Ch.39Chapter 6. Solitude (3)

When walking to high school with a female classmate, it might feel like a beautiful page from youth, but unfortunately, that’s a story only suited for high school students living ordinary lives.

It’s already mentally exhausting that the father of the girl walking to school with me is a yakuza boss, but how would it feel to hear that this yakuza father plans to marry a woman only three years older than his daughter?

Moreover, she doesn’t have normal hobbies like watching dramas, variety shows, or enjoying movies like other kids.

From my observations over the past two days, Yamashita seems to enjoy spacing out the most.

To be honest, isn’t she the person with the biggest gap between appearance and inner self among everyone I’ve met in this world?

Of course, I can’t claim to “know them deeply” since I haven’t known Fukuda or Miura for very long either.

But you know how it is. The same behavior looks different once you know the person.

Miura would still appear kind regardless of whatever reason shaped her personality. Fukuda would still seem cheerful even after knowing why she became that way.

Yamashita doesn’t look much different on the surface either. Silent and cold, but pretty—the word “cool beauty” suits her perfectly.

But I argue that even among expressionless characters, there’s about a parsec of distance between being “aloof” and being “from another dimension.”

In my view, Yamashita was closer to being from another dimension than being aloof.

Though Yamashita was quite popular in class, most students probably mistook her “other-dimensional” quality for “aloofness.”

Well, anyway.

After Yuuki came to our house with shabu-shabu ingredients on Monday—though we helped with the shopping too—she seems to have concluded that there’s nothing particularly wrong with Yamashita’s character.

Perhaps she thought there wouldn’t be any problems since they’re both quiet girls.

Since then, Yuuki has greeted us cheerfully whenever we met in the literature club and hasn’t looked at Yamashita with suspicious eyes.

After seeing Yamashita on Tuesday and Wednesday consecutively, Ikeda also seemed to have tentatively concluded that she was a harmless creature, as she didn’t appear uncomfortable with Yamashita in the same space.

Yamashita even took out books during those two days!

She would read the first three pages and then close them, but that’s something at least. She did seem to read poetry collections quite well.

Well, things were fairly good until Wednesday.

Yamashita didn’t complain much even though we had curry every evening. She would silently watch whatever was on TV, stare blankly at the ceiling lost in thought, or look at her phone.

Oh, her phone arrived later in a package. Mr. Yamashita apparently wanted to maintain a means of contact with his daughter.

A thoroughly harmless creature as long as you don’t provoke her first. My conclusion was almost identical to Ikeda’s.

However, today, Thursday, I had one concern.

So during the hour-long train ride to school, squeezed among people, I told Yamashita several times:

“I have work today.”

“…Yeah.”

“I’ll be coming home quite late, so you’ll have to go back alone. Is that okay?”

“Got it.”

Yamashita answered with her usual voice that seemed neither interested nor disinterested.

“I’ll give you the key—”

“Kurosawa.”

When I emphasized it again and again, Yamashita looked at me with a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows.

She seemed very uncomfortable being squeezed among people.

“I already said I understand.”

“Oh, right.”

I replied and kept my mouth shut.

That’s a bit scary.

If I still had my body from my previous life, I probably wouldn’t have found it so frightening. I used to be strong and fit enough to carry an adult man on my back up and down stairs.

But thinking about it, if I still had that body, we wouldn’t be sharing a room in the first place.

…Actually, we wouldn’t even be at the same school. I was an adult after all.

Yamashita, squeezed among people, still seemed to have trouble adapting to the morning rush hour train. She had an irritated expression the whole time.

Well, that’s understandable.

Nobody can really adapt to this. Everyone here is probably struggling to adapt.

*

Even though I’d only missed work for four days, I really didn’t want to go.

But thinking about it, four days is actually quite long. I hadn’t often taken such long breaks even when I was working.

Anyway, since it was a workday, I didn’t go up for club activities today.

I wondered if Yamashita might head to the literature club alone, but she didn’t seem interested in going there.

Well, I understand.

She probably feels awkward waiting alone at home when I’m heading back, so she’s just killing time with me before returning. It’s really awkward to be alone in someone else’s house without the owner. You don’t know what you can and can’t touch. It’s no different from visiting a friend’s house and having them leave you alone for a while.

