Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 4===

"...Nii-san, are you asleep?"

Inside the dark room, I heard Mitsuki's quiet whispering.

I had the futon laid out on the floor and had closed my eyes originally. I immediately fought off my drowsiness and opened my eyelids.

"...Not yet."

I answered briefly. I could not see Mitsuki on the bed from my position. Faint breathing noises from sleeping could be heard, probably Tia's.

"The last time we slept in the same room like this, who knows how many years ago it was...?"

Mitsuki voice entered my ear, reminiscing about the past.

"I don't know either... Probably when we were small."

Unable to recall something so far back, I could only answer ambiguously.

"Yes... Because our rooms were separate. Perhaps... even earlier than that promise."

&mdash;Promise?

Not knowing what she was referring to, I frowned.

Mitsuki had brought up "that promise" so matter-of-factly just now. By the tone of her voice, she believed ''I would understand just from her saying that''.

However... Why did I feel so troubled?

Just as I was struggling to find an answer, Mitsuki continued:

"Nii-san... Tia-san calling you husband makes you happy, right?"

"What...? How could that be true!?"

I denied frantically. I could not accept that even my younger sister suspected me of being a lolicon.

"Really...? The way I see it, Nii-san, you do not seem too opposed to it, right?"

"Come on, you..."

"Fufu, just kidding. Nii-san... the one you like is Iris-san, am I correct?"

Hearing what Mitsuki said, I felt my heart jump intensely.

"W-Why are you bringing up Iris now?

"No? Nii-san, you seem very conscious of Iris-san..."

Realizing she had seen through me long ago, I felt my blood rush to my face.

"No umm... Because a lot of things happened... I became a bit conscious of her... But it's not like what you think, Mitsuki."

Although for Iris, it was a show of gratitude, of course losing my first kiss to her made me conscious of her. But apart from that, I was not quite sure&mdash;At least, not quite sure yet.

"...I understand, let us assume that is the case for now. However... Please do not forget that inappropriate interactions between genders are strictly forbidden, okay?"

"Got it..."

I was quite relieved that she did not pursue the matter deeply. But after that, Mitsuki added something surprising.

"Still... If there is nothing inappropriate, it is fine."

"...Huh?"

I asked in surprise.

"Midgard does not forbid dating, so there is no need to hide your feelings, Nii-san, and no need to... feel bound by that promise."

Her voice sounded full of sorrow.

"..."

I could only stay silent, unable to say a word. I did not understand what Mitsuki was talking about.

No matter how I thought about it, I still could not understand what "that promise" referred to, so I was unable to answer.

So I did lose something?

I could not look away anymore. Clenching my fist, I accepted reality.

Three years ago, the price I paid for obtaining power was losing many memories... Even so, things about Mitsuki were the only memories I did not forget.

Three weeks ago, when connecting to Yggdrasil again during the battle against Leviathan, I also believed that I would not forget my memories with Mitsuki.

Although my childhood memories were fuzzy, I optimistically assumed this went for everyone.

But I had probably lost very precious memories.

The promise brought up by Mitsuki unsuspectingly, convinced that I knew what she was talking about, could not possibly be the kind of promise that would be accidentally forgotten.

"...Sorry, Nii-san, for talking for so long..."

Mitsuki apologized to me with wryness in her voice.

"No..."

I answered briefly in a hoarse voice. That was all I could manage.

"...Goodnight."

"...Yeah, g'night."

I suppressed my feelings and answered her. After the conversation ended, the dark room returned to silence.

&mdash;Things had gone beyond recovery. Back when I sought new power, I should have prepared myself that it could turn out like this.

Hence, what I must do was prevent Mitsuki from discovering I had lost memories, prevent her from feeling she was to blame, prevent her from feeling sad, prevent her from showing suffering on her face&mdash;

Warning myself that, I closed my eyes.

Hoping for sleep to ease the pain in my chest, I allowed my consciousness to gradually sink into the abyss.



However&mdash;my day of spinning around in circles because of Tia had not ended yet.

Late that night, I was roused by yelling.

"Where!? Where is Yuu!?"

"Calm down! Please calm down, Tia-san!"

Light kept flashing in the room with popping sounds. I frantically jumped up to see Tia on the bed in a panic. Bubbles of dark matter were surging forth, turning into electrical currents, sparking everywhere.

"Tia!"

"Ah&mdash;"

As soon as I called her name, Tia instantly stopped.

The flow of dark matter halted and the intense lightning also ceased. I stood up and turned on the room's light.

"Yuu!"

Tia pounced on me from the bed. I caught her tiny body.

"Thank goodness! Thank goodness! Tia thought... Even Yuu disappeared."

