I, Mizuno Mizuno, come to a school medical facility on Earth.
Because I was caught by people I didn't know in Earth and they told me I should take mental care of them.
I'm not so shocked because my body doesn't have anything else to say, and Ichinose helped me as soon as I was caught.
The teachers say, "It's care just in case," but I think it's a little too exaggerated.
Rather, it's so embarrassing to be treated this way.
But there was one thing I was glad about when I was going to get these mental care.
That's what Ichinose said, "I want to talk to you later".
The hospital room I'm in bed in now is private, so it's been a long time since Ichinose and I have been alone to talk.
Things were strange when we met in Earth, so it's convenient to ask about it in detail.
Until just now, there was Thunder here, too.
But Mr. Ichinose is due to come soon after this, so I sent him back to the dorm early.
I didn't have to let you go home, I had to say.
But Ichinose-san wants to talk to me slowly.
With you, Thunder, you can't slow down.
So I'm not wrong in my judgment.
... right?
So why are you putting your thoughts around something like this on your own......
Yeah, I knew I needed mental care right now.
Sometimes what the teachers say may also be right.
"Ha... Nevertheless... they were beautiful people..."
I remembered two women and sighed loudly as I was thinking in the hospital room.
Ichinose wasn't the only one who helped me on Earth this time.
The most famous celebrity in the school we go to, Asahina Suzuki, and the mysterious Earthman with blonde hair and red eyes.
Those guys took action to help me, too.
I knew that Akizuki Asahbinami knew Ichinose, because Thunder had told me before.
But it's a little shocking to see you in person and, besides, to see you and Ichinose chatting like you're close.
Besides, that Earthman was also, in a way, more shocked than Asahina Mizuki.
He looked a little older than me, but Ichinose stroked his head or something...
This shock cannot be put into words successfully......
Anyway, they were both, like, amazing beauties.
Maybe Ichinose likes one of those two?
Even so, no wonder.
Oh...... plus you have a ward street woman who occasionally meets you in the school square.
Wouldn't there be too many beauties around Ichinose......
Mizuno, we're coming in.
Suddenly, Mr. Ichinose came into the hospital room.
"Huh...? Ah, ha, yes!
Surprised at that, I nodded my voice......
The content I was thinking about earlier was bad.
Well... when I meet Ichinose, I'm always confused.
"... for once, I knocked."
"Oh, su, excuse me! Hey, I was thinking!
"Thinking?"
"Hey, it's nothing!
You can't tell Ichinose if he asks you what you were thinking!
Let's change the subject!
"So, Mr. Ichinose, what story do you have for me?
... Ah.
Suddenly it could have been a bad idea to ask about the subject.
I was going to talk slowly, and now I'm done talking.
What shall we do......
From here on out, should we try to modify the track somehow -.
"... Huh?
If you think so, Mr. Ichinose has suddenly bowed his head deeply towards me.
So, why are you bowing your head?
"... today, make me feel scared... I'm so sorry. This is it."
"Yep... why would Ichinose apologize...?
It's too unexpected, I don't know why.
Sure, I felt scared this time.
But that's not by Ichinose, that stranger...... by someone named Kara.
Mr. Ichinose shouldn't have to apologize.
"The purpose of that man... is to crush me. Taking Mizuno... would be part of it."
"Oh... really..."
I heard that Ichinose-san and Kara were having more conversations.
So, somehow, I was wondering what it might be.
But I don't know exactly what happened.
"Ichinose-san. If possible, could you tell me more about what happened with that person named Kara?
"... more details?
"Yes. Well, I became a party to it."
"Right... right, okay. Let's talk to Mizuno."
…………
... Maybe I've done something awfully rude right now.
Imitation like prying into a person's past should never be a praised act.
But still, I wanted to get to know Mr. Ichinose very well.
I couldn't help but wonder what this guy was worried about or something I didn't understand at all.
"Just... can you ask for this without saying anything else?
"Yes, I get it! I am proud that my mouth should be quite strong!
I can't help asking, so this is natural.
I won't even talk to you, Lei, more than Ichinose told me!
"... There used to be a girl who said she liked me"
"Heh? Oh, girl...... is it?
"Well, back in the day, it was exactly six months ago on Earth's timeline."
"Ha ha..."
So, why did the story of a woman come out?
Besides, the person likes Mr. Ichinose......
- Are you kidding me, Mr. Asahina Mizuki?
No, not on second thought.
Ichinose speaks in his past form, so the person...
"... 'Retired', did you?
They call it 'retirement' in a cloudy way that we Earthlings (players) die on Earth.
Luckily, no one has retired around me, but if you're a high school student, you probably have plenty of experience seeing people who have been like that.
"No, I'm not retiring. It's like I'm half retired."
"? Half......?
It's an expression I'm not sure about.
I mean, what does that mean?
