NOVEL WEB Chapter 39
Chapter
If I say there’s a female classmate beside me on the way to high school, it would feel like a page from a beautiful youth story, but unfortunately, that’s a tale suited only for ordinary students living their mundane lives.
It’s enough to drive you crazy, knowing that the father of the girl I’m commuting with is a yakuza boss, and even worse, that this yakuza father plans to marry a woman only three years older than his daughter. How would you feel about that?
Moreover, this girl doesn’t have the usual hobbies like watching dramas, variety shows, or films like other kids do.
From my observations over the last two days, Yamashita seems to enjoy spacing out the most.
To be honest, she might be the most different child among the people I’ve met in this world, where her appearance and inner self differ the most.
Of course, it’s not like I’ve known Fukuda or Miura for that long, either.
But you know, even with the same behavior, it appears different once you get to know it.
Regardless of the reasons behind Miura’s personality, she would still appear kind. Knowing the reasons behind Fukuda’s cheerfulness wouldn’t change the fact that she’s cheerful.
Yamashita doesn’t look much different from the outside. Silent and cold, her beauty perfectly fits the term “cool beauty.”
But I insist; there’s a one parsec distance between the expressions ‘standoffish’ and ‘otherworldly,’ even if she appears as a blank expression character.
In my view, Yamashita is more towards the ‘otherworldly’ side than standoffish.
Yamashita is quite popular in our class, but I think most students likely perceive her ‘otherworldly’ nature as ‘standoffish.’
Well, anyway.
Since Yuuki brought shabu-shabu ingredients—of course, we helped him buy some—to our home last Monday, it appears he’s concluded there’s not much to do regarding Yamashita’s personality.
Guess he thought there wouldn’t be a big problem since they’re both quiet kids.
After that, Yuuki greeted us warmly every time we met in the Literature Club and didn’t look at Yamashita with distrust.
Ikeda, too, must have concluded on Tuesday or Wednesday that Yamashita was a sunless creature after seeing her two days in a row, as he didn’t seem uncomfortable even if she was in the same place.
Yamashita even picked up a book during the two days!
She read the first three pages before closing it, but still, it’s something. At least, it seemed she was reading poetry quite well.
Well, until Wednesday, things were tolerable.
Yamashita didn’t complain much even if it was curry every evening. She would just watch the TV silently that was left on anywhere, staring blankly at the ceiling lost in thought, or looking at her cellphone.
Ah, the cellphone arrived via a package later. It seems she wants to keep a way to contact her daughter.
As long as I don’t bother her, she’s thoroughly harmless. My conclusion was pretty much the same as Ikeda’s.
However, today, Thursday, I felt a bit anxious.
So I kept repeating to Yamashita during the hour on the train to school among the people.
“Today’s my part-time work day.”
“……Uh-huh.”
“I’ll be back quite late, so I’ll have to go back alone first. Is that okay?”
“Got it.”
Yamashita responded in her usual somewhat uninterested tone.
“I’ll give you the key—”
“Kurosawa.”
When I emphasized it a few times, Yamashita frowned slightly and looked at me.
She seemed very uncomfortable being among people.
“I already said I got it.”
“Uh, okay.”
I replied hesitantly and fell silent.
A bit scary.
Honestly, if I had my body from my previous life, I wouldn’t have thought it was that scary. I was strong and fit enough to carry an adult male up and down the stairs.
But thinking back, if I had my previous body, it wouldn’t be the case that we would even share a room.
……More than that, we probably wouldn’t even be in the same school. I was an adult back then.
Yamashita seemed to still struggle to adapt to the morning packed train. Her expression was consistently filled with annoyance.
Well, it made sense.
No one can adapt to places like this. I bet everyone here is struggling to fit in, too.
*
Despite only missing my part-time job for four days, I was all of a sudden not wanting to go at all.
But thinking again, four days is a long time. I’ve rarely taken breaks that long while working.
Anyway, since today was a work day, I didn’t go to the club activities.
I did wonder if Yamashita would head towards the Literature Club alone, but it seems that’s not on her mind.
Well, I understand.
When I go home alone, it’s kind of awkward to just wait, so I guess she’s just killing some time together before heading home. Being alone in a house with no landlord feels incredibly awkward. I don’t know what I can and cannot touch. It’s not much different from going to a friend’s house and getting told to ‘stay for a bit’ while they go out.
