Ch.226Epilogue. What I Wished For (4)

After summer vacation ended, a peaceful daily routine continued for a while.

With the threats to my life gone, I could focus on school life more comfortably.

I studied quite diligently. I wanted to keep my promise with Yuka.

Mako, who studied with me in the same club room, helped me quite a lot.

As time passed, the weather gradually cooled, and autumn, which seemed like it would never come, finally arrived.

And during the second semester, spanning autumn and winter, there were quite a few scheduled events.

There’s the sports festival and the cultural festival. While I wasn’t particularly preparing for the sports festival, I was putting considerable effort into preparing for the cultural festival.

It would be the last cultural festival for Izumi and Kaoru.

Even though they seemed to have some free time during the vacation, once the second semester started, they were studying quite seriously. Unfortunately, they often couldn’t come to the club.

The reason was that if they sat among us while we were active, it would disrupt our activities. After all, we couldn’t be loud and chatty when there were people seriously studying.

Besides, they had already written and submitted their pieces for the cultural festival, so we didn’t bother them.

Izumi submitted two prose pieces, and Kaoru submitted one prose piece and one haiku written vertically in an elegant manner.

Of course, “elegant” was just Kaoru’s own claim; in reality, it was very… how should I put it, calligraphy at a rather amateur level.

Trying to study

Distracting thoughts intrude

Don’t want to do it

……

She seems to be under a lot of stress. When trying to study, even watching a snail crawl or ants walking in a line can seem like the wonders of nature, the pulse of life. So it’s not strange that she suddenly took up calligraphy. I’ve also mindlessly watched YouTube and such.

Still, one of her prose pieces is quite sincere and good, so I don’t have much to criticize. It’s sufficient in volume.

And as Izumi said, I became the temporary club president.

I gathered with the club members and worked hard on editing the literary magazine. I also received a prose piece from Shii, who would likely join the club right after enrolling next year.

Although it’s not completely finished yet, it seems we’ll be able to produce something more colorful and thicker than last year’s collection, and faster too, which was a relief.

We’ve also made quite a lot of progress regarding the café. After wondering where to get maid costumes, I asked the manager at my part-time job and was able to get them a bit cheaper from an acquaintance of theirs.

Since we were buying them anyway, we decided to keep them in the Literary Club for use next year as well.

I laughed a little, remembering when I cosplayed with Yuka and Koko during summer vacation.

Come to think of it, the character I cosplayed as was one who occupied and used the Literary Club room. I’m not sure if that would be acceptable in the 2020s. It would probably be considered quite rude and inconsiderate behavior by those standards.

But now it’s 2005, and I’m not arbitrarily taking over the Literary Club; I’ve officially inherited the position of president… Well, that’s much more normal, right? Let’s just say it’s normal.

Anyway, as I was spending the beginning of the second semester smoothly and seamlessly.

Finally, a very important academic event approached us.

“Hawaii!”

Harumi raised both arms high, striking a victory pose like a marathon runner who had won a gold medal.

What she held in her hands wasn’t a trophy or bouquet, but a passport.

That’s right. The second-year students of Hanakawa High School were going to Hawaii for their school trip.

From my perspective, I already felt like I’d been staying in a foreign country for quite a while, but going to another country again was a different story.

Plus, this time it was a completely different continent.

…Oh, wait, can we say it’s a different continent? Hawaii is an island, right? Geographically, isn’t it almost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?

After pondering briefly, I concluded it didn’t matter. What’s important about which continent it belongs to when we’re just going there to have fun together?

The school trip was a week away.

“Hawaii will still be hot, right? Should I bring a bikini?”

Harumi asked excitedly.

“Maybe I’ll get a foreign boyfriend there?”

Hmm.

Somehow, I feel like Harumi’s father might follow us all the way to Hawaii.

“Since group activities are the norm, I think that might be a bit difficult?”

Mako asked quite seriously. Yuu had already given Harumi an incredulous look as soon as the boyfriend comment came up.

Hawaii is the last state to join the United States, so it’s completely American territory. They probably wouldn’t even touch minors, right? If someone did, they’d just be a criminal.

