"What’s the matter, Haruta-kun?" asked Natsuya concernedly when she saw Seiji looking somewhat sad.

Seiji let out an awkward cough as he averted his gaze. "It's nothing, really." 

s.h.i.+ka Kagura had yet to wake up.

"All the spells on her have been dispelled, and there’s nothing wrong with her condition. She should wake up shortly," Natsuya explained.

Seiji nodded.

After that, he carefully returned s.h.i.+ka back to her room in Natsuya’s residence.

Having placed her on the bed and covering her with a blanket, Seiji sat down on her bedside and observed her face.

Just earlier… what he had just heard was probably s.h.i.+ka-chan’s grat.i.tude… as well as her farewell…

Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Seiji still felt a twinge of sadness when he recalled the scene.

This was despite him knowing the young s.h.i.+ka-chan for barely a day.

That innocent girl who wanted to be spoiled by him and addressed him as "brother" so cutely left him with a deep impression.

This was a precious memory to him.

Seiji would never forget it.

However, as for s.h.i.+ka Kagura…

s.h.i.+ka-chan wasn’t s.h.i.+ka’s main personality. It was her hidden personality. s.h.i.+ka herself might not remember everything that s.h.i.+ka-chan had experienced.

Even if s.h.i.+ka retained her memory after she woke up, it was likely that her recollection of the previous two days would be hazy, just like childhood memories that people could only vaguely recall.

s.h.i.+ka-chan was s.h.i.+ka Kagura.

But s.h.i.+ka Kagura… wasn’t s.h.i.+ka-chan.

Seiji’s sadness welled up again as he realized this.

‘Ahh, idiot. I’ve actually… become so lonely.’

Seiji covered his face.

He was being too unseemly.

He didn’t have the right to say how spoiled s.h.i.+ka-chan liked to act…

"Mmm…"

He heard a sound from the bed.

Seiji uncovered his face and looked in the girl’s direction.

He saw the black-haired girl furrowing her brows slightly as her eyelids slowly flickered open.

"Where... is this? Seigo Harano?"

She noticed the boy sitting by her bedside.

Seiji took a deep breath in order to calm his emotions.

"It’s me." He smiled lightly. "I’m delighted that you’re awake, s.h.i.+ka Kagura."

The girl looked straight into his eyes.

"You… aren’t happy," she stated calmly. "You’re… sad, aren’t you?"

Seiji didn’t reply.

"You’re definitely sad right now," s.h.i.+ka stated with certainty, continuing to stare at him. "You… don’t want to see me waking up."

"No!" Seiji denied instantly. "I’m definitely happy to see you wake up, truly! But, at the same time, I…"

‘I was sad at losing s.h.i.+ka-chan… the you in the past.’

How could he explain such a thing?

Should he even explain it?

Seiji was unable to say it out loud.

"I was… just a little sad for a different reason… unrelated to you." He forced himself to smile. "So, there’s no need to think too much about it. s.h.i.+ka Kagura… it’s great that you’re awake again."

s.h.i.+ka's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Seiji's forced smile.

She felt a throbbing pain somewhere deep within her chest.

She had never experienced such a feeling before.

'Seigo Harano…' she muttered his name in her heart.

"Judging by how you’re acting, I think that you probably forgot already, but I’ll ask anyway. Do you remember what happened during the last two days?" Seiji asked calmly.

s.h.i.+ka searched her memory for an answer.

"I remember that… I went to the park and saw you there… and then… I don’t know," she said after a length of time.

She felt a faint warm and happy feeling in her heart as she said this… but she didn’t know what it was.

Seiji sighed. "As I expected…" 

There was a brief silence between them.

"I’ll be blunt, then." Seiji looked directly at her. "s.h.i.+ka Kagura, you’ve become our captive."

Seiji met Natsuya, who had changed out of her shrine maiden attire after he left s.h.i.+ka’s room.

"She’s awake and she has her memories back, but she forgot what happened during her bout of amnesia. I informed her that she’s become our captive, and she lost her memory at one point in time due to a hidden spell. I told her that now the spell’s been dispelled, we have some questions to ask her," Seiji explained.

Natsuya nodded. "It turned out the second possibility I mentioned happened: she lost her memories solely due to a spell, not because of any significant injuries to her soul… At any rate, it turned out to be easier than I antic.i.p.ated."

"Yeah…" Seiji’s expression seemed a little distant.

Natsuya felt that something was off about his expression.

"Did she forget everything that happened the past two days?" the president probed.