Tia rested her forehead against my chest and spoke in a trembling voice.

"Phew... I was thinking something might have happened."

Perhaps relieved, Mitsuki sat down on the bed, exhaling deeply.

"Tia, I'm here, so it's okay."

I gently stroked the two horns on her head to soothe her emotions.

I never expected her to panic so much just because she could not see me when she woke up. It looked like not moving her while she was sleeping was correct, but this reaction was way too sensitive.

"Yuu... Yuu... Yuu!"

Tia kept calling my name. I patted her on the shoulder and said to her slowly:

"Tia, what's making you so afraid? You refuse to leave me because you're afraid I'll disappear, right?"

"..."

Tia looked up but kept her lips shut tightly, refusing to say a single word.

"Please answer me. I'm worried about you, Tia."

I stared directly into her eyes and spoke to her. The very depths of her red eyes wavering, Tia spoke with trembling lips:

"...Yes, because Tia doesn't want Yuu to disappear... So Tia will protect Yuu."

"Protect? Tia, you want to protect me?"

Hearing something unexpected, I asked in surprise.

Tia nodded lightly in confirmation.

"Precious things must be protected personally, once they disappear... It's too late, impossible to get back no matter what."

Impossible to get back after disappearing. Too late.

Tia's words shook my heart. I realized there was a gap in my heart from losing that promise with Mitsuki.

&mdash;This girl had lost something precious, just like me.

"I see... I finally understand you a bit, Tia. Thank you for protecting me, but you're mistaken on a few counts."

"Mistaken...?"

Tia made a surprised face and cocked her head in puzzlement.

Now was the chance to persuade her. Since I knew what motivated Tia's actions, it was easy to think of solutions.

"Yes, I'm not so weak that I need you to protect me, Tia. I can protect my own life."

"But... No matter how strong you are, there might be even stronger enemies. That's why if Tia is protecting you, it will be safer."

"Well, that's not wrong..."

Tia's logic was correct. Looking at me, Mitsuki's eyes seemed to be saying: Nii-san, what are you doing?

Originally I thought that I could reassure her by proving I was not weak, but it looked like I had to change the conversation's direction.

"...But Tia, now that you mention it, no one will attack me here in Midgard. So there's no need for you to protect me so desperately."

There was nothing threatening my life. Rather, it was Tia who had people after her life. I recalled the feeling of murderous intent at the beach and continued my attempt to persuade her.

"Who knows. Perhaps some people pretend to be good kids but are actually planning bad things."

She was using correct logic to reply to me again. But this time, I did not back down.

"That's right, I can't say for certain there are no bad people, but Mitsuki and Iris are different. Even if it's just the classmates in our homeroom, could you please trust them?"

"...Can't do it. Maybe Mitsuki... But Tia doesn't know what other people are thinking."

Tia shook her head with a stiff expression and refused.

"In that case, you need to make friends with them until you understand them. If you can trust all of us, then you can relax in the classroom and the dorm."

"Make friends...?"

"Yeah, so tomorrow, try talking more to everyone, okay?"

Hearing my suggestion, Tia asked very uneasily:

"...Yuu trusts everyone?"

"I trust them. Iris is a very honest and upstanding person. Lisa and the others are people who step forward to fight for their friends. At least, I don't feel wary of them."

When Iris was targeted by Leviathan, Lisa and the others had fought to protect her as though it was the most natural thing in the world. They had said that classmates in the same homeroom were family and truly cared about her from the bottom of their hearts.

On the battlefield, humans would show their true nature. Precisely because of that, I did not doubt the truthfulness of what I witness on battlefields.

"If I become friends with everyone, Yuu will be happy?"

"Yes, I'll be very happy."

"...Got it, since Yuu... the husband says so, Tia will try it. Because Tia... hopes to make Yuu happy."

Tia answered quietly.

I could not help but exchange gazes with Mitsuki.

"Finally a step forward."

Mitsuki remarked with relief.

"Yeah... By the way, Mitsuki, is there practical training tomorrow?"

"Yes, third and fourth periods are for practicing normal powers, while the afternoon is a special joint drill in preparation for the battle against Basilisk. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing much, I think that practicals are different from lectures and there will be more chances to interact with everyone. Since there are that many practical lessons, it's perfect. Tia&mdash;tomorrow will be very fun for sure."

I said that and smiled to Tia.

"Fun..."

Tia's face showed inability to understand what I said. Head tilted, she yawned. She was probably sleepy again.

Then we switched off the light and went to bed again. However, it would be bad if Tia panicked again so I slept on the bed this time.

Squeezing onto the cramped bed with my back to them, I closed my eyes while feeling Mitsuki and Tia's breathing nearby.