Ch.74Chapter 11. Understanding (3)

Both Kaoru and Izumi seemed to agree that summer was hot.

The place we went to appeared to be a restaurant specializing in buckwheat noodles. To be honest, I just followed them in without thinking, so I didn’t even properly see the name of the place.

But well, it didn’t matter. I often ate cold food anyway. In summer, I frequently had things like naengmyeon.

2004, huh. Come to think of it, there was a Korean drama that became quite popular in Japan around this time. It was even on the news.

Compared to how widely Korean culture became known 20 years later, the situation back then was quite different. From what I heard in Korea, it seemed like only that drama was successful. Korean food probably wasn’t selling that much in Japan back then.

If I looked, there might be places like Koreatown? Of course, I had no intention of going. If I wanted to eat kimchi, it would be much cheaper to find a book with Korean recipes at the library and make it myself.

Now that I think about it, I’ve been eating only Japanese food for several months since coming here. Surprisingly, this country’s food seems to suit my taste well.

“Wait, Koko.”

As Koko picked up the buckwheat noodles in front of her with chopsticks and was about to put them directly into her mouth, I grabbed her hand.

It seemed she had ordered the same thing as me, but what we ordered wasn’t a meal where noodles came soaked in broth.

It was called zaru soba, where the noodles, the dipping sauce called tsuyu, and wasabi were served separately.

The noodles were placed on a thin bamboo tray, probably to prevent water from pooling in the bowl, and sprinkled with finely chopped seaweed pieces. Usually, when ordering this kind of menu, there were more noodles piled up than one might expect.

Kaoru probably selected this restaurant based on “quantity.”

After eating the first few bites of the mountain-like noodles normally, Koko then tried to pick up a large amount at once and bring it to her mouth.

Even though it’s not my place to interfere with someone else’s eating, it seemed Koko didn’t understand the menu itself.

If I left her like this, she might drink the tsuyu like water, so I decided to teach her how to eat it properly.

“Here, like this.”

I moved Koko’s hand to put down the noodles stuck on her chopsticks, then guided her to pick up just a small amount.

Since Koko’s way of holding chopsticks wasn’t the orthodox method—she held them with her palm facing up, overlapping the chopsticks and looking like she was holding a fork upside down.—the process wasn’t that difficult.

By the way, I noticed that Yuka and the others I traveled with had learned to “pick up” things with chopsticks by watching how people used them while eating.

They would open and close the chopsticks by clenching and unclenching their palms.

…I left it alone since it wasn’t urgent, but I’ve been a bit conscious of Kaoru and Izumi’s gazes.

Should I have taught her these basics first?

“Uu?”

Perhaps unhappy that I had removed the noodles from her chopsticks, Koko looked at me.

Instead of answering, I put the tsuyu bowl in Koko’s left hand and moved her right hand, which was holding a small amount of noodles, to dip them into the tsuyu.

Then I brought it to her mouth.

Koko tilted her head, put the noodles in her mouth, and her eyes sparkled.

“Delicious!”

“…Don’t talk with food in your mouth.”

“Okay!”

It’s good that she likes it enough to make her eyes shine.

As soon as I let go of her hand, Koko grabbed a bunch of noodles and put them directly into the tsuyu bowl. The tsuyu swelled up as if it might overflow, but it wasn’t quite enough to spill over, so I decided to leave it. Well, enjoying food 100% is a good thing in itself.

Glancing at her with slight concern that she might spill on her shirt, I turned my head back to my own meal.

Kaoru and Izumi, who had been staring at us, quickly lowered their gazes to their own meals.

…There’s no need to be that self-conscious.

Well, at least they don’t seem to be judging us negatively.

They weren’t the type to do that anyway.

*

I never thought I’d say this, but despite how I look, I’m quite knowledgeable about how high school girls hang out.

That’s because I’ve experienced it several times already. You know what? I’ve not only experienced it, but I’ve also slept with high school girls and gone on beach trips with them.

…

This sounds a bit sad when I put it that way. Let’s stop.

Anyway, Kaoru and Izumi’s way of hanging out wasn’t much different from how Miura, Fukuda, and Yamashita hung out.

Walking around busy streets, sightseeing here and there, buying street food.

But their interests were slightly different, I should say.

Miura was an honor student and class president, but her likes weren’t much different from other high school girls. She would look at accessories while walking around, check out perfumes, and happily choose clothes with her friends.

Kaoru and Izumi looked at clothes too, but they just glanced at them once and moved on quickly. They didn’t buy or try anything on.

