NOVEL NEXT Chapter 403
Bringing Koko along has led to several good things.
First of all, there’s now a lot more laughter in the house.
It’s a bit ambiguous to say that laughter has “returned” since we weren’t living in complete silence before.
However, the atmosphere had become somewhat dull lately, and every time that happened, Koko would pull off something funny.
Like wearing her clothes inside out, mispronouncing words, or failing to understand homonyms and saying something ridiculous.
The funniest part is definitely her sounds like “Uwa?” or “Uuu?”
Just hearing her say that makes all the serious worries I had feel completely irrelevant.
Though I call her my sister, to be honest, she currently feels more like a ‘little sister.’ Since I have to take care of her anyway, it would be better to have that justification.
… Personally, I don’t really want to be treated like a little sibling.
The second reason builds on the first.
We hoped that Koko would adapt to society.
Especially Kagami seems to be desperate for this.
Kagami seems to have accepted Koko as her daughter, but there were some issues prior to that.
Kagami left Koko behind.
I think it couldn’t be helped. Until she mimicked my appearance, she didn’t even look human.
Moreover, at such a young age, escaping with me was already quite the feat. How could they have carried Koko out, who was sealed at birth? Even if they managed it, that ‘part’ might not even be the current Koko. We still don’t have a complete grasp of Koko.
But even so, I can’t help feeling guilty. It’s as if I judged my daughter based on appearance, distinguishing between who to seek and who not to.
“Awesome, Koko!”
“Uwa!”
And maybe because of the burden on her mind, Kagami really worked hard to teach Koko.
There were books and notebooks laid out between Koko and Kagami. The book was one that kindergarteners or first graders would use, while the notebook contained Koko writing the same letters.
Koko is learning to write.
The fortunate thing is that Koko is quite clever. She followed my instructions accurately and managed to restrain herself from doing what shouldn’t be done based on the atmosphere; her process of learning is impressive. Koko doesn’t have a poor head, she just has a lot to learn.
There may be limits. She might not be able to rank first in school, and it’s highly unlikely she will become a genius of the century.
But we don’t want that. We only hope Koko can adapt to society, at least to my level.
Kagami was thoroughly accommodating to Koko.
“U—wa!”
“Uwa, indeed!”
When Koko raised her arms over her head and shouted, Kagami did the same. There was no sense that it was ‘forced.’ Kagami was genuinely having fun following along.
…I see.
I’ve hardly ever shown such childish behavior in front of Kagami.
I tried. I sang songs I learned in school, danced, and read picture books out loud. If there was a letter to my parents, I diligently wrote it. I can assert that the feelings written in that letter were genuine.
If there’s a problem, it’s that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fully reproduce the ‘pure innocence of a real child.’
“Our daughter is so clever!”
Kagami said this while reaching out to pat Koko’s head. Koko was genuinely delighted.
Seeing that, I felt a bit of weight lift from my heart too. I had thought I had pushed some work onto Kagami.
“……”
Dad was also sitting on the sofa, looking at the scene with a warm smile.
Speaking of which, now he has three daughters.
Of course, he has his own daughter as well.
…Someday, I want to politely thank those families when we meet. I could survive thanks to your father.
Whether that day comes or not, I can at least hope for it.
*
Since Koko needed to adapt to the outside world, I took her with me on walks around the neighborhood whenever I could. Kagami did the same, but I thought it would be better if I introduced friends to Koko.
And the first friend I introduced was, of course, Shii.
“Two seniors?”
“This is my twin, Koko.”
I answered Shii, who muttered with a very confused expression.
“We’ve been separated due to various… issues, but we finally get to be together, so I came to introduce her.”
“Ah, yes.”
The Sasaki siblings also had the same ‘various issues’ that had caused their separation. It seemed Shii quickly imagined the reason why we had been apart.
“Um, so… Koko?”
“Koko!”
“This is Shii.”
“Shii!”
As soon as she heard the introduction, Koko shouted and rushed to hug Shii.
“Senior!?”
Koko looked exactly like me. It’s only natural, as I had shown her my body to ensure she’d resemble me. It’s not something I could merely ask someone else to do either.
Perhaps that’s why, instead of addressing her as ‘Ms. Koko’ initially, Shii naturally began to call her ‘senpai’ instead.
There’s no chance of confusion with the titles. After all, the two of us have been sticking together at the Sasaki family home all this time. Even if I taught her various things, there were still many anxious factors.
“Sota!”
Right, just like with Shii, Koko was trying to hug Sota too.
I quickly grabbed Koko’s body to stop her.
“No, Koko.”
“Uuu?”
Koko tilted her head at my words.
“Don’t hug boys casually, except for Dad.”
“That’s right, senpai. You shouldn’t do that.”
Shii, who almost witnessed her brother being hugged by another girl, sighed with relief and said that, while Koko tilted her head again, looking confused.
“Well then, I’ll hug you instead.”
Shii said this while spreading her arms.
“Uwa!”
Koko immediately hugged Shii again. …Shii must be younger than me, yet the two are almost the same height. I usually feel this way, but seeing it so objectively feels even more pronounced.
None of the people here seemed to care about that.
“……”
After breaking the hug, for some reason, Shii briefly looked back and forth between me and Koko.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. I just thought this kind of atmosphere suits you, senpai.”
“……”
At a loss for words regarding Shii’s comment, Shii burst into laughter.
“Shall we eat some snacks? I just happen to have some.”
“Snacks!”
Koko immediately reacted to that.
Um.
Though Shii was quite cautious around strangers, the environment here is arguably better than in the original story. Kagami has continually been helping out, and our dad has been providing various kinds of aid whenever something happens at the Sasaki siblings’ house.
No, it’s probably more because of Koko’s unique atmosphere.
That distinct and pure vibe that makes even strangers let their guard down…
…
How hard must this child, capable of loving others so easily, have struggled in that dark place?
I let out a small sigh.
*
For the first few days after Koko came home, the two of us slept in another room from Mom.
After all, Koko thought that I was the closest person, and I figured that I could respond to anything that came up between us.
Koko liked me.
Maybe it was because she had lived too long under that dark roof. Koko burrowed up to me like a cat, seeking warmth. Right, it must have been very cold during winter.
After a few days like that, once I realized Koko was okay, I went back to sleep in Mom’s room.
Of course, Koko followed me. Kagami, who accepted Koko as her daughter, didn’t drive her away.
Koko naturally nestled into Kagami’s embrace.
…Well, sure, Kagami is much taller than I am, and her arms are a lot warmer. Still, I felt a twinge of jealousy. I never thought I’d feel something like jealousy towards my mom.
Of course, Mom doesn’t really care about such things.
She simply pulls us into her arms with a big smile on her face, as if she is the happiest person in the world.
“……”
Thank goodness.
Kagami, who used to give off an aura of having given up everything, no longer feels that way.
On the contrary, she seems to have been filled with hope and enthusiasm.
In that regard, I’m thankful to Koko.
I nestled into Kagami’s embrace. As usual, Kagami’s embrace was incredibly warm and comforting.
…
Maybe, it’s not just Koko who is like a cat.