Ch.305IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (2)

Though she was still a young woman who hadn’t fully shed her girlish qualities, Kagami Kurosawa was a strong person.

Having lived in a country where you’re assigned a resident registration number at birth and automatically enrolled in health insurance, it was hard for me to imagine how Kagami had managed to change her name.

“…It must be difficult living with just the two of you.”

Not long after we ran away, Kagami took me to meet a certain man.

If I were to describe my first impression of him in one word, it would be “gangster.”

Judging people by first impressions isn’t a good habit, but I couldn’t help what came to mind. Perhaps if I were truly just a child it would be different, but right now there was the consciousness of someone who had once been an adult inside this head.

The memories of my past life hadn’t faded yet. If anything, they remained vivid despite the passage of time. As if my life had continued uninterrupted.

I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

“What if I support you instead? Ms. Kagami has a daughter to care for.”

The man said.

Sun-darkened, swarthy skin. A white suit worn top to bottom. And not just any jacket with the usual two buttons, but a double-breasted one. The white suit alone was enough to dispel any impression of him being an “office worker,” but the double row of buttons made him appear even more intimidating.

The shirt underneath had unnecessarily flashy patterns, making it impossible to see him as an “ordinary person” no matter how you looked at it. It wouldn’t be easy to give off such an impression even if you tried.

Kagami called the man “Mr. Yamashita.”

Sitting on his lap, I looked up at Kagami’s face.

I hoped that “support” didn’t mean what I thought it might. I felt uneasy for no reason.

Kagami is my “mother.”

I wasn’t sure if I truly felt daughterly emotions toward Kagami, but still… I didn’t want the person protecting me with all her might to do “that kind of work” because of me.

Not that we had many other options—

“…”

Fortunately, perhaps, Kagami shook her head.

“I… I want this child to grow up normally.”

At Kagami’s words, “Mr. Yamashita” blinked.

For a moment, the intimidating aura left his face. The man who had been leaning slightly forward against the table leaned back, his expression thoughtful.

Then, resting against the chair with his eyes closed, he remained silent for a moment before a slight smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“I see.”

“Mr. Yamashita.”

Kagami bowed her head deeply. No, not just her head. She hunched her body as low as she could while seated.

Her black hair tickled my face.

“Considering the trouble my sister caused you, I know I shouldn’t have come to you. But I…”

“…”

Mr. Yamashita nodded silently.

Then he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a thick envelope.

It looked like a letter envelope, but to me, what was inside clearly wasn’t a “letter.”

“I’ll take care of the name issue somehow. And there’s no need to feel so sorry. I understand your feelings. As someone who also has a daughter.”

Kagami bit her lip hard.

“Mr. Yamashita, I—”

“I’m not just giving this to you. You can pay me back when you have the means. Think of it as a loan with no deadline and no interest. Since it’s a loan, don’t take it too heavily.”

“…Thank you, thank you… And I’m sorry…”

“I understand. Given my line of work. And considering the possibility of running into your ‘sister,’ this is probably for the best.”

Mr. Yamashita stood up.

“I’ll pay for the meal on my way out. Please eat whatever you’d like. You look terrible right now. …And that child, she hasn’t eaten properly for a while, has she?”

“…”

Mr. Yamashita gave a slight bow and was about to leave when he suddenly looked down at me.

We stared at each other for a while, our eyes locked.

A slight smile appeared at the corners of Mr. Yamashita’s mouth. Was he thinking of his own “daughter”?

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard your name yet. Little one, what’s your name?”

“Kotone.”

I answered. My voice had the characteristic innocence of a kindergarten-aged child.

“Kotone.”

Mr. Yamashita murmured, then lightly placed his hand on my head.

It was a large, rough hand. One that gave some hint of the life he had lived.

“Take care.”

“Okay.”

After I responded to the man’s words, he gave another slight smile and turned away.

I felt Kagami hold me tight.

Was it relief? I could hear soft sobbing sounds through her teeth.

“Thank goodness… thank goodness…”

True to Mr. Yamashita’s word, he had indeed left money at the restaurant.

We even received change when we finished our meal and left.

