Taking the rejuvenation potion… well, it’s been about three hours now.
Realizing I couldn’t drink it twice came after I understood my emotions and actions were slowly spiraling out of control.
“…I’m sorry, but can’t you forgive me now, Mika? Who else could host—”
Hiccup…
“Se-Seiya! After finally stopping the tears, you’re saying such unreasonable things…?!”
“Oh, no. I also want to know which part of my words made you cry, Nagisa. I can’t just not say anything at all, right?”
“Seiya…”
“Y-yes. Mika, are you finally feeling like forgiving me?”
“I want to pet your ears…”
“Ah, I see.”
Still, since I’ve already drunk, I might as well make the most out of it.
I don’t think what I’m saying, doing, or thinking is entirely mine, but hey, at least I have the excuse that it was a choice for Nagisa and the drug’s fault. Yeah, I’m innocent.
“Nagisa…”
“Y-yes, what is it, Mika?”
“The roll cake is mine, so if you give it to Seiya, I’ll be angry!”
“…Ah, okay.”
“And stop bothering Seiya!”
“Y-yes?! Me…?!”
“Weren’t you going to just not speak earlier? I know everything.”
“Oh, no! There’s no way I would do that to Seiya, really.”
Usually, Nagisa would have brushed off such words easily, but seeing her cling to every single thing I say makes me want to play a mischievous prank.
But I’m a good girl, so I should hold back. Yeah.
“…So, what kind of slip-up did I just make? I need to know so I can be careful next time, so if possible, please tell me.”
“…”
“If it’s hard to say, you don’t have to. It’s enough if I just keep my mouth shut.”
While I was patting Seiya’s ears, who was nervously watching like Nagisa, I slowly began to speak.
“Host… I never wanted to do such a thing at all. So why are you blaming me? Coward! You don’t know how to take responsibility. That was bad.”
“Don’t you think it’s right to accept this as your karma, Seiya…?”
“…I’m sorry. I’ll make sure not to bring it up in the future.”
“Yeah…”
Glancing next to me, I saw Nagisa finally relaxing as she set her teacup down on the table.
Seeing marks of my tears on her sleeve and chest made me feel a bit… ugh. I’m sorry, Nagisa…
Anyway, I had something to say to Seiya.
“Seiya…”
“…What is it?”
“Why do you keep avoiding me? You ignore me every time I call you and just run away.”
I’m not sure if it’s because of the precognitive dreams or whatever, but every time I try to approach, she nicely runs away, making me feel like it’s a waste of time, so I’d given up.
“…There are several reasons for that. But I wouldn’t have to say it—Huh…!”
“I thought we were friends, but it seems like you don’t think that way… Ugh.”
“…No, that’s not it. A friend… right, I seem to have done something I shouldn’t have to a friend.”
In the situation, where Seiya was overly conscious of the word “friend,” Nagisa sighed softly. Is she indirectly saying that to me…?
“Hm. Seiya?”
Phew, seems like that’s not the case.
“Why do you call me, Nagisa?”
“Are you really thinking of giving up? You promised me before, didn’t you? About the three-person T-party.”
…Ah. That’s partly true.
“Nagisa, did I not mention before? I don’t want to cling to something that has a slim chance of working out…”
“It’s already been six times, Seiya. If it increases any further, just know that I’ll refuse politely from my side.”
“…Hng.”
“Tsk. Why not become a nun… Ah.”
“A nun?”
“I was going to say, what if you became a nun? Never mind, Mika. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. I believe you since it’s what Nagisa said!”
“…”
Oh, feeling a pang of conscience? That’s what I was aiming for.
I know what I was about to say regarding getting her drunk and taking advantage of her. I get it all.
The incident with Wakamo that day is definitely a dark history I never want to remember. Nagisa, who reminded me of that, is out.
“So, what are the other reasons if you have many? Hmm?”
“…It’s related to the precognitive dream. It’s not that important. I was just a bit too conscious of it.”
“Ah…”
Nagisa nodded as if something clicked in her mind from Seiya’s words, habitually sipping tea to quench her throat.
