We were guests, and Yuka’s bed was too small for two people to fit.
Yuka always tried to give her bed to us when I stayed at her house, but no matter how inconsiderate I might be, I had some decency.
I borrowed a blanket and lay down with Koko.
Well, it’s not like I fell asleep right away.
We rolled around in Yuka’s room, playing until late at night.
We ate snacks that Yuka had brought, fiddled with Kuro, and watched the oddly-tuned TV.
“Food is definitely meat.”
I’m not sure how we got onto that topic, but we were talking about what we liked.
“I like vegetables too. And fruit is good. But when it comes to eating, I think meat is the most delicious.”
“I agree.”
“Wow!”
Well, it’s a pretty obvious statement.
As we grow older, our vegetable intake does increase. Unless you’re someone with extremely picky tastes like I was in elementary school, you start eating more and more things beyond just meat, even if it’s just a little.
I also grew to really like side dishes, and I had come to enjoy items like lettuce for wraps. I don’t really know why.
However, when I came here, I went back to being someone who craved ‘meat.’
Is it because I’ve returned to my teenage self? Or maybe it’s a rebound from not being able to eat meat early on after coming here. Back then, I wouldn’t question anything if it was meat; I’d just go for it.
It’s not like I’m that way anymore, right?
“Movies? I mean, I do like big explosive ones, but I prefer the quieter ones. You know, movies with deep stories and such.”
Maybe it’s because she’s living in a surreal daily life, but Yuka said that.
She said the same goes for dramas. Instead of knife fights, she enjoys sweet stories about handsome male leads and pretty female leads falling in love.
If the setting was a school, even better.
She didn’t explicitly say it, but I could tell she longs for an ordinary school life.
…I see.
I thought as I stared blankly at the ceiling.
I wonder how it was in the original work.
If it’s the end of the light novel… Well, even if the backgrounds are similar in the stories, the endings differ greatly. But if we go by the formula, it’s plausible to think that this kind of anomaly would come to an end at the conclusion.
Or at least, something like “The greatest threat has been thwarted.”
If the character Kurosawa Koto Ne existed in the original work, it would certainly be like that. Koto Ne, driven mad by her misfortune, goes on a rampage, and the protagonist and heroine try to stop her… It must be a cliché to see a sorrowful last words from a villain with a troubled past while the naive protagonists lament together.
If I think that way, I can somewhat see the reason someone took me here.
Knowing the story but not its ending, having experienced so many depressing events, and not being the type to struggle desperately to avoid the end…
“How about you?”
“Eh?”
While I was lost in thought, Yuka spoke to me this time.
“What kind of movies do you like?”
“Me?”
I…
I didn’t really seem to discriminate by genre.
If it was a popular type of movie, I generally enjoyed it. Not that I was a movie buff who frequented cinemas, but I’d just flip through movie channels on my days off and end up watching whatever movie happened to be playing from the middle to end.
So I didn’t really know the overall story of many movies.
However, I definitely had a preference for endings.
“…Happy endings.”
I like movies where the protagonists struggle and eventually meet a happy ending at the end.
After all that suffering and achieving nothing would be too sad and gloomy.
No matter how harsh reality is said to be, there’s no need for movies to end sadly.
Life’s end is inevitably sad, isn’t it? Humans die, and we live separate lives.
At least I’d like the endings of the stories I hear to be at least happy.
“…”
“…Yuka?”
Yuka didn’t answer, so I called out to her.
“Uh, yeah?”
She seemed startled and replied, perhaps lost in her own thoughts.
“Ah, I see. Happy ending… Yeah, I also like movies with happy endings.”
Yuka said.
Among the games Yuka had given, there were indeed a few with gloomy endings. Well, I don’t think Yuka bought all those knowing their endings.
Honestly, popularly favored media tends to have happy endings anyway. At the time, the gaming market wasn’t as big as it is in the 2020s, so there weren’t many media to express dissatisfaction with the mishmash of the developers’ philosophies.
Was it the same in the 2000s?
