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

First, I managed to let out a sigh of relief, but Yuuki was still a bit prickly.

It’s not that my feelings for her had completely vanished, but it seemed like there were some issues with her family environment too.

I wanted to hear about it from Yuuki.

The reason I say I ‘wanted to hear’ rather than I ‘hoped to hear’ is because I heard this story not directly from Yuuki, but through someone else.

To hope to ‘hear’ it, I should have, in some way, known about the story beforehand, right?

In other words, it means that the story I ended up hearing was one I learned through someone other than Yuuki.

It had been a little while since I met Yuuki, Harumi, and Mako again.

Had it been about two weeks?

Yuka and Shii, as well as Sota and Nanami, weren’t extremely close to Harumi, Yuuki, and Mako, but they had built up a level of intimacy where they could get along fairly well.

Koko and I were in between them. Of course, since Koko was a somewhat unfamiliar kid to the Harumi trio, but because she looked just like me, only cuter, Harumi was particularly fond of her. Koko blended in quite easily with those three.

Still, I really wish she would stop trying to sit Koko on her lap. I get that she might seem lively like a cat, but I’m worried that if she keeps it up, Koko will develop bad habits.

Having the same appearance and body as me, it was pretty uncomfortable when Koko sat on my lap in various ways.

I also relaxed a bit.

Shii and Sota always commuted to school with me and Yuka. I was a little worried about Nanami, but since she took a different path in the middle, it wasn’t a serious concern. In the original story, Nanami was not a character who died from an accident or anything.

Mako, Harumi, and Yuuki couldn’t always walk to school with me. Even if they did, unless they stopped somewhere to hang out, there was really no reason for us to ‘walk together.’ Those three lived pretty close to the school.

Even though we lived in a somewhat nice area of Tokyo, we were positioned at a distance that made it hard to meet up, as we lived farther from the subway station than the school.

Moreover—

“Oh, sorry! I don’t think I can hang out today…”

“Huh? Why?”

Harumi widened her eyes and asked when I turned down her invitation to walk home together.

“Well, I have a part-time job.”

“Yeah, a part-time job at my family’s place.”

“Your family’s place? So, it’s a shrine maiden part-time job?”

Harumi’s eyes opened wide in a different way as she looked back and forth between Yuka and me. I felt an intense sense of guilt at her words.

Sota and Shii didn’t show particularly strong reactions since they were kids who lived nearby; they didn’t think it was that strange to be apart for a moment. After all, we could see each other again that evening.

But the Harumi trio was different. Once we split up on the way home from school, that was pretty much it. Meeting up would involve making phone calls or exchanging emails, which could be a hassle. Therefore, parting this way meant I wouldn’t see their faces again today.

Harumi, Yuuki, and Mako seemed really happy to see me again and would often invite me to play together.

Well, Yuuki wasn’t the direct one to say it, though.

“Then can I go watch? I want to see Koto Ne in a shrine maiden outfit!”

Harumi cheerfully said. Mako’s eyes sparkled, and for a moment, Yuuki’s gaze also turned toward me.

“Uh, no, it’s not a shrine maiden part-time job.”

Yuka said, looking a bit troubled.

“I’m just helping out with some tidying up. Koto Ne has helped with our family’s chores a couple of times before, so she knows generally where things are. That’s all.”

“Ah~ I see.”

Harumi nodded as if she understood right away. Mako didn’t seem too far off, either.

However, Yuuki looked at me with a somewhat skeptical expression.

Did she notice I was awkwardly smiling?

I avoided her gaze.

No matter what, I couldn’t tell Yuuki about it. After all, Yuuki is… the daughter of Kosuzu, right?

If it got out that I was having all sorts of troubles because of my real mother, Yuuki would—

She already had a lot to think about, I was sure.

“…”

When I avoided her gaze, Yuuki momentarily seemed disappointed as she looked down. Then, tightening her fist until her fingertips turned white, she grabbed her bag and suddenly stood up.

“Let’s go.”

Seemingly upset, Yuuki said that and headed straight for the classroom door.

“Wait, Yuuki!”

Harumi shouted as she got up from her seat.

“Sorry, Koto Ne. Yuuki’s feelings…”

Mako hurriedly stood up, glancing back at me.

“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s my fault.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Mako trailed off, but as she alternated her gaze between Harumi, who hurriedly followed Yuuki, and me, she then pressed her lips together, seemingly resolved.

I wondered if she was going to say something harsh.

But then, Mako lightly hugged me.

“It’s okay. I’m sure you two will become friends again.”

Mako smiled at me and quickly rushed to follow Harumi. She waved her hand towards Yuka, Koko, and me as she departed.

While I was absentmindedly waving back at Mako…

“…They’re such great friends.”

Yuka said somewhat shyly from beside me.

I wondered if she was teasing me for a moment, but oddly, Yuka was looking at the three of them with a somewhat admiring gaze.

Then she inhaled deeply and exhaled slightly.

“Well then… shall we go?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded at Yuka’s words.

Koko, who had been silently watching the situation, tilted her head. Simultaneously, Yuka and I gently patted Koko’s head.

It felt somewhat healing.

I really began to wonder if Koko isn’t just a cat.

*

The job of exorcising yōkai had been going quite smoothly since I drew my knife.

If there was any issue, it would be that I had to cut my wrist, which hurt a bit, and my body was covered in blood after fighting.

I resolved that by getting clothes from the government. The way they willingly prepared clothes for me meant my work was likely considered much more valuable than just that one outfit.

