I loaded the dream game

"And the most important reason among all of them... is you."

Xia Zhi was stunned again.

Yourself?

"Remember the sense of disharmony I just mentioned?"

The girl looked into his eyes and explained, "It is most obvious in you."

...That feeling of alienation. She pursed her lips slightly and thought to herself.

"I can sense the difference between your attitude towards me now and in my memory."

It’s not that Xia Zhi treated her badly, but compared to the brother in her memory who always cared for and loved “herself” so much, the gap was too great.

It was as if... the sister in his eyes was a different person.

Especially on the morning before the holiday, when he just woke up from his sleep, he looked at me with doubtful and confused eyes, as if he were a stranger...

Very annoying.

The girl thought.

These alone were enough to make her realize the "truth" of the matter. In comparison, the other evidences that were found later to confirm this idea seemed trivial...

Qin Li took a deep breath, looked at Xia Zhi and asked:

". You love her very much, don't you?"

"……Um."

Xia Zhi nodded and admitted it.

If you ask him whether he loves Natsuori, the answer is definitely yes even before their relationship changed.

It is inevitable that girls will feel a sense of disparity in the process of getting along.

The relationship between people is a process of development. Even though he had had several contacts with Kotori when she was a child before, strictly speaking they had only just met for a short time, so it was normal for him to feel unfamiliar.

No matter what, Xia Zhi could not treat her as Xia Zhi, and naturally could not give her the same affection and care as in his memory.

Even if I give her the same amount of time as my sister as I did to Xia Zhi, my feelings towards her will be slightly different in the end... After all, they are each unique and different beings.

Even parents will have emotional differences when treating their twin children, not to mention that they are two completely different beings?

However, we can notice something unusual from these details and infer the true result.

"Are you so smart?" Xia Zhi asked her while tilting his head slightly.

"You are the idiot!"

Kotori glared at him angrily.

I just... kept thinking about this matter during that time.

She pursed her lips and thought to herself.

"So, Kotori..."

Xia Zhi shook his head and brought the topic back.

Although I didn't intend to be so direct at first, but now that the topic has progressed to this point and the girl herself has noticed it...

"Do you want to get back the 'real' you of the past?"

He looked into the girl's eyes and asked.

.......

Chapter 1324 "Can I continue to be your sister?"

Do you want to find your "real" self?

Of course, Kotori knew what the boy meant by this question.

Whether in stories or in reality, when a person loses his past, it should be natural to want to regain his original memories.

However, when faced with such a choice, she hesitated.

"Do you know what that me looks like?" She hesitated for a moment and asked the boy nervously.

"...Looks similar to you?" Xia Zhi tilted his head slightly.

Is not this nonsensical?

Qin Li rolled her eyes at him unhappily.

"I mean... you are still you, not much has changed." Xia Zhi said.

The only thing that will change is probably your identity.

"Is your identity..."

Kotori lowered her eyelashes slightly and looked at the white ribbon tied around her wrist.

If one day you find out that I am not your brother, what will you think?

The question the boy had asked himself a few days ago now echoed in her mind.

What do you think about this matter?

Kotori recalled the moment when she realized this fact. At that moment, it was as if everything in the past was denied.

During that time, she was filled with anxiety and worry. She locked herself in her room all night, not daring to face this world that had suddenly become strange and distant to her.

...Or maybe, she didn't dare to face the man who was "deceived" by her.

"I've clearly noticed it, but I'm still playing the role of your sister..."

Qin Li took a deep breath, looked into Xia Zhi's eyes and asked:

“It’s like a cosplay, isn’t it?”

She is not her real sister, but a disguise using external means (memory) to make herself seem closer and act the role of the sister in his eyes.

Even though she knew that it didn't belong to her, she still coveted the identity of his sister, and the unconditional care and tenderness from his family...

…It’s called acting, but it’s more like cheating.

Therefore, now that the fact of deception has been exposed, this role-playing game should come to an end.

Role-playing without knowing your true self is ultimately incomplete, right?

So

"...I found the answer." The girl said softly.

"What answer?" Xia Zhi was a little confused.

She said "that", which obviously did not answer the question she had just asked, but something else.

Kotori shook her head and did not answer immediately, but asked the same question back to the boy.

"Um...what do you think when you face me, who is not your sister but still calls you 'brother'?" She pursed her lips slightly and asked nervously.

"...very cute?" Xia Zhi tilted his head slightly.

"What else?" the girl asked.

You don't deny that it's cute at all?

Xia Zhi complained in his heart and continued to answer casually: "I confirmed it the first time I saw you. You are the twenty-ninth girl I want to protect."

"?"

A question mark popped up in Qinli's head.

Why twenty-nine? No, there are twenty-eight before that... Wait, that's not right either.

"I'm serious!" She shook her head vigorously and said seriously with a stern face.

"I'm not kidding either." Xia Zhi shook his head.

…Although the number twenty-nine was just made up, the fact that I wanted to protect her was real.

Even if we ignore the fact that I came here to save her, I also made a promise to meet her again...

Xia Zhi looked at the white ribbon tied around her wrist and thought to herself.

"So... don't worry."

Sensing the girl's inner tension and anxiety, Xia Zhi reached out and touched her soft hair, comforting her inner emotions.

"Whether you are now or you were before, to me you are still Kotori Itsuka."

Past experiences shape who you are today, but your present self is not entirely made up of experiences.

Kotori's situation is completely different from Origami's

In Xia Zhi's opinion, there is only one girl named "Gokawa Kotori" from beginning to end... Whether it is the girl who regarded him as Santa Claus or the girl who called him brother now. Therefore, there is naturally no possibility of so-called differential treatment.

"So, do you like me in the past or in the present?" Kotori tilted her head slightly.

Ah, this...

"Can't you like them all?" Xia Zhi asked hesitantly.

"..."

Qin Li sighed, as if there was nothing she could do to him.

"Still as greedy as ever."

What does this have to do with greed? You two are the same person, right? Xia Zhi complained in his heart.

"So, what's the answer you found?"

He recalled what the girl had just said and asked curiously.

In response, Kotori took a deep breath, looked at him seriously and said, "I'm your sister."

"Ok, I know."

Xia Zhi nodded indifferently...wait?

He was stunned for a moment, and finally reacted after seeing the serious look in the girl's eyes.

"Don't you already know..."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not your sister."

The girl nodded and readily admitted this.

"But this doesn't prevent the fact that 'Itsuka Kotori' is your sister, right?"

After a pause, she lowered her voice and continued

"After all, isn't that what I'm doing?"

It can't really be considered role-playing, after all, I never thought of her as Xia Zhi from the beginning.

From this perspective, I have actually always been treating her as if she were my sister.

"Besides, wasn't it you, my brother, who made this choice for me?"

The girl's words brought his thoughts back.

"Because, my brother chose the black ribbon at that time." Kotori lowered her head slightly and said this.

What does it have to do with ribbons?

Xia Zhi was a little confused.

On the other side, the girl slightly tightened the other white ribbon on her wrist.

In that awakening memory, this ribbon was the promise he left to his past self.

The black ribbon was a gift from him to his younger sister, Gokawa Kotori.

Two different colored ribbons represent two different selves

Even though he didn't care, the boy still chose himself as the "sister".

"This role-playing game, I don't want it to end."

She took a deep breath, looked into Xia Zhi's eyes and continued