Chapter 96. [Returning To Japan]

More than 10 hours after parting with Angu Ogu…

I was gazing out the window of the plane.

Next to me, Ah-nee was sleeping soundly.

I felt like I had unfinished business.

That feeling still lingered in my mind.

“Things from my previous life?”.

I muttered quietly.

My body was found safe and sound and cremated in the United States.

I was buried in no time, but it was on the news.

[One Japanese traveler died in the U.S., caught up in the current turmoil. Some citizens panicked and opened fire out of fear of a nuclear attack.]

That’s a strange story.

How does panic produce bodies with arms and legs tied to chairs?

There was no information about that.

In my previous life, my parents had already died, and I had only business friends. I was what you might call a lifelong solitary.

So I had no complaints about being cremated there.

There was no one to take care of my body, and not only that, airplanes were not flying at that time.

No, I wanted to retrieve the goods I was carrying around and the key to the house, though!

I wanted to get my collection back!

Damn! I’m so sorry!

Maybe someday I can pretend to be someone I know and go and sort through his stuff!

Well, that’s beside the point.

It’s not my imagination that I feel something like a conspiracy.

“But, hmmm…”

It just doesn’t feel right.

The collection is regrettable, but that’s all there is to it.

I don’t care that much about the other parts.

It’s just “Well, it can’t be helped,” I thought.

What in the world am I so worried about?”

At that moment, an incoming message notification popped up.

The sender was Angu Ogu.

[I made up with my mom.]

The message from Angu Ogu was a report.

I see. She must have had the courage to do it.

[Thanks. Thanks to Iroha.]

[I didn’t do anything.]

[That’s not true. Mama said she wanted to talk to Iroha again, just the two of you, if possible.]

[Ogu’s mama?]

Was she that grateful?

In that case……I wonder if it’s a matter of personality, it’s a word with pressure.

As I laughed bitterly, a poof echoed through the cabin.

[Ladies and gentlemen, we are ready for landing. Fasten your seatbelts.]

Before I knew it, the scenery of my hometown spread out before my eyes.

It was a landscape that even made me feel nostalgic.

***

“Nnn~ooooo!”

In the lobby of the airport, I stretched out.

I took a deep breath to take the stiffness out of my body.

It is a mystery that air taste differs from country to country.

Yes, this is a familiar taste.

In the airport lobby, there were people everywhere hugging each other in joy at being reunited.

It looks like I’m going to be one of them.

“Iroha!” “Iroha-chan!”

“Mom, Mai. I’m home.”

The two who came to pick me up gave me a painful hug.

I’ve been getting a lot of this kind of skinship lately.

“Mai? You have snot on your nose! Don’t wipe it off with my clothes! Get away from me!”

“Iroha-chan! I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Hey, …… Just for today.”

I pat her on the back and hug him back.

Then, “Hey, hey, hey!” Ah-nee walks up to me from the side.

“Hey, Mai! It’s your onee-chan! Come here too!”

“No, I’m not worried about you, onee-chan. They could kill you, but you wouldn’t die, would you?”

“That’s awful!”

Mai, despite her flirtatious words, pulled her body away from me and hugged Ah-nee tightly.

Soon, I began to hear sobs.

I turned my back and removed myself from the scene.

Somehow, I felt like I wasn’t supposed to see it.

“Oh~, you were so inconsolable. Good job, good job. You did your best.”

“Yeah ……! Yeah ……!”

I heard Mai’s voice from behind me as she was being pampered by her sister Ah-nee.

I was being hugged by my mom.

“Thanks. I’m so glad you’re okay, Iroha.”

Tears were pouring down like rain.

My mom was quite worn out. But she looked much better than I had heard. It was all thanks to Mai’s constant support.

I really can’t thank Mai enough. I’ll have to do something to repay her next time.

After a while…

When Mai and my mom finally calmed down, Mai shouted, “Ah!” Mai.

“My mom is here! My dad is waiting in the car, but it’s so crowded, there’s no place to park…”

“I see. We should get going.”

We all walked towards the exit.

As I walked along, I couldn’t help but look around.

“What’s wrong, Iroha?”

“No, umm. I wa thinking, “It’s Japan, isn’t it?”.”

“…?”

I was feeling a bit of a gap.

Strangely, everyone around me is speaking Japanese.

I’m too used to America. No, this kind of thing is called a rash.

It doesn’t take long for people to become accustomed to other cultures.

Is it because I was thinking like that?

“So I’m in a hurry to get back to my country. I have to catch a flight today! Does anyone know this language!?”

When I turned my gaze, a foreigner was appealing loudly and desperately.

In his hand was a smartphone with a broken screen.