I seem to have slept for about three days.

During that time, my friends naturally came to visit. Classmates and teachers too.

Miura-san also apparently came by and had a brief conversation with my mom before leaving.

After waking up, half a week had simply vanished.

How did Mako react? She was so determined to help me that she even learned how to fight, so she probably cried bitterly seeing me unconscious. Yuu must have looked depressed, and Harumi might have cried along with Mako. Did Shii cry? Souta probably didn't cry, but...

Mom, probably thinking of me, deliberately avoided going into detail about their reactions.

I also heard about Hagiwara. She came to pay her respects and just stood there silently, staring at me before leaving.

Hagiwara killed the Satori. I felt sorry about that. Although the Satori's body quickly disappeared, I still felt bad for causing the death of a relatively innocent being. Moreover, at that moment, most people who could cut down yokai were focused on me, so if Hagiwara hadn't quickly pursued and cut it down, it would have escaped. And it might have fallen into someone else's hands.

I feel sorry to all those people. But at least I don't need to have any complicated conversations with them. Most of the friends who visited me weren't there at the scene, and even if Hagiwara heard what the Satori shouted, she wouldn't question me about it.

It didn't take long to see how the kids reacted. They came straight from school the afternoon I woke up and burst into tears when they saw me. They hugged me, asked if I was okay, hugged me again, sobbed loudly... we talked about various things.

Souta just nodded silently.

But Yuka, standing among those friends, was a bit different. She was the only one among them who heard what the Satori cried out.

"..."

Yuka was looking at me silently.

She had a serious, thoughtful expression, and her face was pale. She always had somewhat fair skin, but today she looked particularly pallid.

I think she didn't know what to say to me. I felt the same way.

She just quietly stayed with the other kids, and when it was time for them to leave, she left with them. The only thing she said to me until she left was, "Are you okay?"

But Yuka came back to see me sometime after dinner. Dad and Mom didn't seem particularly surprised.

"Kotone."

This time with a more determined expression.

"Can I talk to you for a bit?"

I looked at Mom, who was still by my side.

Mom nodded.

In fact, Mom was probably the one suffering the most here.

"Koko."

"Kotone?"

When I called to Koko, who was stubbornly sitting on my bed with me, she tilted her head curiously.

"Is it okay if I go talk with Yuka for a bit?"

"I want to come too."

"No."

I shook my head.

"I just want to talk to Yuka alone."

"Uuu."

Koko puffed her cheeks. It was the kind of behavior you'd only expect to see in manga, but when Koko did it, it wasn't awkward—it was cute. Even though she looks just like me.

"Okay."

Though she seemed upset, she ultimately agreed.

The reason Koko wanted to stay by my side was because she was afraid I might disappear. Trusting Yuka must mean she believed I'd be safe with her.

I gently patted Koko's head and got up.

When I first woke up, my body ached a bit. I think it was less because my wounds hadn't healed and more because I'd been lying down for too long.

I still felt a little tired.

Actually, the doctor said it would be wise to keep resting, but I wasn't an ordinary person after all. I didn't have an IV or anything, so I should be fine. Probably.

"I'll be back."

Hearing my words, Mom nodded and smiled slightly.

"Yes, I'll be waiting for you."

That promise to wait felt a little heavier than usual today.

*

The hospital where I was admitted was quite large. Still, it was much closer to home than where the incident happened.

It must have been one of the taller buildings in the area, because from the rooftop, you could see everything around clearly. The sunset had almost disappeared, and the sky was growing dark.

The atmosphere on the rooftop wasn't romantic like a school rooftop. It seemed like it hadn't been cleaned for quite some time, with dust accumulated everywhere. Above all, perhaps because of the central heating and cooling system and ventilation, there were various equipment protruding here and there, making it absolutely not the kind of place where you could leisurely eat lunch while looking at the sky like at school.

But that made it not a bad place for a private conversation.

"...I'm sorry, I've been thinking about it, but I just couldn't let it go without asking."

