Ch.322IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (19)

When I was in kindergarten, I always needed a guardian by my side, but things changed a bit after becoming an elementary school student.

I always took the bus provided by the kindergarten, but by elementary school age, children can typically go to school alone. For the first while, it’s good to have a guardian accompany them to teach the way, but it’s not impossible for an elementary student to walk alone for about 15 minutes.

I’m not sure which approach was considered normal in the 2020s when I lived. Has the world changed how we treat children? Hmm.

Of course, I don’t go completely alone—I blend in with the other children heading to school. The school seems to encourage this, and Kagami sees me off every morning to a point a little distance from the house.

I wonder if I should just go home alone after school too—but honestly, playing with Harumi and Yuu was quite enjoyable, so I decided not to say anything.

……

I must be getting almost completely used to this body. To think such thoughts about children.

Well, how long could I deny the fact that I am “Kotone Kurosawa”? Eventually, the days I live in this world will exceed those of my previous life.

It’s been a few months since I started school, and quite some time has passed—now the sun stays up until quite late.

There was still about a month left until vacation, but elementary school tends to end early, so it always felt like I was on break.

The content we were learning was still mostly common knowledge.

It wasn’t just easy for me—it wasn’t particularly difficult for the other children either. Harumi, Yuu, and the other kids around me still maintained their childlike innocence without showing signs of fatigue.

And with that innocence, we occasionally went out to play.

“Ta-da!”

What Harumi showed us with that exclamation wasn’t the magical girl wand she usually played with in front of us.

It was an insect net and a collection box.

Hmm.

Since Harumi usually played magical girl games, I thought she wouldn’t be interested in insect collecting.

In fact, even though I’ve known her for several years, this is the first time I’ve seen Harumi volunteer to collect insects.

“Insect collecting?”

“Yes!”

Harumi nodded.

Hearing that, I fell into thought for a moment.

Had I heard cicadas recently?

Tokyo is located south of Seoul, and naturally gets hot earlier. Cherry blossoms bloom about two weeks earlier in Tokyo than in Seoul.

So it wouldn’t be strange if cicadas appeared about two weeks earlier too.

“In-insects? Bugs?”

Yuu looked a bit alarmed at Harumi’s words.

“Yes!”

Harumi nodded.

Thinking about it again, this was the kind of activity that could easily appear as a background element in children’s cartoons around this time of year.

For Harumi, who likes to imitate things she sees in cartoons, being influenced this way wasn’t particularly strange.

However.

“Harumi, have you ever caught insects before?”

“Huh? No?”

Harumi tilted her head at my question.

Of course, it makes sense—even I, who was almost always by her side when she played, had never seen this before.

This creates a few problems.

First, insect collecting is harder than one might think.

With the net, we could probably catch them, but whether it’s stag beetles or cicadas, they’re actually hard to spot when you’re actively looking for them. Cicadas especially blend in with trees due to their coloring.

Additionally, insects are often more disgusting-looking than people expect.

We wouldn’t be catching cockroaches, of course, but many people can’t even handle touching stag beetles. Cicadas would be even worse.

“Why?”

Harumi tilted her head as she looked at me lost in thought. Yuu also looked at me somewhat cautiously.

If there was a “leader” among the three of us, it would definitely be Harumi. She was the one who most clearly stated opinions and decided what to do.

But if you had to pick the most “mature” person among us, it would be me.

This was natural, in a way. When Harumi or Yuu made a mess while playing, I was always the one who cleaned up at the end. The two good children didn’t just stand by watching—they usually helped diligently when they saw me tidying up.

The adults around us viewed this behavior of mine very favorably, and Harumi and Yuu also saw me as somewhat mature.

And that perception had somehow elevated to the position of “the one who knows various things” among the three of us.

…Well, it’s natural that I would know more than elementary school students.

“No, it’s nothing.”

But just because they think I “know the most” doesn’t mean these two will unconditionally follow what I say.

Children have their own stubbornness.

Usually, they don’t understand until they experience something directly.

I just watch from the side to make sure the kids don’t get into too much danger.

“Hmm, really?”

If the three of us were teenagers, they might question my answer, but fortunately, we’re just children who have just entered elementary school.

Harumi didn’t question my answer much.

Yuu looked a bit scared, but she didn’t seem to dislike joining us.

“Alright, let’s go!”

Harumi exclaimed, holding the insect net high in one hand with the collection box hanging around her neck.

Watching Harumi confidently taking the lead with big steps, I wondered whether she would actually be able to touch a cicada.

*

And, there was one thing I had forgotten—

Bababababa!

