Kagami had a reason for taking Koko and me to the amusement park.
Just like how May 5th is Children’s Day in Korea, Japan also has a Children’s Day.
It’s also on May 5th. Originally, it was celebrated on the lunar calendar, but later it switched to the solar calendar or something.
The lunar May 5th is said to be a day to wish for the health of boys. Back in my high school days… ah, of course, I’m still a high school student now, but I feel like I heard this during Japanese class a bit more back then, you know, in my previous life.
Girls have their day on March 3rd, and boys on May 5th.
They have separate names for the days, but the holiday is essentially on May 5th. It seems now the name is literally ‘Children’s Day,’ so it looks like the distinction between boys and girls is almost gone.
But I guess tradition remains, as I saw carp-shaped streamers fluttering at several houses, something I often noticed in Japanese anime.
Kagami, however, was definitely aware we were both girls, so she didn’t bother hanging carp streamers.
Instead.
“Here you go.”
Kagami set something in front of Koko and me as she sat us side by side.
It was a cellphone.
“I have a cellphone.”
“The condition isn’t exactly great, you know.”
I reflexively glanced at my phone after hearing that.
Sure enough, it was cracked and severely scratched all over. It was only because it was a tough phone from this era that it was managing to hold up; if it had been an old smartphone, it would have broken much worse than the ‘minesweeper’ stereotype ones.
“And besides, it wouldn’t make sense to buy one for Koko and not for Koto Ne.”
Twins… hmm, is it because we look like twins on the surface?
Well, typically in families with siblings, treating one side preferentially can easily lead to conflicts.
For some reason, I thought if it were Kagami, she would buy us something very pink to fit the ‘daughter’ image, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Both of ours were ordinary silver-colored.
Ordinary-looking, but still the latest product for this era.
“By the way, can we just buy this?”
I asked Kagami.
“Hmm?”
“Don’t we have to go to a service provider to get it activated?”
When did we start using SIM cards, anyway?
As far as I remember, they barely had been around since the 2G era.
At my comment, Kagami looked visibly flustered.
Is she someone who uses a phone but didn’t know that?
I guess if you’re not tech-savvy, it could happen.
Actually, there is a way to activate it, but since it’s been a while since I used such a phone, I vaguely remember how it was done back then. In the 2020s, you would just take out the SIM card and transfer it, or you could do everything electronically.
I thought it would be better to go ask at a nearby store for certainty.
“Thanks.”
I decided to take the gift first without adding to the conversation, thinking that might ruin the mood.
I unwrapped it and took a look at the phone inside.
Definitely, compared to the one I used, this one was in great condition. It’s new, after all.
And unexpectedly, seeing it made my mood uplift. It was a slightly bewildering feeling.
At this time, the capabilities of phones weren’t so extensive. There were games, sure, and I had fun memories of them, but most were still in the early stages, resembling a low-budget game. The internet wasn’t something you could use effectively in this era. For that, you’d have to buy a PDA and pay high communication fees.
It’s surprisingly interesting that Yuu fiddled with his phone every day.
So I hadn’t thought much about the phone until now, but my heart skipped a beat at receiving something this new.
“It’s pretty.”
Even though it isn’t activated yet, it’s no problem to use the basic functions.
For example, the camera.
I raised the phone towards Kagami.
Click.
The first photo I took with my phone was of Kagami.
“Ooh?”
Koko tilted her head in curiosity.
Now that I think about it, while I thought of buying a cellphone for Koko, I hadn’t gotten around to doing so until now.
I haven’t even considered getting one for her at all. Buying a phone for Koko would mean we would keep in contact, and she was almost always by my side anyway.
Of course, when I went to my part-time job, I was separated from Koko, but whenever something happened to me, Koko always popped up in my line of sight. So up until now, I hadn’t thought about getting her a phone.
…That’s a little regretful.
In the end, I didn’t buy her a phone.
I should have just gotten her one on Christmas. It wouldn’t have been impossible, after all.
While I was unwrapping my gift, Koko opened the box in front of her awkwardly.
Kagami and I watched her with a bit of nervousness.
Koko liked watching TV. Even when I played games with my console sometimes, she would watch me with interest.
