Yesterday night was the longest and slowest night of Rion and Kotomi Amamiās lives.
Everything they built was destroyed.
But a new ray of hope shone through their despair.
They sat in their grandparentsā yard, watching the night sky. In their hearts, they felt a peaceful calmness which they had never felt before.
Rion, we made so many mistakes.
Kotomi, we did so many foolish things.
Foolishly making so many mistakes, doing wrong by so many people, seriously hurting the most important personā¦ it wouldnāt be enough no matter how much they apologized.
Theyā¦ were finally able to see just how ugly and terrible their past selves had acted.
They felt awful, regretful, sad, pained, and yetā¦ a burden had been taken off their shoulders.
It was as if theyād been released from an invisible dark cage and were able to see the endless sky again.
The sky wasnāt anything new to them.
It was something they possessed before, but abandoned unknowingly. Only now did they finally see it againā¦
It was as if they had truly returned home.
Ah, so it had been like this.
Ever since that day when they stumbled upon their fatherās secret, theyā¦ lost their way.
They discovered a dark and narrow alley, believed that it was the correct path, and continued walking down it.
If they had persisted in walking down that path, it was likely they would have remained lost forever.
However, someone found them and pulled them back onto the path to home.
One person withstood the terrible agony of digging up his own past scars and reached his large hand out to them.
Another person withstood all the terrible things they had inflicted on him and reached a much smaller hand out to them.
This is the wrong road; come over to our side!
Being pulled along by the large hand and the small hand, they finallyā¦
Rionā¦
Kotomiā¦
Weāveā¦ returned.
The lost sisters finally recognized their own misdeeds.
The two lost little girls finally returned home.
ā¦
Seiji merely glanced at the twins before he continued walking without missing a beat.
The bandages on Rion and Kotomiās faces slightly dampened their beauty, but apart from that, they didnāt seem too different.
The biggest difference was their eyes.
Even though he only caught a brief glimpse of them, Seiji saw a clear light shining in the twinsā eyes.
Maybe they wouldnāt be able to make a complete turnaround so quickly, but theyād still made a good start.
Anyway, it didnāt have anything to do with him. He no longer had anything to say to them.
Seiji silently walked in between and past the twins.
āSeigo Haranoā¦ā a voice spoke up.
āWe hate you.ā
āSince you defeated us so utterly.ā
āThatās whyā¦ā
āWeāll become strongerā¦ and prettier than before!ā
āJust like you.ā
āAnd then weāll surpass you.ā
āFinally, weāll overturn things and defeat you!ā
The twinsā voices quavered with emotion as they took turns to speak.
Doubtlessly, this was something akin to a revenge declaration.
However, it didnāt sound dark at all; instead, it sounded bright.
Seiji smiled. āIf you can come, then come. No matter when, Iām always happy to accept a challengeā¦ Just like I said before, Iāll play with you anytime. Even though youāre older than I am, Iām your senpai in life experience. As former scum, Iāll wait for youā¦ my senpais that are also former scum.ā
He left them with that sentence as he walked off.
Rion and Kotomiās faces were now covered in tears.
They only had one sentence left in their hearts that they couldnāt say, wouldnāt say, didnāt dare to say, but they would say eventually one day: āThank you.ā
ā¦
*Ding!* Seiji received yet another notification from the system as a block of text appeared in front of him.
[A female character now has a connection rating thatās 50 points higher than their favorability rating, so your [connections] option is now available. You may now inspect all connection ratings of all characters with over 50 favorability/friendship/connection points.]
[Two female characters have a connection rating thatās 50 points higher than their favorability rating; youāve received the special reward of [Item Duplication card!]]
[A male character has a connection to you of over 100 points, and youāve already received his character reward card. His character reward card has now been increased in level!]
Connection rating?
Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.
āSomething wondrous has come out again. Youāve been quite active today, system of mine.ā
Two female characters with a connection of over 50 pointsā¦ This could only be talking about the twins.
Just what exactly did that sentence mean? What exactly wasā¦ a connection rating?
Seiji was curious about his new option.
He returned to the classroom.
āHow did it feel, Seigo? Receiving the forbidden love confession from your middle school junior! Allow me to interview youā¦ Eek!!ā
Chiaki greeted him with an evil grin, but instantly received a merciless blow, causing her to collapse onto her desk.
Mika and all the other students were shocked into speechlessness.
Yep, everything was peaceful and calm today in Year 1, Class 5.
There were a few minutes remaining before class started.
Seiji held complex emotions towards Hoshiās prank on him, but he still needed to check out his systemās new options.
Seiji opened up his systemās menu.
First, he checked the [connections] option.
According to the systemās explanation, a connection rating meant how strongly a boy or girl was connected to him, and it usually had a direct relationship to favorability or friendship rating, but it was also independent.
Typically speaking, the connection rating would increase in tandem with favorability and friendship rating, but there were also exceptions.
Seiji understood it as a classic example of the two main characters of the anime Naruto.
Before Naruto and Sasuke finally made up with each other, their favorability towards each otherā¦ whoops, friendship towards each other definitely would have had a low value, but their connection to each other would be strong.
Hmmā¦ at least from Sasukeās angle, his connection rating to Naruto must have been at the max! It was probably so high that Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto.
After Seiji suddenly thought about Hoshi, he felt like he could understand Sasukeās feelings a little bit better!
*Cough cough.* Seiji veered himself away from that line of thought.
At any rate, this was what connection rating meant. Now that he understood it, if he looked at it more closelyā¦
Mikaās connection rating with him was similar to her favorability rating towards him. Chiakiās connection rating was higher than favorability rating; in conclusion, both of them seemed normal.
Hoshiā¦ er, Seiji decided to skip over him.
Rion and Kotomi Amamiā¦ both of their favorability ratings were about 30, but their connection ratingsā¦ were both over 90!!
Seiji squinted at the number for several seconds to make sure it was real.
That was right; it was over 90!
This number was even higher than Chiakiās connection to him! They were at the same level as Mika!!
Was thisā¦ two female versions of Naruto!?
No, no, that didnāt feel right!
Thenā¦ two female versions of Sasuke?
It still didnāt seem right!
Seijiās thoughts were thrown into disarray.
Okay then, mix it up; two female Sasukes with Narutoās connection rating!
That was much betterā¦ not!!
What the hell was with his chaotic analogy!? An endless barrage of comments flew through Seijiās mind.
But he still couldnāt think of any better way to understand this.
He really wanted to ask someone for help regarding this matter!
Seiji sighed deeply. āForget itā¦ this probably isnāt something thatās bad anyway.ā
Seiji finally decided to leave this matter alone.
āLetās take a look at the actual rewards.ā
Two female characters with a connection rating 50 points higher than their favorability led to him receiving a reward called the [Item Duplication card].
When Seiji looked at this in his [items], he was stunned!
āWtf, this isā¦ a godly card!ā
It had no effect on skill activation or ability learning cards. But it could duplicate precious one-time items like [encouraging heart]; in short, it was basically an extra copy he could use at any time he wanted!
Reallyā¦ an excellent reward.
Duplicationā¦ Seiji couldnāt help wondering about those twins. Did he receive this as a reward because he reached the condition required, or was it because he reached the condition with the twins?
This was something only the system would know.
Seiji was still filled with complex emotions as he finally took a look at Hoshi Amamiās [character reward card].
Although he was mentally prepared for any possibility, he was still shocked when he read the cardās effects!