Ch.417IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (114)

“I’ve been thinking about something.”

At the hospital, when Yuka and I were alone for a moment, she spoke to me.

Actually, Kagami didn’t want to leave me alone with Yuka. It seemed like she didn’t quite trust Yuka.

Not completely hostile, but not entirely friendly either. That was the look Kagami gave Yuka now.

She was my personal friend who helped me avoid getting hurt in those fights as much as possible, but at the same time, she was also connected to the reason why I had to fight in the first place.

Kagami already knew that I wasn’t injured today because of Yuka, but if emotions always operated logically, would they still be emotions?

In that situation, Yuka probably had a lot to think about too.

“I’m considering living near your house.”

“…Huh?”

“High school students living on their own is pretty common, right?”

“Ah, in high school…”

I felt slightly relieved at Yuka’s words, but then tilted my head again.

“In high school?”

“I’m thinking about going to the same high school as you. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to live closer?”

Um, don’t you already live in Tokyo? I don’t think it’s too far to commute.

But Yuka’s expression was completely serious.

“…Is it because of me?”

“If it’s because of you, then yes, it’s because of you. I am planning to go to the same high school.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

At my words, Yuka silently stared at me for a moment.

“Actually, this isn’t a sudden thought. It’s been discussed since that incident.”

She was probably referring to the incident when Kosuzu came looking for me.

I don’t know what kind of contract Kagami made with the government. I think she’s being held unilaterally, but for something like that, surprisingly, high-ranking people seemed to be taking my protection quite seriously.

However, their abilities weren’t up to par.

If those targeting me were ordinary people, they could protect me sufficiently. Having bodyguards would be enough.

But if those targeting me weren’t human—if they were yokai that couldn’t be cut down by ordinary human swords—that’s a different story. No matter how many national martial arts champions they assigned to me, they wouldn’t be able to handle yokai.

So, the fact that such a discussion came up meant that the idea of bringing Yuka closer to me had emerged.

“The reason I didn’t move elsewhere in the first place was thanks to you, so I thought if I just stayed nearby, it would help you too. Honestly, I’ve wanted to try living alone.”

“…”

I stared at Yuka.

When our eyes met, Yuka seemed embarrassed and looked away.

“Yuka.”

I spoke calmly.

“If you’re moving just to protect me, you don’t have to do that. You don’t need to go through the trouble.”

“Trouble, huh.”

Yuka scratched her head.

“Well, I’m not sure. Part of me wants to move, and part of me thinks it would be good if there was another way to solve this. But no matter how much I think about it, I can’t seem to sort it out. To be honest, I don’t think it would be bad to try living like that once.”

“If that’s what you want, I can’t really say anything…”

But it still bothered me, that much hadn’t changed.

“If that happens, at least we could walk to and from school together, right? It would also be good for dealing with yokai that appear around.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Or is it that you don’t want me to move?”

Yuka turned her head back toward me. Her expression was serious this time.

“No, it’s not that. We’re friends.”

“Well, that’s fine then. Just keep it in mind. It’s about high school anyway. Nothing’s been decided for sure yet.”

“Okay.”

I see.

There was still some time left before becoming high school students.

I nodded while gently stroking Koko’s head as she slept in the hospital bed.

While I was lost in thought, Kagami entered the hospital room. Her expression was much better than before, though not completely back to normal.

Had she been meeting with government people? It wouldn’t have been strange if she had been protesting something.

“…We have some time left. Would you like to go back and spend time with the children? If you’re tired, you can rest here.”

“I want to go play with the kids.”

“About going into the sea…”

“Yeah, I understand. Since I’m injured, I won’t do anything too strenuous.”

At my words, Kagami’s expression became painful again.

It was partly because she had seen me injured, and partly because my words reminded her of that moment, but more than anything, Kagami was sensitive about telling me not to do something.

Thinking that she hadn’t been able to do anything for me since childhood was Kagami’s bad habit. In reality, everything from head to toe, even the fact that I had clothes to wear and food to eat, was all thanks to Kagami.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Kagami asked.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“…I’ll be by your side.”

“Okay.”

I smiled brightly at Kagami as she said that.

*

We spent the remaining summer schedule.

Shii looked extremely worried. It was natural since she had heard that I had suddenly collapsed overnight and been taken to the hospital. Souta also had a concerned expression, but it wasn’t as intense as Shii’s.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes. Though I probably can’t do strenuous activities like going into the water.”

“Don’t worry about that! We can have fun without going into the sea!”

Shii’s expression as she said that was so endearing that I couldn’t help but smile.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Nanami also asked me that. Our first meeting started with me misunderstanding Nanami as a stalker, but as a result of that incident, we were able to completely clear up our misunderstandings about each other, and now she could be close to Souta a little earlier than in the original timeline.

Perhaps because of that, Nanami didn’t seem to have any bad feelings toward me. Rather, seeing how she worried about me, it seemed like I was already in the friend zone.

Well, Nanami didn’t seem like the type to hold onto such feelings and distance herself from people.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

When I answered like that, Nanami nodded.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come to the hospital. Your father told us to wait here.”

“It’s okay. Dad probably told you not to worry too much.”

Dad and the other children were all waiting at the house we had rented.

When I returned, it was around 11 AM. We were planning to play until 6 PM and then go home, so we still had quite a bit of time left.

And, yes, that’s what we did.

The beach where I had spilled a lot of blood was now completely cleaned up with no trace remaining. It was fortunate that it was a sandy beach. Just by scattering it into the sea, the traces would disappear instantly.

Yuka looked at that beach with a slightly uncomfortable expression and didn’t go into the water. The other children, being considerate of the fact that I couldn’t go into the water, also played outside.

Though they did dip their feet in.

We didn’t run around with as much energy as the day before, but we still did all the things you’d see in comics. We broke watermelons and played with beach balls. The score-keeping became irrelevant halfway through. Probably after Koko burst one of the balls. After that, the score became meaningless, and we just played with the ball.

It seems like we’ll be able to take quite a few photos.

“…”

Kagami was quietly watching me from a distance. As if I might suddenly disappear from that spot.

All because of what I had done.

I wondered if I should have suggested going home earlier. I seriously considered it, but by the time I did, a lot of time had already passed.

We had a light dinner and got on the train a bit late.

On the train, all the children were either nodding off or completely knocked out. Koko, who had been running excitedly on the sandy beach, was also sound asleep with her head on my shoulder.

Kagami was still quietly looking at me until then. Her expression was much better, though.

“…”

I wondered what I should say.

“Did you have fun?”—that was a question that became impossible to ask after what had happened to me. It wasn’t something Kagami could ask me, nor something I could ask Kagami.

So, I decided to take a slightly different approach.

“Mom.”

“Yes, Kotone.”

Hearing Kagami respond gently, Dad turned his head slightly in another direction. He was probably being considerate so that the two of us could talk.

“Thank you, always.”

When I suddenly said that, Kagami blinked.

I couldn’t find anything else to say. It felt like adding any reason would just be unnecessary.

Saying thank you always means exactly that—thank you always. And it probably will be that way in the future too.

Kagami, lost in thought, turned her head slightly to look out the window.

I did the same.

The passing scenery was beautiful.

I hope the memories we make today will be the same.

With all the bad parts removed.