Ch.330IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (27)

What does that even mean?

I know Yuu isn’t the type of kid who would say strange things to me for no reason. Well, I mean, what he said was “strange” in a way, but I know he wasn’t trying to tease me.

Yuu probably asked that question sincerely. He wasn’t being sarcastic or anything—he was genuinely asking me a “question.”

Is Kagami really my mother?

Why?

What reason would Yuu have for asking such a question?

“……”

I stared at Yuu with a dumbfounded expression for a moment, but he just blinked at me.

“Yes, she’s my mother.”

I answered.

Yuu tilted his head.

“Kotone’s mother.”

“Yes, she’s my mother.”

I nodded while seriously wondering why I needed to have this conversation with a child.

But even after hearing my answer, Yuu’s expression remained unchanged. It was like he just couldn’t understand the situation.

“Okay.”

That was Yuu’s response for now.

After that, he didn’t ask me anything else. He just dozed off in his chair or occasionally came over to our seats to chat.

But even though Yuu acted like it was nothing, the question he had asked earlier kept lingering in my mind.

Was there some story involving Kagami’s past that I didn’t know about?

Was there another reason why Kagami seemed intimidated in front of Mr. Yamashita?

“……”

Feeling like I shouldn’t think about it anymore, I finally forced myself to look toward the window that Harumi was staring at.

I could see the blue ocean.

The sea under the hot summer sun, without a single cloud in the sky.

*

Whatever my feelings were about Yuu’s question, I felt good once we arrived at the beach.

“It’s the ocean—!”

Harumi shouted the typical line that characters say in manga when they arrive at the beach, and ran forward.

“Harumi!?”

Miho rushed after her a bit late, but—

“Ahaha!”

Harumi had already jumped into the sea with her clothes still on.

Miho somehow managed to catch Harumi and drag her out of the water. As a result, Miho’s legs got soaked in seawater too.

“Geez, Harumi, you can’t just jump in like that.”

“Hahaha!”

But Harumi, already excited at the sight of the ocean, didn’t seem to care that she was soaked from head to toe.

“I’ll take the luggage to the lodging.”

Mr. Yamashita said to Mr. Fukuda.

“Ah, I’m counting on you.”

Mr. Fukuda immediately replied.

“Oh, I’ll help too—”

“No.”

Miho quickly stepped forward saying that, but Mr. Yamashita shook his head and picked up the bags.

“You need to help the kids change clothes.”

“Ah.”

Mr. Yamashita’s point was very valid. There were three adults and one person old enough to take care of themselves, but only two of them could enter the changing room with the three of us.

“I’m so sorry about this.”

Kagami said with an apologetic expression, but Mr. Yamashita just shrugged.

“Well, please take out what you need from the bags first. I’ll take the rest to the lodging.”

Even though Miho was in middle school, from an adult’s perspective, she was still just a child who needed protection.

Leaving Kagami alone with Miho and the three of us kids would be like entrusting all the children to Kagami alone.

In the end, they decided that Mr. Fukuda would stay, and Mr. Yamashita would move the luggage.

Despite carrying several backpacks and pulling two suitcases, Mr. Yamashita didn’t seem to find it heavy at all.

I was honestly looking up at him in admiration when Mr. Yamashita smiled slightly and briefly placed his hand on my head.

“Ah.”

Yuu made a small sound when he saw this.

Mr. Yamashita removed his hand from my head and patted Yuu’s head instead. Actually, he had just briefly placed his hand on my head rather than patting it, but—

Yuu looked back and forth between me and Mr. Yamashita with a somewhat anxious expression.

……

Should I seriously ask him about it?

I thought about it while looking at Yuu, but in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to react even as I was led to the changing room by Kagami and Miho.

*

Yuu is basically a shy child.

Unlike Harumi, who would immediately approach anyone with a smile if they showed even a little friendliness, Yuu was more like me—staying at a distance at first and only cautiously approaching when called. Well, there were some differences between us, but still.

But for some reason, Yuu was now reaching out his hand to Kagami.

He wasn’t saying anything. More precisely, he looked like he didn’t know how to start speaking. As if unsure what to call Kagami, Yuu was reaching out one hand toward her without being able to speak.

Kagami looked at Yuu with a somewhat troubled expression. Her gaze alternated between Yuu and Miho. Miho was also standing there with a slightly perplexed look on her face.

Eventually, Kagami hesitantly extended her left hand and took Yuu’s hand.

“Hee.”

Yuu’s expression brightened immediately after taking Kagami’s hand. Just as Yuu had done on the train earlier, now it was my turn to tilt my head slightly.

Of course, Kagami was still holding my hand with her right hand.

I felt… uneasy. I didn’t think Kagami was being taken away from me, but rather, I kept thinking there must have been some kind of relationship between Kagami and Mr. Yamashita.

Since I was born, yes, obviously there must be a father somewhere. Given that I’ve never seen him once—and considering Kagami’s age when she had me—I think whoever touched Kagami shouldn’t exist in this world.

There must be a reason why he never met with Kagami despite being within traveling distance. Because Kagami’s and my existence would become his flaw.

Not just a flaw, but a socially enormous one.

……

But at the same time, if something like that had happened, would Kagami have asked Mr. Yamashita for such a favor? Would it have been possible for Mr. Yamashita to accept such a request?

If necessary, he could have just buried it all.

I still felt like there was something there, but at the same time, I thought I should wait and see a bit longer.

Kagami’s gaze turned back to me, and I smiled at her.

Kagami seemed to notice that my smile was a bit off, as she briefly looked worried before managing to smile again.

…What am I thinking about during our vacation?

The most annoying part was that I couldn’t completely shake off these thoughts.

*

I was genuinely grateful that Harumi was part of this trip.

If Harumi hadn’t been there to drag me and Yuu around, I wouldn’t have been able to talk to Yuu so comfortably.

Because I would have kept getting distracted whenever Yuu sat near Kagami or pulled her hand.

He’s still just a seven-year-old child.

I wasn’t sure what he liked so much about Kagami—but judging from his talk about “mother,” I thought Yuu might be reminded of his own mother when he looked at Kagami.

That was still strange. Yuu and I are the same age. There’s a slight difference in our birthdays, but we were born in the same year.

…Yuu was a bit taller than me, but that doesn’t mean he could have been registered before I was even born.

“Kotone!”

Oops.

I keep having these strange thoughts.

I looked at Harumi who was calling me.

Next to her, Yuu was also waving at me.

There was no ill feeling toward me in his expression. It was just the face of a child happy to be playing with friends.

Both of them would probably get quite tanned from the sun. Miho had applied plenty of sunscreen, but that usually washes off when playing in the water.

Me too.

……

Yes, let’s just play now. Without any thoughts. Like a child.

I am a child, after all.

Surely, Kagami will tell me everything someday.

If not, I can just ask her myself.

If there are unavoidable circumstances mixed in, I’ll simply accept them.

I looked back.

In the distance, I could see the adults sitting on a mat under an open parasol.

I waved energetically toward Kagami.

Kagami smiled and waved back at me.

The slightly awkward smile from earlier was gone.

When I’m happy, Kagami is happy too.

For now, that’s enough.

That’s what I decided.