"Two years ago. After the incident with Kaede developing puberty syndrome. When she got discharged from the hospital, a few days later she developed amnesia. She forgot everything about being my little sister back then." Sakuta says to Masashi.

"Yeah, you told me about it. She suppressed her memories to the point where she developed Dissociative Disorder. She basically lost her sense of self."

"Hmm. I didn't really realize the severity of the situation when the doctor told us about these things.

"I actually realized the situation when I went to meet Kaede in the public ward.

"She'd asked me to get the latest issue of her favorite light novel. I handed it to her and she took it, being polite.

"Then she asked me a question that completely settled the new reality in my mind, 'Did Kaede-san like this series?'

"That heart-wrenching question was what got me to understand what actually happened.

"The way she spoke was different. Her dominant hand was different. The smallest things such as the order she ate her food and buttoned her clothes changed. As if she wanted nothing to do with the previous Kaede.

"She wasn't the Kaede I'd spent the past decade with. Everything about her had changed. I didn't even know how to interact with her for a while."

"I see."

"Then one day a while after that incident. I woke up covered in blood. Three deep gashes on my chest.

"I was taken to a hospital, it was termed as a case of self-harm.

"I tried to explain but no one really believed me. It always came back to self-harm.

"I got sick of all that bullshit. I snuck out of the hospital, still wearing the hospital gown and some pants. I went to the beach to get some fresh air.

"And that's when I met her, Makinohara Shouko. She's the one who heard me out and believed it all.

"It all sounded absurd but she completely believed it.

"She was like this ray of positive sunshine that put me back together and got me on my feet.

"I sneaked out regularly. Whenever I went to Shichirigahama Beach, Shouko-san was always there.

"She taught me that life is a series of trials to make you a kinder person. I think that's a beautiful perspective.

"She lived her life hoping to become a kinder person with each passing day.

"That kindness saved me. Her kindness is the reason I didn't drown myself in the ocean.

"God knows that I thought about doing it.

"She had the kind of mindset that I could never imagine.

"When I was discharged, I got Kaede a diary to write down her thoughts and what she saw and felt in her own words.

"It was recommended by the doctor.

"After the talk with Shouko-san, I realized that all of us were pressuring Kaede into becoming someone she's not. My, mom, and dad kept telling her about how she used to act.

"No one really asked how she felt about it.

"I felt so guilty about it when I realized that. When I got her the diary, I told her to write her name differently, as a memento. I accepted that she's not the old Kaede anymore.

"The way she cried when I said that to her made me feel gut-wrenching guilt. I was the reason she felt so much pressure.

"The day dad left us in our own apartment he said to Kaede that she can take her time, there's no rush.

"Of course I want her to regain her memories too.

"I want the old Kaede to come back too. But what happens to this Kaede when that happens?

"Shit, man you've been keeping so much inside. I don't even know where to start. I know about the thing with her memories because you let it slip once but I never knew that things were that serious."

"I don't really want things to change. I feel like things are perfect the way they are."

Masashi just stays quiet and lets Sakuta vent for a bit.

"Better after getting a load off your chest?"

"Yeah."

"Also Shouko-san, huh? I guess she's more important to you than you let on."

"Yeah."

"Alright It's getting late, Let's get the girls home, alright?"

"Let's go senpai."

Masashi hears a ding in his head, probably signifying another quest.

As he's walking back he checks out the contents of the quest.

[Main Quest #3 Generated]

[Main Quest: Kaede Quest

Objective: Help Kaede regain her memories.

Rewards: 25 Levels, Instant Dungeon, +100 Increase in All Stats, Calming Aura]

Looking at the quest details Masashi feels a wave of powerlessness hit him.

He already knew that he might not really be able to do much about Kaede's situation, especially without any real powers.

The quest just made it all real.

He doesn't care about the rewards and can only think of one thing right now.

'She'll forget all about me.'

He smiles self-deprecatingly, 'I guess I'm not all-powerful huh?'

Mai can feel his anguish and sadness and looks at him worriedly.

He just mouths at her, 'It's nothing."

Mai just hugs his arm to give him some comfort which Masashi greatly appreciates.

…

When everyone gets back, they all go to their own places since everyone's tired.

