"Dad and Mom, honestly. It's not like adopting a pet. They made it sound so casual and simple."
After leaving the house, Kotori lowered her head, kicked small stones on the ground, and complained unhappily.
To be honest, Kotori understood that her dissatisfaction was unreasonable.
The one who had brought up the strange topic first was herself. Although her parents's suggestion was a bit self willed, it had co from their care and love for her.
Then what exactly was she unhappy about?
Was it because of the way her parents still treated her as a lonely child?
If that were the case, then Kotori should have denied their suggestion more seriously, instead of throwing a small tantrum like this.
——Didn't you once say you wanted us to adopt a family mber?
Rembering Tatsuo's words, Kotori's expression beca complicated.
A few years ago, the Itsuka family had also had a similar conversation. Only at that ti, the one who suggested adopting a child had not been Tatsuo or Haruko, but Kotori herself.
That had been shortly after she woke up in the hospital. Kotori had t and befriended Tohka and the others, spending ti with them in the hospital. Thanks to their company, Kotori had been able to keep her emotions stable.
Then Tatsuo and Haruko found Kotori through the hospital and brought her ho.
Because she did not want to be separated from everyone, Kotori once made a request to her parents: she asked them to adopt Tohka and the others.
After hearing that, Tatsuo and Haruko showed a little difficulty, but they still tried to respond to her wish and said they were willing to adopt one child.
That was the greatest kindness her parents could offer. Kotori naturally understood that.
But the fact that there was only one place made Kotori fall into a hard choice.
She did not want to use how much she "liked" soone as a standard to compare her friends and choose one on her own.
At the sa ti, she was also afraid that if she really made a choice, the others who were not chosen would feel estranged from her because of it.
In the end, the adoption matter simply ended there.
Since then, it had beco a thorn in Kotori's heart. Only after hearing that everyone from the hospital had not been sent to an orphanage, but had instead been adopted by soone nad Tsukino Yumi, did Kotori's guilt ease a little.
"...Am I a child?"
Sighing self-mockingly, Kotori shook her head as if trying to throw away the unpleasant feelings in her heart, then took out her phone.
"Anna seems to have gone skiing with her family these days... Anfisa, no response? She's probably still sleeping in... Raisa is showing off lovey dovey photos with her boyfriend on Twitter. Is she on a date? Forget it. I won't be a third wheel."
Kotori tried contacting a few local school friends she had made to go shopping together, but her luck was bad. Everyone either already had plans or had sothing to do.
"Forget it. I decided this suddenly anyway. It's normal that the timing doesn't match."
After comforting herself with that, Kotori sighed and decided to spend the free holiday alone.
She took a bus from the residential area and arrived at the comrcial departnt store in the city center.
Without any schedule planned beforehand, Kotori wandered aimlessly. First, she watched a movie without much substance at the cinema. Then she went to several clothing stores, tried on a few outfits she liked, and left without buying any of them.
"Chupa Chups... Chupa Chups... There really aren't any?"
Scanning the dazzling variety of candies at the counter, Kotori failed to find the brand of lollipop she liked. She could not help feeling disappointed.
Kotori had a habit. Whenever she thought about sothing or felt down, she would hold a Chupa Chups lollipop in her mouth and use the sugar to adjust her mood.
"As expected, unless I'm in Japan, I can't buy them. I forgot to bring a few when I went out. What a mistake."
After sighing regretfully, Kotori hesitated for a mont, then bought a few similar lollipops anyway.
She opened the wrapper and put one in her mouth. The instant she tasted it, her expression beca subtle.
How should she put it...
It was not bad, but perhaps because of preferences caused by cultural differences, or because the Chupa Chups brand had such a distinctive taste, Kotori felt an indescribable wrongness.
For ordinary people, there might not be much difference between brands of lollipops.
But for soone like Kotori, who had a preference, even a slight difference in flavor was very obvious. It was not sothing that could simply be replaced.
Although she could not fully accept it, she had already bought them, and wasting them would be bad. Kotori bit the candy ball apart, swallowed it, and continued wandering around the mall with the stick in her mouth.
After that, Kotori visited a few more shops, but she did not feel especially interested. In the end, she only bought one accessory and left.
"Hair ribbons, huh..."
Kotori looked thoughtfully at the black and white hair ribbons in her hand.
