Predicament

Parasite Arc 4

Tatsuya headed for the Saegusa residence the next day after school. He quickly performed CAD maintenance for the Saegusa family and changed some sequence of Mayumi's CAD in light of the hunt that was coming up tomorrow. After finishing his job, he followed Mayumi to a separate dining room to have dinner with her.

"You have a separate dining room?" Tatsuya asked when Mayumi initially told him where they were going to have dinner.

"Yes, it isn't uncommon amongst the upper crust. It is especially useful in situations like this when one dining room is used for a formal meeting."

The alternative dining room was not as grand as the main one. It was smaller and had a simple yet cosy design with a table that could easily fit six people. Unlike the first time Tatsuya came, dinner was a three-course meal instead of a seven-course meal, nevertheless, the food was still top of the line. They finished dinner with time to spare, so Mayumi led Tatsuya into her room instead of waiting in the dining room.

With a click on the door, Mayumi gently locked the door. She had never once felt so suppressive nervous in her room as she walked awkwardly towards Tatsuya.

Right at that moment, Mayumi invited him to her room, Tatsuya sensed that something was up. Now that Mayumi had not only locked the door but also had an awkward gait, Tatsuya started having increasingly foreboding thoughts. He considered many different possibilities, yet he couldn't seem to find one with a positive outcome.

"Tatsuya-kun, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Mayumi started, but her question only fuelled the tense atmosphere brewing in her room.

"It depends on what the question is," Tatsuya answered in a very diplomatic manner, being very cautious with the current situation although he would very much like to refuse.

"Is it true that you lost your emotions?" Mayumi probed curiously and cautiously, trying not to step on any landmines.

"Indeed, did you hear it from Mari-senpai?" Tatsuya replied with a sense of relief that Mayumi had not asked sensitive questions. He did not know what Maya would do to her if she had even the slightest clue regarding his identity.

"Yes, all I know was that you lost it in an accident. I tried to ask for details, but she refused and insisted that I must hear it from you.

"Are you sure you want to know that much about me?" Tatsuya was hesitant to give away too much about himself to Mayumi. She was very capable of uncovering his identities so giving her even the slightest clue can prove to be a big mistake.

"I want to." Mayumi met Tatsuya's gaze when she answered him. Her gaze was filled with resolve and sincerity, unlike any that he had seen from her. Tatsuya met her gaze and acknowledged her resolve and sincerity.

"I am a born-specialised magician with three innate magic, all of which you have witnessed in the Yokohama Incident. As with any other born-specialised magician, these magic dominate my Mental Calculation Area, so I am unable to wield any other type of systematic magic. However, at the age of six, I traded my emotions for an Artificial Mental Calculation Area. Because of that, I am now able to use systematic type magic although I am not very proficient at it."

"But you can sometimes still show emotions."

"I did not lose all my emotions, but you can say that the threshold for my emotions is extremely low. This means that I can feel joy, but I will not be able to experience euphoria."

"Is there a way to restore your feelings?"

"My feelings weren't sealed, so they cannot be released. Neither were they broken, so they cannot be fixed. They were taken away, and I cannot take them back anymore."