Ch.377IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (74)

“Hey, have you ever fought before?”

She’s probably not talking about fighting with people.

Actually, I’ve never fought with people anyway.

Ironically, while I’ve never fought with people, I have fought with a bear. If you can call that “fighting.”

I don’t remember it, but the bear disappeared without a trace. Since it was a bear that had bitten me, it wouldn’t have just suddenly let me go and vanished. I think it’s right to assume that I made it disappear.

Or if not me, perhaps that woman in my dream.

“…I probably have.”

“Probably, huh…”

Yuka repeated my words thoughtfully while scratching her head.

Then she looked me over once more and asked,

“Do you have a weapon?”

I shook my head. I don’t have a weapon. How could I have something like a weapon when I don’t even know what happened back then?

I know that Yuka carries a weapon. That long cloth bundle on the sofa over there is probably her weapon. Inside, there should be a Japanese sword wrapped up.

I think it was a sword whose name meant “nameless”…

“What were they thinking…”

Yuka muttered, then sighed deeply and plopped down on the sofa.

There’s only the two of us in this room. Mako’s father brought us here and then just went outside. I’m not sure if Yuka Yuuki requested him to do so or not.

This place I’m in is somewhere I’ve never seen before.

It’s nothing special, just a building that seems to be used as some kind of headquarters. From the outside, it was just the upper floor of an ordinary commercial building, and even this room had the atmosphere of a small company president’s office.

I don’t think a place like this appeared in the novel. Well, that makes sense since the setting was mainly a high school.

I felt various emotions as I faced Yuka Yuuki. She was the heroine of a novel I quite liked, after all.

If the person in front of me had been one of the other two characters, I probably wouldn’t have been as impressed. Of course, I would have felt something—but, how should I put it?

She was the character that left the strongest impression on me while reading the novel. Someone who acts like she dislikes things but ultimately does good deeds.

“…”

When I didn’t say anything, Yuka sighed deeply and rubbed her face.

She doesn’t seem to realize that she herself is still young. In the novel, it was mentioned that she had lived in that kind of world since childhood, so it makes sense.

“…How long have you been fighting?” I asked.

In the novel, it wasn’t described in much detail. There was no need to describe every little thing. The fact that she had been fighting from before was just background for her character.

But the girl sitting in front of me now is different.

Just as the background setting of Souta and Shii having troubled parents was literally reality in this world—Yuka Yuuki must have been a child who lost her mother to a yokai and continued fighting ever since.

A child who moved too often because of work, and therefore couldn’t make proper friends.

In the novel, this was just a setting that explained why she cared about people around her and why she never wanted to part with the protagonist, Souta. But here, each and every one of those things could truly be scars left from her childhood.

I’m neither a counselor nor a social worker, so I don’t know how to heal a child’s emotional wounds.

In this world, even I am just a child. Shii and Souta somehow overcame their issues with their unique personalities and efforts.

…No, thinking that way in the first place is probably arrogant.

“How much I’ve fought…”

At my question, Yuka thought for a moment and then said,

“I’ve never counted.”

“Alone?”

“…Not alone.”

I see. From her answer, it seems Yuka started acting independently in middle school. Until elementary school, she probably went around with her grandfather and father.

Even in the main novel set in high school, the two of them would appear together when things got too difficult. Basically, it was mostly Souta who fought alongside her.

Should I think that’s fortunate? To be honest, I’m not sure. She was just an elementary school student. Fighting yokai would have definitely involved bloodshed.

I don’t know the standards of this world. If people have been fighting since an age that was considered essentially adult long ago, though we now see them as children, then that’s a different story.

…Thinking about Kagami, who protected me with all her might despite knowing the situation, I still found it a bit difficult to fully accept this reality.

“W-well, it’s not a problem that I wasn’t alone, right? Despite how I look, I know how to handle a sword, and I’ve definitely taken care of yokai before.”

“I see.”

I nodded in agreement.

There’s no point in arguing about common sense in a place where common sense is twisted. I can’t change anything by myself.

I can only try my best in the given situation and somehow find a way out.

“…”

“…”

We both remained silent for a moment.

