“Nice expression you have there.”
The boss also visited the sports festival.
“Miki said she would come this afternoon. I guess she has classes today.”
Since the sports festival was held on a Saturday, other school students could visit in the afternoon.
In fact, it wasn’t open for just anyone. The gym clothes worn at this school were practically extinct ‘buruma’ by this time, and, naturally, they were outfits that attracted the interest of nearby perverts along with sailor uniforms.
Moreover, a high ratio of students attending this school came from wealthy families. Since it was co-ed, it couldn’t exactly be called an all-girls school, but among the female students here, the percentage of ‘young ladies’ was indeed high.
To prevent the perverts who travel from afar to take photos or videos, it was naturally problematic to allow anyone to visit during the sports festival.
However, it was possible to visit if invited by a student.
Each student could invite up to two non-family members. After all, there might be times when parents live far away and kids stay with distant relatives.
Thanks to such consideration, it wasn’t uncommon for students to bring friends from other schools or relatives.
In my case, I invited the boss and her younger sibling, like Koko.
“…I heard your daughter was a lot of help last year. Thank you so much.”
As Kagami bowed while saying that, the boss quickly waved her hands.
“N-No, that was when I was being overly meddlesome.”
Last year, during the sports competition, the boss had packed lunch for Kagami and brought it to us.
That lunchbox was Miki’s.
Even though I told the boss that Kagami and I were getting along fine, she still brought lunch again this year.
It made sense. We weren’t the ones being treated to lunch, but the boss and Miki had to eat as well.
Realizing that the lunch the boss brought was the same as last year’s, I felt a bit happy.
“Miki’s sports festival is next week, right?”
I remembered since it was a week later than ours.
And as for the timing, such days were nearing the end of the season.
If it got any later than that, the weather would start to get chilly, making outdoor activities awkward. That’s why the cultural festival mostly involved indoor activities.
“Yeah. I hope she definitely comes.”
For reference, I had already mentioned to Miki that I would go to her cultural festival. Bringing all my friends might be a bit awkward, but it wouldn’t be a big problem if it was just Koko and me.
By the way, Kagami had a serious expression since this morning.
At first, I thought it was just her determination to cheer us on, but that didn’t seem to be the case. I even thought she might be nervous at the thought of watching me dance in cheerleader attire with my arms and legs stretched out, but that didn’t seem to be it either.
Rather, judging by her stiffened expression after seeing the boss, she might be worried about ‘being compared with the lunchbox.’
Honestly, I couldn’t remember what the boss’s lunch from last year even tasted like. I vaguely remembered it was delicious, but it’s not like I would still remember after having it just once till this year.
Or was she planning to compare it with the lunch she brought today?
Even though she had two high school second-year daughters, Kagami was still a ‘beginner mom.’
Having skipped childhood, Koko and I recognized her as our mom, but we might consider that distinctive bond somewhat lacking.
Fortunately, there were no worlds where I could call anyone else ‘mom’ instead of Kagami, but on the contrary, for Kagami, every person who had helped me until now was a comparison target.
“…”
I have to eat Kagami’s lunch deliciously.
It’s not a difficult task. Kagami is meticulous about following recipes when cooking.
It’s not that she likes things to fit perfectly; she’s just not confident in her cooking skills. Thanks to that, Kagami’s cooking consistently had a reliable taste.
“Well then, let’s go inside.”
Not wanting to let Kagami continue being that way, I took her arm and pulled her along.
Upon my words, Kagami’s face went back to being all cheerful again.
At first glance, it may not have seemed like a significant change, but we had known each other for too long not to catch that shift.
And so, we entered the school building.
*
My physique had grown, but it was questionable whether my skills had improved.
My actual ability was never particularly bad. After all, I only inherited half of a human’s blood in this body.
Plus, the body I am using now is the same one as Koko’s.
To avoid being treated as an ‘abnormal being’ while running, I had to be careful. Both Koko and I could move at the level of instant teleportation if we wished.
I don’t know if that counts as ‘having moved,’ but anyway.
