Kanna and Izawa left after leaving behind the comment “We won’t be interrupting your enjoyment of your harem.”
Natsuya and the others also confirmed that he was alright. They soon left him alone so that he could properly rest.
Seiji lay back down on his best, closed his eyes, and rested.
Not long later, he suddenly felt someone softly holding his hand.
Seiji opened his eyes slightly to see that Shika was holding his hand. Tears were silently dripping down her face.
“Brother… is such a big idiot…” Crystal-clear teardrops slid down her cheeks.
Seiji felt a strong sense of guilt at seeing his adopted younger sister like this.
Although he already apologized to her when he woke up, it still wasn’t enough to make up for how long she worried no matter how many times he apologized.
He was able to save some people as well as greatly strengthen himself. This was basically the perfect outcome. However, he harmed Shika in the process.
No… not only Shika, he also harmed Natsuya, Mika, Chiaki, and the others…
It was so terrible of him to have so many people worry about him for so long!
Seiji impulsively wanted to load back to the decision point regarding the Bloodwine.
He shouldn’t have thought too much into things, he shouldn’t have cared about the fate of those who died, he should have just obediently chosen the first option…
After those thoughts flashed through his mind, Seiji suddenly had an epiphany and forced down those thoughts.
This result was only obtained after so much hard work. He shouldn’t reject it so easily. Since he harmed the girls who cared about them, he should make it up to them, rather than taking the easy way out by loading.
After coming to this realization, Seiji squeezed Shika’s hand.
“Shika-chan…”
“Brother…”
“It’s insufficient no matter how much I apologize for making you worry so much. That’s why I won’t say so many apologies.” Seiji took a deep look into her eyes. “I shall do my very best to make things up to you… I’m willing to do anything so that you can forgive me.”
Shika blinked as she received his heartfelt intentions.
“You’re willing to do… anything, you say?”
“Yes, anything.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Then, I want Brother to sleep together with me.”
Seiji was rendered speechless.
Why did she make such a request? This was just like cheating!
His expression flickered as he didn’t know how to respond.
Shika kept looking directly at him. Tear streaks remained on her face.
Seeing how calm she looked, Seiji felt that he had misinterpreted the phrase “sleep together.” He shouldn’t have reacted so much to it.
He figured that Shika simply wanted some intimate contact in order to feel reassured. That was all there was to it.
“Shika-chan… are you certain that’s what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then let’s sleep together for a little… or perhaps after I’m out of the hospital…”
Seiji didn’t even get to finish his sentence when Shika climbed into his hospital bed, lay by his side, and gently hugged him.
“Does this hurt, Brother?”
“No…”
A soft touch, wonderful fragrance, and such a pure and beautiful face right before his eyes… Seiji recalled that he had experienced this before. Was it on the day that he bought the kotatsu? He and Shika had fallen asleep together by the kotatsu’s side.
It would seem that his adopted younger sister wanted to reenact what she felt at that time. That was probably why she made such a request.
He really shouldn’t think too much into it. It was quite normal for brother and sister with a good relationship to sleep together!
…Seiji decided to pretend that the last part was true.
He did his very best to restrain any fantasies from going wild. Seiji adjusted his head’s position and closed his eyes.
Shika kept hugging her adopted older brother and watched him for a long while before she slowly closed her eyes as well.
She slept incredibly well.
The next morning, Natsuya arrived and saw to her surprise that Seiji had already gotten out of his hospital bed! He was performing simple exercises!
“Good morning, Natsuya.” Seiji smiled and greeted her.
“Good morning… Are you alright, Seiji?”
“Yep. I don’t hurt anywhere at all now.”
After a complete inspection, it was determined that Seiji’s body and soul were now in perfectly healthy condition.
It was unknown why Seiji was in such pain right after he woke up yesterday. But when he woke up today, he wasn’t in any more pain at all.
Seiji felt that he didn’t have any issues left at all apart from some mild discomfort from having lain in bed for too long.
