The working days have decreased, but that just means there’s less reason to work hard for money.
Living expenses are coming out of the money Kagami has saved, so my part-time earnings just keep piling up.
Of course, I felt a little guilty just going along with it, so I offered to contribute to the living expenses, but Kagami just smiled like a bodhisattva and refused.
“You don’t need to do that yet, since you’re not even an adult.”
…It seems she liked the fact that I even thought about contributing.
By the way, it seems she plans to stick around for a while even after I become an adult. Well, until I fully become independent, we’ll probably still be living together.
Anyway, after saving up some money, other thoughts naturally came to mind.
Before, I had to worry about spending this money on food and transportation, but now, this is truly a ‘free’ amount, isn’t it?
No one would question how I spent it either.
Realizing that, I dashed straight to Akihabara.
That’s right. Ever since I came to this world, I haven’t really acted like an otaku, but my essence hasn’t changed at all.
I might think that I can just catch up on manga, anime, and games later, but that’s not how it works in reality. Trends don’t come back once they pass.
The best time to buy merchandise for anime currently airing is right now.
Games, DVDs, and album cases are bound to get scratched and damaged, and no matter how carefully you take care of figures, they’ll inevitably start to fade over the years.
Even if I think of buying items from back then after becoming an adult, all I can find will be those with the marks of time glaringly evident on them, and I know that too well.
“Kotoné?”
“……”
However, my thought of ‘I’ll buy anything’ was shattered by a single word from Koko, who followed me.
In my previous life, I didn’t pay much attention to my younger sister’s gaze. In fact, I didn’t care much about how my friends or classmates saw me either.
I would confidently talk about manga with my friends in class and buy bunny girl figures to display in my room, no matter how disdainfully my sister looked at me.
But here?
I carefully glanced at Koko’s face.
“Uwoo?”
What an innocent, almost too innocent expression.
Thank goodness Koko didn’t ask, “Why is that guy dressed like that?”
If she were to ask why I’m buying such things, I wouldn’t know how to respond.
I didn’t really care if my younger sister looked down on me since we had lived together since childhood, but if Koko gazed at me like that, it would wound me deeply.
Besides, all my friends are girls. The only guy is Sasaki. Even he is set up as someone who likes things like manga, but I never saw any figures at his place when I visited.
They wouldn’t look down on me if I bought figures; perhaps they’d just accept it as a quirky hobby, and I might end up in a position like that cheerful otaku character in a slice-of-life show who has lots of friends.
“……”
If only I were twenty years younger.
My ego isn’t as inflated as it was back then, and I’ve managed to get over a lot of my middle school syndrome issues due to various circumstances, leading me to seek normalcy rather than individuality, so thinking about doing that in front of my friends now feels a bit difficult.
Besides, Kagami is at home too.
If she gave me that bodhisattva-like look while nodding gently, I’d feel like I’d break down mentally.
“……Should I go look at books?”
“Sure!”
In the end, I changed my direction.
Yeah, why not.
Books or DVDs should be fine.
Thinking about it, being able to buy things without having to wait months or years for content that isn’t deleted is a huge advantage.
If I save a little more money, I can buy a game console too.
Nodding to myself, Koko, who was following from behind, tilted her head.
*
What I ended up buying was a camcorder.
It’s not one of those old ones that use 8mm tapes but a newly released digital camcorder. It doesn’t even achieve 720p DVD quality and falls short of SD quality.
Compared to the monitors that will become commonplace in twenty years, the quality is pretty terrible, but since monitors at this time aren’t that great either, it isn’t too big of a deal.
“Oh, it’s a camera!”
Kagami said, smiling at me.
“Do you have something you want to film?”
It was only then that I remembered I had taken quite a few pictures last year.
I wanted evidence that I would die. The photos I took with my phone won’t have that great of quality either, but I thought that’s the only way to remain in my friends’ memories for as long as possible.
I had also thought about buying a film camera, but I never ended up doing so. The separation came way faster than I expected.
“Something I want to film……”
I mumbled, opening the box.
In an age where using a smartphone eliminates the need to buy a ‘camcorder,’ this one still looks somewhat interesting to me. In fact, it’s a camcorder that seems fascinating even to me since I didn’t have one when I was young.
The strong resemblance to a pistol without a grip would be an easy description for understanding its shape.
The screen can rotate a great deal, allowing it to capture one’s own video from the opposite side.
Honestly, I didn’t buy it because I wanted to film anything.
I already knew, ahead of time, that a streaming site called YouTube, which would grow to the world’s largest scale, would start service this year. I don’t think there’s a huge chance to earn a lot at the moment. However, if I start now, I can at least create a character that has been doing YouTube for ten years by the mid-2010s.
