CH 29

“Hey, who are you?”

Yuki’s words made my heart skip a beat.

(It’s not good, is she suspecting my identity? What should I do? x3)

“…Yuki, what are you talking about? I’m Mika.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Do you see me as someone other than Mika?”

“No, but… you’re different.”

I tried to show that I was Mika, but Yuki seemed to be convinced that I was not real.

This wasn’t good, how would I get through this? Just as I was thinking this, I heard my phone ring.

(Who is it at this time?)

I brought my phone in case I couldn’t find Yuki who ran out of the house, but I didn’t expect it to ring at such a time.

And when I looked at the incoming number, it was from the call centre company that hired me, so it would be wrong to ignore it.

“Excuse me… Yes?”

“Hello, Nonogami Mika?”

It seemed that it was a woman who made the call.

“Yes, but…”

“My name is Sumire Akikawa and I work as a secretary to the president. I’m sorry to bother you at such short notice, but could you please keep the following Sunday open for me?”

“Why?”

“Because the boss wants to see you. Of course, you can take the next day off if you like.”

“Oh… I see.”

“We will pick you up before noon. Your children can come with you, as they did at the interview. No, you are more than welcome to bring them. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

I was told almost only the requirements and hung up the call, but I thought it was quite important to be called by the boss or something.

Maybe I had done something I wasn’t supposed to, and wasn’t aware.

“What’s wrong?”

I had been thinking about my work, but I was surprised when I heard from Yuki, who had another problem.

“…Nothing.”

“Oh, yeah. Let’s talk about it. You’re not Mika, are you?”

“Can I ask you why you think that?”

“Because it’s strange. In Shibuya, you bought every piece of clothing I suggested, and even when I did your makeup, you were very quiet.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

“Mika would have looked at me when I was buying the stuffed bear and shouted, ‘Do you think I’m stupid?’ And when I tried to do her makeup, she’d say, ‘Don’t touch me!'”

I didn’t know what the original owner of the body was thinking, but I might still be able to fool her, so I tried to make an excuse.

“…I have changed since I had a child.”

“That’s what I thought at first, too. You took Saki in, and raised her, and now you’re suddenly all grown up.”

“……..”

“But today, when we were having a barbecue, you didn’t kick me out of the house. And you’ve always worn makeup, so it’s strange that you suddenly stopped wearing it.”

“……..”

“And most of all, when I talked about… Satoshi, Mika doesn’t pat me on the head and comfort me like a person who’s just being nice.”

“……..”

What was that? I felt like I had been told that all I had to offer was kindness.

It was a shock to me in my previous life, and maybe it was the reason why I couldn’t have a girlfriend or a marriage partner before.

However, if Yuki was so convinced that I was a different person, it would be impossible to misrepresent my identity any further.

(I’ll have to give up on this one…)

I didn’t know what would happen to my relationship with Yuki from here, but if we could be friends after telling the truth, I would say it.

If that was not possible, it was no wonder that our relationship would be over.

“Hey, let me ask you one more time? Who are you? If you were the real Mika, wouldn’t you know what to do in a situation like this?”

“……..”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m… No…”

I didn’t know anything about their routine exchanges, so I had to tell the truth.

I was just about to say ‘I’ when I felt a shock in my body.

I couldn’t help but close my eyes, and when I opened my eyes, I saw two people in front of me, Mika, whose body had been my own a moment ago.

(Huh? What’s this?)

Mika glanced at me, but Yuki didn’t seem to notice that there were three of us.

What the hell was going on here?

When I was in a panic, I heard Mika’s muttering.

“…It’s like there’s another me. It’s weird.”

It seemed that I had the same appearance as Mika.

“Mika, what’s wrong?”

“…Nothing. Can I talk to you for a second, Yuki?”

“What?”

Mika looked at Yuki and suddenly slapped the other woman on the cheek.

Pang!

It was the only sound that echoed through the park.

(Huh? What is she doing?)

“Why are you crying? You decided to go out with Satoshi, didn’t you? If you’re going to get upset over a fight, then just break up with him!”

“…Mika”

“What?”

“It’s Mika!”

“Stop sticking to me, you’re annoying!”

“It’s you! I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“Yuki, you can either cry or laugh. And I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”

“Guh… I’m going to Satoshi’s!”

(Huuuh? The two of them have a routine where she gave Yuki a slap to get her fired up? I couldn’t think of anything like that.)

“See you, Mika.”

“Shut up. Go on.”

“Oh, by the way, the director thanked you, didn’t he?”

“Me? Why?”

“After that incident, he was fired from his job as a manager and now works in a nursery. He’s not the same person anymore. He says he owes a lot to Mika for giving him that opportunity.”

(What’s with that guy who gets hurt in places he doesn’t want and then changes his mind on his own…?)

“Oh, well, whatever.”

“Well, I just wanted to let you know that everyone at the office is very grateful to you. I’ll see you later! Thank you!”

“Yes, yes. See you later.”

Yuki ran out of the park to go and see Satoshi.

And then Mika, who was still there, looked at me and opened her mouth.

“Well, let’s talk about this.”

I never dreamed that I would meet Mika again in this way.

“Um, I’m here too…”

Whoa! There he was, my god-like grandfather.

I hadn’t noticed him at all.

“What do you mean, ‘like’? I am a God of the past!”

Don’t read my mind, you’re invading my privacy!