Yuka suddenly spoke as we stood side by side, looking down at the twinkling night view.

"What did you mean when you said it was because of you?"

"..."

"And what did you mean when you said it was because you're alive? What did you mean by saying it would end if you died?"

I thought I was happy.

No, I was definitely happy.

Even if it was a bit twisted, this life was better than mindlessly passing time after losing my family.

There are people in this world who genuinely care for me as family. There are friends in this world who truly like me. So, I like this world.

But if there's a problem, it's me.

I tried not to think this way. Why? Well, is there anything special about it? I just didn't like it. I don't like thinking that I'm the cause of some problem. It's painful to think that I shouldn't exist in this world.

But in the end, all problems revolved around me. Even if it sounds self-centered, that's just how it was.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the "original work." Even more so after waking up in the hospital. The memories were now so faint that I struggled to recall them accurately.

Even in an omnibus format, light novels usually have a central plot running through them.

For a general novel, it might be fine to have disconnected stories, but for a "light novel," readers would expect some concept of conclusion.

A plot to wrap up the story. What would be at its core? What problem would the protagonists need to solve?

In a novel about yokai, the final yokai to appear should be massive and powerful. That's how the story becomes one where the protagonists save the world.

Where was "Kurosawa Kotone" in the original work? Where were "Kurosawa Kagami" and "Kurosawa Koko"?

No, Koko probably wasn't even named Koko in the first place. A nameless mass of flesh. That's probably what she was.

My body was originally meant to host a god.

For some reason, I came from another world and took over that body, which disrupted the plan.

"..."

"Tell me what you're thinking."

Yuka said.

Her eyes were intensely serious. She was determined not to give up until she got an answer.

And that's why she's the protagonist, I suppose.

Because from childhood until now, she's done her best to accomplish things she probably wanted to quit many times, being a responsible child.

"What do you think about yourself?"

"I am..."

I am, probably.

That final yokai, wasn't I?

All the stories I twisted by existing as myself couldn't have existed in the original work.

Mom might have become a bit happier. Koko might have gotten a name thanks to me.

But still, Yuka and Souta are the protagonists.

Maybe if I hadn't interfered so much, they could have saved "Kotone." Maybe there was a world where Mako, Harumi, and Yuu weren't dragged into this world and could have lived as ordinary high school girls.

If I really had such a role in the final episode, if the story was about exorcising the outer god that would have originally possessed my body...

"If you can't answer, why did you think that way?"

Yuka asked incredulously.

She looks a bit angry too.

Well, I would have been angry too if Yuka had said something like that.

"Should I tell you?"

"...Yuka."

"You are Kotone."

"..."

"I don't care what your family name is. I don't care why you were born, and I don't care what that pervert who wants your blood really is. You've been Kotone all along, from when I first met you until now."

I didn't know what to say.

"So... don't think like that."

Yuka said.

Yuka was crying. As if frustrated.

"The Kotone I know... is my friend."

"...Yuka."

What should I have said to Yuka then?

In the end, I couldn't think of anything to say at all.

*

Yuka's chest hurt the entire time she was speaking. It felt like her heart was about to burst.

She knew.

Perhaps Yuka had no right to say such things.

During the fight, when she realized something had entered Kotone's body, she pointed her sword at her.

She wondered if she should cut her down.

Even when Kotone was burning, she couldn't pull her out. Instead of stopping Kagami, Yuka should have just gone herself.

Gone and pulled Kotone out of that fire.

Until the very end—Yuka was just terrified. She just kept following behind, unable to do anything.

She felt a bit of warmth.

Kotone was hugging her.

What had she wanted to do?

She wanted to encourage Kotone. She just wanted to tell her that she didn't need to think that way.

But when Yuka actually faced Kotone, she became scared again.

So, she threw a tantrum like a child again.

Just like when they first met.

And Kotone, just like then, approached Yuka first.

What a mess, really.

Yuka thought as she hugged Kotone back.

I really don't know how to do anything, do I?

That's what she thought.