There were several broad reasons why won dressed themselves up.
To stand out among other won.
To change their inner self through outward change, and say farewell to the person they used to be.
And also, to draw the attention of a man they cared about.
Ever since the day she woke up in the hospital, Itsuka Kotori had often felt a strange sense of wrongness when looking at herself in the mirror.
It felt as though sothing was missing, but she could not say what. She only vaguely felt that the her before losing her mories and the her now were sohow different.
(Is it my hairstyle?)
Thinking that, Kotori tried to imitate an ani character on TV and tie her hair into twin tails to change her mood. But for so reason, after asking a nurse for so hair ribbons, she suddenly lost all motivation.
(Forget it. It's not like I have soone I like. Even if I change my hairstyle, nothing will change.)
Feeling strangely tired, Kotori returned to her hospital bed and killed ti by reading dull books.
Itsuka Kotori was an unfortunate person.
But at the sa ti, she was also a fortunate person.
Although she had lost several years of mories because of the spacequake disaster, compared to the other girls in the hospital, Kotori still knew who she was. Her parents were also still alive.
Perhaps only by comparing oneself to another person's misfortune could one notice one's own happiness. While feeling a little comfort from that, Kotori also sowhat disliked herself for it.
Kotori still rembered that day, when her parents ca to the hospital, and she said goodbye to her companions there.
——That's great, Kotori-chan. Your parents ca to pick you up.
——Congratulations... Kotori-san.
——Get along well with your parents over there, okay?
——Farewell. Contact us when you have ti.
——Until we et again, comrade. May my blessing be with thee in the days to co!
Looking at everyone as they said goodbye, aside from joy and reluctance to part, Kotori also felt a faint guilt, as though she had betrayed them.
————————
Snow was falling from the sky. Because of the temperature difference, the glass door leading to the living room balcony was covered with a thin white mist.
Kotori tugged her sleeve and gently wiped away the fog. Looking outside, she saw a world covered in white snow.
The pure white snow had been cleared to both sides of the road, hiding the withered yellow grass. Several small snown stood there, stacked together.
Between the snowy edges was a black asphalt road. Although the snow had been cleared away, the cold had still covered the surface with a thin layer of ice, making it shine like a bronze mirror.
Looking into the distance, several wooden houses stood apart from each other. They looked plain and simple as a whole, but when looked at carefully, one could sense a touch of elegance and refinent.
Spacious, quiet, comfortable——faint black and white ford this unfamiliar foreign scenery.
(It probably hasn't started snowing in Japan yet.)
Itsuka Kotori could not help thinking that. Although she had already lived here for a while, facing an unfamiliar land and culture still stirred hosickness in her from ti to ti.
(I wonder how Tohka and the others are doing now.)
Kotori thought.
As companions from the sa hospital, Kotori often kept in touch with them. When she was still in Japan, she had also often visited the ho of Yumi Obaa-chan, who had taken in Tohka and the others.
It was different from the happiness of living with her parents. Although they were not related by blood, staying there made Kotori feel as if she were living together with sisters around her own age. It was a different kind of joy.
To put it in an exaggerated way, Kotori even treated Yumi Obaa-chan's apartnt as her second ho.
"Ha..."
"What is it, my adorable daughter Kotori? Sighing so early in the morning will make happiness slip away."
Kotori's mother, Itsuka Haruko, ca to the dining table in the living room, poked Kotori's dimples with her finger, and asked with a bright smile.
"Don't do that, Mom. I'm not a child anymore."
Avoiding her mother's finger, Kotori said sowhat unhappily.
"What's wrong, Kotori? You look so listless first thing in the morning. Is sothing on your mind?"
At that mont, Itsuka Tatsuo, who was sitting by the dining table reading the newspaper, asked curiously.
"Even Dad is asking that... It's nothing. I just woke up in a bad mood, that's all..."
Seeing her parents worry about her like that, Kotori scratched her head gloomily.
She sat down in her seat, rested her chin in her hand, thought for a mont, then suddenly spoke.
"Hey, Dad?"
"Mm, what is it?"
Tatsuo answered while drinking coffee.
"I want an older brother." (TL:I..I can you know~?)
"Oh——cough cough!? Cough cough!!"
After reacting half a beat late, Tatsuo choked on his coffee and suddenly burst into coughs.
"Dad? Are you all right?"
"Cough cough... I'm fine..."
After catching his breath, Tatsuo shook his head, adjusted his glasses, and answered.
"Honestly. Dear, how old are you already? Don't get so shocked over every little thing."
Haruko wiped the stains on Tatsuo with a handkerchief and said helplessly.
"And Kotori, you too. You suddenly made such a difficult request. If you wanted a little brother or sister, Mom could still work hard with your father, but an older brother is a little too unreasonable."
"D-dear..."
Tatsuo looked embarrassed.
"What are you saying to your own daughter...? I'm eating."
Kotori sighed helplessly. While eating breakfast, she spoke lightly.
"Well, it's not that I really want an older brother... I'm just still not used to life here, and I miss Tohka and the others in Japan a little."
"Eh? But didn't you talk to Origami on the phone last night?"
Tatsuo asked in confusion.
"Phone calls are different from actually eting."
"Oh-ho~ I understand. Kotori misses the life at Yumi obaa-chan's place, where she had big sisters she could rely on. And because she's a little curious about n, she wants an older brother, right?"
"That's not it..."
Kotori turned her face away and denied it absentmindedly.
Honestly, those words had only been sothing she said casually. Although she had felt a faint expectation when she said them, when she imagined her parents actually finding an older brother for her, she felt strangely displeased.
"Well, although we live together now, because of work, we often co ho very late. It must be lonely for Kotori to watch the house alone."
"Eh? I don't..."
Hearing her mother Haruko's words, Kotori froze.
"I see. I overlooked that."
Tatsuo seed to bla himself. After thinking for a mont, he made a proposal as though he had made up his mind.
"Well, an older brother is impossible, since Kotori is already in her second year of high school. But adopting a younger child as a little brother or sister is not impossible."
"That's a good idea, dear. Kotori, an older brother is impossible, but would you like another little brother or sister in the family?"
"N-no need, Dad, Mom! I only said it casually. You don't need to take it so seriously."
At this rate, if she did not stop them, the two of them might really go to an orphanage and bring back a younger sibling for her. Kotori hurriedly stopped them.
"It's fine, Kotori. Didn't you once say you wanted us to adopt a family mber?"
Hearing Tatsuo's words, Kotori's expression darkened slightly.
"Hey, dear..."
"Dad. I already said there's no need. If you still plan to decide on your own, then I won't talk to you for the next month."
"K-Kotori?"
"I'm done eating. Thank you for the al!"
Kotori abruptly stood from her chair, took the coat and scarf hanging on the wooden wall, and walked toward the front door without looking back.
"Kotori, where are you going?"
"To school!"
"But today is Sunday."
"Then I'm going shopping with friends!"
Watching Kotori stride out of the house, Haruko and Tatsuo could not help looking at each other.
"Dear, what happened to Kotori?"
"Well, maybe our daughter... has reached her rebellious phase."
Original author's PS: Honestly, I got stuck on Kotori's part for a long ti and ended up deleting it and rewriting it from scratch. The problem is that Kotori's main traits are "little sister," "tsundere," and "brocon." But in this worldline, Shido is already gone, and even the related mories and the black and white ribbons are gone too, so in theory, Kotori's main charming points have all been stripped away.A little sister character IF route without an older brother——when I started writing, I had no idea what I was supposed to write. It was really awkward~~.
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