And some people would get angry if you touched anything.

So it’s not that strange that she’s following me to the subway.

But…

“Meow, meow.”

I heard a cat crying again today.

“Were you hungry? Here you go.”

I could hear the sound of a can being opened and the voice of a girl who seemed a bit younger than us.

When I headed toward the sound, Yamashita tilted her head curiously.

“Ah, senior!”

Shii, who must have been working alone last week, smiled brightly and jumped up from her seat when she saw me.

“Hiss!”

“Ah, sorry.”

The cat bristled in surprise when Shii suddenly stood up. Shii apologized to the cat, then crouched down and stroked the back of the cat that was enjoying its canned tuna.

“…A cat?”

I heard Yamashita mutter.

I approached Shii and crouched down. The cat didn’t shy away from me like last time.

I often met Shii and went to work together. The cat seemed to have completely familiarized itself with my face, as it didn’t fear me when I touched it.

Well, even the first time, it bristled but didn’t run away. It’s a brave one.

“Um… who is that?”

As Yamashita approached and crouched down beside Shii and me, Shii asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

That’s natural. Yamashita looked like quite a glamorous high school girl on the outside.

“She’s a friend from my class.”

“Yuu Yamashita.”

“Ah, I’m Shii Sasaki.”

When Yamashita introduced herself, Shii responded, seeming a bit flustered.

The three of us watched the cat eat for a moment.

“Does this one have a name?”

Yamashita asked.

“Not yet.”

“I see.”

Yamashita stared intently at the cat as she spoke. Did she like it?

Well, it’s hard not to like it. It’s a cute kitten after all. It would look purely adorable until it starts using my flower bed as a toilet or scratches my arm.

…Though I’m sure it’s doing those things somewhere we can’t see.

“Kuro.”

“Yes?”

“Since it’s black, how about Kuro (black)?”

“…”

Shii and I stared at Yamashita for a while.

Oh, so she’s naming the cat now?

Black, so Kuro… It’s intuitive, but somehow it bothers me since it’s part of my name too. Fortunately, no one calls me by the nickname “Kuro” yet.

“Kuro… Kuro sounds good!”

Shii’s face brightened at Yamashita’s suggestion.

Wait, why isn’t she wary of Yamashita?

Wasn’t she very cautious when she first met me? …No, thinking about it, Shii Sasaki was a very friendly character.

A character who easily approaches and befriends others unless they seem to like her “big brother”—a character with maxed-out sociability.

It was a trait common to heroines with good survival skills in those days. Like being friends with the neighborhood fruit shop lady and getting free fruit, or being close to the bakery sister and receiving freshly baked bread for free, or having the butcher give an extra piece of meat for free… that kind of character.

She would be watching all the women around her brother, so she could easily deduce that Yuu Yamashita wasn’t close to her brother. Plus, if she’s in my class, she’s in a different class from Souta Sasaki, and I told her last time that I’m not particularly close with Souta Sasaki.

“What do you think? Kuro, is that okay?”

…

That…

No, it’s fine.

My name is “Kurosawa,” not “Kuro.”

“Can I touch it?”

“Ah, yes, that’s fine. It’s not really my pet anyway.”

Shii moved her hand away, and Yamashita placed her hand on Kuro’s head.

There was no hissing.

“…”

Kuro accepted Yamashita’s hand quite naturally. More precisely, it was too focused on eating to care about someone touching its head or back.

Why didn’t it do that with me…?

A slight dissatisfaction rose in my chest, but I couldn’t bring myself to voice it.

*

“…Yamashita, do you have business in Akihabara?”

“No.”

If not, then why?

Yamashita continued to follow us and boarded the same subway heading in the same direction.

Up to that point, I just went with it. Yamashita is a high school student. If she had somewhere to go on her own, I had no reason to stop her.

Even getting off at Akihabara, well, if she wanted to buy something, I wasn’t going to interfere. Akihabara is the most convenient place to get electronics after all.

But it was only when I saw her following us to our workplace that I realized Yamashita had simply followed us without any particular purpose.

“Um… we’re going to work here now.”

“I know.”

Hmm…

“I have money.”

Yamashita said, showing her wallet.

Shii and I looked at each other.