Philosophy or realism, I didn’t really like any of them.
It’s not like I’m one to talk, considering I just said that the preference for meat is a childish taste.
“…And Koko?”
I turned to Koko, who had been quiet for a while and found her with her eyes closed, breathing softly.
She was curled up tightly with Kuro in her arms.
Kuro’s eyes sparkled under the faint light filtering in from outside.
They say cats are nocturnal? Maybe according to Kuro’s biological rhythm, this is actually the time to be awake.
“She’s asleep.”
Even though it’s clearly not a human body, I don’t understand how she can fall asleep before us.
But then again, she’s cute, so I suppose it doesn’t matter.
To avoid waking Koko, Kuro appeared to be stuck in a very uncomfortable position. After all, she’s not an average cat.
As I reached out and gently stroked her head with my fingertips, Kuro looked at me with deeply dissatisfied eyes.
…Perhaps she hadn’t made a sound because she was listening to Yuka and me talking.
I wonder if the being attached to Kuro heard my story.
“…Should we sleep?”
Yuka’s voice came from above, perhaps realizing I hadn’t said anything and becoming a bit anxious.
Then I heard rustling, and Yuka looked down at me from above.
“Yeah, let’s.”
Seeing me fiddling with Kuro seemed to relieve her a bit, as it was clearly not a serious reason for having stopped talking.
I had shown Yuka far too many unsightly things. Even when it wasn’t a fighting situation, she worried about my well-being, to the point it could be considered a bit overly sensitive.
…Having a first proper friend end up in such a state would make anyone feel that way.
If Yuka saw me getting hurt as much as she does—
“Goodnight.”
I said to Yuka, and she nodded, smiling.
“Goodnight. See you tomorrow.”
Even while being in the same room, Yuka said that.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
Yuka’s body disappeared back towards the bed.
I heard some rustling, and soon, it seemed she fell asleep as I could hear her breathing.
Yeah, let’s sleep.
We need to continue the cultural festival tomorrow.
We had already distributed half the literary collection today. Maybe it would end up being an achievement worth reporting to the student council once the festival was over.
Thinking that way, I closed my eyes.
*
Second day of the cultural festival.
The boss and Miki arrived quite early.
“Oh, this looks good. Is it because it’s a wealthy school or something?”
The boss said with a grin.
From what he said, it seemed like he had already been around and made the rounds a bit before arriving at the literature club.
He had a paper cup in his hand, filled with fried chicken. …Was that something you could make and sell? Well, during university festivals in Korea, we sold various fried snacks.
“The kids are very passionate.”
I glanced a bit perplexed at the boss, who sat down casually inside the clubroom and replied.
Without any intention of being guided, the boss reached out for the snacks as if he belonged.
Miki sat down next to him.
…She looked a bit nervous.
Ah, didn’t she mention she had come from a juvenile facility?
And she was around the same age as me.
She may have gotten involved in a crime when she was a middle school student… I heard that juvenile facilities typically had sentences lasting a few months, so if she had received such a sentence, she probably just couldn’t attend high school.
And thinking she had lived that life for a year, well…
At a wealthy high school like this, it would leave plenty to think about. If the boss had talked about Koko, she might become even more subdued.
“…”
After I thought about that later, I immediately regretted saying that ‘passionate’ comment.
But what can I do? Once the words are out, I can’t take them back.
Besides, apologizing here would likely make things worse, so I decided to keep quiet.
“Ah, right!”
clap
Maybe to cover the slightly dark atmosphere, or maybe it really was something she just remembered.
Kaoru clapped her hands and exclaimed as if she had forgotten something.
“There’s a photo booth in the next room! How about you two get in on it and take a picture?”
“Photos?”
The boss showed interest.
Of course, right now the boss wasn’t dressed in a maid outfit, nor was Miki in that pub outfit either. She wasn’t wearing her usual heavy makeup.
So she looked quite youthful. Seeing her like this, it was easy to mistake her for someone around my age. She still looked about two years older, though.
