CH 183

Seiji had a good discussion with Shika after she finally calmed down.

There were some personal belongings Shika needed to retrieve from her temporary apartment, and she also needed to cancel her rental contract there. After that, she would also gather some of her belongings from her permanent apartment before moving in.

Seiji wanted to help her move, but she refused politely.

“My belongings… there’s actually very few that I need to keep. Just myself will be enough for moving.”

This sentence gave Seiji a subtle heartache.

But since she had already spoken, it was difficult for him to insist.

Shika needed to say farewell to her past life. If he was by her side at that time… it wasn’t impossible, but it seemed that she wanted to do so by herself.

She needed to say farewell to isolation and walk towards the future. This was her ceremony.

“Alright. I’ll bring you to your apartment and talk to the landlord about renting a large apartment,” Seiji told her. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

Shika revealed a beautiful, sweet smile from the bottom of her heart.

“Okay!”

After making their decision, they notified Mai and made preparations to leave Natsuya’s residence.

When Shika was captured and brought here, all she had were her Spirit-branded Retainer combat clothes.

Now that she was leaving, she also wanted to take her sketchbook as well as the notebook containing her story ideas.

Seiji merely packed up his clothes and other limited luggage.

They found the maid Mai after finishing their preparations.

“Houjou-san, thank you so much for taking care of me.” Shika bowed politely in thanks. “I’m going to leave now, and I’d like to take these two booklets with me… is that okay? And as for the clothes I’m borrowing… I’ll wash them properly and return them later.”

“No need to be so polite, Kagura-san.” Mai smiled gently. “Of course you may take the booklets with you. There’s no need to return those clothes; just treat them as a gift.”

“Thank you…”

“No need. Do allow me to be a gossip and inquire, though: what are your plans after this?” Mai asked as she looked towards the younger girl.

Seiji inwardly thought to himself that this situation had made an alarming turn.

“I… intend to live together with Brother Seiji,” Shika answered in a soft voice, her face flushed as she looked at the boy beside her.

Mai was rendered speechless at this answer.

Suddenly, Seiji sensed a terrifying aura emanating from the maid!

He’d anticipated that things would develop in this fashion and could only smile wryly.

“Junior…” While Mai’s smile didn’t change, her entire aura had transformed completely. The terrifying Mai slowly turned to look in Seiji’s direction. “Could you please give me an explanation of what this is about?”

Just what would happen to him if he refused?

Well, Seiji wasn’t so suicidal as to refuse the “Smiling Executioner.”

That’s why he informed her about the situation as truthfully as possible.

Mai’s terrifying aura gradually disappeared.

“Living together from now on will probably cause you various problems… If there’s anything I can help with at all, please contact me.”

She took out her cell phone as she spoke.

“No, that’s too much trouble for Senpai…” Seiji wanted to refuse politely.

“Tell me the address. If I have free time, I’ll go visit in the future.” The former student council president was now pressuring Seiji with an authoritative aura. “That’s fine, right, Junior?”

Seiji sighed. “Of course…”

Mai nodded in satisfaction as she exchanged phone numbers with him and wrote down the Uehara apartment’s address.

“Kagura-san, after you move in, please live healthily and well, and remember to take care to protect yourself, and watch this idiot’s… whoops, this junior’s actions and behaviors. You definitely need to correct any delinquent behavior and strictly forbid him from taking all sorts of random girls home.” Mai turned to Shika and lectured her in a serious tone of voice.

This time Seiji was the one who was rendered speechless.

‘Correct what delinquent behavior? And what does she mean by “all sorts of random girls!?”’

“I know… I’ll do my very best,” a nodding Shika answered solemnly.

‘Shika-chan even promised!? Just what did she understand? What exactly is going on!?’ Seiji’s right cheek began to twitch. ‘My adopted younger sister and the mysterious maid are having an inexplicable conversation.’

“Write my cell phone number in your notebook. Store it in your cell phone later, and contact me if there’s anything at all.”

