Ch.440IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (137)

Setting aside Yuu’s gaze.

Coming from the 2020s, I felt a bit sorry about letting a cat roam freely on the streets.

It was already such a small kitten.

I don’t know exactly when cats become independent from their mothers. They probably live for about 10 years and a bit more, so maybe they’re fully grown and independent by the time they’re a year old?

But before that, it’s just a matter of whether they live or die.

“…”

“Kotone?”

As I stared blankly at the direction where the cat had disappeared, Koko called out to me.

Hmm.

Both Koko and I can take care of ourselves reasonably well.

I had to be more mature than other children, and because of that, I could do my best to make sure Kagami didn’t struggle too much.

However, bringing a cat into our home was a different matter altogether.

Kagami’s job wasn’t one that required long hours. She only started working and earning money because she didn’t want to wait at home alone, and by the time Koko and I get home, Kagami is usually already back.

So, if we brought a cat into our home, it would be an inconvenience for Kagami.

And it’s not like Shii is in a position to take in a cat either.

“Do you want to keep it?” Harumi asked.

I shook my head.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t drawn to it, but well, it doesn’t matter right now.

I’ll keep an eye on it for a bit longer. After all, we just met today. And it seems like Shii is the rightful “owner” of that cat.

“Shii. You were waiting for Souta, right?”

“Ah, yes. For my brother…”

Both Souta and Shii have completely adapted to that form of address, and neither of them seems to find it particularly strange. Well, if they’re fine with it, it doesn’t really matter.

Yuka, me, and Koko have heard it too often, and Nanami has more or less gotten used to it, but Harumi, Yuu, and Mako still seem uncomfortable, either giving wry smiles or tilting their heads in confusion.

“Sorry, I made plans with friends today. You two go ahead.”

“Yes. I’ll let mother know.”

Shii bowed politely to me as she answered.

Glancing over, I saw Yuu staring intently at Shii.

…Yuu almost called my mother “mom.” Well, it wasn’t a big deal, just a mix-up with her own mother.

Fortunately, Yuu is somewhat shy around strangers. She didn’t question or confront Shii, whom she’s barely spoken to.

After sending off Souta, Nanami, and Shii,

“See you next week,” Yuka said with a smile, waving her hand.

It sounded like she meant “Let’s hope we don’t have to see each other this weekend.”

She didn’t mean it in a bad way.

I had already gone through something big enough to miss school, so she probably meant I should have a peaceful weekend.

After Koko and I waved back to Yuka for a while, Yuu finally spoke up.

“What’s your relationship with the Sasaki siblings?”

Her voice was somewhat curt.

Was she jealous?

It was a cute reaction, but if I pointed out that she seemed jealous, she would definitely glare at me again, so I just calmly stated the facts.

“I just happened to become friends with someone who lives nearby.”

An explanation that omitted many very important details. I couldn’t think of a better way to explain it.

Maybe when I’m a bit older… No. Even as I age, telling others that you don’t have a family isn’t something that’s easy to talk about.

It means either you’ve forgotten them for some reason, or they were never there to begin with, and once you start explaining, painful memories inevitably surface.

Even if it were my story, I wouldn’t want to discuss it, let alone someone else’s.

“…”

Yuu didn’t look entirely convinced. She just narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at me, then quickly turned her head away.

“Come on, come on, don’t be like that.”

Harumi stepped between us, linking her arms with both Yuu and me, and pulled us along.

“Let’s go home! Don’t worry. I’ll lend you clothes, so we just need to buy underwear and socks on the way.”

Her tone suggested that she was determined to have us stay overnight at her house, not just hang out.

…I didn’t dislike that idea.

How long has it been since we did something like this?

As I was being led to Harumi’s house by her arm, I tried to recall.

It was difficult, even though it was a place filled with childhood memories.

We had been that far apart.

“…”

I see.

I thought I had become a distant memory to these friends.

But that wasn’t the case at all.

All of them remembered me properly.

I was still their friend.

In various ways, Harumi, Yuu, and Mako had all expressed that.

I tried to hold back a smile that was threatening to break out,

but I wasn’t very successful.

*

Goldfish.

Yes, goldfish live longer than you might expect.

When I was young, I once begged my mom to buy me a goldfish when we went to the supermarket. Of course, this was Kagami but a memory from my previous life.

Neither I, my mom, my very young sister, nor my dad knew how to properly care for goldfish. We didn’t know about filters or anything like that; we just let tap water sit for a few days before changing it periodically, and fed the fish.

The goldfish died not long after. Looking back, the tank was too small, and we probably didn’t change the water as often as we should have.

At the time, I thought goldfish just weren’t meant to live very long, but later, as an adult, I learned that with the proper equipment, they can be kept for a very long time.

Blub.

Blub.

The goldfish looking at me was lazily opening and closing its mouth.

It wasn’t one of those well-bred, fancy or elegant types of goldfish. Just a common goldfish with random patches of color, like a spotted dog.

But its size was quite impressive, almost as big as my fist.

The tank was enormous, befitting a wealthy household, with bubbles constantly rising from the bottom. There was probably a proper filter installed. However, despite the expensive setup, the goldfish inside was as common as one you could win at a festival game.

“…”

Somehow, I felt like I knew which goldfish this was.

“Do you remember?”

I was staring blankly at it when Harumi suddenly asked from behind, startling me.

“I wonder if it recognizes you? You both look a bit different now, so it’s hard to tell.”

“Is this…”

“That’s right.”

Harumi said with a smile.

“Baduk from your house. We’ve been taking care of it. Look over there.”

Where Harumi pointed, another goldfish was swimming leisurely. It was about the same size as Baduk and had a similar appearance.

Both goldfish looked healthy. I wasn’t an expert on fish, but at least to my eyes, they seemed to be doing well.

“See? We took good care of it, right?”

“…Yeah.”

I felt strange.

She was saying this was the goldfish that Harumi had won at a festival game and given to me as a gift when we were children.

I stared blankly at Baduk again.

After opening and closing its mouth a few more times while looking at me, Baduk turned around and continued swimming leisurely. Naturally, it didn’t seem to recognize me like a dog or cat might.

But…

I had thought about Baduk many times. I had raised it diligently.

It was a gift from Harumi, and well…

…I just wanted something I raised with my own hands to survive.

When we had to flee, I had to leave it behind. I don’t know what Baduk might have thought, left alone. Can goldfish have deep thoughts?

“…So, you came to our house?”

“Yeah, well.”

When I belatedly realized this fact and asked, Harumi scratched her cheek.

“The teacher said you suddenly transferred schools, and my dad said there must have been a reason for it. Yuu’s father said the same thing.”

“…”

Looking back, I saw that Yuu was now standing beside us, gazing at the tank.

“As if we could believe that. ‘There’s no way Kotone would transfer schools without telling us’—”

Yuu stared at Harumi.

Harumi gave a bitter smile and continued,

“—that’s what I said. So the two of us went to your house together.”

“…I see.”

I had never heard what happened after that.

Kagami and I were frantically running away. We never returned to that house again.

It was small, and actually not even our own house—we were just renting—but I had liked it well enough.

“How should I put it.”

Harumi thought for a moment before speaking.

“Apart from being a bit messy, yeah. It felt like you would come back soon. Baduk was still there too.”

“…I see.”

That makes sense.

We only took what we absolutely needed.

“Well, somehow we met again anyway.”

Harumi said with a smile.

I lowered my head slightly.

I couldn’t think of anything to say in response.