NOVEL NEXT Chapter 391
The struggle to maintain daily life sometimes led to a subtly altered atmosphere.
To us, things felt like everyday life that wasn’t everyday for others. Even I, knowing I was living an ordinary life, often lost track of those boundaries.
For example, after a fight, covered in blood, Yuka asked me this.
“But where are you guys going for the school trip?”
Wiping the blood off the knife while asking, made me feel some kind of discord. It felt like watching a soldier in a war zone clean the bullet marks while throwing out casual questions or jokes.
Of course, in some sense, our situation was even more abnormal than that.
But I understood that this was also Yuka’s struggle.
If we just tried to maintain a solemn atmosphere, we’d be the ones eventually swallowed up. Accepting the twisted daily life and protecting the parts that weren’t twisted; that was what we could do.
“Kyoto.”
“Kyoto? Didn’t you go there in elementary school?”
Well, that’s true.
It’s like how, in Korea, elementary and middle schools often go to Gyeongju for their trips. Unless it’s a school with a lot of money, parents can only handle the reasonably close domestic trips.
But it’s not like middle school students only went on trips within Japan for three years straight. I think the second years went to Korea last year.
…It feels a bit strange to say that I went to the place I used to live.
Maybe next year, I’ll go there too.
Well, I could say, in some sense, it’s like a time travel for me.
“So where are you going then?”
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I asked Yuka, and she responded with a wry smile.
“I’m going to Kyoto too.”
“…You didn’t go there in elementary school?”
“I didn’t go.”
Yuka answered decisively.
“I moved around a lot, you know?”
Hmm.
With Yuka saying that, I had nothing more to say.
“What’s the duration?”
As she asked that, Yuka wiped the knife more before putting it away. I also wiped my knife clean and took off my bloodied clothes. I checked my outfit thoroughly, but there was no blood on it. Or maybe it just didn’t show on black clothes?
As I answered, Yuka looked at me with wide eyes.
“Why?”
“No, it overlaps with mine.”
“Really?”
I widened my eyes too.
Yuka and I go to different schools. Naturally, our schedules rarely overlapped. Especially for events like sports festivals and cultural festivals.
Though they did tend to cluster around similar times.
“If things go well, we might be able to go together.”
When I said that, Yuka laughed in disbelief. But she didn’t deny my words.
*
Well, we may have overlapping trips, but that doesn’t mean our schedules will coincide in every way.
“Onii-chan! Fighting!”
The sports festival didn’t overlap at all.
Even though it was during the semester, this school’s sports festival surprisingly happened on a Saturday. Of course, unless it’s a job with a particularly conflicting schedule, parents usually try to show up. Plus, this was a time when a few friends from other schools could also come.
Shii was cheering for Sota with real enthusiasm.
Every time the word ‘Onii-chan’ came up, everyone’s gaze shifted this way, but for some reason, Shii’s expression wasn’t embarrassed but rather proud. She seemed to take pride in treating her brother that way.
On the other hand, Sota looked a bit embarrassed.
It wasn’t that he found Shii embarrassing, but more that he was conscious of the gazes directed at him. Especially from peers around his age, it would matter more.
Even now, I had to cheer as I entered middle school.
I had done it several times in elementary school, so I was somewhat accustomed to it. Plus, there were a few kids around who had come up from elementary school with me, so some remembered me doing it.
Well, I personally thought this was easier. At least, I didn’t have to put in enormous effort to win.
“Kotoné… You’re the best…”
Kagami, holding a camera while covering her mouth with one hand, was tearful in her eyes, which was somewhat annoying. But still.
At some point, Kagami’s camera had been upgraded. Though it wasn’t a digital camera yet, it was a film camera. It seemed she wasn’t satisfied with the clarity of capturing my appearance on digital.
I might have felt some complicated emotions, but I actually liked this side of Kagami, who seemed like a little show-off. It felt like family genuinely loving me.
