Ch.223Epilogue. What I Wished For (1)

As I said, my summer schedule is extremely busy.

A month is a very long time for working adults. Even for students, it’s not exactly a short period. Japanese school breaks vary in length, with summer vacation being the longest.

But even that one-month period becomes incredibly packed when you have plans that take up several days in succession.

First of all, I have a part-time job. These days it’s basically at a level where I go in whenever needed, but the manager still hasn’t let me go. It seems he thinks Miki receives good influence whenever she meets me and Shii.

With part-time work three times a week, I essentially have at least three days scheduled every week.

The problem was that I had two trips planned during the break.

One was obviously the Literature Club training camp. This trip was also for two nights and three days. While that’s less than half a week, when such a schedule is inserted in the middle of your week, that week naturally flies by in the blink of an eye.

The other was a family trip with Kagami and Koko, which was also a two-night, three-day schedule. We went to a nearby beach and just lazed around on the shore.

Kagami wore a white one-piece swimsuit and got hit on twice during those two nights and three days. For reference, both incidents happened on the second day.

When I called Kagami “mom” from behind, they all became extremely embarrassed and returned to their groups.

Thankfully, this world isn’t like the one in doujinshi. A young mother with twin daughters—what great material that would be. Well, the problem was that those two daughters could tear apart several people with their bare hands.

“Fufu, were you worried Mom might go far away? Don’t worry, that will never happen~”

Seeing Kagami hug us both tightly while saying that, I didn’t know how to react, so I just chose to stay still.

Having been in this world for just over a year, honestly, I haven’t completely adapted yet. I haven’t fully abandoned my original identity either.

Kagami was my mother… but I couldn’t fully think of her as my mom yet. It would probably take quite some time. So until then, acting awkward in awkward situations was unavoidable.

Kagami bought us both one-piece swimsuits. They were much more… how should I put it, wholesome than what Yuka would have chosen.

I guess a mother is still a mother.

She took tons of photos though. Well, she’s a mom after all.

At night, as always, we all slept in the same bed according to Kagami’s insistence.

“What will you do when we both grow up and there’s not enough space?”

Though we’re both already high school students and probably won’t grow much more, I asked that question.

I don’t plan to stop traveling when I become a college student, and we might still travel together occasionally even after becoming adults.

Would she still want to sleep in the same bed then?

“Were you planning to sleep separately when you grow up…?”

But Kagami looked at me with a very shocked expression.

“…”

My sibling was female. Of course, she’s still female now, but back then I was male.

Naturally, we had separate rooms from quite a young age, so I thought that was normal. People around me were usually like that too, unless there were unavoidable circumstances. If anything, more people lived with friends to save on rent.

Perhaps Kagami doesn’t know what’s “normal”? Or maybe she would have insisted even if she did know. After all, she only recently found her daughters.

It wouldn’t be strange if she wanted compensation for the childhood years she couldn’t spend with us.

“No.”

So I answered like that and just snuggled up next to Kagami.

“Right? Mom is the best, isn’t she?”

Good grief.

Wait, is this expression even common sense? Usually people ask if you prefer mom or dad, but in this case, there was only mom.

So naturally, the person you like most would have to be mom.

“…”

It still feels strange.

It’s good that I recognize her as my mother, but thinking about who I like most feels a bit odd.

Should I say it’s embarrassing? After all, I still identify myself as an adult.

“…Yes.”

Still, I just answered as Kagami wanted.

The best in the world.

If I had to be specific, this world is what I like. This world where all my friends and family exist. To the extent that I want to live here for a very long time.

So, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

Kagami didn’t bother to respond to that.

She just tightened her arms around me and Koko.

Now that I’m quite used to being in her embrace, I fell asleep comfortably.

*

And so, the schedule with Kagami ended very comfortably.

A very common, ordinary family trip. What Kagami had wanted all her life.

After those two trips ended, the vacation was almost at its end.

Of course, there were plenty of other schedules in between. Saying I was busy all summer wasn’t just about the travel schedules.

For example, that festival from before.

It was originally supposed to be a one-day event, but somehow my friends ended up staying overnight at my house, making it a two-day schedule. On the second day, we stayed at home playing for quite a while, so it wasn’t exactly a short schedule.

Moreover—

Yes, between trips, there was one important schedule I had been eagerly anticipating.

It was Comiket.

“…Wow.”

There were truly an enormous number of people.

From what I’ve heard, Comiket suddenly became much more crowded from 2005, so this year we came was probably that very year.

There was no pre-booking, so we had to purely line up to enter, and even though we went at dawn, we were already faced with a crowded entrance line.

“This is incredible.”

Even Yuka, who had prepared herself to some extent, was a bit shocked seeing so many people.

Kagami didn’t come, and other friends didn’t join either. Actually, among the people around me who enjoy manga to this extent—

…

Well, strictly speaking, it was just me.

If I had to say, Yuka liked games and manga a bit, and Koko enjoyed children’s manga, but unfortunately, there were no otaku like me.

…An otaku, huh.

Originally, the most enjoyable period for an otaku is during their teens, especially middle school and high school.

Saving up what little money you have, worrying whether manga will be officially published or not, and going to bookstores every weekend in anticipation of new releases.

Occasionally buying figurines or plastic models worth tens of thousands of won to display, and showing them off to otaku friends.

I lived in Seoul, so I had never been to Comiket, but I had been to other events. It was quite enjoyable to go to such events and buy related doujinshi when you had a manga you liked.

Even after becoming an adult, I still liked manga, but my enthusiasm somewhat diminished. Once I started earning money and could afford to buy and collect most things, it became difficult to feel the same excitement.

Not having periods like school vacations might have contributed to that.

Anyway.

So, how am I now?

I was standing with an anxious expression, holding an already bulging bag in my arms.

Yes, I had already brought cosplay items.

Honestly, when Yuka brought it up, I was a bit reluctant. As an otaku, I was on the side of enjoying manga and games, not on the side of providing enjoyment to others.

“But it would be a waste with how cute you are! Everyone else is doing it, why not give it a try?”

The reason I gave in to Yuka’s persuasion might have been because I had read TS stories in web novels.

Actually, I had thought about trying cosplay. I didn’t particularly follow male characters so I didn’t know any, and by the time I had the financial means, I was already an adult and didn’t think about doing it.

There are people who cosplay even in their 30s, but well. By then, I didn’t really have much time. I was unintentionally quite busy.

In the end, I gave in not so much to Yuka’s persuasion but seeing how happy Koko was looking at the costumes.

“Nervous?”

It’s funny to ask as if I’m the only one nervous while holding cosplay outfits.

“…Yes.”

But in the end, I couldn’t help but nod my head a bit shyly and admit it.

I was nervous.

It was completely different from working part-time in a maid outfit.

A humiliation play in front of hundreds of people.

Even as I thought that, I found it both ridiculous and somewhat nostalgic that I was standing in line with my heart pounding.

Well, I’m a teenager now.

I guess this too can be called a memory?