Skadi, I Have a Girlfriend

The past was like a stone sunk beneath the water. When the water was muddy, nothing could be seen; when it cleared, everything became visible. Mizuki opened his eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling above him, at the familiar, slightly glaring light. Still groggy, he instinctively hugged the person in his arms a little tighter, then kissed her on the lips.

"Xiao Le, get up. You can't do that kind of thing in the morning."

There was no helping it—Exusiai liked this routine. Otherwise, she would stubbornly stay in bed every morning and refuse to get up.

But something seemed off. The halo was one thing, but why did Xiao Le's hair seem less red and a little longer?

A good portion of his memories had returned. Though they had not fully recovered, the sudden influx still left Mizuki's mind muddled. It was not until he felt the sensation against his arm that he instantly sobered up. This size definitely wasn't his girlfriend's! And this hair—it was his sister-in-law!

Then what had he just done...?!?!

Mizuki suddenly felt that he would have been better off sleeping a little longer. Opening his mouth would only make things worse, so in the end, he gently moved Lemuen's hand away and quietly got out of bed.

Yes, nothing had happened just now. It had to be his imagination.

However, as Mizuki changed clothes, he failed to notice that Lemuen, lying on the bed with her back to him, had already opened her eyes. She had actually woken up several minutes earlier. When she woke to find herself in bed, clutching Mizuki like an octopus, she had been utterly stunned.

Wait, hadn't she been on watch last night? Hadn't't Mostima come to relieve her? Why was there such a strange scent in the air? Though it smelled surprisingly nice.

(No wonder Xiao Le always says Mizuki feels so comfortable to hug. She's right. It really makes you not want to let go.)

Just as Lemuen was reluctant to release him but had no choice but to prepare herself to do so, Mizuki woke up. Lemuen immediately closed her eyes and pretended that nothing had happened. Then she heard Mizuki muttering, "Xiao Le, get up. You can't do that kind of thing in the morning," before kissing her on the lips.

Though Mizuki's kiss lasted less than three seconds, light as a dragonfly touching water, it felt as though Mostima had stretched out time itself. In Lemuen's perception, those three seconds became thirty minutes.

Her first kiss, preserved for decades, had somehow just been taken away???? Did her dear little sister and brother-in-law have this kind of fixed morning routine???

Lemuen's mind was a mess. She kept feeling as though she had forgotten something. Could she have taken the initiative last night? No, that couldn't be right. Although she and Mizuki had taken a liking to each other, how long had they even known one another? Besides, he was her brother-in-law. Was Lemuen really the kind of terrible woman who stole her sister's man?!

Sure, she had bullied Exusiai plenty since childhood—snatching her lollipops, tricking her out of her allowance, even stealing her little cakes—but she was still a good big sister. How could she possibly compete with her sister for a man?!

Still, her brother-in-law's body was a little too good, wasn't it? That waist was so slim, and his skin was so fair. His shoulders were even exposed. Why hadn't she noticed when she was holding him just now?

"Hmm?"

Mizuki subconsciously turned around. Lemuen decisively closed her eyes and continued pretending to sleep. Seeing that she still had not woken up, Mizuki let out a small sigh of relief and continued changing. Lemuen opened her eyes again to watch, but when Mizuki changed his pants—even though it was only for an instant, and he was merely changing his outer jeans—she immediately shut her eyes and turned away.

"Hmm?"

Looking at Lemuen, who had already turned her back to him, Mizuki figured it might have been his imagination. His tentacles had not told him that Lemuen was already awake, and he himself was too preoccupied with getting out of the room as quickly as possible to care about anything else.

When she heard the door close, Lemuen did not feel relieved in the slightest. She merely gestured slightly with her hand to estimate that size, then was deeply shocked.

Could Xiao Le even handle that?!?!

Putting those strange questions aside for the moment, Lemuen finally breathed a sigh of relief. Though she had lost her first kiss in a muddled, inexplicable way, at least she had not completely given herself away. Still, she could not understand why she had climbed into Mizuki's bed.

"Good thing my clothes are all..."

Lemuen had wanted to say that it was fortunate her clothes were all still on, so nothing should have happened last night. But before she could finish, she realized something was wrong. Her clothes were there, but not all of them. Her two most intimate pieces of clothing had disappeared somewhere. In other words, she was going commando.

"Mizuki! I... Sis?"

Early in the morning, Exusiai rushed straight into Mizuki's room. She had slept with Fiammetta last night, and when she woke up, she found that Mostima was already up while her own sister was nowhere to be found.

