Ch.219Epilogue. The Flame (2)

After spending about an hour walking around together, I became certain.

Kagami was definitely enjoying this situation.

Well, I suppose it’s not hard to understand. I’m enjoying myself too.

Hanging out with friends is always fun.

It’s impossible not to enjoy leaving your worries at home, walking around chatting loudly here and there, and eating various things. After all, if it wasn’t enjoyable, there’d be no reason to meet up with friends in the first place.

However, while “enjoying time with friends” applies to Koko and me, I don’t think it applies to Kagami.

She’s someone we know, but she’s not exactly in our age group to be called a friend, is she? The age gap between Kagami and me isn’t extremely large for a mother and daughter, but it’s certainly not small enough to ignore.

I’m not saying people can’t become close because of an age difference. At work, I’ve had perfectly fine conversations with people ten years older than me.

But still, you know how it is.

“My friend’s mom” isn’t an easy relationship. When you’re close with a friend, naturally you need to be more careful and respectful around their parents.

Japan is part of East Asia, with a culture of respecting elders, so Yuka, Mako, Harumi, and Yuu all had subtly complicated expressions.

I looked at Kagami again.

She had a genuinely happy expression.

With an apple candy in one hand and a bag with a goldfish in the other, she really looked like a young woman out on a date with her boyfriend.

Even though she was actually out with teenage daughters.

Now that I think about it, Kagami’s yukata had much more elaborate patterns than her usual clothes.

The light blue fabric embroidered with flower petals looked quite high-end.

Seeing how it had a similar design to what Kotone and I were wearing, it seemed they were made as a matching set.

“…”

As I quietly looked up at Kagami, whose smile never left her face, she noticed me and opened her eyes wide.

Her normally narrow, somewhat sharp eyes don’t look particularly gentle even when widened. Someone meeting her for the first time might actually feel more comfortable with her usual smiling expression.

But having known Kagami for quite a while, I’ve become familiar with her facial expressions.

This expression means “Huh?”

It’s the face Kagami makes when I do something absurd or stupid in front of her.

Like suddenly saying I’m afraid of ghosts.

The reason she’s making this expression now is probably—

“Would you like some?”

Kagami smiled and held her apple candy up to my face.

When I looked up at her with a dumbfounded expression,

“Oh, maybe you wanted this instead?”

She said that and held up the goldfish in her left hand. I felt a bit sorry for the little thing in the small bag. Maybe because I’m from 19 years in the future, but it seemed like animal cruelty. Goldfish apparently need fairly large tanks.

Of course, I had no intention of eating an uncooked goldfish.

…Well, I wouldn’t eat a cooked one either, obviously.

But since it seemed she wouldn’t move either away from my face until I chose one, I went with the apple candy.

As I crunched on the somewhat hard candy, Kagami asked with a slightly cautious expression.

“Should I not have come along?”

I stopped chewing.

I looked up at Kagami.

She still had an air of enjoyment, and there wasn’t the slightest hint that she regretted coming, but she must have felt some hesitation when looking at me.

If I said yes here, Kagami would definitely be hurt. She might even go back home.

I didn’t want that.

I was surprised at myself for thinking that way about Kagami.

And at the same time, I found myself accepting it more easily than expected.

She’s already someone I call “mom,” isn’t she?

Besides, while Kagami still speaks formally to me, I’ve been casually using informal speech with her all along. Kagami basically accepts everything even when I treat her rudely.

So it’s not strange to feel guilty about being mean to someone like that.

“…No, that’s not it.”

I hadn’t expected her to come along at all, but that doesn’t mean I disliked her joining us.

I was just curious about her intention.

Now I see there wasn’t any particular reason.

She simply wanted to enjoy the festival with someone—that’s all it was.

Thinking about it that way made me feel a bit strange again.

Just as I’m gradually changing in front of Kagami, she’s continuously changing in front of me too.

Do my friends and Koko think I’ve changed as much as Kagami has?

