The End of Family Meeting

Sora and Suzuka tilted their heads simultaneously and had a perplexed expression.

"Onii-chan, are you pulling my legs?" Suzuka, who recovered from her confusion first, gave Haru a strange gaze that slightly hurt his conscience.

"No! I'm not! Just tell me your answer!" Haru shook his head and said seriously.

Suzuka scrunched her forehead and knitted her brows. Meanwhile, Sora just wordlessly gazed at Haru with an unreadable gaze. Haru waited for Suzuka's answer, and he received it before long.

"Well, something like Magic doesn't exist, and Reincarnation is unproven, right? However, some religions believe in the latter. Is that enough?"

"Yeah. Thanks for your honest answer, Suzuka," Haru turned his head to Sora, "Now, then. What's your answer?"

Sora blinked her eyes and then displayed a thoughtful expression. A while later, she gave Haru her answer. "I don't know and don't care."

Haru was speechless by Sora's answer. He shook his head in exasperation after recovering.

"So, what's with this question, Onii-chan? Is there a connection between your sudden change in behavior and this question of—wait for a second!" Suzuka abruptly stopped her words and gave Haru a pitiful look. "Onii-chan, did your 8th-grader syndrome relapse?"

Sora snorted right after hearing that, but she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and turned her head to the side. Her glimmering gray eyes and shaking shoulders spoke her mirth.

Meanwhile, Haru gave Suzuka a deadpan, apparently unamused by the absurd question.

'I never had that disease! Never mind! Haruka had his 8th-grader syndrome it seems,' Haru thought before steering the topic to the proper rail. "My 8th-grader syndrome didn't relapse. Anyway, it's as you said. My sudden change in behavior and personality is because of supernatural occurrence."

"Gufufuh~!"

Sora, who had been holding her laughter, finally couldn't endure it; her laughter leaked before she stopped and kept it in a tight leash. Still, she was pressing her stomach, and her expression was scrunching in a mixture of pain and amusement.

"Good grief. Get a grip, Onii-chan!"

In contrast to Sora, Suzuka didn't seem amused in the slightest. She crossed her arms and gave Haru a reproachful look.

"If you don't have an important topic to talk in this so-called important meeting, then let's end this farce. I need to do my homework, Onii-chan."

Haru became speechless but quickly recovered. "Wait for a moment! I'm not joking! I'm serious! Look! I will show you my Magic!"

Haru closed his eyes to access his Item Box. He then touched the rim of his cup and willed it to enter his Item Box.

"What?!"

Haru cut his access to the Item Box after hearing Suzuka's flustered voice. When he opened his eyes, he saw Sora's and Suzuka's dumbfounded expression.

"Now, do you believe that Magic is real?"

Haru's question snapped Sora and Suzuka out of their daze.

"What?! How?! Where is the cup?! It just disappeared! Was that really magic?! Magic is real?! What's going?!"

Suzuka bombarded Haru with questions with a flustered tone while alternating her wide-eyed look between Haru's smug face and the empty spot where the cup previously resided. Meanwhile, Sora wordlessly mirrored Suzuka's reaction.

"All right. You two need to calm down first."

Following Haru's advice, Sora and Suzuka closed their eyes and went through a breathing exercise to calm themselves. After that, they opened their eyes and demanded an explanation with their eyes.

Haru took a deep breath to prepare himself. "Just like what you two have witnessed. Magic is indeed real. Simultaneously, Reincarnation is also real."

Haru raised his hand in 'hold on' motion after seeing Sora's and Suzuka's expression that spoke their realization and anxiety. These girls weren't stupid. Even the lazy and withdrawn Sora was smart. They could easily connect the dots in their head.

"As you may have guessed, I have been reincarnated. I am Haruka Kasugano, the twin brother of Sora Kasugano and the older stepbrother of Suzuka Kasugano. At the same time, I have regained the memory of my past life this morning. I didn't know why I only regained those memories this morning, but I will figure it out later.

"Concerning my past life, my name was Haru Sakurai, and I was a magician with an extraordinary affinity for Spatial Magic. People knew me as a genius and a very talented magician because of my capability. I was 17 years old when I died, yet I had surpassed those Sages and Archmages, who had refined their craft for decades and even longer.

"About my death, the past me had attempted to create a spell to cross worlds as my Magnum Opus. I was successful because I discovered the existence of Parallel Worlds. Simultaneously, I failed because it killed me."

Haru finished his explanation and then inspected the reaction of his sisters.

"Hrmm..."

"Uuu..."

Sora and Suzuka groaned. Haru's declaration had torn down their common sense mercilessly.