"Yep," Seiji replied calmly. "I… just told her that she lost her memory, but I didn’t tell her the specifics… I hope that you won’t tell her either."

Natsuya blinked in surprise. "Why’s that?"

"It’s because… those one and a half days seem meaningless now." Seiji averted his gaze. "Telling her will only increase her confusion."

s.h.i.+ka Kagura was a gentle girl.

Even though it was difficult to tell with her teenage self, Seiji was certain that she was a gentle person.

That’s why she would definitely feel awful and apologetic inside if she discovered what had happened in the past two days and the true reason for Seiji’s sadness.

None of this seemed necessary.

s.h.i.+ka Kagura didn’t do anything wrong, so she shouldn’t have to apologize or feel bad about this. That was what Seiji believed.

That’s why it was best to not say anything.

It was best to not let her know anything.

That girl already shouldered such a heavy burden, and the incident which had occurred was completely unnecessary knowledge that would only increase her burden… especially at this point in time.

Natsuya took a long, deep look at Seiji’s face.

"Alright, I understand," she replied calmly. "I won’t tell her… and I’ll also let Houjou-san and Hitaka know as well. Will that be alright?"

"That would be perfect… Thank you."

"There’s no need for thanks."

Natsuya turned around and walked towards s.h.i.+ka’s room.

Seiji remained in the hallway standing alone, gazing out of the window.

"Is that all you know?"

Natsuya was looking at s.h.i.+ka Kagura.

s.h.i.+ka nodded calmly.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Natsuya stood up to leave. "Before this incident is finished, please understand that I’m going to have to keep you confined here.

"Someone will bring you three meals every day. If you need anything at all, you can tell me now, or you can tell Hou… the person who will bring you your meals. As long as they’re reasonable requests, we’ll fulfill them."

Natsuya waited for s.h.i.+ka to speak after saying this.

s.h.i.+ka didn’t say anything.

Natsuya turned around to leave.

"I want to know," she said in a soft-sounding voice, "while I was… suffering from amnesia, what… did I do?"

‘What did I do, and just what happened?’

s.h.i.+ka was unable to recall it no matter how hard she tried.

But she felt that something must have happened.

Whenever she tried to recall what had occurred, she felt warm, happy… and important.

Natsuya footsteps paused, but she didn’t turn around.

"What you did? You’ll have to ask Haruta-kun… no, Seigo Harano this." Natsuya hesitated for a moment before saying, "His real name is Seiji Haruta."

"Haruta…" An indescribable light flashed in s.h.i.+ka’s eyes.

"He’s an exiled ‘Haruta,’" Natsuya stated calmly. "In his family, he… he’s always been a hated existence. Similar to you, ‘Reaper’s Curse’ s.h.i.+ka Kagura.

"Also, he has a younger sister that’s about the same age as you. He… was probably quite concerned about you due to all these reasons. During your bout of amnesia, he was the one who took care of you.

"Not only that, if it weren’t for him, you might have ended up… even more seriously injured, or even dead."

s.h.i.+ka didn’t respond to this.

Natsuya walked out of the room, leaving s.h.i.+ka alone.

The black-haired girl sitting on the bed slowly turned to look outside the window.

"Seigo Harano… Seiji Haruta."

A scene popped into her mind.

The boy that she met right when she woke up; the boy she met when she escaped to the park after losing in battle; the boy she met in the park for the first time; and his words on their first meeting.

"s.h.i.+ka Kagura… is it? It’s a beautiful name."

"I don’t need you to do anything; it’s just that I heard you were forcefully taken here, so I thought that you might be feeling somewhat uncomfortable."

"Fine, perhaps I’m just meddling."

"Maybe you don’t really think you mind, but… I don’t want to leave you alone."

"I shall bestow the light upon you!"

"…But if you don’t say anything, n.o.body will be able to help you."

"I’ll come back here again tomorrow! At this same time and place!"

All those scenes and all those sentences flashed through her mind.

Those seemingly ordinary memories suddenly felt full of warmth and color.

Her memories finally settled on the one where he was just sitting by his bedside, forcing himself to smile.

"…I’m delighted… that you’re awake."

‘You don’t have to think. You don’t need to think. It’s fine as long as you’re here and you’re alright.’

…Something wet was dripping down from the corners of her eyes.

s.h.i.+ka felt her face with her fingers and discovered that they were teardrops.

‘I’m… crying? Why?’

s.h.i.+ka couldn’t understand the reason behind her tears.