But when asked if she was really passionate about watching TV, she could only reply no. She just sometimes showed interest in amusing videos when they appeared, but I’d never seen her stick to a series until the end.
She liked watching games, and sometimes enjoyed playing as a second player with me, but she never played RPGs by herself. When I tried to teach her how to play, it seemed she couldn’t quite grasp why it would be fun to do it herself.
So, I was somewhat worried that she wouldn’t show any interest in the cellphone either.
But.
“Ooh!”
As Koko took the phone out, her eyes sparkled, and she exclaimed excitedly.
“Ooh?”
But then she tilted her head in confusion a bit. Even when she opened the folder, the screen didn’t come on.
I pressed the power button on the phone Koko was holding.
A rather flashy video, albeit with a very low frame rate, played with several images strung together, and the phone turned on.
“Koto Ne, Koto Ne.”
Koko called for me.
“Yeah?”
“Photo.”
Since Koko looked a little anxious, I smiled and found the photos in the menu for her.
Click.
And the moment I handed the phone to Koko, the shutter sound went off immediately.
Click. Click.
After taking several photos in succession, Koko stared at the screen of the phone and beamed.
“Koto Ne, look at this!”
And she showed me the screen of the phone.
There was a picture of me.
Some were shaky snaps, and some showed me wide-eyed and a bit flustered. The photo where I had my eyes wide open looked a lot like Koko. I mean, it wasn’t just a biological resemblance; it was because my body was crafted to resemble hers.
In reality, had Koko envied other kids for having their pictures taken all this time?
If the first photo saved on my phone was of Kagami, then the first photo on Koko’s phone revealed me.
“……”
How embarrassing.
I had once gone through so much trouble to leave evidence, but now that I was actually captured like this, I felt quite bashful.
Click.
Koko took a picture of Kagami.
Click.
And then she snapped one of Kuro, who was lazily rolling on the floor. Seeing Koko with her face full of joy made me feel happy too.
Watching her, I stood up from my seat.
“Well then, shall we step outside for a bit? I feel like I should… learn a little about the phone.”
While I wasn’t exactly bad with machines, I should really understand how to activate a phone in Japan.
We’d just have to go to a nearby mobile service provider… or something like that. If we could do it from home, that would be good to know.
From now on, we would continue to live here, wouldn’t we? At least until smartphones came along, this method would probably be how it would continue.
“Shall we!?”
When I mentioned we might need to stop by a store to activate the phone, Kagami, who had looked bewildered earlier, jumped up immediately.
She’s not a great Dane or anything.
Sometimes, I really can’t tell which one of us is the mom.
I shrugged.
Well, still, she had acted pretty motherly just a moment ago.
So I guessed it wouldn’t really be a problem to just view her like that.
With that, since the topic came up, we prepared to go out on the last day of the holiday.
*
“Here you go.”
After finishing up the activation without any problems, we were at a nearby restaurant.
We weren’t looking to eat anything fancy, just decided to enjoy something light since it was the last day of our break, so we settled on having tonkatsu.
While waiting for our food, Kagami took Koko’s phone and entered her number.
Looks like she wanted to claim the number one spot. Well, there was indeed some competition right next to her. I didn’t feel the need for that kind of rivalry, though.
When I also entered my number into Koko’s phone, I casually glanced at it, and the number registered as ‘Mom.’
I had to suppress a laugh but handed the phone to Koko, and then Kagami reached for me too.
“…Why?”
“I’ll input my number for you. You haven’t transferred it all yet, have you?”
“…”
I could see right through that.
Then again, back in this era, when changing phones, you had to transfer everything separately.
I thought there was an automatic way to do it, but I didn’t really know. Well, since I didn’t have much stored, it wouldn’t take long even if I did it manually. The phone itself would keep the data intact as long as it stayed.
I silently handed my phone to Kagami.
Kagami smiled broadly as she opened up my phone.
“Oops.”
And when she opened the contacts, she was taken by surprise.
Her face turned slightly red, and she returned my phone back to me.
“Ooh?”
Koko tilted her head in confusion, but I just shrugged.
Of course, mine was not registered as ‘Kagami’ at number one. Number one was Koko. It was a sort of apology for not having Koko’s number in my phone until now, so I decided to list her number there.
