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There are no more traps left in my apartment. It’s proven by my recovered memories. It was probably unlocked by Ani and Ane’s song. After being wildly jostled around by the excited Akane, I’m currently cleaning up the traps, causing my frustration to pile up.

“Nothing good has happened since I woke up.”

The extremely satisfied Akane has already left for work. I’ll have to give her a disk copy of the video later, which I’d rather not do, but I’m sure that she won’t hesitate to use force. And since I’m going to be on the receiving end, the wise choice would be to give it to her.

“Well, I guess I can count the conversation with Kaori as a good thing. Otherwise, I’m not going to last.”

I grumble while stuffing the remains of the firecrackers into a garbage bag. The bloodwriting-like thing on the wall was done on wallpaper, which I only had to peel off, but the firecrackers caused a big mess. I can’t tell if they were being considerate or not.

“Okay, that should do it.”

The only remaining problem is the bazooka. If I carelessly leave it out as trash, it might cause unnecessary misunderstandings, so I guess I’ll have to keep it. Or give it to someone else, but depending on who it is, I might fall victim to it again.

“Staying here all silent feels a bit wrong.”

The academy has already entered spring break, so I generally have a lot of free time. I can just study like Ani would, but I don’t feel like studying today. Which is all due to the traps. Like I can focus on studying in this mental state.

“I guess I’ll go outside, then. Hmm, do I have any errands in my memories I can do…”

Wandering around aimlessly isn’t bad either, but I don’t feel like wasting time on my first day ever. Let me at least settle any of my sibling’s unresolved wishes. With that, I search through my memories. If possible, it’d be nice to do one that they both share, but is there even something that convenient?

“There is, now that I recall.”

It was an event so far in the past, both of them have forgotten it. It’s such a trivial thing, yet so precious to both of them that it was buried so far deep. It’s a simple errand too, so I can do it right now.

“In that case, I’ll have to get in touch.”

Now then, who should I contact? This choice is very important. Because if I pick carelessly, I might end up getting abducted by them. I have to go to Kaori’s place this evening, so I need to avoid losing time.

“A safe bet would be Ran or Nako.”

These are practically the only two people from the rogues den I can think of who wouldn’t cause me any trouble. As long as I can get the correct information, any of the rogues will do. And if I consider their schedules, I can reduce it to a single choice.

“Let’s go with Nako. She is closer to that idiot, after all.”

And so I tried calling Nako. What I need is to meet up with a certain individual through Nako. I can’t expect Nako to teach me that fool’s contact info. It is private information. And we haven’t met yet either.

“Sorry to call so early.”
‘It’s not really a problem, but it’s pretty rare for you to contact me.’
“I just recalled something I forgot, you see. Can you contact Hiiragi?”
‘So you have business with Hiiragi? She should be at her family home recuperating from a traffic accident.’
“What? Did she finally get run over?”
‘No, even that idiot wouldn’t survive getting run over, you know. Maybe. I think.’

From how she couldn’t be so sure, it’s easy to tell just how extreme of a person this Hiiragi is. She’s one of the leading eccentrics, even among the rogues den. Ani and Nako have so much pity for her that they act like her guardians.

“Has she ever been in car-related accidents before?”
‘Wasn’t there that time when she got catapulted by a car door that opened as she was passing by?’
“Ah, that did happen.”

It was witnessed by Ani and Nako. While she was walking to meet up with the two, she was unluckily slammed by the door. The person who opened it was shaken and immediately apologized, but Hiiragi was practically uninjured, so nothing came of it. She was completely bothered by it, so Ani had to tell her otherwise.

“What about this time?”
‘Apparently, she was hit from behind while waiting for the green light.’
“Oh, she’s a complete victim this time.”
‘The accident hurt her neck. Her luck is terrible as always, but I feel bad for her this time.’

Hiiragi being blameless isn’t unusual, but I assumed that it was partly her fault. It’s due to her past antics, though. There was that time when the whole class had to interrogate her.

“Anyhow, she’s at her family home, right? You think it’ll be fine to visit?”
‘She’s well enough to have no impediments in normal life, so it’s fine. Even if the twelve family’s Kotone goes to visit, it shouldn’t be any issue with her.’

While it’s weird to be just ‘fine’ after being hit by a car, this is considered common sense among the rogues den. It’s absolutely baseless, but I have complete trust that Hiiragi would be fine no matter what.

“In that case, tell her that I’ll be coming by. As for why, I’m picking up a thing I’ve forgotten.”
‘Roger that. I’ll tell her that Kotone’s visiting.’

After saying our goodbyes, I cut the call. I let out a heavy sigh of relief. I was able to recall Ani’s memories with ease and continue with the conversation naturally. If I had to manually sift through memories or ended up contradicting myself, it would’ve been a worrying sign for the future.

“Still, why did Nako specifically say the twelve family’s Kotone?”

It shouldn’t have been necessary to put it that way. Stories of me have already been spread among the rogues den folks. Ani was surprised that Hiiragi didn’t participate in the New Year uproar. Did it conflict with her schedule?

“I can just ask directly. Even if they’re hiding something, I’m sure Hiiragi will carelessly answer without a second thought.”

It’s easy to prepare for this outing. While spring isn’t too far off, it’s still cold outside. Wearing a jacket over my usual outfit should be enough. No need to dress up. I’m just going to a friend’s house.

“There’s nothing that feels new, huh.”

I thought that some things might feel different after the change to me, but since I inherited various different experiences, the outside scenery feels familiar to me. I feel no disappointment in this fact, only comfort. And I needed this sense of comfort.

“I guess I should visit home on the way back.”

Ane’s home, not Ani’s home. Stepmom is probably out at work right now. I can postpone going there later. Since I’m pretty sure if I show up at Ani’s house, it will probably end with Isami capturing me.

“Besides, I’m sure stepmom and master will notice the slight change. Thinking about how to deal with that is already discouraging me to go.”

The child they thought they lost just came back as a woman, so if they learn that he’s suddenly gone again, I’m sure they’ll be sad. That’s the normal reaction. But for some reason, I can’t help but think that they’d take it in stride.

“I guess because they know him well, huh.”

Stepmom raised Ani as her child, and Master was the one who taught him the skills and knowledge he needed in life. I can’t help but believe that those two will surely understand Ani’s choice. I’ll probably still get scolded for it, though.

“I got the short end of the stick, didn’t I?”

Thinking about it objectively, I can already imagine the unreasonable event of me getting lectured in his place. Maybe I really should put off visiting them for later.

“Damn you, Ani. Just how many problems do you plan on leaving me?”

I don’t have that much discontent with Ane. For now, that is. However, Ani left behind so much stuff. He probably didn’t think much about it, but there’s so much troublesome stuff. Had even just a bit of his ego remained, I would have absolutely picked a fight with him. Which I probably wouldn’t win, but still.