Ch.357IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (54)

I should be nervous, I suppose.

Rather, I’m a bit tired.

Adapting to a new school certainly isn’t something that happens regularly.

Before, I had spent several years with my friends, and I’d known Mako for about a year and a half.

A year and a half.

If I were in middle school, that would be half of my middle school life. The same goes for high school, and in university, it would be about one-third of the way through.

If I had to transfer schools once, I couldn’t say that period was particularly short.

Yet the reason I’m so tired is because my relationships have been completely reset, and I have to build them up from scratch again.

“You need to get along well.”

I heard something I’ve heard from homeroom teachers several times before.

Should I call it fortunate? The children’s eyes sparkled.

People always said that Kotone is pretty. It wasn’t just that I was pretty; Kagami always did her best to take care of my appearance, so I was confident I wouldn’t lose to any other kids no matter which school I went to.

Well, it wouldn’t be strange for a daughter to inherit her looks from such a beautiful mother.

Is that… something to be happy about?

Hmm, I’m not sure about that. I do feel proud, and I think it helps me get to know the other kids, but my thoughts stop right there.

Deep in my heart, a strange anxiety still remains.

Even if I become friends with everyone here, if the people watching us tell us to move somewhere else, we’ll have to.

Having my relationships depend on other people isn’t exactly pleasant.

“I look forward to getting to know you all.”

Despite everything, I greeted them gently and introduced myself.

…I don’t want to think it will all turn to foam.

As long as we keep trying, our lives will continue. Whatever stories are tangled up above us or behind us, being normal ultimately comes from how we perceive it and how the people around us perceive it.

So, that’s what I decided to think.

*

The children approached me kindly.

Around the upper grades of elementary school, you start to see kids whose heads have gotten bigger.

Some begin to understand exactly what power is, what it means to wear an armband of authority, and some even develop a taste for bullying other children.

But fortunately, it seemed there were no such kids in this class.

However, that aside.

It wasn’t just girls who came to talk to me.

In the lower grades, children childishly drew lines between boys and girls and fought, but now they were starting to become conscious of the opposite sex.

Well, it wouldn’t be strange if some kids started dating at this age. Though I’m not sure how far elementary school romance goes.

It wasn’t common, but there were one or two kids in class who claimed, “We’re dating.”

“Hey, Kotone.”

One of the kids who spoke to me called my name confidently.

This was partly my fault.

Although I kept my first name, my surname changed again this time. A surname I didn’t want to remember anymore, nor did I want to get used to it.

So when they called me by my surname, my reaction was oddly delayed, but when they called me by my first name, I looked at them right away. Naturally, the children got used to calling me by my first name.

Is that dangerous?

…I’m not sure. But seeing as they kept Kotone as my name, maybe they wanted to preserve at least that much.

Meeting new children was somewhat burdensome.

What do you like? I talked about the magical girl stories I used to watch with Harumi and Yuu. The kids laughed, saying it was for little kids, but they thought it suited me well and didn’t tease me about it.

What’s your hobby? I said wandering around alleys and collecting insects. Some kids were surprised with “Ehhh!?” This was also something I used to do with Harumi and Yuu. Even though several years had passed, I still considered those memories as my own.

Hey, what did you do during summer vacation? I answered camping. I left out the part about Mako. Even though it was a memory with Mako, there was no need to mention being caught by a bear.

The more I answered, the clearer it became that my memories weren’t mine alone, which made my heart ache a little.

Even making things up, in the end.

Then suddenly, I made eye contact with a boy who was looking at me from a distance.

Was he looking at me just because of my appearance? I’m not sure. The eye contact didn’t last that long.

Or maybe he was just staring blankly and happened to meet my eyes, then quickly looked away.

Since he averted his gaze, I did the same.

*

Even though the kids were so eager to talk to me on the first day, that excited atmosphere quickly settled down after just a week, returning to normal.

Instead, they became a bit excited about upcoming events like the sports festival or the cultural festival.

