Ch.367IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (64)

2000.

Actually, I don’t have very clear memories from when I was very young.

Having already lived in this world for 10 years, even those remaining memories were fading.

I only remembered that the first digit changing in a four-digit year was something you could see once in a lifetime—or rather, something that probably only our generation among all people had witnessed.

It remained such a fascinating event that I often remembered the early 2000s as “recent,” as if that time had never passed.

From the perspective of the mid-2020s, I understand intellectually that the year 2000 is to me what the 1980s were to my childhood self, but my heart can’t quite keep up.

Well, at least now it’s not such a “past” anymore.

How should I put it—it’s like an era of “cutting-edge” technology. Even though there’s still a year left before the 21st century arrives, it already feels like that time has come.

“……”

When April comes this year, I’ll enter my final year of elementary school.

When I was younger, becoming a middle school student seemed quite exciting and nice.

Now, I feel a bit strange about it.

I wanted to graduate from the same school as Harumi and Yuu.

I never thought about it much when hanging out with them. After all, if nothing unusual happened, we would have graduated from the same school and probably gone to the same middle school.

I don’t know what would have happened after that, but with luck, we might have even gone to the same high school. By then, we would have already become lifelong friends.

That opportunity has already been taken away. I can’t go back now. I could probably contact Mr. Yamashita if I tried, but that would be the extent of it.

That makes sense, since now that we’ve been caught by government people, we can’t just run around escaping wherever we want.

Still, I hadn’t thought about it much during the past half year, but with the new millennium approaching, I find myself overthinking things.

If I had attended the same high school as those two, where would I have gone to college? What major would I have chosen?

Would I have pursued the same career I had in my previous life? Or would I have developed different dreams? If I had developed different dreams, Harumi and Yuu would certainly have influenced them.

Mako probably wouldn’t have stayed at the same school with me until the end, but there could have been a future where she continued at that school.

Since it wasn’t too far from Tokyo, maybe Mako could have visited during vacations.

What would I have become if I had grown up there? Would I have been influenced by the relaxed countryside atmosphere and learned to live a more laid-back life? Could I have become someone who worked normally at some shop with Kagami?

All those possibilities were denied.

In the end, all that remained was an unstable future I could never predict.

“Mmm.”

I heard Shii rustling on the bed.

I sat up.

Shii was lying face down on the bed and turned her head toward me. She looked a bit sleepy, but Shii never slept in.

Being a child heavily influenced by manga and books, she must have been affected even by manga with lessons about the troubles of oversleeping.

When I got up, Shii also sat up on the bed.

“I’ll stay with Mom.”

“Okay…”

Shii answered with a small yawn.

I opened the door and listened carefully. The house wasn’t completely soundproof, but kitchen noises could be heard even from the second-floor hallway.

At a time when Kagami would normally be making breakfast with clattering sounds in the kitchen, there was no such noise.

I tiptoed carefully to Kagami’s room.

I opened the door carefully too, so as not to wake Kagami.

Entering the room, I found Kagami sleeping with even breaths.

It wasn’t a common occurrence, but it wasn’t entirely unusual either. The frequency had been decreasing as Kagami and I grew older.

When I was little… yes, Kagami was “really” young. She was almost the same age as I am now. So on days off, she really wanted to rest.

I still wonder how she managed not to get openly irritated or angry with me despite such difficult circumstances.

At those times, Kagami would just hold me tight as if having me was all she needed.

Today, Kagami wasn’t sleeping in because of work.

Last night, we stayed up until just past midnight. Since it was becoming the year 2000, we stayed awake until then to hear the bell toll, as Kagami suggested.

Of course, we took commemorative photos too. With Shii included.

With a slight smile on my face, I crawled into Kagami’s blanket.

I’m still a bit sleepy too. Although I woke up early by chance, it’s vacation anyway, so I can sleep a little more.

I slipped into Kagami’s arms as she lay on her side, and wrapped my arm around her waist.

“……”

When Kagami inhaled, and when she exhaled.

I could feel her body’s movements. I could feel her heartbeat and her warm body temperature.

Mom’s warmth.

Probably, after I grow up completely, even after I become independent, I’ll often miss this mother’s warmth.

…I should visit home often. That’s probably what will happen. Even in this uncertain future, that was the one thing I was sure of.

*

I’ve never seen Shii looking this happy before.

Well, signs of it were visible since Christmas. That sweater Kagami gave her must have been a very meaningful gift to Shii.

Perhaps in her memories, it was truly the first gift she had ever received.

I don’t know when Shii and Souta’s family fell apart. But it must have been broken since Shii was very young.

Does Shii still have memories of when happy moments started breaking down?

…I hoped not. That would be too terrible.

I hoped instead that her memories of escaping from that place and meeting us would remain much clearer. I hoped the moment when she could hope again would remain vivid.

“Will Shii be okay?” Kagami asked worriedly.

“She’ll probably be fine,” Dad answered.

“I can see them up ahead. She’s holding her brother’s hand tightly.”

I suppose that’s fortunate.

Souta’s father said he had to work today. Which means, conversely, that Souta has the entire day free.

He hadn’t rented a kimono like Shii, but he was still dressed up nicely, holding Shii’s hand as they stood in line ahead.

The reason our family and Souta and Shii were standing in separate lines was because we thought it might be troublesome if other children found out that our family was protecting Shii.

Everyone would scatter to different places once they became middle schoolers anyway, but there was no reason to make the last year unnecessarily difficult.

“……”

On the other hand, I was a bit worried.

Could we keep Shii with us forever? I was fine with it, and I thought Kagami and Dad were too—but circumstances can change anytime.

Especially since Shii and Souta’s situation was somewhat special.

I wanted to keep living nearby and look after them, but again, that was a future we couldn’t predict.

I just hoped nothing unfortunate would happen.

“……”

After staring at Souta’s back for a moment, something occurred to me and I looked up at Kagami.

Kagami was still looking somewhat worriedly toward Souta and Shii.

Hmm…

Well, you know.

Even in the original work, there weren’t that many heroines. Even though it was a harem story, it wasn’t the type of romance novel that focused heavily on that aspect.

But at the same time, it was also “a novel of that era.”

Even if characters named Kotone Kurosawa and Kagami Kurosawa didn’t appear in the novel, surprisingly, both of us fulfill all the conditions of being “heroines.”

I’m the same age as him and we met in elementary school, but Kagami is no slouch either.

I have no idea who my biological father is—but for whatever reason, single mothers were common heroine characters. Though they were rarely the main heroines.

Moreover, even though Dad is officially Kagami’s husband to the outside world, they never actually registered their marriage. Their relationship is very clean.

Isn’t that perfect for the heroine position?

Or am I the only one who thinks so? It would be better if that were the case.

“…Mom.”

I called out to Kagami.

“Yes?”

Kagami looked down at me as I held her hand tightly.

“…I don’t need a male sibling.”

“…Pardon?”

Kagami didn’t immediately understand what I meant and tilted her head. If this were a manga, her eyes would probably have become straight lines.

An incredibly innocent expression that truly said she didn’t understand what I meant.

I let out a small sigh. White breath came out of my mouth.

After shaking my head, I held Kagami’s hand a little tighter.

“No, just saying.”

“Kotone?”

Kagami tilted her head to the other side again, but I didn’t elaborate further.

Dad looked down at me with a subtle smile, so I slapped his arm.

…Well, his clothes were thick, so it just made a light tapping sound.