Ch.359IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (56)

It’s important to never give up, no matter the situation.

…It sounds like some cliché phrase floating around the internet, but I think it’s actually important.

If Kagami had given up early on, I wouldn’t even be able to live like this in the first place.

Without the people who helped me, I might have been captured by that strange woman and who knows what would have happened to me.

“……”

That’s why I felt a bit strange.

What stood before me was a gravestone.

The name written on it was one I’d never seen before.

To be honest, even if I saw that man’s face, I couldn’t properly remember it. I only saw him once, and everything was too rushed and I was out of it.

But this person did his best for me.

I don’t really know where his motivation came from. According to “Dad,” it seems he was just someone who had received a great favor.

Perhaps it was for the same reason as “Dad.” Maybe he thought it was worth risking his life to ensure his family’s safety.

I quietly put my hands together and bowed my head. Regardless of what kind of person he was when alive, I’m here now because of him.

I decided not to have any more questions.

Having doubts while I’m alive here would only be an insult to the people who stepped up for me.

We stood silently in front of the gravestone for a while.

*

Try hard, but don’t force it.

Over the past 10+ years, Kagami has understood my personality almost perfectly. Truly like a “mother.”

When I’m depressed or struggling, she immediately notices and asks what’s wrong, or sits next to me until I whine about being too hot.

So, if I try to forcibly seek normalcy, Kagami would definitely be sad.

If that’s the case, there’s no need to consciously try to become normal.

I should just naturally follow my heart.

…In some sense, this could be seen as giving up, but I still need to live, don’t I?

“I’m heading out.”

Before going to school, I greeted “Dad” who was in the living room.

Both of them looked at me with slightly surprised eyes. Kagami got up and followed me out.

“Mom, I’m going.”

I waved my hand at Kagami.

“Ah, yes. Be careful.”

Kagami responded with a somewhat bewildered expression.

A little behind her, “Dad” came out and waved at me with a slightly embarrassed expression.

I know it’s a bit odd for Kagami and that man to be a couple. I wasn’t too keen on Kagami marrying anyone, and above all, Kagami didn’t seem interested at all.

But still.

If this is what’s called normal, then it’s normal.

In the morning, there were a few kids passing by our house. I didn’t deliberately speak to them. They weren’t from my class.

I looked around thinking Souta might be there, but he wasn’t. Either he left earlier than me or later.

I don’t plan to match my pace with him or wait for him, but if we’re in the same class, we could just have some light conversation while walking to school.

“……”

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

Then, I headed toward school.

*

“Souta.”

After leaving the classroom and walking a bit, when our classmates were out of sight, I went up to Souta and called out to him.

I wouldn’t have minded talking to him when others were around, but somehow Souta seemed a bit uncomfortable with groups of girls. And it seemed like Souta had made some friends of his own.

There wasn’t any particular reason for talking to him, but we had various conversations and learned a bit about each other’s circumstances.

Souta lives with his father. Seeing that he doesn’t talk about his mother, it would probably be rude to ask.

It seems he lived abroad until recently due to his father’s business trip, but for someone who did, he spoke Japanese quite well. No, not just quite well—before hearing that he had been abroad, I didn’t even know.

“Because I only lived there for two years.”

I nodded at Souta’s words.

Souta’s expression was somewhat dark as he talked about living there for two years. He probably didn’t adapt easily. Two years is a bit short to fully integrate with the people living there.

The culture and language are different. Even if he somehow learned the language during the first year, making close friends would be almost impossible unless he had extraordinary social skills.

After hearing this, I didn’t share much about my past. But thinking about it, it seems both of us have a lot we haven’t talked about.

Souta didn’t seem to have a particularly good relationship with his father.

As we talked like this, we would pass by my house.

Usually, I would just wave goodbye and go home. Souta didn’t particularly come all the way to my house to see me off, and I was comfortable with that.

But today was a bit different from usual.

“Oh, Kotone!”

Perhaps because he liked me calling him “Dad,” the man seemed to be getting more comfortable with me.

He wasn’t treating me completely like his own daughter and still maintained some formality, but he seemed to see me as a cute niece at least.

He called Yamashita “big brother,” so it made sense that he would see me as a niece.

For some reason, the man who had finished work much earlier than usual was approaching from across the street. He was holding a paper bag. I wondered if he had bought something tasty.

“Eek.”

But the timing wasn’t good.

The man, who had been waving his hand high above his head, stopped in his tracks.

His gaze shifted to my side.

…Hadn’t he seen Souta before?

Ah, that’s right. He hadn’t. The man usually returns around 6:30 PM when he goes to work.

Just a few months ago, the man wouldn’t have cared much. He wouldn’t have had any reason to interfere with what I was doing as long as my life wasn’t in danger.

But now.

“Kotone, who is this?”

The man quickly suppressed his momentarily fierce expression and approached me, asking in a gentle voice.

That… that’s too gentle.

It was very obvious he was acting. That expression, like a villain in a poorly made thriller movie pretending to be gentle while obviously showing his villainy, clearly revealed that the man’s workplace was still yakuza.

But that expression didn’t last long either.

When I glared at him, the man’s eyebrows twitched once, and after clearing his throat with a “ahem,” he returned to his usual self.

“Kotone, is he your boyfriend?”

“……”

I stared up at the man with my mouth agape.

And I glared at him once more. This time more openly.

The man seemed a bit hurt.

“N-no!”

Souta quickly exclaimed.

“W-we’re just classmates!”

“Is that so?”

But the man somehow didn’t seem too pleased with that answer. I don’t mean he still suspected Souta was my boyfriend.

“You don’t like such a pretty girl?”

That’s how it looked to me.

I was even more dumbfounded.

I seriously considered kicking the man in the shin, but I didn’t. It probably wouldn’t hurt him anyway, but I didn’t think we were that close yet.

“…Dad.”

When I called him that, the man blinked and cleared his throat with another “ahem.”

Seeing the awkward atmosphere as an opportunity, Souta quickly bowed to the man.

“It was nice meeting you!”

Then he ran off into the distance.

The man and I blankly watched Souta’s retreating figure.

“…Dad.”

When I glared at the man again, he awkwardly smiled and scratched his head.

Letting out a small sigh, I turned toward the house.

Should I apologize tomorrow?

But it doesn’t seem like it was my fault.

As I was turning around while pondering this, I met eyes with Kagami.

Perhaps because it was time for me to come home, Kagami had come out early to wait.

Seeing the two of us, Kagami covered her mouth and laughed, her shoulders trembling.

“……”

It had been a while since I’d seen Kagami laugh like that, so the man and I stood side by side, blankly watching her for a moment.

“Mom.”

Seeing that Kagami had calmed down a bit, I called out to her as I approached.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome back.”

Kagami said, gently wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

The man also put away his somewhat fierce expression from earlier, which was a bit too intimidating to show to a child, and approached us.

There’s no particular conversation. We don’t talk much usually anyway.

A form that’s a bit different from others—

……

But for now, that was okay.