past?"

"Yep, Harano-kun is a wonderful boy… My daughter currently has an excellent relationship with him."

Nozomi and Kaede exchanged glances as their smiles remained unfaltering, but it seemed like something beneath the surface had imperceptibly changed.

Oh ho ho ho…

Seiji felt that the scene of these two beauties smiling subtly at each other was horrifying. It seemed too perfect on the surface!

Perfect to the point where he found it difficult to tolerate; he really wanted to escape from here!

"Is that so? I'd really like to meet your daughter, then. I think… I'll definitely have some common interests to discuss with her." Kaede's smile remained plastered on her face.

"I sent Mika out on a shopping errand, and there are many things on her shopping list, so she'll be away for quite some time." Nozomi smiled as she looked back at Seiji again. "By the way, Harano-kun, if you're currently free, could you go give Mika some assistance?"

"Of course!" Seiji instantly agreed.

He normally wouldn't have refused such a request anyways. But for some reason, he had an ominous premonition that something frightening would happen if he refused this request.

Nozomi's smile seemed quite joyous.

"Thank you. I knew Harano-kun would be reliable… Juumonji-san, as you just witnessed, if you wish to have a conversation with Harano-kun, you'll have to wait for next time. My apologies."

Kaede's smile seemed to change slightly.

"It's not a problem. I have plenty of time… but instead of waiting for next time, I'd prefer to go together with Harano-kun, with the added convenience of being able to meet your daughter."

"Oh?" Nozomi's eyes flashed with a strange light as she looked at Kaede. "You want to go together with Harano-kun? You barely just moved in; don't you need to organize your room?"

"I can organize my room later," Kaede stated.

"No, you should take care of such a thing immediately. If you delay organizing your room, you'll leave it until really late, which means that you won't have a good rest tonight." Nozomi clasped her hands. "You're a young missus, so living in such an apartment must be challenging for you. If you just leave your room in a messy state, not only will you feel uncomfortable, it'll also seem… unsightly, don't you agree?"

The landlord showed off what it really meant to be a landlord!

Seiji felt as if he had been enlightened after witnessing such pressure being emitted by Nozomi's seemingly gentle words! He had witnessed a new, unfamiliar side to Mika's mother.

Kaede's expression changed slightly as she took a deep look at the handsome boy.

"O… Okay, you're right. I should properly organize my things." Kaede's smile seemed a little forced now.

"Then let's go do that right now." Nozomi was still smiling enigmatically as she turned her gaze towards Seiji, using her eyes to indicate he should go.

"I'll go and find Mika right away!" Seiji exclaimed.

Even though he wasn't really sure what just happened, he knew that he should just go and do what he was supposed to do.

And thus he left his apartment even though he had just arrived home.

'The mafia missus became my neighbor… why does it make me feel like I'm in a romance television drama? Have I seen such a situation before?' Seiji was thinking random things as he walked.

Fine, he simply wanted to run away from the situation.

But now that it happened, he had to face it!

Seiji sighed as he called a number on his cell phone.

"Hey, Seigo, what's up?"

When Seiji made an agreement with Hisashi last night about creating a game together, they started addressing each other by their first names.

"What's up? That's what I want to ask, Hisashi! Why is your younger sister living next door to me?" Seiji inquired.

"What? My younger sister? Kaede, she…" There was a pause on the other side of the phone. "Oh, right… I think she said something about that, and I was going to tell you, but I accidentally forgot. Hahaha."

"Why the hell are you laughing!? You shouldn't forget such a thing!" Seiji forcefully commented.

"That's because I didn't feel like it was anything important…" Hisashi faked a coughing fit. "Okay, my bad; it was my mistake," Hisashi apologized. "Did Kaede inconvenience you by doing such a thing?"

"It wasn't much of an inconvenience. I only received a huge shock! I don't know why she's…"

"You really don't understand, Seigo!?" Hisashi interrupted Seiji before he could finish. "My younger sister's motives should be totally obvious, Seigo! You should be able to figure it out."

Seiji remained silent for a moment before sighing.

"Fine… cough, your sister, Kaede Juumonji, is a nice girl, but…"

"I don't need to know your feelings towards my younger sister! That's something she needs to know. She likes you and wants to go out with you; that's why she went to the trouble of living next door to you. That's all there is to it!" Hisashi went with the direct approach.

Seiji was rendered speechless.

"Kaede fell in love with you at first sight, Seigo… Seiji Haruta!" Hisashi continued. "As her older brother, I can definitely tell you that this is the first time I've ever seen her fall so deeply in love! In fact you're basically her first love!!

"She wants to be together with you, and like my father, I'm happy to let her do so. Her method and actions are her business. Of course, if Kaede asks me, I'll give her my advice, but I won't needlessly interfere with anything. The same applies for my father.

"You can think of it as more complicated than it really is, or simpler; it's all up to you. How you respond to her feelings is also up to you."

Seiji clutched his forehead wordlessly.

"Perhaps now you're feeling inconvenienced, but that's what you get for being so handsome and strong! Just take responsibility like a man! Hahahaha— eh, why is my face getting wet?

"Fine, I admit it—I'm actually a little angry! Seigo… no, Seiji, I'm jealous of you, you overly popular handsome person! You can obtain a girl's wholehearted love with ease, and it's even my sister's!!

"I'm already at this age, and I've never received such deep love! Even though 2-D girls are my true love, I still have a few expectations from the 3-D world. I want to be loved by a real beauty as well!!!"

Seiji hung up the call without saying anything.

A few moments later, his cell phone started ringing again.

He took the call.

"Wahh… take good care of my sister, damn it! Also… go explode and die somewhere, you popular and handsome winner of life!!" frenzied shouting which felt like it came from Hisashi's soul could be heard from the cell phone.

Seiji hung up wordlessly once more as he gazed off into the distance.

Ah, the setting sun… How beautiful it was…

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Chapter 102: Let's Practice the Alphabet!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

While shopping, Mika suddenly received a text message from her mother.

"The new tenant who moved next door to Haruta-kun is a young missus who fell in love with him after being saved, just like you."

It wasn't a long sentence, but a lot of information was contained within it.

A wave of anxiety swept over Mika.

She was already aware that a female blonde beauty was becoming a tenant today. She knew the beauty requested to live in the apartment adjacent to Seiji's, claiming she was familiar with him.

Mika had an ominous premonition about it at the time, and now her premonition had proved itself correct!

'A young missus… that was saved by him just like me?'

Although Mika didn't know the origins of this young missus, for a young missus to be willing to live in a cheap apartment due to a boy meant that this… definitely wasn't some random impulse!

'That beauty should… no, she's definitely serious about Seiji!' Mika made a swift judgement.

This instilled her with an impending sense of danger.

Seiji Haruta was very popular with the fairer sex. He received daily love letters the second week after he'd transferred into Genhana High School! Although the "confession" love letter which Chiaki had mentioned hadn't appeared yet, one would probably come sooner or later.

Luckily for her, Seiji wasn't inclined to being in a romantic relationship for now and rejected all the girls politely. Even if a confession love letter appeared and he was confessed to, he would likely reject it politely as well.

This made Mika feel rather relieved inside.

She was the closest girl to Seiji… Although she felt like Chiaki's bond with him could surpass hers, Chiaki only viewed Seiji as a friend, so it wasn't a problem… probably.

At any rate, she had the best chance as long as Seiji still didn't want to get a girlfriend!

She had the greatest advantage since Seiji was living as a tenant of her family's apartment.

Mika planned to spend more time together with him and deepen their feelings before confessing to him.

That was because she could detect Seiji currently didn't feel any romantic feelings for her.

She needed time, so she could put in more effort.

But she was unprepared for a girl who liked Seiji moving in next door to him!

A blonde beauty who was a young missus to boot!

After this person came here, Mika's greatest advantage, formerly exclusive to herself, would disappear!

'Honestly, Mom, why did you let such a person come live here and even give her the room she wanted…' Mika couldn't help but complain in her heart.

Truthfully, she knew her complaint was unreasonable.

After all, an apartment was a business which rented the room to anyone who was willing to pay, and the apartment next door just happened to be empty. For a customer who was moving in to request a specific room was quite reasonable.

Apartments needed customers, especially reliable ones. As a landlord, Nozomi Uehara shouldn't refuse a paying customer just for her daughter's romantic feelings.

But apart from being a landlord, Nozomi was still Mika's mother, so of course she would help Mika out wherever possible.

Such as now, when she sent the information she obtained after spying… oops, that she heard.

Mika sighed. 'Thank you, Mother, even if this is giving me pressure.'

Suddenly, her phone started ringing.

It was Seiji!

Mika realized her mother had requested for Seiji to come help her do the shopping.

'Good job, Mom!'

'I don't know what I can do in such a short time, but I need to do something.' Mika clenched her fists in anticipation.

Before long, she saw his familiar figure walking over towards her.

A tall and handsome figure which attracted many young women's gazes just by walking past… he was simply that handsome.

Mika let out a light sigh. 'Seiji, why did you have to become so handsome?' Mika couldn't help but complain once more.

Seiji was mystified. He felt like the look in Mika's eyes was slightly abnormal.

"What else do we need to buy?" he asked as he took the shopping cart from Mika.

"An item to make you less handsome…" Mika mumbled to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing! Next on the shopping list is paper." The haughty pigtailed girl flicked her hair around as she walked in front of Seiji with resounding steps.

Seiji could only follow behind her.

Since Mika was being distracted by her thoughts, she didn't pay attention while turning the corner and ended up crashing into another girl.

The other girl wasn't paying attention either; she was looking at her cell phone while walking, so she lost balance after being crashed into.

"Eek!"

"Ah…"

The girl was about to hit the ground when a tall figure instantly rushed over. One of his hands supported the girl's back firmly while the other hand caught the cell phone which was sent flying by the initial collision!

Of course it was Seiji.

"Are you okay?" he asked the girl in his arms.

Looking up at him, the girl was greeted by the sight of an incredibly handsome face smiling gently at her. She was momentarily dazzled.

As for Seiji…

'Wtf, this girl's breasts are huge!'

Please forgive his shock that was just like that of a middle schooler's. This girl had shiny brown hair, delicate eyelashes, orange eyes, and she was wearing a khaki cardigan… But her breast size was just too astonishing!

Was it F, or was it G?

No! It was even higher that that!!

Seiji couldn't help but remember a harem anime (for gentlemen) that he enjoyed in his past life. The female lead's name was Ai-chan, but this name actually had a double meaning… it referred to her cup size!

The legendary I-cup.

Seiji felt like this girl in front of him was probably at that level.

Let's practice the alphabet.

ABCDEFGHI…

Who can say it out loud, what level is I?

That's right, the ninth level! The ninth level, everyone!!

Even Kamijou Touma's world had only five power levels; do you understand what the ninth level means!?

That was a divine level!! Breasts that unfailingly surpassed all others!!!

Seiji's mind was thrown into turmoil due to these divine breasts!

If it wasn't for his strong mental resistance, he would surely be left with a dazed expression right now. Actually, his current expression wasn't all that far off from such an expression… If the girl had observed him a little more closely, she would have discovered his face had already frozen solid.

"I… I'm fine…" The large-breasted beauty took a while to recover her senses before she answered, her soft, beautiful face flushing deep red.

Seiji regained his senses as well and let go of her after steadying her on her feet.

"Your cell phone."

"T… thank you." The girl took her cell phone back and lowered her head in thanks.

"No need! My friend is the one who should be apologizing to you." Seiji looked towards Mika.

Mika's expression was rather complicated, and a hint of red crept into her cheeks.

"I'm sorry… I wasn't paying attention and bumped into you," she apologized sincerely to the large-chested girl.

The other girl smiled brightly. "It's okay. I was also in the wrong for walking while being distracted by my cell phone."

And so, the accident left no ill will between either party.

…

"Her chest sure was big! Wasn't it, handsome?" Mika asked in an icy and strange tone of voice after the girl had left.

Seiji could tell she wasn't feeling happy about the way he'd reacted.

"Objectively speaking, of course she did. Very few girls have such a large chest… Are you jealous?"

"Of course not!" Mika flicked her pigtails in disdain once more, displaying her innate haughtiness. "Having a large chest… It's very uncomfortable to have such large breasts! It'll be really inconvenient with many frustrations! Only you idiot boys would like such a thing!!"

Seiji could only smile wryly.

He felt like no matter what he said right now, she would find something to complain about, but not talking seemed even worse…

Seiji sighed inwardly. 'Mika seems to have suffered quite the impact, but I still need to try and console her.'

Seiji continued following behind the tsundere girl.

He didn't notice that behind him, the big-breasted girl had stopped walking, and her gaze was firmly fixed on his back.

"Such a handsome boy… Is that cute girl his girlfriend?"

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Chapter 103: The Melancholy of Mika Uehara

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

'Enough already!'

Rampantly displaying his handsomeness everywhere, saving girls everywhere he goes, and making girls fall in love with him so easily… It was obvious that he was staring at her huge chest just now, but he still had the gall to act so gentlemanly. What was up with that!?

Mika's heart was filled with frustration.

Her inner self was raging with turmoil.

That girl… just happened to have a bit of a large chest… Just what was up with his expression when he looked at her!?

Of course, this was her biggest complaint.

'Mine aren't all that small; besides, the shape is the most important…'

"Mika."

'What do you want!?'

Although Mika inwardly complained upon hearing Seiji call her, she still obediently looked back at him.

She saw that he was smiling gently at her while pointing to the freezer next to him.

"I'll treat you to some ice cream, how about it?"

His sincere smile was quite moving.

Mika couldn't think of any words to say.

…

They left the supermarket and were now in a park together.

Mika and Seiji were sitting on Chiaki… whoops, swings as they opened up their ice cream cups.

"This is probably the last month we can enjoy ice cream outside like this." Seiji placed a spoonful of ice cream inside his mouth as he talked. "Yeah, this ice cream is really cold… The weather will turn chilly soon, and the supermarket's ice cream sales will probably fall."

"Yeah…" Mika also tried a spoonful of ice cream, shivering as it sent chills running through her body.

'D… don't think that I'll forgive you just because you treated me to some cheap ice cream, hmph!'

Although she said that in her heart, Mika knew that her frustration had already largely dissipated.

Seiji secretly glanced at the girl beside him. He noticed that she still seemed slightly unhappy, but her dissatisfaction was obviously much weaker than earlier.

'So easy to bribe… whoops, I meant to say that she's so simple.'

She gets lost in her thoughts easily, and she's prone to acting out and getting angry easily. However, she's also really easy to coax… Mika Uehara was just a classic tsundere, a soft and cute beauty who had a large variety of expressions.

She wasn't a natural jokester like Chiaki; he felt a different type of relaxation when he was with her.

Seiji smiled as he averted his gaze from her.

As the sun set in the park, the beautiful girl and handsome boy eating ice cream on the swings seemed like an attractive scene out of a television drama.

"A new tenant moved in today." Mika suddenly broke the silence.

"Yep, I met her already."

"She said she already knows you, and that she absolutely has to live next door to you in order for her to feel safe."

"Er, about that…" Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "One night when I was out walking, I met her on the street… She was being harassed by some people, so I slightly helped her out a little."

"What kind of 'slight help' are we talking about here?" Mika looked directly at him.

"Er…" Seiji averted his gaze. "I… knocked out… most of the people that were harassing her."

Mika thought back to Seiji's astonishing performance at the karate club, before she envisioned her version of the meeting between Seiji and the blonde beauty.

The blonde girl, who had been out on her own business, unfortunately bumped into a group of hoodlums. While they were harassing her, a tall and handsome boy just happened to pass by and…

This was the most cliché scenario possible: a prince on a white horse saving the damsel in distress! Even television dramas weren't using such scenes anymore!!

Mika couldn't help but make a forceful comment at her own imagined scene.

But no matter how cliché or overused, he still saved a damsel in distress, and handsome was handsome!

Didn't she herself also fall victim to his charm because of such a cliché event?

'I have no right to comment about how others are the same as me,' Mika reprimanded herself. 'Mm, I've improved since before, young woman.'

Mika pouted. "Hmph, Seiji, you're just too cool."

Seiji couldn't formulate a response to this.

Was she praising him? Why did it sound like she was actually unsatisfied?

"Congratulations, you saved a beauty, and now she's specially come all the way just to find you. She's even living next door! You must be overjoyed!"

"No… although she's living next door to me on purpose, it might not have been coming here just to find me…"

Mika stared at Seiji in disbelief.

"…Fine, she came here all the way just for me."

Seiji had no choice but to admit the truth when faced with Mika's unfamiliar sharp gaze.

"I didn't expect such a thing would happen, and I can't say that I'm overjoyed…"

"You don't like her?" Mika asked incredulously while blinking in disbelief.

"I can't say that either… I should say that it's not at the degree of like or dislike, since I've only met her a few times, and we haven't even talked much yet."

"But she likes you to the point of following you all the way here!"

"Er… yes, that's why… I don't know what I should say." Seiji tilted his head in confusion. "She seems to have fallen in love with me at first sight, and as for me… I just think she's an okay person. I don't have a bad impression of her, nor do I dislike or like her. She's just… a normal acquaintance to me."

"You weren't even moved by the fact that she followed you all the way here?"

"More than that, I'm surprised." Seiji smiled wryly. "As for what I think of her feelings… I'm happy, since it's only natural to be happy at being liked, but as you already know, I currently have no desire to get a girlfriend."

"That's why I'm grateful for her feelings, but as for her actions… it's slightly inconvenient."

A strange light flashed through Mika's eyes. "Then will you reject her bluntly and tell her to go home?"

"If she confesses to me, I'll reject her politely, but as for whether or not she returns home… That's her choice; I can't tell her what to do," Seiji told Mika honestly.

Mika looked deeply at Seiji.

'Seiji… he's just this type of person.'

He would face girls' feelings directly and respond honestly to them. Even if a girl's actions inconvenienced him, he wouldn't force her to leave, and he'd respect her freedom as much as possible.

'Ahh, enough already! Why is he so cool even in this matter!?'Mika inwardly complained. But she secretly felt delighted at the fact that the person she liked was such a good person.

'The person I like is too cool! It's really frustrating; what should I do!?"

Mika Uehara felt quite torn over this matter.

Mika finally let out a deep sigh. 'Forget it. At least I know how Seiji feels about that blonde beauty. At the very least, he wouldn't hook up with the new tenant anytime soon.'

But this was only the beginning!

Although Mika hadn't met her yet, she was certain this blonde-haired young missus she'd heard about wouldn't give up easily, even if she was rejected by Seiji and learnt of his attitude.

After all, being willing to leave home and move in next door to the person she liked showed an incredible determination. This girl definitely wouldn't retreat easily!

Also… it was certain she knew how cool and worthy of her love this boy was!

Just like Mika.

After being moved by being saved as a damsel in distress, she discovered that he was cooler than she expected!

How could any girl easily give up on such a boy!?

Mika wouldn't give up.

That blonde girl she hadn't met yet would act in the same way; this blonde beauty definitely wouldn't give up either.

It was going to be a long battle!

"What's her name?" Mika suddenly inquired.

"Eh?"

"That blonde beauty, what's her name?"

"Oh, she's called Kaede Juumonji."

'Kaede Juumonji… a beautiful name. I'm going to remember it!' Mika felt an intense feeling of competition well up within her.

At almost the exact same time.

"What's your daughter's name?"

"Her name is Mika."

"Mika… Mika Uehara, right?"

'This name, I'm going to remember it,' Kaede Juumonji silently thought to herself.

The battle between the girls was about to begin.

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Chapter 104: Thank You for Liking Me

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

After finishing their ice cream, Mika and Seiji walked back to the apartment building, carrying the groceries together.

An enigmatic light flashed through Mika's eyes. "Seiji, come over and eat dinner at our place tonight."

"Eh? Why so suddenly…"

"I'm telling you to come, so come!"

"But the landlord…"

"My mom will agree… I'll call her right now!" Mika decisively took out her cell phone.

Nozomi Uehara answered her call.

After the call had ended, Nozomi smiled faintly.

'Nice job, this is how you have to be, Mika! With an opponent's appearance, my daughter has become more decisive.' The landlord approved of her daughter's slight growth in maturity.

"My mom agreed, but you need to help out with the cooking as well. You don't need to return to your room; just come over to my place!" Mika was rather spirited as she talked to Seiji after hanging up the call.

"Oh… oh." Seiji reflexively agreed.

He was more than happy to help out with the cooking and have dinner together with the Ueharas. He just felt that something about this particular meal was…

'Well, whatever. I should stop thinking too deeply into it.'

The boy and the girl walked back home together.

…

After Nozomi Uehara returned home, she found her daughter preparing food in the kitchen together with the tall boy, who was also her tenant.

Both youngsters wore aprons as they prepared the food, and they occasionally made idle conversation while cooking together. It was such a warm scene.

Nozomi truly felt that it was an excellent thing to behold.

Of course she was already used to her daughter being there, and as for the boy… it would make her feel reassured if there was a strong and reliable male in her family.

Her husband died early, so she had to raise her daughter as a single mother. There were various difficulties as she had to put up with life's pressures.

Even though she'd considered remarrying, time passed by quickly, and before she knew it, her daughter had grown up. Only now did she remember her husband.

She had almost forgotten what it was like to have a man in the house, but in this instant she recalled it clearly.

The boy's back seemed to overlap with her husband's figure.

Nozomi was lost in her thoughts for a while before she recovered her senses and discovered her face was burning with embarrassment.

Honestly, what was she thinking!

He was only a boy, a student the same age as her daughter. Even though he was tall and strong, he was still only a child.

But it really did feel reassuring to have him around, honestly…

Nozomi stopped thinking along these lines as she reined back her slightly unstable emotions. She flashed the pair a small smile and walked over to greet them.

"Mom? Welcome home."

"Excuse my coming over today, Miss Landlord."

Her cute daughter greeted her normally, and the gentle boy greeted her politely.

"Yep, I'm home… Welcome, Haruta-kun."

Nozomi smiled in response as she started to help them with preparing the food in the kitchen.

They seemed just like a real family.

Cooking with Mika and the landlord, before eating dinner together with them was a process which didn't disappoint Seiji's expectations.

He thoroughly enjoyed their company…

Only… something had caught his attention. Mika… was more proactive than before.

She intentionally sat close beside him and gave him food to eat with her chopsticks. She kept looking directly at him and talked to him more than she typically did… Anyway, it was obvious that she was being more proactive. Even though her face was reddening, she still worked hard to… get closer to him.

As for why, this was easy to guess. Seiji could only sigh.

Kaede Juumonji…

Seiji suppressed the mixed emotions he felt when thinking about the blonde girl as he continued smiling in front of the Uehara family.

After dinner.

Seiji helped with washing the dishes and returned to his room afterwards.

But he wasn't able to rest for more than a minute before he heard a knock on his door.

Seiji silently clutched at his head for several seconds before going to open the door.

As expected, it was the blonde young missus from the mafia family.

She must have been waiting for him to return home!

Kaede Juumonji was still smiling, but there was a dark shadow beneath her smile.

"Hello, Harano-kun, have you eaten dinner?"

"Hi… I just ate."

"Actually, I ordered some sushi for takeout, and I wanted to invite you if you hadn't eaten already… But it seems like I'll have to wait for next time." There was a hint of frustration in Kaede's eyes as she sighed.

Seiji didn't know how to reply to this.

"This is the moving-in present I was going to give you, but we were interrupted. Is now… a good time?" Kaede handed him the cake box for the second time.

"…Thanks, I'll accept it." Seiji took the cake box from her.

"Sorry to be a bother. Please take care and have a good rest now." Kaede bowed slightly as she turned around to leave.

Her pretty figure looked lonely as she walked off.

Seiji's expression flickered as he held on to the cake box.

"Wait a moment!" he called out to her.

The blonde girl's footsteps paused.

"Would you like to come in and sit down? Although I don't have much to entertain guests with…"

Kaede slowly turned around.

"I… would be delighted to do so."

Her beautiful face was blushing, and her eyes were sparkling.

'I'm such an idiot!' Seiji thought to himself as he watched the blonde girl walk towards him.

But he couldn't let things remain the way they were.

It was necessary to have a discussion with her.

Thinking this, Seiji invited her into his room.

His apartment was small and narrow; it wasn't suited to accommodating guests. Seiji let her sit on his own chair, while he sat on the edge of his bed.