In Sakuta's apartment, Kaede just drops into bed after changing up.

"I guess she got pretty tired, huh."

Nodoka goes to Mai's apartment as Mai and Masashi go back to their apartment.

"What's wrong?" Mai asks Masashi whose been down in the dumps for the whole trip back.

"It's nothing."

"Tell me. Maybe I can help."

"No, you can't. No one can." Masashi says in a sad voice.

"Well, no one can help you if you keep being a baby about it. Talk to me. Maybe we'll find a solution together." Mai just pulls him into her embrace and holds on to him tightly.

"Sigh… It's about Kaede. Sakuta was talking to me about her situation.

"She's basically got amnesia with a dose of multiple personality disorder.

"After the thing with the cyberbullying, she woke up one day without any memories about Sakuta and her family.

"I'm not gonna go into too much detail but the gist is that she repressed those memories and created a whole new personality as a defense mechanism.

"Now what I'm worried about is that when she gets better, that is her memories return back, they're going to bring back the original Kaede.

"The catch though is that she'll forget everything about the past two years that she's been living as the 'Panda Kaede' as I like to call her. The original did not really like pandas that much.

"The problem comes here. She's not going to remember me, she'll forget all about the person she calls Masashi-nii-san.

"I don't know how I can fix it and I'm scared. I don't want her to forget me. I also don't want to delay her recovery.

"I don't know what to do. I'm confused, I'm sad and I'm terrified that she may not remember me ever again."

As Masashi unloads his thoughts on Mai he's almost trembling and Mai can feel his unstable emotions bursting through like a flood.

She can feel such intense emotions from him that they start to almost affect her and make her feel those same emotions too.

Mai doesn't say anything and just keeps rubbing his back, trying to soothe him.

"Better?"

"Yeah, a little."

After a while of silence, Mai guides him into the bedroom where they both lie down and cuddle.

Masashi says, "I know that it's weird that I'm caring about Kaede so much when I just met her like a little over a year ago. But she's just made that much of an impact on me."

"It happens, she's just so cute."

For a while longer they both keep talking. Masashi is grateful that he has Mai to talk to about these problems.

After a few hours of talking and Masashi telling Mai about all his insecurities about Kaede, they both finally fall asleep.

They didn't find any solution to the problem but Mai's presence helped Masashi calm down.

…

The next morning Sakuta checks up on a sore Kaede.

"I think I'm gonna die."

"Your muscles are just sore. That's what happens when you stay at home for 2 years and then abruptly spend a whole day playing outside."

Sakuta puts his hand on Kaede's forehead and says, "No fever at least."

He then notices a bruise forming at the back of Kaede's neck.

…

Mai and Masashi are eating lunch in Futaba's club room and Futaba is nowhere to be seen, probably irritated by seeing them act all lovey-dovey while she is single.

"A shoot in Kanazawa?"

"Yeah," Mai says putting a bite in her mouth.

"How long will it last?"

"Around 2 weeks, might be less if we can wrap up the scenes quickly."

"Cool. I think I'll probably come with you. I'll talk to the school. We'll treat it as a vacation."

"I'm going there for work."

"So? It's not like you'll be working all the time. We can hang out in our free time. Hell, I can even accompany you on the set."

"So that you can tell everyone that I'm taken and everyone better stay away from me?"

"No… not at all. I just want to spend time with my lovely girlfriend." Masashi says with a nervous chuckle.

Mai just smiles at him and says, "Fine. You can come. I think we can have some fun. Maybe It'll get your mind off the situation with Kaede too."

…

After school, Sakuta gets home and sees Kaede with her head stuck in the sweater of her school uniform.

"What are you doing?" Sakuta asks rhetorically.

"Owie!" Kaede exclaims while pulling down the sweater.

"You should be in bed."

"But I was able to go to the beach yesterday. I don't want to kill my momentum due to some muscle soreness."

"And you're wearing your school uniform because…"

"I want to go to school."

"I got you pudding."

"Yayy!" She says excitedly bringing her hands up in the air before exclaiming, "Ow ow ow."

"Hey! Don't change the topic." Kaede continues after getting her bearings back

"It's fine. It's not like the outside world is going anywhere."