Ch.362IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (59)

I felt a bit anxious for some reason.

It wasn’t simply because I was left alone at home.

I’ve never been abused in my previous life or this one. If anything, Kagami raised me with excessive doting, treating me so preciously that it almost seemed too much.

I’m not sure if that was entirely right. Maybe things would have been different if I had fought badly with other children or caused trouble everywhere. Well, at least she wasn’t a “strict mother” in front of me.

Now Kagami has been an adult for some time, but when I was young, she was still far too young to be considered an adult herself.

In just a few years, I’ll be around the same age Kagami was then, so I can somewhat imagine how young she was when she had me.

…Usually, parents who aren’t adults themselves often struggle to raise children properly. That’s unavoidable.

Kagami and I were just a very unusual case.

I wonder if that child named Shii was the same?

There are many reasons houses catch fire. Sometimes children left alone play with fire, or sometimes fires start when children try to do something in a house without parents.

A colleague who works as a paramedic once told me about performing CPR on a child whose abdomen was inflated like a balloon from some severe impact. They also said they once transported a child who hadn’t eaten anything for days.

Was Shii like that too?

Maybe I’m feeling anxious because I’m overlapping that child with those children. Somehow, I don’t think that child’s father is someone capable of normal thinking.

I looked at the clock.

About 10 minutes had passed.

There was still no sign of Kagami and Dad returning. It would take about 5 minutes to get to that house, so it wasn’t strange, but still.

I could have done something else to pass the time, but I couldn’t bring myself to.

I still don’t understand why I’m anxious. Is it because this child might have had a past similar to what mine could have been? Perhaps because I could have been in that child’s position? If I hadn’t been lucky enough to have Kagami as my mother, I surely would have—

Shii.

Suddenly, that name flashed in my mind.

Why was that? When I first heard the name earlier, the situation was so intense that I didn’t notice this feeling passing through me, but looking back, I felt a strange sense of discomfort with that name.

This feeling was like when I first heard Souta introduce himself.

“……”

A memory of knowing something from long ago.

But the puzzle piece couldn’t even take proper shape in my mind, so I couldn’t fit it into my memories. Had I met those two people when I was young? I did live in Tokyo when I was little. I barely remember the names of kindergarten friends unless we were really close.

But why did I specifically react to the name Shii? I don’t understand.

I just felt more anxious. Looking at the clock, only 7 minutes had just passed.

“…Yeah.”

I nodded to myself.

It’s fine.

They must be nearby anyway. I didn’t even hear the car leaving.

I thought it would be okay to go out briefly and walk around the neighborhood a bit. Just to check from a distance if Kagami and Dad were doing alright.

I hadn’t changed my clothes anyway. There was a little blood on my pants, but they were already dark-colored so it wasn’t very noticeable.

I opened the door and went outside.

I always carry my keys just in case. I took them out of my pocket, locked the door, and headed to the street, looking around for no particular reason.

And with inexplicably cautious steps, I headed in the direction Shii had gone.

*

Bad luck.

Yes. Souta was staying after school to play with his friends.

I was a girl—well, that wasn’t really important, but I simply had no interest in joining ball games, so I just went home.

Usually, we didn’t show that we were very close at school. We both knew it would develop into something very troublesome.

We were gradually moving past the age where boys tease and bully girls, or girls openly show their dislike for boys, but we weren’t completely past that strange awkwardness yet.

I didn’t feel that awkwardness myself, but I knew the kids around me did. I wasn’t sure what emotions Souta felt.

“Kotone.”

When I heard someone calling me from behind, I couldn’t help but flinch in surprise.

“Souta.”

When I turned around, Souta was holding a soccer ball. Did he bring it to school? There should be balls at school too.

Well, he’s a boy. If he bought an expensive soccer ball, he might want to show it off to his friends.

No, more importantly.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ah….”

I belatedly realized that the path Shii had taken wasn’t very different from the one Souta usually took.

I was so anxious that I hadn’t thought about running into a friend on the street.

But I couldn’t tell Souta about Shii either. That was—

“……”

Wait.

Hold on.

Did I ever hear Shii’s family name?

“Kotone?”

Souta approached me and asked when I had a blank expression.

Come to think of it, what did Shii say?

She said she was going to meet her brother.

And Souta had told me before that he had a younger sister. There seemed to be some story behind it, so I hadn’t asked too deeply.

Am I jumping to conclusions?

Am I just forcibly connecting Souta and Shii in my mind? Was this something that would upset him if he heard?

“Kotone.”

“Ah, yes.”

Only after Souta called me once more was I finally able to answer.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Is that why you’re outside?”

“Um… no, it’s not that.”

What should I say?

My instinct was telling me to quickly take Souta in a different direction.

I didn’t know if Souta was really Shii’s brother, but just the possibility made me realize that Souta would be greatly shocked if he saw Shii.

But—how?

Our house was empty. But taking Souta to our house would be…

No, that’s not it.

Rather, because of that, maybe I should do exactly that?

“Souta, perhaps.”

“Yes?”

Had I opened my mouth with too serious an expression?

Souta responded with a slightly confused look. But it still seemed okay for now. My expression wasn’t that serious—

However, before I could continue, a voice rang out loudly through the quiet residential area. Unfortunately, it was midday without a single car passing by, so the voice carried extremely well.

All the way to where we were standing.

“What are you doing here!?”

It was a voice I’d never heard before.

It was different from when Dad shouted. If Dad’s voice was thoroughly trained to deliberately scrape at the other person’s emotions, this voice, in contrast, was one that truly couldn’t contain its emotions.

But I was much more frightened by the voice that followed than by that one.

“…Dad?”

Souta murmured, looking in the direction of the sound.

His words sent chills down my spine.

I finally understood the source of the discomfort in my mind. Who that girl named Shii was.

Shii was Souta’s sister.

And—

Souta started running. Without even paying attention to me standing right beside him. Thump, thump, the soccer ball he was holding bounced on the ground, and I instinctively bent down to pick it up.

“Souta!”

I shouted a bit late and followed after him.

When I called his name, that strange sense of discomfort revived.

The same kind of discomfort I felt when I first called Souta’s name.

That discomfort I had forgotten during all the time I’d been meeting and talking with Souta. The discomfort I felt when I first heard the name Shii.

But I still couldn’t be certain about the true nature of that discomfort.

Was it related to memories of this world I had entered? Had my previous life self actually remembered something?

I wasn’t sure.

More importantly, there was something I needed to do now.

I didn’t know what or how—

“Souta!”

I ran hard while shouting Souta’s name loudly. Somehow, I was still holding onto the soccer ball.

Souta was running ahead, and beyond him, I could see something.

A house that seemed a bit larger than ours, something between a mansion and a regular house.

And standing in front of that house, a man slightly smaller than Dad.

That man, his face flushed red with anger, shouted:

“Didn’t you agree to live with your mother! That woman you resemble!”

“……”

“Father!”

Souta shouted.

The man’s gaze turned toward Souta.

Ah.

So it was true.

Shii really was…

Kagami, who had turned to look in our direction a bit late, showed a surprised expression when our eyes met.

Kagami had her hands on both of Shii’s shoulders.

Shii, despite hearing such things from her father, was looking toward Souta.

“Brother…!”

Shii cried out.

And shaking off Kagami’s hands, she ran toward Souta, stumbling as if about to fall.

Souta caught her and held her.

And embraced her tightly.

“……”

The adults around us. And me, panting for breath.

We all froze, unable to say anything at the sight.