NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7
Chapter
A guest has arrived, so do I need to bring something out?
Thinking it over, I realized I didn’t have anything to serve.
If the guest were a yōkai, they might have treated me like a snack. Perhaps somewhere in this house, bugs were crawling around unseen.
Aside from that, all I had were soy sauce and salt, but I can’t serve that as food, can I?
At least I didn’t even have any cushions to sit on the floor. So the two of us just sat awkwardly facing each other in the house.
“So… Kurosawa-san?”
“Yes.”
“Is your mother home?”
“….”
Do I even have a mom?
Wait, thinking back, that might be normal. It’s not easy for a high school girl living alone to get into a private school in the middle of Tokyo.
Someone must have taken the exam and paid the fees. Kurosawa Kotone probably attended elementary and middle school.
Whether that “she” was just prepared or really attended those schools in this body is still unclear to me.
“So, Kurosawa-san is supposed to be living with her mother.”
“My mother went out to work.”
I lied.
And I thought it was a plausible lie.
A mother who works late to pay for the expensive tuition while living alone with her daughter in this house, doesn’t that sound believable? Otherwise, she could be neglectful parents just leaving their daughter alone in her room. Either way, it was a good way to stimulate the other person’s imagination.
“I see.”
Looking at Suzuki-sensei’s face, she seemed to be thinking of the latter scenario.
A daughter got injured and hospitalized, yet the mother doesn’t even show up?
Any sensible parent would at least say thank you to whoever is paying the hospital bills. That would leave a bad impression on Miura’s parents.
After a brief hesitation, Suzuki-sensei carefully opened her mouth again.
“Kurosawa-san, about what happened yesterday—”
“I don’t remember.”
Upon my response, Suzuki-sensei closed her mouth.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. I have no memory after seeing that uncle… I woke up to Miura calling me… in the hospital…”
“I see.”
Suzuki-sensei’s face hardened.
I lowered my gaze with my left hand. Come to think of it, she had seen the pattern on my arm last time.
Until now, I had been wearing a long coat, so no one noticed. I had consciously kept my arms down while moving around.
Maybe it’s better to do something about it. I doubt any high schooler would think positively about a tattoo.
“Do you need help?”
I hesitated for a moment.
A few years ago, in Korea, no matter what the teachers tried to do, if the parents stopped them, there was no way to help the child separately.
How about in Japan?
Bullying occurs in schools no matter what country you are in, and juvenile crimes happen somewhere. From light violence to theft or even rape and murder, the types are various.
This is just my thought, but in the early 21st century, both Japan and Korea probably didn’t protect students’ rights that well.
“No.”
So I answered decisively.
If I were to approach her saying I would help, it would just create more problems if she noticed that something was off with my situation.
“….”
But it seems that Suzuki-sensei thought differently about my answer.
She took a note from her bag and hastily scribbled something with a pen.
Then she handed me the note, which had Suzuki-sensei’s name and contact information. Phone number, cell phone number, and email.
“When your mother returns later, can you show this to her? There’s something I want to discuss with your mother.”
“…Understood.”
“Okay, then… be careful.”
Suzuki-sensei looked around the room once more.
What she saw were my scattered personal items on the floor without any furniture, and the garbage bag in the corner.
Since I haven’t cleaned it since I got here, to Suzuki-sensei, it must look like an actual wreck.
With a worried expression, she glanced at me once, and carefully left the room.
snore
Did the uncle from next door finally come home? I could hear the sound of snoring coming from beyond the wall.
Suzuki-sensei flinched at that sound.
That thin wall felt so inadequate, as if you could just smash it with a hammer and walk right into the next room.
“….”
She almost opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again.
Then, with very hesitant movements, she slowly walked to the exit.
“Well then, I’ll come again next time. Is that okay?”
“…Yes, thank you for coming.”
“Okay.”
Suzuki-sensei smiled softly at my words.
Even as I closed the door, she waved goodbye.