Thankfully he had two cups… They were the only two cups he possessed.

He poured two cups of tea and opened the cake box, putting everything together on his table. He figured this would count as him treating a guest.

"These tea leaves are rather cheap, so there's no need to have any expectations about the flavor. Please feel free to have as much as you would like."

"No… as long as you brewed this tea, it's good tea to me." Kaede's face reddened slightly as she spoke. She slowly took the teacup in both hands and lifted it to her mouth.

Seeing how careful she was being with even the teacup, Seiji inwardly sighed.

For such a high-class beauty to have such feelings towards a boy, what were the odds that the boy wouldn't be moved at all?

Seiji felt like it was zero.

At the very least, he would definitely be moved.

At school, when he received all those love letters, the situation was different. After all, they were only love letters; he didn't have to meet the girls personally, so he was able to deal with it.

But Kaede Juumonji was an unmistakable beauty who had followed him all the way here!

Although he was slightly inconvenienced, it was impossible for him to remain completely unmoved.

It still wasn't at a romantic level yet, though, and he still had to consider her identity as a member of the mafia.

'No matter what, it's best to have a fruitful discussion first.'

"Juumonji-san, you don't need to act so polite around me. Feel free to relax and little and be more casual."

"Is that really alright?" Kaede's eyes lit up upon hearing those words.

"By all means, please do so. It's nice to have manners, but I'm not used to such etiquette." Seiji lifted his own teacup and took a sip.

"Okay…" Kaede was delighted at closing the distance between her and Seiji.

Silence fell in the room for a few seconds.

"I'm not very good at beating around the bush, so I'll just say things directly." Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "If I've misunderstood things, or if I'm being impolite, then I apologize beforehand… Anyways, I need to ask, you came here because of me, right?"

Kaede's face became a deeper shade of red as she nodded slowly.

"Since that's the case, I'm happy that you… have feelings for me, but I currently have no intention of getting a girlfriend," Seiji stated sincerely while looking into her eyes.

Kaede's face darkened slightly.

"Harano-kun… am I bothering you by coming here?" she asked in a small voice.

"No, you're not bothering me… but honestly, it's a little bit inconvenient," Seiji told her directly.

Kaede's face darkened yet again.

"But you didn't do anything wrong. Living here or wherever, it's your freedom to choose. You came here for me, so I should respond to your feelings, and that's what I just did. Although I don't believe that I'm worthy of you doing so much, but… in any case…"

Seiji's gaze became slightly unfocused as he scratched his face awkwardly, showing a hint of embarrassment. "Thank you for liking me."

Hearing these words and seeing his expression, Kaede's dark expression cleared up, and an indescribable light flashed through her eyes.

This person is definitely…

A difficult-to-describe feeling of warmth welled up within her heart. It felt as if all the bitterness she'd accrued from her earlier defeat had been herded out of her chest.

'I won't… give up,' she resolved, gritting her teeth in determination.

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Chapter 105: Drawing

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

'This probably counts as a direct and polite rejection,' Seiji thought to himself as Kaede Juumonji left his room.

She didn't formally confess to him, but she admitted her feelings, while he rejected her with sincerity… The result was okay like this, wasn't it?

Seiji felt like he had made the right choice by responding truthfully to her feelings.

Kaede's future actions were up to her.

If she gave up, then that was that. If she didn't give up… since she had just been rejected, she probably wouldn't do anything immediately. Even if she continued living in the apartment building, her actions probably wouldn't be too proactive… probably.

If Kaede wasn't proactive, then Mika would be calmer, and she wouldn't explode or anything. This way everyone could get along… at least for the time being.

'Forget it, I shouldn't think about it anymore.' Seiji sat down in his chair; now all this was over, he thought that he could finally rest.

After he relaxed for a while, he opened up the [gifts] option in his system.

The dinner at the Uehara family gave him 15 points, and as for the moving-in present cake that Kaede gave him…

[Stat increase card—"Admiring Heart!"]

[This card contains the pure feelings of admiration a girl has towards you. For a girl in love, the target of her affection seems perfect in her eyes. After using this card, you can choose a specific stat and increase its value permanently. The lower the stat you choose, the greater the increase.]

Seiji was rendered speechless by this.

Even though he just rejected her politely, he had received such a good [gift]. No, he should reverse what he just said; he just received such a good [gift, but rejected her.

Okay, whatever it was, he felt guilty… as if he hadn't done right by her!

Seiji clutched his face.

He didn't really want to use this card… But according to the explanation attached, it had a greater value if used while his stats were lower. Wasn't this just asking for him to use it right now!?

He felt that his system was toying with him!

He didn't want to use it, but if he let it sit there, its value would decrease, and he would feel like he was ignoring Kaede's feelings, which seemed even worse.

'System, you're making me feel so conflicted inside… You're enjoying this, aren't you? Answer me!'

Naturally, there was no response from his system.

Seiji imagined a devilish fairy chuckling at him behind his back, and after that he imagined beating up the fairy with his own hands.

After deliberating for a few moments, he came to a conclusion. The card reflected Kaede's true feelings, so he should accept them by using this card.

In that case, which stat should he increase?

He instantly eliminated [physical ability] and [charisma] as they were too high. [Academics] could be eliminated as well, so he was left with [communication, [music, and [art].

From these three choices, [communication] wasn't terribly low, while [music] and [art] were both about the same. Those two were his lowest stats, so he decided to pick one of them.

So, [art] or [music]?

Seiji considered it for a while.

It surely had to be [art]!

Considering his increase in writing ability after activating the [writing] card, as long as he increased his [art] stat and activated the [drawing] card, he could create his own manga! Manga! Manga!! Important things should be repeated three times.

Although it also sounded nice to improve his [music] stat and write his own songs, Seiji was more interested in manga, and he wanted to create his own awesome manga in the future!

And improving his drawing ability would come in handy for the game he promised to create together with Hisashi Juumonji.

After all, if they were unable to come up with their own original music for the dating sim they planned on creating, they could draw heavily from popular songs on the internet to create a soundtrack.

The art for the game had to be absolutely unique, though, since it would affect the first impression the user received from the game!

Although Hisashi promised to find an artist, Seiji believed that it wouldn't be a bad thing to make his own preparations.

Okay then, [art] it was.

He'd barely focused on this stat at all, so his [art] stat was currently at a paltry 19 points.

Seiji chose the [Admiring Heart] card, and a shining card of light appeared and floated up in front of him. A certain blonde-haired girl was depicted on the card. Her hands were clasped together in prayer, but the image could also be construed as her thinking of somebody.

Seiji looked deeply at the card before choosing to [use] it as he selected [art].

The card of light instantly disintegrated into motes of dust, which promptly entered his brain.

Seiji's head felt slightly heavy as a warm feeling spread through his brain. It didn't hurt; on the contrary, the process was quite comfortable.

His mind stopped working, and he was unable to make conscious thought as he fell into a trance-like state…

After a long while, he recovered his senses.

When he checked his system again, his [art] stat had increased to 27 points!

An increase of 8 points.

'Pretty nice…' Seiji nodded to himself. 'I should exchange for the [drawing] card now, but before that…'

He slowly looked towards the reward he had been trying his best to ignore for all this time.

The reward his system gave him for Hoshi Amami's "love confession!"

Until he opened up his [gifts] option, he had completely forgotten that such a reward existed…

When the system opened up the [friendship] option, it had informed him that whenever a male character with friendship rating of over 60 points gave him a present, he would also be rewarded.

Since Seiji had been so shocked by the rewards he'd received from the twin sisters as well as Hoshi's character card, he completely forgot about this "love confession."

Or perhaps it should be said that he was unconsciously trying not to think about it!

But his system was just and fair (and evil!). A reward was a reward; no matter how he felt about it, it would be in the system.

Seiji was destined to face the dark shadow which had loomed over his mind since the morning.

That's right; it was a dark memory! How could receiving his first ever confession from a boy dressed in female clothing be anything otherwise!? It didn't matter even if this boy was cute enough to pass as a girl!

Maybe some people would be happy about receiving such a confession, but Seiji definitely wasn't included in that category.

Be sealed away forever, dark history!

System: "I won't allow you to forget it!"

Seiji failed to come up with a response to his own imagined words for his system.

'Fine, I've even already inspected the character card! I can handle some [gifts]!' Seiji steeled his resolve as he checked the rewards.

[I'm willing to do anything for you]; [Forbidden Love]; [Promise to meet after reincarnation]…

Turn off!

Seiji instantly decided to stop looking at his system.

'I saw nothing, I saw nothing, I saw nothing!'

Seiji tried his utmost to self-hypnotize himself into forgetting everything he just saw.

Hoshi Amami! Just what were you thinking in your head at the time!?

Seiji's mind was filled with forceful comments for his junior. He even felt a sense of fear from what he had just witnessed in his system.

Hoshi had given him even more rewards than Rion and Kotomi Amami…

Seiji definitely had a dark memory within his heart now.

He wondered what the three siblings would think if they were aware of their information in his system.

His self-hypnosis attempt… was ineffective.

How could such a hopeless self-deceiving effort possibly work!?

Seiji imagined the system fairy evilly cackling at him again.

'Okay, bastard system! I'll take a look eventually… but not now!!'

He'd wait till his mental resistance was improved before checking out the details of those rewards.

Seiji attempted to banish these harmful thoughts from his mind as he opened his system again and exchanged 35 points for the [drawing activation card].

A card of light appeared in front of him once more. A shadow drawing something swiftly was depicted on this card. Various life-like pictures appeared in front of the shadow as its hands moved dexterously.

Seiji lay down on his bed before activating the card.

The card turned into a bright light which drilled into his brain, and just like the previous few times, he had to endure a somewhat painful learning process.

After he woke up, Seiji rubbed his temples as he got out of bed.

He walked towards his desk, opened up a notebook, and picked up his pen…

'Hmm… What should I draw?' he contemplated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

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Chapter 106: Infirmary Nurse

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji imagined a vivid scene.

A girl with long black hair was clothed in a baggy white robe. With her left hand she wielded a shiny metallic kodachi in a reverse grip, while her right hand was removing the ribbon which bound her hair. A light breeze caused her hair, clothing, and the ribbon in her hand to flutter, giving her a beautiful and carefree feeling.

The moment his pen touched paper, it instantly began moving as his imagination came to life through the pen in his right hand.

Swish swish swish…*

Seiji found it difficult to contain his excitement as he watched his imagination take life under his pen.

However…

"This… doesn't seem that great."

The more that Seiji looked at the paper, the deeper his frown grew as his drawing gradually reached completion.

And before he finished, he ended up putting down his pen.

Just from what he had already completed, he could already tell that his drawing skill was far inferior to the scene he'd imagined.

'Although this must partially be caused by my lack of drawing equipment, the most basic reason should be due to my art stat not being high enough.'

Unlike when he'd activated the [writing] card, his [art] stat was only 27; it was less than half of his [academics] stat which had already surpassed 50 long ago.

If his base stats weren't high enough, even having the ability activated wouldn't let him do a good job. Seiji confirmed that through this instance.

He activated [drawing, but his drawings weren't good… it felt like a waste.

Not only that.

Seiji opened his system.

His [actions] now contained [speed drawing, [outline sketching, [portraits, [background illustration, and so on… And the lowest prerequisite among them, [speed drawing, required a minimum of at least 35 points in [art]!

In conclusion, he was unable to perform any of his new [actions].

'If my base stats aren't high enough, I won't be able to do anything.'

Seiji sighed to himself. If he wanted to [draw] successfully, he would have to improve his [art] stat.

But every day he was already [studying] at school, and he had to do various [actions] after school; he didn't have enough time to focus on [art].

Seiji felt like there wasn't enough time in a day for him.

If he wanted to quickly improve his [art] stat, he would have to skip classes, or cut back on his other [actions, or else… sacrifice his recreational and resting time.

Seiji didn't want to choose any of those three options. Were those his only choices?

Oh, right, there was a fourth option.

Seiji recalled that there was an [item] available which could allow him to reallocate his stats from one stat to another. If he used that, he could temporarily reallocate some of his [academics] points to his [art] stat!

Seiji opened up his list of [items] and found what he was looking for.

[Point reassigning card, price of… 55 points?

So expensive!

Seiji's mouth began twitching.

With his current available [actions, he could obtain 55 points in just a few days, but it still seemed way too expensive!

All he was doing was reallocating his stats, not gaining new stats, so why did it cost so much!?

Seiji imagined his system informing him that it was his choice whether or not he purchased the card, but there was no haggling regardless.

Seiji imagined himself beating up the system fairy for the umpteenth time.

He rested his chin on his hands as he mulled over his options.

'Hmph, system of mine, do you think I'm willing to admit defeat to you?'

Finally, he came to a decision.

'I definitely won't purchase such a ridiculously priced card! You can go cry in a corner with your overpriced wares that nobody wants!

'I'll choose the third option… All it means is that I'll have to temporarily stop indulging in my hobbies and sleep a little less!! I'll do it!'

Seiji folded his arms and acted in an imposing manner.

Naturally, there was no response from his system.

Seiji felt slightly empty inside.

He finally stopped playing the one-man comedy skit and began grinding today's [actions].

…

Grind grind grind… after doing all the options he could, Seiji turned on his computer and opened up a file.

This was Editor Yoshizawa's edited version of his short story "I'll Die If I Don't Become Handsome!".

As Seiji looked over her comments, the part that left him the deepest impression wasn't the specific suggestions. Instead, it was…

What was with her overly cute tone of voice!?

She even used several emojis in the comments! Although there weren't many, as Seiji scanned through the comments, he was left with an unnaturally cutesy impression!

The comments seemed like they came from an elementary school teacher who was acting serious while giving a young child her advice.

These comments… were they really written by that editor who seemed like she was such a cold woman?

What a huge contrast!

Seiji couldn't help but comment inwardly on the situation.

Reading her comments would make him imagine a gentle and easy-going elementary school teacher, perhaps one who was younger and still an intern. It was completely impossible to visualize a cold and professional businesswoman like Editor Yoshizawa… The contrast was simply too big!

Of course, Seiji understood that many people would act completely different on the internet from how they would in real life, but… was this an example of that?

Perhaps it counted… Hmm.

No matter what, this strange contrast left him with a deep impression.

Ignoring the abnormality of her comments, Seiji was impressed by the content. Her editing skills were truly top notch! All the advice she gave him was precise and certain, and Seiji agreed that all the editor's suggestions would improve his final work.

And so, Seiji picked up his pen, chose his [write a story] option from his system, and began writing on his notebook.

Scribble scribble scribble…*

Seiji followed his editor's suggestions and polished up his story. Then, he typed it up on his computer and closely looked over his story.

After ensuring that there weren't any problems, he sent the final draft to Editor Yoshizawa.

He took a look at the time after finishing and realized that it was getting late.

"It took such a long time even though I was only editing."

At first, Seiji felt it wouldn't be a lengthy process, but time seemed to mysteriously disappear away from him.

Should he begin improving his [art] stat?

'No need to rush; I can begin tomorrow.' Seiji decided to rest for the night.

…

The next morning, a brand-new day.

After exiting his apartment room and walking down the stairs, Seiji noticed that Mika hadn't come out yet, so he went over to knock on the Uehara family's door.

As he waited for Mika to come out, he saw a blonde beauty descending the staircase. She was wearing a professional uniform which showed off her excellent body in tandem with a pair of black stockings which emphasised her long, well-toned legs.

"Good morning, Harano-kun," Kaede Juumonji greeted Seiji politely when she saw him waiting outside the door.

"Good morning, Juumonji-san," Seiji also responded politely.

"Are you preparing to go to school together with the landlord's daughter?"

"Yeah."

"I'm about to go to work, so could I go together with you?"

"What?" Seiji doubted what he had just heard.

Going to work… that was normal, but why… go together?

"My job is at Genhana High School, the same place you're going to." Kaede flashed a dazzling smile as she spoke. "From today onwards, it's my fortune to be an infirmary nurse at Genhana High School."

No words could express Seiji's feelings at this moment.

'Hey, what did I just hear now? Infirmary… nurse? This girl… who's a mafia princess!?'

He couldn't help but be stunned as he dazedly looked at the smiling blonde beauty in front of him.

"Please take good care of me from now on, Harano-kun… Or perhaps I should call you a student, Harano-san."

Kaede Juumonji's smile seemed especially brilliant in the morning sunlight.

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Chapter 107: I Don't Need to Use That~

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Mika enjoyed going together with Seiji to school every morning.

No matter how popular he was at school, at the very least, he belonged exclusively to her on the way there.

Eh, was she being too possessive of him?

At any rate, Mika considered it a precious daily occurrence.

However, this precious daily occurrence of hers had been invaded.

Kaede Juumonji.

This morning, Mika met the new tenant, a stunning blonde beauty, for the first time.

"Hello, nice to meet you… You're Mika Uehara, the landlord's daughter, correct?"

The blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty, who was wearing a white nurse's uniform and black stockings, greeted her politely.

"Hello, nice to meet you… You must be Kaede Juumonji-san."

The pigtailed beauty, clothed in her school uniform, was almost awestruck by Kaede's imposing manner. Despite this, she instantly managed to stand up straight and greet Kaede politely in return.

Mika had already anticipated how their meeting would go. She bravely faced Kaede directly as her mother had recommended, trying her utmost to show no signs of backing down.

It seemed almost as if sparks were flying between the two beauties as their gazes met.

Seiji couldn't find any words to say in this situation.

'Hey, readers, do you know about a term called "hellish battleground?" Could you tell a newbie like me whether or not such a scene is considered a hellish battleground? Then, no matter if it is or isn't, could you please also tell me how to deal with this situation?'

Seiji visualized himself posting on internet forums and asking imaginary users to give him advice, as a way to escape from reality.

Right in front of him, Kaede had just finished informing Mika about her new job and politely asked if she could go along to school together with them.

On the surface, Mika didn't appear shaken at all. She politely agreed to go together with the new health teacher.

Truthfully, she was already at the point of wanting to shout out loudly to vent her frustration!

Kaede was actually a new teacher at her school!?

What did that mean?

It meant that not only did Kaede Juumonji move next door to Seiji, she even purposefully got a job at where Seiji would be on the weekdays!

Mika wasn't sure how Kaede managed to obtain this job, but she could clearly feel Kaede's determination from this action.

As a young missus, Kaede was able to do this much for the boy she liked!?

Originally, moving next door to him was already shocking enough. Mika never expected Kaede to take such drastic measures.

As her rival, Mika felt a sense of… being impressed by Kaede's resolution.

'No, I can't be defeated by Kaede's determination! But still… this person… is… so incredible…'

Maintaining her calm fa?ade was Mika's limit right now. Internally, she was quite shaken by witnessing Kaede's determination.

Seiji was still in the midst of avoiding reality.

Kaede was delighted at succeeding in being allowed to go to school together with them, so a wide grin was plastered on her face.

And so, the three of them walked together on the way to school.

"Harano-kun, what class are you guys in?" After walking for a bit, Kaede posed a seemingly casual question.

"Year 1, Class 5." Seiji returned to his senses and finally faced reality.

"Year 1, Class 5… I wonder when I'll have your class." Kaede's smile seemed a little too enthusiastic. "Although I don't have any actual teaching experience, I'll do my best to give you a proper education~"

'That sounds too much like a double entendre!' Seiji shouted inside his heart, although he could only smile on the surface.

In Sakura Island, there was only one class that infirmary nurses would teach, and that was the legendary "health" class!

That's right, the class which included the titillating subject of gender differences… Although some biology and psychology content was taught, the first part was definitely the point everyone would pay the most attention to!

The most embarrassing class in all of Sakura Island had to be this class.

A male teacher… wasn't that bad, but if a female teacher taught this class… It would still be fine if it was an older teacher, but a younger one… heh heh…

If it wasn't simply a young female teacher, but a beautiful one as well… uh-oh, that scene! Just imagining it caused some… er, embarrassment to arise!

Even Mika's face was turning red from imagining the scene!

'As a teacher, saying… such words that could be easily misconstrued… How shameless!' the pigtailed girl energetically retorted in her mind.

But she couldn't say it out loud for real, since this sentence could also be innocently interpreted as something said by an inexperienced teacher.

"Just how much does Harano-kun know about this particular subject? If you would like some special lessons, feel free to come find me at any time~" Kaede continued smiling coyly.

'That's enough!'

In that instant, Mika's anger level peaked!

"That… there's no need for special lessons for that type of class!" Mika couldn't help but retort in the end. "R… right, Seigo?"

'Don't ask me.' Seiji's face twitched violently. 'Sigh, Mika's really too sweet… er, too na?ve.'

When facing someone who was fully armed to teeth like a Kantai Collection battleship, the best way to deal with them was to avoid the subject… Forcing a smile and ignoring their words was the wisest option; if you casually counterattacked, it would turn out—

"Oh my, why is it unnecessary?" Kaede blinked cutely as she smiled. "No matter what type of knowledge it is, there are no downsides to learning about it. Besides, the knowledge that I'm going to teach is quite important for high school students~

"Don't you believe so, Uehara-san? Perhaps… you feel like you're already an expert in this subject?"

Boom!* A direct hit to Battleship Mika Uehara! Heavy damage taken!

The pigtailed girl's face instantly turned bright red.

"I-I… of course not!!" Her reflexive denial sounded panicked.

"If you aren't an expert, then why do you feel like you don't need to learn?" Kaede tilted her head slightly. "If you feel like you know enough about this subject already, you might as well tell me honestly. After all… there are quite a lot of high school students who are rather knowledgeable in this area.

"But there's another type: the type who believe they know everything there is to know already, when they actually have many misunderstandings of various types. That is rather dangerous.

"Uehara-san… as a small test, could you answer a simple question for me?" The corners of Kaede's mouth arced upwards in a slight smile.

Click clack! Ka-ching!* Seiji imagined that he could hear the sound of a cannon preparing to fire as it aimed for its target.

"Do you know how to use… condoms?"

Boom!*

Battleship Mika Uehara took another direct hit! Critical damage taken!

"I-I-I… don't know!!!" Mika blushed beet red as she stuttered embarrassedly. She was on the verge of bursting into tears.

"Hmm? You don't even know this much? Could it really be… I think that you should at least know the basics of how to use one?"

"I… I don't! I… I don't intend to use such a thing!!"

It was over.

Seiji silently covered his eyes—he couldn't bear to watch this scene any longer!

Mika was merely denying things in a panic—she didn't realize that she had just said something incredible!

Even Kaede's expression froze over, as she didn't expect to hear something so ridiculous either.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the trio.

The pigtailed girl was able to calm down slightly in this silence, until she discovered…

"Wahh… No… that's not what I meant—"

Her shout of humiliation resounded clearly throughout the street.

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Chapter 108: Fallen Angel in White

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Mika Uehara, a fresh high school first-year female student in the prime of her youth… experienced a dark memory she would have loved to forget on her way to school.

"My apologies, Uehara-san. I just wanted to tease you a little… sorry," Kaede Juumonji sincerely apologized to Mika.

Mika was still clutching her head tightly; she was unwilling to even show her face!

The sincerer the apology, the worse she felt!

But it was still better than receiving no apology at all.

Seiji could somewhat empathize with Mika's current emotional state. He felt that perhaps it would have been better for Kaede to not say anything at all, but… no matter what, it was still a good thing she had apologized sincerely.

"I'm truly sorry for getting carried away." Kaede smiled wryly. "Actually, I'm quite happy to receive this job, since I want to interact with all the students…"

"I'll take care to not act like this anymore. Please forgive me, Uehara-san."

Mika continued covering her face without saying anything.

Seiji sighed. "You don't need to mind it, Mika. After all, you only said something slightly perverted by accident. You should know that when Juumonji-sensei is teaching or working, she'll probably have to much more embarrassing things."

Kaede was rendered speechless.

While he was technically correct, it still didn't seem all that right for some reason? The blonde beauty felt like she somewhat objected.

Mika was somewhat consoled by Seiji's subtle words.

She could feel her face burning up; it was probably bright red now.

A soft touch suddenly descended upon her head.

"Relax~ There was hardly anyone on the street at that time, so I doubt anyone else heard it. Neither me nor Juumonji-sensei will go around telling anyone about this, so you don't need to worry too much about it."

Seiji petted Mika's hair as he comforted her gently.

