Ch.82Chapter 13. Training Camp (2)

Kukukuk.

…….

Hmm, that was probably a bit too cheerful.

I think being around cheerful teenage high school girls lately has rubbed off on me a bit.

Of course, given my personality, I wouldn’t actually make such sounds out loud. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I laughed out loud. It’s been that long.

I rarely laugh even when watching funny videos. I might think something is amusing, but for some reason, I don’t laugh.

I don’t know why, but somehow I feel like if I keep spending time with those girls, I might get better at it someday.

Anyway.

I would never actually chuckle out loud like that, but the situation itself somewhat warranted that kind of laughter.

“Kotone?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded in response to Koko calling my name.

Of course, I knew that her calling my name wasn’t really calling me. Rather than definitely calling for me, she was probably just curious about what I was doing.

“Koko, stand here.”

“Okay.”

When I positioned Koko in front of the bathroom mirror, she responded like that and looked at my reflection. She could see me without having to turn her head, which was probably why.

It would be quite eerie if you didn’t know Koko was standing beside me.

When Koko and I sit quietly together with our mouths shut, it’s absolutely impossible to tell us apart by appearance. If anyone claims they can, they’re just deluding themselves.

There’s a very simple and logical reason for this.

We aren’t actually twins—Koko is just perfectly mimicking the appearance I’ve shown her.

I can’t claim that every single strand of hair is identical, but then again, no one identifies people by the position of individual hair strands.

I’ve considered that our fingerprints might be subtly different, but Japan doesn’t collect fingerprints when establishing a person’s identity. To be precise, as far as I know, South Korea is about the only country where everyone must get an ID card at a certain age and have all ten fingerprints taken in the process.

Since even the simplest and most straightforward way to tell us apart isn’t registered anywhere, other methods like vein patterns on the back of the hand or iris recognition are even more impossible.

Even if it were possible, they wouldn’t have fingerprint recognition equipment at school anyway.

So, we were currently testing this.

“……”

I stood silently next to Koko.

When Koko turned her head toward me, I told her, “Just look at the mirror for a moment.” Koko looked at me through the mirror again.

We’re identical.

No matter how I look at it, we’re identical. The bathroom’s lighting was dimmer than the room’s, which made it even more eerie. Two identical girls wearing the same black sailor uniforms.

Doesn’t it seem like something out of a horror movie?

Click.

I took out my phone and captured the image.

Another photo was added to the few I already had.

“Hmm.”

Phone camera quality is rather poor.

Well, I suppose it’s decent for this era. The image fills the phone screen without pixelation, and even if I transferred it to a computer of this era, the quality would probably be fine.

But in about five years, it would probably look tiny on a computer screen.

Maybe I should buy a camera.

In the 2000s, film cameras would still be around. Of course, early digital cameras were just starting to become available, but I’m concerned about their pixel count.

An automatic film camera—I might be able to buy a used one extremely cheaply during this era. I should check Akihabara later.

They sell for strangely high prices in 2024, so if I don’t like it, I could just store it in a warehouse for about 20 years and then sell it at an inflated price on something like eBay.

Well, if I invested in Bitcoin instead, I could make enough money that none of this would matter.

“……”

Come to think of it, will all the events that happened in the future of the world I lived in happen exactly the same way in this world’s future?

Like natural disasters.

…I should prepare in advance.

“Kotone?”

I finally snapped out of it when Koko called me.

She was staring at me as I was lost in thought, looking at the photo on my phone.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing—”

As I was saying that.

Oh, right.

I remembered why I had Koko standing there in the first place.

Alright then.

“Kotone?”

“…?”

When I tilted my head like Koko and imitated her childlike way of speaking, Koko immediately looked at me with a confused expression.

“Kotone?”

And her second “Kotone?” had urgency and bewilderment mixed in.

…….

I guess doing this in front of Koko might be a bit problematic.

“…Want some snacks?”

“Yes!”

Before she could get more confused, I decided to go back to being “Kotone.”

Well, at least I could imitate her well enough to confuse her.

I’m not sure how it would look to other people, though.

*

But still, I needed to make sure.

If Koko couldn’t develop enough skill to match Hanakawa’s entrance exam requirements within a week, I might have to take the exam in her place.

And I thought—no, I was certain—that’s exactly what would happen.

Even though Koko was smarter than I expected and absorbed knowledge at a rate comparable to how she inhaled food, she wasn’t like someone with savant syndrome who could remember everything after reading it once.

I had to teach her difficult kanji multiple times, and sometimes she couldn’t focus on studying and got distracted. Well, I wasn’t teaching her that diligently either.

Anyway, that’s why I would pretend to be Koko and take the exam, having at least studied the first semester of high school.

The person taking her would be…

…Kagami should be fine, yes.

I felt even more guilty about making her play the villain at school too. But anyway. There was no other way.

To justify it, a guardian was necessary. Kagami would be registered as the legal guardian for both Koko and me. Though Yuka helped sort out Koko’s identity, I doubt she would have made anyone other than Kagami Koko’s guardian.

