After the summer vacation ended, a period of calm daily life followed.
Without the threat of losing my life, I could focus a little more comfortably on school life.
I also studied pretty hard. I wanted to keep my promise to Yuka.
Mako, who studied in the same club room, helped me quite a bit.
As time passed, the weather slowly turned cool, and autumn, which seemed like it would never come, finally arrived.
Moreover, the second semester was packed with various schedules spanning both autumn and winter.
There would be a Sports Festival and a cultural festival. I wasn’t particularly preparing for the Sports Festival, but I was actively getting ready for the cultural festival.
After all, it would be the last cultural festival for Izumi and Kaoru.
However, both of them, who seemed somewhat relaxed until the vacation, were studying earnestly after entering the second semester. Unfortunately, there were increasing days when they couldn’t come to the club.
They said that if they sat there while we were active, it would disturb our activities. Since there were serious students, we couldn’t make a lot of noise.
Besides, since they had already written and submitted some content for the cultural festival, we didn’t bother them.
Izumi wrote two essays and Kaoru wrote one essay and a fancy haiku in vertical writing.
Of course, the claim that it was ‘fancy’ was solely Kaoru’s opinion; in reality, it was quite… how should I put it, a beginner’s level of calligraphy in many ways.
Studying is hard
Thoughts keep interrupting
I don’t want to do it
…
It seemed like they were under quite a bit of stress. When I tried to study, things like a snail crawling or an ant marching could seem like wonders of nature, so it wasn’t surprising if they randomly began doing calligraphy in between. I just zoned out watching YouTube and such.
Still, one of the essays was quite sincere and decent, so I didn’t plan to critique it at all. The length was sufficient.
And as Izumi said, I became the temporary club president.
Gathering with the club members, we worked hard on editing the literature magazine, and I even received an essay from Shii, who would probably join the club along with the new students next year.
Although it wasn’t fully completed, I felt relieved that we could put out a more elaborate and thicker version compared to last year’s anthology quicker than last year.
We had also made quite a bit of progress concerning the cafe. After wondering where to get maid outfits, I asked the boss where I worked part-time, and he gave me a little discount through a friend.
Since we would be buying it anyway, we decided to keep it in the literature club for use next year.
Thinking back to when Yuka, Koko, and I went cosplay during summer vacation made me chuckle a bit.
By the way, the character I had cosplayed also occupied the literature club room. Honestly, seeing it from a 2020s perspective, I was not sure if it would hold up; by then, it would probably be seen as terribly rude and uncouth behavior.
But now it was 2005, and since I hadn’t forcibly taken the literature club, but was a formally appointed president… well, maybe it’s actually pretty normal? Let’s consider it normal.
Anyway, amidst smoothly and seamlessly passing through the beginning of the second semester…
A really significant academic schedule was finally approaching us.
“Hawaii!”
Harumi raised her arms high, striking a victory pose like a marathon runner who just won a gold medal.
What she held wasn’t a trophy or bouquet, but a passport.
That’s right. The second-year students of Hanagawa High School would be going to Hawaii for a school trip.
From my standpoint, I felt like I was still living abroad for quite a while, but going to another country again is a whole different story.
Besides, this time we were going to a completely different continent.
…Wait, can we even call it a different continent? Hawaii is an island, right? Isn’t it practically in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?
Lost in thought for a moment, I concluded it didn’t matter. We just needed to go and have fun; what continent we belonged to was irrelevant.
The school trip was a week away.
“Hawaii should still be warm, right? Should I pack a bikini?”
Harumi said excitedly.
“Aren’t you going to end up with a foreign boyfriend?”
Hmm.
Somehow, I felt like Harumi’s dad would show up in Hawaii.
“I doubt it because group activities are mandatory, right?”
Mako asked quite seriously. The moment the topic of boyfriends came up, Yuuki shot a bewildered look at Harumi.
Hawaii is the last state to join the US, so it’s entirely American territory. I wondered if they would even touch minors if they found out. If anyone did, they’d simply be a criminal, right?