No matter what, I think the chances of something happening like in an adult manga are slim. When we went to Kyoto for our first-year school trip, it wasn’t a big issue to move around in groups since it was still Japan. We could understand the language and easily find our way by reading signs. Even if there was a problem, it was possible to take a train back to Tokyo alone.

But overseas is a bit different. While group activities were still the basic format, I heard there were some restrictions on locations.

Well, it makes sense since it’s a place that requires quite a long flight.

“Is that so?”

But Harumi didn’t seem surprised or disappointed by that comment.

It was probably just something she said casually. After all, Harumi had already mentioned wanting to get a boyfriend several times during the last semester.

Yet she hadn’t been particularly proactive about it.

“Still… I’m looking forward to it.”

Mako said happily.

“Me too.”

I replied.

“Y-you should take lots of pictures!”

Tsuneda said, and Koko, sitting next to her, patted her back gently. Seeing that made me feel a bit emotional.

Then Yuka patted my back from beside me.

She really does read expressions well.

……

Wait, is she treating me like a little sister?

As I turned my gaze back to the literary magazine plan in front of me, I met Yuu’s eyes.

Yuu, who had been staring at Yuka patting my back, quickly averted his gaze when our eyes met.

Why?

I stared at him for a while, but since he showed no signs of explaining, I just gave up and turned my attention back to the plan.

*

When I returned home with Koko, I found Kagami sprawled out in the room.

For a moment, I thought she had fainted, but Kagami’s eyes were wide open.

“…Mom?”

She didn’t seem to have lost consciousness, but something was clearly off, so I called out to her cautiously.

“I want to go.”

That was her absurd response.

“Um, Mom.”

Since this was something we had been arguing about for the past two weeks, I called out to Kagami again, holding back a sigh.

“No matter what, who follows their high school daughter on a school trip…”

I rubbed my face.

There were only the three of us here, but I still felt a bit embarrassed.

No, we had agreed to go on an overseas trip together another time, so why was she acting like this?

“I want to go! I want to go too! I want to play with my lovely daughters in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!”

No, even if you went, you couldn’t play with us.

It’s a bit much to tag along when friends are having fun.

The previous festival was just a festival, so it didn’t matter, but this is an academic schedule.

Besides—

“…You don’t even have a visa.”

I said as I put down my bag.

That’s right. Kagami still hasn’t received a tourist visa for the United States.

I’m not sure how far visa-free entry with a Japanese passport extends, but I think you can probably go to the US for tourism purposes, but it seems Kagami can’t.

Well, there’s a history.

To be precise, it’s not because of Kagami but because of her sister, Kosuzu, who is no longer in this world.

Waitley is from the US. I don’t know if there’s a place like Arkham in this world too, but the existence of the “Waitley family” is almost certain. After all, I experienced it firsthand.

Just as there are exorcists in Japan, there are such beings in the US—and if Kosuzu has already taken such a being out of the US, she would naturally be marked as a person of interest.

Plus, Kagami is currently the highest-ranking person in Kosuzu’s sect.

It might be resolved someday, but it’s impossible for now.

“Sniff…”

As if truly hurt by my words, Kagami’s expression became one that was on the verge of sobbing.

“……”

I stood there for a moment with my hand on my forehead, then thought, whatever, and flopped down next to the sprawled-out Kagami.

I lay on my side with my head on my arm, facing Kagami, and Koko, with a very happy expression, lay down on the opposite side.

“Later, when everything is resolved, let’s go at our leisure.”

As I lay on my side looking at Kagami, she turned her head slightly toward me.

“Wah!”

Koko exclaimed, tightly hugging Kagami’s waist.

“Kotone, Koko…”

Kagami spoke with a slightly tearful voice, then suddenly pulled both of us into a hug.

“……”

Hmm, this position is a bit embarrassing.

Well, if I pulled away now, Kagami would probably really get upset, so I decided to wait quietly until she let go.

Kagami held us like that for almost 10 minutes before finally releasing us.

Maybe I should ask Yuka about Kagami’s visa.

…But after the school trip. I’m a bit scared that if it gets resolved before then, she might actually buy a plane ticket and follow us.