Ch.99Chapter 15. Daily Life (3)

Sometimes when you’re living your adult life, you have those thoughts.

Wanting to go back to your student days.

But when I actually consider going back, I quickly shake my head as I remember all the things I had to do or couldn’t do back then.

As a student, I couldn’t drink alcohol, and had to do what I wanted within the small allowance I received from my parents.

After becoming an adult and starting to live alone, nobody cared what or how I ate, and no one complained about how I spent whatever money remained after using my salary for living expenses.

There was the pressure of being responsible for myself. I had to make a living somehow, and save money in case I needed to go to the hospital. But that wasn’t a big problem if I saved a bit of my salary each month. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to use in emergencies.

I never thought I’d miss my mother’s nagging. It felt nice to occasionally visit home and see my family, but I didn’t like hearing things like “make sure you eat properly” or “clean your place properly.”

Even family members suddenly visiting my place wasn’t always pleasant.

But—

It’s strange.

Those sounds that were so irritating and annoying when I could hear them anytime, I now miss them when I think I’ll never hear them again.

I didn’t feel relieved at all. I even desperately missed my little sister sometimes, despite how much we used to bicker.

Thinking about it coldly, hearing that nagging again wouldn’t suddenly make me happy.

But, just, sometimes, I wanted to see them again.

I missed those faces—not the ones frozen in my intense memories that were eating away at my family’s memory, but the ones that would get angry at me, annoy me, and smile at me.

Maybe that’s why I missed my school days so badly.

If I actually went back, I would have complained about studying during exam periods and been frustrated about not being able to do everything I wanted.

But even so, I wanted to see my family again, even if I might regret it afterward.

“Kotone.”

“…Yuka.”

Hanakawa High School’s field is quite spacious. Even though it’s a private high school, the field is basically a sand lot. I’ve thought about why, and I think it reflects the school’s desire to use the field for multiple purposes.

If they put grass in the middle, it would require maintenance and couldn’t be used casually. And artificial turf would make it difficult to draw lines and such.

So I think they maintain this form to use it for “multiple purposes.”

In the corner of the school field, there were cement stairs. There were alternating stairs for people to climb and thicker steps good for sitting, where students were supposed to sit to watch athletic events.

They had put up a tent, and although the weather was cool enough to say that midsummer had passed, the sun was still hot.

As the afternoon came and teacher supervision loosened, kids gradually scattered to find cooler places.

The reason Koko and I remained here… was actually nothing special. I just didn’t want to feel uncomfortable mixing with other kids. This was also the only place suitable for lying down.

Taking advantage of the homeroom teacher’s loosened supervision, Yuka came to my side and handed me a bottle. The 500ml bottle with a blue band showing the brand was filled with a pale ion drink.

It was a drink I liked. Perhaps it was inevitable that I came to like sports drinks. After working and sweating all over my body, I would crave drinks like this.

Was it a coincidence that Yuka gave me this?

I thought back carefully. The answer came simply.

While hanging out with friends, I have bought things to eat. Especially Yuka, who visited our home often.

When we went shopping together and bought snacks, she could have seen what drinks I chose.

The novel described Yuka as having keen observation skills.

“Um… what’s wrong? Don’t you like the drink?”

Yuka asked that as I was staring at her while holding the bottle.

I shook my head.

“No, I like it.”

“I see.”

Yuka let out a small breath. A sigh of relief?

I opened the bottle and poured the drink into my mouth without hesitation.

The drink with its subtle taste—not too sweet, not too sour—went down my throat.

A refreshing feeling, as if replenishing some of the sweat I had shed from running around earlier.

Yuka also drank from her own bottle.

“Phew.”

After gulping down her drink for a while, Yuka let out a slight breath. Then with a slightly revived expression, she looked at me.

“How’s your class doing? Are they doing well?”

“Mm.”

I think only dodgeball survived.

Since the relay race is at the end of the sports festival. We lost everything else in the middle.

I didn’t really mind, but the boys seemed a bit upset. Though not all of them, I think. Even though I was a boy too, I never really cared whether our class won at the high school sports festival.

“Ugh.”

Koko, who had been running around enthusiastically cheering all morning and continued to be the most enthusiastic member of the cheering team until the dodgeball semifinals in the afternoon, finally collapsed.

