Chapter 119: Arrival of Spring
Clip-clop, clip-clop, I run across the meadow.
Together with Mama, we play lots and lots.
When I get tired, I sit down and take a little rest.
Then Mama gives me some juice.
I gulp it down… it’s delicious.
"…Alicia, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
While we were taking a break, Mama asked me that.
"A bride!"
My answer is always the same.
Wearing a dress like a princess,
I’ll marry the person I love!
"I already know who it’s going to be!"
"Oh my, really…? —kun?"
Mama said the name of a boy who’s a friend of mine.
"Nope!"
Hmph, I’m not interested in boys like that.
"Actually, it’s a secret… but I’ll tell you, just you, Mama!"
"Hehe, thank you…"
"Sometimes I see a man in my dreams. He’s so cool and handsome… I just know he’s the one I’m destined to be with!"
"I see…"
But Mama looked a little sad after hearing my story.
Maybe she was thinking about me getting married and leaving home.
"Don’t worry, Mama… I’ll only get married after I become a grown-up!"
Until then, I’ll still be your daughter.
So don’t make that face, Mama…
Mama hugged me tightly,
and I gently patted her back.
—February 28, Tuesday
Three nights ago, Yuna did something that left me unable to think.
The night before last, I firmly refused Yuna’s advances to stop the same thing from happening again.
But when I lay quietly in my bed, wrapped in the darkness of night, my head throbbed from anxiety and impatience, my body trembled, and there was no way I could sleep.
Trying to escape from that feeling, I quietly touched myself, thinking just a little would be fine… but Yuna found out.
…And after that, everything spiraled out of control.
Then last night, Yuna slipped into my bed like it was the most natural thing in the world, and I couldn’t reject her.
This morning, when I woke up, Yuna was right there next to me, stark naked, peeking into my sleepy face as if it were normal.
『Good morning, Alice… are you awake?』
"Nn… good morning…"
My body still feels sluggish from last night.
…But it feels like I’m forgetting something…?
『Good morning, Ikuto-san.』
A voice echoed in my head.
"Ah, Alicia!?"
Right, today’s the day I’m supposed to synchronize with Alicia.
Before Yuna touched me last night, I remembered it, and I was thinking I needed to clean up before sleeping…
But after being brought to climax over and over, I must’ve completely passed out.
Both of us were completely naked, the room was thick with the sweet scent of last night, with raw traces of what we did lingering everywhere. On top of that, around my waist felt damp and uncomfortably cold.
I could only panic in a situation where there was no excuse I could make.
『…Ikuto-san, please switch to telepathy.』
Prompted by Alicia, I hurriedly activated the telepathic link I’d forgotten to use.
『Good morning, Yuna.』
"Yeah, good morning, Alicia."
The two exchanged their usual greetings as if nothing had happened.
While confirming today’s plans and after-school schedules in a businesslike manner, Yuna began putting on the clothes she had folded by the bedside.
By the time Yuna finished dressing in her pajamas and returned to her room, I was still standing there completely naked.
“Alice, you’re going to be late for school if you don’t get ready soon,” she said, snapping me back to reality.
Flustered, I hurriedly gathered my scattered clothes and started putting them on.
After Yuna left the room, I timidly asked Alicia while changing.
“Ah, Alicia, you’re not mad… are you?”
『…Huh? What would I possibly be angry about?』
Alicia asked me back with curiosity.
It didn’t seem like she was truly upset.
“About Yuna… well… I mean, I…”
『Oh, you mean last night? It’s okay. I talked with Yuna about it… In fact, I asked her to do so. It was to make sure you wouldn’t end up thinking alone at night and act without considering the consequences.』
“Is—Is that so…”
『Yes, that’s right.』
The cold chill ran down my spine from Alicia’s ruthless pragmatism to achieve her goals.
—March 3, Friday
Peach Festival Day.
Seeing the hina dolls displayed in the guest room, Alicia let out a surprised sound. Our family’s hina dolls are an impressive seven-tier set, decorated last month by the three women in the house.
It was Alicia’s first time seeing them.
『They’re so beautiful…』
“Your father really went all out buying them when Yuna was born.”
At that time, we were still in a cramped rental apartment, my mother said with a wry smile, recalling those days.
“Still, don’t you think it’s unfair that neither Alice nor Alicia have any hina dolls?”
“…Sorry, it’s just me who has them.”
They both apologized, but honestly, I didn’t want any hina dolls.
Besides, I have my carp streamers.
Those were also bought by Dad, excited about the birth of the first son.
I want to put them up again this year.
…Though there are no boys left in the house anymore.
—March 6, Monday
Today is graduation day.
There’s no one close among the third-years, so I don’t have strong feelings about it.
However, Alicia, who is experiencing a graduation ceremony for the first time, seemed moved and occasionally sighed.
—Will Alicia ever get to graduate?
Thinking that thought suddenly squeezed something deep in my chest, and tears started flowing uncontrollably.
But I held back from breaking down in tears.
I couldn’t show such a pitiful sight while synchronizing with Alicia.
Fortunately, there were other girls crying, so shedding tears didn’t seem suspicious.
…At night, Alicia told me the next synchronization would be in four days.
—March 10, Friday
My period started, and I’m not feeling well.
Worried about Alicia who’s synchronizing with me, I asked if I was putting too much burden on her, but her reply came with a delay that felt strange.
