My scalp throbbed.
As I finally pried them off and gasped for breath, Lisa looked at me with a pitiful expression.
Both Lisa and Sally had fistfuls of my hair in their hands—hair that looked like it belonged to the sea itself.
Lisa awkwardly smiled and brushed the strands from her fingers.
“S-Sorry, Lopez.”
“Hmph!”
Unlike the apologetic Lisa, Sally sharply turned her head away from me.
It had been a week since I possessed this body.
And during that time, I had gotten my hair ripped out by babies much younger than me.
Because Lisa and Sally had gotten into a fight, they were confined for three extra days.
And since I had been caught in the middle of it, I was stuck there with them.
Now, after finishing their punishment, the two girls had finally left, leaving me alone in boredom.
It was unfair, but the time hadn't been entirely wasted. Talking with them had helped me learn a little about this place.
According to the children, this was an orphanage.
From what I gathered, the children were divided into Classes One through Three and treated differently based on which class they belonged to.
And considering corporal punishment was practiced here as well...
An orphanage, huh...
I had grown up in an orphanage myself.
I had discovered a point of similarity between the original owner of this body and me, but unfortunately, no dramatic flash of memories came flooding back like in a comic.
Maybe I'll learn more once I get out of the disciplinary room.
The woman carrying the cane had spent a while observing me lying in solitary confinement with nothing but my eyes open before suddenly disappearing.
And then came the final day.
At last, even the teacher who had stubbornly refused to stop doubting me finally gave up.
“...You really lost your memory?”
Yes, teacher.
I've been telling you that the whole time.
Anna was the instructor responsible for discipline and etiquette at Sunflower Orphanage.
The disciplinary room had been built far away from the areas where the children normally studied and lived.
Every child feared being sent there, so they generally behaved themselves despite their young age.
Of course, not everyone could be obedient all the time.
Naturally, there were troublesome children in the orphanage as well.
But the child currently confined there—Lopez—wasn't usually one of them.
He had been sent to the disciplinary room for the very first time because of a single mistake.
On the first day, he trembled in fear and cried his eyes out, repeatedly begging for forgiveness.
On the second day, while being punished with strikes to his palm, Lopez suddenly screamed.
The outburst startled Anna so badly that she fell backward in front of him, making a complete fool of herself.
On the third day, Lopez rolled around lazily with absolutely no signs of repentance.
As if that weren't enough, he kept insisting he couldn't remember anything, openly mocking her.
On the fourth day, he silently stared at Anna with an unsettling expressionless face.
On the fifth day, he launched into a lecture about abuse and mistreatment whenever she tried to discipline him.
Anna had been furious.
But when she thought about it carefully, Lopez had always been a child who feared adults.
That was when his behavior started to seem strange.
Then came the sixth day.
The seventh day.
Lopez was dragged around by Lisa and Sally, who yanked his hair this way and that.
Yet despite everything, he never once argued back.
And so, on the tenth day—
Anna watched the child lying listlessly in the disciplinary room and finally became certain.
This isn't the Lopez I know!
Then a particular memory suddenly surfaced.
"Excuse me... may I ask who you are? I can't seem to remember anything at all."
“He really has lost his memory...!”
Anna slowly approached Lopez's solitary cell.
The child sat there staring blankly into empty space.
At times, he looked less like a child and more like an adult who had already weathered countless hardships.
There was only one explanation for someone changing so drastically overnight.
Amnesia.
That had to be it.
If he still had his memories, there was no way the Lopez who feared adults would act so shamelessly.
Anna opened the door.
Lopez slowly crawled to his feet.
His hair, once always neatly styled, had remained in a spectacular state of disarray ever since entering the disciplinary room.
Anna asked seriously,
“...Did you really lose your memory?”
“Yes, teacher. I think so.”
Anna was horrified.
Really.
Truly.
He had lost his memory from being struck on the palm!
Lopez had never actually claimed that was the cause, but Anna couldn't think of any other explanation.
The room reflected its owner's personality perfectly.
Books and decorative ornaments were neatly arranged on the shelves with almost obsessive precision.
Scratch. Scratch.