Instead, Kaoru seemed to prefer places like arcades.

Especially the claw machines in arcades.

“Wow!”

“Oh, what is it, Koko? Do you like stuffed animals?”

It’s not so much that she likes them, but rather that she doesn’t have any.

Everything in our house came from Yuka’s storage or the cafe storage. Since I didn’t see any reason to decorate the house further, there were no dolls or toys at home. Though we did have a Super Famicom and a pile of second-hand game packs.

Koko was already pressing her face against the glass of the claw machine, looking inside. Her eyes were sparkling.

The doll Koko was looking at was a black cat doll.

A black cat like Kuro at home. But with much thicker legs and tail, and overall chubbier. It would probably be soft and fluffy to hold.

“Alright, leave it to me!”

Kaoru said that and made a gesture of rolling up her sleeves. Of course, there were no sleeves to roll up. It was summer, so she was wearing short sleeves.

“…Kaoru senpai, are you good at claw machines?”

“No, not at all. Usually, when Kaoru spends a lot of money, the staff feels sorry for her and open the machine to give her one.”

…That means she spent much more money than the doll’s actual price.

“Ah, look, Koko! That was so close just now!”

It wasn’t close at all. The claw had barely touched the doll.

But despite Kaoru’s efforts, Koko seemed to be enjoying herself. She seemed to have noticed that there was a correlation between the handle Kaoru moved and the claw that moved to pick up the doll.

Now she seemed more interested in the claw than the stationary doll.

“Do you want to try?”

“Yes!”

When Kaoru said that and stepped aside, Koko quickly grabbed the handle and moved it randomly.

The claw, which then spun around erratically until the time ran out, came down and…

“Huh?”

“Oh my.”

“…”

It grabbed the black cat doll very precisely.

I, Kaoru, Izumi, and even Koko who had picked up the doll, all stared at the scene with our mouths open.

Thud.

And then we watched as the claw dropped the doll toward the exit.

Kaoru quickly bent down and took out the doll.

“Koko, you got it!”

“I got it?”

Koko tilted her head.

“Here.”

When Kaoru put the doll in Koko’s arms, Koko blinked and looked at the doll.

“Mine?”

“Yes. It’s yours.”

At Kaoru’s words, Koko’s face brightened.

“Kuro!”

“Huh?”

“It’s Kuro!”

“Oh, is that the doll’s name?”

“…We have a cat named Kuro at home. Its fur color is almost the same as that doll.”

“Oh, I see.”

Kaoru nodded immediately.

“A cat?”

Izumi, who had been listening to the conversation, asked.

“Yes.”

“Wow, really? That must be cute!”

Seeing her eyes sparkle, she seems to really like cats.

“Can I come see it sometime?”

Um…

Is that… okay?

I don’t think I’ve shown my house to anyone except Yuka and Yamashita. Except for Teacher Suzuki who came looking for me.

“…I don’t mind.”

Well, it should be fine.

As long as she doesn’t run into Kagami when she comes to the house, it shouldn’t be a problem.

“Yes, I’ll definitely come someday!”

Izumi said with sparkling eyes.

Is it that exciting?

Kaoru looked at the two of us with a warm expression.

She must have a history with cats.. Maybe she had a cat when she was young that passed away. If so, I can understand this reaction.

“Ah.”

Suddenly there was a sound from the claw machine, and we all turned to look. The machine was signaling game over due to time expiration while no one was touching it.

Well, it doesn’t matter since we already got one.

Seeing her hugging the doll tightly to her chest, I’m glad I brought her out.

*

Yuka joined us in the evening.

I arrived home on Sunday, and on Monday, I didn’t bother going out and just rested well.

Although I had been lying down in the hospital all the time, there was a big difference between resting in the hospital and resting at home. In the hospital, I had to see nurses and doctors, and my friends were around too.

So, Yuka and I had only been apart for just one day since we last saw each other.

At first, I felt a bit sorry about calling her, but Yuka’s expression was quite bright when we met.

Since Yuka was the one who first approached me at school, I keep forgetting that in the original work, Yuka was a child who didn’t make friends often. She rarely had the chance to make friends because she kept changing schools.

Honestly, if it was within Tokyo, I wonder if there was really a need to change schools so often… Well, everyone has their circumstances.

Maybe she had transferred from regions far beyond Tokyo.

Anyway, Yuka didn’t have many friends, and in the novel, there were several descriptions of how much she valued relationships because of this.