But Exusiai was more worried about Mizuki, so she had rushed over first thing in the morning. Then she saw her own sister sleeping soundly and comfortably in Mizuki's bed.

"Hmm?"

Exusiai's intuition told her there was definitely something suspicious going on. But Mizuki was not in bed, which meant he was already awake?

With that in mind, Exusiai decided to set the matter aside for now and find Mizuki first to get a clear explanation. His sudden collapse yesterday had terrified everyone.

Meanwhile, Mizuki had just gotten up and had not even had time to wash up. When he reached the kitchen, he found that Mostima had already prepared breakfast.

"You're awake?"

"Yeah. Sorry for making everyone worry."

Looking at that familiar figure, Mizuki suddenly did not know how to interact with her. He thought about it but genuinely could not remember when Mostima had ever secretly slept with him.

"Come help carry the dishes out. Xiao Le and the others usually don't sleep in, right?"

"I'm usually the first one up, then Texas and Sora. Xiao Le and Croissant usually sleep until ten."

That had always been Penguin Logistics's routine. It was not because Mizuki had made those girls lazy.

"Um... Mostima."

"What is it?"

"I still can't remember when we did it."

Mizuki scratched his head awkwardly, but Mostima quickly caught the second meaning behind his words.

"Your memories came back?!"

"Yeah, some of them. I remember the period from when I picked up Skadi to when I said goodbye to Muelsyse."

"Did it have something to do with that doll?"

"Yeah."

Leaving that black teru teru bozu doll with Muelsyse had not merely been a promise. It had also been a method. Mizuki had left part of his body within it—his hair, to be precise.

He had once been Seaborn, after all, and was different from ordinary people. Even his hair possessed vitality. The cells in those strands held some of his memories. When Mizuki encountered them, the hair automatically returned to him, but the impact of those memories caused some aftereffects, which was what had led to his collapse.

"How interesting. I knew you couldn't possibly fail to leave yourself a backup plan. But I didn't expect you to leave it with someone other than your sister."

"If I had left it with her, I don't know when my memories would have recovered."

Mizuki shook his head. Though he did not know what was inside Skadi's body, if he had given that doll to Skadi, recovering those memories probably would not have been so easy.

"Then... how do you plan to handle your relationship with Muelsyse?"

"Maybe I'll wait until I come back from Chernobog."

As he stepped beside Mostima to help carry the dishes, Mizuki felt fortunate that he had not missed the timing. They were leaving that afternoon. If he had slept until tomorrow and missed the operation, that would have been bad.

"You're going to see W and the others?"

"They're in Chernobog?"

Mizuki blinked blankly, apparently not on the same wavelength as Mostima. Mostima thought for a moment.

"I heard they joined an organization called Reunion. Apparently, they've been wandering around near Chernobog."

"Reunion?"

Hearing that name, a line instinctively surfaced in Mizuki's mind: When dragons fight rabbits and deer, even deer are left troubled. Along with it came the image of FrostNova and Talulah kneeling before Alina as she lectured them.

A great many memories had returned. That was a good thing. At least in the future, he would not have another situation like Mostima standing right in front of him while he had no impression of her beyond finding her familiar.

"Mizuki!!"

Just as Mizuki was about to say that he seemed to have some connection to Reunion as well, Exusiai's lively, energetic voice reached his ears. Without even thinking, Mizuki released the plate in his hands and let his tentacles catch it, then turned and caught Exusiai as she pounced on him.

"How are you? Did you sleep well? Do you feel sick anywhere? Any discomfort?"

"I'm fine."

Mizuki rubbed his cheek against Exusiai's, kissed her once, then ruffled her hair reassuringly. He appreciated her concern.

"It's just that some memories came back yesterday, and I had a hard time taking it all in at once."

"Your memories came back?"

"Yeah, but only recent ones, and they're a little messy."

The memories in his mind were fragmented, but fortunately, he had not forgotten the important people.

"Then let me ask you something. Answer me honestly!"

"Okay."

"How many other women do you have outside?"

Exusiai's gaze instantly sharpened, as if she intended to tie Mizuki up and lock him in a little dark room if he did not explain himself properly today.

"Not many. Other than Muelsyse, there probably aren't any."

Mizuki lightly bit his finger. If Muelsyse had not taken the initiative in that matter, the two of them could have remained friends. But Muelsyse had insisted on drowning Mizuki in the ocean of love.

