Ch.317IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (14)

Harumi and I had been friends for a long time.

At first, Kagami showed considerable reluctance about leaving me at Harumi’s house, but after it happened a few times, she seemed to have developed trust in Mr. Fukuda.

Basically, Kagami always wanted to be with me whenever she could, but on days when kindergarten was closed and she had to go to work, it couldn’t be helped.

Still, she never once had me sleep at someone else’s house.

Kagami would always return, even if it was a bit late, and take me home. As if it were some sacred duty.

…Well, I can understand why it might be considered a sacred duty.

Because we are mother and daughter. The two of us.

I gradually came to trust Kagami, and now I could rely on her with some peace of mind.

Unfortunately, Kagami still looked quite young to me, so I still felt a bit hesitant to depend on her completely.

Our home continued to accumulate more things.

Besides my kindergarten uniform, Kagami would buy cute clothes that she thought would suit me.

Most were skirts, which gave me somewhat mixed feelings, but when I wore them and looked in the mirror Kagami held up, I could somewhat understand why she bought such clothes, so I just pretended to like them.

Not just clothes, but shoes and underwear too.

They steadily increased one by one to keep up with my growth rate.

Among the increasing items, almost none were for Kagami. In my previous life, I didn’t notice this during my childhood, but now I know.

That Kagami hardly ever buys anything for herself.

Kagami always came home with clothes and shoes for me with a smiling face, as if buying things for me was actually getting what she wanted.

Thinking rationally, since I was a growing child, I thought it might be better to buy a few sizes larger so I could wear them longer.

Rather, with that money, she could buy clothes for herself that would last much longer.

“How about this, Kotone! Isn’t this shoe so cute? I couldn’t help buying it because I thought it would suit you so well!”

“……”

But I couldn’t tell Kagami to “buy something for yourself too.” This household wasn’t particularly well-off.

I especially couldn’t tell her not to buy clothes for me. If I said such things, Kagami would be hurt that much.

In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to say such things to Kagami, and could only nod along with her smile.

And such “things for me” weren’t limited to just clothes, shoes, and the occasional toys she bought.

“Kotone, is there a school you want to go to?”

One day, Kagami asked me that while I sat on her lap.

My head tilted up involuntarily.

Could you choose which elementary school to attend? Actually, I don’t know much about that. I grew up in Seoul, so I just went to the middle and high schools I was “told to go to.” I heard that in other regions, they take entrance exams before entering high school, but honestly, the college entrance exam was the first such test I ever took.

Among them, elementary school in particular isn’t an educational institution that children can choose, is it? It’s not like little kids know how to fill out applications.

Usually, parents take care of all that.

So, when asked to choose a place “I want to go to,” I really don’t know what to say.

“What kind of place would you like to go to?”

Seeing my expression as I looked up at her, Kagami seemed to realize her question was somewhat strange and rephrased it.

“Somewhere close? A place with recently built facilities? A place with pretty uniforms?”

“……”

Not always, but occasionally, Kagami projects onto me what she wanted in her childhood.

She’s not forcing it on me. It’s just that—people’s words always stem from their knowledge and experiences, don’t they?

I’m not sure until what point Kagami was able to attend school properly, but from such conversations, I got the feeling that she probably didn’t attend a school that met all three of those criteria and enjoy a pleasant school life.

I thought for a moment.

Until kindergarten, I took the kindergarten bus, but for elementary school, children typically commute on their own. Especially in the middle of a big city like this, “the school being too far” probably wouldn’t be an issue.

So somewhere close? But somehow I felt like Kagami would prefer “a place with pretty uniforms.”

After all, isn’t she the one who always feels happy seeing me dressed up? Though I personally find it a bit questionable that elementary school students have uniforms at all.

After being lost in thought for a moment, I suddenly realized that I did have something quite specific that I wanted, and it surprised me.

“…The same place as Harumi.”

That’s right.