It was almost like Alicia didn’t feel any menstrual pain—
…Or maybe it’s just my imagination.
The next synchronization will be in five days.
—March 15, Wednesday
Alicia had become quieter, and whenever I worried and called out to her, she’d brush it off as if nothing was wrong.
During class, I tried talking to Alicia about all sorts of things.
The sweets shop Yuna and I went to after school.
The dress I splurged on for spring.
The first cosmetics I ever bought.
The new volume of a novel Alicia liked.
…There was no shortage of things I wanted to share.
『You really should pay attention to class, you know?』
Alicia scolded me, but she listened with a cheerful nod.
While doing that, the teacher called my name. I panicked and stood up, but Alicia whispered the question and answer, helping me get through it somehow.
『…See, I told you so.』
Alicia seemed to chuckle dryly.
I laughed it off.
After school, at home.
…It seemed some of Alicia’s senses were still disconnected during our synchronization.
『So sweet and delicious… I love chocolate!』
That was Alicia’s reaction after secretly eating most of the chocolate I had prepared.
Last time she tried it, she was at a loss for words because of the bitterness.
But I didn’t want to harshly reject Alicia’s attempt to keep things normal, so I pretended not to notice.
…The chocolate was genuinely bitter, and it brought tears to my eyes.
—The next synchronization would be in five days.
—March 20, Monday
At Alicia’s request, I went to club activities for the first time in a while.
All the club members were gathered in the clubroom, and Alicia was set to play matches against all of them.
Since Alicia couldn’t move the cards herself, she instructed me telepathically which cards to use, and I actually played the cards.
With her perfect memory and battle-honed situational judgment, Alicia was terrifyingly strong at Wiso.
“Alright then, I’ll go first!”
My first opponent was Yuna.
At school, Yuna was the same as always.
Maybe a little more physically affectionate?
We touched every night.
…Yes, every single night.
Even during my period, she gently and carefully touched my entire body, easing my anxiety.
But Yuna was solely focused on making me feel good. When I tried to touch her, she stopped me.
Honestly, I felt relieved by that.
Because it meant I wasn’t on equal footing with Yuna—I was just responding to her desires.
Looking back, I realize I was completely dependent on Yuna at that time.
Yuna favored using a self-built deck centered around her favorite cards. The current one was an “Angel-chan deck” featuring silver-haired angel cards (named: Yuna).
Honestly, the deck was a bit weak, but Yuna enjoyed playing so much that whether we won or lost, the game felt satisfying.
“As expected of Alicia, you’re strong!”
The game ended in Alicia’s victory.
Next, I took the seat of my opponent: Hisui.
“Alicia, I’m not losing today, you know?”
…When I think back, Hisui has helped me more times than I can count.
Every day, she comes to my classroom and tells me about the state of Alicia’s soul. It was painful to hear day after day that things were getting worse, but it was definitely better than not knowing.
Hisui uses a midrange deck that can flexibly change its play style depending on her opponent.
Since Alicia uses a completely defensive control deck, Hisui took the offensive role.
“…I lost,”
Hisui said, sounding frustrated as she conceded.
The game ended with Alicia narrowly fending off Hisui’s attacks and winning.
Next to sit awkwardly in front of me was Souta.
“...Yo.”
Since Alicia told everyone about how I risked meeting Aymok, things had been a bit tense between Souta and me.
He was probably angry at me for acting selfishly without consulting anyone. Well, I had it coming.
Still, as we played Wiso, I felt the tension between us ease somewhat, which made me happy.
My match with Souta was a clash of control decks—each reacting to the other’s moves. We stayed quiet until the right moment, then the card exchanges exploded all at once.
“…I lost. Let’s play again sometime. I won’t lose next time.”
As the game dragged on and more options opened up, Alicia’s ability to instantly come up with precise plays gradually gave her the advantage and led to victory over Souta.
Next up was Suzuka, a young lady with a gentle, airy presence.
“Please go easy on me.”
Unlike with Souta, I’d recently grown closer to Suzuka.
Since then, I had visited her house several times.
After she gave up on Souta, she seemed calmer, and I felt she’d become even more charming than before.
I still think Souta missed out on something good.
…Though saying that won’t change anything now.
The game unfolded with Suzuka’s aggressive rush deck pounding down, but Alicia firmly held the line.
“…I lost.”
Alicia barely scraped out the victory.
After the matches, all the club members went out and grabbed hamburgers to eat on the way home.
Everyone was smiling until the very end.
—Next match will be in six days.
—March 26, Sunday
It was quite a warm day.
Since it was Sunday, I suggested we go somewhere, but Alicia said she wanted to spend the whole day relaxing at home.
So we stayed in.
We talked about many things.
About the other world.
About this world.
How I felt about Alicia.
How Alicia felt about me.
Sometimes I caught myself looking at Alicia with lustful eyes, and it was painfully obvious to her.
Also, she said she never intended to refuse if I ever made a move…
She told me she’d wondered if there was some reason she wasn’t the one I made a move on, even though I was being approached by other girls. She’d struggled to hold back, and hearing that made me feel like all my efforts to restrain myself had been for nothing.
“I wish I had been more honest, too,” Alicia said regretfully.
『Ikuto-san, next week I want to go to a place called an amusement park… Will you go on a date with me?』
When Alicia shyly brought up the invitation, I accepted without hesitation.
She didn’t say anything else, but I understood.
This would be our last date.
…Alicia had reached her limit.
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