Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

"........."

Ryougi Shiki looked utterly speechless.

"I'm not interested in magicians."

"No, no, no, magic is neither magic nor trick."

Magic is incredibly powerful; it's on a completely different level from those other things.

Shirou gazed at the girl with his twilight-colored magic eyes.

"It's like the hole in your chest that a magician can't fill, but magic can."

"The hole in his chest?"

"That's right, you should have noticed it a long time ago, right?"

You are all alone now—the "he" inside you died in that car accident in your place.

After Shirou said that, Ryougi Shiki covered her mouth.

She finally remembered the reason for the fragmented memories.

The aura of Ryougi Shiki, the other personality that existed within her, has vanished—

……

……

The person in question is a dual personality with different inner traits.

The lineage of the Two Forms has a genetic chance of producing a child with two personalities.

Such a special child, who is considered taboo in ordinary families, is instead revered as a transcendent being and regarded as the legitimate heir in the Ryougi family.

Shi inherited this lineage.

This was the reason her parents skipped their eldest son and chose her, a woman, as their heir.

However, this should not have happened.

Between the two personalities—the masculine personality and the feminine personality—the masculine personality has a stronger dominant position.

To date, all of the few legitimate heirs have been born male but possess female personalities.

The formula seems to have some kind of error, which is the exact opposite of past examples.

The female form contains male tissues.

The one who holds the dominant position in the body is the woman—that is, her.

Weaving is her negative personality, bearing the weight of her repressed emotions.

Shi has survived to this day by erasing the negative darkness of the weaving, killing countless times the weaving that is equivalent to herself, and living a life disguised as an ordinary person.

The person in question doesn't seem to have any complaints about this.

He was mostly asleep, and when she woke him up to prepare for something like sword practice, he would respond with a bored expression.

The relationship between style and weaving is like that of a master and servant, but in essence, they are one.

The actions of the weaver are the actions of the weaver, and the erasure of one's own desires is also the weaver's own will.

...That's right, Zhi is a murderer.

Although he had no actual experience in carrying out the crime, he had a strong urge to kill.

The dominant personality ignores this desire and consistently forbids him from taking action.

Even if they ignore each other, style and weaving are indispensable to each other.

Because of the existence of the weaver, Shiki, though an outcast, does not feel lonely.

However, the moment of their breakup arrived.

Two years ago, when Shiki was in her first year of high school, Shiki, who previously had no control over her physical desires, began to expect to appear on her own initiative.

From that time on, Shi's memories became fragmented.

Now, she can't recall any memories from her first year of high school until the car accident.

All I clearly remember are the mangled human body on the ground and my own hands stained with blood.

……

……

From that day on, Shirou would visit the ward with the nameplate that read Ryougi Shiki every afternoon.

It wasn't that Chengzi made him do it; he just felt he couldn't leave her alone.

Although he knew he was unpopular, Shirou didn't care.

Unbeknownst to her, the girl's attitude gradually changed from indifference to a willingness to communicate with Shirou.

I heard the story between Ryougi Shiki and Ryougi Ori from her.

"Hey, Amamiya... why did Ori have to die in my place?"

If everything you said is true, then if Zhi hadn't died in my place, he could have survived the car accident—

"I should be the one who dies."

"You're wrong, Shiki...you're already dead."

"what?"

"You and Shiki together are one person (Ryougi Shiki), now—"

Without the ori, you are no longer the same person (Ryougi Shiki).

The girl suddenly understood.

She finally understood why she felt so unfamiliar with the past 16 years of her life.

For "the Ryougi Shiki of two years ago", she is just a stranger who happens to share the same memories.

Even though she was brought back to life, she could never become the Ryougi Shiki she once was, because Shiki had already left forever.

"........."

Ryougi Shiki cupped her face in her hands and fell into a long silence.

……

……

Occasionally, the girl will also throw a tantrum.

"Having a dual personality isn't such a big deal, right? Don't look at me like I'm a panda."

