Ch.232Epilogue: At Least This Time (2)

“You have a great expression on your face.”

The company president also visited the sports festival.

“Miki said she’d come in the afternoon. She has classes today after all.”

Since the sports festival was held on Saturday, it was possible for students from other schools to visit in the afternoon.

Actually, not just anyone could enter. The gym uniform at this school was the practically extinct “bloomers” even by current standards, and naturally, along with the sailor uniforms, it was attire that would attract all sorts of perverts from the neighborhood.

Moreover, among the students attending this school, there was a high percentage from wealthy families. While it’s a co-ed school so it can’t exactly be called a complete ladies’ school, it’s true that there’s a high “young lady ratio” among the female students here.

It would obviously be problematic to let just anyone visit during the sports festival, if only to prevent perverts from coming from far away to take photos or videos.

However, exceptions could be made for those invited by students.

Each student could invite up to two non-family members. Why? Because sometimes students might live with distant relatives if their parents are far away.

Thanks to this consideration, there were occasionally cases of students inviting friends from other schools or relatives.

In my and Koko’s case, we invited the president and his younger sister.

“…I heard my daughter was greatly indebted to you last year. Thank you very much.”

Seeing Kagami bow while saying this, the president quickly waved both hands.

“Oh, no. I was just meddling back then.”

During last year’s sports festival, the president packed lunches instead of Kagami and brought them to us.

That lunch was for Miki.

I had told the president that we had reconciled with Kagami and were living well together, but the president still packed lunches this year too.

That makes sense. It’s not for us, but the president and Miki need to eat too, don’t they?

I felt a bit happy when I recognized that the lunch the president brought was the same as last year’s.

“Miki’s sports festival is next week, right?”

I remember because it’s a week apart from ours.

And seasonally, these events were reaching their end.

Probably if it gets any later than that, the weather will start getting chilly, making outdoor activities awkward. That’s also why the cultural festival was mostly indoor activities.

“Yes. I hope you can come.”

For reference, I’ve already said I’d go to Miki’s cultural festival too. It might be a bit awkward to bring all my other friends, but it shouldn’t be a big problem if just Koko and I go.

By the way, Kagami had a determined expression since this morning.

At first, I thought it was her mindset to cheer us on properly, but that didn’t seem to be it. I also considered that she might be nervous about seeing me dance in a cheerleader outfit, stretching my arms and legs, but that didn’t seem right either.

Rather, judging by how her face stiffened after seeing the president, she probably had a “scared of having her lunch compared” expression.

No, I don’t even remember what the president’s lunch from last year was like. I vaguely remember it being delicious, but I can’t be expected to remember something I ate just once until this year.

Or is she planning to compare it with the lunch she packed today?

Though she was a mother with two high school sophomore daughters, Kagami was still a “novice mom” in many ways.

Since she skipped our childhood years, even though Koko and I acknowledge Kagami as our mother, there might be a lack of that special bond.

Fortunately, there’s no world where I would call someone other than Kagami “mom,” but conversely, for Kagami, everyone who has helped me all this time was a point of comparison.

“……”

I should make sure to enjoy Kagami’s lunch.

It’s not difficult. Kagami is the type to follow recipes meticulously when cooking.

It’s not because she likes things to be precise, but simply because she lacks confidence in her own cooking style. Thanks to that, Kagami’s cooking always had a consistently good taste.

“Let’s go in.”

Feeling concerned about Kagami’s continued attitude, I grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

At my words, Kagami’s face returned to a bright smile.

It was a change that might not be noticeable at first glance, but we’ve known each other long enough that I could catch such changes.

And so, we entered the school.

*

Although my physique has improved, it’s debatable whether my skills have improved.

My skills weren’t bad to begin with. After all, I originally had a body that inherited only half of human blood.

Moreover, the body I’m using now is the same as Koko’s.

To avoid being treated as a “strange entity” while running, I need to run carefully. If Koko or I wanted to, we could move at a level that’s practically teleportation.

