I Became the Final Subjugation Target of That Era’s Light Novel

The last year of elementary school passed strangely quickly.

At school, I didn’t often have conversations with Sota, and with Shii, we just exchanged greetings when passing by; otherwise, there wasn’t much interaction. It wasn’t that I was deliberately hiding it, but rather, they were girls who hung out with the kids at school.

Sota and Shii seemed a bit uncomfortable around the girls who were gathered in groups. I could understand that.

Still, Sota played hard with the boys, and Shii managed to make friends in her own way. I would often see Shii running into some kids from her grade in the hallway, and seeing a few kids gathered around her made me feel a bit relieved.

We had the sports festival again, and I was once again in the role of cheering. I felt like I had gotten completely used to my body’s movements and could cheer quite naturally in my own way.

Well, I don’t think I’ll pursue it as a profession, but learning how to dance might be useful someday, right?

I thought about possibly starting a YouTube channel later. It was half a fantasy, but half was true.

There are often cases where someone is super cute in elementary school but grows into a slightly awkward adult, but at least in my case, having inherited Kagami’s blood strongly, I was growing into a splendidly beautiful girl.

Since I hadn’t been in the same school from the start to the end, there hadn’t been anyone who confessed to me. Well, even if someone did confess, I wouldn’t be able to accept it for various reasons, so in a way, it was a relief for me.

I had decided on middle school.

There was a middle school not too far from the elementary school I attended. It was a co-ed middle school, and it had a fairly ordinary building that had been around for about ten years, with kids wearing the usual shirt and jacket uniforms.

I couldn’t exactly recall the name of the school from Tokyo Slayers until I looked it up again, but I definitely remembered that I had worn a black sailor uniform there.

And Shii had worn a white sailor uniform.

“Are you aiming for Hanagawa High School?”

Shii asked with a serious expression.

Now, we were completely accustomed to using formal language. Shii and I. Especially Shii’s formal language wasn’t a lighthearted tone, but for some reason, now that I thought of her as ‘Shii’, it felt natural to accept it.

The original story was getting hazy now, and in fact, there were a few characters whose names I didn’t really remember, but I still remembered the impressions of each character. Shii definitely had a striking character among them.

But just because she used polite language didn’t mean her tone was heavy. Though Shii spoke formally, it was clear that she felt comfortable when talking to me.

…Perhaps it was that I could accept Shii better regardless of the original.

“…Then I guess I should go to Hanagawa Middle School.”

Shii replied.

“Do you know about Hanagawa High School?”

“It’s quite a famous high school.”

Is that so? Hmm, I definitely remembered there were mentions of it being very famous. It was also in a part of Tokyo where the land was expensive.

I think I recalled from the setting that it had a very deep history too.

“To keep calling you Senpai longer, should I go to the same foundation’s middle school?”

“…It wouldn’t matter if you went to a different place and just called me Senpai, right?”

I already knew that Shii would go to Hanagawa Middle School, but I still felt like saying that.

It’s quite common for people who have a senior-junior relationship in college to continue addressing each other that way even after graduation. Of course, once you’re really close, those titles tend to drop, but somehow it felt like Shii wanted to keep calling me Senpai.

“That would be troublesome.”

Shii said decisively.

“It’s not just a feeling; it’s really because I wish to have a senior around.”

I laughed at her words, but Shii’s expression remained serious.

Still, it was fortunate she wasn’t the type to impose her feelings on me. She proposed to follow me, not the other way around.

“…It might even be an opportunity.”

“Opportunity?”

“If I go to a completely different middle school, I could only call you Senpai for a year, but if we go to the same school, I can call you Senpai throughout middle school!”

Huh.

I admired that logic.

If I were to say it was childish, it was indeed childish.

But really, when you’re young, it’s often harder to exhibit flexibility. With a limited amount of knowledge, you don’t know exactly how people build relationships and get to know each other. The diversity of those titles slowly increases over time.

