"Oh, you mean this..."
In response to Mutsumi Wakaba's question, Kamijo Mutsumi flashed a bright smile.
"It's been like this since that time. It's normal."
Kamijo Mutsumi's hand tremor was perfectly normal. On the contrary, if his hands were to suddenly heal for no reason, that's when he would really start to panic.
"Normal..."
Hearing this, the look in Mutsumi Wakaba's eyes became somewhat strange.
Looking at Kamijo Mutsumi, whose hands were shaking so much he could probably inherit the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme, she did not think this situation was normal at all.
However, the girl quickly latched onto the key part of his statement.
"That time refers to...?"
"It was just a car accident."
No, no, no, that is definitely not an event that can be described with the prefix "just"!
Mutsumi Wakaba couldn't help but think this as she looked at him speaking so casually.
"Don't worry," he said, giving her a thumbs-up as if to reassure her.
"A mere fatal wound is no big deal!"
"..."
What language is this? It feels so niche.
Mutsumi Wakaba felt truly helpless sometimes. Why was it that even though this guy had gone through something as tragic as a car accident, she couldn't feel a shred of sympathy for him?
"Then your hand..."
No matter what, this person was her fiancé. The kind-hearted Mutsumi Wakaba still expressed her concern.
"If the doctor wasn't lying to me, it's probably incurable..."
Kamijo Mutsumi himself seemed completely unconcerned.
"Your parents also..."
"Oh, you mean those two old geezers," he said, his tone suddenly shifting as she brought up his parents.
"In that respect, you and I are actually quite similar..."
"You too..."
His words seemed to come out of nowhere, but Mutsumi Wakaba instantly understood their meaning.
"Those two old geezers of mine are also gone year-round. They just don't put as much pressure on me as yours does."
"..."
For some reason, Mutsumi Wakaba felt a strange sense of kinship, of pity for a fellow sufferer.
So, he and I... are we the same?
But just as the girl had this thought...
"However, things changed after the car accident. Those two old geezers..."
"Is it because... you got into an accident, Mutsumi?"
Mutsumi Wakaba was always direct when addressing people, unlike Anon who liked to use nicknames.
After a moment's hesitation, she chose to use the same form of address as Sakiko and Soyo.
After all, he was her fiancé. Being too distant would make her earlier words seem insincere.
"So, Mutsumi's parents..."
Without even realizing it herself, a barely perceptible hint of expectation appeared in her eyes, as if she were seeing her own reflection in the boy before her.
"...started to care about you?"
"No. They died."
"..."
Mutsumi Wakaba felt that the last bit of hope in her heart had finally died.
To think I actually felt a sense of connection with this guy just now. What an idiot I am!
At the same time, the way she looked at Kamijo Mutsumi was now utterly bizarre.
How can he say something like that with such a natural expression?
Could his family relationships have been that terrible?
She suddenly felt that her own family situation seemed pretty good by comparison.
"Don't look at me like that..."
Kamijo Mutsumi clearly saw what she was thinking.
"My relationship with them wasn't great, but it wasn't like we were enemies."
Although his parents in this life had a poor relationship due to an arranged marriage and cared little for him, their son, they had at least never deprived him of material comforts.
"But hey, people have to look forward."
"They were in the car accident with me. I was just tougher."
"I looked into it afterward; it really was just an accident... I guess that's just life, right?"
"If they truly had even a little affection for me... they probably wouldn't want me to dwell on the past."
Most importantly, it seemed the "system," in order to settle his karmic debt, had stepped in and helped reincarnate the two old geezers in another world.
Apparently, they were sent to Terra to be the chosen of the God-Emperor. While he wasn't sure when Arknights got a deity called the God-Emperor, they were still a god's chosen ones. They were probably living more comfortably than he was, which he considered his final act of filial piety.
Having a son like me... they were truly blessed!
"...I don't understand."
Mutsumi Wakaba whispered, her feelings a tangled mess.
She truly couldn't understand how he could remain so optimistic after experiencing something like that.
Even her childhood friend, the incredibly gentle "White Sakiko," had changed into someone she barely recognized after her own family's misfortune.
"But now that I think about it, you and I are quite alike."
Perhaps sensing her somber mood, Kamijo Mutsumi changed the subject.
"You and I are both from very wealthy families..."
(Not as rich as yours.)
"Both of our parents are never home..."
"And both of our names have 'Mutsumi' in them..."
(That one's a bit of a stretch.)
"We both have a childhood friend, and both of our childhood friends have blue hair."
As he said this, even Kamijo Mutsumi himself felt it was quite a coincidence.
Could it really be fate?
"A childhood friend?"
However, Mutsumi Wakaba seized on this key point in his words.
In that instant, even her golden eyes seemed to ignite.
(If you were a dragon, that would be fine too.)
"She's nothing compared to Sakiko. Just a fool, really..."
Seeing the smile that inadvertently appeared on Kamijo Mutsumi's face as he mentioned his childhood friend, Mutsumi Wakaba felt a strange discomfort in her heart.
"Are you... and your childhood friend very close?"
She wasn't jealous, of course. At this point, she probably couldn't even comprehend the emotion of "jealousy."
But this clumsy and somewhat rigid girl had, in her heart, basically accepted that Kamijo Mutsumi would be her future husband.
For her future husband to show such an expression for another girl... it was only natural for her to feel an instinctive discomfort.
Even a doll... has a possessive streak.
"About the same as you and Great God Saki, I guess."
However, Kamijo Mutsumi only added fuel to the fire.
"I'm going to marry her in the future."
"?"
Wait, what are you saying in front of your fiancée?
"Of course, it's the same for you, Mutsumi," he said, looking at her as if stating the most obvious fact in the world.
"I'm going to marry both of you!"
"...I'm full."
If Great God Saki could have seen her at this moment, she would have been shocked to discover that dolls can, in fact, get angry.
Even Kamijo Mutsumi was a little surprised by her reaction.
When did I raise her affection level this high?
Or is her personality not as emotionless as I thought?
"Wait, Mutsumi."
However, as she prepared to leave the table, he reached out and stopped her.
"What is it?"
Surprisingly, she gave him enough face to turn around.
"Tomorrow, tell Soyo to go to RiNG after school. You go with her."
He had forgotten to exchange LINE contacts with Soyo when they were at RiNG.
But he wasn't worried. Soyo was definitely more anxious about it than he was.
"?"
After that, Mutsumi Wakaba didn't say another word to Kamijo Mutsumi.