Now she was with me under the tented part of the stands. I was sitting, and Koko was lying next to me.

She had rolled up her gakuran that she took off because of the heat and was using it as a makeshift pillow.

Koko, who had been confidently napping on the hard cement, rubbed her eyes and got up.

Did she smell the drinks?

“Here.”

Yuka had thoughtfully brought a drink for Koko too. Sweet strawberry milk, different from what Yuka and I were drinking.

“Wow!”

Koko, who likes eating anything, happily accepted the milk Yuka handed her.

Although Koko initially had a strange fixation on things like cat food, she seems to have learned what foods taste good as she developed social skills. These days, Koko definitely preferred sweet foods.

Of course, that doesn’t mean she rejects other foods. Even now, Koko sometimes looks enviously at Kuro eating cat food. Whenever that happens, I quickly put something in Koko’s mouth. We have quite a few snacks at home for such emergencies.

It’s not that she dislikes other food, she just likes ‘human’ food more.

She still has a long way to go.

I don’t know if such quirks of Koko’s will completely disappear even if we go all the way, but I should try as much as I can.

“…”

“You look deep in thought.”

Yuka said as I was quietly looking at Koko.

I did have a lot on my mind.

I had returned to the school days I longed for, but it was a bit different from what I had imagined.

It might be shining brighter than the years I lived through. At least when I was in high school, I never saved anyone or fought monsters threatening daily life. And I didn’t have girls around me.

But… if you asked if it overlapped with the reasons I wanted to go back, I don’t think it does.

And yet, looking at Koko eagerly eating something next to me, hmm.

“…Just thinking.”

I couldn’t tell her everything I was feeling, so I just answered like that.

Yuka didn’t seem inclined to pry further.

She just quietly stayed by my side.

We leisurely drank our beverages.

And, thinking slowly, I came to one conclusion.

Yes. The life I gained here wasn’t the kind of life I wanted in my previous life. Perhaps, back then, I just wanted to restore what I had lost.

And I probably wanted to meet those lost beings again and live with them.

That day will never come. Even if my family exists on this side too, those people wouldn’t be ‘my’ family.

If those people exist, there would be another ‘me’ here too. There would be no place for Kotone Kurosawa to fit in.

However—

The beings I somehow acquired, though I didn’t particularly wish for them.

My friends including Yuka, my relationships with people around me, Koko who has become almost like family, Kuro who has somehow become our house guardian, all of them—

I didn’t want to lose them again.

In my previous life, I lost everything without being able to do anything because I didn’t have the chance, but now it’s different.

Whatever comes at me, I have the strength to fight.

So, even if it’s not perfect, I’ll use all that strength to protect those around me.

So that I won’t lose everyone again and be left alone to reminisce about the past.

“…”

Even though I had given a vague answer, Yuka was still looking at me as if waiting for my response.

“…I was thinking about what to do for dinner tonight.”

That’s what I told Yuka.

The everyday life I will continue.

The everyday life I’ve been able to continue.

Although somewhat twisted and detached from reality, it was still somehow familiar and enjoyable, an everyday life I wanted to protect.

“Hmm, that’s right.”

Yuka very naturally picked up on my words and looked up at the sky.

After briefly being lost in thought while looking up at the deep blue autumn sky, Yuka smiled slightly.

“How about tonkatsu?”

“Tonkatsu!”

Koko next to me immediately reacted like that.

I had reacted like that too once. It was shortly after coming here.

When I first met the Sasaki siblings.

Although I only shouted it internally, if I hadn’t been hooked like that then, I wouldn’t have become as close to them as I am now.

“I don’t know if there’s one nearby, but if we look around hard enough, we should find one.”

I didn’t know if it would be a good restaurant or not, but it didn’t really matter.

If a place we try for the first time is delicious, we can go again next time, and if it’s not, we can find another place.

Just like human relationships, everything in life works the same way.

“What do you think?”

“Sounds delicious.”

Yuka laughed incredulously at my direct answer.

“Are you becoming like Koko?”

Yuka asked jokingly.

“Kotone, are you like Koko?”

I think we’re not just similar, we look identical.

Since our appearances are somewhat similar, wouldn’t it be fine if our speech patterns and thoughts were a bit similar too?

