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“I… I see. I-I also… uhm… l-love you, Rir… but… What’s gotten into you?”

Shuu was scratching his cheek bashfully after Rir had just declared her love for him. She didn’t reply and kept crying, seemingly not about to let go of him. Mika and I naturally watched that scene with warm gazes.

“*Sob*… *sob*… ah…”
“Rir?”

She didn’t stop crying. It seemed honestly abnormal. Right… just like Mika when I reunited with her in this world.

“Sorry, I’ll try talkin’ to her alone,” Shuu told us apologetically, as he gently peeled her off himself.
“My, it’s fine. Take as much time as you need.”

Mika was displaying a grin I had never seen before. Though mine probably looked similar.

“R-Right. Anyway, what’s with those looks… Well, whatever. I’ll go talk with her.”

Shuu left with Rir and made his way towards the room I had allotted to them, while rubbing her back.

“I-I wonder what happened.”
“Well. Whatever it was, it was probably something we didn’t take into account,” my younger brother, likely the calmest among us, replied to Sakura’s question.

“At any rate… Shuu and Rir sure have gotten lovey-dovey, haven’t they?”
“Absolutely. Maybe we can look forward to a triple date on Earth.”

Mika and I were chatting in an unconcerned fashion.

Something must’ve happened during that one hour, for Rir to suddenly declare her love and embrace Shuu… I mean, you don’t need to be a genius to see that.

Alright, let’s ask our resident super-brain.

“Kanata, what do you think happened to her?”
“Well, it might have been something physical. But with such a reaction after just an hour, I think I can narrow it down to pretty much one possibility.”
“And that would be?”

Kanata, who’d likely finished constructing his hypothesis already, replied without hesitation.

“First, I think our theory of her being sent to a random place with her memories untouched, like when you and Mika-nee first came to this world, was wrong. If it was just that, she wouldn’t be in such a state.”

Hm, he has a point there.
A separation of just one hour shouldn’t have been reason enough to excessively declare her love.

“Even supposing there was a physical altercation, she brought her SK2 skills with her. If she was assaulted by a ruffian, for example, she should’ve managed with her own strength.”

True enough, a normal assailant likely wouldn’t be able to touch her. I see, so that’s why he thinks our random destination theory doesn’t fit.

“And if we assume she showed up somewhere close to where Shuu lives, she should be happy instead of crying, so I can only think of one thing: She received additional memories.”
“Erm… you mean that ‘bestows necessary information for living on Earth’ stuff the system mentioned?”

Kanata shook his head at Sakura’s question.

“Close, but not quite. It was likely more than that. I think it’s more probable that she didn’t just get information about how to live on Earth, but a whole past.”

A whole past… Huh, like literally? In other words…

“You probably guessed it already, but I think she experienced a whole life in one moment. Or at least the memories of a fabricated past rushing in all at once.”

Indeed, that was my guess, too. It’d certainly explain the tears.

“And on further thought, the gods… might’ve adjusted her backstory, so there’d be a connection to us. If they made it so that Rir’s ‘Earth identity’ has feelings for Shuu, then that could explain her reaction.”

I knew I could count on him. He fully surpassed his older brother.

“Wonderful, just as expected of you, Kanata. As your older sister, I’m happy to have such a bright brother.”
“S-Sure…”

Planning to praise him, I stood on my tiptoes to pat his head, but he showed a conflicted expression.

_____
___
_

“Sorry for the wait, I’m back.”

Shuu had come back to this room. As a matter of fact, it had been two hours.

“How’s Rir?”
“Once she cried herself out, it looked like exhaustion caught up to her all at once, so she’s sleepin’ now.”

Well, if you bawl that much, you get exhausted. Still, I didn’t think beastfolk, who’re hardier than humans, would get knocked out by that… Kanata’s added-memories-hypothesis might be correct, after all.

“Did you use that time… to get all lovey-dovey?”
“Bwuh!?”

Mika’s words shocked Sakura. But Shuu only shook his head strongly.

“N-No… we ain’t.”
“That’s a pity,” Mika replied, sounding disappointed.

Why, I was also somewhat convinced that they would move straight on to adult pleasures, but sounds like we were wrong.

“So… what happened?”
“R-Right, it’s like this-”

Shuu explained to us what Rir had told him.

TL notes:
We’re starting volume 17 with some theory crafting. While I can’t really fault Kanata’s logic here, I feel like there are other possibilities (like her being dropped into an active war zone with all the horror such places entail).

Anyway, volume 17 will be all Earth, with a heavy focus on school, so if you thought this story was lacking those parts, then your itch shall soon be scratched.

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