Ch.420IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (117)

As time passed, I gained juniors.

In my previous life, I didn’t care much about such relationships. Even club activities were just part of school curriculum, and I didn’t do anything particularly meaningful within them.

I rarely had occasion to use terms like “senpai,” nor did I have anyone calling me that. I did develop such relationships somewhat in university, but it was different from the special feeling I had when reading light novels as a teenager.

Was it because this world was just that kind of world that I now had juniors who called me “senpai” in this life?

Although I didn’t participate in club activities, my classmates gained juniors, and as I occasionally encountered them, I somehow became a “senpai” too.

As I progressed through my second and third years, the number of such children increased quite a bit.

However, not many of my classmates ended up going to the same high school as me. Naturally, the same would be true for juniors.

It wasn’t simply because of grades. Everyone had their own aspirations, considered the distance to school, or had various other reasons.

After deciding where to go, we exchanged words like “Let’s keep in touch for sure” and “Let’s definitely meet again later!” But I had already experienced many times in life how often we make such promises, and how rarely they’re kept.

That doesn’t mean those encounters were all meaningless.

After a few years, you might suddenly remember someone and search through your contacts, or coincidentally meet them again through mutual friends and become close.

Well, in my case, I actually had quite a few friends going to the same school. Souta, Nanami, and Yuka too.

My sister Koko would also be attending the same school, so I could say I was rather fortunate.

“I guess I should have come to this school after all,” Shii said.

Around the end of my third year’s second semester, after all the leaves had fallen, Shii said that.

It wasn’t our school.

After hearing that all my friends and I were going to Hanakawa High School, Shii very naturally enrolled in Hanakawa Middle School.

That way, she could still be my “junior” while I attended high school. Even though the schools were different, they were run by the same foundation, so it wasn’t strange.

Thinking about it now, I wonder if “I” should have gone to Hanakawa Middle School instead.

Shii could have followed me to the same middle school. We could have spent a year as senior and junior, and then I could have transferred when I went to high school.

But such methods would have been troublesome. Having to make new friends, taking exams again… Above all, Yuka and I, who had already experienced transfers multiple times, advised against it.

“But from next year, we’ll really be senior and junior.”

“…Yes.”

Shii nodded at my words. Starting with “And,” she continued,

“Even though we were at different schools, I don’t regret the past year.”

Hearing her say that made me feel at ease.

“Well, since we live nearby, we saw each other every day even though we went to different schools, right?”

“That’s true.”

Shii smiled at my words.

I gazed quietly out the window.

It rarely snows in Tokyo. But that doesn’t mean you can’t see winter settling on the streets.

All the leaves had fallen from the trees, and everyone was walking briskly with their hands in their pockets, wearing thick clothes.

In contrast, our house was warm. Cartoons were playing on TV, and Kagami was in the kitchen preparing various things for us.

Since it was the end of the year, Souta seemed to still be out.

In the original work, even if not to the extent of Shii’s concern for Souta, Souta was also extremely worried about Shii.

It’s a bit different here. Souta doesn’t seem to be suffering as much as in the novel.

He did have the mindset of needing to protect his sister, but he didn’t act as if everything was placed on his shoulders.

Was it because we helped from the side? I hope so.

Not long after, Kagami brought a container full of strawberries from the kitchen.

Koko, who had been absorbed in the TV until then, sat at the table with a cheer as if she had smelled the strawberries.

It was a cold season, but a warm daily life.

That warmth meant more than just the temperature of where we were sitting.

*

When Koko first started school, I had many worries. What if she couldn’t keep up with classes? What if she couldn’t focus on lessons?

What if she suddenly got up and wandered around during class, causing trouble for everyone? And Koko wouldn’t even understand why such behavior was wrong.

But none of that happened.

Koko wasn’t particularly diligent in focusing on classes. If I glanced at her during a lesson, she would be playing by taking apart her pen or drawing strangely shaped but cute animals in her textbook or notebook.

Yet her grades were top-tier.

At first, seeing scores much higher than mine made me wonder—well, after living together for about two years, I stopped paying much attention to it.

I suppose in subculture, eccentrics are often intelligent, aren’t they? Come to think of it, Koko could be considered to have otaku tendencies.

A few times—I tried to get close to Koko’s grades, if not surpass them.

But perhaps because the honor students who were overtaken by Koko—who didn’t seem like she would study well at first glance—studied even harder, the wall to climb to higher ranks was too solid for me to overcome.

Naturally, Koko passed the entrance exam for Hanakawa High School very easily.

I passed with relative ease too, but the atmosphere between Koko and me throughout the exam was quite contrasting.

…I felt somewhat unfair.

Surely when Koko first learned to read, I taught her by reading picture books. Now I felt like I should be learning from Koko instead.

Is it really because she’s my older sister? Did she take all the intelligence genes before I was born?

Of course, Kagami never distinguished between us based on grades, but I couldn’t help thinking that way.

“Kotone.”

As I was lost in such thoughts after the exam, Kagami hugged me from behind and said,

“It’s okay.”

…

“You don’t need to compare yourself to anyone; Kotone is just Kotone.”

…Mom.

Saying it like that just makes me more self-conscious.

Well, Kagami meant it in a good way. She’s probably just observed me for so long that she could tell I was feeling a bit down just from my demeanor.

Right. Whether Koko or I was better at studying wasn’t really important.

What mattered more was that we both went to the same school.

“Woo?”

Seeing me being hugged by Kagami, Koko, who had somehow approached us, tilted her head. Her expression clearly said she wanted a hug too, so Kagami smiled and extended one arm.

Koko naturally embraced me.

And Kagami embraced both of us.

It was warm.

Warm enough to make me think this might be enough. Warm enough to make me think nothing else mattered.

…

No.

That’s not true.

There are friends, other family members, and above all, the world doesn’t revolve around just the three of us.

For our family to live comfortably, the world needed to be safer. And for that, I needed to work hard.

But for now, I decided to just stay like this.

So I could remember it in the distant future.

*

Spring, when cherry blossom petals fluttered down.

We graduated from middle school.

Some friends cried, and juniors cried as they saw us off.

I thought we would part naturally, but when we actually did, I felt a slight tightness in my nose.

Ironically, Shii didn’t cry since she wasn’t at our school.

The short time between middle school graduation and high school entrance ceremony was literally free time for us.

We spent that time actively going out. Me, Koko, Yuka, and Shii. Sometimes we dragged Souta along, and whenever that happened, Nanami somehow found out and tagged along.

We didn’t go on any special trips, but we enjoyed even the most trivial things.

Soon we would be attending school with this same group.

“How is it?”

Ah, yes.

And Yuka finally ended up living near our neighborhood.

A mansion not too far from our house. Though called a mansion, Yuka’s place had only one room. The structure was similar to the house where Kagami and I used to live alone. It was a bit more spacious and the environment was cleaner.

“It’s nice.”

I said that sincerely.

“Come visit sometimes.”

Hmm, I’ll probably come more often than just “sometimes.”

Well, high school students tend to like places without adults.

Though I personally preferred places where Kagami was.

But seeing Yuka’s bright smile, I felt there was no need to add such remarks and spoil the mood.