I’m not sure if that can be called an “ability to move,” but anyway.

So, somehow having been selected as a representative for this year’s running competition, I maintained balance by alternating between first and second place by narrow margins.

“It feels… strange somehow.”

Yuka, who knew about my situation, gave me an incredibly subtle expression, but what could I do? If I hadn’t participated in other events, it wouldn’t have mattered, but now I’ve become a representative.

I’ve wondered how this happened, and it seems the problem was that I ran around more enjoyably during PE classes.

Having many acquaintances in the same class, and each of those acquaintances being close to me, meant that I moved more actively during physical activities.

It’s easy to join a team, easy to find a partner, and the other kids wouldn’t leave me alone even if I stayed still.

And in the eyes of the other girls in the class, that active me was enough to plant the idea that “she’s actually good at sports, isn’t she?”

“But it feels a bit wrong to lose on purpose.”

Wouldn’t deliberately losing be making fun of them?

I had to consider the expectations of my classmates who chose me, and above all—

“Amazing! Wonderful! My daughter is the best!”

…seeing Kagami cheering happily from a distance, it didn’t feel right to lose. Even though I was controlling myself to not always come in first because it felt a bit dishonest.

Kagami would probably call me the best even if I came in last.

Usually, when there’s a parent cheering so distinctively, others might look strangely, but most parents who saw Kagami just smiled.

Kagami herself looks relatively young and is beautiful too. It might sound a bit off to say this, but appearance plays a role in determining someone’s likability, so it can’t be helped.

“How could I not come in first with that kind of support…”

When I said that, Yuka burst into laughter in disbelief.

*

Kagami, who was initially shocked at my outfit, was very pleased when she saw me dancing as part of the cheer squad.

I can see her taking hundreds of photos with her camera even from far away.

Koko was also diligently recording videos with the camcorder I had bought.

And Yuka too— Yuka?

I almost dropped my pom-poms when I saw Yuka with a large camcorder, just shy of broadcast quality, with her eye to the viewfinder, filming me.

Fortunately, after safely finishing the cheer routine, I ran over without even wiping my sweat and asked.

“Where did this camera come from?”

“Your mom.”

“……”

At those words, I looked at Kagami.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We should capture it in the best quality possible.”

That’s right.

Although we don’t often realize it because we live in an apartment with small rooms packed together, Kagami is wealthy. And having a lot of money means being able to buy appropriate items when needed.

“Even something like this?”

As I muttered while looking at the camcorder that seemed a bit too large for personal use, though not quite broadcast quality, Kagami said with a beaming smile:

“I read somewhere that digital footage will look too pixelated as time passes.”

Well, that’s true, but still.

The camcorder I bought was relatively state-of-the-art for this era, but in just a few years, the resolution difference would be so great that it wouldn’t fill the screen with its video quality.

At least 1080p quality would hold up reasonably well on most high-resolution monitors.

Looking at Yuka holding the camcorder, she shrugged with an expression that said, “Who could stop your mom?”

Even Yuka reacted this way, showing just how unusual a mother Kagami was.

…

Ah, I see.

I’ve come to accept this fact naturally now.

Earlier this year, whenever Kagami did things like this, the kids would look horrified, but at some point, it became too natural.

It even reached the point where there was an atmosphere of “that’s just how Kagami is.”

Perhaps Kagami deliberately acted more distinctively with this in mind.

She filled the gap that time couldn’t fill with her unique behavior.

So that even in others’ eyes, she would be seen as a “mother.”

“Kotone, Koko, look at this! The video came out so clear!”

Kagami showed us the camcorder screen.

I… can’t really tell if the quality is good or not on such a small screen.

We’ll have to wait until we transfer it to a computer to check. Small screens have fewer pixels after all.

“Look, it’s full of adorable Kotone!”

…

Is it just that she simply loves Koko and me too much? So much that she doesn’t care about others’ gazes?

Feeling that subtle mystery, I stared at the happily bouncing Kagami for a while.