I’m not the type who’s always this quiet. I was like that when I first came here, during my early childhood, but I’ve already met kids like Harumi and Mako who actively talk to me, and while Shii and Souta aren’t quite like that, they’re not very quiet either.

If I didn’t make friends, Kagami would worry, so I learned how to approach other children first.

If we’re talking about popularity in class, I’m definitely on the popular side.

But… I don’t know what to say here. Although Yuka doesn’t seem to think it’s strange, her past is as dark as mine.

And I already knew that she had no friends her age.

I don’t want to pity her. At the very least, I don’t want it to seem like I’m pretending to be friendly out of pity. Like Shii and Souta did, and like Harumi, Yuu, and Mako did with me, I wanted to be casual friends with her.

“Hey, Kurosawa.”

Yuka called out to me as I was lost in thought.

“…Call me Kotone.”

“Huh?”

A somewhat surprised sound.

Even among the children around me, there are often those who are surprised when I tell them to call me Kotone right away. I know the reason. Unlike Korea, where there would be a lot of confusion within a class if people didn’t use first names, that’s not the case in Japan.

If you’re not close, use the last name. Even if you are close, add a title. Only after becoming really close do you call each other by first names or nicknames.

But the name “Kurosawa” is dangerous. I’m using an alias for now.

At the same time, I didn’t want to be called by that alias. Even if we met under a fake name, I wanted my friends to remember me as me.

So, I was Kotone. Even while changing my last name, I’ve always kept my first name the same.

That was probably possible thanks to Kagami’s consideration. She wanted me not to be too confused. And to be able to live with my identity as myself.

“Kotone.”

“…Kotone-san?”

“Kotone.”

“…Kotone.”

Yuka accepted my name extremely awkwardly. It must be her first time having this kind of conversation with someone her age, and I suddenly said something like this, so it must have been a bit confusing for her.

When you repeatedly experience brief meetings and partings without making friends, you eventually build walls around your heart. I almost did that too. If I hadn’t met Mako, I definitely would have.

But, well.

We seem like we’ll be seeing each other often for quite a while anyway. Getting closer probably wouldn’t matter much to Yuka.

“…Then, you can call me Yuka too.”

“Yuka.”

“…”

At my response, Yuka looked around with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Um…”

And with that same embarrassed attitude, Yuka slowly opened her mouth.

“That’s all for today.”

“All?”

“Yeah. Our work doesn’t happen every day anyway. Though the frequency has increased a bit lately.”

“I see.”

“So, yeah. I think you can go home now. You seem to know everything you need to know anyway.”

“Okay.”

But I didn’t get up from my seat. Yuka’s expression became even more awkward. As if continuing a long conversation was difficult.

Has she never been with someone who leads the conversation? I tilted my head.

“Then, do you want to go get something to eat?”

“Eat?”

“Anything. Drinks are fine, or cake.”

“Do people normally go eat with someone they just met?”

“Is that not okay?”

Both of us were flustered by the conversation.

Harumi had treated me like a doll from the moment she first saw me. And that’s how it was when making friends at school too. Even when meeting someone for the first time, we would go play nearby.

For a while, we just blinked at each other, staring blankly.

*

They’re definitely meeting for the first time.

Even though this Kotone Kurosawa must be visiting this place for the first time, she walked ahead so naturally, leading Yuka along.

As if she were used to talking with people she just met.

With fair skin, pretty, a gentle impression, and hair that seemed well-maintained by someone, shining with luster, she looked like a princess from an old tale. Even her steps were light and cheerful.

A child who had lived in a completely different world until now. No, rather, it was Yuka who had lived in the strange world.

“…”

She still couldn’t completely let go of her wariness. Although she called her by her first name as requested right away, there was still too much they didn’t know about each other.

Even so, how could she not harbor any caution at all? Yuka wondered.

“Is there anything you like?”

“Uh, what?”

She made a foolish sound.

The other girl just looked at Yuka quietly with her deep eyes.

Yuka felt a bit indignant.

“…Anything is fine.”

After grumbling that out, she felt a little embarrassed.

The other girl just smiled gently and walked ahead again.

What’s with her, really?

Yuka grumbled to herself as she trudged along behind.