Chapter Fifty-Five: Let’s Keep Pretending to Be Amnesiac
The girls coming out of the luxurious bathhouse were chatting and laughing.
Their cheerful voices echoed through the cabin.
With a weary expression, Mana walked behind the group of girls.
Earlier, she had held off the others to protect Nagio’s retreat.
It was only now that she had the chance to leave the bathhouse.
“It seems like it’s free activity time next? Does anyone have plans?” a few girls asked excitedly.
However, Mana found it hard to empathize with them.
All she wanted was to return to her room.
At that moment, Mana’s gaze crossed over to a nearby crowd.
That was the next batch of girls led by the teachers to use the luxurious bathhouse.
And behind the uniformed students.
A shadow flashed by, dressed in pure black.
The figure in the black suit stood out among the uniformed students.
The figure at the back of the group quickly passed by, seemingly heading elsewhere.
It just happened to be passing through.
“Yoko? What’s wrong?” someone noticed the unusual expression on Mana’s face.
“Oh, it’s nothing, just a little worried…” Mana hurriedly found an excuse.
But halfway through her sentence, she seemed to realize something.
In the next moment, she bolted towards her room.
“Hey! No running in the cabin!” The teacher’s voice was left far behind.
Setting aside the possibility of that shadow being her imagination.
Then.
The fact that he cannot be captured on camera surely means he is some sort of supernatural entity.
And now on this ship, known to be associated with the supernatural.
Besides herself.
There was also Nagio, who had apparently been cursed and lost her memory.
Mana found the elevator too slow, and her mind instinctively sketched the floor plan of the luxurious cruise ship she had seen before.
She ran towards the stairs with great intensity.
The speed Mana exhibited at this moment was extraordinary, as if she were a gust of wind rushing through the passage.
This was the “abnormal power” once warned to her by Alice.
On that day last year, after going through the dusk’s baptism.
Her body still retained the influence of the “White Spirit Priestess.”
Just like Chika.
Except for the fox mound, which had restored itself back to normal through a “wish,” both Mana and Chika retained the power of the “White Spirit Priestess.”
Although according to Alice, this residual magic would gradually disappear over time.
This claim was validated by Chika.
But Mana’s magic showed no signs of diminishing.
Now, if Mana ran with all her might.
She could even defy gravity and stick to the wall.
Just like the “White Spirit Priestess.”
—Please, I must catch up.
Mana silently prayed in her heart.
Her dazzling ruby-like eyes could already reflect the scene of her room.
Everything looked normal.
The door was tightly locked, and it didn’t seem like anyone had broken in.
This eased Mana’s tension slightly.
Mana took out her boarding card.
This card could be used not only as her cabin key on the luxurious cruise liner but also as identification for the crew.
To be safe, Mana cautiously approached the door, ready for any confrontation—
With a crisp “click,” the sound of the lock opening resonated.
Mana pushed the door open with full force—
The scene that met her eyes.
Left Mana frozen in place.
There was Nagio kneeling on the sofa, sticking her bottom out towards the door while glancing back.
And sitting on the sofa, with her legs spread in an ungraceful manner, was Kanade, looking quite energetic.
Both of them, with flushed faces, were now looking at Mana in a panic.
When Mana saw that the bikini Nagio was wearing was the double-layer one she had helped choose.
She roughly understood what had just transpired in this room.
In the next moment—
Mana decisively pulled out her phone.
“Hello, is this the Self-Defense Force?”
“Deploy the military directly?! At least call the police first!” Kanade instinctively complained.
…..
…..
Time slightly rewinds.
Having retrieved her “self” from the darkness, Nagio returned to the “world” with a sense of unease.
She had envisioned countless scenarios for her return.
The worst-case scenario was that when she returned, Kanade would already be gone.
So when she first saw the lively Kanade.
Nagio sighed in relief in her heart… then her brain suddenly crashed.
Because the first thing she saw was a very energetic Kanade.
—What’s going on?
The unexpected development made Nagio’s eyes widen in confusion.
That brother who had followed her for two lifetimes, suddenly appeared in front of her in a different form.
And at a distance that her former self would have never been able to approach, was directed right toward her face.
She could even vaguely smell something familiar from her previous two lives.
—You set me up, End?
—Put me back!
This posture, this distance…
With her rich experience from the little book, Nagio instantly understood what was happening to her.
Her mind was filled with a single wish:
—Is it the hand?
—Don’t tell me it’s the mouth…..
Nagio nervously swallowed her saliva.
There was nothing odd about the feeling or taste.
—It should be fine?
If it’s the hand, she had touched many in the past.
But if it’s the mouth…
The starry purple-black light in Nagio’s eyes was flashing wildly, causing her to tightly squeeze her legs together.
Though she had regained her “self” partly due to the diminished star power, if she were to quantify the current star power level.
It was probably still around 80%.
And at that level of star power, it still affected Nagio’s “self.”
Right now, Nagio was infinitely leaning towards “End” to the extent that—
Just smelling Kanade’s scent or imagining holding it would trigger… sensations.
Her body felt inexplicably hot.
“……”
Even if Nagio wanted to pull back, her body resisted.
Her actions were still influenced by the purple-black star light.
Now “Nagio” was longing for Kanade immensely.
—If we must proceed to the next step…..
—Could you wait until everything settles down before letting me return?
—Doing it midway, oh no, that’s not right; it’s just beginning…
—Is this just the cleanup afterward???
Nagio’s mind was a chaotic mess.
Simply managing the current situation was overloading her brain.
With no strength left to process the memories gradually flooding into her mind due to the reduction of star power.
At the last moment.
Kanade, like a true protagonist, pushed Nagio’s lowering head back up.
This move touched Nagio deeply in her heart.
“Little Nagi, calm down!!!”
Though it wasn’t Kanade’s intention, to stop Nagio.
His palm made contact with Nagio’s exposed skin.
The soft, smooth touch made him involuntarily jump a few times.
Facing the Nagio who had suddenly gone wild and spread her legs.
Kanade felt an internal struggle.
However.
He had no thoughts of “giving up.”
Even though he couldn’t control himself due to instinctive reactions.
He had always restrained his actions with reason.
He would not repeat past mistakes.
He wouldn’t let this girl in front of him shed any tears.
“……Hmm?” Kanade suddenly sensed that Nagio’s rampage seemed to have calmed down.
Had she finally regained her composure?
With this thought in mind.
Kanade’s hand reflexively reached to Nagio’s cheek, lifting her face—
In the next moment—
“Click.”
The sound of the door lock being opened.
Made both Kanade and Nagio, whose face he was lifting, turn their attention to the source of the sound.
It was Mana, standing frozen in place.
……
……
Nagio blinked rapidly, wishing she was hallucinating.
Is this for real?
Mana, are you really that skilled at catching someone in the act?
Oh no, wait, it’s just an attempted act…..
The icy glare that Mana cast in their direction—
…..
Don’t look! Don’t look at me like this—kill me!!!
Let’s keep pretending to be amnesiac, Nagio realized at that moment.
In the future, when “memory is restored.”
Just pretend not to remember what happened during this period of amnesia.