"The girl who got semi-retired... Sakya was a weird guy who always wanted to be beside me"
"But not now...... right?
"... oh"
Ichinose sat there in a pipe chair for visitors and began to squeeze both of his bushes together on his lap.
Its cobwebs grip pretty hard and you worry that blood will seep out of your palms.
"Sakya... the man who took Mizuno... Kara killed him..."
"Ko, was he killed...?
"Yes... that too... many times!
For Ichinose, that seemed very intolerable.
I can't even do it.
Even I would be frightened if someone close to me were to be seen like that.
Even if HP goes cyril, if we do resuscitation magic within the time limit, we Earthlings (players) will be resurrected.
But death in Earth is infinitely closer to death on Earth.
I've never had zero HP, but experience tells me that when I get into that state, my consciousness gradually fades.
It's like you're on the verge of death and you have instinctive fear.
I thought it was a feeling I didn't want to go through that I get these conditions over and over again.
"That man... took Sakuya because he was beside me, that's all. And... that's why Sakya didn't beg for her life... so many times I killed her before I ran away."
…………
Mr. Sakya, being exposed just like me... seems to have been badly hit.
I mean, it wasn't weird that I was seeing something similar, was it?
So, Mr. Ichinose must have apologized to me.
Nevertheless, what does the person named Kara want to do?
Is there any resentment towards Mr. Ichinose?
It's too irrational a trick.
If they do this, Ichinose won't be able to stay with anyone in Earth.
I also find it intolerable how you behaved against Mr. Sakya, but I am angry at Mr. Ichinose for forcing him to be lonely.
"... Mizuno... explains that if he dies in Earth, some of his memories will be missing... are you getting it?
And, as you don't notice that I'm boiling my anger in my heart, Ichinose has asked me that question, as she whines.
"Yes. I was taught in my first years at school."
"So... do you know that even if you continue to experience close to death over and over again in a short period of time, you rarely have a memory loss?
"Yes, no... that's it..."
"I guess... this looks like a rare case, so you don't have to know it naturally"
Were you...?
So it's pretty dangerous for someone to be in a way that repeats dead and alive.
Such methods of warfare are also forbidden in schools, but these reasons may have lurked behind them.
"Sakya is an Earthling (player) who showed those rare symptoms. Besides, she lost almost all of her memories since she got the anomaly, partly because the anomaly (ability) she owned was the type that always activated"
"Almost everything......"
"I still have knowledge of Earth and other things... about me and my people... but I didn't remember anything"
It's... it's just horrible to imagine.
The school we are in now is an institution that brings together intellectuals (abilists).
Naturally, the friends you meet there will get to know each other after you get an alien.
That means that when you die in the earth and a memory loss occurs, you will almost certainly lose the memory of those friends.
"I... couldn't help Sakya... look at him who lost his memory... all I could do was cry..."
…………
The woman who said she liked herself.
I don't know what kind of reply Ichinose had to that person.
But Sakuya must have been a very important person to Ichinose.
If you look at Ichinose now, you know that much.
"Maybe sometimes, the woman you were seeing in the school square... was it Mr. Sakya...?
"That's right. She's... Sakuya."
... So Ichinose-san looked like she was going to cry when she met that girl.
The mystery has been solved.
"... that's the end of the story. Now you know how I tried to keep the Mizuno people away?
"Yes......"
Ichinose said that in Earth to keep us out of sight like Sakuya, didn't he?
After listening to what I just said, I was finally convinced.
"I'm... not sure I can protect people... so... don't get involved with me anymore..."
…………
And as for what Mr. Ichinose is frightened of, somehow, I also found out.
"Mr. Ichinose... you regret not being able to protect Mr. Sakya, right?
"............ yes"
Ichinose-san shook her head small and vertically, letting her face lie down as she did.
So I decided to stop by Ichinose and say what I thought.
"I was able to help Mr. Ichinose."
"... that was only with the help of Mina and the others"
"Maybe so, but Ichinose acted with my rescue first, didn't he?
…………
"Thank you for protecting me, Ichinose"
".................. Huh!
I drew Mr. Ichinose's head down and held him softly with both arms.
Ichinose seems surprised by my behavior like that.
But I didn't shake it anywhere, and I started whimpering tiny as it was.
This guy, he's very strong, but I think he's also very weak at the same time.
At least, Mr. Ichinose is very weak right now.
But Ichinose, who has a weak part, is Ichinose again.
And I couldn't help but wonder if I could support such a weak Mr. Ichinose.
"I... I..."
"Mr. Ichinose protected me, so I was safe. Just remember that."
"Ugh..."
From around your chest, you hear voices that push and kill you.
Just because I'm younger doesn't mean I have anything to put up with.
But well, those places are again... so what are you thinking, I...
Even with that in mind, I kept holding Ichinose's head gently.
Pray that this act will heal Mr. Ichinose's heart at all.