If I could just get into the school without being discovered, taking the exam would be simple.

After the exam, I’d just return home with Kagami, and that would be it.

…It actually seems so simple that it’s scary. Although I’ve only had one real job besides part-time work, I’ve found that things that seem “simple” often lead to unexpected complications when you actually do them.

Knock knock.

While I was pondering this, there was a knock at the door.

“Kotone, are you in there?”

I got up and went to the door.

Click.

When I opened it, there was Yuka, loaded down with various packages.

…She didn’t need to bring anything.

She must have stopped by a store on the way, as the bags in her hands contained snacks and bread.

“Yuka!”

Koko shouted and stood up.

“Hello.”

Yuka smiled and entered the room.

Looking again, I noticed she was carrying her school bag in her other hand. The angular bag was bulging to its limits. It was surely filled with notebooks and books.

She might wonder why I called her over first thing in the morning when I had said I didn’t want to ask for her help.

I feel a bit wronged about this.

I had tried to avoid asking Yuka for help from Thursday to Sunday if possible.

For those four days, only Koko and Kuro would be in the room. Given Yuka’s kind nature, she would want to look after them for at least that day, and how could I shamelessly call her over? Even I couldn’t be that inconsiderate.

The decisive reason Yuka came here was the email we exchanged yesterday.

*

[Is everything okay?]

Yuka often sent me emails like that for no particular reason. Yesterday was no exception.

I suppose since she had become my friend and knew I was in a less-than-ideal situation, she periodically checked in like this.

[I’m fine. Nothing special.]

Naturally, that’s how I replied.

But as it happened, yesterday’s email wasn’t just casual chitchat like usual—it had a clear purpose.

[So… the vacation is almost over. I was thinking.]

Yuka’s email was much more serious than usual.

[When school starts again, what are you planning to do with Koko?]

I stared at that email for a while.

It was definitely the kind of concern Yuka would have.

In the original story, she was outwardly somewhat cold but inwardly kinder and more caring than anyone, but here, where the story had changed subtly… no, in many ways significantly, Yuka had become someone who could honestly express her concerns.

If asked to pinpoint exactly where this change in her mindset began, I couldn’t really explain it well.

While I was lost in thought and missed the timing to reply to her email, another message came from Yuka.

[If you really have nowhere to leave her, we could look into options for you.]

“……”

I rubbed my face with my dry hands after reading that email.

I had actually intended to hide the fact that Koko would be taking the entrance exam. If it were Yuka, or any of my friends, they would all try to help somehow.

I was already accumulating debts to various people, and if I added more, it might become truly unbearable later.

I know they’re all helping me out of pity, like making donations.

But knowing something and accepting it are different things.

…The problem is.

[If we can’t find anything right away, we could look after her for a while.]

[Ah, sorry. Was I being too presumptuous?]

“……”

I pressed the bridge of my nose a couple of times with my fingers, then picked up my phone again and pressed the buttons to reply.

[She’s going to take the Hanakawa exam]

[Hanakawa? Koko?]

[Yes. So if she passes the exam, we can go to the same school]

[I’ll help!!!]

Yes, I knew that would happen.

*

Back to the present, Yuka was very cheerfully taking a snack out of the plastic bag, opening it, and placing it in Koko’s hand.

Koko, quite politely, kept looking at the snack bag but only put the snack that had been placed in her hand into her mouth.

How should I put it… Just like a puppy.

Well, kind Yuka wouldn’t actually treat Koko like a real puppy.

Rather… maybe she thinks of her like a younger sister.

Yuka is an only child.

Plus, she hasn’t made many friends her own age. She seems to have a few neighborhood friends, but she doesn’t have dozens of friend numbers saved in her phone like other kids her age. That was her setting in the original story too.

That’s why she cares so much about the connections around her, and among them, Koko was uniquely able to evoke her protective instincts.

“Koko already knows how to write and do basic arithmetic and multiplication tables.”

At my words, Yuka looked up at me with a bright smile.

“Really? That’s amazing, Koko!”

“Koko is amazing?”

“Amazing.”

“Amazing!”

Koko beamed at Yuka’s praise.

Yes, that’s why people want to help her.

I sat down near Koko and Yuka and said:

“The exam is on August 27th.”

“That’s a week away.”

Yuka replied with a somewhat serious expression.

“To be honest—”

“—No.”

Yuka interrupted what I was about to say.

“We should try our best until the end. This is the path you chose.”

Um…

“Yes, we don’t know if we’ll definitely succeed. But you want to go to school with Koko, right?”

“…Yes.”

That much is true.

I don’t distrust facilities… I know not all of them are bad, even though there are stories about mistreatment and abuse at some places.

More precisely, I didn’t trust Koko.

I’m not sure if it’s right to put it this way, but from my perspective, Koko hadn’t yet clearly grasped the rules of society.

I think she needs time to adapt gradually.

And for that, she needs people like me or other friends who can look after her and teach her.

“Let’s try our best for now, and if it doesn’t work out, we can think of other options then.”

“…Okay.”

Well…

I was planning to take the exam in her place.