To be honest, I’m not that interested. After all, everyone in this class was someone I was seeing for the first time. How could I possibly know who was good at soccer or volleyball, or who could run fast?

Still, I was glad that the somewhat overwhelming attention had decreased a bit. There were still children who came around me and chattered, and I responded appropriately, but it wasn’t excessive.

Maybe among them, there might be future friends like Harumi, Yuu, or Mako.

…

Thinking that far, I also thought I was a bit bad.

After all this, am I still looking for copies of my childhood friends? Perhaps the past of this world is constraining me in its own way.

“Hey, Kotone. Is there anything you want to do? Any event you’d like to participate in during the sports festival?”

“…”

After thinking for a moment,

“I’m not good at sports. I don’t really like them…”

I said, trailing off a bit.

“Come on, there must be something you did at your previous school.”

Since someone persistently asked, I nodded.

“Cheerleading.”

At my answer, the children were surprised again with “Ehhh!?” This time I smiled a little too. Maybe this was also unique to these children’s atmosphere. From what I heard, some of them had been together since early childhood.

“That suits you well!”

One child said, and several boys turned to look at me.

“Did you wear a cheerleader uniform too?”

“…Yes.”

I felt a bit shy as I answered. It was true. When I was with Harumi and Yuu, I always did cheerleading. That image of me had somehow become fixed among the children.

It’s a bit embarrassing, but I was somewhat confident in it. Even if I couldn’t do high-level techniques like professional cheerleaders.

As we talked, I ended up joining the cheerleading team again this time.

But once my name was on the list, I became a bit anxious.

I did cheerleading because Harumi and Yuu were there.

Can I do well this time?

*

Although I had made some friends, it was still difficult to walk home together all the way.

At first, we would leave in groups, but eventually we had to part ways. Japan has particularly spread-out residential areas, so the path to my home was still a solitary one.

…Or so I thought.

Having reminisced about Harumi and Yuu after a long time and feeling down again, I was trudging along absentmindedly.

My gaze was directed at the sky. As I looked up at the indifferently blue sky and walked without thinking,

“…Ah!?”

I happened to trip on a stone and fell.

“…Ouch.”

If it’s just a wound, it wouldn’t take long to heal. I’ve had much worse injuries before.

Looking at my knee, it wasn’t even a big enough wound to bleed.

“Are you okay?”

But there was a child who spoke to me as I sat on the ground, blankly staring at my injury.

When I looked up, it was a boy.

He’s from our class. We’d never spoken before. I wasn’t brilliant enough to memorize all the names and personalities of my classmates in just a week.

Before I could answer, the boy looked at my knee and took something out of his pocket.

…A handkerchief?

And he casually wrapped that handkerchief around my slightly bleeding, scraped wound.

For a moment, I was so surprised that I stared blankly at the boy’s face.

“Kanagawa, right?”

Ah, yes. That’s the surname I’m using now.

“…It’s Kotone. Everyone calls me that.”

That’s how I answered.

“Kotone.”

The boy looked at me and smiled slightly,

“I’m Sasaki. Souta Sasaki.”

For a moment, I wondered what to call him.

Common sense would dictate calling him Sasaki. And at our age, we should start using honorifics like “Sasaki-san” or “Sasaki-chan” or “Sasaki-kun.”

But—

“Or would you rather call me by my first name?”

From our first meeting? But then again, I had already told him to call me by my first name.

Besides—

I feel like I remember that name somehow.

Both the name Souta and the surname Sasaki are fairly common. I’ve probably heard them several times among boys’ names until now.

But strangely, hearing the name “Souta Sasaki” stirred something in my mind.

“…Souta.”

“Kotone.”

Souta seemed a bit embarrassed at being called by his first name and extended his hand toward me.

I stared at that hand for a while before taking it.

Souta helped me up and supported me by holding one of my arms.

“My house is this way too.”

Souta said.

“I’ll help you.”

“…”

Unable to say I didn’t need help, I just remained silent.

And so, with me limping slightly, Souta Sasaki and I walked side by side on the way home.

All the way home, the name Souta Sasaki kept bothering me.