So, Yamashita is saying she wants to be a customer at this café.

…The manager will be pleased that I brought a customer.

*

“Hey, Kurosawa.”

“Yes.”

The manager called me over, looking at Yamashita who had been sitting for two hours.

“It’s good that you brought a customer, but our place doesn’t have a designation system, you know? It’s just a café, a café. Just waitresses in maid costumes. You don’t get a bonus if someone spends a lot of money.”

How strict.

Yamashita hadn’t been sitting for two hours without ordering anything.

She had eaten various things. Mostly coffee, and also cake and bread.

It might be difficult to apply the same standards to mid-2000s Japan, but I think in a café in the middle of Seoul, sitting for about an hour with one drink wouldn’t be a problem for the café’s sales.

And by that standard, with the money Yamashita had already spent, she could sit until my shift ended.

“Your friend isn’t misunderstanding anything, right?”

The manager asked with a somewhat concerned expression.

Actually, quite a few people sit in this café for a long time. It seems to have gained a reputation as a café with pretty maids, so sometimes male customers come alone, and couples come to chat for a long time.

But this was the first time a high school girl had come alone and sat like that.

Yamashita’s demeanor—sitting while looking at her phone with a bored expression, occasionally taking small bites of cake with her fork—made her seem difficult to approach.

“I don’t think so…”

Yamashita probably just didn’t want to go home alone and was waiting for me. Well, this is one way to wait. I don’t think Yamashita is the type to enjoy games at an arcade.

“Then it’s fine.”

The manager still looked a bit uneasy.

*

But it felt a bit awkward to ask Yamashita, “Were you waiting for me?”

Somehow, I didn’t think she would give a straightforward answer.

“That was fun.”

Yamashita said with a slightly satisfied expression.

That’s right.

I had to call Yamashita “miss” whenever she ordered something. That’s the café rule.

“The maid outfit was cute.”

I suppose it is cute. Kotone Kurosawa’s body is the epitome of a beautiful girl.

Of course, my feelings were quite complicated.

I understand that my appearance is cute. In fact, that’s why wearing a school uniform or maid outfit wasn’t that embarrassing. I didn’t have the self-awareness that “it doesn’t suit this body.”

But it felt a bit strange when others called me cute.

“Senior, shall we go for ramen today too?”

“Ramen?”

Yamashita reacted to Shii’s words.

Ah, that’s right.

After work, eating a bowl of ramen with Shii was almost a set routine. I had completely forgotten because I took a full break from work last week.

…

But thinking about it, if I go eat ramen with Shii, Yamashita will just be waiting alone.

Of course, by the time I arrive home, dinner time will have long passed, so Yamashita would have eaten, but it would probably be instant cup noodles rather than proper ramen.

Yamashita stared at me, and I cleared my throat unnecessarily.

“Let’s all go together. …I’ll pay.”

“…No.”

Yamashita replied to my offer.

“I’ll pay.”

“Ah…”

Shii looked momentarily confused, but Yamashita added, as if not allowing any objection:

“I have money. Plenty.”

Well, if she has money.

*

By the time we parted with Shii and headed back, the sky had completely darkened.

Yamashita and I didn’t talk much. It wasn’t much different from usual.

I wonder if Yamashita’s feelings had improved a bit?

It would be nice if she felt better after staying with us from Sunday until today, but Yamashita still didn’t seem to be thinking about going back.

Fortunately, since I didn’t live with my family, it didn’t really matter how long Yamashita stayed.

Honestly, there were some good points to having Yamashita around. Although Yamashita didn’t talk much, just having someone beside me made the loneliness much less.

It was a little past ten when we returned home.

Unlike the morning, we leisurely filled the bathtub with water and took turns bathing, finishing around eleven-thirty.

I wonder if this is institutionally acceptable. Two teenage girls living alone—it was definitely a situation where a social worker or someone should check in, but this house was officially listed as having Kagami living here too.

So we were somewhat outside the system, you could say.

In other words, it’s safe in many ways.

I once saw a movie that graphically depicted what happens in a house with only underage children.

The mother leaves the children and goes away, and the children are left to live alone… It was a quiet yet miserable film. The title… I don’t remember well. It was a Japanese movie. I wonder if it was released in this world too? Maybe it’s a film that will be released later than now.