"What do you mean, probably?"

"Because..."

Faced with Exusiai's questioning stare, Mizuki looked toward Mostima, who was cooking. Exusiai followed his gaze, and her eyelid twitched.

Mizuki did not like hiding things from Exusiai. It made him feel deeply guilty. But Mostima had not expected him to sell her out so honestly.

"When did you two meet?"

"It's a long story. Let's talk outside."

With Mostima handling breakfast, Mizuki carried Exusiai to the living room and told her how he had met Mostima, as well as who W and Ines were.

There was nothing worth hiding in those stories. Telling them would also help Mizuki sort through the fragmented memories in his mind. Thinking carefully, he realized that his encounter with Hoederer and the others had actually been an accident.

At the time, Hoederer and the others had been preparing to ambush a team of bounty hunters in the wilderness. Unexpectedly, they robbed Mizuki's vehicle instead. Mizuki did not blame them at all. He even generously gave them the car and everything in it, then planned to hold an umbrella and walk all the way to Ursus.

That completely baffled Hoederer's group. They had done plenty of killing and robbing, and these people who lived with blades at their throats had never thought of themselves as good people. But they had never met anyone like Mizuki—someone who was robbed yet neither panicked nor got angry, someone who simply did not care.

In truth, if they had known what Mizuki had done before, they probably would have been terrified. Mizuki had once encountered several scavengers who said they wanted to eat him. So he cut off part of his own body to cook for them. When his hand grew back in front of them, they were scared out of their minds.

But Mizuki swore that he had genuinely wanted to fill those people's stomachs. He had simply done it in his own way.

Still, it was better not to tell Exusiai about something like that. It sounded a little frightening, after all.

"So you met Mostima and Fiammetta while traveling with that Sarkaz mercenary squad, and got to know them that way... They didn't fight?"

"No. Everyone got along fairly well during that time."

Mizuki thought about it. In any case, no one had been able to beat him back then, and he provided food. He had spoiled the appetites of every one of those Sarkaz mercenaries. Who would want to eat charred meat, tasteless rations, and mashed potatoes that were either saltless or too salty?

"Then let me ask you another question."

"Hmm?"

"Why is my sister in your bed?"

Exusiai's hand was already resting on Mizuki's waist. If he gave even one wrong answer, heh, neither of them would be leaving the house today.

"Well... when I got up, I saw her sleeping in her wheelchair, so I put her in the bed to rest."

If he said he knew nothing, Exusiai would probably not believe him. Mizuki could only make something up on the spot.

"That's more like it. Whew... As for Mostima, I'll let it slide."

Exusiai looked around, made sure no one was nearby, then leaned close to Mizuki's ear and gently bit his earlobe.

"Mizuki, tell me, what do you think of my sister?"

"She's a nice person. She has a good personality, and she doesn't dislike me."

(She doesn't just not dislike you. If I hadn't made my move early, you wouldn't be her brother-in-law—you'd be my brother-in-law.)

Exusiai rolled her eyes irritably. She knew her sister far too well. A younger-boy type like Mizuki, who was also as sly as she was, was exactly Lemuen's type.

"I mean... do you have any feelings for my sister?"

"????"

Several question marks seemed to pop up over Mizuki's head. He felt like he understood what she meant, but also like he had not quite understood it at all.

"Look, my sister isn't bad, right? Great figure, good person, gets along with you. So how about it—buy one, get one free?"

"...That's an option?"

Mizuki had always known his girlfriend's thought process was a little unconventional, but this was jumping way too far. What was Exusiai thinking?

"Um, I'll talk to you about it at lunch."

Exusiai saw her sister preparing to go down the stairs and hurried over to help. Lemuen was still recovering, and it would be bad if she fell.

Mizuki simply used his tentacles to carry Lemuen and her wheelchair downstairs together. When Lemuen saw Mizuki, she seemed to recall something and awkwardly shifted her gaze away.

Meanwhile, Mizuki was still pondering Exusiai's motive for saying those things. Hmm, could she have a fever?

Can This Treatment Process Be Written?

For some reason, lunch that day felt rather stiff. Mizuki did not tell Texas and the others that many of his memories had returned, because there was no need. His relationship with Texas and the others had begun from zero; it had nothing to do with the past.

And despite recalling so many things, Mizuki still could not remember why he had gone to the snowfields in Terra's far north, much less why he had lost his memories. He only remembered that iceberg.

"We're leaving soon?"