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

I want to live like a human.
This was my true desire.
I don’t know whose fault it is that I exist here. What kind of setting is this harmony?
But regardless, I’m here, and I want to live. Like a human.
Unlike my previous life, it feels like this time I can protect it with my own hands. Because I have strength now.
In the end, isn’t this also a new life? Even if it’s a life prepared for someone else, even if my life ends tragically in the end.
I just wanted to live joyfully for the time I’m given.
I don’t know if it will go well or not.
“You seem to be deep in thought.”
The person who spoke to me while sitting outside was Miura.
Should I say she has an Eastern beauty? I thought so when I saw her last time, and the yukata really suited her.
I’ve hardly worn hanbok in my previous life, yet here I am wearing traditional Japanese clothing. My life is quite peculiar. I don’t know if I can see the last life and this life as one ‘thing.’
As Miura sat down next to me on the bench, she handed me a drink. It was coffee milk. In a glass bottle.
…Ah, I remembered.
Sometimes in manga or anime, characters would drink coffee milk after coming out of the bath. I used to drink banana milk after coming out of the bath; I wonder if it’s similar here?
I opened the cold bottle, as if it had just been taken out of the fridge, and drank the contents. The rich smell of coffee filled my mouth. The smooth yet slightly tingling sensation of milk leisurely stroked my throat. The sweet milk with a lot of sugar was certainly just right for drinking after a bath.
We had been out of the bath for a little while already. But who cares? It’s delicious, that’s all that matters.
“Is it because of Koko?”
Miura asked.
“…….”
I hesitated to answer for a moment.
Rather than being because of Koko, it would be more accurate to say it was a complex mix of all those reasons.
The future felt far away. The prophecy I heard was still vividly swirling in my mind. It’s just a little scary not knowing when or how it will happen.
If you ask me whether I’m scared, yes, I am. But on the other hand, strangely, I also feel calm about it. I’ve already died once, so what’s the big deal?
I’m more scared of losing the people around me. I’m fully aware there’s a possibility of that happening.
Because I moved, Koko was kidnapped, and Nakahara got caught up in it. If the two of us had come out even a bit later, if Hagiwara hadn’t moved, then at the very least, Nakahara would have definitely died.
If I hadn’t moved, maybe Miura would have died too.
I had been continuously thinking about this. What would have happened if Kurozawa Koto Ne, this body, had not been occupied by me?
We had just met and were about to get close, but what if Miura had suddenly died?
“Kurozawa?”
“……Yeah?”
As I was about to sink back into my thoughts, Miura pulled me back.
“Are you worried?”
“……No.”
I’m not worried about Koko.
She might get into the school with a score much higher than expected. Instead, that thought was a bit concerning.
What could be the reason Koko shows such childlike behavior when she has the intelligence to learn and understand?
She should have experienced something terrible already.
“Koko will be fine.”
Since Miura couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of my ‘no’ in my response, she said that.
I nodded silently and drank more coffee milk. My eyes felt a bit clearer. Must be the caffeine kicking in.
“…….”
“…….”
A brief silence.
Miura sat next to me, hesitating for a moment, then glanced at me. I left her alone. If I ask Miura if she has anything to say, it seems like that conversation would vanish into thin air.
Miura took a deep breath to calm her mind, then exhaled.
And with an expression that seemed a bit embarrassed, she said,
“Um, you and Yuuki are addressing each other by name, right? And the literature club… the seniors too.”
Oh, is that the topic?
…Ironically, the first person I had a conversation with after coming to this side was Miura. Before that, I had talked to Suzuki-sensei, but that was somewhat procedural.
“Um… are you familiar with those people beforehand?”
“……No.”
At my answer, Miura hesitated to speak again.
Sitting next to Miura, who was pondering if she could say that or not, I patiently waited for her.
“Then we’ve known each other for quite a while, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it’s okay to call each other by name, right?”
“……Yeah.”
I’m not Japanese by birth. In fact, regarding Japan in my previous life, it was mostly exaggerated, unrealistic content like manga, light novels, and anime. Did you know? I’ve never even watched a Japanese drama or movie. I’ve only heard anime songs, not pop music.
So for someone who hasn’t experienced the culture directly for even half a year, calling each other by name feels like such an intimate act.
In my previous life, once we knew each other’s names, it naturally became a habit to call each other by names.
It might be as difficult as how foreigners perceive Korean honorifics.
“Well then.”
Miura briefly closed her mouth, then took a small breath.
“Is Koto Ne-chan okay?”
It felt a bit ticklish.
As expected, I don’t really understand how much the titles that come after a name can put someone at a distance or bring them close. Even if I understand it later, with memories of my past life, I’ll still feel somewhat awkward about it.
“Mako…-chan.”
