Ch.425IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (122)

I had barely managed to relax, but Yuu was still somewhat prickly.

Her feelings for me hadn’t completely disappeared, but it seemed like Yuu’s home environment was also somewhat problematic.

I wanted her to tell me about it.

The reason I say “wanted her to tell me” rather than “wished to hear” is because I heard that story from someone other than Yuu.

To “wish” to hear something, wouldn’t I need to know about that story to some extent first?

In other words, I heard that story not from Yuu, but from someone else.

It was not long after I had reunited with Yuu, Harumi, and Mako.

About two weeks, perhaps?

Yuka, Shii, Souta, and Nanami weren’t extremely close with Harumi, Yuu, and Mako, but they had built enough familiarity to get along reasonably well.

Koko and I were somewhere in between. Of course, Koko was a stranger to Harumi’s trio, but since she looked exactly like me but was a bit cuter, Harumi took a great liking to her, so she blended in quite easily with those three.

…Though I wish she would stop trying to sit Koko on her lap. I understand she thinks Koko is like an energetic cat, but I’m worried Koko might develop strange habits.

Since she had the same appearance and build as me, it was uncomfortable in many ways when Koko sat on my lap.

I had relaxed a little too.

Shii and Souta always walked home with me and Yuka. I was somewhat worried about Nanami, but since she went in a different direction partway, I wasn’t seriously concerned. In the original story, Nanami wasn’t a character who died in that kind of accident.

Mako, Harumi, and Yuu couldn’t always walk home with me. Even if we did walk home together, there wasn’t really a reason to “walk home together” unless we stopped somewhere to hang out. The three of them lived not far from the school.

Though they said they lived in a wealthy Tokyo neighborhood, their location inevitably diverged from ours, as we lived some distance from the school by subway.

Moreover—

“Ah, sorry, today… I don’t think I can hang out.”

“Huh? Why?”

When I declined Harumi’s invitation to walk home together, she asked with wide eyes.

“I have a part-time job.”

“Yeah. A part-time job at our family home.”

“Your family home? Then, is it a shrine maiden job?”

Harumi looked at Yuka and me with wide eyes. I felt extreme guilt at her words.

Souta and Shii didn’t show any particular reaction, and since they lived near our home anyway, they didn’t think it was strange that we were parting briefly. We could meet again that evening.

But Harumi’s trio was different. Once we separated at the end of school, that was it. Apart from phone calls or emails, meeting up was somewhat troublesome. So, parting like this meant we wouldn’t see each other’s faces again today.

Harumi, Yuu, and Mako all seemed very happy to have met me again, and often cheerfully asked me to hang out with them.

…Well, Yuu didn’t go so far as to say it directly.

“Then can we come watch? I want to see Kotone in shrine maiden clothes!”

Harumi said excitedly. Mako’s eyes sparkled too, and for a moment, Yuu’s gaze also turned toward me.

“Ah, no, it’s not a shrine maiden job.”

Yuka said, seeming a bit troubled.

“I’m just organizing some things. Kotone has helped with our household chores a few times before, so she roughly knows where things are. That’s why.”

“Ah~ I see.”

Harumi nodded as if she understood immediately. Mako wasn’t much different.

But Yuu looked at me with a somewhat dubious expression.

Had she noticed that I was smiling awkwardly?

I avoided her gaze.

No matter what, I couldn’t tell that story to Yuu. Yuu is… the daughter of that Kosuzu.

If she found out that I was in various difficulties because of her own mother, Yuu would…

She probably had enough to think about already.

“…”

And when I avoided her gaze, Yuu briefly lowered her eyes as if disappointed. Then she clenched her fist until her fingertips turned white, picked up her bag, and abruptly stood up.

“Let’s go.”

Seeming thoroughly upset, Yuu said that and headed straight for the classroom door.

“Ah, wait, Yuu!”

Harumi called out as she rose from her seat.

“Sorry, Kotone. Yuu’s mood is still…”

Mako also stood up and hurriedly looked at me as she spoke.

“Yeah. It’s okay. It’s my fault.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Mako trailed off, looking back and forth between me and Harumi who was rushing after Yuu. Then she pressed her lips together and made what seemed like a determined expression.

I wondered if she was going to say something harsh, but—

Mako gave me a light hug.

“It’s okay. I’m sure you’ll become close again.”

Mako smiled at me, then hurried after Harumi. As a bonus, she waved her hand broadly toward me, Yuka, and Koko.

As I absentmindedly waved back at Mako,

“…They’re wonderful friends.”

Yuka said something slightly embarrassing beside me.

I looked at Yuka, wondering if she was teasing me, but somehow Yuka was looking at the three of them with somewhat admiring eyes.

Then she took a deep breath and exhaled softly.

“Well… shall we go?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded at Yuka’s words.

Koko, who had been quietly observing the whole situation, tilted her head. Yuka and I simultaneously stroked Koko’s head gently.

It felt somewhat healing.

Enough to make me wonder if Koko really wasn’t a feline.

*

Exorcising yokai had been going quite smoothly since I drew my sword.

The problem was that it hurt a bit because I had to cut my wrist, and my body would be covered in blood after fighting.

That was resolved by receiving clothes from the government. Seeing how willingly they provided clothes, it was clear that what I was doing was far more valuable than a set of clothes.