Thus, having somehow been selected as a representative for this year’s running competition, I barely maintained a balance between coming in first and second.
“Something… feels strange.”
Yuka, who knew my situation, made an incredibly peculiar expression when she saw me, but what can I do? If I hadn’t participated in other events before, it wouldn’t have mattered, but here I am as a representative.
I’ve wondered how it ended up like this, but it seems my more enjoyable activity during PE class had made things problematic.
Having plenty of acquaintances in the same class meant I naturally moved more actively every time I had to exercise.
It was easy to be paired up with someone, and easy to choose sides too. If I just stood still, the others wouldn’t leave me alone either.
And to the other girls in my class, the active version of me was enough to convince them that ‘hey, isn’t she good at sports?’
“Still, losing wouldn’t feel right.”
Losing would probably mean teasing from the kids.
I had to consider the gazes of the kids who chose me to represent our class, and more than anything—
“How wonderful! Awesome! Our daughter is the best!”
…Even for Kagami cheering happily from afar, losing felt a bit off. Even with my conscience slightly bothering me, I was trying to adjust.
Though Kagami would probably still praise me even if I said I was coming in last.
Normally, if such an overly peculiar parent was cheering like that, you’d think others would stare weirdly at her, but the other parents looking at Kagami just smiled.
Kagami looked relatively young and is beautiful. I feel a bit odd saying this, but looks count in deciding someone’s charm.
“How could you not come in first in that situation…?”
When I said that, Yuka burst out laughing, looking at me as if it was absurd.
*
At first, Kagami was horrified at my outfit, but once I started dancing as a cheerleader, she was really happy.
From a distance, I could see her taking hundreds of photos with her camera.
She even caught some footage with the camcorder I bought.
And Yuka—Yuka?
Holding a slightly sketchy-looking big camcorder that wasn’t exactly broadcast quality and had her eye to the viewfinder while filming me almost made me drop my cheer props.
After managing to finish my cheers safely, I ran over to her without even wiping away the sweat.
“Where did you get this camera?”
“Your mom.”
“……”
Upon hearing that, I looked at Kagami.
“Since this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I thought I should capture it in the best quality possible.”
True.
While we didn’t often notice it since we lived here cramped in small apartments, Kagami was wealthy. And having a lot of money means you can buy appropriate items when needed.
“Even so, something like this?”
Looking at the camcorder, which seemed a bit too big for personal use—even if it isn’t for broadcast… I murmured that, prompting Kagami to smile brightly and respond.
“I read someone say that digital material becomes pixelated over time.”
Even so, that’s true.
The camcorder I bought was reasonably new for the time, but just a few years from now, the video resolution wouldn’t fill the screen properly anymore due to quality differences.
If it’s around 1080p, it might barely hold up even on monitors with relatively high pixel counts.
Looking at Yuka with that camcorder, she shrugged her shoulders as if to say, ‘Who would stop your mom?’
Seeing Yuka even react like this made it clear how peculiar of a mom Kagami was.
…
Ah, I see.
I’ve come to accept this fact naturally now.
Just earlier this year, whenever Kagami behaved like this, kids would have horrified expressions, but suddenly it became a natural action.
Almost to the point where a vibe of ‘Well, it’s Kagami, so that’s expected’ formed.
Perhaps, Kagami acted this way on purpose to cultivate such unusual behavior.
She filled the gaps that time wouldn’t fill with her unique actions.
So that even seen through the eyes of others, she would look like a ‘mom.’
“Kotone, Koko, check this out! The video turned out to be clearer than I expected!”
Kagami showed us the camcorder screen.
Well… it’s hard to tell if the quality is good or not just from such a small screen.
I’ll have to transfer it to a computer to check. The small screen has its pixel limitations.
“Look, such a cute Kotone fills the frame!”
…
Is it that I just like being around Koko so much that I have no other thoughts? Am I not concerned about how others see us at all?
Feeling that strange mystery, I observed the happily bouncing Kagami for a while.
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