She was a child who would risk her life to protect even those who competed over Sasaki, like Hagiwara and Nakahara, considering them friends. So she must consider Kaoru and Izumi, whom she became friends with earlier, as precious friends too.

Yuka, who approached us waving her hand from a distance, looked at Koko who was hugging the doll tightly.

Koko, holding Kuro, whose black fur must have absorbed a lot of heat, looked extremely happy. Though she was covered in sweat.

“Yu-chan, it’s been a while!”

“Hello, Kaneko senpai.”

“Yu-chan?”

“Ah, right.”

Kaoru looked at Koko, who was tilting her head, and said she had forgotten, then,

“Yu-chan is a nickname, but…”

Seeing Yuka tilting her head while watching the conversation between Koko and Kaoru, Kaoru said,

“It seems like using different names in front of Koko confuses her. We’re calling each other by our names now, is that okay?”

“By names?”

Yuka’s eyes widened slightly.

Then she looked at me and Koko alternately and quickly nodded.

“I’m fine with that.”

“Great, then I’ll call you Yuka from today!”

“Yes.”

Yuuki… no, Yuka nodded and smiled slightly.

“Kotone.”

“Yes.”

This isn’t the first time Yuka has called me by just my name.

Previously, when I came out after being interrogated by Miura’s father, she had called out my name in surprise when I woke her up as she was dozing off in the corridor.

I was already convinced that she was calling me by my name in her heart, but now we’re openly on a first-name basis.

Koko did a great job.

“Yuka.”

“Yes.”

When I called her name as if to confirm, Yuka nodded with a smile.

“By the way, Kaoru senpai.”

Yuka asked after listening to the two of them talking.

“Have you two been close friends since childhood?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Kaoru nodded.

“Then why do you call us by nicknames, but call Izumi senpai by her name?”

“Oh, that?”

Kaoru chuckled and said,

“Izumi was also ‘I-chan’ when she was young.”

This was the first time I’d heard this.

I turned my head to look at Izumi, who was looking around uncomfortably and said,

“Honestly, isn’t that a nickname too childish?”

“Why? It’s cute and nice.”

“…”

But despite Kaoru’s words, Izumi just slightly turned her head and didn’t want to say more.

Well, if she doesn’t want to talk about it, there’s nothing we can do.

Seeing that Kaoru doesn’t take it too seriously, it’s probably not an extremely serious reason. It’s likely just that it really doesn’t match her personal taste.

The conversation paused briefly.

We all shifted our gaze outside the window.

The sight of Tokyo as the sun was setting was quite beautiful. Although the Tokyo Tower observatory couldn’t be said to be overwhelmingly higher than the nearby skyscrapers, the red sunset shining between the buildings made it worth coming up here.

Yes, sometimes we needed time like this to relax and enjoy with peace of mind.

Constantly bleeding wasn’t exactly pleasant for the one experiencing it.

*

Kaneko and Izumi went home first.

Both of them lived not far from here.

Izumi hadn’t forgotten that I was raising a cat, and she seemed to want to come see Kuro even today, but she didn’t just show up unannounced.

“…Kotone.”

Seeming to like being able to call me by my name, Yuka called my name with a faint smile.

“Yes, Yuka.”

I also called Yuka’s name once, as if to confirm.

Honestly, it doesn’t roll off the tongue yet. I’ve called her Yuuki for too long.

How should I put it, it’s as if Yuuki’s name suddenly changed to Yuka.

At least that’s how it felt to me.

“…”

I think I can understand a bit.

I also lived alone for a long time without friends or acquaintances.

No, that’s not right. There were quite a few people who tried to help me, but I pushed them away.

Just, how should I put it. I wanted to be alone.

I was like that for a while even after coming to this world, but… hmm.

Yuka probably felt the same way. She kept making friends only to part ways, over and over again.

She might have thought it was better not to get close to anyone from the start.

But she spoke to me.

Maybe Yuka sensed it too. That I was also a loner.

…

“We’ve been seeing each other a lot lately.”

Yuka shrugged at my words.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

“Yes. That’s right. Because we’re friends.”

“Friends…”

Yuka repeated my words as if savoring them.

“Yes, that’s right! Friends.”

Yuka smiled brightly.

This is the first time I’ve seen Yuka smile so brightly.

“Heh.”

Seeing Yuka’s face, Koko also smiled in response.

“…Then, let’s see each other again soon.”

Yuka said.

A greeting with a different feeling from the last time.

I nodded and smiled too.

“Yes. See you again.”

For the rest of the summer, I hope we can meet again for more trivial matters.