I think the likelihood of such happenings, which you only see in adult manga, is pretty slim. Back when we went on a school trip to Kyoto in the first year, it wasn’t much of a problem to be split into groups; the language was the same, and you could easily find your way around if you read the signs. Besides, if there was real trouble, I could always just take a train back to Tokyo alone.
But overseas was a little different. While the basic group activities were similar, I had heard there were some restrictions on locations.
After all, it’s a place that takes quite a long flight to reach, so that made sense.
“Is that so?”
But Harumi didn’t seem flustered or disappointed by this information.
She was probably just saying it for fun. During the last semester, she had mentioned wanting to get a boyfriend a few times already.
In reality, she didn’t seem to actively pursue it.
“But… I’m looking forward to it.”
Mako said cheerfully.
“Exactly.”
I replied.
“Make sure to take a lot of photos!”
Tsuneda said, and Koko, sitting next to her, lightly patted Tsuneda’s back. Watching that scene made me feel a bit touched.
Then Yuka patted my back from the side.
She really reads the room well.
…
Uh-oh, wait a minute, isn’t this treating me like a younger sister?
Shifting my gaze back to the literature magazine plan in front of me, I locked eyes with Yuuki this time.
Yuuki had been staring at Yuka, who was patting my back. When our eyes met, he quickly looked away.
What’s that about?
I stared for a while, but as there was no sign of him speaking up, I gave up and returned my focus to the plan.
*
When I returned home with Koko, Kagami was sprawled out in the room.
At first, I thought she had fainted, but Kagami’s eyes were wide open.
“…Mom?”
She wasn’t unconscious, but it seemed her state wasn’t normal, so I cautiously called out to her.
“I want to go.”
Such an absurd response came back.
“Uh, Mom.”
Since I had already bickered with Kagami over this for the past two weeks, I held in a sigh and called to her again.
“Come on, it’s not like anyone follows their high school daughter on a school trip…”
I wiped my face in exasperation.
Although only the three of us were here, it still felt a bit embarrassing.
I mean, we had already decided to go on an overseas trip together next time, so why was she acting like this?
“I want to go! I want to be with my lovely daughters in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!”
No, even if you go, you can’t play with us.
No matter what, it’s a bit odd for a parent to tag along while their daughter’s friends are having fun.
Last festival was simply a festival, so it didn’t matter, but this is an academic schedule.
Besides—
“…and the visa hasn’t come out yet.”
I said as I put down my bag.
That’s right. Kagami still didn’t have her US tourism visa.
I wasn’t quite sure how far Japan’s visa-free entry applies, but I thought that for tourism purposes, she’d probably be able to go to somewhere like the US, but it sounds like Kagami wasn’t eligible for that.
For circumstances I’d rather not discuss.
Technically, it wasn’t Kagami; now, it was her sister Kosuzu who wasn’t part of this world.
Wraith was from the US. I’m not sure whether there’s a place like Arkham in this world, but it’s almost certain that the ‘Wraith family’ exists. I know it from experience.
Just like there are exorcists in Japan, there are such beings in America—and since Kosuzu has previously taken such a being out of the country, she would surely have been marked as a person of interest.
Plus, Kagami is the current highest member of that Kosuzu’s church.
It might be resolved someday, but for now, it’s impossible.
“Uggh….”
Did my words actually hurt her? Kagami was on the verge of tears.
“…”
Pausing for a moment to think, I decided to just lay down next to the sprawled Kagami.
With my head resting on my arm, I looked toward her, and Koko joyfully lay down on the opposite side.
“Later, once everything is resolved, we’ll go together.”
I said as I lay sideways and looked at Kagami. She tilted her head slightly towards me.
“Wow!”
Koko hugged Kagami around the waist and said.
“Kotone, Koko….”
Kagami started to slightly choke up and then pulled us both into a tight embrace.
“…”
Hmm, but this pose feels a bit embarrassing.
Well, I guess if I pull my head out now, Kagami would really sulk, so I decided to wait for her to release us.
Kagami finally let us go after about ten minutes.
I should mention Kagami’s visa to Yuka.
…But only after the school trip. If it gets resolved before then, I’m a little scared she really would buy a plane ticket and come along.
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