If there's one thing I regret about becoming younger, it's that the amount of food I can eat at once has become very small.

And it's not just that I eat less; my taste has changed too.

How should I put it? In a way it's natural, but I've developed more of a "child's palate," you could say.

When you gradually grow older from childhood, it's not easy to notice how your tastes change. The process is so slow that you simply realize one day that foods you didn't eat as a child have become delicious, without remembering exactly when the change happened.

If my taste had gradually become more childlike, I might not have noticed the dramatic difference, but my case was different.

I was an adult one day, and a child the next.

To be honest, vegetables don't taste very good anymore. I still like meat, but it's easier to eat when it's covered in sauce, and overall I've come to prefer sweet, stimulating foods.

Things like ice cream, snacks, and candy.

Of course, I know that even from a young age, one should eat a balanced variety of foods, so I've been diligently eating most of what Kagami makes for me without leaving anything behind. Still, I definitely prefer sweet foods.

Especially on hot days like this, cold foods are really wonderful.

"Kotone, it's not good to eat so quickly. You might get a stomachache."

Kagami advised me as she watched me eating my kakigori.

It was really nothing special—just finely shaved ice with syrup poured over it, without any fancy toppings—but perhaps because of the sweltering summer heat, it was incredibly delicious.

After hearing Kagami's words, I slowed down a bit.

Even though yukatas are made of cool material, the part covering my arms felt a bit hot. The floral-patterned yukata that matched with Kagami's was pretty, though.

Because of the heat, the shaved ice probably tasted even better.

However, even if shaved ice suits a child's palate, it was honestly too much for me. I could finish it if I tried, but I didn't want to get a stomachache as Kagami warned.

"Mom."

I scooped up some shaved ice with my spoon and held it out to Kagami.

Seeing me do this, Kagami chuckled softly before accepting the Hawaiian blue syrup-covered shaved ice.

"It's delicious."

"Yeah. It's good."

For reference, Harumi was holding an apple candy, and Yuu had a chocolate-covered banana. All extremely sweet foods. Perhaps what I was eating was the least sweet of them all?

Yamashita-san and Fukuda-san didn't seem to particularly enjoy walking around with food in their hands, judging by their expressions. Even after Miho-san bought takoyaki and gave them each a piece, the two didn't really buy anything else to eat.

Of course, they happily accepted the bites their daughters offered them.

After becoming an adult, walking alone or with friends late at night didn't feel particularly special. It was just a normal thing to do. You eat dinner, have some drinks, and before you know it, it's nighttime.

Sometimes I'd even stay out until dawn. After I started living alone, I think I did that quite often, at least until I lost my family.

But when you're a child, it's different.

At an age when you naturally go home when it gets dark. When you have dinner with your parents, stay awake for a little while, and then start nodding off until it's time to lay out the futon and go to sleep.

For a child of that age, being outside with parents even after the sky has turned pitch black is bound to be a special experience.

Even at this late hour, the streets were lively. People were chatting excitedly everywhere, and among them were children about our age.

The scenery of the street was somewhat surreal, like a dreamscape, so even as I walked holding Kagami's hand, I kept looking for where Kagami was.

"Ah! Goldfish scooping!"

When Harumi shouted that and ran ahead, Miho-san quickly followed after her. Yamashita-san seemed to follow at a leisurely pace, but with his height, his stride wasn't actually that slow.

The place Harumi ran to was literally a stall for "goldfish scooping."

It felt strange to see in person something I'd only seen in manga during my childhood. I didn't particularly feel like trying it myself, but seeing Harumi crouching in front of the tank full of goldfish looking so happy, I crouched down beside her.

Yuu did the same. She was quickly captivated by the colorful, reflective goldfish in the tank.

Hmm, in my previous life, the closest thing might have been... hamsters or baby chicks sold in front of elementary schools? Though we didn't play with them, just bought one for 500 or 1,000 won and took it home.

"Dad, I want to try this!"

Harumi shouted, and Yamashita-san nodded.

"Kotone, do you want to try too?"

Kagami, who was crouching beside me, asked casually, but I shook my head.

"I just want to watch."

Looking at my face, Kagami seemed to understand that I was sincere, so she smiled and placed her hand on my shoulder as we watched Harumi together.

"Heya!"

After failing a few times at first, Harumi seemed to get the hang of it after catching one fish, and successfully scooped up a second and third.

"Look, I caught three!"

At Harumi's childish exclamation, the adults around us laughed. Perhaps the stall owner was also caught up in the festival atmosphere.

But even though she caught three fish, Harumi didn't put all three in one bag.

Instead, she received one fish per bag and gave one each to Yuu and me.

Suddenly holding a goldfish each, Yuu and I looked at each other briefly, then back at Harumi.

"Take good care of them!"

Harumi exclaimed energetically.

It didn't seem to have any profound meaning, so I looked up at Kagami. Kagami just smiled and stroked my head.

Goldfish... they're sold in many places so it seems easy, but I've heard they actually require a lot of care.

But I didn't want to reject Harumi's goodwill. A gift is a gift, after all.

Let's try to raise it. As best I can.

With that thought, I looked at the goldfish floating blankly in the transparent bag.

Blub, blub. The goldfish moved its mouth.

...As soon as we get home, I'll find a suitable container to put it in right away.

*

The highlight of a festival is, of course, the fireworks.

This isn't just true for Japanese festivals, but for most university festivals too, I think. There was a university not far from where I lived, and during their festivals, I could see brilliant fireworks going up.

What we saw was similar.

The sight of brilliant fireworks soaring high, high into the sky and bursting with a bang was the pinnacle of today's dreamlike feeling.

For some reason, I wanted to see Kagami's face more than the fireworks, so I turned my gaze to the side.

And our eyes met.

When our eyes met, Kagami's eyes crinkled as she smiled gently, then softly stroked my head.

"..."

I thought I'd made the right choice in looking back.

All the other children had their eyes fixed on the fireworks. Even Miho-san, who was already in middle school, was the same.

Yamashita-san and Fukuda-san were no different.

Perhaps this day would pass by ordinarily.

As one of the many days we would experience repeatedly, as one of our ordinary days—

...

No.

At least today, I probably won't forget.

Because it's the first day I spent at a festival with Kagami in this world.

It seems appropriate as a starting point for the days to come.

Kagami reached out and gently put her arm around my shoulders.

I leaned against Kagami's body and looked up at the sky together.

Bang, boom.

Blue, yellow, and red fireworks soared high, high into the sky.

Bright, colorful fireworks that seemed to etch themselves onto our retinas.

Until the fireworks ended, we just kept looking up at the sky.

*

After returning home, I transferred the goldfish into a suitable container.

"It's summer vacation, right?"

Kagami said with a smile as she watched me staring at the goldfish.

"Next week, let's buy the things you need to raise a goldfish properly. Since you received it as a gift, you should take care of it properly until the end."

I've heard that goldfish can live quite long—will I be able to raise it until the end?

But Kagami was right.

I thought it wouldn't be bad to have a pet in the house.

We weren't in a position to raise a dog or cat for various reasons, but a single goldfish...

Yes.

As a witness to my first memories here, I thought it wouldn't be bad to raise it for a long time.

Blub, blub.

The goldfish swam leisurely around the bowl, seemingly without a care.

I rather liked that about it too.