Mika returned home.
Before calling the president … er, Natsuya, Seiji needed to eat first. He was already hungry, and it was highly likely that Natsuya was eating right now as well.
"Sensei, would you like to eat lunch together with us?"
"Is that alright?"
"Of course, as long as you don't mind the plain food."
"How could I possibly mind? I won't stand on ceremony, then. Compared to eating by myself, eating with everyone is much more delicious. "The blonde teacher smiled." As my meager repayment, please allow me to help you cook. "
"No need to be so polite."
"I can't just sit here and wait to eat. Let me help you, Harano-kun."
Kaede insisted on entering the kitchen, so Seiji could only accept.
He wanted Shika to rest, but Shika also insisted on cooking.
And so, the scene of him, Kaede, and Shika all stood together in the kitchen.
Cooking together with two beauties … Seiji had a sense of déjà vu. He recalled that he had done this with Mika and the landlord before, on the day that Kaede moved in with him.
He had quite a good time during that dinner, but … Seiji secretly glanced at Kaede who was beside him.
The blonde teacher was currently washing the vegetables with a smile on her face. She seemed to be enjoying this time.
Seiji felt rather complex inside. He believed that he had a clear conscience towards Kaede, but …
He didn't know what to say. At any rate, no matter what, he hoped that she could be happy.
Kaede noticed Seiji's gaze.
Having him look at her meant that he cared about her, and she was happy that he cared about her.
It was nice to be able to eat together, and it was nice to cook together. She was happy that he cared about her. She was happy that he cared about her.
She believed that she would be even happier in the future.
The lunch they made was quite delicious.
Reo even ate an extra half a bowl of rice.
Kaede insisted on washing the dishes, and Shika insisted as well. Seiji … was sent away by the two girls to do whatever he needed to do.
Reo sat by the kotatsu and slumped on the table like a lazy kitten that had eaten and drunk enough.
Seiji looked at the time and felt that it wasn't a good time to make a phone call, so he decided to rest for a while. Just like Reo, he slumped on the table like a lazy kitten.
Gradually, his consciousness became hazy …
…
He slowly opened his eyes.
'I actually fell asleep? What time is it now? '
After waking up, Seiji noticed that his body was warm and soft, and he could faintly smell a nice fragrance.
When he turned around, he saw that Shika was sleeping right next to him and was leaning against him.
The black-haired girl's pure and beautiful face was slightly arced up in a faint smile, as if she was having a sweet dream.
Seiji was stunned by this sight.
What was going on?
He looked around and discovered that he was sleeping by the kotatsu, while Shika was sleeping next to him.
And judging from the feel of his feet in the kotatsu, there was someone else sleeping on the other side.
It could only be Kaede and Reo.
Four people were sleeping next to the kotatsu … honestly.
Seiji looked at Shika again.
She seemed to be sleeping so soundly … he really didn't want to wake her up.
But he had things to do, so he shouldn't sleep anymore.
Seiji wanted to sneakily get up without waking up his adopted younger sister, so he tried moving a little.
Excellent, there was no reaction.
Seiji moved even further away from her.
But at this moment, the black-haired girl moved closer to him and hugged him!
Seiji was rendered speechless.
"Shika-chan, are you awake?" he tried asking in a soft voice.
There was no response.
It seemed that she was only moving in a dream.
Seiji carefully lifted his hand and tried to gently move his adopted younger sister's hand away from him.
The moment that his hand touched hers, he suddenly heard "Brother …"
'She's awake? '
Seiji turned around to look.
He saw that Shika's eyes were still closed, and only her lips were moving slightly.
"… My favorite …"
He could only faintly hear this word.
Seiji's eyes widened in surprise.
This scene … could no longer be described as "beautiful" or "cute".
He was unable to describe what exactly he felt.
He recalled the time when Shika had lost her memories and how he interacted with her.
Feelings welled up within him.
He held her hand, but didn't move it away.
'Forget it, I'll just sleep like this for a while longer! '
As he thought this, Seiji held his adopted younger sister's hand and closed his eyes.
…
In the end, he slept all the way until the afternoon.
Shika's face was slightly red after she woke up. She returned to her room.
"I should have said goodbye, but I don't want to go back to my own room." Kaede hugged Reo and spoke in an almost spoiled manner. "Can I eat dinner here as well? I'll go buy some groceries. "
Seiji looked towards Reo.
The little girl was leaning against the blonde beauty, seeming to really enjoy being hugged.
The answer was obvious.
After agreeing to Kaede's request, Seiji went to his study and made a phone call.
"Good afternoon … Natsuya."
"Good afternoon … Seiji."
Seiji felt that it was rather awkward to say his name.
"I ran into some trouble over here, it's like this …"
Seiji told her what happened this morning.
"It's able to forcefully guide multiple participants into various illusions, and even restrict your and Kagura-san's movements … Judging from all this, this board game should be an incredibly high-level spiritual artifact," Natsuya told him in a serious tone.
"It's highly unlikely that such a spiritual artifact was created purely for the sake of entertainment … at least that's what I believe.
I'll have to investigate it in order to understand the specifics. However, I'm busy today, so why don't you bring the item to me tomorrow night? "
"Alright," Seiji agreed.
"By the way, it's truly astonishing that Uehara-san's family was able to bring out such a spiritual artifact."
"Yeah, I'm even beginning to suspect that it wasn't a coincidence that Sakura-san came looking for Mika during the school festival. There must be some hidden reason behind it."
"That's possible … Uehara-san seemed like an ordinary person to me at the time, but perhaps Sakura-san saw something …"
Both of them fell silent.
"I'm really curious as to what exactly happened. If you find out anything, please let me know. "
"Okay …"
They ended their conversation there.
Seiji held his cell phone in a daze for a while.
Should he contact Mika right now and ask her about the situation? Or should he wait a little longer?
He wondered if she managed to get any information from the landlord yet.
He decided to wait a little longer.
Seiji put away his cell phone, sat down in front of his computer, and started writing.
After a while, there was a knock on his bedroom door.
Seiji opened the door and welcomed Mika inside.
At this time, Reo and Kaede also went into their bedroom, so there was no one in the living room.
"I asked my mom, and she said that Dad was a rather strange person when he was young," the double pigtailed girl said after sitting down by the kotatsu.
"He would talk to a place where there was nothing, read strange books, make strange gestures, act strange, write strange runes, draw … and so on.
"Later on, he stopped having these problems. He said that he thought too much when he was young and became an idiot. But I still like things that look a little strange, so I collected a few, including this pair of sixes. "
"Because he valued his collection quite a bit when he was alive, my mom didn't get rid of it and kept it."
"I went to the storage room to take a look and felt that it would be quite troublesome to take everything out, so I took a picture with my cell phone."
