Ch.240Epilogue. Hello (1)

Some people argue that the sense of ‘belonging’ is completely useless.

For example, they say that feeling a sense of belonging to a place like a company only brings disadvantages.

While it’s important to get along with other employees and maintain an appropriate distance from your boss, having loyalty to your company won’t automatically get you a raise.

Rather, they say that the harder you work, sometimes the more they squeeze you in a vicious cycle.

The place I worked in my previous life wasn’t like that, and honestly it wasn’t a place where you could negotiate your salary either, and sometimes it was a place where we literally had to put our lives on the line for each other, so my situation was a bit different, but I understand what these people are talking about.

After all, a convenience store part-timer won’t gain much by being loyal to the convenience store.

However, it’s impossible to completely detach from a ‘sense of belonging’ in all cases.

Only particularly annoying people criticize others for supporting their country in international soccer matches, and it’s natural to support the team representing your birthplace or where you live in regional competitions.

The same goes for schools.

It’s problematic to hire or reject people based solely on school connections.

But it’s also difficult not to become attached to a place where you spent every day with close friends for three years during your youth. Of course, there can be exceptions depending on the circumstances, but at least for me, it would be hard to detach myself from Hanakawa High School where I’m currently attending.

I’ve been through some rough times. There were people who bullied me, and I almost died at the hands of a yokai inside the school. But beyond that, it was also a place with many people I cared about.

Going to and from school with classmates every day, participating in club activities, studying together.

It would be really difficult to simply hate such a place.

“…It seems the seniors won’t be coming anymore.”

About a month after the cultural festival ended.

Christmas was just a few days away, and it was also the end of another semester.

Japan’s college entrance exam… the “National Center Test for University Admissions” is in January. Naturally, it would be difficult for Izumi and Kaoru to come to the club room anymore.

Throughout the past year, they had been studying hard in their own way, but it would be unreasonable to expect them to participate in club activities right before the exam.

In fact, the two of them had noticeably reduced their club activities since before the cultural festival, and after it ended, they simply couldn’t come to the club anymore.

We all understood. We had all cheered them on during the cultural festival.

The video we took then is still uploaded on my YouTube account. Surprisingly, it has quite a few views, now in the triple digits. Though I think most of them are probably from our classmates.

No one answered Mako’s comment.

Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

To be precise, saying that Izumi and Kaoru’s activities have completely ended is somewhat ambiguous.

After taking the exam in mid-January, they’ll still come to school regardless of the results. Japanese high schools operate on a three-semester system, and graduation isn’t until the end of March. So the two of them will still be students at our school for nearly four months.

…After that, we probably won’t see them at school again. Even if they visit, it would be from outside, or perhaps during sports festivals or cultural festivals.

Their affiliation will change.

For us who didn’t have any close senior relationships before, this was still difficult to fully accept.

Although the literature club still had quite a few members, no one was unaware of how important those two were to the club.

“Come on, come on.”

Harumi clapped her hands to lift the slightly downcast mood.

“Besides, we still have one important matter left to discuss. Unfortunately, the seniors won’t be able to participate since we can’t disturb their studies.”

At those words, everyone except Tsuneda, who wasn’t familiar with our schedule, perked up again.

“I’m talking about the Christmas party.”

I whispered quietly to Tsuneda.

“Christmas party?”

Tsuneda’s eyes sparkled.

Honestly, I don’t really understand what’s considered “normal” for Japanese people. So I’m not sure if gathering with friends for a Christmas party is common or not.

I don’t think it’s that common. Christmas isn’t even a public holiday in Japan. It’s probably difficult to have a relaxed party on a day that isn’t a day off.

It seems difficult unless you’re a student on break. And unless you have a romantic partner, taking time off specifically for Christmas might feel a bit strange. This is the early 2000s, not the 2020s. Things are quite different, just as the 80s were different from this era.

Anyway, judging from the circumstances, Tsuneda, who seems to enjoy manga and anime quite a bit, really liked these slice-of-life type events.

