Ch.316IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (13)

Whether I grow taller or not is beside the point.

Still, life kept getting better as time went on.

Kagami was fundamentally frugal by nature and rarely took me to places that cost too much money, but after seeing my Christmas letter, she seemed to have realized something and started taking me out to various places.

She would hold my hand when we went grocery shopping, or take me out for a short walk in the evening on weekends.

Our initially somewhat unstable financial situation was gradually improving, perhaps thanks to Kagami’s consistent saving habits, and our home was slowly beginning to have the atmosphere of “a place where a child lives.”

The bookshelf was filling up with picture books one by one, and my toys were steadily increasing, if only little by little.

Given my personality, instead of magic girl wands that girls my age like Harumi preferred, I would get second-hand transforming robots, but Kagami didn’t seem to mind much about that.

Watching Kagami wanting to let me do whatever I liked, I somehow felt that she might be projecting herself onto me.

…Is Kagami happy? Can she be happy while struggling so much? I’m not sure. They say parents find happiness in watching their children grow, but having never actually raised a child in my previous life, it was an emotion I couldn’t fully comprehend.

Not that I was planning to ask Kagami about it. No, how could I possibly ask?

But regardless of what I thought, Kagami didn’t seem to mind me approaching her.

“Mmm.”

When I got bored of playing with toys or watching TV, I would often snuggle into Kagami’s arms.

I no longer felt embarrassed about this. At first, I endured the awkwardness and cuddled with her because I didn’t want Kagami to notice something strange about me, but not anymore.

The warmth I felt when Kagami held me tight wasn’t easy to resist.

When was the last time I had been held like this by someone? Even searching through all my memories from my previous life, it was too long ago to recall.

I always knew that having a mother in this world was a blessing. Because I already had lost memories of one.

So I couldn’t help but cherish Kagami, my “mother” in this world.

And Kagami would always hold me tight when I came to snuggle.

She would read me storybooks before bed, rub my back, and sing lullabies.

Our current life wasn’t entirely easy for Kagami, but selfishly, I enjoyed these moments.

“Kotone, Kotone.”

Once, Kagami called my name softly, almost in a whisper.

“Yes.”

As I answered with a weak voice, dozing off and blinking my eyes in Kagami’s warm embrace, she stroked my head and asked.

“Is there something you want to be when you grow up?”

“Hmm…”

Answering half-asleep, I fell into thought for a moment.

What I want to be.

Right. This was a different life. I was a child. Of course it wouldn’t be wrong to have new dreams.

But, like most adults, I didn’t have any particular dreams. It had been several years since I came to this world, and I was gradually adapting to this young body and to the personalities of the children around me, but the person inside was still that adult.

When I was little in my previous life, I wanted to be a firefighter. I thought the firefighters in their cool uniforms riding big red fire trucks were amazing.

Everyone called them heroes, and they actually rescued people in danger, which made them seem like superheroes from comics.

After becoming an adult and actually becoming a firefighter, my perspective changed a bit.

So what occupation should I have in this life?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any particular “dream” of that sort. Unlike children who can simply have dreams, I knew that all “jobs” come with some degree of responsibility and difficulty.

I had enough common sense not to casually say something like “celebrity.”

Considering Kagami’s face, and my face that inherited her genes, it wouldn’t be impossible, though.

I smiled slightly at that thought while half-asleep. Yes, I’d like to become what would be called a “content creator” in the future. Traveling wherever I want, filming videos, and uploading them to the internet. Well, it probably wouldn’t make much money, so I’d need another job to put food on the table.

…

Feeling too sleepy to continue that train of thought, I mumbled while nodding off in Kagami’s arms.

“Living with mom, forever.”

Yes, that should be enough.

I’m still young, so I’ll have plenty of time.

Someday I might have to leave Kagami’s side. If Kagami says she wants to live a new life, I might have to nod in agreement.

She’s not too old to meet someone new.

Or it might happen when I become an adult.

“…”

Kagami didn’t bother to respond to my words.

Instead, she just held me tight.

*

Trying hard and doing well are different things.

Kagami knew that fact very well. It wasn’t the life she wanted, but she had lived a life where she “had no choice but to try hard,” and she had “done well” only once.

By “doing well” here, it means she did well in the sense that she gave birth to an intelligent child of the god. That wasn’t Kagami’s judgment, but Kosuzu’s.

That’s why Kagami had been constantly terrified until now.

Kagami was alone. She had no family to take care of Kotone in her place, and no means to send her elsewhere. After setting aside savings for the future, the money she could use was limited.

It wasn’t that there was no one to help her, but not everyone was someone she could fully trust.

The people Kagami had been involved with in her short life were not those who had lived normal lives. Including Kagami herself.

The people she met at the place where she managed to work for a short time were ordinary people, but she couldn’t rely on them either.

So, she just lived diligently.

Yes, it was a life where she had no choice. Whether inside that fence or out here like this.

Because otherwise, even a minimal life would be impossible.

In Kagami’s eyes, Kotone was too kind. So much so that, except when she was really sleepy and burrowed into Kagami’s arms, she seemed almost not like a child.

She didn’t have many demands and rarely said she wanted something.

Kagami saw her own childhood overlapping with that behavior.

It was the look of someone who had given up. The attitude of someone who knew that speaking up wouldn’t make things happen.

Am I not doing well enough? Am I still lacking too much?

Kagami had been worrying like that.

That’s why, when Kotone wrote a letter at Christmas, she felt several emotions simultaneously.

She was surprised, sorry, and happy. Because for the first time, Kotone had clearly expressed what she wanted.

After that, the wall that had been slightly felt from Kotone seemed to disappear. Kotone came a little closer to Kagami and snuggled into her arms.

As if doing so was truly comfortable, she would doze off as soon as she was in Kagami’s arms. Kagami found that sight incredibly endearing.

Looking at Kotone like that, Kagami felt for the first time that she had gained a family.

When she first ran away with Kotone, her mind was just a mess. She even regretted it a bit. After all, Kosuzu was too frightening an existence for Kagami.

Perhaps, at that time, rather than thinking of her as a daughter, she didn’t want her to live the same life as herself.

Since Kotone was a girl, she might have had to live the same life as Kagami.

“…”

She could hear breathing from within her arms.

Kotone was asleep in Kagami’s embrace, holding onto Kagami’s clothes with one hand, breathing softly.

Her body was warm. Her hair was soft, and her skin was tender.

She was Kagami’s daughter.

She was Kagami’s family.

The only being who purely trusted and followed Kagami, who purely loved Kagami.

How could one not love such a being?

This lovable child who, for the first time in her life, completely trusted Kagami—Kagami could never abandon her.

“Mmm.”

Kotone moved closer in her arms. The small hand gripping her clothes tightened.

So, Kagami was happy.

Because she was a being who saw Kagami as her mother, not as some vessel of a god. Because she was a being who trusted Kagami simply for being her daughter, without any conditions.

The fact that they could be together like this made her happy.

Perhaps it was the first happiness Kagami had ever felt in her life.

“Don’t worry.”

Though she didn’t think the already sleeping Kotone would hear, Kagami answered while gently stroking her head.

“As you said, I’ll try to stay together with you forever. Even if it costs me my life.”