—Right.

The sound of cicada wings is surprisingly loud. They live underground for years and only come out for about two weeks, but the sound of an adult cicada’s wings is much louder than that of flies or dragonflies.

And Harumi, seeing a “real cicada” up close, turned pale.

Surprisingly, Harumi managed to catch a cicada with her net, but she couldn’t take it out as it thrashed around inside. In cartoons, they’re drawn in a cute, simplified way, but real cicadas are wrinkly, ugly bugs.

“Wh-what should I do?”

Yuu, who couldn’t even touch the handle of the net, let alone grab the insect, was fidgeting anxiously, and Harumi was hesitating too.

I let out a small sigh, crouched down beside the net, and stuck my hand inside.

“Eek!?”

The two of them screamed simultaneously at the sight.

…Well, I’m also a person who lived in the city.

But I have memories of going to the countryside during holidays as a child and catching grasshoppers and dragonflies.

While I might be uncomfortable with cockroaches or flies, I can handle the kinds of insects children often catch.

Though my hands are a bit larger compared to a child’s.

When I took out the cicada, the two were even more shocked but didn’t run away.

They had expressions of disgust but also curiosity, standing nearby without fleeing, so I held out my hand to show them the cicada.

Just as people feel both repulsion and curiosity when seeing something gross or cruel, Harumi and Yuu cautiously approached to look at the cicada in my hand.

The cicada moved its abdomen back and forth and its legs around, but I held it in a way that prevented it from touching my hand, so it couldn’t escape.

“It’s u-ugly…”

“Yeah…”

I smiled slightly at their childlike assessment.

“Eek!?”

When I opened the collection box hanging around Harumi’s neck, she was startled again.

I quickly put the cicada inside and closed it, and the cicada flapped its wings inside.

“Eek!”

Like a typical city child, Harumi held the collection box at arm’s length.

“Should I hold it for you?”

“Yes!”

When I asked, Harumi nodded with a tearful face, so I took the collection box from her neck and put it around mine.

“Want to catch more?”

When I asked that, Harumi and Yuu looked at each other.

They seemed to be contemplating briefly, but since I was holding the collection box, they probably thought it wasn’t too dangerous, so they both nodded.

“Then, let’s go.”

Having somehow become the leader, I took the lead, and the two followed with quick steps.

They’re just so cute.

*

Once they realized they didn’t have to touch the insects with their hands, the pressure seemed to disappear, and not just Harumi but Yuu also swung the net. When they succeeded in catching cicadas, I would take them out and put them in the collection box, repeating the process.

As the two children got into it and swung their nets many times, the collection box became full of cicadas. It was a bit gross even to me, who was already immune to such things.

“Wh-what should we do with these?”

After catching so many, Harumi looked tearful again.

Right.

We can’t take them home. Who keeps cicadas as pets?

Even if we did take them, they would die soon.

What did I do back then?

I think I just released them.

“Should we let them go?”

“Let them go?”

But Harumi seemed a bit reluctant at my suggestion.

After all, we had “caught” them.

Plus, at that age, children often want to raise various things. Even if they can’t touch them with their hands.

“Do you know how long cicadas can live?”

After thinking for a moment, I asked, and Harumi and Yuu looked at each other.

“…Adults say they don’t live long.”

Yuu said in an uncertain voice, and Harumi blinked in surprise.

“Yes, that’s right.”

I nodded.

“Cicadas live underground for many years, and only come out when they become adults.”

I think the teacher mentioned this in kindergarten, but Harumi doesn’t seem to remember. Well, she doesn’t have the personality of someone who studies hard.

“After coming out, they find someone they like, have babies, and then leave. So they don’t live very long.”

At my words, Harumi and Yuu’s gazes turned to the collection box.

“So, since we’ve played enough, shall we let them go? So they can find someone they like.”

When I spoke calmly, Harumi and Yuu stared at me for a moment and then nodded.

“Yes!”

Harumi said.

“Yes.”

Yuu too.

I smiled at them.

They really are good kids.

The kind who will probably become model students by high school.

With a somewhat pleased feeling, I went around with the two children, taking cicadas out of the collection box one by one and placing them on trees.

Harumi named each cicada and said goodbye.

Yuu waved her hand, following Harumi’s lead.

Innocence doesn’t last forever. For some people, it disappears relatively early, and even if it lasts a bit longer, everyone eventually loses it.

After becoming an adult, if you maintain it for too long, people might criticize you.

But still.

I hoped that these two would keep their innocence for a long, long time.

And that this simple summer memory could be repeated over and over again.