She seemed to have hung out with friends on Christmas before, but her reaction suggested she had never had an overnight gathering, which made me feel somewhat proud.

“So, Yuu-chan, is it okay?”

Harumi asked Yuu with her hands still pressed together as if in prayer, and Yuu let out a deliberate sigh.

And for some reason, her gaze turned toward me.

Um… oh, right, I’m still the club president.

There hadn’t been any major events since the cultural festival, and I was planning to hand over the presidency to Tsuneda next year anyway, so I had momentarily forgotten.

And above all, the fact that I’m Yuu’s cousin probably played a role. Does she want me to say something?

But I’m not sure what she wants me to say. Is she asking me to stop them from going?

While I was pondering the meaning, Yuu sighed deeply and spoke.

“…Is your mother coming too?”

“Ah.”

This time, everyone’s eyes turned to me.

They didn’t seem particularly displeased, but… well.

No matter how you look at it, wouldn’t it be a bit awkward to have an adult at a kids’ party?

After thinking for a moment, I finally confessed.

“She’ll… probably come along.”

Yuu stared at me intently.

“…I’ll try to convince the adults to spend time separately. After all, we’re all relatives… or something similar.”

That’s right.

Although Kosuzu and Mr. Yamashita were divorced, and Kosuzu herself had died heroically, the relationship between the two families hadn’t completely fallen apart.

Kagami still maintained ties with the Yamashita family and continued to interact with them regularly.

Yuu and I are cousins through our maternal side.

While neither of us is the type to strictly observe family events, wouldn’t it be possible to visit each other and spend time together on Christmas or New Year’s?

Besides, the Yamashita household already has a mistress, Ms. Mori. Although they haven’t held a wedding ceremony yet, they’ll probably set a date once Yuu graduates.

Couldn’t we leave Kagami with those two, and then visit Koko separately later to receive gifts?

I thought back to last year.

It’s already been a year since I gave her a gift at Kagami’s bar on my way home. Back then, I had no idea I would develop this kind of relationship with Kagami.

People’s lives are truly unpredictable.

“…”

At my words, Yuu fell into thought for a moment, then slowly nodded.

While Kagami says she can somehow transform the cult into a normal “religion,” it still seems nearly impossible for the Yamashita family to completely abandon their yakuza business. Even if they’re “light novel-style” yakuza, it’s still illegal.

In that case, wouldn’t it be beneficial for Kagami to maintain a friendly relationship with the head of the Yamashita-kai, which still has many cult members within the organization?

“Great, then let’s go to Yuu-chan’s place!”

Harumi said with a bright smile.

“We can use that room again, right?”

“Yes.”

Yuu nodded.

To be honest, she looked somewhat resigned.

…I feel a bit sorry.

Next year… might be a bit awkward, and after that, maybe we should look into hotels or pensions?

Or… well, we could also use the Kurosawa main house.

Ghosts probably wouldn’t want to appear where there are lots of people gathered, right?

*

Several days passed, and the promised day arrived.

Koko and I ended up going to the Yamashita house with Kagami, who came along with us. By the way, we weren’t the only ones whose parent came—

“Oh, Kagami-san.”

—apparently not.

As we walked side by side, we ran into Harumi’s father waiting in front of the house gate.

“My, Mr. Fukuda.”

Kagami called out his name with a genuinely surprised expression.

We had actually met during the sports festival, but at that time, Mr. Fukuda was busy cheering for Harumi and didn’t get a chance to speak with Kagami.

In response to Kagami’s reaction, Mr. Fukuda cleared his throat with a “Ahem” and waved at Koko and me.

“Hello, Kotone-chan, Koko-chan. It’s been a while.”

Is he pretending to be friendly in front of Kagami?

Feeling various indescribable emotions, I looked at Harumi, who was standing a few steps away from her father.

Harumi pressed her hands together in an apologetic gesture toward me.

…

Well, it doesn’t matter.

It’s not like we’re going to become sisters or anything… right?

I thought this while looking up at Kagami, who appeared genuinely surprised, without showing even a speck of romantic interest.