Ch.434IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (131)

And then the yokai disappeared as if it were a lie.

Had it realized something was moving? Maybe it was just a coincidence. Yokai acted with their own meticulous planning, but at the same time, they often seemed seriously lacking in some ways.

I wanted to go look for that yokai separately, but I couldn’t find the time.

Yuka knew my personality too well.

I’m not usually the type to frequently do very strange things. But at the same time, I occasionally got involved in incidents that even Yuka couldn’t have anticipated, or I became the cause of those incidents.

It was rarely by my own will, though.

Perhaps because of that, since the last incident, Yuka seemed to be watching me more closely.

Already living so close to each other, I didn’t have the option of doing something away from Yuka’s eyes. Plus, I always had Koko following me around.

A week passed like that. Without any particular results.

…

Well, it’s not like I could definitely find anything even if I searched directly. Perhaps I just wanted to calm my mind by taking action.

So, when the following Thursday came around—

“Friends.”

Harumi called us together with an innocent expression.

“Why don’t we try going on a group date?”

Group date?

For a brief moment, I thought of “meeting” in the sense of a conference. But Harumi wasn’t the type to suggest something like that.

Soon, I realized she meant “let’s meet some guys.”

I stared at Harumi.

Does she want a boyfriend?

Ah, I see. She’s at that age. Strangely enough, Harumi doesn’t seem to have had a boyfriend until now.

With her looks and personality, it wouldn’t be strange if she did.

Is it because of the people around her? Yuu spent a long time being depressed in middle school, and Mako, whom we somehow became friends with, had her own insecurities in various ways.

Harumi seems to have struggled a lot in the middle of all that.

“Count me out.”

Yuka responded immediately.

“Eh, why?”

“Not interested.”

If there had been even a tiny fragment of interest visible, Harumi might have tried to persuade Yuka, but Yuka’s flat refusal showed no such atmosphere at all.

This was Yuka’s personality. When she thought something wasn’t for her, she would flatly say no.

“I’ll pass too.”

Nanami also declined. She already has someone she likes.

Souta didn’t particularly want to go either… Well, if one person of a different gender tags along in this kind of situation, it would look a bit strange.

Izumi and Kaoru didn’t seem particularly interested either. They were listening, but they seemed to think it would be awkward for them to join.

Being in different grades created a slight wall between us, even if we got along well in the club. Plus, we hadn’t been in the club for very long.

“I also—”

“Come on, Kotone.”

When I tried to decline, Harumi grabbed my hand.

“Don’t be like that, come with us. If you back out too, we’ll be too few in number. Besides, you’re popular, Kotone!”

“…”

I didn’t ask, “Me?”

I had been fighting with kids in our grade since the beginning of the semester, even throwing punches at their faces, but there were still people who showed interest in me.

It seems the kids we fought with didn’t have a very good image to begin with.

Plus, Harumi, Mako, and Yuu originally lived close enough to walk to school together, and naturally, there were several friends who went to the same school from this neighborhood. They seemed to have an unbreakable network centered around those friends.

“…Does a popular person need to go on a group date?”

Yuu, who was reading a book in the corner, asked.

“That’s exactly why I’m asking. Mako and I are picky in various ways.”

“M-me!?”

Mako unexpectedly found herself on that list.

Harumi didn’t explicitly say it, but Yuu was probably already on that list too.

“But Koko is…”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

“Wuu?”

When Harumi and I turned to look at Koko simultaneously, Koko tilted her head.

That’s right.

No matter what, introducing a boyfriend to Koko would be a bit much. She looks exactly like me, has the same height as me, and probably all the other physical specs are the same too.

I don’t think Koko would be easily… fooled by men.

“Kotone?”

Koko called my name again, looking at me.

“Koko can’t go.”

“…No, I wasn’t planning to invite her.”

Seeing Harumi’s serious face, I was a bit dumbfounded. Wait, she looks exactly the same as me! What’s different?

“But that is a problem. Koko always follows Kotone around. It would be a bit sad to send her home alone.”

“Kotone going somewhere alone?”

“No, that’s not it…”

But when we said that to Koko, Harumi’s face fell.

“…”

I let out a deep sigh.

“Hey, Yuka.”

“Ah, I got it, I got it.”

As if she knew what I was about to say, Yuka waved her hand dismissively.

“Koko, would you like to stay with me for a bit tomorrow?”

“With Yuka?”

“Yeah. I’ll buy you something delicious.”

“Something delicious?”

Even before coming to the club room today, Koko had been lured by Kaoru. Of course, she ate the sausage roll that was used as bait very happily.

Koko looked back and forth between Yuka and me.

Yuka and Koko have known each other for quite a long time. Naturally, Koko has almost no wariness toward Yuka.

And it’s not like Koko always sticks to me like glue. When I went to catch yokai, I left her with Kagami.

…Still, occasionally, when I got seriously injured, Koko would be there when I came out after finishing the job. Not always, but sometimes.