"Dual personality is really not a big deal. I have a friend who has as many as eighty-eight personalities."

Ryougi found Shirou's words hilarious; how could there be such a person in the world?

"But Shiki, your relationship with Iori isn't as simple as just having a dual personality."

They exist simultaneously, each possessing a clear consciousness, yet their actions are integrated.

Such a unique case is probably unprecedented in the history of the Ryougi family.

Shirou pinched his chin and then said something meaningful.

"You and Zhi are really like the two ends of Tai Chi."

Half of it is black, and half of it is white, with small holes of the opposite color passing through each side.

The black crescent moon has white holes within it, and the white crescent moon has black holes within it; they are intertwined yet also in conflict.

A spiral of black and white, yang and yin, good and evil.

Ryougi Shiki was getting impatient: "Amamiya, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"If you and Zhi are the 'two polarities' symbolizing the duality of Tai Chi, then naturally there should also be a 'Tai Chi' existing—"

That is, the plate itself that holds black and white.

Ryougi Shiki understood Shirou's meaning and frowned, asking in return:

"Are you saying... there's a third personality inside me?"

Just like I couldn't sense him when he was asleep... because the third personality never showed itself and remained silent, I was unaware of its existence.

Shirou nodded.

Ryougi Shiki said, "This is impossible. Why would the third personality hide its existence from me and Orihime?"

In fact, Shirou also thought it was impossible.

Initially, Shirou saw the emptiness in the girl's heart through the "Mystic Eyes of the End," and with the information from Touko's side, he deduced that "Orishiki died in a car accident."

If there really is a third personality within the shiki, then it would be impossible for it to escape Shirou's notice.

Although there was no evidence, Shirou did not want to give up so easily.

"Nothing is impossible. Why would Zhi Mingming, who could clearly control her body, choose to give it up? Can you explain why?"

"That is……"

Ryougi Shiki's lips are half open.

Actually, she knew the reason, because Zhi liked dreaming even more than she did.

Ryougi Shiki changed the subject.

"By the way, Amamiya, this hospital seems to be haunted."

"Ok, I know."

"...You know?"

The girl looked incredulous and glared fiercely at Shirou with her unseen eyes.

This is something I haven't told anyone else yet—

Recently, every night around midnight, white spirits have been sneaking into her room.

That nauseating mist, reminiscent of jellyfish, would drift to Shi's bedside and then, in the darkness, repeatedly touch her face—

In that instant, she felt her body freeze rapidly, and a sharp, chilling cold, like bird claws, shot down her spine.

The ghost did not make any further advances towards the girl, and the girl simply continued to gaze at the ghost.

It wasn't until 5 a.m. that the white spirit completely dissipated, and Ryougi Shiki was finally able to fall asleep.

"Since you know it's haunted, why don't you do something about it?" she asked angrily.

"I thought Shiki was still trying to kill herself, so I didn't pay any attention... So it seems you don't want to die anymore?"

Shirou said with a smile.

"——————"

A murderous aura emanated from the girl, filling the entire ward.

Shirou quickly said, "Just kidding," and then got up and hung the rune he found in the "Gran Hall" on the door.

That night, the ghost did not disturb Ryougi Shiki's peaceful dream again.

I had a good night's sleep, something I hadn't done in a long time.

……

……

After finishing his work at the hospital, Shirou returned to his temporary residence during this Golden Week holiday.

It's actually Aozaki Touko's office in Kanbuko City.

It was an unfinished building that started construction a few years ago when the economy was doing well, but was abandoned halfway through construction when the economy deteriorated.

Although the exterior of the building is complete, the interior is completely undecorated, with the walls, floors, and building materials exposed.

Orange bought the entire building to use as her base in Japan.

The second and third floors of the building are the office area, while the fourth floor is the president's private space, where Shirou has been sleeping recently.

It was supposed to be a free employee benefit, but in reality, it just meant that Shirou would watch over Touko's house when she left Japan.