I wondered why “Mr. Yamashita” had helped us so much. And who was Kagami’s sister?

But since it didn’t seem like the right atmosphere to ask, I decided to say nothing.

More importantly, Kagami was finally able to eat a proper meal after so long.

Though somehow, Kagami seemed to think it was more important that I got some decent food in my stomach.

*

Ryohei Yamashita stepped outside the restaurant and searched inside his jacket again.

But before he could find his cigarettes in his pocket, a sharp-witted subordinate who had been waiting outside took out a cigarette and handed it to him.

Ryohei took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, and took a deep drag as his subordinate lit it for him.

The bitter smoke filled his lungs and then rushed out. It wasn’t particularly refreshing.

A few years ago, there had been an incident.

It involved the Yamashita family and the Kurosawa family. Though to call it the “Kurosawa family” was a stretch since there were only a handful of them left, so it was closer to an internal matter of the Yamashita family.

And even then, it was mostly caused by “Kosuzu Kurosawa,” that woman.

The cause was her younger sister, Kagami, running away with her daughter—that child, Kotone, “the child of god.”

He could guess the reason. Even though he hadn’t seen it directly, Ryohei had heard things.

And from what he’d heard, Ryohei thought she had good reason to run.

“In the end, that woman was just planning to use us too.”

Ryohei muttered to himself.

Many in the Yamashita family believed in that cult. The organization members thought the religion had “efficacy.”

In fact, Kosuzu had “resolved” several incidents for them.

But Kosuzu Kurosawa was a more willful woman than anyone had imagined, and after that incident a few years ago, she broke away completely.

With an attitude suggesting she just needed to find that “lost” child.

“Keep an eye on them.”

“Yes, boss.”

Ryohei said.

It wasn’t simply for humanitarian reasons. They had suddenly disappeared and were only found again after several years.

Rather than knowing nothing, it would be more helpful in the future to keep track of their situation.

Ryohei turned his head again and glanced inside the store.

Kagami was still sitting with her daughter on her lap, looking at the menu. Her expression was much brighter than before.

Looking at her like this, she was still just a child herself.

…His impression of her daughter, Kotone, was somewhat different.

That child, sitting next to Kagami, had climbed onto her mother’s lap when she saw Ryohei enter the store.

As if she were trying to protect her.

Kagami had tried to set the child back down beside her, but the child, who probably hadn’t eaten properly for days, resisted with all her might and stared at Ryohei’s face until the end of the conversation.

A child who was only about three years old.

“…”

Was she simply bold?

Or was there really something different about her compared to other children?

That remained to be seen, Ryohei thought.

*

Japanese currency has bills up to 10,000 yen, right?

That’s equivalent to a 100,000 won bill in Korea.

Ten bills aren’t that thick when you think about it. But if you have a “bundle” of those 10,000 yen bills, it becomes a significant amount of money.

The money Kagami received from Mr. Yamashita seemed to be at least that much.

“Look, Kotone!”

Kagami, holding me in her arms as we entered our new home, said with sparkling eyes.

“This is where we’ll be living from now on! What do you think? What do you think?”

Kagami, who had been so frightened in front of Mr. Yamashita, was now excited about having a home again and carried me around as she carefully examined the house.

“Yes, this should be enough for two people!”

Kagami set me down on the floor.

Then, sitting down to match my eye level as much as possible, Kagami said with an excited expression:

“And, Kotone. You might be able to go to kindergarten. Now that we have some means… Of course, it’s money we’ll have to pay back someday, but for now!”

Her face looked so innocent as she held my hands tightly and shook them up and down.

“What do you think, Kotone?”

After thinking about my response for a moment, I said,

“Mom, you’re amazing!”

Kagami’s movements, still holding my hands tightly, froze.

Did I make a mistake? As I looked up at her face a bit nervously, Kagami pulled me into a tight hug again.

“Thank you, Kotone. My one and only precious daughter.”

Kagami whispered softly in my ear.

“Not yet, not yet, but I’ll definitely become an amazing mother worthy of those words.”

…But I had meant it sincerely.

At that age, how could someone who was putting all their effort into saving their daughter not be amazing?

Kagami held me close and sobbed for a long time.