Ch.378IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (75)

Looking back at my somewhat hazy memories, the Yuka sitting before me seemed even stiffer than the Yuka from the novel.

Even though she hadn’t properly made friends and had lived a life quite distant from the ordinary, Yuka Yuuki in the novel was fundamentally sociable.

She was polite to adults and would properly respond when others spoke to her.

At first, she did appear somewhat detached from her surroundings, as if she herself didn’t expect to become close with others, but she gradually showed signs of adapting as she continued at the same high school.

Later on, while she never became completely popular enough to lead the entire class, she did become an ordinary high school student who was admired by some and enjoyed conversations with others.

Among them, the person she talked with the most was, of course, Souta.

“……”

But the Yuka who now wore a strange expression while looking at the ice cream in front of her had a somewhat different impression from the Yuka in the novel.

First of all, she was younger.

This is obvious if you think about it. Both Yuka and I were elementary school students just a few months ago. No matter how much an elementary school student grows taller and develops physically, it’s difficult to completely hide that youthful atmosphere visible on their face. There might be cases where someone looks older than they are, but at least Yuka isn’t like that.

Her face is full of wariness.

Sitting across from Yuka, I sorted through my thoughts and finally pulled out something worth saying.

“Have you heard anything about me?”

“Heard what?”

“…Um.”

Now that I’ve asked and received a question in return, I’m not sure what to say.

Right.

What could Yuka have heard about me? My name?

I’m not sure how much the government knows about me and Kagami. Maybe they know more about me than I know about myself. At the very least, they probably know about my background.

“…I’ve heard about your family. Just the name, though, from what my grandfather mentioned.”

“Really?”

I became a bit interested.

The character Kotone Kurosawa didn’t appear in the novel. But the fact that she could be mentioned as part of the background might mean that I existed within the novel’s world too.

…No, thinking about it again, this might just be because this world is its own reality. Just as a novel can’t show every single action of a character day by day, I might be one of those nameless “other exorcists” or from an “exorcist family” that was briefly mentioned in the background setting.

“I don’t know the details.”

Yuka answered immediately as soon as I showed an interested expression. As if she was reluctant to have me ask.

“I’ve just heard the name, that’s all. And even that was only a few days before I was introduced to you, not something I knew from before.”

A few days before today means Yuka really doesn’t know anything.

Well, thanks to that, I can form a few hypotheses.

It’s a bit ambiguous to say this world is “inside a light novel.” A novel is just a sequence of text, and it has ridiculously insufficient data to create a world on its own.

Rather, it would be more appropriate to assume that a novel is a collection of “descriptions of parts of some world.”

So, this world is “light novel-like” in that sense.

If we expand the meaning and think about it that way, we can assume that “light novel-like” things are happening outside the common knowledge of Souta, Shii, and Yuka.

Since the novel also features exorcists in nun outfits slashing yokai, it wouldn’t be strange if there were others experiencing things that light novel protagonists or heroines would typically go through, even if they aren’t Souta or Shii.

A girl opposing her family’s decision and running away with her daughter or much younger sister wouldn’t be out of place as the introduction to a light novel, would it?

That doesn’t mean Souta’s importance is diminished. The “future” I know only relates to Souta.

“……”

“What is it?”

Yuka asked as I was deep in thought.

“Nothing. I don’t know much about myself either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

After saying that, I took a spoonful of the ice cream that had started to melt. Yuka also looked at me with a somewhat perplexed expression before eating her own ice cream.

“Will we be meeting often from now on?”

“…Yeah, I guess.”

Yuka answered my question.

Mako’s father didn’t seem to have any intention of transferring me to another school. I’m not sure what rules yokai follow or where they appear… but honestly, if something happens within Tokyo, there’s probably no need to transfer schools, right?

Or maybe Yuka needs to stay undercover for a long time in the process of catching that yokai. The novel said she could instinctively sense when yokai were nearby.

“Then, it would be good if we became friends.”

“…Friends?”

Yuka stopped eating her ice cream and looked at me.

Her expression showed she hadn’t expected to hear such a thing at all.

“……”

I hesitated for a moment.

Although I felt a strange internal familiarity because she was a heroine from the novel, we were still meeting for the first time today.

So sharing my personal story might not be the wisest choice. I don’t think Yuka would use my information for anything, but it could make the listener uncomfortable.

After a very brief consideration, I decided to just say it.

If the government arranged for us to meet, we probably won’t voluntarily separate from each other anyway. Yuka isn’t the type to be that irresponsible.

So a few slips of the tongue should be fine.

“I’ve transferred schools about twice since childhood.”

Yuka’s eyes blinked.

I’m not sure if that was a positive signal or not, but I went ahead and finished what I wanted to say.

“It wasn’t because I wanted to. Each time, my friends changed too.”

It’s not a situation where one is better than the other, but in my case, I’m hesitant to contact them freely. I do intend to go back and meet them someday, and the high school I’m aiming for is in that area, so there’s a possibility we might meet again.

In Mako’s case, I’m conscious of her father’s feelings, and with the other kids… I was a bit scared of how they would react if I suddenly contacted them after years of no communication.

“It’s tiring when your friends change every time you change schools. So… I thought it would be nice to have at least one friend who doesn’t worry about that.”

After finishing, I felt a bit of regret.

Even so, I’m not the type of person to say such things. Although I’ve been recently becoming popular in class by imitating Harumi, this doesn’t match my true nature.

“……”

Yuka stared at me with her mouth agape. The spoon precariously balanced in her hand looked like it might fall at any moment.

“If you don’t like the idea, that’s fine too.”

I hastily added.

Right. I haven’t even heard Yuka’s story yet. I don’t know what she’s thinking or what emotions she’s feeling.

All I know is what I read in the book.

Did I cross the line too much?

But my worry didn’t last long.

“…W-well, that remains to be seen.”

Yuka said, rolling her eyes around.

“You’re saying this when we’ve just met?”

Hearing that, I laughed briefly.

“Friends are made just because they sit next to each other, after all.”

That’s how it was with Harumi and me. Just because we were in the same kindergarten, same class, she would drag me around when I was trying to sit in a corner and not mix with the other kids.

She showed me magical girl cartoons when I wasn’t showing much interest, sang the opening songs with me, and even gave me toys as gifts.

Yuu was the same. Harumi pulled the shy Yuu to her side as well.

Simply because we were there, Harumi, Yuu, and I became inseparable friends for years.

Mako was just sitting next to me, but at some point, it became natural for us to visit each other’s homes. We even went camping with our families in less than two years, so that says it all.

So, um…

Well, becoming friends because you’re colleagues should be possible too, right?

I’m not sure if we can call ourselves that yet, though.

“……”

Yuka opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then closed it.

It seems she was trying to find something to refute but couldn’t in the end.

She must have felt this several times by now. There must have been kids who approached her every time she transferred, and some of them must have been compatible with her.

But in the end, they all parted ways.

“…Do you understand? We might have to fight.”

“I know.”

“We might have to risk our lives, you know?”

“That’s why it would be good if we could trust each other.”

At my words, Yuka once again had a blank expression.

…Um, did I go too far again?

In fact, if you think about it, neither Yuka nor I are in a particularly positive situation. Kagami even despaired after hearing my story.

But that’s not a reason to give up on everything, I thought.

If Kagami had given up on me midway, would I be here now?

I’m just struggling, hoping to be happy even after everything is over.

As I started eating my ice cream again, Yuka also lowered her head.

Although I had spoken, I somehow felt embarrassed, and in the end, neither of us said another word until we left the café.