Chapitre 31: Chapter 31 : The Shattered Memories
"It's Takiko Kinoshita," the woman behind the door announced herself. "May I please enter?"
Shuugo quickly opened the door for Takiko.
"Madam Kinoshita, please come in."
Takiko stepped into the ward, her face etched with worries.
She quickly approached the bed.
"Midori-san! Oh my God... Are you alright? Is she alright?" She asked the brothers who were standing around the bed.
"She is, Madam Kinoshita. Everything is fine," Shuugo assured her.
"Oh, those naughty girls!" She cried out in indignation. "I am going to make them pay for their horrible attitude!"
Meekly, Midori spoke, "Madam Kinoshita, only Fumiko-san raised her hand against me. Watanabe-san and Amano-san did not do anything wrong."
"It is very kind of you to clarify, Midori-san," Takiko said with a sigh. "Nevertheless, I still need to give the other two a fair warning. I do not condone such behavior in my academy. To stand by idly while someone is being mistreated is to become an accomplice to the abuser's cruelty."
Midori had to suppress a smug smile.
Well, she did what she could to help. Poor Shiori and Himari just had to be punished along with Fumiko, again.
"I am sorry for causing such a ruckus on my first day," Midori said with a regretful tone. "I hope you won't regret accepting me in the academy, Madam Kinoshita."
"Silly girl!" Takiko exclaimed. "Why would I? Oh, the other young ladies told me that your class was very interesting. I like how you compared the Japanese and the English languages to create connections for easier understanding."
Takiko then beamed at the brothers one by one.
"Midori-san is an excellent teacher, the epitome of a graceful, smart, and independent Japanese lady. I hope that the other young ladies will follow in her footsteps."
Although the praises were directed at Midori, the others could not help but wallow in pride.
"That's our Midori-chan," Minato said with a snicker.
The lunch break was over, so Takiko excused herself to go back to St. Anne's Academy.
Shuugo also had to return to Oshima Town and took care of a few matters at the company.
"Minato-san, I will call the hospital tonight to check on Midori-san's condition. Satoru, we are going."
Satoru squeezed Midori's hand and pursed his lips.
"Sorry, Midori-chan. I will come to visit you early next morning."
After Shuugo and Satoru left, only Minato and Arata remained.
"Lunchtime is over," Arata remarked. "but we haven't had our lunch yet."
"I don't want to eat hospital food," Midori whined, flashing her brothers pitiful looks. "Can we please eat outside?"
"You can't leave the ward for now, Midori-san. Please be patient. What do you want to eat? I will buy you whatever you have an appetite for," Minato coaxed her.
"Then I want grilled beef bento set with some seaweed salad," Midori quickly replied.
Minato patted Arata's shoulder.
"And you, Arata? Is there anything you'd like?"
"Any bread is sufficient, Onii-san."
Minato let out a sigh.
"You are a grown-up, but you still eat like a little boy. I am buying nutritious food for all three of us. You better eat," he said with a warning tone to his younger brother.
"Um."
After Minato left, Arata turned to look at Midori.
"Truthfully, when you were in Kagemachi, a murder took place in one of the other brothels. It was assumed that the perpetrator left the same time you did," the quiet man spoke. "Midori-chan, do you mind providing more details about the night?"
"I don't," Midori readily answered. "What do you need to know, Arata-Niichan?"
Arata reached into his front pocket, deftly retrieving a compact police notepad. With a practiced flick of his wrist, he unfurled the notepad before extracting the pen nestled alongside the notepad.
"You can begin recounting the events from the moment you wake up," Arata instructed. The tip of his pen hovered over the pristine paper, poised to take note of Midori's memories from the night.
"Sure. I woke up naked to a man I did not know. I was so terrified, thus I gathered all my belongings and stormed out of the brothel as fast as possible..."
Midori's lips were parted, ready to continue, but no words emerged. Instead, a furrow creased her brow, and her face contorted in a mask of bewilderment.
"Midori-san...?" Arata inquired, his voice laced with concern.
"I am sorry," she said. "I... I don't know what happened afterward."
Midori pressed both hands against her cheeks in distress. It was not a lie. As much as she tried delving into the original host's memories, that particular segment remained an impenetrable void, a chasm shrouded in darkness that devoured every attempt to retrieve its secrets.
What exactly happened that day?
What happened after she exited the brothel?
"Ugh!"
A searing pain lanced through Midori's head, a jolt of electricity coursing through her veins. She doubled over, her hands clutching her skull, her body wracked with excruciating agony. "Midori-chan!" Arata exclaimed.
He rushed to her side, his hands gently grasping her shoulders. "What's wrong? Midori-chan!"
"Hurts..." Midori moaned, her voice a mere thread, barely audible above the pounding in her head. "Arata-Niichan, it hurts so much..."
The pain intensified, its relentless grip threatening to consume her. Arata's eyes widened in apprehension.
"NURSE!" he bellowed as he rushed toward the door, his desperate plea for assistance reverberating through the corridors.
As the excruciating pain subsided, Midori's consciousness slipped away, her vision dissolving into an impenetrable darkness. When she awoke, the chamber was shrouded in the embrace of night, the once vibrant hues replaced by an inky blackness that mirrored the depths of her solitude.
"S-9898," she called out in her mind. "What is going on? Why can't I access Midori Takigawa's memories?"
S-9898 was quick to answer.
[Hello, Midori-san. I have just checked the original host's memory while you were unconscious.
Due to some glitch in the system during your transmigration, several sections of the original host's memory have been shattered into several memory fragments.]
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone