Ch.85Chapter 13. Training Camp (5)

I want to live like a human.

This was sincere.

I don’t know whose fault it is that I exist here. Or what kind of setting this is supposed to be.

But regardless, I am here, and so I just wanted to live. Like a human.

Unlike my previous life, I felt that this time I might be able to protect things with my own hands. Because now I had power.

After all, isn’t this a new life? Even if it’s a life prepared for someone else, even if my life ultimately ends in tragedy.

I just wanted to enjoy the time I was given.

Though I don’t know if things will work out well.

“You seem lost in thought.”

The person who spoke to me as I sat outside was Miura.

Should I call her an oriental beauty? I thought this last time too, but the yukata really suited her well.

In my previous life, I barely wore hanbok a few times, and now here I am in traditional Japanese clothing. My life is truly strange. Though I’m not sure if I should consider my previous and current lives as “one.”

Sitting down next to me on the bench, Miura handed me a drink. It was coffee milk. In a glass bottle.

…Ah, I remember now.

Sometimes in manga or animation, characters who came out of the bath would drink coffee milk in bottles. When I came out of the bathhouse, I used to drink banana milk. Is it similar here?

I opened the cold bottle, which must have just been taken out of the refrigerator, and drank the contents. The rich aroma of coffee filled my mouth. The smooth yet slightly thick feeling of milk gently coated my throat. The milk, sweetened with plenty of sugar, had just the right sweetness for drinking after coming out of a bath.

Though we had already been out of the bath for a while. Well, what does it matter? As long as it tastes good.

“Is it because of Koko?”

Miura asked.

“…”

I hesitated to answer for a moment.

Rather than “because of Koko,” it would be more accurate to say that all the reasons combined were creating a complex feeling.

The future felt distant. Kudan’s prophecy that I heard last time still vividly appears in my mind. I’m just a little scared because I don’t know when or how it will happen.

If you ask if I’m afraid, yes, I am. But at the same time, there’s a strangely calm part of me. Like, I’ve already died once, so what’s the big deal?

Rather, I’m more afraid of losing the people around me. I’m already clearly aware that there’s a possibility of that.

Because I acted, Koko was kidnapped, and Nakahara got involved. If we had come out even a little later, if Hagiwara hadn’t moved, Nakahara would certainly have died.

Miura too, if I hadn’t acted, would probably have died.

I’ve been thinking about it constantly. What would have happened if I hadn’t taken over this body, the person known as Kotone Kurosawa.

If Miura, whom I had just met and was starting to become friends with, had suddenly died.

“Kurosawa?”

“…Huh?”

As I was about to sink back into my thoughts, Miura pulled me out.

“Are you worried?”

“…No.”

I’m not worried about Koko.

She might even enter school with a much higher score than expected. If anything, that’s what concerns me a bit.

Why does Koko appear so childlike when she has the intelligence to learn and understand things?

She must have already experienced terrible things.

“Koko will be fine.”

Unable to properly interpret the meaning of “no” in my answer, Miura said that.

I silently nodded and drank more coffee milk. I felt a bit more awake. Maybe it was the caffeine.

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence.

Miura sat beside me, hesitating to speak while glancing at me. I just left her be. If I turned my head toward her and asked if she had something to say, I felt like she would just withdraw whatever she wanted to talk about.

Miura composed herself, took a small breath in and out.

Then, with a slightly embarrassed expression, she said:

“Um, you call Yuka by her first name, right? And the literature club… seniors too.”

Ah, so that’s what this is about.

…Ironically, Miura was the first peer I talked to after coming here. I did speak with Teacher Suzuki before that, but that was more of a procedural matter.

“Have you… known those people for a long time?”

“…No.”

At my answer, Miura hesitated to speak again.

As if wondering whether she should say what she was thinking, she remained silent for a while. I patiently waited for her to speak.

“Then, we’ve known each other for quite a while too, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, would it be okay if we called each other by our first names? Both of us.”

“…Sure.”

I’m not Japanese by birth. In fact, in my previous life, my connection to Japan was mostly through exaggerated and unrealistic content like manga, light novels, and animation. You know what? I haven’t even watched Japanese dramas or movies. The only songs I listened to were anime songs, not regular pop songs.

So, having directly experienced this culture for less than half a year, I don’t know how close people need to be to call each other by their first names.

In my previous life, once we knew each other’s names, we naturally just called each other by name.

It’s probably as difficult as foreigners trying to understand Korean honorifics.

“Well then.”

Miura closed her mouth for a moment, then took a small breath.

“Kotone-chan, is that okay?”

It felt a bit ticklish.

Indeed, I don’t understand how honorifics after names determine how distant or close people are. Even if I come to understand it later, with the memories of my previous life, I’ll probably still find it somewhat awkward.