"If you're still acting like this by the time we arrive at school, you'll actually attract more attention, shy goddess."

After patting her lightly one more time, he retracted his hand.

Mika slowly uncovered her face and glanced at Seiji. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of emotions.

Kaede felt a tinge of jealousy at witnessing this scene.

'It feels like I have lost again,' she helplessly thought to herself.

But… his gentleness moved her heart.

'As long as I work as hard as I can to get closer to him, I'll experience that as well someday…' Kaede consoled herself.

By the time they'd reached school, Mika managed to calm down.

She had received a huge impact from the blonde beauty becoming an apartment tenant as well as the infirmary nurse and health teacher. However, Mika no longer felt disheartened.

Kaede was amazing in her own way, but so what?

'I am Seiji's classmate!'

As Seiji and Mika split up from Kaede, Mika had recovered the resolute look in her eyes as she looked at Kaede fiercely.

Kaede merely smiled in response to Mika's challenging gaze.

'A relaxed attitude… As expected of a more mature woman. I won't lose either, and I'll work hard!' Mika encouraged herself enthusiastically.

In the classroom, Chiaki greeted the duo with a big grin plastered on her face.

"Seigo, I saw it~ When did you conquer such a stunning blonde beauty?"

The tomboy's smile seemed to contain a hint of depravity.

Mika was stunned speechless at her friend's attitude.

Before making her effort, she needed to take her friend outside and beat her up… whoops, make her idiotic friend understand the circumstance!

…

Class time.

News of the new joint infirmary nurse/health teacher being a beautiful long-legged blonde woman, who enjoyed wearing black stockings, quickly spread throughout the entire high school.

Or, more accurately, the rumor spread to all the high school boys.

Although the former middle-aged lady was kind and did a good job, she didn't make for a good high school fantasy!

A blonde beauty with huge breasts and a white nurse uniform paired with black stockings was a high school boy's fantasy… This was the actualization of every hot-blooded boy's fantasy towards an infirmary nurse!

Fine then, it was slightly regrettable that Kaede's breasts weren't huge, but her chest was still above average and well-proportioned.

The most important part was her long legs and black stockings combination! Black stockings! Black stockings! Important things should be repeated three times.

A white nurse uniform in tandem with black stockings; this was an absolutely perfect white-and-black pairing!

Just imagining it caused the high school boys' beast… whoops, hot blood to boil!

And so…

The infirmary was filled with students.

Well, just to clarify, no boy did such a foolish thing like injuring himself on purpose to visit the nurse.

They used the "pure and gentlemanly" excuse of needing psychological counseling, since the nurse also had the responsibility of looking after the students' mental health.

Yep, psychological counseling, heh heh…

The boys' fantasies raged wildly. They wore expressions of mutual understanding as they lined up in front of the nurse's office in a long queue!

It seemed just like a scene from an idol's "handshake and meet the fans greeting."

'Boys are all idiots!' the high school girls thought in unison as they watched the boys' fervent reactions.

Well, the new health teacher was popular. But how was the quality of her work?

Let's interview a few random passers-by—

Boy A: "Juumonji-sensei is an excellent teacher; she helped me to learn… some things I've never heard about before."

Boy B: "At first it was a little painful, but it was pleasurable afterwards. And finally… I feel like a whole new world has opened up for me."

Boy C: "…I think I'm getting addicted."

Hey, hey, just what exactly has happened here?

The newspaper club member, who conducted the random interviews, was stunned at hearing these answers.

At first, it was mostly a joke when he thought about doing these interviews. After all, the boys all had the secretly wanted to take a peek at the beautiful new teacher. Naturally, there wouldn't be any serious answers.

He never expected to hear something so incredible!

But when he asked further questions out of curiosity, all his interviewees refused to tell him any details. All they responded with were mysterious smiles as they told him to just check it out for himself.

After some hesitation, this newspaper club member finally adjusted his glasses as his eyes gleamed with determination.

'For the majestic high school newspaper club, for everyone's right to know, as a newspaper club member, I have the mission to discover and spread the truth!'

Even if some sacrifices must be made.

Thinking this, he walked over to the office and joined the queue.

After a long wait, it was finally his turn.

He finally met the legendary new beautiful teacher whose name was… Kaede Juumonji.

She was as pretty as the rumors. Her name sounded nice as well.

But what exactly was up with the stories about her…?

"Hello, do you have anywhere that's feeling uncomfortable? Or do you have a problem you need help with?"

At first, she had a polite attitude. However…

"An interview? The truth?"

"Oh… so this means that you're not a patient or a student with any actual problems. You're just here to be nosy!"

After she'd confirmed the newspaper club member's intentions, her polite attitude disappeared.

What replaced it was a cold look of utter condescension.

"Honestly, you're just a moron that only knows how to inconvenience others!

"At the very least you're supposed to be that person's fellow schoolmate, even if you're miles away from his level! Don't be so vulgar as to be lower than even the dirt under his fingernails, alright!!

"I've already seen so many idiots like you today!! It's really annoying!!!"

The brave newspaper club member was utterly stunned.

Following that, he received his life's first-ever insult-filled rampage…

After that.

This person quit the newspaper club and entered a small club by the name of "The Education and Training Club."

The details of this club, the reason behind the student abandoning his beloved newspaper club, the student's inexplicable devotion to this new club, and how he expanded this club together with his newfound comrades, who shared his interests… was another story entirely.

Kaede Juumonji became a legend on her first day as a school nurse and health teacher.

Her legendary nickname was…

"The fallen angel in white!"

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Chapter 109: This Is a Punishment~

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"Fallen angel in white…" After hearing such a nickname, Seiji's expression was blank.

After thinking it over, he felt that he understood what had probably happened. Even though Kaede always acted politely on the surface, she was still the daughter of a mafia family!

Seiji's deepest impression of her was the scene where she'd loudly lectured the black-suited men… Or, to be more specific, this scene in combination with her shy and embarrassed behavior right after. It was such a huge contrast…

Those who visited her office driven by the desire to meet a beautiful teacher probably received polite treatment at first. However, once it became clear that they had no physical or mental problems at all, Kaede would be incensed, and they probably received vicious lectures.

The contrast was almost as huge as Jekyll and Hyde. This, in combination with her beautiful appearance, meant it was almost impossible for her not to leave the male students with a deep impression. In fact, some of them were currently feeling a mix of emotions.

Seiji's understood this phenomenon as cuteness from unexpectedness.

Perhaps some idiots would be enchanted by this. They might even fall in love with her special charisma, awaken new interests, and open the door to a whole new world of masochism, or something similar.

'Well, it has nothing to do with me.'

Seiji didn't care whatsoever about the other boys who'd received their just desserts for queueing up solely for the purpose of meeting Kaede.

Personally, he felt like such a type of cuteness was alright in 2-D, but in reality… Well, as long as he wasn't the target of the insults, it was probably still acceptable.

As for Mika and Chiaki's reaction to this—

"That Juumonji-san… had such a side to her?" The pigtailed girl was shocked.

"Heh heh~~ It seems quite interesting, Seigo. Let's go experience it together!" The tomboy flashed a brilliant smile."As your good friend, I should go and greet Mika's foremost competitor!"

"Chiaki!" Mika protested angrily.

That's how it was.

At any rate, today was a peaceful day at school as well.

…

After school.

Seiji headed to the confectionery store.

After he arrived, he was called to Rika's office as he'd expected.

"Thank you so much, Haruta-kun."

After seeing him, Rika Amami bowed in thanks to Seiji.

"If it wasn't for you, I don't know how bad things may have turned out… I can't believe I didn't notice that their family was…"

Rika's expression was filled with regret.

She blamed herself for failing to notice the abnormalities within her own older brother's family.

"If only I paid more attention in the past, I could have detected it, but… I didn't care about them enough."

Seiji could only remain silent.

After a momentary silence, Rika sighed before showing a smile again."At any rate, I'm truly grateful for all you've done… Not only me; our entire family owes you a huge favor."

Seiji smiled in response at this.

"No need for that, Owner. Hoshi's my junior and friend—I just did what I should have."

"You just did what you should have…" Rika echoed."How many people in this world can go so far for a friend which they've only known for a short time?"

Rika smiled as she looked straight at Seiji's face."That child, Hoshi… he's basically treating you as his idol. I can understand why he feels that way."

"I'm proud that you're my employee, Haruta-kun. I'm truly fortunate to have hired you at that time."

"Then can you increase my salary?" Seiji blinked in an attempt to act cute.

Rika laughed out loud at this."Sorry, I can't do that, but if you need it, I can give you an abundant amount of reward money in front of everyone!"

"Forget it then. I don't want to be killed off by Tanaka-senpai and my other coworkers." Seiji shrugged and extended his palms in an act of helplessness.

After this, they laughed together heartily.

Seiji wouldn't truly ask the owner for money for such a thing. Rika also knew that he was just joking. If she really did offer money, he wouldn't accept it.

Another short period of silence followed.

"Haruta-kun, actually I still have a question… Although I thought about the possible reasons, I felt it would be better to ask you." Rika glanced at Seiji as her eyes flashed with a strange light."At the very beginning why didn't you… When you learned about what happened from Hoshi, why didn't you contact me immediately?"

Seiji was momentarily stunned.

"Owner, you've already considered it, so there's no need for me to answer that. It's embarrassing."

"Why would you be embarrassed?" Rika walked two steps closer, a gentle expression in her eyes.

"Er… that's because…" Seiji averted his gaze."At the time, I was so angry. I only wanted to make a huge scene out of it, and I… forgot… about you until I finished with that spectacle."

Rika was stunned at this.

She then seemed to come to a sudden realization as she laughed out loud again.

"Honestly, Haruta-kun…"

Rika shook her head slightly as she kept her eyes fixed on him.

"That's why I said it was embarrassing!" Seiji awkwardly scratched his face as he continued to avert his gaze."Owner, you've probably figured it out yourself, but you still asked me…"

'This idiot.'

He wasn't able to finish his sentence… as Rika Amami suddenly walked right up to him and kissed him on the cheek!

He felt a soft feeling, a warm touch, and the scent of maturity…

Seiji froze solid.

"This is a punishment for the idiot child who can't be honest in such a situation."

Rika stepped back, her cheeks slightly flushed as she smiled alluringly.

She had already considered it, so she knew Seiji must have been worried about how difficult it would have been for her to interfere in the situation just based on Hoshi's words.

She was the younger sister of Hoshi's father, as well as Hoshi and the twins' aunt, their blood relative… If she haphazardly interfered in the darkness which enveloped her relatives' family, she would've been placed under immense pressure.

She had the right to interfere, but the right to do so didn't mean that it would be easy to accomplish anything. If she didn't pull it off correctly, she'd only be rejected by everyone, or even be viewed as a villain.

Even if things didn't turn out that way, presuming she could successfully intervene in their family affairs based solely on her nephew's words, and she somehow managed to dispel the darkness from them, then what?

Sometimes helping others wouldn't be viewed as an act of kindness by them. Even if you were a blood relative… or, perhaps, exactly because you were a blood relative. Things weren't that simple.

At the time, contacting Rika Amami would have been the correct thing to do in theory. It was the most sensible and appropriate method to take.

But in that case, all the responsibility of dealing with the family's situation would have fallen upon Rika Amami's shoulders.

That was why Seiji didn't do such a thing.

As an outsider, he chose to shoulder all the responsibility by himself and faced the twins together with his friend's assistance… Only after he'd succeeded at the most difficult part did he contact Rika.

On the surface, he made a huge mess before making Rika come clean up after him.

But in reality, this was his gentleness… or perhaps his way of protecting her.

Rika Amami had considered all this already and understood his intentions.

That was why she was so moved.

Her goal in asking Seiji to his face was to force him to admit his own gentleness, enabling her to praise him.

It wasn't for the sake of her brother's family—she wanted to praise him for shielding her from the brunt of the trouble.

However, she didn't expect Haruta-kun to play the fool to the very end. He was normally direct and forthright, yet he'd deceived her on such an issue!

'Haha, there's no helping it.'

Rika's heart was filled with a warm feeling as she couldn't help walking up to and kissing this… cute, handsome, yet clumsy boy.

'This is a punishment, silly fool!'

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Chapter 110: Reward

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Punishment?

'I want more punishments like this, please!' Seiji coughed and tried to suppress his turbulent emotions.

Seiji's face was slightly red after he regained his senses. He didn't know what to say.

He knew that Rika had a chance of detecting his true way of thinking, but he didn't anticipate her…"punishing" him like this.

Truthfully, Seiji did consider contacting her, but he didn't think too much into it.

Compared to contacting her right from the start, he preferred to make a huge incident of it first, before asking for her help at the end. This way, he could vent his frustrations on the twins, and Rika would appear to be the nice person in this event. There was nothing else to it.

After all, he was still an outsider. He wouldn't have to hold back against the twins, nor would he care what the twins' parents thought of him after the incident's conclusion. Rika Amami was different, though. She would have reservations which would hold her back and give her pressure.

Seiji felt he'd selected a method which helped out everyone in the end… one that any normal person would choose if they could think of it.

Rika's display of gratitude was still unexpected.

Nobody spoke for a while in Rika's office.

When she noticed Seiji's blushing face and embarrassment, Rika inwardly smiled.

'He's too cute…'

"Now that I've punished you, it's time… for your reward."

'There's a reward as well?'

Seiji couldn't help but look at Rika curiously as he noticed her seductive smile.

"I recall that there was something you really wanted, but I didn't give to you… And now, although it's not the same one, I'll give you the same item."

Rika slowly reached into her pocket and brought something out from it. Her fist was closed, so Seiji was unable to see what she'd brought out. She placed her closed fist in front of Seiji.

"Give me your hand."

"Oh… oh."

Seiji dazedly obeyed her order as he gave her his open hand.

Rika slowly opened her hand, revealing a small, shiny, translucent… button!

'Could… could this be!?' Seiji's eyes widened in excitement.

Rika's face was tinged with a hint of red as she placed the button in Seiji's large hand.

"You're forbidden from telling anyone else about this," she whispered as she handed the button over.

For something like this to become a reward, it was a little… But this was the only thing that he had ever expressed wanting in front of her!

Seiji nodded in understanding as he clutched the button tightly to his chest. It was still warm due to the residual body heat left behind by Rika.

The holy artifact has been obtained!

He missed his previous opportunity to receive this legendary holy artifact, which was a byproduct of oversized breasts that countless gentlemen wished for, but now he'd finally obtained it.

Seiji's expression was grave as he clasped his hands in mock prayer; he was about to reincarnate… no, raise himself to the heavens!

Rika wasn't sure how she should respond to his incomprehensible movements and expression.

All she could do was laugh.

"Okay, stop acting weird! You've already received your reward, so hurry up and start working!"

"Yes, Buddha… no, Store Manager!" Seiji's reply was filled with passionate spirit as he turned around and began to leave. Even his tall figure exuded a hot-blooded aura of passion.

"What the heck's with calling me Buddha!?" Rika scolded him as he walked out.

It seemed that it would take a long while for the smile and redness on her face to disappear.

…

After work was over.

Seiji opened the [gifts] option in his system and checked the holy artifact… no, the reward he received from his system for the gift.

He had gained 7 points, as well as the discount card item [My Heartfelt Gratitude].

This card contained the gratitude the beautiful store manager felt towards him, as well as appreciation and praise. After using the card, he could choose any item he wanted in the shop, and the price would be reduced to 50%. There was no limit on the total discount amount, and he could even use it to purchase a large stock of the same consumable. It was, however, a one-time use item.

Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

A 50% reduction on any item he wanted was an incredibly strong effect! It was a pity that it was a one-time use item, but thankfully there was no limit attached to it.

This meant that there was two ways he could use this card. One would be to exchange for an incredibly expensive item with a powerful effect, saving him a large amount of points in the process.

The other way was to purchase a consumable item he needed in a large quantity, which would also save him many points in the process.

However, Seiji currently had neither of those types of items available for purchase.

Nothing expensive seemed particularly enticing to him, nor did he have any consumables which he needed to use a large quantity of… It seemed that he would have to leave this item card unused for the time being.

Although it wasn't useful right now, it still had a strong effect, and the 7 points it gave him was nothing to be scoffed at.

'Thank you, Store Manager!'

Seiji was delighted as he walked past the park on his way home.

As he was walking, he heard a creaking sound coming from the swing set in the park.

'Are there really children still playing on the swings this late at night?' Seiji looked at the swings with that doubt in mind.

He saw someone sitting on a swing, and it clearly wasn't a child.

It was a girl wearing the Genhana Middle School uniform.

Due to the poor lighting and distance between them, Seiji was unable to see her face clearly.

But his instinct told him that… he'd seen this person before somewhere.

Creak… creak…*

The middle school girl's figure seemed lonely as she swung on the swings by herself.

Seiji stopped walking towards home.

Instead, he headed towards the swing set.

"You must be a middle schooler at Genhana. It's already this late, so why are you…"

Seiji began speaking as he approached, but before he finished his question, he saw who it was and stopped on his own.

That was because he recognized her.

Even though he only met her once, on the first day when he transferred in, she had left him with a deep impression.

She was a beautiful girl who looked like a porcelain doll. She had exquisite facial features, snow-white skin, neat bangs, delicate eyelashes, clear eyes, and silky-soft black hair styled casually. At first glance, she appeared to be an icy beauty.

"You…" Seiji's steps paused slightly as he continued walking towards her."You're… Shika Kagura, right?"

Yes, this was her name.

She was the middle school student who had a top-class appearance… She was the girl who'd been captured and dragged to the drama club by the club's president.

Seiji recalled the scene of Shika sitting on a chair by the window, quietly reading her poem collection.

At that time, he went over to greet her of his own volition.

Just like this time.

"Do you still remember me? I'm Seigo Harano, a high school first-year student… Two weeks ago at the drama club, we exchanged a few words." He walked in front of the swingset as he continued speaking.

The girl… Shika Kagura stopped swinging as she looked at his face.

Just like last time.

"Seigo Harano…"

Her voice was gentle yet cold.

'It seems that she remembers me," Seiji thought to himself.

"I was just passing by and noticed the sound, so I came to see who was here. It's quite late already, so why are you still here? Shouldn't you be going home?"

Shika remained silent as she looked at Seiji wordlessly.

Seiji scratched his face awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Although he was tempted to ask if there was something on his face, he figured that asking Shika such an idle question probably wasn't the best course of action.

"Did… something happen in your family? Did you argue with your parents?"

He might as well cut to the chase and ask something sensitive.

A middle school student remaining away from home at this time of night probably meant something had happened in her family.

Shika continued staring at his face, as if she were waiting for flowers to magically begin blooming there.

Seiji sighed."Fine then. I'm probably poking my nose in business that's not meant for me."

He walked up to her and sat down beside her on the adjacent swing.

"I don't really want to interfere with anything; I just want to help you if I can be of any assistance. It's dangerous for a beautiful girl like you to be out here late at night, especially in an empty area like this.

"Perhaps you don't think it's anything, but… I don't want to leave you alone."

That's all there was to it.

This was just a normal action of kindness.

At this moment, however, Seiji was unaware of what would eventually come of his act.

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Chapter 111: Someone Said "You're Light Itself"

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"You're a good person, Seigo Harano."

Shika Kagura finally spoke her first sentence and instantly attached the label of a "good person" to Seiji for the second time.

"I've already heard you say that at Drama Club." Seiji looked at her."Although I don't really think I'm such a good person… But perhaps I am, just a little."

"Someone told me that you're 'light itself.'"

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing this.

A feminine… no, the image of a boy in female clothing flashed through his memory. He felt a sudden urge to cover his face!

But he still had to ask to make sure.

"Who did you hear that from? Was it Hoshi Amami? Do you know him?"

Shika nodded in response.

Seiji ended up clutching his face when Shika nodded.

'Hoshi, it's one thing if you're just thinking it in your mind! Are you really telling others as well!? It's too embarrassing!'

After mentally cursing his absent junior, Seiji decided to give Hoshi a proper education with his fist when they next met.

"Seigo Harano?" A confused voice called out his name.

"Oh, my apologies, I was just…" Seiji coughed and lowered his hands again."You're classmates with Hoshi?"

"Same club." Shika's answers were rather succinct.

"What club?"

"Literature."

"I see…"

So Hoshi was in the Literature Club, hmm. It seemed quite suitable for him.

'No, wait!'

"How did he tell you about it?" Seiji's face began to twitch.

'Did that guy tell the entire Literature Club about his wild fantasies!?'

Shika remained silent.

'Hey there, don't remain silent here! I'm nervously waiting to hear what you have to say!'

Seiji was filled with tension as he awaited Shika's answer.

If that idiot junior of his really did tell the entire Literature Club something so embarrassing… damn it! This wasn't something that could be taken care of with just one educational punch!

Achoo… Hoshi sneezed while doing housework at his aunt's house.

"Senpai's work has probably ended now… Man, I want to go as well," he muttered to himself as he wiped down a surface.

But first, he had to clean up his aunt's house.

After all, they were going to live together now. He felt it would be best to get everything cleaned.

Anyway, Aunt Rika seemed to be so strict, but her home was…

Hoshi couldn't help but smile wryly as he thought back to the chaotic mess in the house when he first arrived.

Aunt Rika seemed to feel awkward about it as well.

Still, she was always busy with work and lived by herself, so it was understandable that her house was messy.

Hoshi felt that the first thing he should do after moving in was to clean up the whole place, both for his aunt and for himself.

He decided that this was more important than going to work at the confectionery store. Even though he really wanted to be next to Senpai at work, he controlled his urge and didn't go to the store.

He should do what was necessary first… Did this count as maturing?

'When I see Harano-senpai again, I'll tell him… and reveal Aunt Rika's true living conditions at home!' Hoshi chuckled to himself as he imagined the conversation.

He had no idea that the next time he met his Senpai an iron fist would be waiting for him.

In the park.

Shika remained silent for a long period of time.

Finally, she averted her gaze before speaking.

"I asked him why it was that… he didn't die."

Seiji who had been waiting for the answer was stunned at the unexpected response.

Why Hoshi didn't die?

This type of question… it sounded almost as if… she knew Hoshi Amami originally should have died!

Seiji's expression instantly changed.

"Why did you ask him that question?" His mind went through various scenarios, but he decided to seek clarification from her first.

Shika gazed off into the night with a calm expression.

"He also asked me this, just like you."

"My answer was that… I saw it."

"He had an expression… that said he wanted to die."

'An expression?' Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Then, he seemed to understand what I meant, as he thanked me for caring about him. Actually, I didn't care about him… I told him that as well. I just wanted to know who had… changed his mind when he had wanted to die… into someone who saw the light again."

Shika slowly moved her gaze back on Seiji's face again as she spoke.

"He then told me that… he met the light itself. The light's name was… Seigo Harano."

Seiji was speechless.

Her story was rather choppy, but he could understand her meaning.

For a moment, he thought that Shika had some sort of… mystical ability, but it must have been his misunderstanding.

She didn't actually witness Hoshi's death. She only noticed Hoshi's dark expression when he was in a mental abyss, and from that she inferred he was going to…

But that didn't end up happening to Hoshi. Instead, he recovered and even surpassed his original self's spiritedness.

This made Shika feel something was strange, hence her question.

Hoshi answered her… in a rather immature middle schooler's way.

Seiji inwardly breathed a sigh of relief after confirming his fears were unfounded, and Shika wasn't someone with mystical powers.

He was also relieved, as apparently Hoshi hadn't informed the whole club about the way he considered Seiji to be the light itself.

"That guy may have exaggerated a bit too much. His analogy was a little… you know." Seiji scratched his face."All I did was help him out a little… He was having some difficulties due to a certain issue, and I helped him out. That's all there is to it."

Shika stared at him.

"While he was telling me this, it seemed as if he were exuding an aura of light. That type of aura… it was my first time witnessing such a thing. I've never seen it before."

Fine then! This girl and that guy… were both part of the Literature Club!

Did all Literature Club members find it so easy to accept the immature thinking of middle schoolers?

'I surrender,' Seiji mentally sighed.

"You… well, whatever you guys want to say, it's up to you. I don't feel like I'm light itself; I merely did what I should have as his Senpai and his friend, as it was within my power to do so."

Shika tilted her head slightly."So you're admitting it?"

'Hey, girl, just how did you understand that as I was admitting it!?'

Seiji forced down his urge to retort.

