??'s Memory - 20

Carmen remembers. That child, that girl. The girl who might have, in a way, nurtured the seeds of hope within her—... Perhaps that's why Carmen continues to speak to her, even if she can't hear.

Carmen was growing weary of the experiments and research that showed no real progress. In front of others, she pretended it was nothing, but in reality, her insides were festering more than anyone else's.

It was during this time, as she was gradually losing hope, that she encountered her. A girl with an aura as if an angel had descended into reality. Others said Carmen had a knack for recruiting people, but she denied it, claiming it wasn't so. However—... to her, who was losing hope, the girl seemed to shine so brightly.

An angel emanating light alone in a colorless space, Carmen might have thought of her as a gift from God, sent for her sake.

Ultimately, the researcher Carmen, mustering all her strength, brought the mysterious child with a halo over her head as if rescuing a stray kitten. Of course, she couldn't ask for the child's opinion.

...

"So, you picked up another person?"

"No! I didn't pick her up... I brought her here!"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Ain, Carmen's junior and colleague, looked at her with questioning eyes and spoke. She adamantly denied his gaze.

"It's different! Completely different!"

As Carmen and Ain bickered about the child they brought, the sleeping girl opened her eyes.

"Where am I...? No, why am I here? I was definitely..."

Going to meet Nagi-chan and Seia-chan...

The girl, startled upon waking, uttered words they couldn't understand, but they didn't pay much attention. Even if they had questioned her, the girl probably wouldn't have explained what she meant, so it might have been for the best.

"What? ...Wait a minute. This reaction? Don't tell me, but did you kidnap her?"

Surprisingly, Ain reacted faster than Carmen after hearing the girl's words. Judging by the girl's expression and tone, she seemed to know nothing, which meant his senior, Carmen, had almost brought her without permission. So, he asked her with a suspicious look.

"...Ahaha."

She avoided his gaze and gave an awkward laugh. Ain's stare became sharper the longer she delayed her answer. In the end, Carmen admitted that she had essentially rescued a stray kitten (or, rather, kidnapped someone). However, she beat around the bush a lot before saying it.

Ultimately, upon hearing that she brought the girl without asking for her opinion, Ain held back many words in his heart. If Carmen weren't his senior, he would have wanted to lash out, saying a word, no, many words. But she was his respected senior and the leading figure in their current research.

Still, he couldn't leave the girl kidnapped, so he told her to take her back.

"B-but she's a child from the outskirts... She'll surely be in danger if left alone."

Carmen executed her specialty—the sparkling eyes request. This technique had an incredibly high success rate. It was almost impossible to fail...

"Still, there must be someone to protect her, even if it's not us. Didn't you just bring a child who was doing fine on her own, Senior?"

Ain said, avoiding her gaze. The technique failed, as he had seen it too often.

The kidnapping was an issue, but the current situation at the research institute wasn't great, so from his perspective, bringing in another child would be a negative.

Moreover, the girl's appearance was far from that of an ordinary human. A halo and wings... A normal person couldn't have them.

While they were arguing, the girl in front of them looked around to assess the situation and suddenly slapped her own cheek hard enough to make a loud sound. Startled by the girl's sudden strange behavior, they gaped and looked bewildered.

In an instant, the room with three people fell silent.