Chapter 5 - Diverging of fate
A dark room. My room. A year ago, I had switched to Grandfather’s residence in order to make it easier to go back and forth to the all-girls school.
It was just that it was a wide tatami Japanese-styled room. Grandfather said he’d remodel it to a more girl-like room, but I didn’t want to damage this ancient room.
Moreover, the Fukami family was giving the unwanted me plenty of things. Still, instead of being happy, I felt guilty about it.
It would be good if I could at least smile a little.
It was a room overflowing with everyone’s thoughtfulness. It felt like the coldness inside of me alleviated a little in this room.
“...Huh?
I felt a strong “sense of loss” and opened my eyes.
“...What?”
My mind was in confusion. Even though nothing had changed, the “sense of loss” was like I had lost something precious I had held in my hands, and I felt flustered.
Why was I still in the school uniform? Did I fall asleep when I was laying out the futon? Someone had put a blanket over my shoulders…
“Where is she!?”
The girl I had found and brought back was supposed to be sleeping on the bed.
But why had I brought this girl slightly smaller than me back?
My mind was in disorder. But that girl had definitely been here. Grandfather’s family doctor had come and I had insisted on nursing her, and then… What happened?
From that day three years ago, there was nothing inside of me… It felt like I had lost something that day.
Averting my eyes from the pain, I had refused other people’s affection. Because… I was scared of losing someone again.
The time I met that girl, my tears hadn’t been able to stop. It felt like meeting that girl filled my empty heart again.
I didn’t understand why. But I had a strong desire to not lose her.
The feelings I was starting to forget had made a crack in the wall in my heart and were now overflowing in it.
I didn’t want to lose her. Never again.
I left my room and started running to the house.
That girl wasn’t a dream. She wasn’t an illusion. I had never had a reason to run before, but now…
“In which case, Tsubaki, about your name being a flower. We both have names from flowers, huh.”
“Y-yeah… Hana.”
The day after it was decided that I would impose on the Fukami family, I and Tsubaki were going to the shopping district to go shopping.
About Tsubaki’s school? We were skipping. That grandfather did a smart move of getting permission from Tsubaki’s school, and we were now here under the pretext of social study and guiding relatives that had come from overseas.
Oh yeah, at first, Tsubaki called me [Nanohana], but I didn’t like it and made her call me Hana instead.
She refused to give up the honorifics though.
Last night, we had talked about a lot of things in Tsubaki’s room.
I had naturally not explained about my sudden appearance three years ago, but I did talk about traveling. And when I heard that Tsubaki didn’t have any memories either, I felt closer to her.
There had been a guest room prepared for me, but Tsubaki got lonely and I ended up staying in her room instead.
She was like a puppy. Without thinking, I had asked her brother, Akino, if he thought the same, and for some reason, he had only given me a faint smile.
Before going out, I borrowed some clothes from Tsubaki. She owned a lot of clothes. Besides, there were a lot of clothes with their tags still on that she hadn’t worn yet. And when I had asked why that was, she told me that her older sister sent a lot to her every season.
My shoes were prepared by Akino. How he got the size right was a mystery.
It seemed like Tsubaki didn’t like dressing up and preferred plain clothing, but somehow she wanted me to put on a flashy miniskirt… I didn’t mind though.
Tsubaki wore the same uniform as yesterday. It was completely black, but still calming somehow. I told her that she was tall so she could try wearing different things.
“Since it’s social study, the school uniform is good.”
Tsubaki was too serious…
As we walked, passer-bys kept glancing at us.
I looked like a foreigner with my red eyes, and because Tsubaki was elegant and dignified, she didn’t look Japanese either. Therefore, we were conspicuous, but Tsubaki was too absorbed in our conversation to notice.
I was worried that she’d be fooled by a strange man one day.
Today, we were going to buy my personal belongings.
I lost my luggage after all, and when I had been pondering about what to do, the grandfather had given me pocket money with a grin.
Hmm, was this alright? Well, it was helpful because it was awkward to borrow underwear, even if they were unused.
“H-hana, should we go buy something first?”
“I wonder if I should get underwear. What about you, Tsubaki? Don’t you have something you want?”
“I… don’t. Today, we, we are going shopping for you, Hana.”
I felt embarrassed when Tsubaki, who was so beautiful, called my name. It felt like a dangerous fetish was awakening inside of me.
“Err... Well, how about that shop?”
“...A general store? It might be a new shop. It looks like a store for girls, so they could have girls' clothing.”
It had that feeling at first glance, and when we entered the fancy store, the clerk greeted us professionally who looked like a junior high schooler wandering around in school uniforms on a weekday.