Still, it was evident that he wouldn’t be able to leave the hospital just like this. He would at least have to rest for some time.
Natsuya’s eyes began to gradually moisten as she watched him moving around.
‘It’s wonderful that you’re alright.’
After learning that he had collapsed and remained unconscious, her heart had ached, she cried, had nightmares, blamed herself, became depressed… it felt like her entire world had dimmed.
Finally, she forced herself to be more spirited, believing that he would return, telling herself to remain strong.
Although she resolved herself that she would stay by his side no matter how long she had to wait, there was still a deep anxiety within her, as if she was standing on a frozen pond but not knowing when the ice would crack, sending her plunging into a frozen darkness.
Luckily, he didn’t make her wait for too long.
After Seiji finished his exercises, he turned around to see that Natsuya was looking at him with tears brimming in her eyes.
“Natsuya…” Seiji walked over and hugged her.
“Seiji…” Natsuya also hugged him back, feeling his warmth. She closed her eyes and allowed her tears to flow.
The two of them silently hugged each other without saying anything. They transmitted their feelings nonverbally.
It was quite a while before they separated from each other.
Seiji helped to wipe Natsuya’s tears. He also took the chance to peck her on the cheek.
Natsuya instantly started blushing as she revealed a moving smile.
What the Yoruhana Family wanted from the tournament was an additional prize given to the tournament winner. This prize was called the Mirror of Mawataru. Shika had already given this mirror to Natsuya, who then gave it to her older brother Aoran.
According to Seiji’s agreement with the Yoruhana Family, if he won the tournament and gave this prize to the Yoruhana Family, the Yoruhana Family would then allow him to be together with Natsuya and wouldn’t interfere with their relationship anymore.
Natsuya hadn’t been in any mood to formally discuss the issue of the Mirror of Mawataru with Aoran while Seiji was still unconscious. But now that he was awake, it was time to discuss this issue. The Yoruhana Family had promised to give Seiji something of equivalent value for the mirror rather than accepting it for free.
“I don’t know what I should ask for… I’ll leave it up to you to decide. It’s fine as long as it’s a fair deal.” Seiji left everything up to Natsuya.
Natsuya was also taking care of all the valuable presents that the revived tournament participants had given to Seiji. The student council president was truly happy that her boyfriend trusted her so much.
Seiji was now quite famous in Sakura Island’s Spiritual Ability user society.
The incident at the tournament two weeks ago had been rather large. Not only did some of the tournament participants end up dying, almost all of the Kurosaki Family’s private combat squadron was killed at the island! There were also numerous injuries and even deaths among the tournament spectators. The situation was so serious that even the strongest ace at the scene, the Cloudwave naval ship, had almost been sunk there!
Fortunately, the Cloudwave ship had been able to escape quickly enough and summon reinforcements. Otherwise, the tournament hosts would have dealt with the tremendous headache of how to cover up from normal society the loss of an entire warship.
Such a major incident resulting in so much damage had happened at the tournament. It was impossible for the tournament victors Seiji and Shika not to become famous. Plus, Seiji even revived a portion of the tournament participants from death at the end. He became even more famous because of this.
Seiji Haruta’s reputation went from “garbage” to “glorious victor.” His life story sounded like a legend!
As for Yui… when she left, she had requested Shika and the others present there to keep her involvement in this whole affair a secret.
When Yui had appeared, the tournament already formally concluded. If her presence really needed explaining, she counted as helping to save the survivors rather than interfering with the tournament.
Shika and the others all agreed to this request from the person who helped to save them.
Seiji felt that most of the credit for reviving a portion of the tournament participants deserved to belong to his older sister, the Qilin Girl. After all, his own and everyone else’s safety would have been a problem if she hadn’t appeared. Not to mention, he wouldn’t have known how to revive the dead.
She arrived right in the nick of time to save everyone and left just like that afterwards. She didn’t want any payment or reputation… wasn’t that a classical example of a hero?
‘That’s pretty cool, Sister.’