At any rate, there was nothing to criticize about looks for a photo.
“Yes! Since it’s the photography club, their camera is really good, and besides, it’s inexpensive! Just that the photos will be sent digitally instead of physical copies.”
“Hm…”
The boss pondered momentarily with a dorayaki in his mouth and then asked, “Miki, what do you want to do?”
“I’ll do whatever my sister decides.”
Miki shyly responded.
“Alright, then.”
The boss said as he stood up from his seat.
He had a rather cheerful expression on his face.
Well, it makes sense that he would feel good to see Miki after a long time and be able to take a picture with her again.
“Let’s go, Miki!”
I’ve never seen him look so excited before.
Even Miki, who had been slightly withdrawn just a moment ago, smiled at her sister’s expression and couldn’t help but smile as well.
*
“…Here you go.”
I handed a copy of the literary collection to the boss.
“Oh, thank you.”
He accepted it with a smile.
He seemed to be in a good mood after being out with his sister for the first time in a while.
“I’ll keep it safe.”
Well… Since it was something we made, I’d like him to treasure it. Honestly, I don’t have high expectations, though. It wasn’t really a well-made, sturdy book.
I think I’ve handed out over six copies now. Excluding the samples, that leaves us with four left.
“Ah, right.”
The boss glanced inside the clubroom, where we were sitting, and leaned slightly toward my side.
I looked over to where the boss was and saw Kaoru happily chatting with Miki.
She had an occult magazine spread out across her lap. I wonder if she was telling ghost stories?
Honestly, I don’t think Kaoru’s ghost stories would be that scary. Miki was laughing while listening to her tales after all.
Yuka and Koko didn’t appear to be scared in the slightest either, while Izumi seemed terrified, repeatedly covering and uncovering her ears. It was like she wanted to listen but didn’t have the courage to do so.
Are there not many creepy novels out there? Though I haven’t read the book that Izumi was reading, I know some of them would have covers that didn’t differ much from horror novels.
…Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.
What’s important is seeing Miki, who was initially shy, now smiling.
“Thanks for returning my lunchbox back then.”
“…Huh?”
Oh, that.
I remembered. So it was Miki’s after all.
“Um, you seem to be not thinking about going back to school anytime soon.”
The boss whispered softly in a very small voice.
“But having it might still come in handy. Though there’s always a way to buy a new one…”
If it’s filled with memories, that’s even better.
I think I understand now why she went out of her way to pack that food into that lunchbox for me.
“…”
As I looked up at the boss, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Next year…”
“Uh?”
“We’re going to have a sports festival next year, too. How about you come and watch with us?”
“…”
The boss’s mouth slightly opened.
Did I pry too much?
I don’t know if I’ll even be working at the boss’s place next year. I’m not a full-time employee or anything, just a part-timer after all.
And those kinds of relationships tend to cool off naturally once you stop working together.
…Above all, I don’t even know if I’ll be around then.
But… yeah.
This might be exceedingly selfish, but I hope someone will take care of Koko if she ends up being alone during that time.
She’s got friends and Kagami, but… the more people, the better.
I never wished for someone to help me in my past life, even though I was technically being paid for it. Well, that paycheck came from taxes, so if I’m getting something back from the taxes paid by the people I helped, I would’ve returned something to them somehow, right?
No matter how I see it, when I helped others here, I didn’t really think about what I might get back.
…However, if someone were to take my place and receive what I should’ve gotten as consequence.
The boss looked at me for a while before closing his mouth. Then he nodded.
“Yeah, when that time comes, I’ll pack a ridiculously luxurious lunch. Should I make it a five-tier lunchbox?”
Oh, I didn’t mean for that much.
Um, I wonder if Koko would like it.
To the boss grinning, I simply nodded my head slightly.
*
It didn’t take long to clear away the literature club’s ‘exhibits’. It’s only common sense since there were just a few wooden boards.
With the samples, only five copies of the literary collection remained.
“Let’s each take one.”
Izumi said as she distributed the literary collections to us.