“There is a lot, huh. Oh, they do have clothes. Hey, Tsubaki, on the other side…”
I saw a corner of the store looking like it was for underwear, and when I turned back to Tsubaki, she had stopped at a section.
“Was there something you were interested in?”
“Err… Yeah. Only a little.”
The section was lined with hair clippers and hair ties.
Tsubaki had her hair down today, but she braided it when she went to school, so it seemed like she needed hair ties for that.
But what Tsubaki was looking at was a really plain tie. Something cuter would suit her better though…
Something appeared in the corner of my eye.
Thinking about it now… this was the “first turning point”. If I hadn’t caught a glimpse of it, Tsubaki might have been able to stay a normal girl.
But it ended up finding me.
“Tsubaki, what about that ribbon?”
“...Ribbon?”
In my view, Tsubaki made a reluctant expression. Well, she thought that ribbons and things like that didn’t suit her.
“The pattern is flashy, right? But, you know, with this feeling, I’m sure it’ll suit you.”
It was a beautiful dark red ribbon slightly broader and had a jagged edge.
“Does this… look good on me?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Tsubaki kept staring at the ribbon and bought it happily.
I bought other necessary things at the store, and then, we went around to other stores to see if we had forgotten anything. As we did that, time passed, and the restaurants became active.
“What will we do about lunch? Do we just buy something simple? Do we go back and eat?”
“Ehm, that… You see.”
“Yeah?”
After being excited and answering, Tsubaki held the bag embarrassedly.
“I made lunch boxes.”
“...”
What, this girl!
Because of that, we decided to leave the downtown area to eat at the park.
It had been some time since I ate a lunch box. The first time, I got fried rice with fresh spring rolls from the Vietnamese lady. Thinking about it, it has been less than a month.
…Huh?
Ah.”
“What happened?”
A bag was laying on the ground near the park.
“My luggage.”
“Wha-”
Was she surprised because we found my luggage? Or was it because the bag looked like trash? I stared at Tsubaki while holding the dirty bag, and she silently looked away.
Anyway, I was glad to find the luggage. In other countries, if the luggage had been left unattended, it would have definitely disappeared.
Checked the contents, I confirmed that the clothes and money I had hidden in the bottom were still there… Could the Dong currency 1 be used in Japan? Oh, right, I received money from the captain too.
The handwritten book was the only thing I had actually wanted to get back. I was glad that it hadn’t wrinkled or anything.
“What kind of book is that?”
“This? Stories of travels to various countries are handwritten in it. I’ll let you read it later.”
“Thanks.”
Tsubaki answered happily, and I smiled at her. Tsubaki seemed more mature than me, but somehow, she was cute like a little sister.
We moved to the park and ate Tsubaki’s lunch boxes. Sweet omelet with bacon-wrapped asparagus, fried chicken with cherry tomatoes, and onigiri with three different flavors. It was a delicious meal.
After that, I used the ribbon we bought earlier to tie Tsubaki’s hair. Instead of braiding it, I parted her hair in two, brought both parts to her back, spun them together, and then tied them with the ribbon.
The subdued color of the ribbon looked great with Tsubaki’s hair.
Her embarrassed smile was so cute. It was a treat in many ways.
…It was strange. It had been less than a day since I met Tsubaki, but it already felt like she was an old friend. I feel lively when I see her. It felt like the [power] that had been exhausted was returning piece by piece.
For the time being, we were taking a break to digest the food. I flipped through the pages of the book and confirmed its contents.
“...Hana, what language is that?”
“This is Bengali, this is Spanish, and this is Dutch…”
“...”
S-sorry.
“...W-what kind of stories are written?”
“Hmm. Well… Oh, yeah, there is a story with your name2.”
“Tsubaki?”
“Yeah, here. It’s old Latin grammar, but hmm, how should I translate the title… Okay, so if I say it in Japanese…”
This was the second turning point. The diverging of fate.
It wasn’t just me and Tsubaki - it was for everyone in this country.
“...[Princess Tsubakiri] I think.”
At that time… I felt like the sun was slightly clouded. The temperature slightly dropped. And the atmosphere… seemed slightly eerie.
“...”
“...”
Both I and Tsubaki shut up, and goosebumps stood on our arms.
“...Something is?”
“...I don’t know.”
I really didn’t understand anything. Had something happened? I didn’t understand, but I had a foreboding sense. The more unpleasant a situation felt the more my intuition was right. We should finish shopping and go home.
Thinking about that, I raised my eyes, and saw three people looking like university students leisurely entering the park.
“...Tsubaki, we’re going to run away.”
“...Huh?”
I grabbed Tsubaki’s hand and ran with all my might. When I had seen those three, I had immediately understood even if I couldn’t use my power.
Those people were… possessed!