Ch.364IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (61)

After bringing her along, we realized we had no idea how to actually deal with Shii.

Dad had the most awkward expression of all.

Though he’d been doing an excellent job as the head of our pseudo-family, with both Kagami and I relying on him in our own ways, we were still just pretending to be a family.

None of us had ever forcibly crossed the implicit boundaries we’d established. Dad never inserted himself between Kagami and me, and neither Kagami nor I interfered in Dad’s more personal matters.

Dad maintained a comfortable demeanor, like a guest in our home. Rather than deliberately acting that way, it seemed he’d simply adapted completely and naturally fell into the role.

Sometimes he would leisurely read books on Go strategies—perhaps he had someone at work to play with?

…I’ve gone off on a tangent, but anyway, our “household” was unusual in many ways, so I wasn’t sure if Shii could adapt. We didn’t even know if we’d keep her with us long-term.

Me, Kagami, Shii—all women. If anything happened in this house, Dad would be the most uncomfortable person of all.

“…”

Indeed, after bringing Shii into the house, Dad stood at a distance with an expression that clearly showed he had no idea what to do.

“Shii-chan.”

Shii had followed Souta’s instructions and come to our house, but she wasn’t approaching us. Though she wasn’t completely rejecting us either.

Kagami looked at Dad and me, thought for a moment, then said:

“First, shall we get you cleaned up a bit?”

Shii stared blankly up at Kagami.

Now that I looked more carefully, her hair was matted. Though we’d wiped her face, arms, and legs somewhat with wet wipes, she still had grime on her, and her fingernails were jagged like saw blades. How many times had she bitten them?

Somehow, I felt it wasn’t simply from anxiety. Rather, it seemed like she’d been hungry with nothing to eat.

“…”

When I came to my senses, I realized I was standing next to Dad. Though I agreed with letting Shii into our home and protecting her, I had no idea how to actually interact with her.

Kagami took Shii to get cleaned up, and I quickly went to my room to get some clothes.

*

Though extremely thin, Shii was a pretty child. Looking at her now, she seemed to resemble Souta a little.

We had dinner earlier than usual. When Shii saw the food placed before her, her eyes widened, and she stuffed it into her mouth so eagerly that she choked several times.

It was the behavior of someone who hadn’t seen food in a long time.

What kind of meals had she been having?

How had she managed to survive?

If I had been in her situation, I definitely wouldn’t have made it.

Dad stared blankly at Shii throughout the meal, then briefly went outside after we finished eating.

“…”

While Kagami was clattering around doing the dishes, I sat somewhat awkwardly with Shii in the living room.

Perhaps because she’d eaten and her stomach was full, Shii seemed a bit less guarded. She hadn’t completely let her guard down, but she seemed to realize that we had no intention of hitting her, at least for now.

My clothes that Shii was wearing looked slightly big on her, but they fit well enough.

Our living room was completely floor-seating style with no sofa. We sat at an awkward distance from each other with the table between us.

Hmm.

I picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

I flipped through channels looking for what I usually watched. There should definitely be cartoons on at this time.

Once I found a cartoon, Shii’s eyes became fixed on the TV. She watched with her mouth hanging open.

Stories of child abuse are all too easy to find even without specifically looking for them. When a major incident occurs, it inevitably makes the news and gets posted as articles and posts on all kinds of internet sites.

When a child starts being abused in a home controlled by adults, there’s nothing they can do. They can’t leisurely watch cartoons on TV, enjoy ice cream in summer, or lounge in a kotatsu in winter.

Without Shii telling us herself, we couldn’t know what kind of life she’d led, but judging from the bruises on her body, it was clear her life had been anything but smooth.

Still, watching TV with her mouth agape, she looked somewhat like a child her age should.

I held the remote by its end and passed it to Shii, making sure our hands wouldn’t touch. Shii flinched when she noticed the remote in her peripheral vision and raised her hands above her head, but seeing that I was just holding it out, she slowly lowered her hands.

Blinking, she looked at me and then took the remote.

“This is for changing channels.”

I pressed the arrow button on the remote. The channel went up one, then back down one. Shii blinked and then followed my example, changing channels back and forth.

After some wandering, she returned to a channel showing animation.

Shii watching TV with her mouth open seemed more relaxed, which was a relief.

As we were spending time like this…

Ding-dong, the doorbell rang.

Bang. Bang.

And immediately after, the sound of someone pounding on the door.

Shii, who hadn’t reacted to the doorbell, hunched her shoulders at the loud banging.

As I was getting up,

“Kotone.”

Kagami approached and said. She must have left the dishes halfway done, as she was still wearing her apron.

“It’s okay. Stay seated.”

Kagami’s expression suggested she knew who was at the door.

[Shii!]

A woman’s shrill voice came from outside.

Shii’s shoulders hunched even more.

Kagami went toward the entrance with a somewhat tense expression.

What should I do?

Should I go after Kagami with Shii right here? I thought maybe it would be okay to leave her alone briefly, but seeing Shii’s condition, I didn’t have the courage to leave her by herself.

The entrance door opened, and I could hear sounds. Kagami and a woman were having some kind of conversation. Kagami spoke calmly and steadily, but the woman, who started speaking normally, gradually raised her voice.