This wouldn't end if he continued to deny it.

Seiji sighed inwardly.'I might as well take the direct approach with her.'

"Fine then. I suppose… I am the light."

Damn it, only after he said it out loud did he realize how embarrassing it sounded!

Seiji forcefully clutched his face with his hands.

"I admit it, okay? I'm the person who gave him light, so he views me as light itself! I'm the physical actualization of light!! Then? So what!?"

He gave up on himself as he covered his face.

His words sounded way too much like the immature rambling of a middle school student!

'Why am I acting like this deep into the night in a dark park together with a middle school girl that I barely even know!?'

Seiji could only console himself by thinking that he had just done something equally embarrassing and pretentious two days ago. Compared to how he acted towards the twins, this was nothing…

…But this made him lose even more spirit!

At that time, he had relied on his imposing manner to get by! And after that was class time, which barely managed to help him stop thinking about it!!

Seiji was engulfed by his dark memories. The physical actualization of light was about to collapse.

"I… also want to have the light," Shika stated in a soft, calm voice.

Her voice didn't contain any particular emotions. It was a simple, pure desire.

"Could you… give me light as well?"

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Chapter 112: Smile

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

She wanted to have the light?

Was she asking for his help?

Seiji slowly put down his hands and looked at Shika once more.

"Didn't I just say it? I'd like to help in any way I can, if I can be of service."

"…So you've agreed?" Shika was still looking at him intently.

Her tone of voice and gaze were both calm, but her beautiful eyes seemed to contain some deep emotions within them.

Seiji looked directly at her.

This sounded like a perfectly ordinary confirmation question, but for some reason, Seiji felt Shika's question… might not be ordinary at all.

This felt like Kyubey cutely asking if he wanted to sign a contract to become a magical girl… er, was this analogy a bad one?

At any rate, Seiji had the premonition that something big would happen if he promised her directly.

But so what?

'I'm the physical actualization of light, and light is fearless!'

…Of course not! Why was his brain thinking such things!?

'Am I actually enjoying this!? Acting like an immature middle schooler with this girl I barely even know… No, stop thinking about this!'

But still, since she remained so calm throughout, he would seem like an idiot if he cared so much about appearances.

Seiji smiled as he came to a conclusion.

"Yep, I promise. It could even be said that I came here especially for this reason." Seiji combed his hand through his hair in an attempt to look cool.

"Oh, lonely girl in the darkness, your summoning of the light has been heard by me. I shall bestow the light upon you!"

Seiji made the most pious expression he could manage as he reached his hand out to her.

He had activated his clown mode.

In this mode, Seiji was able to temporarily forgo all sense of embarrassment and double his mental resistance. It didn't matter if he was acting like an immature middle school student or if he was being pretentious; he could do anything!

Normally, he would only use this mode with close friends such as Chiaki and Mika.

But since he was already so embarrassed, he decided there was no harm in using this mode on the literature-loving girl named Shika Kagura!

Would she be stunned in amazement or comment on it?

Neither.

She continued to silently watch Seiji's pretentious act.

This… was more damaging to Seiji's psyche than either of the above options!

He felt an overwhelming urge to take his hand back.

However, Shika's hand rose in response.

She slowly extended her tiny hand as she moved her gaze towards his much larger hand.

There wasn't much distance between the two swings they were sitting on. It would be easy for the two of them to touch each other.

Seiji was a bit surprised at seeing this, but he cooperated and straightened his arm.

Shika Kagura's tiny hand slowly edged closer.

In the quiet atmosphere, this scene seemed rather… formal, almost ritualistic.

Their hands were almost touching.

Seiji waited for her.

However, just as they were about to come into contact, Shika's hand stopped moving.

"No… This won't work…"

For the first time, her face showed an expression other than calmness.

Even though it wasn't obvious, Seiji realized her expression was filled with a mixture of pain, sadness, and darkness.

He had witnessed a similar expression on Hoshi's face a few days prior. He had no desire to see this type of expression around him again.

"You…" Seiji furrowed his brows and prepared to speak.

"I cannot possess the light," Shika muttered to herself, retracting her hand and averting her gaze.

She then stood up and began walking out of the park.

Seiji was stunned.

"Wait a moment!" he called as he rose from the swing.

She was leaving just like this?

What the heck? Why?

Shika's steps didn't slow down at all for him as she continued walking.

Seiji chased after her.

"Wait up! You…" He reached out his hand, wanting to stop her.

Shika turned around, avoiding his hand.

"Don't touch me," she said expressionlessly.

Her tone of voice was still calm; it contained no coldness, condescension, or any other emotions.

Seiji finally noticed that… no, it should be said that he confirmed it.

This girl named Shika Kagura was abnormal.

Or, she was in some sort of abnormal situation.

She wanted to ask for help.

But she didn't dare to do so… or for some unknown reason, wasn't able to do so.

Seiji furrowed his brows deeply.

"Sorry, Seigo Harano."

She left only those calm words behind as she gradually walked off.

"I know it's your choice whether or not to tell me anything," Seiji called out to her back."But if you don't say anything, nobody will be able to help you."

The girl showed no signs of slowing down.

"Weren't you actually waiting here for me!?" Seiji raised his voice as he asked a question.

This time, her steps finally halted.

"You must have learned from Hoshi that I was working at the Divine Taste confectionery store. You even found out my work schedule and the path I would take home and waited for me here on purpose as you knew I'd pass by here after work!"

Seiji kept looking towards her back.

"Spending so much effort to meet with me and talk to me… you must have had something you wanted to say!"

Shika merely stood there without turning around or continuing to walk.

"If you want to say something, then say it! I don't have mind-reading powers, so I won't know anything if you don't tell me!"

Nobody would be able to help someone who remained silent.

Seiji started walking forward.

"Hoshi Amami… he seemed so similar to you at that time. But you did something better than him; you chose to ask for help of your own volition. But why did you give up at the very end? There was only one more step to go!

"Do you feel that I'm not as reliable as you imagined? You think I won't be of any help? Of course, I'm no superhero, and I can't promise that I can do anything, but you made such an effort to meet me, so at the very least… say something!

"Even if I can't do anything, I can at least… listen to your problem."

He walked closer to her as he spoke; he was now mere inches away from her back.

She slowly turned around.

Seiji widened his eyes in surprise when he saw her expression.

She was smiling.

A faint smile bloomed across Shika Kagura's exquisite, delicate face.

The dim streetlights granted this scene an indescribable beauty!

However, it wasn't only Shika's beauty that left Seiji stunned.

It was her smile, which contained… numerous deep emotions!

Her emotional smile was a huge contrast with her seemingly unshakeable calmness from earlier.

This was what struck awe into Seiji's heart.

Although it was such a short moment, he could detect sadness, helplessness, gentleness, and loneliness in her smile…

"Thank you."

A soft voice weakly faded and dissolved into the night as if it were a bubble.

Her expression subsequently returned to its typical calm state.

She turned around as she continued to leave.

Seiji remained rooted to ground as he watched her leave.

Only when her figure was on the verge of disappearing into the night did he suddenly shout,"I'll come back here tomorrow! At the same time and place!"

'If you want to ask for help, or tell me something, come,' he said in his heart.

This was all that he could do.

…

"Shika Kagura?"

Hoshi was overjoyed at receiving a phone call from his senpai, but he was confused about the name his senpai asked him about.

"How do you know her, Senpai?"

"What? She went to look for you!?"

Hoshi was dumbfounded.

This… this was quite different from the girl that he knew.

His Harano-senpai continued to ask him about her on the phone.

"What type of person is she?"

Hoshi returned to his senses as he contemplated the question.

"Hmm… I don't know how to describe her… At any rate, in our Literature club… as well as in our class, she's secretly called…"

Seiji's eyebrows shot upwards as he heard Shika's nickname from Hoshi.

'What the hell?'

Chapter 113: Heaven-Sent Calamities

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"The holy maiden with divine protection."

This was Shika Kagura's nickname in her club as well as class.

After witches was a holy maiden… What was all this!?

"Your older sisters are called the 'twin witches,' and now you have a fellow club member that's a 'holy maiden?' Hoshi, are you actually the male lead of a dating sim!?" Seiji could make numerous comments on this situation.

Hoshi could hear Seiji chuckling on the other end of the phone.

"Now you mention it, that's an apt description. I'm just as useless and ordinary as the male lead of a dating sim, so even if there are witches or holy maidens by my side, I won't be able to do anything," Hoshi spoke as he gazed outside the window.

"But you're different, Senpai. You're so gentle and strong, and you possess the power to save others… that's what a true main character is."

Seiji was rendered speechless.

Should he activate his clown mode again?

No. His energy level for that was depleted and currently recharging.

He could only face this embarrassment head-on.

"I'm no superhero, and I can't promise that I can do anything… Those were the words that I told her."

"Senpai, humble as always."

"I wasn't being humble at all, okay! I merely told her the truth. Since I knew nothing about what was going on, of course I couldn't promise that I could be of any help," Seiji stated the truth of the situation."And even if I knew what was going on… I'm only an ordinary person. There are always going to be situations where I'm powerless."

'No, Senpai, you're a hero,' Hoshi thought in his heart.

"Although you're humble, gentle, and strong, you aren't arrogant… You only show your true power when other people need your help.'

Compared to the superheroes in the movies, Senpai was much more like a true hero!

"At any rate, if it's something I can help with, I'll do everything in my power. But right now she isn't telling me anything, so there's nothing I can do. Although I informed her that I'd wait for her in the park at the same time tomorrow, I doubt she'll come. So just tell me everything you know about her."

It seemed Senpai was basically telling him that he wanted information on Shika Kagura.

Hoshi smiled at thought of assisting his hero.

"Shika Kagura… Kagura-san transferred to Genhana Middle School earlier this semester…"

…

Shika Kagura was a middle school second-year student in Year 2, Class 4.

On her first day after transferring in, her self-introduction shocked everyone in class, including the teacher.

"I don't need friends. Please don't approach me, please don't touch me, and please don't talk to me."

Anyone would be shocked at how calm her words sounded. She even retained that tranquil expression of hers while she was speaking.

Her attitude didn't seem cold, haughty, or condescending. It was merely calm.

She acted as if she were saying the perfectly ordinary "please take care of me," but her words clearly showed her unwillingness to bond with her classmates. Even the teacher was stunned by this scene.

Of course, she was later called to the teacher's office for a discussion.

But no matter what the teacher said, she remained implacable.

As for her classmates, some worked up the courage to talk to her, and others were instructed by the teacher to attempt to talk to her. Naturally, there were also those who tried to harass her for being different…

Shika's only response to all this was calm rejection, or acceptance with zero reaction.

And just as the people harassing her were about to escalate the level to bullying, they were struck by misfortune.

Instead of Shika Kagura, harm came to those who wanted to bully her.

One person tripped and got injured on the stairs, one was burned by scalding hot water, one was viciously beaten up by some thugs, and one was even in a car accident and hospitalized!

These accidents happened in such quick succession, and the victims were all obviously connected. This made it easy for people to come up with their own theories.

A curse, or… heaven-sent calamities!

There were also some students that believed the worst of Shika Kagura, hypothesizing that she was under the protection of some unknown powerful entity or organization.

Well, that could explain the thugs' beating as well as the car accident, but that wouldn't be able to explain the person who tripped on the stairs by himself or the one who was accidentally scalded by boiling water in her own house.

Not only were the ordinary middle school students unable to understand it, even the teacher didn't know what was going on.

These incidents appeared to be unfortunate accidents on the surface, but they happened almost simultaneously. All the victims were known by the entire class as those who were harassing Shika, so this didn't look like any normal series of accidents.

Her classmates could only believe that the accidents were… heaven-sent calamities.

Shika Kagura was being protected by something divine or mystical.

This became something that Shika's entire class fervently believed in.

Right after, the accident that happened to their class's teacher seemed to verify their belief.

A fire disaster.

Fortunately the house was empty, so nobody in the teacher's family was injured. Even so, their teacher would undoubtedly sustain huge losses, despite the fact that insurance would cover the fire's damage.

As for the cause of the fire… the fire department later determined that it was due to an old iron that had been left on and forgotten after being used to iron some clothes.

However, Year 2 Class 4's middle school students preferred to believe in a different type of explanation.

It was the gods showing their power! They punished… the person who was bothering Shika Kagura.

The beautiful girl who always had a calm expression in class and quietly rejected everyone who made an attempt to talk to her was now secretly called "the holy maiden with divine protection" by the entire class.

Why wasn't she called the "cursed girl" instead?

It was because nobody wished to incur a heaven-sent calamity.

And thus, Shika became completely isolated… just as she wanted from the beginning.

Later, she ended up joining the Literature club.

One of the female club members invited Shika rather forcefully because she always saw Shika reading in the library.

But this female club member was brutally struck in the head during P.E. class by a stray basketball and was knocked unconscious! After that, she never dared to speak to Shika again.

After all the members of Literature club learned about Shika's legend as well as what happened to that female club member, they acted the same way as Year 2 Class 4 and isolated her.

Shika had always remained like this by herself.

Always quiet, calm, and lonely; she never showed pain, or indeed any other emotions at all. It was almost as if she had always wanted it this way.

…

"I thought Kagura-san's inner state was similar to her outer state, an infinite ocean of tranquility. As if… She was merely an eternal observer.

"When she suddenly asked me what it was that changed me, I was actually quite shocked. After all, I'd never spoken to her before that, nor had I ever seen or heard of her ever speaking to anyone of her own volition.

"I know all the stories about her, and why she became isolated. But she was so… calm about it, so I never thought of doing anything to change the situation. I think others feel the same way about this.

"No… Even if we knew that she was actually in pain, we wouldn't do anything… due to fear." Hoshi's voice took on a heavy tone as he continued,"The 'heaven-sent calamities' indeed occurred, even if they were all accidents… But it was precisely because they were all accidents that they were so scary.

"If we approach her, who knows what could happen? We'd encounter unexpected, unpredictable disasters, and…" Hoshi sighed deeply."This is all so frightening. At the very least, I'm scared, even now, although I'm only talking about it."

Hoshi's voice sounded even darker than earlier. He was likely disgusted with his own weakness and powerlessness.

On the other side of the phone, a light smile was displayed on Seiji's face.

"Being scared of unknown disasters is normal. Even for me, something like this… I have no idea how to go about it."

"Senpai…"

"But fortunately, I know someone who might be able to take care of this matter."

"Senpai!"

"But she might not be free right now, and even if she has the spare time, I still don't know if she can really solve this issue," Seiji stated bluntly.

"But you'll try, right, Senpai!?" Hoshi's eyes were sparkling as he proudly supported his senpai.

"Ah, of course." He heard a resolute voice on the other end of the phone.

The conviction in Seiji's voice was the same as when he had been dealing with Hoshi's problem.

Hoshi was incredibly moved.

That was because he felt that he was witnessing the hero's first-ever expedition.

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Chapter 114: Reaper's Curse

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Natsuya Yoruhana didn't pick up her phone when Seiji tried calling her.

Perhaps she was busy or resting. At any rate, this wasn't a good time for her.

Seiji gave up on attempting to contact her. She was probably worried about the upcoming Yin Yang Master duel, so bothering her about another matter seemed inappropriate to him.

Shika Kagura's issue wasn't something that needed to be solved immediately. While he sympathized with her, she had already lived with her condition for a long time, so one or two more days probably wouldn't make a difference.

The most important part was that she herself had given up on asking for help.

Seiji sighed at the situation.

If he was able to meet her again tomorrow and have a discussion again, then he would try contacting Natsuya one more time.

'Let's stop thinking about it for now.'

Seiji returned to his apartment.

After turning on his computer and checking his email, he noticed that Editor Yoshizawa had sent him a message.

The message basically said that his final draft of "I'll Die If I Don't Become Handsome" was excellent and asked whether it was his final version which would be published by Thunderbolt Literature.

If so, he needed to fill out some forms via email.

'Final version to be published… of course, yes.'

Seiji filled out all the necessary applications and sent the confirmation to Editor Yoshizawa.

It was now time for his usual grinding session.

Oh, starting from today, he planned to begin grinding [art] as well…

…

The next day.

Seiji and Mika walked to school together with Kaede Juumonji for the second time.

Kaede began the conversation with normal topics. She didn't talk about anything strange.

Mika, who had mentally prepared herself beforehand, felt this situation was even more unexpected for her.

Seiji, however, considered this to be only natural.

If Kaede acted up every single morning, then that would give him and Mika an excuse to refuse to walk together with her, so of course she wouldn't behave that way.

Since Kaede was making normal conversation, Seiji also responded in turn and smoothly pulled Mika into the conversation.

And so, they reached school with no conflict whatsoever between the trio.

After splitting up from Kaede and meeting up with Chiaki, Seiji suddenly remembered the drama club president's kidnapping… er,"capturing" of Shika Kagura. Did something happen to the drama club president as well then?

"Chiaki, has something unlucky happened in the drama club recently?"

The tomboy blinked in surprise."Why do you suddenly ask?"

"Because I heard some strange rumors… so I just wanted to ask." Seiji acted rather casual about it.

"Hmm…" Chiaki looked deeply at him before running her hand through her hair as she considered things.

"Our demonic vice president has been feeling tons of stress lately due to the upcoming school festival. Her forceful comments and book throwing ability have greatly improved as a result. Everyone in the club has been victims, especially the club president! Does this… count?"

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing this.

"What strange rumors were you talking about?" Chiaki asked a question of her own.

Mika also looked in his direction curiously.

Seiji rubbed his chin.

About Shika Kagura… he felt that it might have something to do with "mystical abilities," so he didn't really want to say it out loud.

"Not much of a big deal, really… Just leave it at that for now. If it becomes something, I'll let you guys know."

Chiaki tilted her head slightly.

Mika reflexively copied her and also tilted her head.

"Okay, that's that, then." The tomboy accepted it for what it was, and didn't pry further into the matter.

The pigtailed girl had a confused expression on her face.

…

In between classes.

Seiji received a call from Natsuya.

"Sorry for not picking up your call yesterday, Harano-kun."

"Not a problem, President. I'm the one who should apologize for bothering you so impulsively when I know you have so much on your plate…"

Natsuya smiled at hearing Seiji's apologetic tone.

"Since you knew all that and still contacted me, it must have been something important."

"Important…? To tell the truth, I don't really know." Seiji paused for a moment."President, do you know the middle school second-year student named Shika Kagura?"

There was nothing but silence on the other end of the phone.

"President?" Seiji had an ominous premonition.

"Shika Kagura… I know her name," Natsuya answered in a calm tone.

Seiji raised his eyebrows.

The president actually knew Shika's name, and had such a tone, which meant…

"She's… a unique existence… but as for you, how did you know about her, Harano-kun?"

"It was like this…"

Seiji gave a brief explanation of what happened last night.

"I see, so she wanted to ask for help." There was a hint of sympathy in the president's voice."But… I'm so sorry, Harano-kun. Nobody will be able to help her."

The commotion from Seiji's fellow classmates having fun, walking around, or chatting with each other during break suddenly seemed to fade into the distance for him.

Seiji frowned.

"Why's that, President?"

Natsuya could tell that Seiji wasn't as calm as he appeared on the surface.

"She's a unique existence, because her problem… isn't one that's solvable, even by mystical abilities.

"It's difficult to explain over the phone, so come on over to the student council office if you would like to know more.

"Although I think that it would be better for you to give up on knowing or doing anything about this…"

"I'll come right away during lunch break; is that fine?" Seiji interrupted her without giving her a chance to finish.

Natsuya remained silent for several seconds.

"Okay."

And so, their conversation ended.

Seiji put away his cell phone and looked out the classroom window up towards the sky.

Dense dark clouds loomed overhead. It seemed like it was about to rain.

…

Lunch break.

Seiji arrived at the student council office.

Natsuya was waiting inside by herself.

"It seems like there'll be bad weather today, Haruta-kun."

"It seems likely it'll rain, President."

The two of them casually conversed about the weather before they both lapsed into silence.

Natsuya sighed.

"Are you angry, Haruta-kun?"

Seiji blinked.

"Not at all; why do you ask?"

"Because I feel like you're angry." Natsuya walked over to the table and began to pour some tea.

Seiji stood where he was as something flashed in his eyes.

"Fine, perhaps I am, just a little." He sighed."But not at you, Prez. I'm angry at… I don't know how to describe it."

"Sit down first and have some tea." Natsuya remained calm.

"Mmm… Thank you."

Both of them sat down and began sipping tea at the round table.

"Shika Kagura…" Natsuya slowly began to talk after she set down her teacup."She was someone that I noticed during my investigation.

"After I confirmed that I was about to be challenged to a Yin Yang Master duel, I investigated every single student that came to this school either this or even last semester… Of course, that didn't include you.

"In order to prevent the enemy from sending a Spirit-branded Retainer as a spy?" Seiji rubbed his chin in contemplation.

Natsuya nodded.

"Yes, this type of example is rather common. Sending a Spirit-branded Retainer into the enemy's defense to obstruct their plans or attack from within are all popular tactics. Only one person stood out from the other students—Shika Kagura.

"Her identity was filled with abnormalities, and as a student she was abnormal as well, to the extreme… This made it obvious she wasn't a spy."

Seiji nodded in understanding.

An enemy's agent who had secretly infiltrated the school would want to avoid standing out more than anything else. Any spy who was ridiculously handsome or beautiful and attracted attention everywhere he or she went like in some television dramas was no better than suicidal.

"Nobody else seemed abnormal, while she was the complete opposite. Although I didn't feel that she would be a Spirit-branded Retainer, I still carried out a deeper investigation on her. Then I discovered… her uniqueness." Natsuya sighed.

"What uniqueness?" Seiji asked in a calm manner.

Natsuya looked directly at his face.

"The 'Reaper's Curse,'" she said in a soft but clear voice."In the realm of Yin Yang Masters, we call it by that name."

Seiji paid attention quietly.

"In this world, every person's actions will have some effect on him or herself, on others, and on the world—some people call this 'karma.'

"According to this explanation, all of these effects and people that produce them are like a huge unstoppable wave, as huge as the ocean—the so-called 'Sea of Karma.'

"Everyone is caught within it, and they create karma and are affected by it… Fortune or misfortune are produced by it as well.

"But within the 'Sea of Karma,' sometimes unique existences similar to whirlpools will appear. They themselves won't be affected, but will affect everyone around them instead…

"'Karma…' Those that come into contact with these special existences will become strongly influenced by 'karma;' they will either meet with great misfortune or fortune, or even sink into chaos.

"The 'Reaper's Curse' is the term for the unique abnormality which affects everyone around the carrier… and brings them misfortune."

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Chapter 115: White Mask

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Abnormality…

'This seems like a scene out of Fate/Grand Order…' Seiji coughed dryly.'I should stop getting sidetracked!'

There was another moment of silence in the student council room.

Seiji finally spoke up again after digesting the information Natsuya had just told him.

"So, there's no way to solve this?"

Natsuya shook her head.

"Nobody know why these abnormalities… how these unique existences came to be. Everything I just said about the 'Sea of Karma' and the 'Reaper's Curse' are actually mere legends, although everybody believes in them.

"Yin Yang Masters can only comprehend their existence and what they can cause. We don't know where these things originate from, or how to deal with them. Perhaps if it was some type of curse— demons or spirits—then that would be within our realm, but this… has far surpassed that. This is more like… a type of natural phenomenon."

A natural phenomenon.

It was like the passing of the seasons, or the changing of the weather?

That girl was carrying such a heavy burden!?

Seiji furrowed his brows.

"In the past… something like the 'Reaper's Curse' must have appeared before, right? Then… what happened in the end?"

Natsuya sighed.

"This type of existence is incredibly rare; there are few records about it, so I'm not sure myself…"

Her expression changed as she came to a sudden realization.

"But there is… one legend."

"What is it?"

"It's a legend about your ancestor, Seimei Kamijou." Natsuya looked directly into Seiji's eyes.

"The legend goes something like this: your ancestor encountered a terrifying demon, whose mere presence brought down calamitous misfortune upon others. He battled with it for seven consecutive days and nights, before succeeding in its suppression. He then spent seventy-four days to positively influence and reform the demon. Finally, he signed a contract with it and turned it into one of his Spirit-branded Retainers.

"This Spirit-branded Retainer was later known as Guren. It was one of your ancestor's 12 highest-ranked Spirit-branded Retainers."