And sometimes, the person might get mad if you touch anything.
It’s not so strange to follow the subway path along with others.
Just…
“Meow, meow.”
The sound of a cat meowing could be heard today too.
“Were you hungry? Here.”
I also heard the sound of a can opening, along with the voice of a girl who seemed a bit younger than us.
When I turned towards the sound, Yamashita tilted her head.
“Ah, Senpai!”
She stood up brightly, excited as she saw Shii who was alone at work last week.
“Shshsh!”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Seeing Shii suddenly get up startled the cat so much that its fur stood on end. Shii quickly apologized to the startled cat and sat down on the ground, petting the cat as it enjoyed a can of tuna.
“……A cat?”
I heard Yamashita mutter.
I crouched down beside Shii. The cat didn’t seem to be wary of me this time like it did before.
I had been working with Shii after encountering her. It seemed the cat had gotten used to my face since it didn’t shy away from me when I reached out.
Of course, it raised its fur the first time, but it didn’t run away. What a brave little thing.
“Uh… who’s that?”
As Yamashita crouched beside me, she seemed a bit flustered.
That was only natural. Yamashita, on the outside, appeared to be a quite glamorous high school girl.
“This is a friend from my class.”
“Yamashita Yuuki.”
“Ah, I’m Sasaki Shii.”
As Yamashita introduced herself, Shii seemed a tad flustered.
The three of us watched the cat eat for a bit.
“Does this cat have a name?”
Yamashita asked.
“Not yet.”
“Got it.”
Yamashita stared intensely at the cat. Did she like it?
Well, who wouldn’t? It’s an adorable little cat. As long as it doesn’t turn my garden into a bathroom or scratch my arm, it can only look cute to me.
……Though it’s probably doing just that somewhere out of our sight.
“Kuro.”
“Pardon?”
“Since it’s black, how about Kuro (黒)?”
“…….”
Shii and I stared at Yamashita for a moment.
Ah, she’s naming the cat now?
Kuro because it’s black… It’s intuitive, but for some reason, it felt a bit burdensome since it sounds like my name. Thankfully, no one has called me ‘Kuro’ as a nickname yet, though.
“Kuro… I like it!”
With Yamashita’s words, Shii’s face lit up.
Wait, why isn’t she wary of Yamashita this time?
She was super wary when she first met me, right? …No, thinking back, Sasaki Shii was quite an outgoing character.
Not only a character who likes her ‘older brother’ but also someone who easily approaches and befriends people.
That was a common trait among the resilient heroines of those days. They might get an extra piece of fruit from the neighborhood fruit shop lady or get free freshly baked bread from the pastry shop sister, or even score a chunk of free meat from the butcher… that kind of character.
Since the girls around my ‘older brother’ would have seen every one of them, Yamashita Yuuki likely isn’t someone closely linked to my brother. Plus, since we’re in different classes, and I told them before that I wasn’t particularly close to Sasaki Sota, it would be easy for them to assume.
“What about you? Is Kuro okay?”
…….
That…
No.
That’s not my name, right? I’m ‘Kurosawa,’ not just ‘Kuro.’
“Can I touch it?”
“Ah, yes, go ahead. It’s not even mine, after all.”
Shii moved her hands away, and Yamashita stretched her hand toward Kuro’s head.
Swish—
There was no sound of opposition.
“……”
Kuro naturally accepted Yamashita’s hand. To be precise, it had just been focused on eating without caring too much about having its head or back stroked.
But why not to me…?
A hint of dissatisfaction crept up in my chest, but I couldn’t bring myself to voice it.
*
“……Yamashita, do you have business in Akihabara?”
“No.”
If not, then why?
Yamashita continued to follow behind us and boarded the subway heading in the same direction.
I was okay up until that point. Yamashita’s a high school student. If she has somewhere to go by herself, I have no reason to stop her.
Even getting off at Akihabara wouldn’t matter; if she came for something to buy, I wouldn’t interfere. It’s most convenient to look for electronic goods there.
But only after watching her follow us to where we were working did I realize she just followed us blindly.
“Um… we’re here to work now.”
“I know.”
Hmm…
“I have money.”
