Ch.255Epilogue. Like a Cat (3)

“30,000 yen…?”

I was shocked when I heard about the gift money Kagami had given.

And since they gave 30,000 yen per person, our household essentially gave almost a million won. I don’t remember exactly, but during this period, 1000 yen was worth over 10,000 won.

“Isn’t that the normal amount? Mere acquaintances might give less, but it’s rare for people to just come and watch without eating.”

Yuka tilted her head as she said this. In other words, that price included the meal.

Is that so? Is that normal in Japan?

When I was a student, I usually gave about 50,000 won, and naturally received a meal ticket to eat. Return gifts were sometimes given, sometimes not. Usually, people who just came to give their regards without eating would receive a return gift instead.

However, from what I heard, the meals are often course meals. Since the reception tends to be quite long, I suppose the cost would be quite expensive when including that.

Actually, since we were Yuu’s friends and I had a connection with Ms. Mori, we were here, but there were more people who knew Kagami than me.

Perhaps being considerate of me and Koko, they let us stay together with our friends, while Kagami went around greeting people who looked either intimidatingly rugged or strangely well-groomed. Seeing this, I thought that Kagami probably hadn’t quit her job.

I freely imagined that the rugged people were yakuza or police-related, and the well-groomed ones were probably lawyers.

It’s not like I would have much reason to talk with them anyway.

“Miss Yamashita? I’ve heard a lot about you from Miho.”

“Ah, yes…”

Of course, there were guests from the bride’s side too.

Again, just my thought, but unless they were from the same school as Ms. Mori, most of the bride’s guests seemed to overlap with Mr. Yamashita’s guests.

Well, he did say “daughter of someone I respected.” I can understand the overlap.

Naturally, the young women among Ms. Mori’s guests tended to stick with our group more often until the ceremony began.

It must be a bit unsettling. After all, there were many “yakuza”-like people around.

Yuu seemed to struggle a bit with talking to people alone, so eventually we also joined in and chatted about various things. In reality, Koko and I were closer to being attention-grabbers, while Harumi and Mako did most of the talking.

Oh, right. Shii was quite popular too. It seems even women like a friendly and cute girl.

And after waiting like that—the wedding ceremony began.

The wedding itself proceeded much like a Korean wedding. The groom and bride entered, songs were sung, and some videos were played.

Although there were many rugged-looking guests, the atmosphere wasn’t rugged at all.

Well, it’s a yakuza boss’s wedding, so it couldn’t be.

The officiant was an old man I didn’t know. Perhaps he was the one person who wasn’t a yakuza. He might even have been Mr. Yamashita’s teacher from his school days.

Ms. Mori, standing next to Mr. Yamashita in a white wedding dress, kept smiling.

A purely bright smile, as if she wouldn’t shed a single tear.

It was amazing how genuine it looked no matter how I saw it.

“…”

Me, and my friends.

We all quietly gazed at that face.

How joyful must it be to finally connect with the person you love after a long, long wait?

I had never experienced love in my previous life or here, but I could somewhat understand the feeling of finding happiness after a long time.

For some reason, I turned my head and looked up at Kagami sitting next to me.

Despite not being particularly close to Ms. Mori, Kagami had an incredibly moved expression.

Kagami too, might be thinking of something similar.

Though the type of love is different, family love is still love.

Love and happiness found after a long, long time.

It was a bit strange to become the source of someone’s happiness.

I had just been living my life, after all.

“Kagami?”

Koko tilted her head as she looked up at Kagami’s face.

See, even Koko doesn’t understand.

But, even so.

Sometimes, just being there is enough to be grateful for.

Having lost such people before, I know how precious that is.

Looking to the other side, there was Yuka, quietly watching Ms. Mori and Mr. Yamashita.

Friends are precious too.

Especially friends close enough to attend the same university.

I still don’t know exactly why I was reborn in this world. Perhaps there really is a god who threw me in just to watch my story unfold.

Whether such a god exists or not, or whether it was truly by coincidence that I could open my eyes again in this world, I think it doesn’t matter anymore.

Because I am here, and my people are here.

I’ll just try to maintain these relationships for as long as possible, as long as I can.