People in this world wouldn’t know I’m a character, but in a sense, videos of “high school students actually wearing sailor uniforms” might be interesting, which is a rather pedestrian calculation.
“Kotoné?”
Seeing Koko tilting her head while I was lost in thought made those thoughts disappear.
I don’t mind appearing alone, but I hope my friends or Koko don’t get hurt from appearing in the video.
…I’ll have to film those alone.
Well, that’s fine.
Even if I’m filming alone, there are countless kinds of videos I can’t shoot without a camcorder.
I attached the battery to the camcorder, and when I turned it on, it had a bit of charge left.
I opened the screen and rotated my body to film Koko and Kagami.
“Oh!”
Koko blinked, wondering what I was exactly trying to do, while Kagami hurriedly turned away.
“Why? Are you shy about being filmed? You took a great photo just now.”
For reference, I put the pictures I took at the festival into frames and displayed them nicely in my room. Seeing Kagami enjoy them often makes me think they turned out well.
I wonder if I smiled while looking at those pictures after I died?
“Taking a proper picture while dressed nicely is different from just being filmed out of the blue, I think.”
Thinking she might genuinely be upset, I quickly turned off the camera, and Kagami spoke gently.
This is the first time she has looked this serious since we started living together. I should be a bit cautious.
I never thought Kagami would care about her appearance—ah, no, given that she worked in areas regarding looks initially, it makes sense.
“Kotoné.”
Koko took my hand and looked up at me, observing the camcorder curiously.
It seems she’s worried about what kind of thing it is, as it looks like both she and Kagami are aware of it.
“Do you want to see it?”
“Yeah!”
I turned the camcorder back on and showed it to her.
[Oh my.]
[What? Are you shy about being filmed? You took a great photo just now.]
And Kagami’s face appeared in the recording.
Even now, she has a pretty face like this. While her casual outfit showed a bit of cleavage, honestly, I think it’s a lot more decent than the outfits she wore at the bar.
Plus, I don’t intend to share this video with anyone else. I was just hoping to use it for reminiscing later on, long after we’ve moved on from this time.
“……Is it saved?”
While Koko and I were watching the video, I heard a voice from behind.
It was similar to Kagami’s usual tone, but I could tell it was a bit annoyed.
“Oh, that—”
As I started to apologize and clear it, I had the feeling that wasn’t quite right.
Natural videos only work the first time you film them. If I shoot again later, it’ll end up being a stereotypical formation based on what was filmed earlier.
I’m not a philosophical director or anything, but for everyday videos, I thought it’s best to just capture how we normally live.
I thought that and turned the screen towards this side.
It was a bit cramped.
Since the three of us were squeezed together, it nearly filled up the view.
None of us looked particularly well-groomed. Koko and I had just washed up moments ago, so our hair was still damp, and Kagami was looking a bit more disheveled than usual.
However, since it was three of us standing there, the appearance in the video suited us quite well.
And it was only after seeing us all together like this that I realized.
Ah, I really do resemble Kagami.
Since Koko looked the same as me, the sight of the three women in the video was a perfect reflection of a mother and her daughters.
“……”
As Kagami’s words trailed off, I peeked over there.
Kagami’s outstretched hand reached for the camcorder, but her eyes were transfixed on the screen.
Her resolve weakened a little.
“……What do you think?”
I asked cautiously.
After my question, Kagami stayed silent for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
“Don’t show it to others.”
“Sure.”
I nodded.
While laughing on the inside, Kagami let her arms down and grabbed Koko and me, pulling us close.
“Waaah!”
Koko exclaimed, seemingly joyful.
The three of us grew closer, clearly featured in the video.
“Kagami, look at the lens, not the screen.”
“I know.”
At my words, Kagami smiled toward the lens.
It was a somewhat awkward smile.
While she’s always cheerful, it seems she stiffens up when suddenly facing the camera for a photo.
Or perhaps it’s because it’s a video instead of a photo?
Yeah, whatever.
Right now, I won’t tease her too much about it.
Well, who knows what’ll happen ten years down the line.
That thought must have shown on my face, as Kagami threw me a quick glance, but I desperately pretended not to notice.
*
“Whoa!? Ah, a camcorder?”
On my way to school.
Yuka was waiting in front of Tamachi Station, so I approached her while filming from a distance, startling her.
“Did you just get that?”
While she gently fiddled with her bangs, it seems filming videos isn’t as easy as snapping photos.
“Yeah, I want to save memories.”
“……Really?”
Sensing something from my words, Yuka narrowed her eyes slightly while looking at me.
“This time, it’s not for that.”
It seems Yuka figured out that the reason I was diligently photographing things previously was due to the prophecy, so I cut her off with a slightly firmer tone than usual.
“Since there are only two years left until high school.”