“Okay…”

It was a happy thing that someone cared about Shika-chan, but why did things feel slightly complex?

Seiji decided to stop thinking too much into it as Shika carefully wrote down Mai Houjou’s cell phone number.

‘Yep, it’s fine as long as Shika-chan is happy.’

“Houjou-san, I’m also very grateful that you’ve taken such good care of me. I’ve given you so much trouble during this time.”

“Indeed, you’ve given me a lot of trouble, Haruta-san.” The maid smiled. “But I was quite happy~” Her smile turned incredibly brilliant. “Please take good care of yourselves, you two. As a maid, I welcome both of you back here at any time.”

Seiji and Shika exchanged glances, before they both flashed smiles in Mai’s direction.

“Thank you, and see you later!”

The two of them began walking towards Shika’s temporary apartment after they left the president’s residence.

After Shika retrieved her belongings from her apartment, the two of them went to a nearby restaurant for breakfast before going to the bus station.

At the bus station.

“Brother… you only need to take me here.”

“You really don’t need me to accompany you?”

Shika smiled as she shook her head. “It’s the school festival today. Brother Seiji… you probably have a date.”

“Er…” Seiji scratched his face awkwardly.

That was true, and he also needed to help with his class’s program.

After taking a break for so many days, and skipping out on all the preparation work, he’d feel really bad if he didn’t at least help out a little.

“Go ahead and have your date, Brother… I’ll go organize my things and see you later this evening.”

“Okay… I’ll let the landlord know.”

A period of silence fell between them.

“I’m… going.” Shika slowly turned around.

Seiji watched her go.

After Shika took a few steps, she gradually slowed and then stopped as she turned around again.

She saw the handsome boy still standing there and smiling at her.

This wasn’t a hallucination.

Nor was it a dream.

It wasn’t her delusion.

He was really standing there!

Seiji was smiling as gently as he could at Shika.

‘She’s probably feeling anxious, but she’s facing her fears, and she can definitely overcome them. All I have to do is believe in her and wait.’

Just as she once believed in and waited for him.

The two of them exchanged a long look.

Shika finally turned around again and started walking off.

Her figure no longer seemed as anxious as earlier.

That was because he was waiting for her.

…

Mika heard someone walking down the stairs as she walked out of her home.

It was Kaede Juumonji.

Mika sighed in disappointment.

The blonde-haired beauty smiled faintly at the twin pigtailed girl’s obvious disappointment.

During these days that Seigo Harano had been absent, they had been going to school together.

Although they didn’t talk too much, they weren’t as distant from each other as before.

“It’s regrettable how he still hasn’t returned even though today’s the school festival.”

“Yeah…”

“I’ve heard that there’s a tradition to confess to the person you like during Genhana High School’s festival… Uehara-san, do you intend to confess to Harano-kun?”

“I… of course not.”

‘What does it have to do with you!’ Mika thought to herself as she averted her gaze.

“So you don’t intend on confessing… I don’t know what you think, but I feel that there will be many girls confessing to Harano-kun during the school festival, and perhaps there will be a girl that he likes among them…”

Kaede’s comment further inflamed Mika’s anxiety.

“Thinking about it like this, the fact that Harano-kun’s hasn’t been coming back… whoops, has been absent lately is actually a good thing… but it’s a bit narrow-minded of me,” Kaede said, smiling smugly. “I still hope that Harano-kun can come back, go to school as he should, and enjoy the school festival… Don’t you agree, Uehara-san?”

“Hmph…” Mika snorted and made no reply.

Just how did she feel anyway? She didn’t know either.

But the only thing she did know was that she wanted to see him again.

‘Seiji…’

She suddenly heard footsteps approaching.

It took two seconds for Mika to finally react and look towards the sound’s source, and what she saw was…

“Hey, good morning!”

A tall and handsome boy walking towards her while flashing a smile that was as brilliant as the sun.