Ch.324IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (21)

When I was young, I didn’t really understand the definition of living well or poorly.

Why living in an apartment was such a good thing, and why living in a villa or semi-basement was so difficult—honestly, as a child, I wasn’t that conscious of it. After all, all homes felt roughly the same size.

Vaguely, I sensed that well-off friends had lots of nice toys, game consoles, games, or high-spec computers…

Probably if Harumi or Yuu came to our house, they wouldn’t be particularly shocked. They might just innocently ask something like, “Why is there only one room here?” but that would be it.

However—if there’s an overwhelming difference that even young children would notice, then the story changes a bit.

“Wow.”

That was the first word of amazement Harumi uttered when we entered Yuu’s house.

Sometimes people describe a house as “like a palace,” and Yuu’s house was exactly that. It wasn’t just spacious—from the main gate to the surrounding walls and the house inside, everything had a traditional appearance as if built long ago.

In other words, it had the atmosphere of a “yakuza mansion” commonly seen in Japanese subculture.

“Hmm~ hmm hmm~”

Normally, the one humming like that would have been Harumi, not Yuu. But even Harumi seemed to find it a bit difficult to act completely at ease in such an unfamiliar atmosphere.

Yuu, who had brought us here, led the way at the front, while Harumi and I followed behind.

Men passing by bowed their heads to Yuu. Yuu waved her hands in response to them.

“…”

That respectful attitude even toward children was indeed the “stereotypical yakuza.”

The kind you’d only see in manga.

Thinking about it now, it’s a bit funny. Yakuza are essentially no different from Korean gangsters, yet they live in these traditional mansions.

It’s probably because when yakuza first appeared as a subject in cultural content, the influence of “real yakuza” who were at their peak at the time shaped how they were portrayed.

The first established image continues to influence later generations. Once that image becomes a “cliché” for people who grew up watching those movies or reading those manga, it continues to have an impact unless an exceptional work comes along that completely shatters the cliché.

In manga, animation, and light novels, they even exaggerate and caricature it, removing the villainous aspects.

…And I thought that was fortunate.

If they were real yakuza who didn’t uphold “minimal justice,” Kagami and I might have been bundled together and sold off somewhere instead of receiving help.

Though I sometimes forget after being here for years, I’m still someone who was reincarnated from another world.

I don’t know if it applies to this world, but according to possession story clichés, there’s a good chance I’ve entered some kind of fictional work. Considering the unusual situation Kagami and I are in, it would be more ridiculous to think otherwise.

Why, in light novels of that era, weren’t the heroines’ parents strangely young, or sometimes even romance options themselves?

No, was that still the case when I grew up? …Anyway.

Even if all those assumptions are wrong, that seems to be the case here.

“This is my room.”

Yuu, who had been walking confidently, stopped in front of a room and announced.

“Oh.”

Harumi, who had been a bit intimidated earlier, seemed to have quickly adapted to the atmosphere. At first, she probably thought the scary-looking men were frightening, but those men bowed their heads to us just as they would to adults.

With friends right beside her, she seemed to have decided there was no need to be afraid.

Plus, we were right in front of her friend’s room.

Yuu, with a slightly nervous expression, extended her short childlike arms forward and grabbed the sliding door that you’d only expect to find in a traditional Japanese house.

Slide.

As the door slowly moved sideways, the room inside was revealed.

And that room was—

Ordinary.

“Oh.”

This time, the exclamation came from my mouth.

It wasn’t particularly spacious, nor was it empty.

Except for the door, it looked just like a normal room that an elementary school student would use.

The wallpaper was a very light yellow with a calm atmosphere. The furniture inside was either white or light yellow, creating an overall unified look.

There was a small TV and a video player, and a low two-tier bookshelf filled with picture books and children’s literature.

The toy box next to the bed was made of translucent plastic, making the dolls and magic wands inside clearly visible.

…How should I put it?

It was the kind of room Kagami would have envied greatly if she had seen it. If we had enough money for me to have my own room, I would definitely have decorated it in this style for Kagami.

