114 There is definitely something wrong with me!

"By the way, Kurokawa, where on earth is the smell coming from?" Asks Rachel, looking left and right with a curious look.

Since entering the house, the housewife has been glancing over the place enthusiastically, checking out each corner like a child in a candy store. Perhaps because she is used to butchering stuff or handling many disgusting things for Han, Blondie gets familiar with Kurokawa's unusual circumstances better than anyone. As for the others, even though they got distracted by my ridiculous tumorous bunny feet seconds ago, their faces were still contorted by the smell lingering in the air.

Not that I am blaming anyone, though. It is a perfectly normal reaction. Completely normal phenomenon!

I mean, it smells so bad! Even when you have a smell fetish, it will still not pass! No one should be able to live in such a ridiculous condition!

"That place." Hearing Blondie's question, Kuro nonchalantly points her finger toward a closed door. "It's my Mother's room."

Upon learning the answer, everyone turns toward the bookworm's finger at one particularly ominous location. Strangely enough, although the stench oozing from that place is definitely out of the mortal realm, there are hardly any signs of dirt and grime on the walls or the door.

With what everyone has learned about Kuro's mother, one would expect uncleanliness outside that room, yet nothing is worth noticing. In fact, the entire exterior seems like it was just cleaned. From the looks of it, anyone would say it belongs to an ordinary household. Not that this makes me feel any better about the situation!

Honestly? I have to say Kurokawa really did take care of the place well when she needed it.

If we talk about care for the living space, I believe her abilities rival Rachel's. Of course, the talk is about housework only. Considering Rachel's specialty in handling dead stuff...well... Kuro is still a novice.

Actually, she should not get better at handling corpses.

At all!

You too, Laura! Never touch a corpse! They are nothing but bad omens!

"If the outside is this bad, I can't even fathom what the inside smell will be." Pinching her nose tightly, The class rep comments. It seems my girlfriend is unable to breathe still. "How she is living while such a smell lingers is beyond me. Does she sleep there? Or she comes and goes whenever she pleases, Kurokawa?"

"She lives there," Kuro answers bluntly as if the person in question has no relation to her. "Because of her work, Mother often sleeps outside with a customer. Yet she will still return even when it is late at night or early morning."

Standing nearby, Han says nothing. However, the frown on his eyebrows speaks for itself. For someone as righteous as the protagonist of this world, it must be appalling for him to know that one of his classmates is in such a predicament. He is probably thinking about how he could do something about it.

"She doesn't clean? Not even a little bit?" Blondie turns to face Kuro.

"No. And Mother doesn't let me do it either. She leaves everything like that because she wants to."

"Damn!" Mumbles Han.

"Weird," Rachel exclaims. "It's counterintuitive, don't you think, Reppy?"

"First of all, don't call me that. Second, I do agree with Rachel here." Laura looks at the housewife with eyes filled with annoyance.

"What can I say?" Kuro shrugs her shoulders. "Psychological issues run in our blood." She then continues moving down the corridor toward a set of stairs. "Come, people, let's settle in my room."

Walking behind Kuro, I can see everyone's concerns. And I do not blame them one bit. It took me a while to get used to all of this. Heavy information and a literal dump of living space. Two things that do not work well together, yet here we are. Frankly, my first time was much worse than these guys are having. I can not remember the details, though. All that I can remember is feeling nauseous and dizzy throughout the trip.

...Hold on.

Again.

I did it again! One may have been a coincidence, but twice? I think NOT!

This is the first time I got invited to Kurokawa's place, right? Furthermore, this is ALSO the first time I got myself a nose throughout millennia of isolation. Before this iteration, I never really had any senses other than touch. Yet, why did I feel nostalgic due to the odor when Kurokawa opened the door to her house earlier? And just before, why did I remember my 'first time' adapting to the smell? What the hell is going on with my head?

As my bunny feet stand still in place, some pieces combine. Without actual eyebrows, I can feel my face making a frown while information slowly connects into a narrative. The sensation is weird but not unexpected.

"C?" Laura comes up to me. Her face clearly states that she is worried. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just thinking about something." I smile, trying my best not to let them know the turmoil slowly forming in my heart.

"If there's a problem, you can always count on your Rachel, darling!" Blondie looks at me with warmth.

"I'll be sure to remember that!"

Moving up the stairs, I keep thinking about that first time. My memory is hazy and imperfect, somewhat spotty. I already know that. After all, I do not even recall my first days having sentience. Regardless, after so many iterations, I expect my brain to erase some unrelated subjects and keep the crucial parts intact.

It would have been much more beneficial to learn and remember everything about the plot and all that could turn awry rather than any unnecessary matters. That is why I did not care about my beginning and would merely get on with it when the story started yesterday. My origins are redundant.

But!

I should be able to recall critical details with ease, like a reset where I got a nose or one where I got invited to Kurokawa's place. They are massive changes in the main storyline, which I should have taken by heart. Even a reset could not have erased them if they truly happened. And yet, only now, these things resurface like long-lost artifacts finally showing up after god knows how long. Other than memories of the girls and the game, my head is completely empty.

This, coupled with the strange scenes with Rachel yesterday and Kurokawa today, is reconfirming my hunch earlier after the kiss with Kuro.

Frankly, I do not think those memories were wiped out by mistakes. The past version of me would never do that. However, whether that guy or 'I' purposefully cleared my memories is another different matter.

Really, what was the reason? Why did I try to forget the memories of the lives I used to covet so much? Those are like precious music boxes that sing songs of happiness and should be cherished more than the greatest treasures in all existence. They should have been locked away and placed on beautiful pedestals until I felt alone so that I could look at them and continue through endless days.

Nevertheless, reality is different.

I do not consider myself the brightest bulb of the bunch, especially put next to the likes of our girls. However, accidentally erasing the times I was happy is, without a doubt, too dumb, even for an almost faceless creature. There must have been an unprecedented suffering that trivialized everything I ever wanted, leading to the erasure of everything I wished for. If so, what kind of threat did I face?

This may sound redundant, but I desperately need to figure out why to stop it from occurring.

There is one tiny issue, though. A problem so small that I would not face any life-threatening danger. Now that a revelation is looming over the horizon, I must gather more clues to figure out what my past did. And, if I need to do the same as what I did to Rachel to Kuro to get more information, I would need to... kiss every heroine. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

Simply that.

It is not difficult. Not even one bit. Child's play. Hehe.

...

... Please help... My legs are shaking! I think I am going to die... Wait, no. Death would be a blessing if the girls find out what on Earth I am planning!

"Uh? Guy and gals? Why are we standing in the hallway? Everyone suddenly went quiet all of a sudden." Han's perplexed voice rings, cutting my thoughts directly. "Also, is it just me, or the atmosphere is colder than before? Like...Really, really cold! Chilling to the bone!"