episode_0053

To Yuka’s mom’s question, I hesitated, then answered no. My mind had briefly gone blank due to the suddenness of her words.

“Oh, why wouldn’t I be Takuya? That’s too much of a joke.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t control my expression either. Cold sweat soaked my back, and I could feel my lips trembling slightly. What could I do? It was such a sudden attack that I hadn’t even prepared myself mentally, just reacted instinctively.

I thought that to myself, and waited for Yuka’s mom to continue speaking, intending to somehow deny whatever she said next.

“Hmm…” Yuka’s mom stared at me for a long time, then spoke close to my ear again. This time, every single word was clear. “Then, let’s talk separately later.”

After saying this, Yuka’s mom seemed to lose interest in me, turning her head and going next to Ayaka’s mom, who was taking pictures of the fireworks with her flip phone, and started giving her advice. I, on the other hand, just stared at Yuka’s mom with a dumbfounded expression.

Of course, I’d expected her to press me further. ‘She’s backing down so easily? Why?’

After that, I don’t know how time passed. I ate, but it felt like I hadn’t; I watched the fireworks, but remembered nothing of them. After finishing a meal where I couldn’t tell if the food went into my mouth or my nose, and with the fireworks over, we packed up our picnic mat and left the festival grounds to go home.

On the way home. Miyuki, Sōta, and Haruka’s houses were in different directions, so we parted ways midway. Part of me wanted to see them all the way home, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of doing so right now.

After we parted, I walked with Ayaka’s mom and Yuka’s mom, holding their hands on either side of me. Normally, I would have been happy, thinking of myself as “a flower in both hands”…

I subtly turned my head and cautiously watched Yuka’s mom, who was talking with Ayaka’s mom as usual. Her nonchalant expression made me sigh deeply inwardly. That casual expression was even more frightening. ‘Sigh… I prepared myself, but…’

I had been steeling myself, but now that it was actually happening, it was truly a difficult feeling to describe.

And so, I walked for a while, feeling like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.

“Oh, right. Ayaka. Takuya and I are just going to stop by the convenience store for a bit.” “Huh? Why the convenience store?” “On a day like this, we should have a drink separately. He’s just the porter.” “Hmm. Okay. Be careful. Takuya, listen to Yuka well, okay?”

I nodded at Ayaka’s mom’s words, then stared blankly as Ayaka’s mom walked away. That moment didn’t last long, of course.

“Now it’s just the two of us, isn’t it?” Yuka’s mom immediately spoke to me as Ayaka’s mom got further away. I nodded at her words. Fortunately, my mind had calmed down a lot on the way here. Of course, it still felt like death, though.

“Haa… Let’s go somewhere we can talk quietly first.” What could I do? It wasn’t exactly my fault, but this was also karma.

Thinking that, I headed to a nearby park with Yuka’s mom. Unaware that someone was secretly following us.

***

Afterward, on a secluded park bench. We sat silently on the bench, maintaining quiet. To be honest, I wanted to say something, anything, but the atmosphere simply didn’t allow it.

So, I kept my mouth shut, silently pleading for Yuka’s mom to say something, anything.

Yuka’s mom – no, Yuka, who had become a mother at a young age – gave me a cold stare and spoke.

“I’m already certain you’re not Takuya.” She knew that?

‘I thought I was doing pretty well, mimicking him based on my memories of his life at home.’ It seemed a mother’s power was greater than I had imagined.

As I thought that to myself, Yuka continued speaking.

“So. I won’t drag this out and will just get to the point. Where is my son?” Unfortunately, this was a question I couldn’t answer.

‘How am I supposed to know that?’ I actually wanted to ask her. Where exactly was the original Takuya? Was Takuya truly dead, or was his body merely taken while his mind remained intact? I was genuinely curious.

Of course, I knew saying such things would be useless, so I calmly stated only the facts.

“First off, I don’t know where your son is.”

“Ugh… Wh-what are you talking about…” It seemed Yuka was quite shocked by the fact that I wasn’t the real Takuya. Her normally confident voice was trembling significantly.

Well, of course. No matter how much she prepared herself mentally, finding out someone had taken her child’s body would naturally be disorienting. Normally, I would have sweetly shown consideration here, but right now, I needed to get the upper hand.

So, I cut Yuka off and spoke.

“To begin with, if anything, I’m a victim, not an assailant.” This was also true.

No. Honestly, in this regard, I was even more wronged. All I did was download and run a game that came out, for… recreational purposes, at home. I had my needs too.

Anyway, that’s why I could confidently say it. That I was the victim.

Of course, Yuka didn’t seem to believe my words.

“How can I believe that─” But why should I care? It was the truth.

“Then don’t believe me. It’s not something you can tell other people anyway, is it?” I replied with a rather aggressive tone.

To be honest, stress had been accumulating without me realizing it. You might ask if it’s not good that I can earn a lot of money and build connections with celebrities using future knowledge? I’ll be frank. I don’t know much about Japan in the 2000s. Of course, I know a few celebrities, but still. If it were a 10 or 20-year difference, maybe, but there’s almost a 40-year time gap. How on earth could I remember all that? Moreover, I was dragged into the military early, so I wasn’t familiar with celebrities anyway. And build friendships with future Japanese politicians that I at least know well? I don’t even want to get involved with them. The only reason I knew about Bitcoin in detail was because it was widely used in South Korea in the future. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have even remembered it.

So, every day, I was racking my brain, trying to wring out other bits of future information, spitting out future memories. As a result, stress had accumulated unknowingly, and Yuka just happened to trigger it, causing my old military personality to resurface.

And Yuka, upon hearing my words, looked flustered for a moment, then her breathing gradually became ragged, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

“No. Then, huff… my son, Takuya… where on earth is he…” And at that moment, the woman who had just been interrogating me vanished, instantly replaced by the face of a mother who seemed to have lost her child.

For me, it wasn’t a preferred expression. It was a look I had seen far too many times, and also…

[M-my son is truly… truly dead…?] [Don’t talk nonsense! You said you’d send them to a safe rear area?! But, but why our son?!] [Lord… why was it my grandson and not me…] The expression of someone who had despaired, raged, and then became utterly hollow, was truly heartbreaking.

Thanks to that, my own expression wasn’t very good either. A past I didn’t want to remember had surfaced.

In the end, to alleviate the uneasy feeling, I scratched my still-growing hair vigorously and spoke.

“Haa… This might sound like false hope, but there isn’t absolutely no clue about your son.”

“What do you mean…” “It’s a bit complicated. I’ll put it simply.”

After saying that to Yuka, I told her about the strange ability I had gained. Not exactly mentioning screens or hypnosis, but explaining it as receiving rewards for certain actions.

Upon hearing my words, a glimmer of hope seemed to enter Yuka’s eyes, which had just been filled with despair. Honestly, the possibility of it *not* being the case was higher… But seeing her eyes light up like that, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

In the end, I sighed deeply once more, then spoke to the somewhat calmed Yuka.

“Anyway, with me here now, it doesn’t seem like things will be very good. So, for the time being, at Sōta’s house…” It might be too much physiologically, after all. I was trying to separate myself.

For some reason, as I said that and was about to head to Sōta’s place, Yuka suddenly grabbed my wrist, stopping my decision.

“Please… please don’t go… if even you’re gone, I’ll…” More precisely, she said it while shedding tears, a woman’s most potent weapon.

Thanks to that, I had no choice but to retract my decision.

Wait. But wasn’t it supposed to be too much for me physiologically?

After that, it took me a long time to comfort Yuka—no, Yuka’s mom—before I could buy alcohol from the convenience store and finally arrive home. It was truly an exhausting day in many ways.