Though it was dark outside, I didn’t think there would be much problem with Suzuki-sensei going back alone. It’s just that this apartment is particularly old; the surroundings didn’t seem particularly dangerous.
“Huuh.”
I let out a long sigh and returned to my room.
Lying down on the bag, I was just staring at the ceiling.
“….”
Ah, this is bad.
I was getting even more alert than during the day.
Not that I had anything to worry about.
*
“Huh? What’s this? Your hair went back to normal.”
Fukuda said, looking at my hair when we met in class.
My hairstyle returned from a ponytail to just having the ends tied neatly. Thankfully, the hair tie Fukuda gave me was still intact, saving me from extra expenses.
“…That took longer than I thought.”
“Well, that’s right. Your hair is so long. Why not try tidying it up a bit?”
“…No intention.”
When I was a guy, I could manage my hair with about 10,000 yen. Now in 2004, it would probably cost way less than that.
But that was the story in Korea, and it was a guy’s hairstyle too.
I used to see online that Korean hair salons had great value for money, meaning Japanese salons were pricier than Korean ones.
And with how long my hair is now, extra charges would definitely apply.
…And this is just my guess, but it seems those rich girls never go to cheap salons.
“Yesterday you were sick and rested, right? You weren’t playing with that boy you met at the gathering, were you? Huh?”
“Well, my hairstyle’s back to normal.”
Yamashita, who had been fiddling with her phone, briefly glanced at me and said.
“If you plan to keep seeing him, you’d be dressing up more often.”
“Ah~ Is that so?”
Fukuda shrugged her shoulders and sat down at her desk.
It seems she doesn’t know the reason I missed school. A passing student might have seen me, but maybe I was lucky.
“Kurosawa.”
As I was taking out my first-period textbook from my desk, Miura, who had just walked into the classroom, came over to me with a bright smile.
“Hey there.”
I greeted Miura with a neutral expression as possible. Seeing me greeting like that made Miura’s expression brighten even more.
“I took notes on what you missed in yesterday’s class, so I’ll show you.”
“You mention studying as soon as you see someone who missed class.”
Fukuda said with a slightly exasperated expression.
Ahaha, Miura laughed.
“…….”
If the original light novel story had been followed exactly, there would have been a vase in my back seat instead of Miura by now.
“Hello, everyone!”
As Suzuki-sensei entered the classroom greeting, our eyes met for just a brief moment, and her initially stiff expression quickly returned to normal.
Is she still thinking about the house I used to live in?
Well, to be honest, it wasn’t a state I could say was fine. It’s not about the house; it’s the state of the room I’m living in.
“Well then, shall we call out the roll today as well?”
The first class today was Japanese.
For me, it would be ‘Japanese’ class.
Yeah, I’ll have to work hard since I have missed so many classes.
After all, moving forward, the story will continue with the protagonist and the heroine.
Extras live their life just like extras do.
*
There’s a way to eat the same food every day without getting tired of it.
The trick is to never eat anything else and only consume a small quantity at once.
A single katsu sandwich isn’t exactly small, but in general, high schoolers are known to eat well regardless of gender.
Since I don’t usually snack, I’ve been waiting eagerly for the time to eat the sandwich.
“…The weather is so warm.”
In fact, it’s not just warm; it feels like it’s going to get really hot soon.
Tokyo is close to the sea. The humidity must also be incredibly high.
Should I look for a summer refuge? Would the rooftop in front be okay?
After all, very few people come up to either the rooftop or that front space, anyway.
I stuffed the remaining bread in my mouth and shoved the empty bag into my pocket.
Checking my phone, I still had quite a bit of time left.
There’s nothing else to stick around for, so I thought about returning to the cool classroom and immediately turned around to head down.
A few students passing in the hallway glanced at me as I came down from the rooftop, but they didn’t seem overly interested and just walked past.
As I walked, I suddenly passed in front of Class 1-A.