“As expected of my daughter. So kind.”

Kagami said that and hugged me tightly.

It was a hot day, and even though it was night, it was humid.

But strangely, that sensation wasn’t unpleasant.

This too is probably one of the big ways I’ve changed this year.

“Wow!”

Koko also rushed to Kagami. Kagami smiled and hugged her tightly as well.

After enough time had passed for sweat to seep into where our arms touched, Kagami stepped back.

As she turned back toward our friends—

I was startled to see Mako sniffling.

It wasn’t just Mako. Harumi also had a somewhat emotional expression.

Yuka and Yuu’s expressions were hard to read. If I had to describe them, they looked like they weren’t sure exactly what emotion they should be feeling.

But they didn’t seem unmoved either.

“…Let’s go.”

Feeling awkward staring at those faces, I turned to Kagami and said.

“Yes, let’s go.”

Kagami answered with a bright smile.

*

Perhaps because they saw Kagami, Koko, and me hugging each other, the kids’ attitudes toward Kagami became much softer.

They weren’t hostile before, but there was still that “friend’s parent” barrier.

“Let’s go eat yakisoba!”

“Wow!”

“Yes, let’s!”

When Harumi shouted, Kagami happily followed.

“Let’s each have some cotton candy too!”

“Wow!”

“Let’s do that!”

Kagami responded with another smile to Mako’s suggestion.

“…”

After staring at Kagami’s back for a while, Yuka looked at me.

“That person has changed a bit. For the better.”

“We’ve all changed. If we’re being honest.”

“Yeah, I think that’s right.”

Yuka and I looked at Yuu simultaneously.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

Yuu asked incredulously.

“No reason. Just thinking you’ve changed a lot from when we first met.”

“…Not as much as you have.”

After saying that, Yuu quickly turned away and caught up with the others walking ahead.

Is she embarrassed?

Her face didn’t turn red… Well, it doesn’t matter. I know she’s enjoying herself in her own way.

“Kotone.”

As I was about to follow them, Yuka called me.

“Yeah?”

I turned around and momentarily lost my words.

Well, Yuka was the heroine of a light novel, wasn’t she?

There was a beautiful yet somehow ephemeral atmosphere about her—an atmosphere I hadn’t felt from Yuka recently.

Even with people laughing and chattering all around, and despite the brightness of the surroundings despite it being the middle of the night, strangely, Yuka seemed to be standing all alone.

She looked beautiful in her modest yukata, holding a small bag in her hand.

“Have I changed a lot too?”

I thought for a moment about how to answer that question.

“You have.”

That was my answer.

She’s changed too much to say she hasn’t.

The sharp atmosphere she had at first has largely disappeared. Now she naturally talks to strangers and doesn’t act like she’s being chased by something.

It’s like she’s cleanly cut the rope that was tightly gripping—

No, rather, the rope that was tightly wound around her wrist.

“But I think the change isn’t bad.”

We won’t stay like this forever either.

As time passes and our surroundings change, we’ll slowly continue to change.

We’ll meet more acquaintances and make more friends.

We’ll get hurt, and we’ll heal those wounds. Some wounds might leave scars.

But all of that together is what life is, isn’t it?

We are who we are because we’ve experienced all those things.

“I see.”

That’s what Yuka said.

She looked happy.

“You too.”

“I’m glad.”

We walked along, smiling.

The laughter of the kids running ahead—well, one of them is an adult—rang out joyfully.

No one around seemed to think Kagami could be my mother.

That’s fortunate too.

I’m glad Kagami came along today.

Koko and I could have gone separately later. We could have gone to another festival in a few years.

But this time that has passed won’t come back.

What happened today could only happen today—

So yes, it was fortunate.

Everything was truly fortunate.

I looked up at the sky.

Stars twinkled brightly. The clear sky was perfect for watching fireworks.

I’m looking forward to the fireworks that will soon decorate the sky.