“Mako… chan.”

At my words, Mako slightly raised the corners of her lips and smiled.

It seems my response was the right one.

I lifted the bottle and emptied the remaining coffee milk into my mouth.

*

We returned on August 25th.

The children who had stayed together at the camp agreed that “we should rest well at least one day before the exam.” And I agreed with that opinion.

Well, Koko didn’t seem like someone who would get tired or have her condition deteriorate because of such things, but still, you never know.

“Good luck with the exam.”

Yuka, who had accompanied us until the end, said as she placed her hands on both our shoulders.

“Yes.”

“Uu!”

We both nodded simultaneously.

Yuka looked at both our faces alternately with a slightly regretful expression, but it was time for her to head back. Actually, it was a bit of a stretch for Yuka to accompany us. We live in Saitama, not Tokyo.

Well, considering the number of people who commute from here to Tokyo, it’s not an impossible distance. But still, it’s over an hour away.

“Then… see you when school starts.”

I nodded at Yuka’s words. Koko tilted her head.

School starting.

If Koko passes the exam, we’ll both head to school together in the morning.

What would the neighborhood people think if they saw two identical-looking girls, holding the same bags, happily walking to school hand in hand?

It was a somewhat amusing image.

…That’s right.

I used to take my little sister to school, and after school, I would pick her up from the community center’s after-school program and take her home again.

Back then, she listened to me so well. When did she become so grumpy?

“Kotone?”

As I was staring blankly in the direction where Yuka had disappeared, Koko called out to me, tilting her head.

“…Yes, let’s go in.”

Kuro meowed “Myaa~” from inside the cage I was holding. Maybe he was tired of riding the subway for so long.

This time too, we had left him at Yuka’s place.

Really, I’m always indebted to her.

With one hand holding Koko’s hand and the other holding Kuro’s cage, I climbed the stairs.

I inserted the key into the door and turned it sideways.

Naturally, the room was a bit stuffy. No air conditioning or anything, and we had closed the windows just in case.

But still, it was our home.

Yes. Not a place with nothing, but a home full of traces of me living, and Koko and Kuro staying.

It’s strange, isn’t it?

When I first came here, it was just a place I lived in because I had to live somewhere.

But with friends visiting and Koko living together, it has become a place I want to return to as quickly as possible.

Now I don’t even care about ghosts or whatever.

“…I’m home.”

“Uu?”

As I muttered to myself, Koko tilted her head beside me.

I smiled slightly as I put down the cage and opened the door.

Kuro, who had been crouching inside, jumped out and stretched with his front paws extended forward. His face looked a bit ugly as he opened his mouth wide to yawn.

Then he quickly jumped onto the folded futon in the corner of the room, curled up, and sat down as if it was the most natural thing.

“I’m home?”

As I was staring blankly at Kuro, Koko followed me, slightly bowing her head and saying that.

I got up, gently patted Koko’s head, and went into the room to open the window.

*

“…”

“…”

Teacher Suzuki’s gaze is piercing.

“Miss Kurosawa.”

“Yes.”

“And…”

Teacher Suzuki hesitated for a moment as she looked at Koko, who was also a “Kurosawa” just like me. She seemed to be contemplating how to address her.

“Koko-san.”

She finally compromised by adding an honorific after the name. Well, since we’ll both be at school, we’ll need to be distinguished.

And most people who see Koko call her by her name. They probably assume she wouldn’t understand otherwise. I understand, but still.

“Uu?”

Sitting next to me, Koko tilted her head. She was still in casual clothes.

Yes, to be honest, I thought something like this might happen. That’s why last time when we came for the exam, I deliberately had Koko in casual clothes and myself in school uniform.

And it’s the same now.

In Teacher Suzuki’s hand was an exam paper.

The teachers’ office seemed quite quiet and leisurely. I don’t really know what teachers do during vacation periods. I heard somewhere that they use up all their accumulated leave at once. I also heard they take turns coming to work, and that’s why their salary is a bit less than when they’re teaching students.

Well, I don’t know anyone who works as a teacher, so I can’t verify that. But one thing for sure is that the atmosphere in this teachers’ office isn’t as bustling as during the semester.

The seat next to Teacher Suzuki was empty today too. Judging by all the files and teaching materials piled on the desk, it seems the seat does have an owner.

Anyway, Teacher Suzuki, upon seeing us, pulled chairs from her side and across from her, creating two seats in front of her, and had us sit side by side.

With her thin but distinct eyebrows slightly furrowed, contemplating how to start the conversation, Teacher Suzuki carefully opened her mouth.

“Miss Kurosawa.”

“Yes.”

I answered in a clear voice when Teacher Suzuki called me again, seemingly unable to speak right away. Teacher Suzuki then spoke with a somewhat resolved expression.