“Um, Koko and I…”
“Even if you’re sisters, you’re both members of the literature club.”
Izumi said with a smile.
Well, it seems Koko had no intention of thinking that way, but it’s rare for siblings to live together in the same house for life.
However, we should be good with just one copy—
…No.
Let’s just accept the goodwill.
Instead, I took the book designated as a sample. It may have been a pointless concern, but it had traces of being tied with string to prevent theft, and while it was slightly wrinkled from a few people flipping through it, that added to its charm.
It was a trace of all of us being together. It also held traces of someone reading my writing.
“Yay.”
Kaoru said that as she stretched her arms above her head, yawning.
“With this, is our 2004 literature club activities over?”
Although December is still left, we’d all likely be busy. We have final exams coming up.
Honestly, I didn’t care too much about that, but I thought I should at least pretend to study, right?
“Ha ha ha…”
Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone mimicking a cartoon character’s laughter. I looked in that direction to see Izumi covering her mouth with one hand while laughing mischievously.
With her half-closed eyes, she looked at Kaoru and said, “So now you’re finally admitting you’re a literature club member.”
She said that.
“What? What!?”
“‘Literature club activities’ are over, aren’t they?”
“Yeah.”
For a second, it felt like her brain crashed, and looking at Izumi dumbfounded, Kaoru shouted, “N-no, that’s not it!”
“Occult club! I meant the occult club!”
“It’s too late to change your words now~”
It was the first time in a while that Izumi had gotten one on Kaoru.
Or is this the ‘first’ time?
Who cares.
I looked at Yuka and Koko.
Yuka seemed to find it ridiculous, and Koko was smiling happily.
Yeah.
It really doesn’t matter.
As long as we can smile, that’s all that counts.
*
Today, I returned home with Koko.
I had quietly released Kuro behind the school. She had hidden well and rushed over as soon as we called for her, and we hid Kuro in the bag to go back to Saitama.
There wasn’t enough space in my school bag for a cat, so I had to borrow a bag from Kaoru. Even if she wasn’t in the athletics club anymore, she still had her gym clothes and sneakers hanging around in her duffel bag.
Even if I had left it at Yuka’s, she would have probably figured out how to find her way home, but seeing the ridiculous look Kuro is giving me suggests she’s not okay with that, so I couldn’t bring myself to push her too much.
Yuka looked a bit disappointed, but she couldn’t rely on her forever.
Once I returned home with Koko—
“…Kagami?”
—I found Kagami waiting in front of my house.
He was holding a plastic bag. Through the semi-transparent white plastic, I could see various food ingredients.
Why?
The words that popped into my head were something along those lines, but I had enough sense not to voice it.
“Um?”
Instead, Koko tilted her head at him.
It looked like it was equally awkward for Kagami, as he didn’t say anything even after locking eyes with me for a while.
“…Can I come in?”
“…Did you wait long?”
I asked as I walked towards the door.
click
I took out my key and opened the door.
“No.”
His voice seemed a bit shaky for someone who just said that.
Still, he probably came at the right time. It’s likely that he could guess when I’d get home. I firmly believe some of the people who have been appearing around me recently are more social.
As I entered the house, I immediately opened my bag to let Kuro out.
“Meow.”
“Sorry.”
It seemed she was feeling uncomfortable cramped in the small bag because she let out a disgruntled meow before disappearing inside.
“…It’s not that cold in here.”
“…If you cover yourself with a blanket, it’s okay.”
Kagami said as he stepped inside behind Koko.
“Do you want me to bring over a kotatsu?”
I nearly refused reflexively, but I caught myself and nodded.
Right. If I don’t accept it from Kagami, Yuka would probably just decide to buy one and bring it herself.
At my words, Kagami offered a slight, very awkward smile.
It was as though someone unfamiliar with smiling had just heard an explanation and attempted to imitate it.
…
No, usually, she smiles pretty well.
Maybe she tried to adjust her smile to make it look less suspicious but ended up failing.
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