That’s the class of the protagonist and the heroine.
I wonder if the heroine hasn’t transferred yet?
Through the windows in the hallway, I slyly looked inside.
The protagonist’s seat is in the back by the window, one seat in front.
The heroine would sit right behind them.
If you were to ask why that best seat is coincidentally empty… it’s because of the urban legend connected to it.
It’s the urban legend about a girl who committed suicide. Anyway, it’s situated in an awkward spot that people avoid sitting in. This is something that comes up in the novel, too.
The heroine sits there without a care, and when the protagonist tells her about the urban legend, she just laughs it off.
Because she can’t see yōkai with her eyes that can see them.
“There’s no one.”
There was the protagonist, but no heroine.
Personally, I was a bit disappointed since I used to like that character while reading the original novel.
It used to be hard to get that kind of pure tsundere character popular in the modern age. It’s that kind of character who’s just entering the 21st century and is so pure that it feels almost painful to see.
I shrugged my shoulders to myself and returned to my seat.
*
“Are you really going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Hey, Kurosawa can’t go home alone, right?”
From the way I see it, you guys are still kids.
But I get it; teens usually think they’re mature. They still can’t drink though.
Under current Japanese law for this age, would it be enough to say they could get married?
“It’s only until the subway.”
In reality, I have to walk quite a bit from the subway, but anyway, they probably wouldn’t chase after me all the way to Saitama.
“Then at least until the subway….”
“…I’m really fine.”
To be honest, I was a little scared.
You guys always spend so much money when you go out.
It’s not like it’s a fast-food joint; they eat expensive desserts in fancy cafes, have fun at karaoke, and do crane games.
I could buy a bunch of katsu sandwiches with the amount you’d spend on one game.
I was just hanging out to prevent Miura from getting killed, so it’s okay to part ways from now on.
Even if that makes things awkward… well, I’m just a middle-aged man in content, aren’t I? Going around together would just make me feel like I’m guilty.
“…Okay, then. See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
I waved at Miura.
Watching the three of them go in the direction they wanted, I turned around and walked away.
After walking a few steps, an idea suddenly hit me.
Ah, right.
How about joining a club?
Miura, Fukuda, and Yamashita are all students who don’t participate in any clubs, so if I say I joined one, it would naturally make it easier to distance myself from them.
A club that doesn’t cost money. Ideally, a nice place to spend time within the school.
How about the literature club? They gather to read books anyway. Sometimes they write something for the festival or publish it.
Having one more somber and quiet girl in a lonely club room wouldn’t bother anyone, would it?
Thinking such thoughts as I walked along, I caught sight of a girl at that moment.
Not looking at me — she was a student going up in the opposite direction.
Maybe she’s the same age as me? She seemed a bit taller than I am. Though objectively speaking, Kurosawa Kotone wasn’t that tall.
She gathered her bangs to one side and tucked them behind her ear, tying the long hair back neatly into a ponytail. An archetypical ponytail.
She had a slightly fierce impression, with sharp eyes.
Her tightly closed lips appeared unyielding, though her pink lips seemed soft.
She looked like a beauty drawn from a picture. I wouldn’t have felt weird if I said she was on TV, right now, passing by me.
…Yuuki Yuka.
She was in casual clothes right now, but I knew very well what she looked like in a sailor uniform.
Her direction headed towards the school.
I wonder if she will transfer properly into this world?
Originally, she was supposed to transfer after saving the protagonist’s younger sister.
I forcefully wrenched my gaze away.
I felt it might become troublesome if I looked too long and she realized I was staring.
My heart began to pound.
“….”
Trying to maintain my normal pace, I moved forward.
Could she know my identity?
I can’t say I’m confident, but I knew that my body wasn’t just an ordinary human body.
If Yuuki Yuka could see the yōkai, couldn’t she see through my identity too?
As she passed right beside me.
Her long ponytail swayed with her footsteps.