When she had passed by an accessory shop, these ribbons had sohow drawn her attention. It was not as though they were a particularly fashionable style.
They seed to carry a familiar sense of nostalgia, yet also seed sohow wrong.
"But even though I bought them, what hairstyle should I tie?"
As she muttered that, a group of children playing ran past her. The lively, cute twin tails on one of the girls entered her view.
"Twin tails, huh... Speaking of which, Anfisa once asked why Japanese people don't tie twin tails."
Although Kotori really wanted to ask what kind of misunderstanding she had about Japanese people, it was not exactly an impossible choice.
Kotori ca to a glass wall, divided her long hair into two parts with her hands, and lifted them up on both sides of her head.
"Mm..."
Looking at herself with twin tails reflected in the glass, Kotori made a delicate expression.
It was not that Kotori thought the hairstyle looked bad.
On the contrary, it suited her so well that even Kotori herself was surprised.
However, Itsuka Kotori was now in her second year of high school, yet her height still had not passed 150 centiters. Her chest had also hopelessly shown no change at all since three years ago.
If she added twin tails on top of that, even if she claid to be a middle school student, probably no one would doubt her.
Honestly, every ti she saw her mother Haruko's proud and well-developed chest, Kotori could not help wondering if she was really her biological daughter.
(No. At a ti like this, I should believe in Mom. Believe in my own possibilities.)
I'll leave it for so other ti when I'm in the mood.
Kotori sighed with a bitter smile, let her hair down, and put the ribbons into her bag.
Just then, her pocket gave a faint vibration. Kotori took out her phone and saw that it was a ssage from her mother.
[Kotori, where are you now?]
[I'm fine. I'm shopping in the city center.]
[That's good. I already scolded your father, and he is reflecting on it now. Don't be too angry with him, okay?]
Seeing her mother's reply, Kotori could not help laughing softly.
After wandering around for a while, most of her anger had already faded, so she did not intend to keep throwing a tantrum.
[It's fine. I was also wrong. Sorry for making you worry.]
Not long after she replied, Haruko sent a smiling face on the phone screen.
[That's good. What about lunch? Are you coming ho to eat?]
[No. Since I finally ca to the city center, I'll walk around a little more and go back in the afternoon. I'll eat lunch at a restaurant. You two enjoy your ti alone.]
[Understood. Then, Kotori, look forward to your new little brother or sister~]
[Hey, hey...]
Looking at the heart symbol her mother sent, Kotori's eyes twitched slightly.
Honestly, she had no idea how serious her mother was.
Although she cared so much that she wanted to go ho and confirm the situation, once she imagined the possibility of coming ho at the exact mont her parents were in the exciting part of a bedroom scene, Kotori gave up.
"That would be way too awkward..."
Exiting the chat box, Kotori stopped her finger when she saw Tobiichi Origami's na in her contacts.
(...I wonder if Origami is all right.)
Kotori thought uneasily.
Although Origami had said she was fine and not to worry before hanging up last night, the tone of her voice gave Kotori the feeling that she was forcing herself to be strong.
Kotori had originally wanted to call and check on her, to comfort her a little. But because she could not think of suitable words to say, she had unknowingly delayed it until now.
Should she call?
Just as Kotori was hesitating, the phone screen suddenly went black. Then a red battery symbol appeared.
"You're kidding. It's out of battery?"
Perhaps the low temperature had caused the battery to drain faster.
After pressing the power button several tis with no response, Kotori could only give up on the idea of calling.
"Speaking of which, Origami is still serving in the Self-Defense Force. Even if this number can connect, calling would only cause trouble for her."
What exactly am I worrying about?
Kotori weakly dropped her shoulders.
No, Kotori actually understood very well. These were only excuses to comfort herself.
Just like five years ago, when facing troubles and choices, Kotori had not chosen to face them directly, nor had she chosen to work hard to change anything. She only hesitated and wasted ti. Then, after everything was settled, she told herself that it had all been unavoidable.
Whenever this happened, she could not help feeling that the girl nad Itsuka Kotori was truly cowardly.
"What am I even doing..."
"Mm, Kotori-san?"
Just as Kotori was sinking into self-loathing, an elegant and aged male voice suddenly ca from behind her.
She turned around. After seeing the person there, Kotori's eyes widened in surprise.
"Director Woodman?"
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