Ch.430IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (127)

Throughout all the time I’ve been living here, Kagami has never been stingy with my allowance.

If you ask whether she gave me as much as a rich family’s daughter would get, that’s not the case, but it was enough for what I needed—occasionally eating out with friends, going to cafes, karaoke, and doing some light shopping.

But, to reiterate, it wasn’t as much as a rich family’s daughter would get.

It was enough to go out ‘occasionally,’ but not enough to go out ‘every day.’

That’s also why I was looking for somewhere to spend time after school. If I hadn’t met Harumi, Yuu, and Mako at this school, I might not have joined the literature club so hastily.

So, I visited the literature club room about two or three times a week.

Of course, my friends tagged along with me.

I was worried about how they might react, but…

“Well, it’s fine, isn’t it? The seniors are fun too. As long as they don’t try to act all superior just because they’re older, whatever.”

That’s how Harumi responded.

I wonder if she had some trouble with seniors in middle school.

No need to ask right now. There will probably be a more natural opportunity to talk about it later.

Yuu followed Harumi’s lead, and Mako originally enjoyed being with friends.

Me and Koko, Yuka. And Harumi, Yuu, and Mako.

At first glance, it seems like a strange combination to all mix together, but that’s how it turned out.

“Woah?”

Koko, who was happily leading the way up the stairs, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“Koko?”

I followed Koko’s blank stare and looked in the same direction.

Right at the top of the stairs, there was a croquette.

Of course, it wasn’t just sitting directly on the bare floor. It was still unopened and new.

In other words… it’s one of the most popular breads from our school store.

Kagami is the type of person whose joy in life is seeing us live normally, so she always hums while making lunch boxes in the morning.

This has been a kind of ritual unique to Kagami, continuing from when I was young until now.

Getting up early, carefully preparing lunch boxes for me, Koko, and Dad, then seeing us off outside the house.

Even while working herself, Kagami always did this.

I liked those lunch boxes. Naturally, Koko liked them too. They were delicious home-cooked meals.

But home cooking is home cooking.

When you’re always eating healthy food, sometimes you want something different. Koko and I would occasionally go to the school store.

If Koko used her abilities, taking a piece of bread would be nothing, but then we couldn’t pay for it. I wanted Koko to adapt to society and live normally, and Koko knew that, so we always acted properly in those situations.

And we failed. Whenever we went to the school store, only the less popular bread was left.

Unfortunately, the school store was far from our classroom.

Koko liked that bread too, but… well, even if you “like tasty things,” it’s only natural to “prefer tastier things,” isn’t it?

“Woah!”

I was about to tell her that she shouldn’t just pick up something from the floor and eat it, but Koko had already leaped up the stairs.

Whoosh.

And then, that croquette moved.

“Huh?”

Mako, who had been smiling while watching Koko innocently run, blinked her eyes.

“Woo?”

Koko turned her head when she saw that the croquette wasn’t where her hand had reached.

Hop.

And like a frog, Koko crouched down and jumped toward the bread again.

Whoosh.

And right on cue, the bread moved.

The rest of us followed slowly behind Koko.

“Woah!”

As if she had discovered an interesting toy, Koko’s eyes sparkled as she lunged for the croquette. This too was “playing.”

If she hadn’t been playing, she would have caught it right away.

Looking closely, there was a small hole in the corner of the croquette package. A translucent fishing line was threaded through it.

And that fishing line was connected to the room right next to the literature club room.

I frowned slightly.

Of course, anyone who would play such a prank on Koko must know her personality well, but what if the photography club that uses the next room was up to something?

…

But if someone wanted to kidnap a girl, wouldn’t they usually just offer to buy her something? Are they doing “actual fishing”?

“Woah!”

While I was pondering this, Koko finally succeeded in catching the croquette.

As Koko triumphantly held the croquette above her head, someone burst out of that room and hugged her tightly.

What pervert…! Oh, it’s Kaoru.

“Ah, you’re so~ cute!”

Kaoru exclaimed while hugging Koko tightly. Koko didn’t seem to mind Kaoru much and was busy opening the croquette package with sparkling eyes.

“Can I take her home with me? You have two identical ones at your house anyway.”

“Take her?”

“Yeah, Koko, want to live with me?”

“No.”

“Gasp…”

When Koko flatly refused while munching on her croquette, Kaoru clutched her chest in an exaggerated gesture of dismay. Of course, it wasn’t genuine, just playful acting.

By the way, it really was a kidnapping attempt.

“If you want to take Koko, you’ll have to defeat our mom first.”

“…I’ve never met her, so I’m not sure what she’s like.”

When I brought up my mom, Kaoru rolled her eyes around and trailed off.

Right? Even Kaoru isn’t immune to Talulla.

“But, yeah. Seeing how innocently Koko has grown up, your mother must have put in tremendous effort.”

“…”

I fell silent at those words.

Well, that’s not entirely wrong. After all, Koko has been living with us for several years. If Kagami had mistreated Koko during that time, either we wouldn’t be safe or Koko would have escaped.

Teaching her how to read and write, teaching her how to interact with people.

I can vividly remember Kagami sitting with Koko on her lap, watching educational programs on TV, earnestly teaching her how to greet people and introduce herself.

And to me, it looked like Kagami was trying to compensate Koko for something.

Like trying to give back the childhood that Koko never had.

Not just me, but Yuka and the others all fell silent. Yuka knows Koko’s true identity, and the others know that Koko didn’t live with me during my childhood. On top of that, Yuu must be extremely confused considering her relationship with me.

“Um…”

“That’s right.”

Seeing our momentary silence, Kaoru became flustered, so I quickly answered.

“She was very, very loved. Right, Koko?”

“Yes!”

Koko answered with sparkling eyes, croquette crumbs around her mouth.

“Mom makes lots of delicious food and hugs me often, so I like it.”

“R-right? I thought so.”

Though she seemed to sense something odd, Kaoru appeared to understand when Koko answered without any darkness in her voice.

A coincidence, or perhaps she thought something else. That’s probably how she rationalized it.

“Well, let’s go in. Actually, the photography club members should be coming soon.”

She didn’t get permission?

Before the photography club arrived and questioned why Kaoru was in their room, we quickly closed the door and entered the literature club room.

“Hello.”

Izumi, who was reading a book while trying to look sophisticated like some literature girl on a folding chair in the corner, raised one hand.

Perhaps because the club suddenly gained new members—no, probably because we gained juniors—Izumi seemed to want to appear more senior-like these days.

In fact, she still seemed a bit intimidated by Harumi and Yuu.

But.

“Great. Now that the occult research club has so many members, we could perform some kind of ritual. Want to clear the desks and summon a demon?”

“This is the literature club, how many times do I have to tell you!?”

With just one comment from Kaoru, Izumi would flare up and send her literature girl image flying sky-high.

Listening to the two of them bickering, we each found our seats.

Koko, Yuka, and I took up one entire side of the table, with Mako sitting across from me.

Harumi sat next to Mako, and Yuu unfolded one of the folding chairs leaning against the wall and sat in a different corner from Izumi, opening a paperback book.

Ironically, Yuu with her flashy gyaru style looked more like a literature girl in that posture than Izumi did.

Come to think of it, Izumi actually looks more suited for an occult research club. Kaoru looks like she belongs in the track team.

“So, let’s just get along, okay?”

“Not okay at all! Don’t change things as you please!”

…

I feel like saying anything about that now would only irritate Izumi more, so I’ll just quietly read my book.