“I understand that you want to attend school with your sister. You’re probably anxious and worried.”

“Yes.”

That’s right. That’s why I even considered pretending to be Koko and taking the exam in her place.

…And if I had, I probably would have scored a bit lower than Koko. Except for Japanese-related subjects.

That’s a bit humiliating to think about.

“But… still, you shouldn’t cheat. Right?”

“Yes.”

…This is unfair.

To be honest, I came to school thinking this might be the conversation.

Today is August 30th. School starts in just two days. It seems a bit tight for entrance exam results, but Hanakawa High School has classes on Saturdays too. The teachers probably come to work then as well. Since school is about to start.

I don’t know the details, but Koko was the only one who took the entrance exam. Since she was essentially transferring, they probably expected the exam result to be a “pass” anyway.

In that sense, Koko was outside their expectations.

Teacher Suzuki, though not with bad intentions, seemed to have imagined that Koko wouldn’t pass. She had mentioned it once before when discussing the application.

A child who appears to have borderline intelligence, and doesn’t seem to have attended high school before. It’s even questionable if she properly attended elementary or middle school. And the only mother figure was none other than Kagami.

…If she thought that, it wasn’t wrong. Koko had been dismembered and kept in a freezer for quite a long time.

But Koko’s intelligence was beyond my expectations as well.

“This exam, did you… take it for her?”

Teacher Suzuki asked as if she felt bad for even asking.

“I didn’t take it.”

I had considered it. If Yuka hadn’t intervened, I probably would have taken it. Fortunately, thanks to Yuka, we were able to pass through the proper method.

“…”

“Really.”

I stared at Teacher Suzuki as I spoke.

Though my expression was blank, my unwavering gaze seemed to pierce Teacher Suzuki’s heart like an awl. She flinched.

“But, Miss Kurosawa.”

Teacher Suzuki said as she spread out two answer sheets side by side for me to see.

The answers to the subjective questions.

Different words were written, but at a glance, one could tell.

…The handwriting on Koko’s exam paper looked very similar to mine.

“Uwa?”

When I glanced at Koko, she tilted her head.

For reference, my Japanese handwriting is somewhat peculiar. If I had to define it in one word, it would be “poor handwriting.”

You know how it is, right? When Koreans use Hangul, the consonants and vowels don’t usually get separated and fly around. Many people even connect them as if writing in cursive.

That’s not a specific method; it’s just how people end up writing after doing it that way for a long time since childhood.

But for me, katakana or kanji are somewhat unfamiliar characters. No matter how well I can derive the answer in my head, sometimes the characters get separated as if they’re broken apart, or they get distorted because I can’t fit them into an imaginary square.

Still, I think they’re recognizable.

So, to put it nicely, it was distinctive.

“…This…”

I tried to come up with an answer in my head.

“I taught Koko my handwriting.”

“…I see.”

Teacher Suzuki spoke gently, but she still didn’t seem to fully trust me.

I see.

Come to think of it, we could have been caught this way. Even if the answer sheet had been all multiple choice, I would have had to write the name myself.

Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. I was really stupid.

And at the same time, I wanted to pat Koko’s head and praise her for doing well. I barely held back.

“Then, may I ask for one favor?”

Teacher Suzuki spoke as gently as possible, as if it wasn’t my fault. It was clear she was trying to ensure I wouldn’t worry.

Even if I had really taken the exam for Koko, Teacher Suzuki seemed like she would overlook it without making a big deal.

…In reality, it would be a big enough issue to turn the school upside down.

Teacher Suzuki gave me a file with a hard cover and a sheet of paper. And a pen on top of it.

“Here, could you write your name?”

“…”

I silently took the paper and, trying not to write too neatly, scribbled my name.

Kotone Kurosawa (黒沢琴音).

Teacher Suzuki nodded after seeing the writing, then took the file from me and placed it on Koko’s lap.

“Uwa?”

When Koko looked at Teacher Suzuki, she smiled gently as if to reassure her and said:

“Here, could you write your name, Koko-san?”

She pointed to the space below where I had written my name.

“Kotone?”

Koko looked at me and asked.

“Do as she says.”

When I said that, Koko, though tilting her head as if she didn’t understand why she was doing this, wrote her name below mine.

Koko Kurosawa (黒沢ココ).

A name that wasn’t even in kanji. A name I had given her quite casually, but Koko acted as if she really liked it.

“…”

Teacher Suzuki carefully took the file and pen.

And compared the two handwritings.

The two kanji characters for “Kurosawa” looked completely identical even to Teacher Suzuki’s eyes.

“Yes, I see.”

Teacher Suzuki said, seeming a bit relieved.

I also exhaled softly.

“Uwa?”

Only Koko kept tilting her head, as if she didn’t understand what had just happened.