Yamashita said this while holding up her wallet.
Shii and I exchanged looks.
So, Yamashita intends to use this café.
……I guess the boss would be happy for bringing in customers.
*
“Hey, Kurosawa.”
“Yes.”
After seeing Yamashita sitting for two hours, the boss called me.
“It’s nice that you brought in a customer, but we don’t have any prominent menu items, you see? It’s just a café. The waitress just happens to be wearing a maid outfit. You won’t be getting a bonus for spending a lot, you know?”
How stingy!
Yamashita hadn’t been sitting for two hours without ordering anything.
She ate this and that. Mostly coffee, and snacked on some cake and bread as well.
It might be difficult to apply it equally to Japan in the mid-2000s, but I think I heard that one could sit for about an hour with a drink in the middle of Seoul without causing any issues to the café sales.
And considering that, with the amount of money spent so far, it would’ve been fine for Yamashita to stay there until tomorrow.
“Your friend isn’t having any misconceptions, right?”
The boss asked with an expression that indicated he was highly skeptical.
In fact, many people sit and stay long in this café. Rumor has it that it’s a café with pretty maids, so men sometimes come alone, and couples also come and chat for a while before leaving.
However, it was the first time I’d seen a high school girl sitting alone like that.
Yamashita sat there looking at her phone, appearing bored, occasionally eating the cake a bit with a fork, giving off an aura that seemed hard to approach arbitrarily.
“Well… that’s probably not the case.”
Yamashita was probably just waiting for me because she didn’t want to go home alone. However, I guess she could wait like this. I didn’t think she’d be the type to enjoy playing games in an arcade.
“That’s fine.”
The boss still had a somewhat uneasy expression.
*
However, it felt a bit strange to directly ask Yamashita, ‘Are you waiting for me?’
Somehow, I thought she would give me a rather vague answer.
“It was fun.”
Yamashita said with a somewhat satisfied expression.
That’s right.
Every time Yamashita ordered something, I had to call her ‘young lady.’ That was the café’s rule.
“The maid outfit was cute.”
It might be cute. Kurosawa Kotone’s body is the embodiment of a lovely girl.
Of course, my feelings about it were quite complex.
I realized that being cute was one thing. Maybe that’s why wearing school uniforms and maid outfits didn’t feel that embarrassing. I didn’t have the awareness that it didn’t suit me.
But having others say I’m cute was another matter.
“Senpai, want to go eat ramen after work?”
“Ramen?”
Yamashita reacted to Shii’s words.
Oh right.
It was almost a firm routine to go have a bowl of ramen with Shii after finishing work. I had completely forgotten since I took a break from work last week.
……
But now that I think about it, if I go eat ramen with Shii, that would mean Yamashita would just wait there.
Of course, by the time I arrive, it would be well past dinner time, so Yamashita would have already eaten, but I assumed it wouldn’t be proper ramen but rather some instant cup noodles.
Yamashita stared at me intently, so I cleared my throat awkwardly.
“Let’s all go together… I’ll treat you.”
“……No.”
Yamashita replied to my words.
“I’ll pay.”
“Ah…”
Shii made a momentarily surprised expression, but Yamashita added, as if she wouldn’t allow any argument.
“I have money. Plenty of it.”
Well, if she had money, I guess it was okay.
*
It was once it was completely dark by the time I returned after parting with Shii.
Yamashita and I didn’t talk much. There wasn’t much different from the usual.
I wondered if Yamashita felt a bit better?
I hoped her mind had eased up since from Sunday up until today, but Yamashita still didn’t seem to be planning to go back.
I was really glad that I wasn’t living with my family. No matter how long Yamashita stayed, it wouldn’t matter much.
Honestly, having Yamashita around definitely had its perks. Though Yamashita rarely spoke, having someone beside me made the loneliness fade away a lot.
When I returned home, it was just a little past ten.
Unlike the morning, I filled the bathtub leisurely with water, took a bath sequentially, and came out around 6:30 PM.
I wondered if this was legally acceptable. Since there were two teenage girls, it was clearly a situation where social workers could visit, but the home was somehow categorized as living together with Kagami.
Thus, I guess I could say we’re slipping through the system.
In various ways, that suggests safety.
I remember I once saw a movie that depicted what happens in a house where only minors live.