“…”

Yuka always silently stared at my wrist.

No matter how many times I told her it wasn’t her fault, she still did that.

I always wore a hair tie around my wrist. There was something like a tattoo that would be problematic to show others, so I was actually a bit anxious at times.

I couldn’t show this to anyone.

If connected to my parents, Kagami and Dad would be considered criminals, and if I said I did it myself, people would look at me strangely.

At least no one had pointed it out yet, so wearing a hair tie around my wrist didn’t seem to attract much attention.

“…You should get paid more.”

Yuka said.

“No matter how I think about it, what you’re doing isn’t worth the current pay.”

“…Is that so?”

I responded with a bitter smile to Yuka’s words.

This time too, it didn’t seem like she was joking, so my smile didn’t last long.

In the end, the money I received increased.

I had the feeling it wasn’t just because I was good at catching yokai, but I decided not to dig too deeply.

*

The day after the part-time job.

Harumi and Mako treated me the same as always.

Yuu was a bit cold. But perhaps feeling awkward about maintaining that attitude, she seemed somewhat more relaxed than yesterday.

It seemed she was aware of her own emotional fluctuations.

Until then, I had thought that Yuu’s emotions were solely because of me. After all, the Yuu I had seen was only the Yuu I saw at school.

But.

“Oh, Kotone-chan.”

In the bathroom, I met a classmate.

I couldn’t say we were very close, but thanks to my appearance that made it easy to gain favor, I had quite a few friends.

Harumi also had some friends, and so did Mako. Yuu didn’t have many friends, perhaps due to her somewhat cold impression in front of others, but at least the children around Harumi and Mako consistently spoke to Yuu and joked with her.

Our classmates were like that. Partly because Mako was such a bright and kind child, and partly because Harumi had such a cheerful personality. So the atmosphere wasn’t bad.

But students from other classes were a different story.

There were a few who would whisper when Yuu passed by, then scurry away when Harumi glared at them. I hadn’t paid much attention, but somehow I felt that the girl speaking to me now was one of them.

The girls who pretended to be friendly with me came around me as I was washing my hands.

I quickly pulled my hands from the sink and rolled down my sleeves.

“Today Yamashita isn’t around you.”

That was the first thing they said to me.

Those girls stood looking in the mirror without doing anything in particular. And they chattered. To the point where I wondered why they had come to the bathroom.

“Ah, Kotone-chan. Have you heard that rumor?”

“…What rumor?”

“The rumor about Yamashita.”

At those words, the surrounding girls giggled. As if they all knew something that only I didn’t.

“Since you came from another neighborhood, you probably don’t know, but Yamashita’s family is famous in our neighborhood.”

I frowned slightly.

Unfortunately for that girl, the story about the “Yamashita family” wasn’t unknown to me.

If anything, I was on the insider’s side.

“Did you know? Actually, the Yamashita family is yakuza.”

Why would they tell me such a thing?

“Woo?”

I retreated slightly toward Koko who was beside me, lost in thought.

Unfortunately, those girls were near the bathroom entrance.

They didn’t seem to want to harm me particularly, but perhaps they wanted to draw me into their faction?

It was a strange feeling, experiencing this atmosphere for the first time since attending elementary and middle school.

“Yamashita’s dad apparently drowned someone or something.”

What should I say?

To say I knew everything would be too harsh on Yuu. I didn’t want to betray Yuu.

But to say I didn’t know—somehow, it didn’t feel right.

Why did they think they knew more about Yuu than I did—

“Besides, there’s also this story.”

Perhaps thinking my silence was just surprise, that girl leaned toward me and said,

“You know how yakuza sometimes use much younger women as playthings? Apparently there’s a woman who sticks close to that Yamashita when he walks around town. Almost young enough to be his daughter—”

“Why are you telling me this?”

I asked.

Honestly, I was dumbfounded.

Why suddenly?

I don’t know what happened during Yuu’s middle school years. Perhaps someone provoked her and got hit?

But it really irritated me that they would say such things to me, who was just trying to become friends with her again.

“No, no, I’m just warning you. You seemed like you didn’t know anything.”

That girl raised her hands slightly as she spoke.

“After all, it’s dangerous, right? He’s yakuza. If he puts his hands on women young enough to be his daughter, there’s nothing stopping him from touching women even younger.”

“Wow, how do you know all this so well?”

I asked with some amazement.

“Well—”

“Have you sold your body to yakuza before?”

Well, hmm.

Thinking about it now, perhaps I didn’t need to say it like that. There might have been a gentler way to handle the situation.

I understand.

I can’t deny that he’s yakuza.

But still, it felt bad to openly insult Yuu.

After all, it was thanks to that girl Yuu and her father that my childhood could be saved.

“…What did you say?”

The girl’s demeanor changed.

Yikes. Looks like she might hit me.

But, well.

Despite appearances, I’m the one who’s been cutting things with a sword.

I’m not going to be easily—

“Woo?”

Oh no.

“Wait, Koko—”

As I turned my head, sensing something from that voice,

I heard a bang and saw one of the bathroom stalls open.

“…”

“…Yuu?”

I made a dumbfounded sound seeing Yuu looking at me with a flushed face,

Then, with a slap, I felt something hit my cheek and staggered.