Maybe just with slightly different colors.

“W-what do you think?”

Yuu asked with a slightly nervous voice. Judging by her lightly flushed cheeks, this was probably the first time she was showing her room to friends.

“It’s pretty.”

“Yeah, it’s super pretty!”

After I quickly answered, Harumi raised both hands and echoed my sentiment.

The corners of Yuu’s mouth curled upward. She tried her best to hold it back, but it didn’t seem to work well.

“Can we go in?”

When I asked, Yuu blinked as if she had forgotten about that, and then, as if she had learned it from someone, extended her hand toward the room and said:

“Yes, please do.”

Somehow it didn’t seem like the kind of phrase a young child would use, so I wondered if she was imitating other adults in this house.

Well, it was cute, so it didn’t really matter.

Harumi, who was extremely excited, entered the room first, and I followed behind her.

Actually, if you just look at the layout, it’s not that different from Harumi’s room.

I wonder why it feels so exciting, like going to a completely new place.

My personality seems to be getting younger as I spend time with these children.

If I continue to hang out with them for a few more years, maybe one day the age gap in our personalities will match perfectly.

I thought this while watching the two children who were already opening the lid of the toy box.

*

Just because we came to another friend’s house doesn’t mean we did something drastically different.

However, being at a different friend’s house made even the usual activities feel “different.”

That is, even watching cartoons in a friend’s room.

“I wish I had a TV in my room too.”

Harumi said.

“When my dad is in the living room, I can’t watch cartoons.”

“Hmm…”

But Yuu tilted her head at Harumi’s words.

“Yuu?”

As Harumi also tilted her head looking at Yuu’s reaction, Yuu spoke up.

“But if the TV is in the living room, you can watch television with your dad.”

“Is that so? My dad only watches boring stuff.”

Somehow I feel like what Mr. Yamashita watches probably isn’t much different from what Mr. Fukuda watches.

Children this age don’t have great concentration, so they might find slightly longer movies boring.

“What about Kotone’s room?”

“Huh?”

I was a bit startled by the sudden question directed at me while I was lost in thought.

“My room?”

“Yeah. Like, do you have a television?”

Both Yuu and Harumi looked at me with genuinely curious expressions at Harumi’s question.

It’s not strange. Both children have already shown me their rooms, so it’s natural they’d want to see mine.

When we were young, we always wanted to visit friends’ houses. If it was a house we’d never been to, we wanted to go, and if it was a house where the parents were often absent, it would sometimes become a meeting place.

Looking back now, perhaps we should have felt sorry for such children, but at the time, I actually envied that situation.

“…The television is in my room.”

“Wow.”

Harumi’s eyes sparkled at my answer.

It’s not exactly a lie. It’s just not “my room” but “our room.”

“That must be lonely.”

No, that’s not it.

Rather, does Yuu think it’s lonely? Is that why she goes to Harumi’s house every day?

It’s still the 90s, and since her father isn’t an ordinary office worker, it might be awkward for him to make time.

“It’s… not lonely.”

I nodded.

If I were truly an ordinary child, I might have felt confined. I might have wanted my own room.

But I… am not like that.

This might be somewhat embarrassing to say as someone who was once that age, but I wanted to have a family again so badly.

Though she’s too young to be called a mother, at the same time, she’s more than enough as a mother—having such a dedicated family member beside me is something I can only consider a blessing.

But my words seemed somewhat ambiguous to the two children, as Harumi and Yuu tilted their heads.

Just as Harumi was about to open her mouth to ask something—

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Yes!”

Yuu answered, and the door slid open.

“Big sister Miho!”

“Are you having fun?”

Miho, the person who always comes to pick up Yuu, was beyond the door.

“I brought some snacks, would you like some?”

“Yes!”

Yuu answered with much more energy than when we were at Harumi’s house.

What Miho brought was sliced apples, snacks, and small bread.

Everything was delicious. They were probably all expensive.

But still, I made an unnecessary comparison in my mind, thinking they weren’t as good as the pancakes Kagami makes.