After walking a few steps and letting out a small sigh, I suddenly noticed the footsteps behind me had stopped.
“Hey.”
Then I heard someone calling out.
I stopped walking accordingly.
It was still the peak time for leaving school. Hanagawa High School tends to have higher club activity participation, so while it wasn’t a huge crowd, this path had quite a few other students wearing the same uniform as me.
Nevertheless, strangely, only the two of us were in a spot where no one else was.
What bad luck.
“…What?”
I cautiously answered, turning around.
Yuuki Yuka’s sharp face was vividly in my sight. How could a fighting high school girl have no visible wounds on her face?
In the novel, she was still quite active. Even though I have seen neither the anime nor the comics, it would have been the same there.
Did she read even a bit of the unease on my face? Yuuki Yuka tilted her head.
Thank goodness. It seems she didn’t recognize that I was an ordinary human.
“If I keep walking straight along this road, will I reach Hanagawa High School?”
She tilted her head but still asked the question correctly.
“Yes. Just follow the road straight ahead.”
“Thank you.”
She said that and turned around without any attachment, heading back down the path.
Did she not recognize me?
While I was relieved, on the other hand, I felt slightly disappointed.
Well, isn’t it that I have come back to life in the world of a light novel? If I think of being away from the main story, it’s a little regrettable.
That being said, I have no intention of getting intertwined with it.
*
…That was something I had thought before.
Lunch break.
Unlike the other kids, I lazily stood up from my seat and slowly walked toward the school store.
After all, with the katsu sandwich, I wouldn’t get tired of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t carry enough money to buy several of them, but I could at least buy one to fill my empty stomach a little.
So as I walked slowly toward the store—
There stood Yuuki Yuka.
She was looking at the store with a shocked expression for various reasons.
Seeing that, I quickly dug through my faint memories from twenty years ago.
She must have… oh, that’s right, she ate some bread.
There were moments she would occasionally murmur about the bread.
I remembered the conversation we had while eating together at the beginning.
We went to buy some bread at the store, and since it was too late, she just brought back a katsu sandwich.
In those episodes about bread, there was a short gag about Yuuki Yuka and her bread snatching war.
Realizing that, I almost slapped my forehead.
If only I recalled that earlier, we wouldn’t have had this awkward bump into each other.
Though it seems only I was the one thinking that way.
I cautiously leaned against a wall, slightly farther back than I usually do.
After the kids who gathered to have their bread-snatching wars finally left, I slowly moved.
“Ah, over there—”
“Sorry, right now, the only bread left is the katsu sandwich.”
As Yuuki Yuka opened the store door, the lady at the counter smiled ruefully, and Yuuki Yuka’s shoulders drooped.
An obstinate tsundere, and as for her personality, she is as inflexible as the head of the school council in a typical school story. Yet in some aspects, she has a girl-like quality. It’s no wonder I once liked those characters.
Only after seeing her directly was my memory beginning to come back, and it seemed twenty years was indeed sufficient time to bury memories entirely.
Keeping a little distance from the slouched Yuuki Yuka, I approached the counter.
“Oh, you came again today.”
“Yes, please give me a katsu sandwich.”
“It’s become a routine for you, hasn’t it? Should I save one for you next time?”
It seems the lady didn’t even think I would buy the katsu sandwich because I was broke.
“No, this is fine.”
I said that, placing coins into the lady’s hand and receiving the sandwich.
“Huh?”
After hearing my conversation with the lady, Yuuki Yuka looked a bit surprised, alternating her gaze between me and the lady, but I didn’t spare her any attention — at least I tried to look like I didn’t, and I turned around slowly to walk out of the store.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
After passing through and walking a few seconds, Yuuki Yuka rushed out and said.
“Yes?”
It was too obvious that she was calling me, so I couldn’t not respond, turning around to see her catching her breath.
“Do you happen to know the lady at the store?”
“…….”
Ah, so it was about the bread.