It’s not like I haven’t made any friends since coming to this world. Even besides Harumi, there are several kids I play with in kindergarten.

But Harumi was the closest among them.

Ironically, I felt somewhat reassured being next to that child who was much younger than me. Because I didn’t have to think too seriously about how to spend my time in kindergarten.

If we went to the same elementary school, wouldn’t that period be extended a bit?

Besides, if I went to a different school and didn’t know anyone in my class, that would be too anxiety-inducing. I barely remember my elementary school days, but I do remember my first days of middle and high school. It’s a bit disconcerting when your class is full of kids you don’t know.

If Harumi were there, it might be a little less disconcerting.

“Oh my.”

When she heard my answer, Kagami’s eyes widened a bit.

Looking up at those blinking eyes, I briefly wondered if I had given the wrong answer, but Kagami soon smiled broadly as if she was very pleased with my response.

“That’s true. If you have such a close friend, it’s only natural to want to go to the same school.”

Kagami hugged me tightly. As I nestled into Kagami’s soft embrace, a hand gently brushed the back of my head.

“Thank you for answering.”

Kagami said.

Perhaps because I hadn’t chosen one of the options but had expressed what I specifically wanted, Kagami seemed to think my answer was sincere.

“Shall we discuss it with Harumi’s father?”

I nodded.

*

We haven’t graduated from kindergarten yet.

But we were scheduled to go to elementary school next year. The procedures for enrolling in elementary school don’t happen overnight, and there’s no harm in buying things we’ll need for elementary school in advance.

In particular, Kagami seems to be already looking forward to me getting a “randoseru.”

A randoseru, of all things.

I’ve never even been to Japan, so I don’t know if real elementary school students there carry such randoseru. When I was young, I just carried a backpack with an indoor shoe pouch.

But it seems that elementary school students in this world use randoseru.

“Hmm-hmm~ Hmm-hmm-hmm~”

Harumi walked briskly ahead, humming an original tune that didn’t overlap with any of the children’s songs we had learned so far.

Well, since she was still a preschooler who hadn’t even entered elementary school yet, her walking was technically closer to “toddling” or “waddling,” but since Harumi had already grown taller than me, there was that much difference in our strides.

Since becoming taller than me, Harumi often acted as if she were my older sister. She didn’t go so far as to change how she addressed me, but how should I put it, she kept trying to take care of me.

Well, I suppose that’s just because she has such a kind nature.

We were walking to a store where many elementary school bags were displayed. It didn’t seem to specialize exclusively in randoseru, but perhaps because many people like us came to buy bags in advance, an entire wall was filled with randoseru.

…No, they all look the same to me. Of course, the colors are a bit different.

And they were incredibly expensive too. At a glance, it seemed like you could buy several sets of the clothes and shoes I usually wear for that price.

But Mr. Fukuda and Kagami following behind us looked as if this was perfectly normal.

“Let’s get matching ones!”

Harumi exclaimed.

The adults around us looked our way. We probably didn’t look like sisters, but we must have appeared to be very close friends, as everyone had warm smiles on their faces.

Matching… but to my eyes, they all looked pretty similar anyway.

They kind of look like old military packs.

From the way she talked, I thought Harumi would take a long time choosing a bag, but like most young children who fixate on one thing and can’t see anything else, she chose a bright red randoseru without even spending five minutes looking around the store.

And automatically, I ended up choosing the same randoseru.

When Harumi and I put the randoseru on our backs side by side, Kagami’s expression looked like she might burst into tears.

No, she actually did wipe the corners of her eyes lightly.

A whole roll of film in the second-hand camera that Kagami had bought for when I sing nursery rhymes or dance at kindergarten was filled entirely with images of me.

It was a bit embarrassing to have thirty-six photos taken of me standing with a bright red randoseru on my back—

But, the resulting images showed me looking sufficiently adorable, so I could understand why Kagami liked me so much.

…I wonder if she might faint when we go to look at school uniforms.