Haru let them digest his bullshit in peace. He feigned his calmness as he watched their expression, hiding his anxiety and fear of being rejected by them.

Haru wondered whether he should use his Appraisal ability on them. After weighing his decision a little, Haru finally found his resolve and used his Appraisal ability on them. He endured the unpleasant downside of using Appraisal and the guilty conscience for violating his loved ones' privacy, but it was a price to pay to know what was Sora and Suzuka thinking in their heads.

There was nothing free in the world. Even Haru's power came with his life as the price. However, that's beside the point.

As Haru expected, the girls were in turmoil. They felt confused, conflicted, and scared. Well, it was natural. After all, Haru had just destroyed their common sense.

However, the most significant thing that Haru had gleaned was their fear, anxiety, and worry for him. They were scared that he would change and leave them because of this.

"Sora, Suzuka, listen!" Haru called them firmly; after they turned their attention to him, he continued, "Don't worry. I'm still Haruka, your brother, though I have changed a bit because of the memory and experience of my past life. Whether you like it or not, I will stay by your side, protect you two, and make you two the happiest girls in this world!"

While enduring the shame and embarrassment from spouting such a corny speech, Haru gave them a gaze that contained his resolution, determination, and sincerity.

Their reaction to his corny declaration was as expected. They had a red-faced, gawking expression, apparently embarrassed for becoming the recipients of such an embarrassing speech that Haru had spouted with such a straight face.

While watching the flustered face of his sisters, Haru enjoyed their reaction and let them collect their thoughts.

A while later, *Cough* Suzuka feigned a cough to get Haru's attention. She had recovered first, though it was something that Haru had expected from her. She was the level-headed one of his two sisters.

"So, Magic is real? And, Onii-chan is a reincarnated person? A genius Spatial Mage, at that?"

"Yup." Haru curtly replied while summoning back his cup of coffee and then sipping it peacefully.

"So, Onii-chan remembered your memories, er, from your past life?"

"Yup." Haru put down his cup on the table and looked at Suzuka.

"Ummm. I don't know what to think..." Suzuka trailed off and looked troubled.

Letting Suzuka sort her mind in peace, Haru turned his head to Sora, who had been watching him with an unreadable expression.

"What about you, Sora? Any question?"

"Are there side effects of remembering your past life's memory?"

"Well, there are some side effects, but it isn't anything alarming, nor it is dangerous things. You can expect some changes in my behavior and personality, but nothing extreme, I assure you. Objectively speaking, my personality in this life is contrasting my previous life personality. They are surprisingly balancing each other."

"What did you mean by that?" Suzuka urgently asked, and Sora gave Haru a demanding gaze. They seemed concerned.

"Well, I wasn't the most personable guy. I was a loner. I had no relatives nor family. I was always alone and became independent from a very young age. Some issues popped up because of remembering my memory in my previous life."

"That sounds concerning," Suzuka frowned and said.

"Don't worry about it. As I said, my personality in this life balanced my personality from my past life," Haru assured Sora and Suzuka and gave them a reassuring smile.

"You can talk to me if you need someone to listen to your problem, Haru. We are family, after all," Sora boldly announced.

"Ugh," Suzuka grimaced because Sora had overtaken her, "Just like she said! If you need anything, please don't hesitate to tell me, Onii-chan!"

"I suppose you have no problems with me being a reincarnated person?" Haru raised his brow and asked for confirmation.

"To be honest, my mind has problems accepting this. It's something outrageous, after all. But, as long as Onii-chan is still Onii-chan, then I don't really care about Onii-chan's past life. It's all in the past, after all~."

Suzuka announced in a matter of fact tone.

"You promised to stay with me," Sora reminded Haru of their promise.

"Of course, I won't leave you. I have promised to you today, right? Even if you get tired of me, I won't leave your side." After hearing Haru's reply, Sora turned her head to the side to hide the red hue on her face, yet she had a small smile; she was happy from Haru's statement.

*Cough* Suzuka faked a cough. When Haru glanced at her, he saw Suzuka's pretty smile that didn't reach her eyes. Haru involuntarily smiled wryly at her jealousy.

"You too, Suzuka," Haru added, dropping the "-san" honorific that his predecessor used when calling Suzuka.

Suzuka straightened her sitting posture immediately. She seemed filled with strange tension and reacted exaggeratedly just because Haru dropped the honorific from her name.

Ignoring Suzuka's behavior, Haru continued his statement. "I promise you that I won't leave your side."

Haru then alternated his gaze between Sora and Suzuka. "Let's live together in harmony from now," he said with a refreshing grin.

After that, they moved on to a lighter topic and spent their time in harmony.