“…If you don’t want me to, I won’t insist on following.”

Seeing me just smile silently as we talked, Shii seemed to become a bit timid and said that carefully.

“I’m fine with it. Having a junior like you isn’t bad.”

In truth, it felt a bit strange to be using the terms senior and junior since we were both still in elementary school. Perhaps Shii wanting to follow me so much is her way of wanting to use the title of Senpai more confidently.

…Is she concerned about relationships?

I probably lost a lot of things in childhood.

Hearing my reply, Shii smiled brightly at me.

Speaking of which, I remembered something Sota had told me before.

“Shii probably wants you to be a reliable Senpai.”

That was what Sota had said after he had pondered for a while on whether it was alright to say it to me.

It was I who took Shii, who had run away, to my house. After all, it was my fault she had tripped over a stone I had set aside.

What if Shii hadn’t fallen like that? Would I have known that a child was walking behind me?

It could be that I simply passed by, not realizing she was very close by.

If that were the case, I would never have known that Sota was the protagonist of a certain novel until now. So, for me, Shii was a grateful girl.

If that was what Shii wanted—well, I can’t do anything about it. In fact, I’m a bit proud that she thinks of me that way.

“…Shall we go out for something to eat?”

“Um, should we?”

Feeling unnecessarily cheerful, I stood up, and Shii followed me.

Now, it really felt like we could barely see her old demeanor at our first meeting.

At least that one thing, I thought it was a relief.

*

During the autumn foliage season, we all went out together.

We didn’t venture too far, just to a nearby park of a modest size.

When I was little, I didn’t really think about how beautiful cherry blossoms or autumn leaves were. At that time, I preferred to just stay home and watch TV. In fact, I think I cared more about scenes in manga or movies than the landscapes I saw myself.

As I grew older and became an adult, I came to understand how wonderful it is to look at scenery from high places. Not that I stopped watching manga, of course.

Fortunately, it seemed that Shii and Sota didn’t like manga that much. No, even if they did, it wouldn’t matter, as they seemed to enjoy the richly colored trees much more than I did back then.

The three of us each picked up a maple leaf.

And we tucked them away in a book.

Well, even though I wasn’t particularly fond of going out to see landscapes, I had picked up a maple leaf before. Perhaps, among the burdens I received after my family had left in my previous life, some of that remained. A faded maple leaf, thoroughly dried, tucked away between pages of an old book.

“Koto Ne!”

Seeing Sota waving his hand and calling me from a distance, I now debated whether to really say we weren’t family.

I didn’t feel like there was a wall between us; rather, we were so seamlessly blended that there hadn’t even been time to notice it.

Well, it probably didn’t matter. Whether Sota keeps calling me Koto Ne or Shii keeps calling me Senpai, relationships aren’t simply defined by titles. I’ve felt that several times throughout my life.

Looking up at Kagami, I found Kagami looking down at me with a smile.

Since she opened up to me about her worries last time, Kagami had returned to her old self. The one who simply looked at me.

Whether she was still hiding her worries or had decided to just accept things for herself, I didn’t know.

“I’m off.”

“Yes, I’ll be right behind you.”

I let go of Kagami’s hand.

Feeling the faint warmth left in my hand, I went over to Sota and Shii.

“Look at this.”

Sota pointed to Shii.

Shii held in her hand a bright red maple leaf.

Not too large, just the kind of leaf that immediately makes you think of a “maple tree leaf.”

“It’s beautiful.”

I smiled as I looked at the leaf Shii was holding.

“I’ll give this to you, Senpai.”

“Okay.”

I accepted the maple leaf that Shii handed to me.

Really, if you looked for them, you’d probably find many leaves like this.

But this particular leaf, found and given to me by Shii, was special.

The moment I received it, it became one of a kind in this world. Just like everything else.

Just like every relationship.

The wind blew.

It was a slightly chilly breeze, announcing the coming of winter.

The leaf I held in my hand didn’t fly away.

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