ch321-ch340 · 321-ch321
Chapter 321: My Most Important Person
"Mm. To give you the conclusion first: about the last six months. You have no memory at all of anything from June onward."
Huh? What are you saying? It's June right now, isn't it? Huh?
After they ran a pretty thorough round of tests checking whether anything was wrong with my brain and nerves, I was hit with this shocking fact.
It's not that I slept for half a year or something?
Honestly, that would be easier to believe.
The way it feels to me, today should be my birthday......
"Y-You mean he has amnesia? That's......"
The glasses beauty raises her voice, even more shocked than I am...... Watanabe-san, was it?
"It's really November now? It's warm, though?"
Unbelievably, they're telling me it's the beginning of November.
Really?
"That's because we're in the dungeon. Up on the surface, it's already gone completely cold."
"The dungeon!? Oh, right—I was gathering documents because I was going to get my adventurer license. So today I was planning to skip school and go to the Adventurer's Association in Chiba...... Huh? I'm already an adventurer? Seriously? ......Soushi?"
"......Here, look!"
Soushi tosses something over from the desk drawer beside the bed.
"Whoa, so this is my adventurer license! ......Huh? There are two stars on it? Soushi! I'm a Double-Rank adventurer? Wait, weren't Gotou-senpai and the others still Single? Isn't that amazing?"
Seriously—even talented adventurers take a whole year to reach Double, don't they?
Or was it that more than a year's worth of my memory is actually gone?
"Hey, we're talking about something serious here, so listen up properly!"
Aikawa scolds me.
Right—Aikawa being here means exactly what it sounds like.
"So you're not just partying with Soushi, but with Aikawa too? Is it the three of you? Who else is in it? Someone I know? If Aikawa's in the party, maybe Murakami? No way it's Mizuki, right?"
"!? ......Dungeons—nothing at all? ......Since that day...... about me...... really? Doctor! When will he recover? How long will the treatment take?"
"That's...... hard to say for now. Let's run some tests on the surface and talk it over with your parents present. For the time being, let's go up and at least report the situation to your mother. There's school to think about too."
Oh right—my mother can't come in, because we're inside the dungeon.
Well, if it's only about three days, she probably isn't even worried that I haven't come home.
"You really are an idiot. There's no saving you......"
What is with Aikawa, anyway?
"No, I lost my memory, so it can't be helped, right? Right, Soushi?"
"You idiot...... You really are an idiot, you know......"
Huh? Even Soushi?
Did I do something?
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"Haruki! Do you know who I am?"
We passed through that 'Dungeon Gate' thing for the first time and came up to the surface.
'Gates' are kind of neat.
It feels like stepping out of an air-conditioned room.
The temperature is completely different on the two sides.
"Sort of."
"What do you mean, 'sort of'? Answer properly!"
If I could've cracked a good joke here—like "My big sister?" or "My granny?"—it wouldn't be strange for me to have a girlfriend or two by now.
Unfortunately, I'm not good with words......
"Ma'am...... I am truly sorry that this has happened."
The glasses beauty who came out with us—Watanabe-san—is apologizing to my mother for some reason.
The doctor and I are heading to the university hospital for tests now, and while Soushi and Aikawa stay behind, apparently this person is coming along.
"Kasumi, don't apologize. I know perfectly well this isn't your fault. It's all right...... And, well...... this boy......"
Hm? So her given name is Kasumi.
Seems she knows my mother too.
A school teacher...... no, that can't be it, right?
No teacher this beautiful ever existed.
"Excuse me...... I'm really sorry about this, but I don't remember anything...... Who exactly is Watanabe-san? What's her relationship to us?"
"You idiot son! You really...... I'm sorry, Kasumi. Truly, I'm sorry. How did it come to this......"
No, seriously—who IS this person......
"It's fine. I'm fine...... You'll surely get better soon. It will heal soon......"
"Ah—Watanabe-san."
The beauty in uniform who came with my mother catches Watanabe-san as she wobbles.