“…”

Yuka always stared at my wrist silently.

No matter how many times I said it wasn’t Yuka’s fault, it didn’t seem to change anything.

I always wore a hair tie on my wrist. There were somewhat troublesome tattoos that could be seen by others, making it slightly anxiety-inducing at times.

This was something I couldn’t show to anyone.

If it concerned my parents, both Kagami and my dad would be seen as criminals, and if it was known as something I did, people would look at me strangely.

At least, given that no one had pointed it out yet, it seemed that wearing a hair tie on my wrist didn’t draw significant attention.

“…You should get paid more.”

Yuka said that.

“I really don’t think this is the time to talk about money.”

“Is that so?”

I answered with a bitter smile in response to Yuka’s words.

This time, it didn’t seem like Yuka was joking, so my smile didn’t last long.

In the end, the money I was receiving did go up.

I had the feeling it wasn’t just because I was catching yōkai well, but I decided not to dig too deeply into it.

*

The day after the part-time job.

Harumi and Mako treated me the same as usual.

Yuuki was a little cold. However, it seemed she felt a little embarrassed about maintaining that attitude, as she seemed somewhat softened compared to the previous day.

It seemed that Yuuki was aware of her own emotional ups and downs.

Until that point, I thought Yuuki’s feelings were solely because of me. After all, the only Yuuki I had seen was the one from school.

However.

“Oh, Koto Ne-chan.”

I ran into a classmate in the restroom.

I couldn’t say we were very close, but thanks to my appealing looks, I had quite a few friends.

Harumi had a few friends, and so did Mako. Due to Yuuki’s somewhat cold impression in front of others, she didn’t have too many friends, but at least the kids around Harumi and Mako consistently chatted and joked with her.

The classmates were like that. Mako’s bright and kind nature, along with Harumi’s cheerful personality, kept the atmosphere from being too bad.

However, that was a different story with the kids from other classes.

The moment Yuuki walked by, a couple of kids huddled together whispering and then quickly ran off after receiving Harumi’s glare. I hadn’t been paying attention, but I had the feeling that one of the kids trying to talk to me was one of them.

Those who approached me with friendliness gathered around the sink.

I quickly pulled my hands away from the sink and lowered my sleeves.

“There’s no Yamashita around here today.”

The first thing they brought up was that topic.

Those kids stood in front of the mirror without anything special, just chatting. They seemed to have no clear reason why they had come to the restroom.

“Hey, Koto Ne-chan. Have you heard about the rumors?”

“…What rumors?”

“The rumors about Yamashita.”

At that topic, the surrounding kids giggled. It felt like they all knew something I didn’t.

“You probably don’t know since you came from another neighborhood, but the Yamashita family’s story is famous around here.”

I frowned slightly at that.

Though I sympathized with the kid saying it, I already wasn’t unfamiliar with the ‘Yamashita’ story.

If I were to push, I was on the side of those involved.

“Did you know? The Yamashita family are yakuza, actually.”

Why was this story being brought up?

“Wuu?”

I reflexively stepped slightly back toward Koko while getting lost in thought.

Of all places, the kids were sitting at the entrance to the restroom.

It didn’t seem like they were necessarily trying to bully me, but I wondered if they were trying to draw me into their little group?

It was the first time I felt this kind of atmosphere while attending elementary and middle school, and it felt a bit weird.

“I heard that the dad from Yamashita has been involved in something shady.”

What should I say?

It felt like an obvious story, but it seemed it could be a bit too much for Yuuki. I didn’t want to betray Yuuki.

However, to present it as if I didn’t know the story felt… unsettling.

Why did they think they knew about Yuuki better than I did—

“And there’s this story too.”

Maybe thinking it just made me surprised to stay silent, that girl leaned in closer toward me.

“You know yakuza have a tendency to make young girls their playthings, right? Apparently, when Yamashita walks around the streets, there’s always a girl closely following—a girl almost of daughter age—”

“Why are you telling me this?”

I asked that.

Honestly, it was absurd.

Why now all of a sudden?

I have no idea what happened in Yuuki’s middle school days. Perhaps someone provoked her, and she retaliated?

However, saying something like this right when I was trying to reconnect with Yuuki was quite irritating.

“No, no, I just want to warn you. You seem like you don’t know anything at all.”

The girl raised her hands slightly in innocence.

“Still, it’s dangerous, you know? I mean, they’re yakuza. If they can touch someone who is practically their daughter, they could certainly touch someone much younger than that.”

“Oh wow, and how do you know all this?”

I asked with a bit of admiration.

“That’s because—”

“Have you ever had to sell your body to a yakuza or something?”

Uh, well.

Thinking about it now, I probably shouldn’t have said that. I could have handled the situation in a way that was a bit softer.

I understand.

No denying they’re yakuza, at least.

But even so, openly badmouthing Yuuki still feels unpleasant.

No matter what, the one who helped save my childhood was that Yuuki kid and her father.

“What… did you say?”

The girl’s atmosphere shifted.

Crap. I might get hit.

But well, even if it looks like this, I’m also someone who’s been carrying around a knife and cutting things.

I was not planning on getting easily pushed around—

“Wuu?”

Oh no.

“Wait, Koko—”

As I turned at the voice that seemed to sense something, I saw a bang as a restroom stall swung open.

“…”

“…Yuuki?”

Seeing Yuuki, her face flushed red as she looked at me, I let out a dumbfounded sound, and then a smack, I felt something hit my cheek and staggered.

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