At my words, Mako slightly lifted the corners of her lips in a smile.
I guess my answer was correct.
I picked up the bottle and poured the coffee milk into my mouth.
*
The date we returned was the 25th of August.
The kids we stayed with decided that “we should rest well the day before the exam.” And I agreed with that opinion.
Well, Koko isn’t the type of being that would be worn out by such things, but one can never be too sure.
“Then, good luck with the exam.”
Yuka, who had followed us until the end, said as she placed her hand on our shoulders.
“Yeah.”
“Uh!”
We both nodded at the same time.
Yuka, who was glancing between Koko and me, made a slightly disappointed expression, but it was about time she had to head back. In fact, it was a bit unreasonable for Yuka to follow us. We lived in Saitama, not Tokyo.
But thinking about people commuting from here to Tokyo, it’s not impossible. Still, it’s over an hour, isn’t it?
“Then… see you at the start of the semester.”
At Yuka’s words, I nodded. Koko tilted her head.
The start of the semester.
If Koko passes the exam, the two of us would go to school together in the morning.
What would the townspeople think when they see two girls who look identical, holding the same bag, happily walking to school together?
It would be a slightly humorous sight.
…That’s right.
I used to take my little sister to school and go back home with her after picking her up from the community center’s after-school class.
Back then, she listened to me very well. When did she start grumbling like that?
“Koto Ne?”
As I blankly stared at Yuka, who had become so distant she was almost invisible, Koko tilted her head and spoke to me.
“……Yeah, let’s go inside.”
Kuro inside the cage in my hand meowed, “Mya~.” She probably got bored after riding the subway for a while.
This time too, I entrusted her to Yuka.
Really, I’m always relying on you.
Gripping Koko’s hand with one hand and holding the cage with Kuro in the other, I climbed the stairs.
I inserted the key into the door and turned it sideways.
As expected, the room felt a bit humid. There was no air conditioning or anything, and I had closed the window just in case.
But still, it was our home.
Yes. It’s not that it’s empty; it’s filled with traces of my life and the lives of Koko and Kuro.
It’s quite strange.
Back when I came here, it was just a place I had to live in.
Now, just having friends visit and living with Koko has made it a place I want to return to as soon as possible.
I no longer care about ghosts or anything.
“……I’m home.”
“Uuu?”
As I muttered to myself, Koko tilted her head beside me.
I smiled slightly as I placed the cage down and opened the door. Kuro, curled up inside, jumped out, stretched her front paws, and yawned widely. The expression on Kuro’s face as she yawned was somewhat ugly.
Then she promptly leaped and, as if it were natural, jumped onto the blanket put away in the corner of the room.
“Did you come back?”
As I observed Kuro blankly, Koko slightly bent her head and asked.
I petted Koko’s head lightly and entered the room to open the window.
*
“…….”
“…….”
Suzuki-sensei’s eyes were sharp.
“Kurozawa-san.”
“Yes.”
“And…”
Suzuki-sensei briefly hesitated while glancing at Koko, who also had the same surname, ‘Kurozawa.’ She seemed to be pondering how to address us.
“Koko-san.”
In the end, she compromised by adding a title after the name. Of course, we needed to distinguish between the two at school.
Most people who saw Koko called her by name. Perhaps they figured they wouldn’t properly understand otherwise. I understand.
“Uuu?”
Koko, who was sitting next to me with her head tilted, was still in casual clothes.
Yeah, honestly, I had thought this might happen. So last time when we came to take the exam, Koko wore casual clothes while I wore my school uniform.
Even now, it’s the same.
In front of us, Suzuki-sensei held the exam papers in her hands.
The teacher’s office seemed quite quiet and leisurely. I don’t really know what teachers do during the break. I heard somewhere that they use up all their accumulated leave at once. I’ve also heard they take turns working, so their salaries can be a bit less than when they teach students.
Well, I don’t have anyone around me who works as a teacher, so I can’t verify that. But one thing is clear: the atmosphere in the teacher’s office isn’t as chaotic as during the semester.
Suzuki-sensei’s chair next to hers was empty today too. Looking at the piles of files and teaching materials on the desk, it didn’t seem like the chair was unoccupied by choice.
In any case, seeing us, Suzuki-sensei pulled the chair next to her and one across from her to create two seats in front of her, then sat us down side by side.
With her thin but distinct eyebrows slightly furrowed, Suzuki-sensei seemed to be contemplating how to start speaking. She opened her mouth cautiously.
“Kurozawa-san.”
“Yes.”
After I answered her distinctly, as if the words hadn’t come out right and she was calling my name again, Suzuki-sensei spoke with a somewhat resigned expression.
“I know very well that you want to go to school with your younger sister. You must be feeling anxious and worried.”
“Yes.”
