“Nina-chan, what’s wrong?”

“…Huh?”

With Itsuki holding my hand, I snapped back to my senses.

“I found you, Nina-chan. Where’d you go?”

“Where…? Well…”

I thought about what Itsuki had said.

Where am I in the first place?

I looked around and realized that it seemed like I was in an amusement park.

A large roller coaster circled the park, looping around. Small children, shorter than me, walked by holding balloons, and somewhere nearby, a sweet scent wafted in, making my stomach grumble just a little…

“Nina-chan, you suddenly disappeared, and I was worried.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Feeling sad for making Itsuki worry, I apologized without thinking. The sunlight suddenly grew stronger, and I squinted against the brightness.

“Why did you disappear?”

“Disappear…? No, Itsuki, you see—”

I held Itsuki’s hand and questioned him back.

Why was I…no, why were

we

at this amusement park?

After all, just a little while ago, we were…

“Itsuki, where’s the school?”

“School? Nina-chan, it’s Sunday.”

“Sunday…”

When Itsuki said that, I started to feel like he was right.

…Yes, I must have been mistaken.

It is Sunday today, after all.

We were supposed to be here together for fun.

“And where’s Mama?”

“Isn’t Ireina-san at work? Didn’t Edmond-san say she’d be coming by later?”

“…What?”

“Yeah? You remember? E-d-m-o-n-d told us Ireina-san would be late.”

Itsuki tilted his head as if to ask, “What’s wrong with you?” and I felt like tilting my head in confusion too. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember why.

It was like the memory was stuck in my throat, almost there but just out of reach, as if something had sealed it off in my mind.

Why? Why was that name something I couldn’t forget?

While I was lost in thought, Itsuki took my hand again.

“Let’s go, Nina-chan. Edmond-san’s waiting for us.”

“O-okay. Right.”

The name made me feel strange.

I didn’t know who it was, yet it felt nostalgic. A pang in my chest made me want to cry.

It was like trying to scoop a precious treasure from sand but finding it slipping through my fingers every time I tried.

Oh, why had I forgotten?

Before I knew it, a tall man stood there, ruffling Itsuki’s hair.

“Itsuki, thanks for finding Nina.”

“No problem. It was easy.”

At the sound of the voice, I stopped in my tracks.

He was so tall, with a strong build, like Itsuki’s father.

And his eyes—they were the same blue as mine. No, it wasn’t that he looked like me.

I

looked like him.

Because the person standing there was—

“Dad!”

I started running without thinking.

Why had I forgotten? How could I have forgotten?

But the moment I saw his face, I knew right away.

I remembered immediately.

――――――――――――――

“…Huh?”

When I woke up, I was in my room.

In the room were Nina-chan and Aya-chan, and in front of me were playing cards.

…Playing cards?

As I tried to make sense of the scene before me, Nina-chan nudged me.

“Itsuki, it’s your turn. Hurry up and play a card.”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

Looking down, I saw cards in my hand as well. There were duplicates and cards already discarded on the table, so it seemed like we were playing Daifugo.

Confused, I saw that a “6” was on the table, so I played a “9.”

Aya-chan immediately followed up with a “J,” and Nina-chan muttered, “Eleven-back, then…”

This really did seem like Daifugo.

Why were the three of us playing Daifugo in my room…?

It was all so surreal that I couldn’t help but ask Nina-chan.

“Hey, weren’t we just at school a little while ago?”

“A little while ago…? Well, yeah, we were there about an hour ago.”

She said, discarding a card as she spoke.

I checked the clock. It read 4:45 p.m. Since it was after school, being at school an hour ago wouldn’t be strange.

It wasn’t strange, but…

“Why are we playing cards?”

“What do you mean? You were the one who suggested it, Itsuki.”

“…Wait, really?”

Did I really say that?

Suggest playing cards?

…Did I say that?

Maybe I thought that Nina-chan and Aya-chan weren’t getting along, so I suggested we play together to help them bond?

…No, I don’t remember anything like that.

Unable to shake the feeling, I looked at them and asked cautiously.

“Aya-chan, Nina-chan, don’t you want to practice magic?”

My question seemed to stun both Aya-chan and Nina-chan, who looked at me as if I’d just said something incomprehensible.

Did I say something weird…? I thought, as Nina-chan tilted her head, looking puzzled.

“Magic…? What magic?”

“Uh…you know, like the shadow magic we practiced together?”

“S-shadow magic? Magic? Are you talking about a comic book?”

…Huh?

“Itsuki, you know magic isn’t real. It’s fictional, a product of imagination. It doesn’t exist.”

And to top it all off, Nina-chan was gently scolding me.

Wait a second, that’s not right… or maybe… now that she mentioned it, magic did seem like something out of a fantasy.

Trying to keep a cool head, I watched as Aya-chan suddenly spoke up.

“W-well, I think magic could exist.”

“Aya, why are you making things up?”

“It’s not made up! I mean… Santa might be real, too…”

“Santa Claus and magic are two completely different things…”

Thanks to Aya-chan coming to my defense, I felt a little less embarrassed.

Yeah, that’s right.

Magic doesn’t really exist…

The realization made my face flush with embarrassment. What was I thinking, talking about magic practice? It made no sense at all.

Why did I suddenly say that…?

Yet just a moment ago, I’d really believed in magic…

It was like that strange feeling when you wake up from a vivid dream, talk about it with someone, and realize it was all just a dream, leaving you embarrassed afterward. While speaking, it had felt real, but now it just felt silly.

Just as I tried to brush off my slip-up and was about to play my next card, Nina-chan turned her gaze towards something.

It was… a small stuffed bear.

“You agree with me, don’t you, Actor?”

“Yes! Yes! Absolutely! There’s no magic, but Santa Claus? Oh, he’s real!”

The stuffed bear shook as it burst into laughter.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep