Ch.348IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (45)

Today, Kagami said she would be coming home late.

If I had to pick the most decisive difference between living in Tokyo and living here now, it’s definitely that I rarely go straight to a friend’s house after school.

It’s not that I haven’t been to Mako’s house, or other friends’ houses, but how should I put it… to be honest, it wasn’t as fun as going to Harumi’s or Yuu’s.

It wasn’t simply because their houses were bigger and had more things to play with.

The other children didn’t really share my interests. Even the girls would play actively, drawing things on the ground and hopping around on them, but I wasn’t energetic enough to join the boys playing ball games either.

At Mako’s house, her father was often absent, but in the end, we would just lie around chatting about various things or reading books before parting ways. Since it was the same whether Mako came to my house or I went to hers, Mako would usually just come to my house, walking the extra distance with me.

Now my house doesn’t feel too small when friends come over.

“…”

Maybe it was because I was the type who would still read manga and watch animation even as an adult.

I turned on the TV hoping to find some cartoons and flipped through the channels. Since it was daytime during summer vacation, there were many cartoons on, but somehow I felt too lazy to watch anything all the way through.

Actually, today I slept in quite late. Kagami woke me up and fed me breakfast before leaving, but I was half-asleep and dozed off again afterward.

I’ve mostly shaken off the nightmares from my childhood. In my previous life, I would have nightmares unless I worked until I collapsed from exhaustion, but since I started sleeping with Kagami, those incidents have decreased significantly.

So, I suppose it’s been that way ever since I was reborn in this world.

Through the wide-open door, I could hear cicadas. Their sound was noisy but refreshing.

Looking at the clock, it was still around one in the afternoon.

Kagami had prepared lunch and left it in the refrigerator, but somehow I didn’t feel like eating, so I just lay there absentmindedly, sweating slightly.

I might have been lying there for about ten minutes.

“Kotone!”

I heard someone calling my name.

A child’s voice. A voice I knew well, one I heard almost every day.

I thought it was impressive that they came all the way to our house, which was a bit distant from the village, even on such a hot day.

Of course, I was happy about it, but—

“Mako…”

“Kotone?”

When I trudged over to open the door, Mako called out to me, looking a bit surprised.

I had been drifting in and out of sleep, and lying down for too long had made getting up feel incredibly bothersome. Come to think of it, I had only been dragged around by the energetic Harumi holding my wrist; I never had any grand ideas about leading the children myself.

Now that I was in this quiet town, I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to spend time doing nothing occasionally.

After opening the door, I trudged back into the room, and I heard Mako following me in and closing the door.

I went to the living room where I could see the yard and lay down near the wide-open door. Avoiding the direct sunlight, of course.

With the fan set to rotation mode, I thought it was bearable enough.

“Kotone?”

As I lay there staring blankly at the ceiling, Mako’s face suddenly entered my field of vision.

Mako’s hair isn’t very long. But somehow, she gives off a more gentle impression than Harumi, who has longer hair.

Her black hair tickled my nose.

“Mako, that tickles.”

“Okay.”

At my words, Mako smiled and pulled her face back.

“You’re not sick, are you?”

“I’m not sick, just too lazy to move. Today I’m planning to just lie here until Mom comes home.”

“Can I lie down too?”

“There’s plenty of space, so it’s fine.”

Mako lay down next to me, also spreading out.

“I went downtown with my dad on the weekend.”

“Mm.”

“We bought a fish tank for Baduk and some other things.”

“I see.”

I was the one who named the fish Baduk this time too. When Mako was pondering over it, I casually suggested it, and Mako happily adopted the name.

The appearance is similar, but I’m not sure exactly how similar. I probably wouldn’t know unless I had them side by side for comparison. I couldn’t remember all the exact positions of the spots.

There would be photos if I looked, but somehow I didn’t want to take them out and show them to the other children.

“You know, goldfish can live up to 30 years.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that.”

When kept at home, they typically live around 10 years or so, but if they’re raised diligently in a sufficiently spacious environment, they can live much longer.

“Later, even after time passes, when we look at Baduk, we’ll remember now. Right?”

“…Yeah.”

I wonder how much longer I can stay here.

Even if I could stay for a long time, we couldn’t continue knowing each other forever.

Mako is a child who came here following her father. If her father gets transferred somewhere else, Mako will leave this village again.

I think Mako would adapt well wherever she goes, but still, I don’t like the idea of being permanently separated from a friend I’ve made.

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

I could hear the cicadas.

I was completely awake now, so I probably couldn’t go back to sleep.

But we both just continued lying there.

This didn’t feel so bad either.

I don’t know how it will be when we become adults, but well, when you’re a child, there’s no such concept as wasting time.

*

After summer vacation ended, we had a small sports day at school.

Kagami came again this time, cheerfully cheering me on and taking lots of photos. She took many pictures with Mako too, and quite a few with other children from my class and other classes that I had become friends with.

Perhaps because it’s the countryside, the village adults seemed even more excited than we were. It seems that in rural areas, events that parents can get enthusiastic about are always accompanied by a festive atmosphere, probably due to the lack of other stimulation.

While it’s usually much quieter than the city, occasionally it becomes much noisier than the city would be for similar events.

During a race to find candy in flour, Mako ended up with flour all over her face.

But she laughed joyfully, which made me laugh along with her.

The lunch boxes were delicious. The cheering was fun too. It wasn’t the intense cheering like before, but I thought this modest atmosphere was nice too.

*

When autumn came, Kagami and I went for a light hike up the mountain.

Come to think of it, I never went hiking deliberately in Tokyo. Well, there weren’t really any proper mountains in central Tokyo anyway.

Holding a red autumn leaf in one hand and Kagami’s hand in the other, we went up and up.

We didn’t climb all the way to the top, stopping partway.

Still, seeing the entire village at a glance was truly beautiful.

Even though it hadn’t been a year yet, I was growing attached to this village.

Was I originally such a sentimental person?

Finding a cut tree stump, Kagami and I sat down.

It wasn’t a famous mountain, but since local residents frequently visited, it didn’t feel particularly scary.

“…”

Kagami remained silent for a while.

It seemed like she had something she wanted to say, but I deliberately didn’t speak first.

I like Kagami. She’s my mother.

But that doesn’t mean I can easily accept everything she might say.

I’ve realized that the story surrounding me is much more complicated than I thought.

And that complicated story is certainly not a pleasant one to hear.

I like Kagami.

But, in truth, there were aspects of the situation I didn’t like.

It wasn’t something Kagami was doing because she wanted to, nor was it something she could avoid even if she wanted to—she was just accepting it.

I wonder if Kagami knows this fact.

Or was my sense that she had something to say just my imagination?

In the end, Kagami remained silent for a long time, and then simply said,

“…The scenery is really beautiful.”

“Yes, it’s beautiful,” I nodded readily.

Through the red autumn leaves, I could see the village below, looking small from this height. The village that seemed quite large when walking with my still-growing legs was actually this small.

I wonder if that neighborhood in Tokyo, which felt so vast, was actually the same? I’m not sure.

“…”

I’ll go back.

That’s what I thought.

Although I’m still a child, someday when I become an adult. When I become an adult and can endure all those things.

At that time, I will definitely return to that neighborhood.

Will Harumi and Yuu still be living there then? Will they remember me?

It doesn’t really matter. If they don’t remember me, there’s nothing I can do about it.

But, still, if there’s a possibility…

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to at least try, right?

Since I’m a child, I’m allowed to have one childish thought, aren’t I?