Children who disappear without anyone knowing. Looking at the situation, it was exactly the same as our current situation, but.

After we both bathed and came out, we laid out the futons. And we lay down side by side on our respective futons.

“Good night.”

“Yeah, good night.”

We greeted each other like that and closed our eyes.

We had to go to school tomorrow. Actually, considering the time we had to wake up, it was a bit late.

So I closed my eyes and lay down—

Bzzt.

I heard the sound of a phone vibrating.

It was Yamashita’s phone.

Yamashita looked at her phone and muttered,

“…Huh?”

“Dad?”

Seeing Yamashita get up to answer the phone, I also sat up.

The orange streetlight was faintly seeping in through the window. It was enough light to see Yamashita’s face.

Yamashita hesitated for a moment, then opened her phone.

“…Dad.”

Yamashita answered the phone and—

“…Miho unnie?”

She muttered blankly.

Then she jumped up from her seat.

“Since when?”

Her voice trembled.

“If it’s been like that since yesterday…!”

She started to speak but then closed her mouth. She seemed to be recalling the situation.

Did something happen to Ms. Mori?

“Yeah. Yeah. I understand.”

Yamashita answered in a trembling voice, then snapped her phone shut.

I got up and turned on the light in the room.

Yamashita was quickly sitting in front of her bag, taking out clothes.

“What happened?”

“Miho unnie—”

She started to speak but stopped momentarily. Then Yamashita looked up at me standing there.

A brief hesitation crossed her face.

“…Miho unnie is very sick, they say. Since yesterday.”

“…”

Ms. Mori didn’t look that unhealthy when I last saw her.

“Let’s go together.”

“But—”

“Let’s go together. It’s late at night.”

Yes, it was late. It was almost exactly midnight.

“…”

Yamashita pressed her lips tightly together.

*

It’s not good if two high school girls go out at this hour and encounter the police.

Japan has a youth curfew time, after all.

We wouldn’t go to jail or be detained, but it would be a huge waste of time. In the worst case, we might have to call Kagami again, which I didn’t want.

So I persuaded Yamashita to have them come pick us up instead.

“…”

As a result, Yamashita became very displeased.

It was a time when there was less traffic, but it would take too long for them to drive all the way here, pick us up, and then go to Minato Ward.

But Yamashita seemed to decide to endure it after hearing my reasoning.

After waiting about 40 minutes.

We heard a car outside.

We both rushed out.

…A large black sedan was parked incongruously. The people who got out were a burly man wearing a brown suit with a tiger-striped shirt underneath, and another man in a relatively normal suit but with a large scar on his head like a scratch.

“Miss!”

Seeing the two men waving at us, I understood why Yamashita had been so reluctant to call them.

The return journey also took 40 minutes.

During that time, I asked what had happened.

“Miss Miho received a package. Normally, we would check the contents to some extent…”

But that day, as Miho was going out, she received the package herself, so she took the package addressed to her directly to her room.

And when she returned home and opened the package—

“…A dog’s head?”

“Yes. There was a severed dog’s head inside, she said.”

The man with the scar on his head, sitting in the passenger seat, explained.

“…”

Yamashita didn’t say anything.

“So we think she was shocked by that, but her condition seems quite serious.”

“Why didn’t you contact me right away?”

At Yamashita’s words, both the driver and the passenger flinched.

“…Well…”

“Miss Miho said she didn’t want you to worry…”

“…”

Yamashita pressed her lips together again.

After a moment of silence, the man with the head scar cautiously asked, making eye contact with me through the rearview mirror:

“Do you have any idea about this?”

“…”

Is he asking me?

Ah, I suppose the Yamashita family does seem to have connections with Kagami’s social circle.

It wouldn’t be strange for someone in a high position in the organization to have some information.

“Just from hearing about it, I’m not sure yet.”

When I said that, Yamashita’s gaze turned to me.

I couldn’t turn away from that stare that was fixedly looking at me.

Somehow, that “dog’s head” thing.

…It seemed like exactly the right prop for this world setting.

After all, this is a place where yokai and ghosts actually exist.

It wouldn’t be strange at all if curses and such things really existed here.