Seiji was unable to formulate a response to all this.

"According to the legend's description of that demon, it possessed something similar or equal to the 'Reaper's Curse.' But at the time, people didn't have a proper understanding of it, and everyone believed it to be a type of curse rather than a natural phenomenon, so its uncertain whether or not it really was the 'Reaper's Curse.'" Natsuya blinked."But even if it was, the only person powerful enough to subdue and coerce it to sign a contract was your ancestor. Nobody else could accomplish such a feat."

"There has never been anyone else like Seimei Kamijou. Nobody in existence before or after him has ever reached the same height as a Yin Yang Master."

Seiji sighed.

"So, you're telling me that the problem cannot be resolved, aren't you?"

"That's right. Even though it's regrettable, nobody will be able to help Shika Kagura…" Natsuya sighed."Including you, Seiji Haruta."

Natsuya's eyes seemed to be trying to tell Seiji something as she said this.

Seiji understood what she meant.

"I got it," he said in a calm tone of voice.

Just as he told Hoshi earlier, there would always be times when he wasn't strong enough.

He wasn't arrogant to the point where he thought he could save everyone.

A while later, Seiji left the student council office.

Natsuya sighed again after she watched him leave.

She could tell Seiji still hadn't quite given up just yet. However, some things were truly impossible to change, and if you forcefully went against the flow, you would only be…

She shook her head.

She already told him everything she should have. She could only hope that he wouldn't do anything foolish now.

Besides, it wasn't a suitable time to be worrying about others.

Natsuya furrowed her brows.

Her own matters… were quite troublesome as well.

Outside the school.

A red-haired girl was standing on the edge of a certain tall building's roof. Her arms were folded as she surveyed the surroundings.

This person was Hitaka Shuho.

Her pupils were colored gold, and wispy waves of red light floated up into the sky from her body. It seemed as if a long red cloak were trailing behind her, adding to her mysterious and beautiful appearance.

"Hurry up and come out, Snow Girl…" She focused intensely on the area below her as she continuously swept her surroundings with her enhanced vision.

"This time… I'll definitely capture you!"

…

Seiji found it difficult to concentrate in his remaining afternoon classes.

Should he go back to the park again tonight?

He already learned that he wouldn't be able to help her. It seemed meaningless to go.

He suddenly noticed that it had started raining outside. He could hear the pitter-patter of raindrops against the window.

'It's already started raining now?'

Seiji idly wondered if the rain would continue into the night. That'd make it even more inconvenient to go.

'It isn't convenient, and it's meaningless as well. There's no point in going… No! There's meaning to it!'

He had made a promise, and promises should be kept.

Even if it was only his side that kept the promise.

At the very least, he wanted the girl who shouldered such a heavy burden to feel someone's compassion, however small.

He was merely going to fulfill a promise.

This was something that he could and should do. That meant that he must do it.

Seiji came to that decision.

…

At a location that wasn't school.

Shika Kagura slowly removed her clothing and put on a different set of clothes.

Her perfect, petite, snow-white body was reflected in the mirror. Her well-developed chest, firm butt, and straight, slender legs all displayed her alluring beauty.

However, all of this was meaningless to her.

'One day, this so-called beauty will end up wilting. Then, I'll turn into the ugly form that I should have originally possessed. If I can live to that time, that is.'

She finished the slow act of putting on her clothes.

'I might as well go now and follow my contractor's orders.'

Shika Kagura took a final look at herself in the mirror, before she slowly wore a white mask over her face.

The mask was completely blank and expressionless.

Just like her inner heart.

She walked outside wearing her mask.

It was currently raining.

Seigo Harano had promised to wait there for her tonight.

Would he still go with how hard it was raining?

If she could go, should she take a look?

Her eyes flickered as she thought about the boy who had reached out his hand to her.

Shika Kagura was unable to come to a decision.

…

The rain continued falling through the night.

Seiji covered himself with an umbrella as he walked to the park and waited by the swings.

Would she come? He was filled with doubt as he quietly waited in the torrential downpour.

If she came, what should he say to her?

'I'm sorry, but your problem is on the scale of a natural disaster attached to you. I can't help you. Nobody can help you…'

Of course he couldn't say something like that!

In that case… was consoling her the only thing he could attempt?

Seiji smiled bitterly to himself.

'I'm still an ordinary person after all. Even with the system being a game-breaking cheat for me, the most I can do is protect myself. Saving others is truly difficult.'

He turned his head to look at the unmoving swing.

In the distant past, he, too, had fantasized about becoming a hero. But as he matured, he understood that true heroes who were able to save everything and everyone didn't exist.

It wasn't possible for them to exist.

Even so, people always hoped things would develop for the best. That was why everyone should strive to do what was within their abilities.

This was a very normal way of thinking… At the very least, this was how he thought.

Seiji contemplated the problem deeply.

Even if she brought misfortune down upon others and was destined to live in isolation, she could still enjoy life.

Isolation didn't equal misfortune. As long as you had things you enjoyed or liked to do, then you could still lead a happy life.

'Yep, let's just give Shika some advice like that!'

I'll tell her about all the various fun things to do in life. She can pick and choose from them… She can do something which she'll enjoy for her entire life!

Poems… if she didn't actually like them, she could try reading stories. If reading stories became boring, she could try manga or anime. Perhaps even movies and games… At any rate…

Boom!!!*

A deafening sound rung out.

Something hurtled down from the sky and crashed into the empty ground in the park.

Seiji was extremely startled as his train of thought was interrupted.

What just happened!?

He squinted, trying to discern what had caused the impact through the dense cloud of dust.

He saw a person wearing strange clothing lay collapsed in a small crater.

A white mask was on that person's face.

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Chapter 116: Rain

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The ground surrounding the figure was sunken in and had begun cracking.

This showed how huge the impact must have been when this person crashed down from the sky.

Seiji slowly approached the person.

'This person… is probably a girl.'

Her clothing… resembled that of a knight from an anime, but it was gray rather than white in color. It didn't expose her cleavage, and there were pieces which appeared to serve as armor strapped on the girl's waist and shoulders.

Her armor was engraved with mysterious runes, which Seiji assumed was some sort of magical spell. When he looked closely at her armor, Seiji could make out the outline of a pentagram and a Yin Yang diagram.

Her skirt reached her knees, and there were slits on both the left and right side. Her shins were also covered in runic plating, and she was wearing white socks and shoes.

Her clothes were tattered; it seemed as if something sharp had sliced them. Seiji noticed dark red fluid seeping out of a few of the tears…

A cosplayer?? No, these clothes didn't seem this simple at all! Besides, she really did fall down from the sky, and she even caused such a large hole to appear in the ground from her impact!!

This was… real.

Seiji took a closer look at her face. It was covered by a white mask, so he couldn't identify her, but… her hairstyle and overall appearance…

"…Shika Kagura?"

Seiji felt a cold chill run down his spine.

He hurriedly approached her and kneeled on one knee, placing his umbrella in order to shield her from the majority of the raindrops. He adjusted her body into a more comfortable position, before slowly supporting her upper body as he carefully removed the mask.

Shika's face was indeed the one underneath the mask.

Her originally beautiful face was now as white as paper. Streams of blood ran down her eyes and mouth. Her eyes were barely open, and her mouth kept opening and closing slightly. It was obvious to see how weak she was.

Seiji widened his eyes in surprise.

It really was her!? How did she become like this!? Was she a Spirit-branded Retainer!? But didn't Natsuya Yoruhana already investigate her, and eliminate the possibility!?

A series of questions flashed through his mind.

"Urk…" The girl in his arms struggled to move.

Seiji instantly came back to his senses.

"Shika Kagura! What's the matter? Hold on! I'll call an ambulance immediately!"

He placed the mask down on the ground as he scrambled for his cell phone.

"Seigo Harano… no need…" a soft voice rang out.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Seiji's hands couldn't help but tremble when he saw her eyes' appearance.

Blood red…

It was already impossible to see Shika's eye pupils. Her eyes had turned completely blood red, and the moment she opened them, a fresh trickle of blood poured out of the corners of her eyes.

"To hell with that! You need to go to a hospital immediately!!" Seiji dialed the emergency number on his cell phone using only one hand.

"It's useless… I'm… about to die…" Shika informed him in a calm voice.

"Don't be stupid! As long as you receive treatment in time, you won't die!!"

However, his phone was unable to connect.

"What's going on!? Connect, you bastard!!" Seiji roared at his phone.

Until he noticed that his phone was showing that there was absolutely no cell phone signal whatsoever here.

No signal!?

This was the middle of a city, not some mountain wilderness or unsettled plains!

"What the hell!? What is this…?" Seiji suddenly thought of a possibility which stifled his tongue."Could it be… are you interfering with the cell phone signal?" He looked at Shika.

Her face was pitiful to look at, but her expression was calm.

Just like usual for her.

"It's a… spell…"

"I don't care what it is! Hurry up and cancel it! Otherwise…"

"It's too late… My… soul…"

Shika suddenly revealed a painful expression as she closed her eyes, which were still dripping fresh blood.

"There's enough time! Hurry up and cancel that… spell or whatever!" Seiji furrowed his brows.

Soul? What happened to her soul?

If Shika's injuries weren't something that a normal hospital could take care of, then even sending her to emergency care would be useless…

'Idiot! I can only know if it's useless after I try it!'

"Seigo Harano…" she called out his name in a soft voice while closing her eyes."You're… a good person…"

"That's my third time hearing that from you! You… you can call me that as many times as you want, as long as you get better. That's why…"

"I don't want to… harm good people…" Shika continued talking with many pauses."But… I always… harm…"

Seiji couldn't find anything to say at this.

"Seeing… those… that care… about me… in pain… pains me… So that's why… I don't need… anyone… to care about me… It's fine… if… I'm alone…"

Seiji chest throbbed with pain.

What was this…? He was na?ve enough to believe being isolated could still bring her happiness…

What was all this about isolation not equaling misfortune, and thinking that having a hobby which you enjoyed was all that was needed!?

Such thoughts were ridiculous!

'I… I'm such an idiot!!'

"Being by yourself… isn't good at all!" he said forcefully."When you're sad, nobody will console you; when you're happy, you can't share it with anyone; when you're angry, nobody will coax you; when you're scared, there's nobody to rely on…"

"Humans… need family and friends… So… don't say that it's fine to be by yourself. Don't… leave this world all by your lonesome…" Seiji paused mid-speech."Live! Live!! Find friends!!!"

He was basically roaring at this point.

Shika widened her eyes ever so slightly.

"Friends… Impossible…"

"There will be! Right now… right in front of you, there's one right now!"

Seiji put down his cell phone as he grabbed her tiny hands.

They were icy cold and startlingly soft…

"I'll be your friend! I am your friend!! That's why you must live! We… still need to do so many things together!!"

"We can chat together, read books together, browse manga together, go shopping together, watch movies together, play games together… There are so many fun things we can do together!!"

His shouting seemed to echo in the cold rain.

The girl whose body was turning ice cold felt a sliver of warmth.

Shika slowly began to smile.

"Friends… are so nice…" she rasped."Can I… really… have one?"

"Of course! I'm right here, aren't I!?" Seiji looked directly at her wan yet still beautiful and moving smile."So don't be in a rush to die; tell me how to save you! I'll absolutely do it!!"

"…Sorry… It's impossible…"

Shika's voice became almost imperceptible.

"My older brother's… coming for me…"

Older brother?

"I'm… going to leave together with him…"

Seiji felt a chill over his entire body.

The girl in his arms was rapidly losing all warmth from her body.

"Don't go! You can do it!! You can live!!!"

"…Thank you…"

Shika's smile seemed to become even softer and more brilliant.

It was almost as if she were showing off her pure untainted soul in her final moments.

"Farewell… My only…"

"…Friend…"

Her body turned into nothing but pure iciness.

Seiji's expression froze over.

The rain pounded down with increased intensity.

However, he could barely hear the sound of raindrops right now.

He closed his eyes and lifted his face up towards the sky.

"DAMN IT ALL!!!"

He couldn't do anything but vent the indescribable emotions bursting from his chest.

He didn't know what just happened, or what he should do.

He could load, but how was he supposed to save this girl in front of him?

'Someone… tell me!!'

Boom!!!*

Almost as if in answer to his shouting, another loud sound resounded from a place nearly adjacent to Seiji.

He turned around to look at the new arrival.

He saw a red-haired girl who was wearing clothing similar to Shika Kagura's.

But her appearance… something seemed unsettling about it.

Seiji recognized her.

She was Hitaka Shuho, Natsuya Yoruhana's Spirit-branded Retainer.

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Chapter 117: Plot

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Hitaka Shuho was wearing a red dress with front side-slits. She was clad in black armor, and underneath her dress she wore shorts with stockings. While her clothes were also somewhat tattered, they had sustained relatively little damage compared to Shika Kagura's clothing.

The rain glanced away from her body; presumably she was shielded by some invisible barrier.

However, this wasn't the important thing right now.

She was wielding a longsword with her right hand. The sharp blade was etched with runes and blood dripped down from its edge and tip.

In her left hand she held a gun. This gun was larger than the average handgun, and similar to the longsword, it was also engraved with runes. Seiji saw a pentagram and various crisscrossing lines which shone with a faint green glow on the gun's body.

But this wasn't the important thing either.

The important part was her expression.

The… veins on her forehead—or at least Seiji assumed they were veins—were bulging and squirming strangely. She currently looked was shockingly fierce and strange due to this phenomenon.

Her bloodshot eyes were filled with a distant sense of iciness.

Just the way she stood there on the cracked ground caused her to emit an almost tangible frosty pressure.

"Shuho…san?" Seiji called out to her.

He had an ominous premonition.

Hitaka didn't respond to his greeting and walked towards him with a hollow look in her eyes.

One step, two steps.

She suddenly revealed a pained expression, and her expression contorted.

Her left hand let go of that mysterious gun, but it disappeared in a flash of green light before it could hit the ground. Then, she clutched at her face in a way that indicated she was suffering.

"Shuho-san, what's the matter…?"

This time, the red-haired girl finally turned her gaze towards Seiji.

"Seiji… Haruta… why… are you here!?"

'She finally recognized me.' Seiji blinked and was about to speak up.

"That's… Snow Girl… What's… the relationship between you and her!?"

A strange light flashed through Hitaka's eyes as she suddenly raised the longsword in her hand.

Snow Girl?

Seiji's mind raced at top speed.

Shika Kagura was the Spirit-branded Retainer which Natsuya and Hitaka had desperately been trying to find and obstruct!? No… that was impossible! Natsuya had already investigated her background and eliminated Shika from her list of suspects!

'That can only mean one thing: Snow Girls… there must be two of them!'

Seiji finally understood.

The Snow Girl who had spread the energy-draining drug and froze people to death was one Snow Girl retainer.

And Shika Kagura, who had entered school and tried to live an ordinary school life, was another Snow Girl.

Shika never did anything strange at school and tried to lead as normal a life as possible for her. That was why Natsuya had been unable to detect Shika's true identity.

But when Natsuya's detection spell activated and Hitaka set out to stop Snow Girl, the two Snow Girls exchanged places!

And so, Shika Kagura who shouldn't have been a suspect anymore was the one who ended up fighting with Hitaka Shuho.

Shika possessed the "Reaper's Curse."

In that case, since Hitaka had injured Shika to the point of death, what would happen to Hitaka…

"Answer me, Haruta!!" Hitaka screamed at Seiji.

It was evident that her current state was abnormal.

"Calm down, Shuho-san… Hitaka Shuho! I'm not your enemy!" Seiji said in a loud voice. "I've figured it out; you might have made a mistake… You've fallen into a trap!"

"Trap… Me?" Hitaka clutched at her face again. "I can't… fall into a trap… I can't fail… for Milady's sake…

"Wahh… AHHHH!!!!" she shouted in pain.

However, she suddenly stopped.

Seiji's ominous premonition grew even stronger.

The red-haired girl slowly allowed her hands to fall down as her eyes turned empty and hollow again, displaying an incomparable iciness.

Pressure… or some sort of formless energy seemed to be pressing down on Seiji!

He almost felt like throwing up.

The next second.

The red-haired girl disappeared from where she was standing and reappeared right before Seiji in a flash, her sword raised… and she swung at him!

[Bullet Time] activation!

Seiji saw the sword speeding towards his neck.

He managed to dodge it in the nick of time by rolling on the ground.

Slash!*

Even though Hitaka's sword clearly didn't touch the ground, a deep crevice appeared in the direction she had swung her sword!

Seiji stood up as fast as possible and backed away from her in an attempt to put some distance between them.

Hitaka woodenly looked towards him and was about to step forward again when she revealed yet another pained expression.

Her right hand loosened its grip on the longsword as it dropped and disappeared in a green flash just like the gun before it.

"Wahhhhhhhh!!" Hitaka clutched her face and screamed at the top of her lungs.

Seiji carefully observed her from a good distance.

He might as well… load now.

This was all he could do.

Just as he was about to load and leave this place, Hitaka's shouting stopped.

"Ahh… Haruta-sama…" she said in a soft tone which was unfamiliar to Seiji.

Seiji paused for a moment in surprise.

Hitaka slowly removed her hands from her face. In her eyes was a look that Seiji had never seen her have before.

"I am the spirit… Inugami…" the hoarse voice stated.

Inugami? [Note: Inugami is a Dog Spirit.]

"My contractor… can no longer… be saved…"

Seiji furrowed his brows.

"She can't be saved… is it because she killed the person possessing the 'Reaper's Curse?'"

Hitaka… No, Inugami nodded while controlling the red-haired girl's body with that painfully distorted expression.

"As Haruta-sama… stated… this… was a trap. Kill my… contractor… otherwise…"

Her right hand reached out and suddenly dragged the longsword out from some pocket dimension. She then tossed the sword to Seiji.

The sword twirled through midair and landed right at his feet.

"Hurry up… kill me…"

Seiji took a look at the longsword before turning back to Inugami/Hitaka.

"I won't do it."

'I'll save you all.'

He said the last sentence in his heart.

Then, he loaded.

The world sank into darkness before lighting up again.

Seiji returned to early morning when he had just woken up. It was his habit to make a save file every morning.

He slowly turned to look outside the window and saw that the weather was foreboding today with dark clouds in the sky.

He shut his eyes and sighed.

…

Just like the last time he went through this day, he went together with Mika and Kaede to school.

Seiji gave Hoshi a call after reaching school. He asked Hoshi to check Year 2 Class 4 to see if Shika Kagura had come to class today.

Hoshi happily accepted this task.

A few minutes later, he called Seiji back and reported that… Shika Kagura hadn't come today. She claimed to be sick.

Later, once again.

Just like last time, Seiji received a call from Natsuya, and heard her explanation in the student council office.

This time, he didn't leave as soon as last time.

"President, you investigated Shika Kagura and discovered her abnormality… but you didn't do anything else. This means that you must have completely eliminated the possibility of her being a hostile Spirit-branded Retainer," Seiji stated. "Can I ask just how you confirmed this?"

Natsuya blinked in surprise.

"Apart from investigating her personal traits, I also sent someone to follow her every movement. I'm certain that she didn't do anything while the enemy Spirit-branded Retainer was active. She definitely didn't disappear or do anything else which seemed suspicious.

Seiji nodded.

"This does seem to eliminate the possibility that she's that Snow Girl. However… I still feel like there's something strange about it all.

"President, you should be able to feel it as well, right? A special existence like Shika Kagura transferring in to Genhana High School right at this period of time… Do you really believe it's just a simple coincidence?"

Natsuya slowly began to furrow her brows.

"Haruta-kun, what do you mean?"

He was waiting for this.

Seiji took a deep breath.

"I… smell a plot behind all this."

Natsuya was rendered speechless by this sudden revelation.

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Chapter 118: Trojan Horse

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The wooden horse of Troy.

This was a legendary story that was quite the simple tale.

The Greeks had difficulties conquering the city of Troy, so they pretended to retreat ignominiously, leaving only a huge wooden horse behind.

The Trojans took the horse back inside their city with them. Later that night, the Greeks emerged from the secret compartment within the horse, easily overwhelmed the soldiers defending the city's gates, and opened the gates for more soldiers to pour in, ultimately achieving victory.

Seiji felt this story had many weaknesses to it.

That was the simplified version of the story. There was a more complex one called The Odyssey, but there was no need to go into so much detail.

At any rate, Seiji felt that it was a subtly strange story. He didn't understand why it was considered a classic back in his previous world.

But the Trojan Horse strategy was a definite strategy that came from this anecdote.

Seiji felt this ancient legend from his original world was quite fitting to describe the current situation.

Genaha High School was akin to Troy, while Shika Kagura was the Trojan Horse—a special existence which stood out way too much.

This type of special existence… the "Reaper's Curse" would definitely attract any Yin Yang Master's attention, making her seem like she wasn't a spy sent by the enemy.

Of course, Natsuya Yoruhana wasn't anywhere close to being as stupid as the Trojans. She investigated this "Trojan Horse" properly and didn't find any problems.

But what if this was the enemy's intention all along?

The enemy… Natsuya's unknown opponent might never have intended for Shika Kagura to do anything at school in the first place.

As long as the "Reaper's Curse" stayed within the school, even without doing anything herself, she might cause some incidents which would attract Natsuya's attention and distract her from focusing on other important things such as maintaining the school's spell formations… and so on.

The best part about this move was the fact that even if it didn't work, the enemy still had another trick up their sleeve.

Shika and the unknown Snow Girl who was actually behind the incidents could swap with each other at a critical time to face Hitaka Shuho, the Spirit-branded Retainer which Natsuya would inevitably send out.

This way, Hitaka would unknowingly do battle with the "Reaper's Curse," and harm Shika, or even…

Just getting close to Shika Kagura could cause calamitous misfortunes to fall upon someone, so if a person injured her… or even killed her, what would happen?

…

Natsuya's face slowly turned ashen white as she attentively listened to Seiji's "inference."

"Haruta-kun… There's something I still haven't told you yet," she started slowly. "Actually… every single student and teacher at Genhana is meaningful to my spell formation here.

"They… provide spiritual energy for my formation, and the spell formation also has the… responsibility to protect them."

Seiji raised his eyebrows at hearing this.

"Hitaka… and Rana are the defenders of this spell formation, and they'll be strengthened within it, as well as having the same responsibilities as the spell formation."

Natsuya slowly began clutching her own arms.

"That is to say, they're the defenders of all the teachers and students at Genhana High School. And Shika Kagura… the 'Reaper's Curse,' is also considered a normal student of Genhana High School."

"If she changes places with the Snow Girl retainer, fights with Hitaka, and ends up dying by Hitaka's hands…"

The student council president's body was trembling slightly.

"What will happen?" Seiji furrowed his brows, but kept his tone of voice calm.

Natsuya looked directly at Seiji's face.

"Hitaka… will definitely die! And it will affect the entire spell formation… the entire school! Every single student and teacher at Genhana High School… might have catastrophes befall them!"

Her complexion was ashen at this point.

Although Seiji's expression remained calm apart from his furrowed brows, he slowly began to clench his fists under the table.

"It seems that my guess was closer to the truth than I expected."

Something flashed in Natsuya's eyes as she nodded.

"Yes, I… didn't even notice this blind spot. But this is… too frightening. If the enemy does things to such a degree… they won't get off lightly either."

Seiji blinked.

"I don't know what type of person your enemy is, nor do I know the average moral standards of Yin Yang Masters, or more specifically, their morals for duels.

"But I believe that blindly trusting the enemy… and ignoring something so terribly possible is beyond naivety."

It was stupidity.

Natsuya understood his unstated meaning.

She was praising him in her heart.

"I'll contact Hitaka immediately to tell her to be cautious when looking for the Snow Girl retainer!"

The president stood up from her chair.

"We also need to pay attention to Shika Kagura's current movements," Seiji said.

He didn't mention that he'd already found out Shika hadn't come to school today. After all, he had set back time. To the president, he came up with his "educated guess" right after hearing about the "Reaper's Curse" for the first time.

Natsuya nodded once more.

"Thank you so much, Haruta-kun. No matter if your guess is true or not, you've been a great help."

She showed a sincere smile.

"I… owe you yet another favor."

Seiji smiled back at her.

"Don't mention it, President. If what I just thought of is real, then my reminder for you is actually helping to save myself… and my friends.