That uniform matches the people sitting at the counter earlier, so she must be an Association staff member.
So the rumor that Association staff are all beauties is true.
But still, Watanabe-san's color looks really bad......
Why?
Oh.
"Could it be you're a party member? Like, the one in charge of us? If you're feeling responsible, don't worry about it. It seems this happened in an accident during practice, so it's not your fault."
"......"
"Excuse me, little boy, but could you kindly not talk for a while? Until your memory comes back, be good and quiet."
Huh?
Scary.
The staffer who was supporting Watanabe-san is glaring daggers at me.
When a beauty gets angry, it's seriously frightening......
"How can you say that to Kasumi! This person is the most important person in your life! You idiot! Idiot! IDIOT!"
Ow.
My mother smacks my shoulder from the side.
With her fist, no less.
Over and over......
(This is cruel—Dad's never even hit me!)
Besides, what's "most important" supposed to mean?
If I said my mother was the most important, would she stop hitting me?
Huh?
"Most important"?
"Ma'am! N-Not the head, please, not the head!"
"Maybe hitting will jog his memory! You idiot! Idiiot!"
It's not like I'm some old appliance you can fix with a whack......
Watanabe-san stopped her, thank goodness.
Thank goodness, but......
What does "most important" mean?
......Wait, does that mean......
No, but my most important is......
"Okay, okay, that's enough. Mother, please calm down. The car is here, so we'll be heading to the hospital."
The doctor arrives, and we set off for the hospital......
Me, Watanabe-san, and my mother climb into the back seat.
The doctor assigned the seating so my mother and I wouldn't fight.
That scary staffer isn't coming along, it seems.
Pretending to look out the window, I sneak a glance at Watanabe-san's face reflected in the glass.
I wonder how old she is?
She's so composed—not a university student, I'd say.
If she's not a student, what does she do?
No, right—she's an adventurer.
Her posture is ramrod straight—she looks exactly like someone who's trained in some martial art.
Was she in the kendo club or something?
(Most important...... this person is important to me?)
If it were just my one-sided crush, she wouldn't be this furious, right?
It would also explain why she kept crying all that time......
In other words—we're dating, aren't we.
What happened in those six months, I wonder?
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"You'll stay here for tonight. You'd best stay out of the dungeon for a while. If you push your skills to the limit again, next time you might forget everything. Worse, I can't even guarantee your life. Well, attending school will be rough too, and with your entrance exams coming, that's hardly your priority anyway. Why not just take a gap year and come to our university?"
The doctor says something terribly inauspicious.
Entrance exams......
That's right......
It's already November, yet it's as if I haven't studied for this entire half year.
This is beyond "bad" territory.
Will things work out if my memory comes back?
Even that, I don't know......
"Dr. Amamiya—does it look like Haruki-san's memory will return before the exams?"
Watanabe-san asks point-blank.
"The results aren't all in yet, so I can't say for certain...... But in my assessment...... No, I'll hold off on that for now."
"Please—tell me. How long is this boy going to stay my idiot son?"
"The memories themselves are gone...... There's a chance the memories he'd be recalling were damaged in his brain and erased. And 【Heal】 cleaned all of that up neatly, so......"
The doctor's tone turns grave, completely unlike a moment ago.
Hm?
So it won't come back?
"Then for the rest of his life...... these six months...... me...... he'll never remember any of it? Is that what you're saying?"
"No—this is only my hypothesis as of this moment. The possibility isn't zero. But neither will he remember it completely, I'd say."
So parts of it might come back, a little?
"Isn't there some way? Is there really no way?"
Watanabe-san clings to the doctor.
"It's impossible...... What's lost doesn't come back. Unless you made a backup somewhere, that is...... Haruki-kun is still young. He can start over as many times as it takes......"
"That can't be......"
She releases the doctor and crumples in place—Watanabe-san......
My mother catches her.
Will I really never remember what Watanabe-san and I were?
How am I supposed to act around this person......?