After that, she looked at me and lightly let out a sigh. What’s with the sigh this time…?
“Mika, you haven’t told Seiya yet, right?”
“…Huh?”
“I think now is a good time. It’s a bit unfortunate about your state, but since your memory and thinking seem fine… Yes, it should be okay.”
Why, why! Why about my state…!
*
After a while, I finally brought up a topic I had planned to bring up ages ago but couldn’t because Seiya kept avoiding me.
The whole story of me possessing this body, the real whereabouts of Mika, and my plans to return her.
Seiya’s reaction to it all was unexpectedly calm and collected.
“I suspected that there was some other reason for you to change this much, so there’s no reason to be shocked. Nagisa had hinted at it before.”
…When?
I looked at Nagisa while holding that thought, but Seiya continued right away.
“I don’t believe that losing your memory also changes someone’s essence. If the Mika I’ve been dealing with until now was not the real Mika but another personality… that would explain things neatly. Including the precognitive dreams I had to some extent.”
Then out of nowhere, something completely unexpected came out of Seiya’s mouth.
“If the real Mika is separate and her goal is to revert back… then the dying image of Mika who seems to have given up, as well as the despairing Mika who was trying to kill me, all make sense if they are not the same person.”
“…Then does that mean that’s one of the reasons you’ve been avoiding me?”
“The future is such a perplexing concept. The fact that the future observed in precognitive dreams isn’t immutable proves that perplexing nature.”
“It’s been a while since we had this talk, but Seiya, your introductions are way too long.”
“…And since you were the one who personally taught me that the future isn’t immutable, I didn’t think this future would necessarily come to pass. So I told Nagisa I wasn’t worried about these precognitive dreams.”
“If that’s why you avoided Mika, then it seems it wasn’t the case.”
“I thought so myself, but in reality, it must have been a more pressing issue than I imagined. I’m sorry for avoiding you, Mika.”
“Hehe… It’s okay, Seiya. It happens☆”
Well, what can I say? I can understand that much. It’s not like I don’t know how Seiya feels about me. It’s just that I don’t have the right answer to give in return.
If we take Wakamo, for example, if it weren’t for that incident, she would have kept her distance from me. With that level of aggressiveness, it’s possible she could fall someday…
As for Seiya… To be honest, can’t deny that her body type is somewhat involved. Hina is the exception. I like Hina for being Hina, not because of her body type.
To be precise, my preferences lean a little more towards, uhm, if judging by face, it’s like Saori or Nagisa, and maybe even Makoto. Exceptions are for Haruna and Mika, who have transcended the ordinary beauty standard…
Of course, I prefer shapely figures. There’s a bit of a reason why I was easily taken in by Hanako and Noa… yeah.
Oh, and this is entirely Nagisa’s fault, but when someone like Shiroko with a strong my-pace personality presses in on you without restraint… ugh. That’s just embarrassing.
“Mika. What have you been thinking about since earlier?”
“Ah, ugh?”
“I’ve called you more than three times already…”
“S-so, it’s just…”
I can’t suddenly say I was lost in thoughts about my preferences, so, um.
“It’s about the real Mika… but I think she’s a bit different from the one you all knew… maybe.”
“Y-yes…?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’m not sure! It just feels like it could be. Yeah…”
To me, it sounds accurate, but separating the possession matter from what I know about this world, I’ve decided to take it all to the grave…
Anyway, as far as I know, the real Mika either knows the future or has directly experienced it, probably a case similar to the Student Council President that bad sister.
So perhaps the scene in the precognitive dream where the real Mika attempted to kill Seiya is something the real Mika actually experienced, or there’s a possibility of that existing, right?
To truly learn more details, I would need to talk with the real Mika again… but the problem is, she hasn’t shown up even once since last Christmas.
Alongside that, I honestly can’t tell much about what seems to be me dying. Am I going to be in danger of dying again? I don’t like that…
I’ve already solved the Abydos issue, and dealt with Beatrice beforehand. Why does the problem never end…?
Honestly, it’s tough for a frail girl to live happily in this world. Ugh.