"Oh, by the way…" He finally thought of another topic. "President, you made the entire school's students and teachers… unknowingly become part of your spell formation. Isn't this a little…"

Natsuya's expression froze over.

She averted her gaze as her cheeks began to flush red. It was evident that she was panicking.

"I… I know, this is a little overboard… but… there was no other way. This was the only method I could make the school into a spell formation…

"I only let the students and teachers provide a minor amount of spiritual energy without them knowing it. No harm will be done to them. The only reason they might have been affected this time was because of the 'Reaper's Curse…'

"Besides, the spell formation will also protect them in return… It won't let them get attacked by any type of demons or spirits… that's why…"

Seiji looked at her quietly.

"Wah… Sorry…"

Natsuya Yoruhana, the student council president that everyone at Genhana High School idolized, the young missus with long straight black hair, was crying.

"I'm so sorry, I…"

"Yep, I've received your apology. I forgive you." Seiji nodded.

"…Eh?" The young missus with long, straight black hair paused in surprise.

"I trust in your strength of character. Even though I haven't known you for all that long, I believe in my own judgement of you."

Seiji showed a smile to Natsuya.

"You… are actually a gentle girl."

'Probably… one of the kinder Yin Yang Masters around.'

Natsuya Yoruhana was stunned.

Faced with his handsome smile and gentle words, her face started burning up for an entirely different reason.

"Er… Um… Thank you…"

She barely managed to stammer out those words as she hurriedly turned around.

Her face was so hot to the touch.

Her heartbeat was also way too quick.

Why… was this?

The young missus didn't understand.

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Chapter 119: Older Brother

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Natsuya Yoruhana didn't understand this feeling… or perhaps she didn't have the time to consider it.

She was currently preoccupied and lacked the time to pay her emotions a large amount of attention.

After instantly regaining her senses, she turned around, took out her cell phone, and began dialing as she walked to the window.

Seiji looked at her back silently.

With this, he figured that the situation wouldn't develop like last time.

The memory of Shika's death and Hitaka's crazed appearance after losing control of herself flashed through his mind.

Now, Natsuya would instruct Hitaka to carefully ensure that she was pursuing the correct "Snow Girl" in addition to tracking Shika Kagura's movements. This would confirm that his so-called "guess" was actually correct!

The enemy Yin Yang Master utilized such a vicious, underhanded plot… If the ploy succeeded, it meant that he or she was willing to sacrifice Shika, their own retainer, in order to destroy Natsuya's spell formation. They were unconcerned about the ripple effect, which would cause calamities to befall every single ordinary student at Genhana High School. Someone who would go so far to achieve victory could only be described as evil.

Seiji felt a sense of rage towards this unknown person.

He wasn't very knowledgeable about Yin Yang Masters and their morals, but judging from Natsuya's reaction, this probably counted as something contemptible even by their standards.

At any rate, Seiji believed that if an incident huge enough to affect the safety of all the students in Genhana High School was still considered "normal," then Yin Yang Masters would never be able to hide their existence on Sakura Island in the first place!

In summary, the enemy Yin Yang Master's plan was far from "ordinary."

Just why, and for what, was that bastard going to such a degree for?

Seiji didn't know, nor did he want to know, nor did he need to know.

He was a student at Genhana, and all his friends studied here as well.

The moment that this bastard decided on such a malicious plot, he or she became Seiji's enemy.

Besides, he personally witnessed the result of this malicious plot's successful outcome.

The way Shika's body was sapped of all warmth as she died, and her final words which were so pure…

Hitaka Shuho, who single-mindedly fought for Natsuya's sake, but ended up going crazy in such an unseemly fashion…

If it weren't for the fact that he had the ability to save and load, the continuance of this plot would only result in him being forced to personally slay Hitaka, then watch as he and the entire school's students had terrible catastrophes come for them one after the other; a tragic ending, so to speak.

The cause behind all this was that… currently still-unknown Yin Yang Master!

For himself, and for his friends, he… Seiji Haruta was definitely going to kill off that bastard!!

No, he should say instead that he needed to assist Natsuya Yoruhana in killing off that bastard.

Very good; target locked on.

At this moment, Seiji's eyes were burning with fervor.

Outside the school.

Hitaka Shuho received a phone call from her young missus.

They were still able to use cell phones as they hadn't deployed the anti-communication spell yet. Although they had more effective and reliable communication methods available to them, they wouldn't use such a method unless it was a special time such as in the midst of battle in order to save spiritual energy.

After hearing what Natsuya had to tell her, she felt chills running down her spine as she considered it for herself.

'If this is really the situation, then this plot is truly a malicious one!' Hitaka concluded.

Hitaka attempted to imagine the consequences of her falling for such a plot. In the end, the spell formation would… and the entire school's teachers and students would be affected as well, and even her young missus…

She couldn't help but shiver.

This was far too frightening.

Thankfully, her missus thought about this possibility and warned her.

Otherwise, she might have really fallen for such a trap… if this trap was real.

Even though she wasn't certain yet, Hitaka instinctively perceived that "Natsuya's" guess was on the mark!

That was what her intuition told her.

She definitely needed to be cautious about stopping that Snow Girl retainer!

The red-haired girl who had been so full of battle spirit calmed down significantly due to receiving this phone call.

"Snow Girl… The 'Reaper's Curse…'"

In the student council room.

After calling Hitaka Shuho, Natsuya Yoruhana immediately sent someone to check on Shika Kagura's whereabouts.

After making the appropriate arrangements, she finally hung up her call and turned around to face Seiji once more.

As she observed his face, her heart surged with emotions, but she instantly quelled the complicated feelings which rose up within her.

She smiled at him.

"I've finished the preparations."

Seiji nodded and smiled in return.

"That's good then… No matter what the result is, please inform me on Shika Kagura's activities."

"Sure thing, if you'd like to know."

"Yep… I'm leaving now, then."

Everything was finished here. Seiji turned around to leave.

Natsuya blinked and slowly rubbed her chest as she watched him walk out of the room.

"Haruta-kun…"

…

Later that night.

Just like the previous iteration, it was raining.

Just like the previous time, Seiji had brought an umbrella to the park.

He was filled with worry as he stared at the thick, dark rainclouds.

'I hope… it won't be like that again.'

Before classes had ended, Natsuya called him and told him of her attempt at establishing Shika's whereabouts.

Unsurprisingly, she was unable to locate the middle school girl who was pretending to be on sick leave anywhere.

Oh, more accurately, Seiji was the one who wasn't surprised.

In Natsuya's mind, this increased the probability that Seiji's "theory" was correct, but it wasn't 100% confirmed yet.

But by now, she should be able to confirm it… if Hitaka was able to do a good job.

Seiji could only put his trust in the red-haired girl now.

He silently stood by the swings and waited.

The rain kept up its torrential downpour.

And then, finally…

Boom!!*

Just like last time… no; this time, the sound wasn't as loud as before!

The silvery-gray figure descended from the sky and caused the ground to crack.

She was half kneeling.

She hadn't collapsed.

And…

She wasn't wearing a mask!

"Shika Kagura!"

Seiji shouted out her name as he clearly saw who she was.

That white mask from last time was missing, and her beautiful face could clearly be seen!

What did this mean?

It meant that Hitaka must have removed her mask while fighting with her!

After Natsuya's warning, Hitaka must have aimed for Shika's mask first in order to confirm her identity; that way she wouldn't go all-out from the start!

Then, Shika was now…

The girl, who was still slightly dazed from her recent battle, turned around as she heard someone shout her name.

She saw Seiji's tall figure standing there.

His handsome face didn't display astonishment or fear, like she'd expected.

His emotions were more complex than that; he showed worry and relief…

Why was that?

Shika couldn't help but wonder, even though her mind had not yet regained full function.

But in the next few moments, all her doubts were washed away.

That was because he instantly ran to her side, chucking away his umbrella as he kneeled on one knee and pulled her into his embrace!

She was being hugged.

To Shika Kagura, this was something she hadn't experienced in far too long… Not since her hazy childhood memories.

Those hazy memories suddenly became a lot clearer.

Hugs felt so firm, so warm, this concrete feeling…

"This is wonderful…"

A gentle voice sounded by her ears.

The sound of rainwater seemed to diminish somehow as the entire world grew quiet. This gentle voice was all she could hear.

"You… came…"

His voice was filled with relief and satisfaction as she'd come here, was standing here, and existed here.

'Wonderful. You were here.'

Her distant memories overlapped with this moment.

Shika felt like both her entire body and soul were being warmed up.

Her eyes started tearing up as she was unable to control herself anymore.

Within the depths of her body and soul, something black and white, icy, and lonely; something which had been sealed for so long was finally released.

Together with her tears.

A voice that she had sealed away for so long spoke out from within her innermost soul.

'I-I'm right here. I'm so happy… that you found me…'

'Big brother…'

Chapter 120: Fake Brother

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

When Seiji regained his senses, he discovered that Shika was in his embrace.

'I actually did such a thing!?'

He was shocked at his own actions.

He discovered that he was more worried about her than he had previously believed.

Once again, he thought back to those… innocent dying words of hers.

As she lay there dying, she never complained about any of the difficulties that she faced.

She had plenty of right to complain or to hate this unreasonably cruel world.

But she didn't.

She only smiled.

At him… saying farewell to her only friend in the world.

Like this… for such a girl… such a death… How could he possibly accept it!?

Seiji was unable to accept it.

That was why he was unable to… control himself when he saw her alive and well in front of him again.

He went up to her, kneeled, and hugged her.

She must be confused at this situation.

Perhaps… he would be pushed away by her.

Seiji laughed wryly at himself in his heart.

However, he didn't let go.

'This is wonderful.'

He had wanted to say that she was fine… but he changed it in the end to "you came."

You came, you're safe, and you're here. How wonderful…

Seiji was attempting to transmit his emotions.

At the same time, he also mentally prepared himself for him to be shoved aside.

Instead…

No fist, foot, or any type of beating awaited him.

Shika Kagura didn't resist at all.

Rather, she also reached out and hugged him!

"Older brother…"

Older brother?

Seiji paused in surprise at hearing her call him this.

"My older brother's… coming for me…" Those were the words she spoke last as she died during the last iteration.

Her "older brother…" Seiji assumed this older brother was once a truly important figure in her life, but he'd already passed away.

Was she mistaking me for her older brother?

'Are her injuries that serious?' Seiji's heart skipped a beat as he imagined it.

No, that wasn't it! When she came down from the sky, she could still stand… and now she was still kneeling on one knee! It meant that she still had some energy!

It was just… perhaps she received some type of impact, and she temporarily… wasn't in full possession of her faculties… something like this.

'Yes, that must be it. That was why she didn't push me away. I've become someone else in her eyes.'

Seiji was certain of this.

"Older brother… Older brother…" A soft and gentle voice was calling to him.

Seiji blinked.

"Yep… your older brother… is right here."

He decided to pretend to be her older brother.

Even if this was only a temporary fantasy, he decided to allow this girl to feel a sense of familial warmth, however brief.

She… must have not felt it for such a long time already.

"It's okay. Everything will be fine. Your older brother… has always been by your side and will always accompany you. You… are not alone."

Seiji hugged her while speaking in the gentlest deep voice he possibly could.

He wished that his words would console her lonely heart at least a little.

"Older brother… Wahh… Older brother… Wahh…"

She began to sob lightly.

"Wahh… Ahh… Ahhhh!"

Her crying began to increase in intensity.

After a while, Shika Kagura was weeping in her loudest possible voice as she clung on to the warm, strong body in front of her.

This was crying that came from her soul.

Her older brother was here.

Her older brother had found her.

Her older brother would always accompany her.

She… was no longer by herself…

A huge warm feeling seemed to envelop her entire world and fill her heart.

It squeezed out the iciness, loneliness, and her original distant attitude.

It turned into unstoppable crying.

It turned into a never-ending flow of tears.

'Just what type of crying is this?'

Seiji trembled as he listened to her crying.

It seemed like her crying was venting all her cold, dark feelings… Just how deep did they run…

Was she always shouldering such a burden?

By herself.

On her own.

In calmness.

She suppressed her feelings… and treated it as normal.

Seiji felt terrible just thinking about it.

The only thing he could do for her right now was hug her tightly and accept her crying.

Even if… he was only temporarily her fake brother.

Rain continued to pour down from the sky.

Tears continued to pour down the girl's cheeks.

Coldness.

Warmth.

Everything dissolved together.

…

The crying continued for a long period of time, before it finally came to a slow halt.

Shika's hands also slowly fell downward from where she had been holding on to Seiji.

Seiji became nervous at this situation.

He hurriedly let go of her and inspected her face.

Shika's eyes were closed, and she was silent. Despite her pallid complexion, it was clear that she was still alive.

"Relax… she merely fell unconscious."

Someone spoke up behind him.

Seiji turned around to see who it was.

He saw the red-haired girl standing there.

"Shuho-san…"

Hitaka Shuho had basically the same appearance as last time.

The difference was that veins weren't bulging from her face, and her eyes were golden and calm. Nor was she wielding a weapon at the moment.

She hadn't gone crazy or lost control of herself.

"I learned from Milady… everything is thanks to your help, Harano… Haruta-kun." She walked towards Seiji as she spoke. "It was your inference that avoided… something disastrous from occurring."

The red-haired girl's voice contained a sliver of fear.

Thanks to Seiji's warning to the president, she had held back when fighting. President Yoruhana also acted swiftly and went through the procedure to remove the 'Reaper's Curse' student from her status as a student, temporarily expelling her so that she was no longer a "Genhana student." This way Hitaka wouldn't feel any repercussions from the spell formation for having raised her hand against a student that she was supposed to have been protecting, which would inflict the 'Reaper's Curse' upon the entire school's population and spell formation.

That's why, even though she… even though Hitaka Shuho would probably still have some calamity befall her due to having fought with and injuring the 'Reaper's Curse,' it was a much better situation than falling for the enemy's trap and having things turn into the worst-case scenario.

"Shika Kagura… just as you believed, she was the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer, and the spirit she fused with was also Snow Girl. But she wasn't the Snow Girl who carried out all the dirty work for the enemy. Milady confirmed that already; Shika was definitely still at school when the enemy Snow Girl was active."

"That's why… we had a blind spot.

"We already eliminated Shika Kagura from our list of suspects, so we never expected her to be a Spirit-branded Retainer, not to mention a second Snow Girl!"

Hitaka sighed.

"Milady… and I, we both fell for the enemy's trap… If it weren't for you, I'm afraid that…"

Hitaka lowered her head.

She lifted it back up quickly again.

Then she lowered her head again… this time in a bow.

"Thank you so much, Haruta-kun."

'I owe you my life,' she whispered to herself in her mind.

Seiji smiled at Hitaka.

"No need to be so polite, Shuho-san. I'm so happy… that you're safe."

A strange light flashed in Hitaka's eyes as she slowly lifted her head and straightened her stance once more as she listened to Seiji's sincere words.

She walked up to him and made a mysterious gesture with her hand. After forming some type of "seal," she uttered an incantation.

Seiji instantly felt a warm feeling wash over him as the chill from the rainwater disappeared.

His wet clothes quickly became dry… Shika's clothes were the same as well.

"Thank you."

"There's no need for thanks."

He exchanged glances with Hitaka, and both of them remained silent for a while.

Hitaka shifted her gaze to Shika.

"You… seem to place a great deal of importance on her."

"Yeah… I'm surprised at it myself," Seiji answered honestly.

"You and her… you don't know each other very well, right?"

"That's right. This is just my third time meeting her. We've barely even talked."

"Then… just why?" The red-haired girl seemed slightly perplexed.

"I don't know either!" Seiji forced himself to inject spirit into his voice. "But that's just how it is… I feel it's rather strange as well, but that's just how things are, as you can see for yourself!"

Hitaka found no words to respond to this.

"If I had to come up with some forceful reason, it would be… I think that Shika is a nice girl. She shouldn't… be like the way she is…" Seeing the vacant expression on Hitaka's face, Seiji tried his best to justify himself.

"Oh…" Hitaka still couldn't comprehend Seiji's actions.

But there was a strange feeling inside her chest.

How to describe this feeling? Hmm…

She tilted her head slightly as she considered it, and she had a sudden flash of inspiration as she found the word she believed she was looking for.

This word perfectly described a boy who had underhanded motives for showing an abnormal level of affection towards a beautiful girl that he hadn't known for all that long—

"Pervert."

Seiji was rendered speechless by this.

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Chapter 121: Come Hug Me!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

'Hey, hey, what's with this sudden character assassination!?'

But… it even seemed reasonable on the surface. Seiji found it difficult to counter Hitaka's statement.

Being so affectionate with a beautiful girl who he was still unfamiliar with… This indeed seemed like…

'No, I'm not!' he denied vehemently. 'Perverts… have dirty minds! Mine is pure!!'

Hitaka regarded him coolly.

Seiji looked back at her, his expression calm.

Inwardly, however, Seiji was having a mental collapse.

"I still don't quite understand." If this was a manga, there would surely be a series of question marks above the red-haired girl's head.

"Then please don't follow this line of thought anymore, and ignore it," Seiji begged sincerely.

"Alright."

"Thank you."

After a puzzling silence.

"What should we do now?" Seiji asked seriously, forcing himself to forget the little awkward episode.

Somehow, taking Shika Kagura to a hospital and returning home didn't seem like a good idea.

"We'll take her back to Milady," Hitaka stated.

Seiji nodded in agreement. This seemed like a reasonable development.

Seiji seemed to think of something else, as he looked at the cracked ground from Shika's landing dubiously.

"Don't worry; the 'Cleaners' will take care of it," Hitaka said.

'Cleaners?' Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

This definitely didn't sound like a janitor or anything like that…

'Forget it; since Hitaka said it wasn't necessary to worry, I shouldn't think too much about it.'

…

A seemingly ordinary three-story building was located in the eastern part of Genhana High School's grounds.

This was Natsuya Yoruhana, Hitaka Shuho, and… Rana Kirin's residence.

More accurately speaking, this was their temporary residence due to the current situation.

Seiji looked outside the window as he slowly sipped from the cup of hot tea in his hand.

The warm tea slid down his throat, giving him a soothing feeling.

A short while after they'd left the park together, Seiji, Hitaka, and Shika were picked up by a black luxury car, the latter being carried in Seiji's arms.

The driver was a brown-haired woman who wore dark grey professional clothing.

After getting on the car, the driver took them to this residence.

As Seiji lifted Shika out the car, he saw Natsuya awaiting their arrival outside the door of the building…

Footsteps sounded from behind him, interrupting Seiji's musings.

Seiji turned around and saw President Yoruhana.

"How… is she?"

"Her injuries aren't too serious. I've had them treated already," Natsuya stated in a light voice as she walked to the table, took a teacup, and poured herself a cup of hot tea from the kettle.

"At the same time, I also sealed her powers as a Spirit-branded Retainer."

After her red lips blew twice on the hot tea, she took a sip.

"After she wakes up, I have some questions to ask her…"

"Information gathering… Of course." Seiji put down his cup as he finished the tea. "But I doubt that she'll have any useful information."

Natsuya remained silent for a few moments, before sighing.

"You're probably right, Haruta-kun." Judging from the part she played in the enemy's plot, as well as… the battle clothes she was wearing, it can be deduced that she was nothing more than a chess piece to be used and discarded by the enemy."

Seiji raised his eyebrows.

"Her… battle clothes?"

"The formal name for these clothes is 'Standard Retainer Combat Equipment…' As you saw for yourself, Hitaka was also wearing a similar type, but the specific… details were different," Natsuya explained.

"Their clothes did seem quite similar, just with different colors." Seiji thought back to what both of them had been wearing.

"This is the standard form, and most of them will greatly resemble each other. The differences come from… each Spirit-branded Retainer's individual differences, so they normally have appropriate customizations." Natsuya paused for a moment. "I inspected Shika Kagura's battle clothes closely and found no customizations whatsoever. Apart from the fact that she was wearing the correct size, it was just the standard basic model with absolutely no modifications."

"Not only that, it was also of rather low quality."

Seiji mulled over Natsuya's words in silence.

Of course, he wasn't familiar with the equipment that Spirit-branded Retainers used for combat, but it wasn't hard for him to understand what the president had just told him.

Shika's equipment was basically the lowest-level starting gear that was available!

In tandem with the role she played in the enemy's plot, it was certain that she was nothing more than…

Seiji slowly began frowning.

Even though he already expected this, confirming it still gave him a sense of discomfort.

"She probably won't have any useful information, but even the very basics are helpful to me since I still don't know anything… If I can find out just this much, then our actions tonight won't have been wasted."

Natsuya continued sipping from her tea.

"Such as your enemy's name and identity?" Seiji folded his arms.

An indescribable light flashed through Natsuya's eyes.

"Yes, that's the most basic information, and it's what I am most eager to know."

"I'd also really like to know what type of bastard would use such a malicious plot," Seiji said lightly.

There was a momentary silence between the two.

"Haruta-kun, I can understand your anger, but…"

"I'm already deeply involved, President Yoruhana."

He looked deeply at her face.

"I feel that I can't back out of this anymore… alright, fine, I don't want to back out of this, and I want to get even more involved. That bastard used a plot which would have dire consequences for every teacher and student at our entire school! Just this alone means that I can't just ignore this situation and idly stand by… This isn't because I doubt your strength or Hitaka's abilities, it's just that I want to be able to do something as well, otherwise I won't be able to rest assured."

"There's also another reason—what happened to Shika Kagura was unacceptable."

"I sympathize with her, and I feel rage at the way she was treated… In summary, I want to give this enemy a vicious beating!"

Seiji unfolded his arms and clenched his fist; the sound of his knuckles cracking was audible.

"That's why I wish to participate to the end, even if there isn't anything I can do. At the very least… I can give you some ideas."

Natsuya eyes were focused on his face.

"You've already done plenty, Haruta-kun. Without you, things would have…" She lowered her eyes slightly. "In the end, as a Yin Yang Master, I… sigh… but being depressed right now is nothing more than a waste of time."

Natsuya shook her head and forcefully injected some spirit into her voice

"This request of yours… I have no way to refuse you. Haruta… Seiji Haruta, I'm so sorry for getting you involved so deeply. I'm grateful for everything you've done so far, and… please continue to lend your strength to me."

She accepted his request.

Not only that, she even gave him a sincere invitation.

Seiji blinked as he smiled.

He definitely wasn't wrong about Natsuya's character.

"Thank you, President. I've received your request… and I'll do my utmost to assist you."

Natsuya also smiled.

The sleek long black-haired girl's smiles were always so moving.

…

Approximately 30 minutes later.

Hitaka reported that Shika had woken up.

However…

Seiji and Natsuya exchanged awkward glances as they went to the room Shika was in.

As they entered.

They saw that Shika was sitting on the bed and quietly looking out the window.

Hearing them enter, she turned her head around.

She quickly focused her gaze on Seiji's face.

Then, a brilliant smile appeared on her face!

"Brother~"

Her voice was exceedingly gentle, and it sounded like she was begging to be spoiled.

After she spoke, she opened up her arms and gestured towards Seiji.

"Come hug me!"

Seiji and Natsuya were rendered speechless by this.

Just what the hell was going on!?

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Chapter 122: Memory Loss

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Memory loss.

Some called it amnesia, but this wasn't a complex word, so there was no need for further explanations.

This was a common setup in many games, stories, movies, and so on.

Even Seiji recalled a story or two from his past life about an amnesiac girl descending from the sky; it was a classic scenario. However, he never expected to meet this development in real life.

Shika Kagura had lost her memory.

"Brother~ Hehe…"

Currently, he was sitting on the bed, and the girl beside him clung onto him tightly.

"Kagura…"

She puffed out her cheeks.

"Shika-chan…" Seiji relented.

She smiled again.

"What is it, Brother?"

Seiji's right cheek twitched violently.

'What is it, you say? There's so much I want to comment on!'

But he knew that it wasn't an appropriate time to blurt out his true thoughts to Shika, who was currently behaving like a little child.

He could only sigh inwardly.

"You… really don't remember who I am?"

He might as well confirm it one more time to absolutely make sure.

"Brother… you're my older brother!" Shika blinked her eyes innocently.

Then, her pure and beautiful face flushed slightly red.

"My… brother that I love the most."