Their mom left them at home, and the kids ended up living alone… It was a calm yet pathetic movie. I don’t recall the title. It was a Japanese movie. I wonder if it was released in this world too? Perhaps it’ll take even longer before it’s released than it does now.
Children disappearing without anyone knowing. Considering the situation, it was completely the same as our current condition.
After both of us had washed up, we laid down side by side on our respective futons.
“Good night.”
“Yeah, good night.”
We greeted each other and closed our eyes.
We had to go to school tomorrow. Actually, considering the time to wake up, it was a bit late.
Laying there with my eyes closed—
Bzzz.
I heard the sound of a phone vibrating.
It was Yamashita’s phone.
Yamashita looked at her phone and muttered, “…Hmm?”
“Dad?”
As I watched Yamashita get up to answer her phone, I sat up as well.
The orange streetlight dimly seeped in through the window. It was enough light to see Yamashita’s face.
After thinking for a moment, Yamashita opened her phone.
“…Dad.”
Yamashita picked up the call and said, “…Mihō-nee?”
She murmured helplessly.
Then she bolted straight up from her seat.
“When from?”
Her voice was shaking.
“If it’s been since yesterday…!”
She seemed to want to say something but then bit her tongue, remembering the situation.
Could something have happened to Mori-san?
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Got it.”
Yamashita responded with a trembling voice and then shut her phone with a click.
I got up from my seat and turned on the lights in the room.
Yamashita quickly sat in front of her bag and started pulling out clothes.
“What happened?”
“Mihō-nee—”
She paused mid-sentence. Then Yamashita looked up at me.
A moment of contemplation crossed her face.
“…Mihō-nee is very sick. Since yesterday.”
“……”
When I last saw Mori-san, she didn’t seem to be that unwell.
“Let’s go together.”
“But—”
“Let’s go together. It’s already late.”
Yeah. It was late. It was almost midnight.
“……”
Yamashita bit her lip tightly.
*
It’s not exactly ideal for two high school girls to go out at this hour and encounter the police.
There’s a curfew for teenagers in Japan, you know.
Though it’s not like we’d end up in jail or anything, the waste of time would be too much. In the worst scenario, I might even have to call Kagami again, which I wouldn’t want.
So I persuaded Yamashita that we should have someone pick us up from there.
“……”
Thanks to that, Yamashita’s demeanor grew uncomfortable.
Though it wasn’t exactly a rush hour, it would take a while to come all the way out here, pick us up, and take us back to Minato Ward.
But it seems Yamashita decided to just endure it.
After about 40 minutes…
I heard a car.
We both dashed outside together.
…A large black sedan was surprisingly parked there. People got out—one was a rugged man in a brown suit with a striped shirt, and the other was a relatively normal-looking guy wearing a suit but with a noticeable large scar on his head.
“Miss!”
Seeing the two of them wave at us, I began to understand why Yamashita despised that title so much.
It would also take 40 minutes to get back.
I asked what had happened inside that car on the way back.
“Mihō-nee received a package. Normally, we check its contents to some degree….”
It seems that since Mihō-san went out that day and received the package, she brought it directly into her room with her name on it.
And when she came home and opened the package—
“…A dog’s head?”
“Yes. They reported that a severed dog’s head was inside.”
The man with the scar on the passenger seat replied.
“……”
Yamashita didn’t say anything.
“So, we think she might have gotten shocked enough to end up in this condition, but it seems to be serious.”
“Why didn’t you contact us right away?”
At Yamashita’s words, both men flinched.
“…That is….”
“Because Miss would worry, Mihō-nee said….”
“……”
Yamashita bit her lip again.
After a moment of silence, the man with the scar looked at me through the rearview mirror and cautiously asked, “Do you possibly have any idea?”
“……”
What? Are you asking me?
Oh, right. Yamashita is connected to Kagami’s medical group or whatever, so it would make sense for someone in a high position in the organization to have some information.
“It’s hard to say right now since I can only speculate.”
At my answer, Yamashita’s gaze turned back to me.
With her looking at me intensely, I found it hard to look away.
Somehow, that ‘dog head’…
…It felt like a perfectly fitting item for this world.
After all, yōkai and ghosts exist here, don’t they?
It wouldn’t be strange for curses or something to exist, either.