Well, that’s been my constant effort since I started making friends in this world.

*

About two weeks passed after the wedding ended.

Ms. Mori and Mr. Yamashita returned from their honeymoon. Unsurprisingly, their destination was Hawaii.

When Kagami heard about it, she whined, “I’m the only one who hasn’t been to Hawaii…” but unfortunately, there’s still no sign of her visa issues being resolved.

With Kagami’s proactivity, the moment that visa issue is resolved, she’ll probably fly straight to Hawaii with me and Koko.

To be honest, I’m looking forward to it a bit.

As the memories of our friend’s parents’ wedding gradually faded…

An unusual event occurred at our home.

That unusual event was—

Like any weekend, I was lounging around the house.

It was mid-June.

Summer vacation was still far off, but the weather had already transitioned to hot and humid summer, making it sweltering.

Naturally, Koko, Kagami, and I had taken refuge indoors.

Koko and I hadn’t started living on our own yet. I had subtly hinted at it to Kagami, but she was still pretending not to notice those hints.

So I thought I’d wait until we became adults, and for now, I was still commuting from here.

Still, on days when our classes overlapped with Kagami’s, we would commute in her car, and usually, Kagami would often drop us off at school, so it wasn’t as difficult as I had thought. At least we didn’t have to walk 30 minutes to the train station.

Kagami’s driving skills had also improved to the point where I couldn’t criticize them anymore.

“Meow.”

“You’re still seeking warm places even in summer, huh?”

As I lay on my back on the floor cooled by the air conditioner, I laughed incredulously at Kuro climbing onto my stomach.

Well, the air conditioner does make it cold. And cats generally like warm places.

As I was gently stroking Kuro’s characteristically soft fur, there was a sound from the door.

Knock knock.

I slightly raised my head to look toward the door, then looked toward Kagami and Koko, who were also lying on the floor.

Neither of them seemed to be expecting anyone.

“Who is it?” I asked in a slightly louder voice.

There was a brief hesitation from beyond the door, and then…

“…It’s me.”

A small voice was heard.

It was a voice I knew.

“Meow?”

As I picked up Kuro with both hands and set him aside, he made a dissatisfied sound, then slunk over to Koko and burrowed into her embrace.

I got up and went to the door, carefully opening it.

There was,

“…”

“…Yuu?”

Yuu, drenched in sweat from coming all the way here.

…What is this? Why do I feel déjà vu?

Ah. Yuu had come here alone before.

That time, she had run away from home.

Because of Ms. Mori and Mr. Yamashita’s relationship.

“Um… are you here to hang out?”

I asked to confirm, just in case, but Yuu’s answer was somewhat shocking.

“…Would it be okay if I stayed for a few days?”

Yuu asked with slightly flushed cheeks, in an attitude that seemed embarrassed in many ways. She had a rather large bag on her shoulder.

“Let’s hear your story first.”

I said, politely stepping aside.

“…Hello.”

Yuu entered the room and awkwardly greeted Kagami.

“Hello.”

Fortunately, Kagami returned the greeting fairly naturally. Of course, her face showed curiosity.

“Yuu!”

“Koko, hi.”

As Koko jumped up, Kuro came back down to the floor with a dissatisfied meow and leaped onto my lap as I sat down.

“So, may I ask what brings you here?”

I asked while scratching behind Kuro’s ear.

“…”

Yuu carefully sat down on the floor following my gesture, and after hesitating for a moment, finally opened her mouth.

“Miho and… Dad are newlyweds.”

“Ah, wait.”

Before the rest of the story could continue, I hastily raised one hand to stop her.

“I think I understand. You don’t have to say it.”

Yuu nodded with a somewhat relieved expression.

So… it’s like that.

Hmm.

It can’t be helped that Ms. Mori is young. As such, well, she might be overflowing with sexual desire after getting married. If she had been holding back for years, it could have all exploded at once. I already had quite a strong impression in that direction when I ran into them at the amusement park a few years ago.

On the other hand, Mr. Yamashita is…

…Is it unexpected? Considering his build, maybe it’s possible?

Anyway, well.

It seems the soundproofing in Yuu’s house… wasn’t particularly excellent.

I put my hand to my forehead.