When I made a V sign toward Kagami, she started snapping photos vigorously again. I could see a few people around, laughing at her.
Dad looked a bit complicated.
Perhaps because he viewed me as his daughter, he seemed somewhat concerned about me shaking my body in a cheerleader outfit that exposed some skin.
Well, even I had to admit that I looked just like a ‘middle schooler.’ Especially a somewhat petite one among them. If someone shot me a sinister look, it wouldn’t be strange at all to say it had a criminal vibe.
Hmm.
I didn’t feel too bad about this.
I didn’t know it could be so amusing to see my family’s faces like this.
Well, to be honest, I felt a bit embarrassed in this outfit, and I might feel immensely ashamed when Kagami shows me these pictures again ten years later.
*
Yuka came to visit in the afternoon.
Was it fortunate to say so or just a given? She didn’t bring Dad or Grandpa, just came alone.
She was in her school uniform. Did she come straight after class?
“Oh…”
Yuka looked at my outfit, staring blankly for a while, unsure of what to say.
“Why? Is it weird?”
“No, it’s just that it feels surprisingly like you.”
Is that so?
I didn’t think I was particularly enjoying wearing this kind of clothing.
Or maybe she was evaluating me as someone wishing to enjoy the life before her.
“Here, come this way.”
I led Yuka to where Kagami and Dad were. Without holding her wrist or anything, she followed me without any resistance.
Kagami’s expression stiffened a bit upon seeing Yuka. Could she figure it out that well?
Though they hadn’t seen each other for the first time, it wasn’t like they met so ordinarily either. Back then, they’d only seen each other briefly in a situation related to ‘work.’
“Hello.”
Seeing Yuka greet gently, Kagami hesitated for a moment, weighing whether to treat her as my friend, then looked at me and smiled softly.
It seemed she decided to treat her as my friend.
Probably because I was here entirely.
“Hello. Kotoné has been a lot of help to me.”
…It was true that she had been, so I really had nothing to say.
“I’ve received a lot of help as well.”
Yuka spoke in a somewhat stiff tone, then shyly looked up again.
“Please take good care of Kotoné from now on.”
After hearing Kagami’s reply, she glanced my way.
“My mom uses polite language with everyone. Even with me.”
In Japan, I’m not sure which way is considered the norm. In manga, there are times when one uses polite language upon meeting their friend’s child for the first time, and I can’t tell if it’s really polite or just a translation thing.
Well, in Korea, it might be the case where polite language is used initially when a child brings friends over.
“No, that’s not it…”
Yuka seemed to want to say something, but then she just shut her mouth and shrugged her shoulders.
I could guess what she was trying to say. The notion of taking care of someone held some meaning worth contemplating.
But it wasn’t a topic for conversation here.
The ‘ordinary’ atmosphere of this place wasn’t one that allowed for such discussions.
“Are you winning?”
In the end, Yuka asked, changing the subject.
“No, we’re dramatically losing.”
Despite my cheers, our class was racking up losses after losses. The morning matches had all fallen through, and now we had to hope for the running event later in the afternoon.
Of course, no one here was genuinely invested in our class winning.
Shii enjoyed watching her brother run beautifully, and Kagami was there to see me dance. Dad was similar in a sense.
And Yuka had just come to watch me.
“You’ll cheer anyway, right?”
Yuka asked.
“Of course. That’s my job.”
I practiced hard in my own way.
So, I’ll just do my best as always. After all, struggling should be done with all one’s might.
Isn’t that how we get to rise a little higher?
“Would you like to sit next to Shii?”
“Uh, that sounds good.”
When I said that, Yuka nodded eagerly.
Yeah.
Honestly, it’s a bit uncomfortable sitting next to a friend’s parent, regardless of the relationship between Kagami and Yuka.
I smiled at Yuka, then turned to dash back to where my classmates were.
What will we do after the sports festival? It would be nice if we could all eat something delicious together. I had treated them last time, after all.
And with such truly ordinary thoughts in mind.