Boom!*

Seiji suffered from a mental blow… no, a heavy cannon-hit of cuteness! His face began burning up as well.

This was too cute! It was breaking the rules!!

She was clearly the ice-cold archetype a few days before. It was too much of a contrast for her to suddenly transform into a cute character like a sister with a brother complex! Seiji felt like his entire world was turning upside-down!!

He kept up his stream of inner comments in an effort to keep calm, but he felt himself wavering as he looked at Shika's beautiful face, colored with a mixture of embarrassment and shyness.

Luckily for him, there were bystanders. Without this, he would have trouble retaining his reason.

Natsuya and Hitaka silently watched this situation play out.

The president's expression seemed calm, but her eyes revealed a hint of iciness.

Natsuya felt slightly annoyed as she watched Shika hug Seiji Haruta tightly with puppy-eyes which begged to be spoiled.

She personally believed that this was due to the unexpectedness of the situation, in addition to… the disgust she felt at how perverted all boys were.

She didn't detect—or perhaps she didn't want to think about—the true reason behind her annoyance.

As for Hitaka, she was simply watching this scene calmly.

"Shika-chan, what I mean is… do you remember my name?" Seiji continued questioning her gently.

"Name? Brother is just called Brother~"

'Fine then; it seems like she's forgotten me.'

"Then do you know who they are?" Seiji pointed at the two girls who were watching them silently.

Shika glanced at Natsuya and Hitaka.

"These big sisters are so beautiful! Are they your girlfriends, Brother?"

Boom!*

Seiji felt like he had received an actual punch… that was how sudden this impact was for him.

Luckily, he had already finished his tea, otherwise he surely would have spat it all over the place.

Natsuya failed to come up with a response to this.

However, she didn't notice her icy gaze softening upon hearing this question.

"They're not my girlfriends… Just why would you suddenly say that?"

"Brother, you taught me~"

"Have I really taught you that?"

"Of course, Brother, you're so forgetful~"

'I don't want you of all people to call me forgetful!' Seiji shouted inside his heart while mentally clutching at his head.

Seiji sighed inwardly, feeling his energy being drained away from his body.

'Can't I take a little break from this?'

He used a slight amount of force in an attempt to peel off the girl who was hugging him so tightly, but… he was unable to budge her.

Shika was holding on to him that tightly.

It was as if she was afraid that if she let go, he… or her "older brother" would end up disappearing.

Seiji felt helpless about it, but more than that, he felt pity for her.

"Brother, pat me on the head~" She made another request. "I haven't seen Brother in so long… I really missed you…"

Seiji's expression froze over slightly.

Natsuya blinked in anticipation, her eyes fixed firmly on Seiji.

Everyone was silent in the room.

"Brother?" Shika tilted her head questioningly.

Seiji had no choice but to reach out his hand and place it on her head.

"Mmm…"

Shika had a blissful cat-like expression, and she purred softly in satisfaction.

A complex helpless yet relieved smile slowly suffused across Seiji's face when he saw Shika's content expression.

Natsuya looked deeply at his expression, forcing down her indescribable emotions. She had come to a decision.

"Haruta-kun, I'm going out with Hitaka. You might as well accompany her for a while."

"President…"

"I'm leaving her to you. I trust that you know what to do… and know what you shouldn't do."

Seiji was speechless at the implications behind her words.

Natsuya turned around and exited the room. Hitaka followed right behind her.

And so, they left as they closed the door behind him.

Seiji and Shika were the only ones remaining in this room.

"Brother…"

"Kagura… er, Shika-chan…"

Seiji smiled gently at the girl.

"You told me that you haven't seen me for so long… Now, I'm right here, and I won't be going anywhere."

"Let's… have a really good chat."

…

After Seiji finally managed to extract himself from Shika's room, he returned to the main hall.

He saw the president standing in his previous position, sipping tea while gazing out the window.

"How is she?" Natsuya asked when she heard his footsteps, turning around to look at him.

'A 180-degree turn of character… Prez, is this intentional on your part?'

Seiji tugged at his lips.

"She fell asleep." He walked over to the table and poured himself a cup of tea from the kettle. "I asked her what I could and confirmed that she can't remember anything.

"All she knew was that—or I should say what she believed—is that she had always been waiting in her home near a snowy mountain, waiting in isolation for her 'older brother' to come back. She waited for a long, long time."

Seiji sipped some tea.

"Other than that, there were some personal stories about her family time with her 'older brother…' They were just some normal family memories."

Those were far-off, warm, and blessed memories.

"I suspect… it isn't purely a case of amnesia. Rather, her true personality which she has been suppressing for so long has finally reappeared."

Seiji walked besides Natsuya and also gazed outside the window.

"Before, Shika Kagura definitely didn't seem normal… She always seemed unnaturally calm… almost as if she were devoid of emotions like a normal human.

"But in truth, she was always suppressing herself from a very early age. The current her is what she has always been suppressing… her innermost personality buried deep within her heart."

The lonely little sister who had always been waiting for her older brother to come back home.

Under that cold and calm outer shell of hers, this was the true personality of the girl named Shika Kagura

Natsuya remained silent for a few moments.

Finally, she ended up sighing.

"I sympathize with her plight. However, there's a practical problem facing us…"

No memories meant that she would be unable to supply them any information.

No information meant the situation was still a terrible one!

Seiji obviously understood this.

"We'll have to… find some method to make her return to normal."

Make that girl return to how she was.

Seiji had complex feelings about this.

But even he could see that it wasn't good to leave her in her current state. They should do something about her.

"I can investigate it… then try something." Natsuya's eyes flashed with light as she looked at the boy beside her. "It's just that… she might end up getting hurt."

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Chapter 123: The Maid Is… the Student Council President!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji remained silent for a few moments.

"She definitely shouldn't stay like this. We need to help her recover her memory. It can't be helped if we need to take some risks for this… but even so, I still hope that we won't end up hurting her."

Natsuya nodded in understanding.

"I'll try my best."

There was yet another period of silence.

Finally, Natsuya came up with an unexpected yet reasonable suggestion.

…

The next morning.

Mika had a strange premonition as she received Seiji's phone call.

"Hey, Seiji, what's the matter?

"Eh!? Staying… somewhere else overnight!?"

The pigtailed girl was shocked.

That was because he told her over the phone that due to some circumstances, he slept over at a friend's house last night, and he planned to stay there for an extended period of time! He would be unable to go to school or walk home together with her.

What was going on? What happened!?

"Well… just think of it as… me working on a project together with a friend… Yep."

In the dining room, Seiji was sitting on a soft chair as he watched a maid lay down breakfast on the table in front of him.

That's right—a real maid!

She was wearing a black one-piece dress with a white apron and a black hair tie. A white ribbon was tied around her neck—in short, she was wearing stereotypical maid attire.

She had dark grey long hair which cascaded down to the middle of her back. Her face was white and her features exquisite and delicate. Her dark brown eyes had a gentle look to them, and there was a faint smile displayed on her face.

Just about perfect… full marks for being a maid!

When Seiji woke up this morning and saw this beautiful girl in maid attire, he was stunned for several seconds.

As an otaku, it was only natural for him to have various fantasies about the perfect appearance for a maid. Now that he'd met his maid in real life, all his fantasies were replaced with the single thought of 'this is what a maid should really be like!'

Her entire person, appearance, atmosphere, and attitude was perfect. Everything about her was perfect!

After a while, Seiji finally managed to calm down.

When he regained his normal state of mind, he chatted a bit with her.

He discovered the maid was called Mai Houjou.

She was currently a third-year student at Genhana High School… which meant that she was his Senpai!

"As for the truth… I'll let you know when it's time. For now… you don't need to worry about me. After everything is over, I'll come back to the apartment. See you at school. I'm hanging up."

When Seiji had ended his call with Mika, the maid… or Houjou-senpai, just finished setting breakfast in front of him.

"Please enjoy, Milady, Shuho-sama, Kirin-sama, and Harano-san."

The dark grey-haired beauty backed up one step and bowed to everyone seated at the table.

Natsuya and Hitaka nodded slightly at her.

The cat girl, Rana, who was still in her middle school uniform, seemed to be half asleep, as she seemed to unconsciously stuff a dried sardine into her mouth.

Seiji watched Houjou-senpai leaving the room while pushing the food cart.

"Are you feeling that it's strange how I've hired an upperclassman to become my maid?" Natsuya spoke up.

"A little…" Seiji nodded.

"The Houjou family has a deep relationship with my family and has always been in our employ." Natsuya also took a dried sardine and placed it into her bowl.

"Houjou-san's father is one of my father's most skilled subordinates. That's how I got to meet Houjou-san when I was little."

"I regard her as a gentle big sister and treat her as a close friend of mine, not a subordinate. However, she herself insists on maintaining a proper relationship."

"She doesn't have to be my maid, but when I, Hitaka, and Rana moved here for school and needed to hire someone for the housework, she… volunteered to come here and even resigned from her job as the student council president."

'What!?' Seiji's eyes bulged in surprise.

"Wait, wait… student council president?"

Natsuya placed the dried sardine into her mouth.

"Yep, Houjou-san is the former student council president before me. She's my predecessor."

The current student council president's maid was the ex-student council president!?

Seiji's mind was thrown into chaos.

Was this a real-life version of Maid Sama!? Or was it Hayate the Combat Butler?

It seemed like them… but it was also somewhat different.

'Forget it; I should stop thinking about it.'

Anyway, for such a thing to happen at Genhana High School… This must count as a huge piece of news, right? If it was publicized, it would probably shock many students.

But even if they were shocked, it didn't seem like it would be difficult for them to accept it.

Everyone knew already that Natsuya Yoruhana was the scion of a rich and powerful family, so hiring a former student council president as a maid seemed reasonable enough, right?

Although some people might suspect that there was something dark behind the office of the student council president, hmm…

Random thoughts flitted past Seiji's mind as he enjoyed the abundant breakfast.

After eating.

"Hitaka and I are going back to my main home in order to investigate a method which will allow Shika Kagura to recover her memory. Rana will be staying behind to guard the school."

"Haruta-kun, I'd like you to take good care of Shika in the meantime. I'll let the school know you have some circumstances, so you can choose whether or not you want to attend class."

Seiji nodded after hearing Natsuya's words.

He definitely still had to go to school, since he told Mika he would meet her there. Although he wouldn't be able to tell her or Chiaki the details, he still needed to explain the situation briefly.

'Before that, I should take another look at Shika.'

After Natsuya and Hitaka left, Seiji went to Shika's room again.

She was still sleeping.

Seiji pulled up a chair and sat by the bed, quietly observing her in peaceful slumber.

Currently, the problem facing Natsuya and him was discovering a method which would allow her to recover her memory.

But this wasn't the only problem.

Presuming that they were able to successfully help her recover her memory without harming her, what would they do afterwards?

Ask her for information… then imprison her until the duel was over?

Would they be able to extract the information out of her successfully? The enemy was a bastard who didn't even care about her life, so wouldn't it be possible for him to leave some sort of secret spell on her in order to prevent her from leaking information?

Besides, as for imprisonment… this wasn't too much of a concern, since Natsuya wasn't the type to do anything to Shika as long as she got the information she wanted.

But they couldn't forget that Shika was the 'Reaper's Curse.'

Imprisoning the 'Reaper's Curse…' Even before that, Hitaka had fought with her, and Seiji himself had so much contact with her. Natsuya had helped treat her injuries and sealed her powers as a Spirit-branded Retainer…

All three of them had "approached" her in different ways and still needed to have various dealings with her, so what would befall them?

Natsuya didn't mention this at all.

Nor did Seiji.

Was it because there was no point in saying it out loud? They already did what they did, so they had to continue along their current course.

Or was it because of… their unconscious fear?

Seiji wrung his hands thoughtfully.

He didn't know if the president had fear deep within her, but as for him… while he was worried, he wasn't afraid at all.

That was because he possessed a powerful cheat.

'As long as it's not something like a lightning strike instantly killing me, I should be able to load. As long as I'm able to retain consciousness, I can deal with anything by loading.'

Seiji comforted himself as he untwisted his hands and reached out to gently brush Shika's hair.

'Reaper's Curse…' so what?

Even if he met with 100 catastrophes due to her ability, he would be able to escape 101 times.

That's why he had no fear.

The morning sun after last night's rain was shining into the room.

It granted the handsome boy an aura of light.

His large hand was gently stroking the beautiful girl's face, which was still slightly shadowed.

This scene appeared almost holy.

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Chapter 124: Calm Down, Listen to Me Explain

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"Mmm… brother…" Shika muttered as she stirred and gradually opened her eyes.

Feeling that someone was next to her, she turned around to look.

She saw a handsome boy sitting by her bedside, gazing at her gently.

Seiji smiled. "Good morning, Shika-chan."

Shika Kagura widened her eyes.

Then, she squinted as her lips arced upwards in blissful satisfaction.

"Good morning, Brother~"

…

In school.

Mika was unable to concentrate.

The first class had just ended, but Seiji still hadn't appeared.

Some classmates… fine, just the girls, were worried about how he was and asked Chiaki and her about him.

Chiaki gave him a call, and the response she received was: "I have something to do, so I've asked for a break."

What could be going on? Did he have a cold? Many pairs of curious eyes blinked in unison, and all the girls were gossiping about it.

Diplomat Chiaki responded by saying, "Sorry, classified."

While the girls still wanted to know what was going on, they finally scattered and stopped prying. They were unable to withstand the pressure of the tomboy, who acted as if she were Seiji's ambassador.

"He said that he'll come to school in a bit and contact us," Chiaki whispered to Mika in a low voice after their classmates left them alone.

This finally helped the pigtailed girl to recover some of her spirit. Despite this, she was still rather unsatisfied.

'Just what exactly is Seiji up to!?' she complained inwardly.

Without him there, the awkwardness between her and Kaede as they went to school together was…

Mika was unwilling to dwell on what had happened…

Of course, Kaede also seemed concerned about Seiji… or what happened to Seigo Harano, as she worded it. But after Kaede discovered that Mika didn't know either, she ceased her inquiries.

Mika made up her mind. 'After seeing him, I definitely will ask him what's going on!'

After the second class was over.

Mika was shocked at the scene in front of her to the extent that her mind went completely blank.

"This girl… isn't she…"

"Yep, that's right, she's Shika Kagura. We met her before at the drama club."

The tall and handsome boy had a gentle smile on his face.

A petite girl whose beauty seemed almost ethereal tailed behind him. She was tugging on his clothes and hiding behind him while blinking her eyes cutely.

They seemed almost like brother and sister…

Mika and Chiaki were both speechless at this situation.

They had received a message from Seiji to meet him in this corner of the school garden, but they never expected to witness such a scene.

The person behind him… Was this really the same person that had been forcibly "captured" by the drama club president before!?

This was a totally different feeling!

Back then, they had met a literature-loving girl. Previously, she exuded a natural iciness which seemed to reject everybody who thought of approaching her.

But now, she seemed like a girl who always stuck close to her own brother, acting all shy and cute like an ordinary girl next door!

The contrast between the two impressions she gave off… this wasn't even a contrast! It was like multiple personalities!!

Why were the two of them together!?

Why did they behave like a real brother and sister!?

Although Mika and Chiaki knew that Seiji and Shika weren't real siblings, they were beginning to suspect it could be possible!

Mika and Chiaki's inner thoughts were like unstoppable tornadoes.

But Shika's next sentence increased the tornadoes' strength even further.

"Brother, there's another two beautiful girls here! You have so many girlfriends~" Shika Kagura stated in her soft voice.

Seiji's expression froze over.

Mika and Chiaki were rendered speechless.

The tornadoes in their minds were upgraded to typhoons!

"Seiji!!" both of them shouted in unison.

Seiji could only feel utter helplessness upon seeing his two female friends' indescribably shocked expressions.

He knew that he shouldn't have taken the amnesiac girl with him!

But there was no helping it.

After waking up, Shika Kagura clung by his side and refused to let go. If he tried toughening his attitude even a little, she would pout and tear up, and when he tried to leave she really did cry… She was basically a little child that was inseparable from an adult.

He also considered not coming to school, but he promised that he would, and besides… he also wanted to take Shika out for a walk, so she could get a little sunshine.

Safety shouldn't be an issue with the spell formation still protecting the school. Rana was present as well.

"Calm down a little, and listen to me explain…" Seiji smiled wryly as he began speaking.

Then, he suddenly discovered that he was talking like how a typical scumbag male lead in a harem story would!?

Cough cough, this was just a coincidence!

…

It was a difficult task to explain to his two friends what had happened without giving any specific details, but Seiji managed to accomplish it.

"Mmm… Allow me to summarize the situation. Seiji was trying to help Kagura-san here with some difficult circumstances of hers, but she met with an accident caused by Student Council President Natsuya Yoruhana."

"After receiving treatment and waking up, Shika lost her memories and now believes Seiji is her brother."

"President Yoruhana feels deeply apologetic about this situation. Since Kagura-san's parents can't be contacted right now, President Yoruhana is providing her own home for Kagura-san to live in, and she's also providing treatment and care."

"And because Kagura-san isn't letting Seiji leave her side, Seiji has to temporarily live at the Yoruhana residence."

"Did I get the gist of it?"

Chiaki pretended that she was adjusting a pair of imaginary spectacles as she explained.

Seiji sighed. "Yep, that's right."

"It all seems so unbelievable… it could even be the background story of a television series." Chiaki rubbed her chin. "But since it happened to you… it doesn't seem all that strange after all."

Mika nodded silently in agreement.

'What does that mean?' Seiji had the subtle feeling that he was being looked down upon. 'Was it just an illusion?'

"It means that you're the type of idiot who always gets wrapped up in some incident, or even rush into something troublesome." Chiaki extended her palms and shrugged.

Seiji was rendered speechless.

Fine, he was indeed being looked down upon in a subtle way.

"I'm sorry that I can't tell you guys the exact details, but the basic situation is the same as Chiaki's explanation."

"It's fine; if you can't say it, you can't say it… In fact we're already satisfied that you can tell us so much." Chiaki smiled. "Right, Mika?"

Mika also energetically nodded and smiled.

Even though she was slightly annoyed at being left in the dark, if Seiji felt like he couldn't reveal any more details, he must have his reasons.

It probably wasn't easy for him to tell them this much.

'In fact, he didn't have to tell us anything, but he didn't want us to worry…'

Mika felt a warm feeling in her heart when this thought crossed her mind.

She felt that it was a… comfortable feeling to be viewed as important by the person she liked.

"Brother, I'm getting tired! Hug me~"

Mika's recently uplifted feelings instantly took a heavy blow.

Seeing the fresh and cute… no, seeing this middle school girl who wasn't even familiar with Seiji before this incident sticking so close to him, acting all spoiled with him, and talking so childishly… Even though she knew that this was all due to amnesia… she still didn't like it!

"Didn't I just hug you? Why are you getting tired so quickly?"

"I'm still feeling under the weather. Only when brother hugs me will I feel better… it feels the best~"

'That's enough!'

Mika felt an indescribable surge of anger rising up within her.

Although she knew Shika was deserving of sympathy due to the fact that her mental age had regressed, seeing this and hearing this right in front of her was still maddening!

'I still haven't been hugged by Seiji before!!' the pigtailed girl mentally shouted at the top of her lungs.

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Chapter 125: A Minimum of Three Years, a Maximum of the Death Penalty~

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji was racking his brains on how to deal with Shika Kagura acting so spoiled.

Even though this was merely a corner of the school garden, for a high school boy to be seen hugging a middle school girl was still…

Hey hey, there was something wrong about the important part!

He should have been thinking of how to refuse her; why was he thinking about dealing with the aftermath!?

His self-commentary helped him to regain his senses.

That was dangerous. He was almost seduced by her cuteness.

Seiji firmed his resolve and was about to strictly reject the amnesiac girl's request to hug, but at this moment she already had her arms opened to him, with a face filled with expectation as her eyes sparkled in an innocent and cute manner.

'…Hugging her wouldn't be that big of a deal, would it?'

"Seiji," Chiaki started, "although I don't want to say this, but…"

Seiji looked at the tomboy and saw that she was smiling like a convenience store clerk.

"A minimum of three years, a maximum of the death penalty~"

Seiji's face twitched.

'Hey, don't say something so terrifying in such a fake tone of voice! It sounds like you're in the service industry!'

"I… I won't be like that!"

"Eh, you knew what I was talking about?"

'Shouldn't you have been commenting about what I meant first?' was what Chiaki's grin seemed to say.

Seiji broke out into a cold sweat.

"I… of course I know! I've seen this on the internet!"

"Which website did you see it on?"

"I don't remember! At any rate, I've seen it. Does it really matter where!?"

Seiji forcefully injected spirit into his answer, but he averted his gaze from Chiaki.

"Brother~" Shika was still waiting expectantly for him.

Chiaki was watching this while grinning widely.

Mika… her aura seemed a little terrifying!

As Seiji looked around everywhere in search of a solution, he finally reached out his large hand… and patted Shika Kagura's head.

"I just hugged you earlier. Hold on for a little longer."

Pat~ Pat~~

"Mmm… Mew…"

Shika didn't get the hug she wanted, but the head pats were effective as well. She was content like a kitten.

Chiaki's smile seemed to lose some darkness.

Mika's aura also softened somewhat.

Peace returned to this scene for the time being.

The bell signaling the beginning of class finally rang.

"You two should go back to class. I need to accompany her today, so I won't be going," Seiji informed the duo.

Chiaki nodded.

"During lunch break… will you come by?" Mika asked.

"I'll have lunch together with her at the president's home… could it be that you've prepared a lunchbox for me?"

Mika nodded.

Seiji felt a twinge of guilt.

To be honest, he wanted to eat lunch together with Mika and Chiaki. But Shika was sticking so closely to him, and she was the 'Reaper's Curse…'

Just a short meeting should be fine, but if they ate lunch together, he didn't know whether calamities would befall Chiaki and Mika.

Seiji didn't want them to undergo mysterious catastrophes.

For the first time, he felt what Shika Kagura must have felt in the past when she rejected other people.

He was forced to reject other peoples' kindness and good intentions and remain distant from them.

"Thank you… during lunch break, I'll come over and take it."

"But I thought you needed to accompany her…"

Seiji grinned. "The president's residence is quite close to school, so it won't take much time."

Mika blinked in surprise as she also smiled and nodded.

And so, the four of them separated.

Mika and Chiaki walked back to the school building. After walking a few steps, they couldn't help looking back at Seiji and Shika.

What they saw was the tall boy holding on to the petite girl's hand as they walked off into the distance.

…

Seiji stayed by Shika's side for the entire morning.

They watched TV together, surfed the internet, played hide-and-seek, read manga, played Monopoly, and played some other card games…

The maid Mai Houjou brought everything they watched, read, and played to them, including laptops, manga, cards, and so on.

Yes, the maid-senpai was also unable to attend classes.

According to her, serving her lady's guests was much more important than attending class.

'Senpai, you're a third-year high schooler; is this really alright?'

She didn't seem to mind, so… it was fine?

Seiji found it easy to forget about his senpai's presence while he was having fun with Shika, but whenever he needed something, he noticed her immediately.

Her skills as a maid were extraordinary.

Seiji came to the conclusion that she was definitely not an ordinary person!

She said she was here to serve him and Shika, but perhaps… she was actually putting them under surveillance?

Well, either way, it didn't matter.

Seiji was merely accompanying a girl… who'd developed amnesia which caused her mental age to regress. They were only playing normally.

Dusk.

The tall boy was sitting in the hallway and observing the scenery in the backyard.

The petite girl used his lap as a pillow, and her head was resting on his thighs. She had fallen asleep while clutching onto one of his large hands.

The maid appeared at the end of the hallway with a tray in her hand as she silently walked over.

Walking next to the boy, she crouched, placed down the tray, arranged the teacups, and slowly began pouring tea.

None of her movements created any sound, and there was an indescribable elegance to her actions!

Considering the fact that she accomplished all this in black-and-white maid attire, it further increased the difficulty of soundlessly performing everything.

Seiji's eyes sparkled with admiration.

The maid-senpai didn't say anything as she smiled gently and placed one cup of tea by his hand. She then took another cup of tea for herself.

And so, they quietly sipped tea together.

Shika's body moved slightly as she seemed to mutter something. There was a light smile on her sleeping face.

Seiji observed her for a few moments and also smiled faintly.

