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 cla.s.sic scenario. However, he never expected to meet this development in real life.

s.h.i.+ka 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.

"s.h.i.+ka-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 s.h.i.+ka, 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!" s.h.i.+ka 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 s.h.i.+ka’s beautiful face, colored with a mixture of embarra.s.sment 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 s.h.i.+ka 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.

"s.h.i.+ka-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.

s.h.i.+ka 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.

s.h.i.+ka 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 antic.i.p.ation, her eyes fixed firmly on Seiji.

Everyone was silent in the room.

"Brother?" s.h.i.+ka tilted her head questioningly.

Seiji had no choice but to reach out his hand and place it on her head.

"Mmm…"

s.h.i.+ka 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 s.h.i.+ka’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 s.h.i.+ka were the only ones remaining in this room.

"Brother…"

"Kagura… er, s.h.i.+ka-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 s.h.i.+ka’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, s.h.i.+ka 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 sh.e.l.l of hers, this was the true personality of the girl named s.h.i.+ka 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."