By the way, previously, that order of numbers didn’t hold great significance. I’m not someone who manages such things carefully; it was just arranged in whatever order they were input.
This time, Koko was number one.
Then, of course, number two was Kagami. At least in a family where the relationships aren’t completely broken, usually the family members’ numbers occupy the top slots, don’t you think?
And for Kagami’s name, I put ‘Mom.’
While I internally called her Kagami, and stuck with casual speech, I didn’t want to use the name ‘Kagami’ as a title.
If I set her name to Kagami, I felt like I would never shake that habit.
I wore a slightly triumphant smile as I looked at Kagami.
Of course, she looked completely unfazed. Maybe she thought it was a gain for her instead.
Just around then, our tonkatsu arrived, and I shrugged my shoulders once before picking up a knife and fork.
*
“Koto Ne, Koko!”
After the holiday ended.
Yuka was waiting at the station, beaming with joy.
Did she wait here every time at this hour?
Well, it’s not like Koko and I would wait for each other if Yuka didn’t show up. Yuka wouldn’t be someone who’d be late on purpose, after all.
“Did you enjoy the holiday?”
“I had a great time.”
“Ooh!”
It was fun, in various ways.
“Yuka, how about you?”
“I had a good time too. Literally just resting.”
I thought she would need some rest.
“To be honest, I feel like I rested a lot more than usual. Until I came to this school, I thought being tied to people was the best, but… sometimes being completely alone isn’t half bad. Going to bed late, waking up late, just lying around in bed, and occasionally going outside to get some fresh air.”
I exchanged texts with Shii, and even Mako, Harumi, and even my junior, Tsuneda. Of course, I chatted with Yuuki about this and that.
But unlike usual, Yuka hadn’t contacted me almost at all since her sleepover. We had only exchanged a little small talk now and then.
“I see.”
“That’s right.”
We started walking toward the school.
“I… well, you know, until I came to this school, I didn’t really have that many friends.”
That had been the case.
Since this world resembled the story, that must have been true.
“So there were a lot of times when I was home alone. I used to think that was bad, and I envied kids with really close friends… but still, sometimes, just being completely detached like that felt nice. It gives you time to think, and more than anything, it’s just very comfortable for the body and mind.”
And then she looked at me while saying.
“Don’t worry too much. That doesn’t mean having no friends is better. Right now is much better.”
“I see.”
I nodded.
I felt the same way. But the thing is, that had become a problem because it was so extreme.
I needed to do my best to ensure Yuka wouldn’t end up that way.
“We have news to share too.”
“News?”
Seeing Yuka cock her head, I pulled out my phone from my pocket.
“Oh, you changed your phone!”
And Koko followed suit, showing her phone to Yuka.
“Koko too!”
Koko handed her phone to Yuka with a big smile.
“I didn’t intentionally separate the numbers. I felt like Koko wanted it that way.”
“Koko…”
Yuka looked touched as she received the phone, pressing her number punctually before returning it.
This was truly Koko’s intention.
Though Koko still didn’t quite grasp complex human relations or etiquette, she was slowly beginning to differentiate what precious memories were.
So, it seemed she wanted to try exchanging contact information like friends. Did she feel good when she received a number from Kagami and when I gave hers too?
And this would yield a positive effect. At the very least, those who received Koko’s number would understand that she had a phone.
Not just communicating with me, but with Koko too. That’s something truly joyful.
Koko’s bright smiling face was as lovely as always.
That day, Koko roamed around finding her friends one by one. Mako and Yuu, Harumi. And in the club, Izumi and Kaoru, Tsuneda.
She even followed me to my part-time job and snagged Shii’s and Miki’s numbers and even the boss’s.
What a proactive girl.
Well, I’d count myself among those who got drawn in, too.
Later on, when smartphones emerge, I looked forward to the chatting apps.
It felt like a group chat would be incredibly lively and fun.
And Koko would be in the center of it all.
One day, would there come a time when Koko calls me and says, “I’m going on a trip!” after I had to move away because of work?
While feeling a strangely conflicting emotion that is difficult to imagine yet simultaneously so easy to picture, I smiled at Koko.
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