“Ah, the teacher is calling. If we stay here any longer, they’ll definitely come to get us. Despite appearances, that person knows how to be annoying.”

Hearing Yuka’s homeroom teacher shouting from a distance, Yuka got up.

“Koko, let’s go too.”

“Okay.”

“See you after the sports festival.”

“Sure.”

Yuka lightly waved her hand and walked away.

Koko and I waved back at her for quite a while.

*

The sports festival doesn’t just have the general sports we know.

There were events like “bring what’s written on the note” that Yuka ran in, and three-legged races.

And our class won the three-legged race.

“Go Harumi! Go Yuu!”

Mako, who had returned triumphantly after leading the dodgeball tournament to victory, was shouting enthusiastically next to me.

Originally, the cheering team was created because it seemed a bit awkward to leave students who weren’t participating in other events with nothing to do, but that doesn’t mean those on the cheering team couldn’t participate in other events.

For events like the three-legged race, which was more like a class competition by grade, there was no reason Harumi couldn’t participate.

And the person next to Harumi was none other than Yamashita.

Although Fukuda usually has quite a light attitude, she now wore a serious expression like Yamashita.

Is she competitive by nature? Well, Fukuda never just casually cheered either. That personality that gathered the cheering team kids after school to practice hard doesn’t just disappear.

Perhaps because they had known each other for a long time, their footsteps were perfectly in sync. Even with one leg tied together, they ran straight to the finish line with their arms around each other’s shoulders, and ultimately achieved first place.

“Hey, your daughter runs well, doesn’t she? Pretty impressive!”

“Hmm.”

Mr. Fukuda shouted while slapping Mr. Yamashita’s shoulder. Mr. Yamashita had a relatively calm expression, but he couldn’t completely hide the smile that slightly appeared on his lips.

“Yuu, you were amazing!”

“…”

Ms. Mori said with a bright smile to Yamashita, who was returning while wiping sweat with a towel.

Yamashita froze as if someone she wasn’t close with had suddenly spoken to her, but soon couldn’t help but show a faint smile.

I had wondered how Yamashita and her father resembled each other, but seeing this, their personalities seem quite similar.

After the first-year race, the second and third-year races followed.

In the second-year race, I could see quite familiar faces.

Kaoru and Izumi.

Ironically, their color contrast was just like looking at Fukuda and Yamashita. Of course, their impressions were quite different.

Even among kids who like to play, there are those who enjoy singing at karaoke and those who enjoy running around on the field.

Fukuda was the former, and Kaoru was the latter.

The same goes for Yamashita and Izumi. Yamashita liked looking at her phone, and Izumi liked reading books. And if we’re being specific, Yamashita doesn’t talk much, while Izumi is just shy.

Mako is between Fukuda and Yamashita, but who would be between Kaoru and Izumi? Yuka?

Well, there’s no need to compare them exactly the same way.

The results weren’t the same either. Unlike Fukuda and Yamashita, who ran as if they were one body and secured first place, Kaoru and Izumi fell right after taking a few steps.

It looked quite painful, are they okay?

But still, the two somehow got up and ran to the end. They ended up coming in last, but neither of them seemed to mind much.

Well, if they’re fine with it, that’s what matters.

After making it to the finish line well and having a brief pleasant conversation, the two started bickering for some reason, and watching them from a distance, I couldn’t help but smile.

*

And so, the competition ended.

Aware of the different physical abilities based on student ages, medals were awarded by grade for all events except the final relay race.

They didn’t receive actual medals, just certificates to hang in the classroom.

The representative receiving the first place award for the relay race was none other than Kaoru.

Kaoru’s performance, running like crazy as if to prove she was a former track and field club member, was markedly different from during the three-legged race earlier.

However, Kaoru herself seemed a bit disappointed.

Probably because the now “former” track and field club president didn’t participate in the competition.

That person must still be distracted. Although her sister was safely rescued, there might be aftereffects. Actually, it’s strange that I, Yuka, and Koko were discharged after just one day after being in such a place.

Anyway—

That’s how the day-long sports festival came to an end.

At first, I wondered why they would hold such an event on a Saturday, but once I participated, it was quite enjoyable.

After all the award ceremonies ended, we changed back into our uniforms and gathered in our classroom for a brief closing ceremony with Ms. Suzuki.

