Ch.439IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (136)

When I returned to school, my classmates asked about my well-being.

It was only natural. After all, everyone had been told I was injured in a traffic accident.

Judging by the fact that there were no rumors about Yuka standing next to me covered in blood with a knife, it seems the higher-ups had somehow managed to suppress that information.

“…I’ve been asked if I’m okay an incredible number of times.”

As I muttered this, Yuka snorted dismissively.

“That’s normal.”

“I guess so?”

I shrugged my shoulders in response to Yuka’s comment.

“Kotone, Kotone.”

Someone interrupted our conversation.

Harumi.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah. I’m fine now.”

“So, do you have any plans after class today?”

“Time?”

“Yeah. If you have time… it’s the weekend. Let’s hang out together.”

Harumi’s expression as she said this with a smile was exactly the same as usual.

But somehow, at the same time, the atmosphere felt slightly different.

Last time, Mako had asked me if I was suddenly going to transfer schools again.

If Harumi had spent years talking with Mako about various things, she might have heard stories about me too… Though judging by how she didn’t seem to know that Mako was my friend, she probably hadn’t heard my name directly.

And Harumi had experienced something similar to Mako.

Kagami and I disappeared overnight. Literally, friends who had seen each other almost daily—friends who had been close since early childhood—suddenly vanished. How must Harumi have felt about that?

Harumi was quite sociable and had many friends in our class, but among them, I was the one she was closest to.

She probably felt a sense of loss for quite some time, perhaps as much as Mako did. And Yuu was right there beside her too.

So… even if she felt anxious, I could understand.

“How about hanging out at my place? You haven’t been over in ages.”

Today was Saturday. We only had morning classes.

If I went today and returned home Sunday afternoon, it shouldn’t be a problem. Kagami would probably allow it if I said I was staying at Mr. Fukuda’s house.

“Ooo?”

Koko showed interest in the idea.

“Koko-chan, let’s play together, okay? We have lots of delicious things at my house.”

While I was lost in thought, Harumi slightly changed her approach.

“Delicious things?”

Koko’s eyes sparkled.

…I’ve told her so many times not to follow people just because they offer food.

Well, I suppose this reaction shows she’s judged Harumi to be completely harmless.

“So, will you come? Let’s play together.”

“Kotone?”

Koko turned to me with sparkling eyes.

“…Yeah, let’s do that.”

I nodded.

“Yay!”

“That’s great, right? Koko-chan.”

Harumi said this while hugging Koko tightly. Koko just burst into giggles in her embrace.

I looked at Yuka. She shook her head slightly.

As expected, she still feels some barrier about coming over to my house.

But I think that will get better with time too.

*

Harumi quite naturally dragged Mako and Yuu along as well. She linked arms with both of them, one on each side, to prevent them from escaping, and walked energetically while humming.

Yuka, Nanami, and Souta were still nearby too. Even though the four of us were planning to go to Harumi’s house, we decided to first accompany our daily friends to the station.

It was Saturday after all. We had plenty of time. There was even enough time to stop for a drink along the way.

As we were walking—suddenly, I heard a “meow.”

It wasn’t a real cat sound, but rather someone awkwardly imitating one.

Moreover, it was a voice I recognized.

I made eye contact with Souta.

“Kotone? What is it?”

“Just a moment.”

Souta moved first, and I followed behind him.

And near the corner of that alley—

“Meow~ Meow~”

There was a girl trying to communicate with a cat using animal sounds rather than human language.

Her uniform looked like a color-inverted version of ours. While Hanakawa High School’s uniform had a black base with red accents, Hanakawa Middle School’s uniform had a white base with blue accents.

I’m not sure how the uniforms of two schools from the same foundation ended up with completely opposite atmospheres, but the middle school uniform certainly seemed more refreshing and nice.

“Shii?”

When Souta called Shii’s name, she flinched and froze.

“…Brother?”

As she slowly turned around saying that, her eyes met mine and she flinched again—

Then seeing the others behind me, she looked like she might faint.

My friends aren’t strangers to Shii. But they’re not close either. Souta always went home with Shii, so they had seen her face before.

Just “seen her face” and nothing more.

…Come to think of it, Shii and Souta were also destined to encounter that ghoul once. However, since I caught the ghoul first, that never happened.

That was fortunate.

Naturally, Shii and Souta had visited me in the hospital too. They confirmed I was safe, but left early since having too many people in the hospital room for too long would be troublesome.

They had also briefly met the others then.

“…”

Shii’s face slowly turned red.

I tilted my head slightly to see what was in front of Shii.

There was a tiny black kitten.

A kitten only a few months old, barely the size of a palm, was licking an empty bowl in front of Shii.

“Mya?”

The kitten, belatedly noticing that Shii had suddenly gone quiet, looked up at us, momentarily frozen.

I approached Shii’s side, crouched down, and looked at the kitten.

“Myaa—!”

Wow, it’s really cute.

Well, kittens can’t help but be cute. If it were a street cat that had been rolling around for years with wounds and dirt all over its body, it might look a bit scary, but a small kitten like this isn’t frightening at all, even if it’s a bit dirty.

“Can I touch it?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, but, um, it’s not my pet…”

Hmm.

In the 2020s, there might have been readers who would strongly disapprove of this.

In this era, a heroine who feeds cats like this has the image of being kind-hearted.

…Well, even in the 2020s, I’m not sure how it would be in Japan.

“Hiss!”

When I reached out my hand, the kitten raised its head, looked at my palm, and hissed. Its tail and fur stood on end.

I didn’t mind at all and stroked the kitten.

The fur was stiff, but still soft.

“Wow!”

Koko, who had crouched down beside me, also stroked the cat’s back.

“Myaa—!”

“Myaa—!”

When the kitten meowed warily, Koko found the sound amusing and even imitated it.

Thanks to that, Shii’s face turned even redder.

“Wow! So cute, so cute!”

Harumi had joined us and was eagerly petting the kitten with both hands. Indeed, this kitten didn’t look threatening to anyone.

Realizing that making loud breathing sounds wasn’t helping, the kitten let out one final “Myaak!” before slipping through our hands and quickly running away.

Well, at least it seemed to have finished all the tuna in the bowl Shii had left.

“Ah~ It ran away~”

When Harumi muttered dejectedly,

“It, it comes here often. You might see it again later.”

Shii consoled her like that.

“So you’ve been taking care of the cat.”

“Ah, yes.”

Shii’s face turned red again. She must have remembered the moment when she was meowing to communicate with the cat.

“Even though it’s wary, it’s a good cat.”

I suppose so.

It means the cat overcame its wariness for food.

I don’t know if all stray cats are like that. I’ve never fed stray cats myself.

However, isn’t it a bit dangerous for such a young kitten to live alone?

…Well, Shii did say that the kitten appears in this area regularly, and it seems she’s been taking care of it for more than just a day or two. If that’s the case, it will probably survive well on its own.

Taking it home to raise… that’s something that needs more thought.

I looked at Koko.

“Kotone?”

Koko tilted her head, wondering why I was suddenly looking at her.

Well, we already have a cat the size of a person at our house. Honestly, I’m just grateful that Koko didn’t chase after that kitten right away.

As I stood up and turned my head—I was startled to find Yuu standing much closer than I expected.

Yuu, who had been slightly bent over as if peering at the cat, was startled as if just realizing what she was doing and quickly turned her head away.

…It seems there’s one more cat here.

Even down to the inability to be honest, they’re exactly alike.

When I smiled at Yuu, she glared at me.

The fact that her glare isn’t scary at all makes it even more so.