“I’m telling you, she’s my daughter!”

She shouted loudly.

Perhaps she’d heard about this from Souta’s father.

“…”

Kagami seemed to be considering how to respond to that.

Kagami is also a mother.

My mother.

That’s probably why she was thinking carefully about her answer.

There was a very small chance this could be a misunderstanding.

Even if it wasn’t a misunderstanding, maybe the woman wasn’t at fault.

Various factors could be involved. Kagami must have thought that if she hadn’t run away and had raised me, I might have suffered too.

Might there be genuine love? That’s surely what Kagami would think.

But that didn’t make the situation any better.

The next voice I heard was a man’s.

“Hey, lady—”

He tried to interject something, but his words were cut off.

I jumped to my feet without realizing it.

I was about to rush to the entrance, but I paused briefly to look at Shii, who was still in the corner.

Shii had her eyes tightly shut and her hands over her ears, as if she couldn’t bear to hear the voice of the person claiming to be her mother.

“St-stay here. Don’t go anywhere, okay? Right here.”

I said with a trembling voice and ran toward the entrance.

Thud.

I closed the living room door as I left. I didn’t want Shii to hear this conversation.

“Kotone?”

Kagami said with some surprise, but I was already standing in front of her.

“Huh.”

The man who had tried to interject earlier looked down at me and laughed.

“Mother and daughter look quite alike. Lady… well, you seem too young for that. Anyway, don’t meddle in other people’s business. You might end up with strange accusations. Misunderstandings.”

The man looked me up and down, then glanced at Kagami with a sneering smile.

“You should think about your daughter. Both mother and daughter—”

“Both mother and daughter, what?”

A deep voice interrupted.

The man blinked once and turned around.

It was Dad. He was holding a plastic bag full of snacks with a convenience store logo prominently displayed.

The man blinked again.

“Hey, mister.”

Dad said in his deep voice as he slowly approached.

The man unconsciously stepped aside from the entrance.

Dad came up to me and stood facing the man.

“Continue what you were saying. What were you about to say?”

“…”

The man looked at Dad with a somewhat confused expression.

Perhaps with a thug’s intuition, he seemed to sense that Dad’s occupation wasn’t entirely ordinary.

“…Well now.”

The thug raised both hands and said.

“I’m not here to cause trouble. I just want to get my daughter back. I heard she’s in this house. I don’t know if that’s true, but—she might have been kidnapped, don’t you think?”

“Kidnapped.”

A vein popped out on Dad’s temple. Hmm, Dad seems to be getting angry quite frequently today. Usually this kind of thing doesn’t happen even once a year.

“Then what you did was child abuse, right? No, it definitely was.”

Dad said.

“…In this situation, aren’t you at a disadvantage?”

“Maybe.”

Dad stared at the man expressionlessly and said.

“Maybe not.”

That statement was the kind the other party couldn’t understand.

We have people watching our backs.

With Dad here, Yamashita-san would somehow be receiving reports. Where we live, what kind of trouble we’ve gotten into. Though we’re under government surveillance, that’s always the case for yakuza.

Additionally, there were others “protecting” us… mainly because of my usefulness.

But even without that, the man seemed to interpret Dad’s words in his own way.

Dad said to the man who was frowning:

“Hey, mister. Wouldn’t it be troublesome for you if we called the police? You have the face of someone who might have done other things besides child abuse. I used to work in a field where I got good at recognizing such people.”

That wasn’t a lie.

But without mentioning he was yakuza, it sounded like he might have been a detective in the violent crimes division.

“…”

The man’s expression turned grim, but he didn’t lunge at us.

Dad briefly looked behind him, as if checking something. Then he looked forward again.

“You don’t seem to have any backing, so why make things difficult for each other?”

Dad said that, then hunched his body slightly.

And quietly, in a whisper, with an expression like a large predator eyeing its prey, he said:

“You didn’t want to raise the kid anyway, right?”

The man’s expression became subtle. Rather than angry, he seemed to be trying to gauge what Dad was saying.

Kagami finally made up her mind and spoke.

“Even if Shii stays here, I don’t think there would be any problem with you receiving child support. …Since that person seems to care about appearances.”

Kagami also spoke very quietly, almost in a whisper.

The man and woman blinked as if they’d realized something.

*

“…I don’t think there will be any major problems.”

Dad said quietly to Kagami.

“Someone was definitely watching this situation.”

“Yes, I know.”

Kagami, for her part, didn’t look intimidated at all. Both of them spoke like people who weren’t living ordinary lives.

…I’m not sure if that’s something to be proud of. Somehow we’re like a family from an exaggerated Japanese comedy drama. Or maybe a gag manga.

“…Will it be okay? For Shii to stay here.”

“I’m here too, and I don’t share a drop of blood with any of you.”

Dad looked in my direction.

His expression seemed to be seeking my agreement.

“…”

Without saying anything, I went to the living room.

Shii was trembling in the corner.

Seeing her like that, who wouldn’t want to protect her?

Besides, I was still curious about Shii’s name.

Could it be a clue about the world I’m in? …I thought I should check this out.