I exchanged greetings with friends. Everyone seemed to be planning to have dinner with their families.

“Kotone!”

And, me too.

As I came out of the school building with Koko, Yuka was waiting.

We had agreed to go eat tonkatsu earlier. Since we hadn’t decided on a specific restaurant, we could just enter any decent place we found along the way.

“Shall we go then?”

Yuka said that and took the lead. Even though this wasn’t her neighborhood.

Well, it doesn’t matter. This is Minato Ward, isn’t it? One of the most expensive areas in Tokyo, so there should be plenty of good places.

With Koko, who was visibly excited, we left the school.

The tonkatsu at the place we entered after wandering around for over 30 minutes was…

Well, just average.

“Delicious!”

No, if Koko says it’s delicious, then it must be. I decided to think it was delicious.

Thanks to Koko, who ate with repeated exclamations of delight, we even got free drinks from the owner.

…I thought about bringing Koko here occasionally in the future.

*

The Kurosawa sisters enjoy whatever you do for them.

The older sister, Kotone, despite appearances, has a straight backbone and a positive personality. No matter what happens, she eventually shakes it off and gets back up.

Koko goes without saying. It’s quite difficult to never smile while being around Koko.

That’s why Yuka liked the Kurosawa sisters. It felt like she became happy just by being next to them.

Even though Kotone seemed to attract various incidents—

“…What did you just say?”

—Of course, it’s not that Yuka didn’t notice those ‘incidents.’

She had her suspicions. The cult that Kotone’s mother supposedly belonged to was too dangerous an organization to just overlook.

However.

Yuka never thought there was a problem with Kotone herself.

It was just the surrounding environment that was the problem. The people troubling Kotone were the issue, not Kotone herself—saying otherwise would be too harsh on Kotone.

But it seems not everyone thinks that way.

After finishing a pleasant meal with the Kurosawa sisters and then going to a nearby shopping mall for some window shopping because they didn’t want to part ways yet, Yuka returned home to find Mr. Miura waiting.

“…So, Kotone…”

“It’s not that Kurosawa-san gets involved in incidents, but that incidents might occur because Kurosawa-san is there.”

Saying that, Mr. Miura laid out several photos on the table between them.

“…”

Grandfather and Father kept their mouths shut and stared at the photos with wide eyes.

The photos showed several bleeding people. They weren’t taken at the scene but in a hospital.

“No one died. But there are people who need to be hospitalized for a while due to serious injuries.”

“…These people are…?”

“The people who were interrupted that day.”

Mr. Miura answered Grandfather’s question.

“Local firefighters. …The people who should have responded to that fire. Not only were they injured, but some of the people who subdued the place also spread misinformation. They lied about responding through radio. In reality, they even punctured the fire truck’s tires and damaged some equipment.”

“…Why would they do this?”

“They thought they could harm Kurosawa-san by doing so. If not that, then they were testing it.”

“…You mean it was an experiment?”

“Nothing is certain yet. But at least— the person behind this can either create or summon yokai, one of the two.”

“…”

“At least they seem able to control the phenomenon itself. It still seems limited… but if they can do this definitively, we can imagine what might happen.”

We don’t know yet what those preparing this ultimately want to do.

But at least what will happen in the process is a story that all those who have hunted yokai have heard at least once.

“Modern Japan, especially Tokyo, has too much to lose.”

It’s not that there was nothing to lose in the past.

But now, there is ‘too much’ to lose.

“Even if it ends as terrorism limited to certain areas, it would be a big deal. So, if necessary.”

“…”

Yuka glared at Miura Masao.

But she couldn’t completely refute his words.

…Because that’s what Yuka, no, the Yuuki family had been doing all along.

Eliminating beings that came from beyond the human world.

If Kotone was related to such beings.

“Kotone was just caught up in the incidents. If someone wanted to use Kotone, why would they call her to a place where she could die?”

Yuka tried to argue.

“That’s why we’re still watching for now.”

Miura Masao said.

“We’ll observe a bit more, and take action if necessary.”

“…”

No one directly mentioned it. Even Miura Masao seemed to be thinking of his daughter.

“…I won’t let that happen.”

“…I hope you can ensure that.”

Miura Masao sighed slightly as if tired.

“But you know, things in this world don’t always go as we wish.”