Ch.248Epilogue. Hello (9)

It’s chilling.

It wasn’t like a dagger had pierced my heart, but I could feel something similar to reading short horror stories on my smartphone while lying in bed in the middle of a midsummer night.

The problem was that I didn’t quite understand why I was feeling this sensation.

It was midsummer, but I wasn’t watching a horror movie or anything like that.

Koko and I didn’t bother going to cram schools. Throughout the first semester, by thoroughly reviewing and preparing with Kagami, Koko, and our friends, I managed to maintain decent grades and gained some confidence for exams.

These days, I visited the literature club room less frequently. Usually, I would study at a friend’s house, or they would come to our place. Except for the distance, my friends quite liked our home. It was an environment where we could focus solely on studying without distractions.

The ceiling I had broken when I first caught Koko had been completely repaired, and the room that had been covered in blood on the walls and floor was now thoroughly cleaned. In a way, it had become like a study room where people could stay overnight.

Oh, by the way, the neighbor next door officially moved to a university research institute, so his room became vacant.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here. Farewell.”

The man seemed genuinely grateful as he said his final goodbye to Kagami.

Well, following us around… he had seen some things he shouldn’t have, but from a folklore research perspective, it was an invaluable experience.

Besides, according to Kagami, the rent was really cheap. Honestly, I would consider it unconscionable if they charged high rent, but I had enough sense not to say such things to someone who was leaving.

“…Thank you for that time.”

I thanked the man once more.

If he hadn’t rushed out in his yokai costume that day, I would certainly have suffered an irreparable wound.

Would I be who I am today if that had happened? No, I don’t think so.

Moreover, in a way, he was also Koko’s benefactor. Koko had been raiding his refrigerator for food for several years. Though he would probably never know it, without that refrigerator, Koko would have either starved to death long ago… or gone outside the apartment and been captured by someone or killed as a monster.

Thinking about it that way, this man was directly and indirectly a benefactor to both of us sisters.

“No, I only did what was natural at the time.”

“You know where the shrine is, right?”

“Yes, I’ll visit if I have any questions.”

The man nodded in response to Kagami’s question.

And so the room next to ours became vacant as well.

In truth, since the man had been working at the research institute since last year, he was rarely in his room anyway, so it had been practically empty already.

But it felt a bit strange to think that our family was the only one left in this apartment building.

That doesn’t mean I want to tear it down and build a detached house. Personally, I’d like to maintain this exterior and keep renovating it for a long time. After all, this is the building where I began my life in this world. Even if we stop using it someday, I’d like to have a place to come back to and reminisce.

Of course, if the entire city gets redeveloped and it disappears, there’s nothing we can do about that.

…

I’ve gone off on a tangent, but anyway, we’re using the remaining rooms as study spaces with the kids.

I’ve thought it might be fun to rent one of those rooms to someone else later. I plan to continue living here even after getting into university, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a friend I could run into every day on my way to school. Yuka and Harumi sometimes looked like they were seriously considering it.

In the midst of all this studying, Kagami was studying even more enthusiastically than I was.

Watching her study with a headband tied around her forehead, it felt like I was looking at a student who was studying for their life. For Kagami, this might be a kind of “romance” she had never experienced. True to her nature of following stereotypes portrayed in media when imitating something, she approached studying in the same way.

“…Oh.”

Ah, I think I understand now.

The reason I’m feeling this chill in the middle of the night.

Without any reason or warning, I suddenly realized something.

That Kagami was studying “too” hard.

More diligently than someone trying to teach their daughter.

Maybe, in typical Kagami fashion, she loves her two daughters so much that she wants to send them to the universities they really want to attend—

But what if, just what if, that’s not it?

What if Kagami herself wants to go to university?

She might have thought going to high school would be a bit too much. After all, we don’t know if Hanakawa High School would accept a student older than us.

In the 2020s, refusing might cause various controversies, but we’re still in the mid-2000s. They could refuse on the grounds that “it’s a bit… for an adult to take classes with high school students.”

Above all, Kagami herself would probably feel uncomfortable.

But university is a bit different.

While they’re not exactly common, no one would complain about older people taking classes among students. Universities are full of people who are a year or two older, and by graduate school, age differences become almost meaningless.

What if Kagami says she wants to go to university?

What if it’s the same university I attend, the same department?

“…”

Hmm.

I was scared a moment ago, but thinking about it now, I wonder if it’s really something to be afraid of.

Of course, if we’re in the same department, Kagami would want to hang out with me whenever she sees me, and I wouldn’t be able to easily refuse her, and honestly, I wouldn’t be able to pretend I don’t know her.

I’m not embarrassed to show Kagami to my friends. Honestly, except for when she’s being a bit excessive, isn’t she the perfect mother?

She’s pretty, gets along with her daughters like friends, and always tries to take care of everything. Of course, this is excluding everything that happened before I came to this world, but right now, she’s an ideal mother by anyone’s standards.

But still.

Somehow… if I go to the same department as Kagami…

Wouldn’t I become a hopeless mama’s girl who brings her mother to university? Even if I don’t think of myself that way, that’s how others might see me.

Yes, now I’m scared again.

I’m not scared of Kagami going to university, or even going to the same place as me, but I’m scared of that image.

What should I do? Still, I don’t want to discourage Kagami. Humanly speaking.

I have no desire to hinder someone who’s trying to pursue a dream they couldn’t fulfill before.

In the end, having suddenly thought about this on a midsummer night, I couldn’t fall asleep until late that day.

*

“Kotone.”

“Yes?”

“Are you worried about something?”

It seems that for several days afterward, that thought appeared on my face in the form of concern.

I stared at Kagami for a while.

Kagami blinked, looking a bit confused.

During the year and a half since Kagami and I became “mother and daughter,” I think we’ve come to know quite a bit about each other.

Seeing each other at home every day, having meals together, sharing stories about our day, occasionally going out, and taking walks.

While there hasn’t been enough time to know each other perfectly, it was certainly enough to qualify as family.

That’s why my silently staring at Kagami was probably a bit perplexing for her.

I rolled the pen around in my hand, then quietly put it down.

After letting out a small sigh and scratching my head, I said:

“Let’s go for a walk outside for a bit.”

At my words, Kagami and Koko looked at each other, then nodded.

When the three of us went outside together, I honestly regretted it a little.

It’s summer vacation. Honestly, the reason summer vacation is so long is probably because the weather is that unbearable. Even in Japan, winter and spring breaks are short, right?

But there was a reason I suggested leaving the air-conditioned indoors to walk outside.

The very fact that I was having such worries felt extremely stifling.

No matter how much Kagami was like a friend-mom, she was still much closer to being a “mother” to me right now.

Having grown up in a somewhat Confucian society, asking my mom “Are you going to university?” was an incredibly difficult question for me to pose.

Wouldn’t just asking feel like pressuring her not to go?

Besides, I wanted to support Kagami if she decided to pursue her dream.

In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to ask Kagami anything and just wandered around for a long time.

“Kotone?”

After walking for almost an hour, Kagami called my name again.

“…”

After hesitating for a moment, I finally decided to steel myself.

This would never end otherwise.

“…Kagami.”

“Yes.”

“Do you… want to go to university?”

“…”

At my question, Kagami was momentarily speechless.

After fumbling for a bit, just like me, she thought for a long time—

And finally nodded.

I see.

I started walking slowly again.

Koko didn’t understand why the situation was so awkward, but she followed along with Kagami and me.