Somehow, I feel like I can read that thought through Koko’s eyes.

In Koko’s mind, the times I got seriously hurt were when I was with Yuka. She knows that what I do is something I have to do, and that I would dislike it if she tried to stop me, so she doesn’t.

“Will you be apart for long?”

Koko asked.

“It probably won’t take long.”

“Whether it takes long or not, we’ll have to see.”

Harumi said seriously in response to my words.

“Then, okay.”

Koko nodded.

I patted Koko’s head.

It might be partly because Yuka offered to buy her something delicious—

But I think Koko believes she’ll be much safer than when I’m alone with Yuka.

…I wonder how I should clear up that misunderstanding.

This seems like something I need to think about.

*

The group date was boring.

I sometimes forget because I’m usually just around very ordinary kids, but Hanakawa High School has a fairly high deviation score. Many students go on to good universities.

Naturally, the people who invited us to the group date were from such schools.

In my case, I had absolutely no interest in men, and among all of us gathered there, only Harumi was sincerely trying to find romance.

We tried to match the atmosphere in our own way, but in the end, all we did was have some wholesome fun.

We did split up into smaller groups during the event.

The glare Yuu gave me as she was being dragged away by Harumi was a bit scary.

“Kotone, how was it?”

After parting ways with the boys in a boring manner, Mako and I headed to where Yuu and Koko were. It seemed Koko was busy eating the steak Yuka was treating her to.

It wasn’t very far, but it would take about 15 minutes on foot. During the walk, Mako and I had time to talk alone.

“Well, I wasn’t particularly attracted to anyone.”

Since it would be a bit awkward to openly say I had no interest in men, I just vaguely answered like that.

“How about you, Mako?”

“Ah, haha, me too…”

Mako scratched her cheek and answered somewhat embarrassedly.

For a moment, there was silence between us.

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we’ve been alone like this.

When I was away from Tokyo, Mako often came to visit my house.

“…”

But now that I try to bring up a conversation, all I can think of are situations that were painful for Mako. I can’t exclude my story if she asks how I’ve been doing.

“”Hey.””

Mako and I spoke at the same time.

We looked at each other and laughed a bit awkwardly.

“You go first.”

When I quickly said that, Mako responded with an “Ah,” followed by a brief silence.

But that silence didn’t last too long.

It seems she had something she wanted to talk about.

“Was it… hard for you?”

The question Mako asked seemed somewhat out of the blue.

“Huh?”

“Well, we couldn’t contact you. Your surname changed too. Though your uncle stayed the same.”

“Ah…”

Was it hard?

Maybe it was. My body wasn’t that tired, but my mind went through some struggles.

I shook my head.

“No, it wasn’t that bad. There were various things happening, but still.”

“I see.”

Mako nodded gently.

We fell silent again.

A moment ago, I had also opened my mouth along with Mako, but now that I want to speak again, I don’t know what to say.

Maybe I should talk about the literature club.

Or perhaps suggest going on another trip together—

“…Kotone?”

When I suddenly stopped walking, Mako turned toward me.

“…”

“K-Kotone, what’s wrong? Why are you making such a scary face all of a sudden?”

“Mako.”

I said.

“Yes?”

“Go ahead.”

“…”

Mako’s expression subtly changed.

Her face turned pale.

Was it because I was making such a strange expression?

But this was troublesome here.

Mako shouldn’t be here. The goosebumps rising on my back were telling me that.

I didn’t turn my head. Mako might look in that direction if I did.

Looking at Mako, who was staring at me as I stopped in front of the entrance to a narrow alley, I gave a slight smile.

“No, I just left something behind. I’ll go get it quickly, so go ahead to Koko and Yuka. I’ll be right there.”

I said that and turned my body as if I was really going back to the store we had just been at—

But I had to stop that movement midway.

Mako was holding my hand.

“…Mako?”

I turned to look at Mako with a slightly surprised expression.

Mako was looking up at me with a pale face. She was holding my hand tightly with both of her hands.

“…It’s the same.”

Mako said.

“What’s the same?”

I asked, dumbfounded, as Mako roughly pulled me toward her, trying to forcibly drag me away.

Was Mako always like this?

No, that’s not it. Mako was definitely not the type to roughly drag others around as she pleased.

So, this current behavior seemed more like she was terrified and in a state of panic.

Mako pulled me strongly toward her again.

Unconsciously, I was dragged a few steps in that direction.

“Mako, wait, what’s wrong!?”

I tried to resist by planting my feet firmly, trying to prevent Mako from dragging me away. It would be troublesome to miss this opportunity. More people would die.

And among them might be Mako or my friends—

But that thought of mine froze at Mako’s next words.

“It’s the same, Kotone. It’s exactly the same as that time…!”

…Ah.

I see.

Mako, crying and trembling, yet desperately pulling me toward her.

Mako clearly didn’t think that the last moment we saw each other was just a dream.