chapter 119

“Do you know the destruction of the past civilizations? For that reason using dimension travelling selfishly is a crime . Given the effects of dimensional travelling, I’ll be going back soon . But, Daiki? Even I wasn’t able to completely dissolve the curse on your sister in a short time . I was a bit crazy with the disconnecting from the system . No, that was unavoidable . The area of the brain controlling memory was held immobile by magic… That came along with few revived Magical Girls . ”

And then, Anastasia returned to her world .

We disbanded after some time then I returned home with Maria in arms .

“Anyhow— I’m tired . ”

I swam from Okinawa to Kyushu to save MP but I’m also mentally exhausted .

Then, I laid Maria down on her bed and I returned to my room to lay on the bed .

“Memory loss…”

Tomorrow probably will be troublesome . First, I’ll have to patch things up as much as possible .

I fell asleep while thinking that .

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

I heard a scream in the middle of the night .

It’s from Maria’s room . I immediately headed to Maria’s room and Maria was sitting upright with a frightened expression .

“Onii-chan?”

“What’s wrong, Maria?”

Maria sighed as if she’s relieved by my appearance .

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“Hm?”

“I had a terrible dream . Hehe, next month I’ll be a junior high school student… I’m sorry . ”

“Is that so . It was a bad dream?”

“It was a dream that had Magical Girls and such…”

Her consciousness is cloudy . Besides, her becoming a junior high school student happened several months ago or so .

Well, her memory has been tampered with and from tomorrow it’s going to be rough .

“Hey, Onii-chan? Can you come here? I really had a terrible dream…”

“Sure . ”

I sat down on Maria’s bed and held her shivering shoulders .

“I’ve always chased after something and the precious people to me have changed… Despite doing my best nothing changed . And the situation gets worse . ”

“…”

“Even so I still persisted . I had no alternative but to run alone in the darkness . Scared, tired, lonely… I was always… crying . ”

“Don’t worry . ”

“Eh?”

“Everything has ended . Right now, you’re up, right? The terrible dream is over . ”

“Is that so?”

Despite that, Maria’s shoulders haven’t stopped shaking .

“Hey, Onii-chan? I’m sorry… It’s still scary . I want us to sleep together… today . ”

“I understand . ”

And then, I slipped in Maria’s futon .

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What is it?”

“Ehm, before the terrible dream ended . ”

“At the end of the really hopeless nightmare an angel like in the West and a shrine priestess a servant of Japan’s God came to help me . But, still nothing has changed . ”

“Un . ”

“And then light was brimming… At the very end Onii-chan appeared wearing silver armor and a sword in his hands . Just like a hero in games… It’s funny, right?”

I gently stroke Maria’s head while smiling .

“Aah, that’s right . ”

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What is it?”

“A while back I drew a manga… It helped a lot to me who was being bullied and called gross . ”

“Did such a thing happen?”

Maria giggled .

“Although Onii-chan was bullied by his classmates . I’ll really laugh . ”

“But, well, I can’t lose to a female student lower class than me . ”

I won’t hit a female student lower class than me in the first place . I’ll just beat her with words .

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“I saw a bad dream at 12 years old and had my Onii-chan sleep together with me…”

Well, you’re 13 years old not 12… I smiled bitterly .

“And at the end of the nightmare Onii-chan saved me . Surely somewhere in the depths of my heart I’ve been relying on Onii-chan since that time . ”

“Hey, Maria?”

“What?”

“It’s okay to rely on me . ”

“Eh?”

“I’m your Onii-chan, after all . Even when you become an adult, old woman, grandma, I’ll still be your Onii-chan until death . That’s why you can rely on me till death . Because I’m your Onii-chan . ”

“Un… that’s right . ”

After thinking silently for a bit… Maria’s shaking could be felt even here .

“Hey, Onii-chan? The dream was really scary . ”

“…Is that so?”

“Haha, I’m strange aren’t I? I can’t stop shaking . I’m strange, right?”

“You’re not strange . ”

I’m sorry that I didn’t notice .

I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to help you until you were this scared and frightened .

“I’m sorry, Maria . ”

“Why’s Onii-chan apologizing?”

“I’m sorry . I’m really sorry, Maria . ”

“…”

“…”

After a moment of silence… Maria began to shake again .

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What?”

“Haha, it was a really terrible dream . I still haven’t stopped shaking . I’m scared… I’m not able to sleep like this . ”

“…”

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What?”

“Can you hold me tighter…?”

Maria said that to me and while crying she was shaking just like a small animal .

“Just for today . ”

I hug Maria more strongly .

“Hug me… tighter…”

As I did Maria’s shaking stopped little by little—

“It’s a wonder . I’m relieved when Onii-chan does this to me . Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What?”

“I…”

“Hm?”

“I surely would’ve taken a liking to Onii-chan if Onii-chan wasn’t my Onii-chan . ”

“Don’t talk jokes . Go sleep . ”

“Haha, that’s right . But, until I fall asleep, let’s be like this . ”

And then, I continued hugging Maria until she had fallen asleep.