Hanagawa High School wasn't too far from the station.

Now that I was here, I understood why people called it a rich school.

The building itself didn't seem particularly impressive, but the location was in an extremely expensive area.

In Minato-ku, the character "minato" (港) means harbor. The district was close enough to Tokyo Bay that it was simply named after the common noun for "harbor."

That didn't mean container ships were constantly coming and going like in other port cities. I wasn't sure how Minato-ku had become one of Tokyo's famous wealthy districts, but rather than being a commercial area, it had the appearance of an international city where multinational corporations gathered their headquarters.

The station was large and spacious, with tremendous crowds of people. Even on the way to the school entrance, I'd seen quite a few people.

It had a different atmosphere from the middle school I'd attended.

Shii, now in her second year of middle school and having attended a nearby middle school for the past year, already had a familiar expression on her face.

Well, though the area was different, where we used to live was also known as a good place to live in Tokyo. There was no reason to feel intimidated now.

"Then, see you after school!"

Shii, who always parted ways with me at the fork leading to the station, seemed extremely happy that we'd come this far to school together, smiling until the moment we separated.

After exchanging pleasant goodbyes, I continued walking, feeling a bit nervous.

The original work didn't go into detail about how Sota ended up attending this school. It just mentioned in passing that he wanted to be acknowledged.

Many people think high school students are practically grown adults, but it's actually an age where they're experiencing many things for the first time. They haven't fully left childhood behind and are preparing to become adults.

Even people in their early twenties know so little about the world—how could teenagers barely in their teens know everything in detail and be capable of doing everything?

"..."

By that logic, my age in this world wasn't much different either.

Gradually, more female students in sailor uniforms and male students in gakuran appeared around us. As if filtered through a sieve from the crowd, slowly people wearing the same clothes as us gathered around.

In the original work, Sota came to this school by his own choice.

But in this world, we came to this school clearly because of my choice. I said I wanted to go, and my friends said they'd come too.

So, here we were.

And that's why I was afraid.

After all, everything we would experience at this school would be because of me.

If we had gone to a different school, Sota and Shii might never have encountered the gaki. They might never have needed to cross over to the other side of the world where yokai and exorcists roam.

I said I would protect my family, but was this choice a mistake? It was meaningless to think about that now, but—

"Kotone."

Yuka's call brought me back to reality.

"This way."

Ah.

Had I turned in the wrong direction while lost in thought?

As I turned my body following Yuka's words, the children who had come to the same school after hearing my story were looking at me.

Yuka, Sota, Nanami. And Koko.

"...Yeah."

Children who had arrived here following the path I chose, despite having memories almost like prophecies.

In the end, I would be responsible for whatever happened from now on.

I had no intention of giving up. If anything happened on this path I'd chosen, it would be my fault.

That's what I decided.

*

The entrance ceremony ended without much fanfare.

We had received our class assignments in advance, but we didn't sit together by class. We were just starting high school, after all. If you had friends, it would be more comfortable to sit together, and they seemed to have considered that.

Yuka, Koko, and I ended up in the same class.

Sota and Nanami were split up from us but were in the same class together, and they were in the classroom right next to ours, which was reassuring. If they got caught up in something, I could help them without much trouble.

I was most relieved that Koko was in the same class.

The school would think we were twins, so I guess they put us in the same class for that reason. As for Yuka... maybe they thought it was good to keep students from the same school together.

The best scenario would have been for all of us to be in the same class, but I considered this a big win as I entered the classroom with the two of them.

And then—

I stopped in my tracks.

For a moment, I doubted my eyes.

A girl with short black hair.

There are many high school girls with short hair, so that alone wasn't reason for me to be surprised.

But I knew that distinctive aura.

Even though I could only see her from behind, we had spent quite a long time together.

And the other girl she was talking to—

"Kotone?"

As I stood dazed near the front door, Koko, who was following behind me, called my name.

I don't know if that sound reached the girl too. The short-haired girl turned her head toward us.

Ah, yes.

It was Mako, as I thought. Even though it had been years since I last saw her, I remembered Mako's face.

Had she grown a bit taller since then? But she still had the same fair skin and studious impression. Even the glasses she wore were exactly as I remembered.

"Kotone?"

This time, my name flowed from Mako's lips.

She remembers me.

No, of course she would remember. Though they were memories from elementary school, not that many years had passed.

...

No, that's not right.

The absolute number of years might not seem like many, but compared to the time of our lives, it could definitely be considered a very long time.

We haven't lived long enough to call several years "just" a few years.

And finally, I realized.

Had I been thinking too complacently until now?

If my memories with Mako from the upper grades of elementary school were this clear, what about the children I spent time with from kindergarten through the lower grades of elementary school? Would they remember me?

I remember so clearly.

Mako jumped up from her seat, and the children who were talking with her looked in my direction.

One was a girl who looked very healthy with dyed blonde hair. It wasn't just her hair that was dyed; her whole vibe was quite flashy.

Harumi had liked dressing up since childhood. She liked attaching various things to her bag too.

The girl next to her had skin so fair it seemed like it had never been touched by sunlight. But her hair color was black, contrasting with her skin.

A color similar to mine. Since Yuu and I share the same blood, maybe that's natural.

How did the three of them end up in the same place?

Ah, I see. It's not that strange. Harumi and Yuu lived not far from here, and Mako... she had said she was coming to Tokyo. So it's not strange that the three of them met like this.

Did they meet today? Were they exchanging greetings for the first time? They seemed quite close for that—

"Kotone!"

But such thoughts flew far away with the next sound I heard.

The children who had been sitting together chatting all looked in our direction at once. Mako's voice had been too loud.

The next moment, my vision was filled with Mako's hair.

Mako had rushed over to me and was hugging me tightly.

It was warm. Memories that had grown somewhat dim became vivid again. It was as if the memories themselves had suddenly rushed at me and embraced me.

"...Mako?"

Though I had recognized her intellectually, it was only after Mako hugged me that I could finally ask her name like that.

"Kotone, it really is you?"

Her voice was already choked with emotion.

The last image of Mako I remembered was like that too. Mako had been crying.

Mako's father had been planning to return to Tokyo, so we all went out together.

To create one last memory before Mako left. Actually, we still had time left after that. We had planned to spend that remaining time happily together.

Those plans were all torn apart midway. Because of me.

Though Japan has enough bear attack fatalities annually to create statistical averages, a bear suddenly appearing like that lacked credibility. They said there had definitely been no bears seen in the area.

And thinking about what the voice said then, it was because of me.

Mako had almost died because of me—

Mako's face suddenly pulled back.

Looking at her again, it was definitely Mako. I felt certain that I wasn't just seeing things.

"I never thought we'd meet like this, Kotone."

"..."

I was too shocked to say anything.

And then, a little belatedly, I became terrified.

Mako is here.

Harumi and Yuu too.

There were students who were never mentioned by name in the novel.

And among them, there were students who died.

I looked toward Harumi and Yuu.

Harumi was looking at me with an expression of shock, but Yuu was looking out the window as if uninterested.

And once again, I became afraid.

That fear was for a different reason than yokai or monsters.

"I was worried because I had no way to contact you."

That's right.

If I had tried to contact them, maybe I could have. I had already traveled outside of Tokyo.

...Even though we lived in the same Tokyo, I made various excuses and didn't go to meet the two of them. I didn't properly think about keeping in touch.

With the complacent thought that I should visit them when everything was over, I was just satisfied with what was happening nearby.

Would Harumi and Yuu understand?

If I told them now that I had wanted to see them.

Would these children understand?