That’s true. That’s why I was even thinking of taking the exam in Koko’s place to help her out.
…And if I had done that, I would have probably scored a bit lower than Koko. Except for Japanese-related subjects.
Thinking about it, it’s a bit of a blow to my ego.
“But… you must not engage in any cheating, understood?”
“Yes.”
…It’s unfair.
Honestly, I had anticipated this kind of conversation when coming to school.
Today is August 30th. In just two days, the school semester will begin. Isn’t it a bit tight to get the entrance exam results this soon? Since Hanagawa High School has classes even on Saturdays, the teachers are probably coming to work too. It’s about to be the start of the semester.
I don’t know the details, but since Koko is the only one who took the entrance exam, they seem to be anticipating that she will pass.
In that sense, Koko is an outlier.
While it’s not that Suzuki-sensei thought negatively about Koko, it seems she assumed Koko wouldn’t pass. She had mentioned it once when discussing the application.
Koko seemed like a kid with borderline intelligence, and it didn’t even seem like she had been to high school before. There’s a question of whether she attended elementary and middle school properly. Having a mother who was Kagan was a significant issue.
…If she thought about it that way, it wasn’t entirely off either. Koko had been stuck in the freezer for quite some time.
However, Koko’s intelligence was beyond my understanding as well.
“Did you… take the exam for her?”
Suzuki-sensei asked almost apologetically, as if even asking that felt wrong.
“I didn’t.”
I thought about it. If Yuka hadn’t intervened in the middle, I would have surely taken the exam for Koko. Thankfully, thanks to Yuka, I was able to get through it legitimately.
“…….”
“Really.”
I stared at Suzuki-sensei as I spoke.
Though my expression remained neutral, Suzuki-sensei seemed pricked by my unwavering gaze. She flinched slightly.
“But, Kurozawa-san.”
As she said that, she laid out two answer sheets side by side.
The answers to the subjective questions.
Though different words were written, one could discern the similarities at a glance.
…The characters on Koko’s exam sheet looked strikingly similar to mine.
“Uwaa?”
As I glanced at Koko, she tilted her head again.
By the way, my handwriting in Japanese is somewhat peculiar. If I had to define it in a word, I’d call it ‘illegible.’
You know how it is. It’s not common for Koreans using Hangul for the consonants and vowels to fly around separately. Many people just write in a way that the two are easily connected as if it’s a cursive style.
It’s something I gathered from writing like that since childhood without any specific method.
But for me, katakana or kanji are still unfamiliar characters. No matter how much I can mentally derive an answer, sometimes it’s as if the kanji is a jumbled mess, or the characters fit awkwardly into a square.
But I believe it’s enough to be readable.
So, in a good way, I guess you could say it has character.
“……This is…”
I tried to string a response together in my mind.
“I taught Koko how to write.”
“……I see.”
Suzuki-sensei replied gently, but it still seemed like she wasn’t able to fully trust me.
I see.
Thinking about it, this could be a way to get caught. Even if the tests were all objective questions, I had to write my name down myself, after all.
Wow, how could I not have thought about that? I really am foolish.
At the same time, I also felt an urge to ruffle Koko’s head and praise her for doing well. I managed to hold it back though.
“Then, may I ask one favor?”
Suzuki-sensei spoke softly as if to clarify it wasn’t my fault. It was clear she was trying to ensure I wouldn’t worry.
If I had indeed taken the exam for Koko, it seems she would let it slide without much questioning.
…If it actually felt like the school would turn upside down due to such a situation.
Suzuki-sensei handed me a file with a hard cover and a piece of paper, along with a pen.
“Here, can you write down Kurozawa-san’s name?”
“…….”
I silently took the paper and tried to write the name without making it too formal.
Kurozawa Koto Ne (黒沢琴音).
Suzuki-sensei nodded after seeing my writing and then took the file from me, placing it on Koko’s lap.
“Uwaa?”
As Koko looked up at Suzuki-sensei, she smiled softly as if to reassure her.
“Can you write Koko-san’s name here?”
Pointing at the name I just wrote with my finger, I asked.
“Koto Ne?”
Koko asked, looking at me.
“Just do it like that.”
When I said that, Koko tilted her head as if she didn’t quite understand why we were doing this but wrote her name below the letters I had written.
Kurozawa Koko (黒沢ココ).
Not even a kanji name. Although I had given her a rather casual name, her actions showed that Koko was very fond of it.
“…….”
Suzuki-sensei carefully took the file and pen.
Then she compared our writings.
It seems that to Suzuki-sensei’s eyes, the kanji “Kurozawa” looked identical.
“Okay, I get it.”
Suzuki-sensei said, almost relieved.
I also let out a small breath.
“Uwaa?”
Only Koko, not knowing what had just happened, kept tilting her head in confusion.