He finished his tea and placed down the teacup.

"Thank you for your efforts today, Harano… Haruta-san," Mai said in a soft voice while refilling Seiji's empty teacup.

Seiji blinked in surprise at this.

"It wasn't all that much of a big deal… Senpai, I thought you would constantly remain silent."

The maid threw him a sidelong glance. "I'm not mute. Everyone has times when they want to communicate."

Since she was still smiling as she done this, this sidelong glance actually seemed rather cute.

Seiji almost chuckled out loud at the sight.

"Okay then, just that Senpai… you seem so professional… too professional."

"I'm being paid a salary to do this job. Of course I need to be serious about it."

"What about what you're doing right now?'

"Even when working seriously, there are times when people need to relax a little~"

"Mmm… you seem to be right about that."

"Of course I am."

They exchanged glances as they both laughed soundlessly.

"I've been constantly watching you today." Mai's tone of voice suddenly turned more serious as she continued, "I've been observing you, to see what type of person you are.

"And now, I understand… why it was that Milady was willing to invite you into her home, as well as why… this amnesiac girl relies on you so much."

Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "Er… should I interpret that as praise?"

"It is praise. I haven't praised many boys before, so you should be proud of yourself."

"Heh, you're just a maid~"

"I have another identity, and it'll scare you upon hearing it~"

"I already know about it: you're the former student council president, right?" Seiji looked at her with a mock disdain. "But now you're nothing more than a maid."

Mai puffed out her cheeks slightly. "Hmph… you need to fix your attitude, junior!"

"Since you view me as your junior, then there's no need for honorifics. Don't call me something like Harano or Haruta-san; it sounds quite strange."

Mai paused for a moment at hearing this, before she broke out into laughter. The pout from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay then, you… you win, junior Haruta."

"What did I win? Is there a prize, Houjou-senpai?" Seiji blinked his eyes innocently.

"I'm just a maid; what prize would I even have to give you?" Mai grinned as she sipped her tea.

"But," Seiji started, "according to legend, maids can provide some 'special' services…"

Seeing Mai smile as she mockingly raised the tea kettle to chuck at him, Seiji hurriedly put a stop to his clown act.

"Of course they're all fake! Please forget I said anything!"

That smile was still plastered on Mai's face as she tilted the tea kettle… and poured more tea for herself.

Seiji also lowered his head and sipped some more tea.

"By the way, Senpai…"

"Hmm?"

"If… If I didn't pass your inspection… er, observation, what would have happened?"

Mai slowly revealed the most brilliant smile she had ever shown him.

"Did you know, junior Haruta? The most important job of a maid isn't to take care of her master's basic living needs. It's to exterminate all pests around her master~"

Seiji was rendered speechless by this.

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Chapter 126: Don't Lick Me! Don't Suck on Me!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji felt as if he had barely managed to escape with his life… No, this must be a mistaken impression!

How could someone as gentle and kind as Mai Houjou-senpai do something so cruel?

"Senpai, you're really good at making jokes."

"I wasn't joking, junior~"

Haha… Hehe… the two of them exchanged smiles.

'Please tell me you were just joking! I'm starting to get scared here!!'

Seiji tugged at the corner of his lips.

He decided not to think too deeply about the hidden meaning behind this beautiful maid-senpai's smile…

Yep, all he had to do was pay it little attention.

…

Natsuya and Hitaka returned.

When they returned, Seiji was playing with his cat… whoops, he was throwing snacks at Shika to feed her.

"The two of you… seem to be having a fun time today," Natsuya remarked.

Seiji noticed that both girls seemed rather fatigued and paused his movements, causing him to be bitten on the fingers by Shika as she attempted to get at the candy in his hand.

"The two of you… seem to have had a hard time today," he observed.

Natsuya sighed. "Yeah… we met with some troublesome matters."

Her tone of voice sounded so jaded! Just what exactly could have happened!?

Seiji was in a state of shock.

Then, he noticed that Hitaka seemed to be glaring fiercely at Shika.

Oh, so that's how it was… or maybe he should say that he should have expected it.

Seiji glanced at the amnesiac girl.

He discovered that she was currently in the midst of licking his finger.

"Hey! Stop licking! Stop sucking!"

"Eh… But there's still a good smell here~"

"Don't lick it even if there is a good smell! Are you really a cat!?"

While Seiji was commenting on the situation, his face also began flushing red.

He definitely needed to remember that feeling just now… no, that wasn't it! Forget that feeling! Hurry up and forget it!!

This was yet another memory that he would need to seal away.

Why 'another?'

That was because so many things had happened today when he was accompanying Shika!

Seiji's sense of reason was constantly being shaken by this overwhelmingly cute creature beside him, and he had to continuously place seals on his memory, or else he might have turned into that which was forbidden.

Sigh…

Seiji wasn't the one who had sighed.

Rather, it was Hitaka who had done so as she helplessly retracted her gaze.

She was still a reasonable person and knew that the 'Reaper's Curse' would bring various difficulties down upon them… The misfortune wasn't something anyone could decide.

So, even though today was rather… difficult for her and her lady, there was no reason for her to hate or complain about Shika Kagura.

She quickly returned to her state of calmness.

Seeing that her lady didn't appear shaken at all, Hitaka was inwardly impressed with her master's regal bearing.

But, the truth was…

'Why do I really feel like giving Seiji Haruta a good punch right now?'

Natsuya didn't understand her own feelings.

But that thought had definitely flashed through her mind, especially when she witnessed how intimate Shika acted with him while playing.

A mysterious sense of rage appeared from nowhere in her heart, and she almost felt like venting it. She barely managed to control herself and somehow used a normal, calm tone of voice.

'This must be due to us encountering many difficulties today during our investigation, while they just spent this day being idle and having fun… That must be why I lost control of my emotions, right?'

'Honestly, I can't be this immature, Natsuya Yoruhana!'

The scion inwardly warned herself to not stoop to such a low level and managed to regain her calm.

The scene was temporarily silent.

All three of them were adjusting their emotions during this time.

As for the other person…

"Brother, give me some more candy~"

"Nope, you can't have too many snacks before dinner."

"Hmph… Stingy!"

Shika puffed out her cheeks discontentedly.

'So cute! I should… just give her one more candy…'

"Haruta-kun."

Natsuya's voice helped Seiji to come back to his senses.

"I'm going back to my room to rest for now… After dinner, we'll discuss 'that' again."

"Oh… okay."

Natsuya left the room together with Hitaka after Seiji nodded in agreement.

After watching the two of them leave, Seiji looked back at Shika again.

"Shika-chan…" He smiled at her. "How about I teach you how to draw?"

…

After dinner.

Seiji took Shika back to her room, then left by himself and returned to the main hall.

Natsuya was currently pouring tea.

"How did you do it?" she asked.

"I asked her to draw by herself for a while." Seiji shrugged. "I told her that I hoped she would be able to show me a great drawing and give me a surprise… something like that."

Natsuya blinked in surprise as she put down the tea kettle.

"You're quite skilled at coaxing girls."

"She has a child's mentality now, and she's an obedient one, so she's easy to deal with."

Seiji walked over to the table and sat down as he took a teacup and poured himself some tea.

"Girls… I wouldn't say I'm good at coaxing them… I'm actually not all that good at dealing with girls."

Natsuya was rendered speechless.

She really felt like beating him up again!

This time, she was quite clear about why that was.

"Houjou-san gave you an excellent evaluation. This is the first time she's ever praised a boy so much to me."

'So stop acting like you aren't one! Admit it! Seiji Haruta, you're a…'

…a what?

Playboy? No, that didn't seem right; he was nothing more than a depraved otaku not long ago, and even now… he was still an otaku.

Speaking of otakus, one would normally think of someone who wasn't good at social situations, especially dealing with girls as they would have introverted personalities… So was he telling the truth then?

No, no, this didn't seem right!

Natsuya's mind fell into chaos.

This boy in front of her seemed so bright, sunny, handsome, honest, and direct… he was a perfect, wonderful, handsome boy in the eyes of so many women, yet his hobbies were all otaku-ish, so how should he be described?

…Handsome and cool otaku?

The scion had a flash of inspiration.

That's right; this was the description she was looking for!

'Although this still seems like an awkward description, this is the right one. Seiji Haruta… you are a handsome and cool otaku that's popular with girls and actually good at dealing with them! So stop denying it!!'

"Really? Senpai was too kind." Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "I thought that I almost made her angry."

Anger? What anger!?

Natsuya recalled Houjou-san's attitude when she was speaking about Seiji. Houjou-san was smiling so sweetly… it was rare for even Natsuya to see her smile like that. Natsuya suddenly felt another burst of frustration rise up within her.

Honestly!

But still… she could tell that he wasn't faking it.

No, it was impossible to fake things to such a degree.

This person, he really was just like this…

Ah, yep, that's why Houjou-san would… That's why girls would…

Natsuya seemed to come to a realization.

"Haruta-kun, you're just so… cool."

Seiji was mystified.

Why was the president suddenly saying this?

And this tone of voice felt somewhat familiar… even though it sounded like praise on the surface, he felt that there was something prickly beneath.

While Seiji was still in a state of confusion, Natsuya sipped some tea as her expression turned more serious.

"Let's begin discussing the main topic at hand. Our progress on helping Shika Kagura recover her memory…"

Hearing this, the idle gossip from before left Seiji's mind, and his expression changed to a serious one.

"Before we discuss a method to restore her memory, we must first understand her current situation. There are three possibilities: the first is that her soul sustained injuries during the battle. This caused her mental spirit and consciousness to be severely damaged, thus accounting for her amnesia."

"The second is that, due to losing in battle against Hitaka, a condition of some sort was met, causing an underlying spell previously cast upon her to activate, resulting in amnesia."

"The third possibility is that both of the above were combined. Her memory loss may have been due to both of the aforementioned factors. An underlying spell was cast upon her, and her soul sustained injuries in the battle… Well, it doesn't matter what the order was, as the end result is the same."

Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"An underlying spell?"

Chapter 127: Investigation

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Natsuya's eyes flashed with an indescribable light.

"I'm talking about if the enemy… no, if her master thought about the possibility that she may lose and be taken captive and cast such a spell in order to prevent any information leaking out. It's just a possibility."

Seiji remained silent for a few moments.

"I think that this possibility is quite high."

Considering what type of person the enemy seemed to be, this was quite a logical thing to assume.

"I also feel the same way," Natsuya agreed. "The first possibility can mostly be eliminated, so I believe it to be either the second or the third. And it's quite difficult to determine what it really is. So, we should consider it as the third, which would be the most difficult situation."

Natsuya took another sip of tea.

"Assuming that Shika's situation is the third possibility, it means that in order to help her regain her memory, we will need to dispel the spell cast upon her as well as helping to heal her injured soul. Finally, we need to guide her spiritually, so she can recover her memory."

"Three steps…"

"And the most difficult step is to dispel the enemy's spell." Natsuya paused before continuing, "Spells that can erase people's memories… actually aren't all that uncommon, but most of them are rather simple spells. Those are easy to discern and quite easy to cancel out.

"While treating her and sealing her powers as a Spirit-branded Retainer, I scanned her thoroughly and failed to detect such a spell. This means that the memory-loss spell cast upon her must be hidden quite deeply.

"Oh… there's still one more possibility: the spell could be a permanent one which wiped out her memory forever… but I feel that this possibility is quite low.

"Spirit-branded Retainers aren't their contractors' puppets. Anyone sane wouldn't accept such a spell being cast upon them… And Shika Kagura's situation is rather unique. Even if she was being forced or tricked in some way, I doubt the enemy would dare to use such a spell on her."

Seiji nodded in understanding.

A spell that caused someone to lose their memories forever wasn't all that different from killing that person. Doing such a thing to the 'Reaper's Curse' was akin to suicide.

So, this must be a type of spell that was hidden quite deeply.

If it really existed, that is.

While it seemed quite probable, it hadn't been confirmed yet, so it was only a possibility. That's why the first thing they needed to do was…

"If you do a deeper investigation, would you be able to confirm it?" Seiji looked directly at Natsuya.

Natsuya gazed back into his eyes.

"Yes, but… it's highly likely to cause her some harm."

Seiji furrowed his brows.

"However, if someone is willing to take the risk, the harm to her can be avoided."

Seiji slowly began to fold his arms.

"If it's not a spell that can be detected on her body, then it must have been cast on her soul… or more accurately speaking, within one of her soul's layers," Natsuya explained while keeping her gaze fixed on Seiji.

"According to the current knowledge we Yin Yang Masters possess, the soul isn't a simple mass of energy at all. In fact, its structure is even more complex than our physical bodies. I won't go into the details, but simply speaking, souls have seven layers to them."

"As far as I know, even the strongest Yin Yang Masters of today can only cast spells affecting up to the fourth layer of a person's soul. That is the upper limit."

"Anyone whose spell can affect the soul's third layer is already at grandmaster-level… and our enemy definitely isn't at such a high level."

"If he or she was, then all they would have to do is crush you with their overwhelming strength instead of using schemes, right?" Seiji interrupted.

"…More accurately speaking, this duel wouldn't even take place." Natsuya didn't deny his question; instead she took it into another direction.

"The enemy's spell is located somewhere in between the soul's first layer or the surface of the second layer."

"Is this also within your powers?"

"I… can't… I'm not good at this type of spell, but I know how to check for them."

Natsuya lowered her head and took another sip of tea.

"If I investigate Shika Kagura's soul directly, she might receive some additional damage to her soul since she's already injured."

"But… if there's someone who she trusts and is close to, someone who's willing to become… an intermediary, then I'll be able to investigate her soul without causing any harm to her."

Seiji blinked. "This seems like a perfect job for me."

"You're indeed the perfect person to do it… no, you're the only person that can do it, Haruta-kun." Natsuya sighed as she looked back up at him.

"Is there any danger to being this intermediary?" Seiji had a calm expression.

"If everything works successfully, nothing will happen, but if things aren't successful… the worst situation would be that your own soul would sustain damage."

"If my soul is damaged… will I die?"

"No." Natsuya's tone was firm. "I'd stop my investigation spell the moment things start to go wrong, or you yourself can also stop it at any time, so that you won't receive too much damage."

"That's fine, then." Seiji was decisive about it as he unfolded his arms. "Let's just do it like that… make use of me!"

Natsuya paused in surprise.

"You… agree to it just like this?"

"Are there any other choices for me to consider?"

"Er… no, I meant…"

She was talking about his soul potentially being damaged! Although it might not happen, just the possibility meant that he should have been hesitant!

"Aren't you going to ask for more details? What it means for your soul to be damaged, what will happen, will you recover… questions like that?"

"I do want to know, but no matter if I know or not, my answer will be the same."

'It's fine as long as I won't die from it. If I don't die, I can always load. If I can load… I have nothing to be afraid of!'

Seiji was filled with confidence due to his cheat.

But to Natsuya, his firm and decisive attitude seemed… so cool.

The scion with long, silky black hair felt her heart skip a beat as she looked at his handsome face.

She expected that he would hesitate at least a little, or at the very minimum, ask about the possible aftereffects of having his soul damaged.

She never expected that he was decisive to such an extent; he didn't seem to be worrying about anything at all!

Just… like an idiot.

But he was so cool! This… bravery and resolution resembled foolishness so closely.

Natsuya was shocked to her core and definitely moved.

Her face was burning up slightly.

Her heartbeat increased rapidly.

Just like… the time before.

Silence temporarily fell in the room.

"President?" Seiji broke the silence.

"Er… Eh?" Natsuya finally regained her composure.

"I've agreed to become the intermediary, so what next?"

'Young missus, why were you in a daze just now?'

"After that… it's…" Natsuya hurriedly averted her gaze and lowered her head to drink some more tea in an effort to conceal her emotions.

However, there was no more tea in her cup.

This made her feel even more awkward.

"I need to make some preparations… after they're finished, we can begin the investigation." She pretended to drink some non-existent tea as she put all her effort in trying to speak calmly.

Seiji nodded.

"Do I need to do anything on my end? Will we begin tonight or tomorrow?"

Natsuya tried her best to regain control of her emotions as she considered Seiji's question.

"Tomorrow. I'll prepare for it tonight, and it also gives Shika one more night to rest. As for you… all you need to do is mentally prepare yourself; nothing else will be necessary."

"Ok, got it."

Seiji sipped on some more tea.

…

Seiji returned to Shika's room after the conversation with Natsuya ended.

After he entered, he noticed that she was still sitting in front of her desk and energetically drawing.

Before he even reached her side, she already heard his footsteps and turned around with a delighted expression on her face.

"Brother~"

"Are you done drawing?"

"Not yet. Hey, you're not allowed to come over here! No peeking!"

Seiji chuckled as he stopped in his tracks.

"Alright, I'll wait here for a little bit."

"Yep, it's almost done!"

Shika turned back around and continued to draw while hunched over the table.

Seiji sat down on a chair beside the bed as he watched her slim back.

Her beautiful face was smiling, and there was a serious look in her eyes as she drew. She seemed so innocent and cute.

Seiji merely watched in silence without thinking anything.

"I'm done drawing!"

Shika put down her drawing pencil and looked over her sketch with satisfaction before closing the sketchbook.

She then turned towards Seiji and brought the sketchbook over to him while hopping and skipping.

"Close your eyes, Brother."

Smiling, Seiji did what she asked and closed his eyes.

"Ta-da! You can open them now!"

Seiji opened his eyes.

He was startled by the drawing displayed in front of him.

This drawing was… something completely unexpected.

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Chapter 128: I Want to Sleep Together with Brother!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

It was a rough sketch.

In the center was a tall boy whose facial features weren't drawn accurately. However, it was still possible to see that he was smiling gently.

To his right was a petite girl. She was clutching his hand with a delighted smile on her face.

This was obviously a depiction of Seiji and Shika.

This didn't surprise Seiji.

What surprised him was that there were also other people in the sketch.

The girl with silky, long black hair had a calm expression.

The red-haired girl seemed slightly angry.

The silver-haired 'boy's' eyes were widened in surprise

The girl with two pigtails stood out from the others.

The girl wearing black-and-white maid attire had a gentle smile on her face.

Everyone… everyone that Shika Kagura met after receiving amnesia was in this picture!

A large house could be seen in the background, and an orangey-red sun hung low in the sky.

This gave a wonderful atmosphere to the rough sketch of these people standing together in a row.

"Hehe, how is it, Brother?" Shika laughed in a manner which seemed like she was begging for praise. "I did a good job, right?"

Seiji returned to his senses and smiled gently at her.

"Yep… you did a great job!"

He gave her his honest praise.

Shika's smile seemed to increase in magnitude, and her eyes curved into twin crescent moons.

She turned around and sat down on his thigh while nuzzling him affectionately.

Seiji's expression froze over.

The soft warm feeling of a middle school girl on his lap, the nice faint smell of her body scent…

But seeing the drawing, which was still in her hand, instantly helped to repress any uncertain feelings he had in his heart.

"Brother, since I've done such a good job, you should give me a reward~"

"A reward… what would you like?"

Seiji believed that she would likely ask for a snack or something similar.

"I want to sleep together with my brother!"

Boom!*

Seiji received a mega-impact direct hit!!

It actually appeared! The legendary "I want to sleep together with my brother" request! Countless gentlemanly older brothers with sister-complexes dreamed about being able to hear this sentence!!

Seiji personally believed that this sentence could rank fourth among all sentences that sis-con brothers wanted to hear!

Although Seiji believed that he himself wasn't a sis-con, any boy would find it difficult to restrain themselves after hearing such a sentence coming out from the mouth of a beauty on Shika Kagura's level!

The feelings he managed to repress earlier returned in full force! More accurately speaking, they were focused on his bottom half!! He was about to lose control, ahh!!

Seiji poured all his effort into not allowing his expression to become distorted.

How should he deal with this situation? Right, recite an incantation!

'3.141592653589793… Hey, wait! This isn't an incantation; this is pi!'

Inwardly, his mind was as chaotic as a battlefield.

"How about it, Brother?" Shika nudged her pale face against his and acted spoiled again. "I'd really like for brother to hug me as we sleep~"

Soft words with a warm feeling behind them.

Something was standing up.

'Don't get up! Don't be like this, little brother!!'

Seiji attempted to persuade his lower half desperately.

But he quickly figured out how foolish this was, so he hurriedly tried to distract himself.

"Er… Shika-chan, a girl as old as you are now shouldn't be sleeping together with boys anymore."

"I'm not sleeping together with boys; I just want to sleep together with my brother."

"Your brother is a boy as well!"

"I don't care! I still want to sleep together with my brother! I want you to hug me; that's the most comfortable~"

'But I won't be comfortable! No, no… I should say that I'll be really comfortable as well… But I won't be able to be comfortable, so I won't be comfortable! Get it!?' Seiji sighed inwardly. 'Just what exactly am I thinking anymore?'

Seiji forcefully rubbed his face in an effort to calm himself down.

"Shika-chan, you can't act too spoiled, you know! I can't sleep together with you. At most… I can stay by your bedside until you fall asleep."

Shika puffed out her cheeks at hearing this. "That's no good…"

"Don't be selfish, Shika-chan." Seiji tried his best to put on a stern expression. "You're not going to listen to your brother?"

"Wah…" Shika's face instantly darkened.

'I'm sorry! Just seeing such an expression makes me want to apologize! I feel so guilty!! But I really can't; sleeping together is forbidden…'

"How… how about this: I'll go ask the maid-san to give Shika-chan some delicious sweets like strawberry milk pudding to make it up to you. How does that sound?"

"…I'd prefer chocolate."

"Got it! I'll go ask her for some!"

Seeing her expression relax slightly, Seiji inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, his gaze fell upon that sketch again.

"Shika-chan, could you tell me how… why was it that you wanted to draw it like this?" he asked gently.

…

And so, the night passed.

Shika didn't go to sleep until really late last night, but it wasn't a problem for Seiji.

After getting out of bed, washing up, and eating breakfast, he accompanied Natsuya to a certain room at the end of the second floor.

When he went inside, he saw that there was a huge Yin Yang diagram inscribed on the floor, with a gigantic pentagram inscribed on the ceiling.

This room was windowless. White lanterns hung from all four walls, candlelight flickering inside them. Despite this, the room seemed neither stifling nor hot.

Besides the Yin Yang diagram and pentagram, various runes in a language that Seiji couldn't read were also scribbled all over the walls, ceiling, and floor… There were also two reclining chairs in the center of the Yin Yang diagram on the floor.

They seemed like rather ordinary wooden chairs which could be found in just about any home.

"Shika and I will be using these two chairs?"

Natsuya nodded. "Yes, and I'll be casting the spell upon the two of you.

"As for the specific procedure, it's just like I told you last night. First I'll have you two undergo a special hypnosis. After that I'll cast a spell upon you, so that your 'spirit' can enter her soul and aid in the investigation."

Spirit… according to Natsuya's explanation last night, it was the self-awareness of the soul. It was something quite similar to your consciousness but still different.

According to Seiji's understanding, to use a computer as an analogy, consciousness was similar to the Windows operating system for everything on the surface, while spirit was like the DOS system that controlled the disks. Both systems were separate yet worked together. In conclusion, consciousness worked on the surface, while spirit functioned on a deeper level.

Natsuya's assessment of his understanding was that it seemed rather subtle. It was correct in some parts, but incorrect in others.

Well, since Natsuya didn't deny it straight out, Seiji just took it as him being correct. It didn't matter to him whether or not he understood how it worked, as long as he understood the big picture.

What would it feel like for his spirit to enter someone else's soul?

Hearing Natsuya's description made Seiji recall a popular science fiction film in his previous life about entering other people's dreams and planting memories in an effort to change them.

He believed that to be an excellent movie with fantastic writing. At the time, he even watched it twice in the movie theater, which left him with a deep impression.

What he was now about to do was rather similar to the main character of that film. That protagonist needed to plant memories in other peoples' dreams, and he needed to enter a girl's soul to locate a spell.

That protagonist had to deal with peoples' unconscious defense systems, while Seiji would face the natural defense of Shika Kagura's soul.

This was why Natsuya said that only someone Shika Kagura was close to would be able to act as an intermediary.

If it was a stranger, doubtlessly Shika's soul's defenses would be increased to the maximum. For someone she felt close to, the defenses should be much easier to deal with.

But there was still an element of risk involved.

Seiji had already mentally prepared himself.

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