But seeing Yuka looking at me with sparkling eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to say that. She would be terribly disappointed.

…….

Ah, I see.

Just as Yuka was influenced by me, I was being influenced by Yuka.

Probably by my other friends too.

“Today, I’ll try to teach her somehow. Just understanding letters and numbers opens up so many possibilities. Kotone, you’ve done something wonderful.”

“……”

At Yuka’s words, I couldn’t respond verbally and just nodded my head.

*

When you spend a long time isolated from people, you develop vulnerabilities not just in basic communication but in other areas as well.

Beyond the ability to speak and understand others, your self-assessment can’t be very objective. That’s natural. There’s almost no way to compare yourself with others.

So I had one big misconception about myself.

That I was taciturn and tight-lipped.

Well, I’m still somewhat taciturn. Among my friends, only Yamashita might be more reserved than me.

But being tight-lipped… hmm, I might need to revise that assessment.

“Koko is taking the Hanakawa High School entrance exam?”

Not long after leaving Koko with Yuka, I ended up telling Shii about it too.

The circumstances were similar to how I told Yuka.

“How is Koko doing?”

First, Shii asked such a question. Naturally, I answered that she was doing well, but Shii is a smart girl. She was already looking beyond that.

“What will happen to Koko after school starts…?”

After asking cautiously, Shii quickly closed her mouth when she saw my expression.

If Koko had been of elementary or middle school age, the government would have said something about sending her to school. At least after Yuka sorted out Koko’s identity.

The problem is, from what I found out, compulsory education in Japan only goes up to middle school. Since Koko is registered as being the same age as me, she’s a high school student.

Though people often forget because it’s such a common path, you can actually choose not to go to high school or drop out in the middle without any legal issues. You might be suspected of child neglect, but still.

Shii must have known this too, as she looked at me with extremely worried eyes, and eventually I couldn’t bear that gaze and ended up telling her that Koko would be taking the Hanakawa High School exam.

“How are the study preparations going?”

Shii’s face brightened as she asked me.

Both Yuka and Shii spoke as if they weren’t considering the possibility of Koko failing at Hanakawa. I found that a bit strange.

Well, if they thought Koko had some mental issues, it would be natural to speak positively to me, her sister.

Otherwise, they might step into a trap where only the speaker ends up looking like trash.

…If you asked me whether Yuka or Shii thought that way, I don’t think they did, but still.

“…Yuka is helping.”

“I see…”

Shii briefly gazed into space, lost in thought.

*

Not surprisingly, Shii and I soon got time off work this week.

It seems Shii wanted to help too, but couldn’t bring herself to say it directly to me.

There was already someone helping, and perhaps as a middle schooler, she felt hesitant about offering to help her senior’s younger sister.

“…You want to take time off to help your younger sister?”

Having already created so many gaps throughout the summer vacation, I thought the manager might not allow it, but he asked with a somewhat surprised expression.

“She’s taking your school’s exam?”

“Yes, since she couldn’t properly attend school for a semester…”

There were other issues like attendance days, but I decided to assume those would be resolved somehow. Maybe through supplementary classes or something? Similar settings appeared in light novels and manga sometimes. Whether that’s how it actually works, I don’t know.

“What’s your sister… like?”

I didn’t expect the manager to ask this far.

No, more than that, I didn’t expect him to ask with such a serious expression. The manager usually wore a bored and annoyed expression except when making coffee.

“…She has borderline intellectual functioning.”

“……”

The manager stared at me for a while without continuing.

His lips moved slightly, then he covered his mouth with one hand.

Though his expression didn’t particularly change above that, my words seemed to have shocked him more than I expected.

“So those times you were hospitalized…”

No, that’s unrelated.

What is he thinking? Does he think I collapsed from overwork trying to support my sister?

I did rest after being discharged, but that wasn’t because of that. It was the beginning of the semester, and I wasn’t living with Koko then.

I was hospitalized again that day, but that was because of the track team.

But since that seemed better than saying I collapsed from excessive bleeding after cutting my wrist, I decided to say nothing.

No, more than that.

Why is he reacting this way to the mention of a sister when he’s usually so indifferent?

Could the manager have some related story of his own?

“…Take some time off. No, teach your sister well and make sure she gets into school.”

“…Thank you.”

But just as the manager doesn’t pry into my affairs, I decided not to pry into his.

That’s the rule of this place.

“…Shii.”

“Yes!”

“Could you help a little, perhaps?”

And I asked Shii too.

“Of course!”

As a result, Shii also ended up helping teach Koko.

I’m not sure whether to be happy or sorry about this.

For now, I decided to part ways with Shii. Sasaki needed to know how things had developed too. Shii would probably explain it well.

So, feeling somewhat tired, I took the train back to Saitama when my pocket vibrated.

When I checked, there was an email from Yamashita.

[How are you doing?]

Looking at the simply written email, I somehow felt a sense of déjà vu about how the conversation would flow.

[I think I can help Koko]

And, strangely enough, the content of the next email I received seemed like an abbreviated version of Yuka’s email.