The dry sound of a pen moving across paper filled the room.
Anna swallowed nervously and stole a glance at Watson.
Just as she was beginning to wonder how much longer she would have to wait, the woman finally lifted her head from the documents she had been reviewing.
The principal of Sunflower Orphanage, Watson, looked exactly as strict as one would expect.
Adjusting her glasses, she looked up from the paperwork.
“You are saying Lopez has lost his memory?”
“Yes, Principal. I don't think he's lying. He doesn't even know my name or where he is.”
“Could he be playing a prank?”
Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
Anna had come to the principal's office only after reaching a firm conclusion.
“As you know, Principal, Lopez isn't that kind of child... especially since he's afraid of adults.”
Watson fell silent.
Lopez had grown up being abused.
Because of that, he was terrified of adults.
The Lopez they knew couldn't even maintain eye contact with an adult, much less speak confidently.
Yet he had actually criticized Anna.
The Lopez Watson knew would never have dared.
Slowly tapping her desk, Watson considered the matter.
Lopez had never caused any particularly serious problems in the orphanage.
He bullied other children quite often, but not beyond the level that was commonly overlooked.
This time, however, he had falsely accused a classmate named Medina of theft.
The truth eventually came out.
Lopez denied it at first, but after Anna pressured him, he confessed while trembling.
And naturally, the punishment had been the disciplinary room—the place every child feared most.
I expected him to reflect on his actions and come out better... but amnesia?
It was absurd.
There had been no warning signs.
No head injury.
And yet he had suddenly lost all his memories.
It was difficult to believe.
Still, even if he were lying, nothing about the situation made sense.
There was nothing for Lopez to gain from pretending to have amnesia.
Nor could a child who feared adults transform overnight.
Then... perhaps he truly has lost his memory.
At last, Watson opened her tightly sealed lips.
“I'll need to see him myself. Bring him here.”
“Yes, Principal.”
Anna hurried from the office.
At long last, I was allowed out of the disciplinary room.
Following Anna outside, I spotted a building some distance away.
That was probably the orphanage's main building.
She led me up to the fourth floor.
As I climbed the stairs, I looked around.
The orphanage, which I had assumed was rundown, was actually maintained surprisingly well.
So it's only the appearance that's nice.
Or maybe this place genuinely believed troublesome children deserved to be beaten.
Children's voices echoed throughout the building, but since classes were apparently in session, I didn't encounter a single person.
Trying to keep pace with an adult's stride was exhausting.
The stairs were only halfway finished, yet I was already out of breath.
I hope this body wasn't being starved before I arrived.
Clutching my rapidly beating chest, I hurried after Anna.
She didn't spare a thought for the walking speed of a child.
Instead, she impatiently urged me forward.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and keep up! Honestly, you're so slow.”
Watching her click her tongue in annoyance, I frowned.
Why was someone who clearly didn't even like children working in an orphanage?
Not long afterward, we arrived before an elegant-looking door.
Without giving me any time to catch my breath, Anna shoved me inside.
The force nearly sent me sprawling.
“Principal, I've brought him.”
The woman called Principal lowered her glasses and stared directly at me.
She was a middle-aged woman with a remarkably stern appearance.
Yet even looking at her, no memories surfaced.
After studying me for a moment, she quietly spoke my name.
“Lopez.”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
“I don't know.”
I could make a rough guess after seeing myself in the mirror, but it was obvious she wasn't asking because she actually wanted my age.
She was testing whether I truly had amnesia.
“Your name?”
“Lopez. Ah, do I have a family name? If so, I don't know it. The teacher only told me my first name.”
“Do you know why you were in the disciplinary room?”
“No.”
“What do you look like?”
“Blue hair and purple eyes. I saw myself using the hand mirror in the cell.”
“...”
One of Watson's eyebrows rose.
After examining me from head to toe, she finally looked away.
“How do you feel when you look at me?”
“I don't really feel anything. Am I supposed to?”
Should my heart be racing or something?
A low chuckle escaped Watson.
“It doesn't seem like you're lying.”
“What should we do, Principal...?”
“Wait outside for a moment.”
Following her order, I quietly stepped outside and waited by the door.