“Ah, I see.”
Yuka nodded in understanding.
It’s already February.
I’m not a second-year yet, and graduation is in April, so measured by time, it’s technically a little over two years left, but having experienced school life once, I can’t consider that time as short.
Time is something you only realize is fast when it has passed.
“The seniors will graduate next year.”
I nodded calmly at Yuka’s words.
Time will flow without pause.
However, I at least wanted to keep a record.
At first, it was a highly superficial reason, but thankfully, it has turned into something useful.
“I definitely need to take it when we go on trips.”
Yuka said with a smile.
“Of course.”
I replied with a smile as well.
After walking in silence for a moment, Yuka suddenly spoke up, as if she’d had a thought.
“Oh, right.”
Then she looked at me and said,
“Last winter, I was too busy to go to Comiket.”
“Yeah.”
She’s been paying attention.
Well, I guess it makes sense for Yuka.
They say that when someone comes close to death and survives, their perspective on life changes.
Life can be unpredictable; people tend to value their time more when they know they could die at any moment.
Honestly, I’m the only one who nearly died here… well, I did die and came back to life, but Yuka seems to have gained something from that.
“This year, let’s definitely go. It feels a bit late to set a New Year’s plan now.”
Yuka said with a radiant smile, looking dazzling.
Somehow my instincts whispered that there could be some ulterior motive behind that, but I didn’t recognize it at the time.
Cosplay costumes can take months to make if they’re done meticulously.
*
“Wow, that’s awesome! So cool!”
Fukuda beamed at the camcorder.
She was holding it and moving around, filming here and there herself.
I could feel a bit of tension each time the lens pointed my way; it seems there’s a surprisingly big difference between the one taking the picture and the one being filmed.
Thinking of this made me feel a bit apologetic towards Kagami.
“Hey, wait, Harumi!”
As soon as the lens faced her, Mako’s face flushed red, and she covered her face with her hands.
“Hehe. That’s why I want to film more. It’s cute, right?”
“What kind of criminal talk is that?”
Yamashita said incredulously as Fukuda changed the angles of the camera to take a shot of Mako.
“Speaking of which, how does that person feel?”
Fukuda asked while facing Yuuki with the camera, but he was merely tapping his phone with a stoic expression.
It was as if he knew that was how it would be; he shrugged, and Fukuda turned back to me with the camcorder.
“Nevertheless, I’ve packed plenty of cute captures of Mako.”
For reference, she immediately filmed herself as soon as she got the camcorder. Right after that, when pointing it at Koko, she threw her arms up and exclaimed “Waaah!” causing the classroom to erupt in laughter.
“Are you going to put together videos later and make a movie?”
“…I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
Not mentioning that I bought it to film videos for YouTube, Fukuda instantly came up with the idea.
Maybe she is just that in tune with current trends?
“Hey, it feels a bit of a waste just to let it sit there.”
Fukuda laughed.
“I’ll think about it.”
I figured it wouldn’t be bad to gather and edit videos of friends at the very least, so I said that for now.
Of course, that means needing to buy a computer and editing software, but let’s set that aside for now.
“Oh, right!”
Excitedly snapping her fingers, Fukuda bounced with an idea.
“How about a courage test?”
“A courage test?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I repeated her question, and Fukuda nodded.
“Why, they say ghosts photograph well on cameras. If we go to a spooky place and film it, maybe we can catch something?”
In reality, it will probably just be the camera capturing something bizarre, rather than anything ghostly, so those types of photos will likely fade away with advancements in quality decades later…
No reason to burst dreams.
And besides, in this world, there really are ghosts.
Comparing the camcorder I held to those that will exist in twenty years from now, the quality is astoundingly poor.
“Alright.”
“Really!?”
I nodded, and Fukuda smiled brightly.
“Let’s do a courage test?”
In contrast, Mako’s face had turned pale.
If she’s scared of such tests, she can always opt out—you’d think that would be the case, but her reaction suggests it’s just taken for granted that she will join in.
“Then, isn’t doing it now a bit soon?”
Fukuda said with a grin.
“Since it’s better to do that kind of thing in summer. It’s the best time for that, right?”
Fukuda’s words added another event in our summer schedule.
For reference, Yuuki, who sat behind Mako and Fukuda, had been looking at me with a subtle expression since the courage test topic came up.
I can’t technically say that I’m a priestess, but I am still a descendant of the Kurosawa bloodline.
If one considers it similarly to being a priestess, it holds some truth.
Honestly, I am somewhat curious. If real priestesses, who have experienced such encounters, came across a ghost, I wonder what reactions we would see?
Capturing video evidence of a ghost getting flustered might just be entertaining.
Then I’d definitely have to bring Yuka along with me.
…Will Kagami join too?
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