Wayward Concern [Part 2]
Emma’s POV
“Um, say…”
I’m scared.
“Meow?” (Mhmm, what is it?)
“Maybe Koumei-san…”
I’m scared of asking.
“Meow?” (It’s okay, just tell me?)
Koumei-san didn’t miss even a noise as small as my murmurs and kept nodding to show that she was listening.
However, the gentler Koumei was, the more fearful I felt.
“Maybe … the person… Koumei-san had always wanted to be with… is that Minato… not with me, but Minato… with that Minato.”
I couldn’t contain the large drops of tears rolling down my cheeks.
All I have is my memories as Minato.
What if the Holy Maiden Joanna I saw at the academy also has the same memories?
That person is the real Minato.
The fake one is me.
-Emma is fake, Joanna is real-
The insults whispered around me, I had heard before now had started to hurt more deeply.
What if Koumei-san also thinks that way?
What if Koumei-san leaves me and goes to Joanna’s side?
We’ve finally met.
Koumei-san said we would stay together forever.
I want to always, always be with Koumei-san.
I don’t want to part with Koumei-san again.
I don’t want to go through such a painful and heartbreaking experience again.
It scared me… it frightened me so much that I could only stay frozen on the ground.
“Meooow…”
Koumei-san frantically shook her head.
(I will forever stay by Emma’s side.
I will never leave you ever.
I will always be with you.
Don’t have such stupid thoughts, Emma.)
But Koumei-san had yet to see Joanna.
Maybe after Koumei-san saw Joanna, she would…
“Even if in the future Koumei-san says you want to go to her side, I-I can’t say ‘okay’ to you. I don’t want to part with Koumei-san… I’m sorry. I-I’m sorry…”
I clung to Koumei-san.
I was scared of living in a world where I would have to part with Koumei-san again.
If Joanna was the real one, what about me? What about Emma? What am I?
Koumei-san wouldn’t be the only one I would lose.
I would lose my family too.
“Dad, Mom, Wataru-nii, and Peita… C-Can you stay with me even if I’m actually a fake?”
I felt so insecure, scared, and in pain.
Holy Maidens would always be the main characters in mangas, novels, or otome games.
Now that I was experiencing reincarnation like something that would happen in a fictional world, the one who would be everyone’s enemy must be me, someone who was said to be the fake holy maiden.
What if everyone… What if everyone in my family becomes my enemies?
What if Minato, who calls herself Joanna, tries to steal away Emma’s… I mean my place?
What if I lose everything like the typical villainess after the condemnation event?
I can live in this world happily because I’m together with my family.
If my family turns into my enemies… The mere thought of it frightens me more than having a doppelganger.
I was scared to the point that I couldn’t stop shaking.
End of Emma’s POV
“You… You think about the most unusual and unexpected thing as always…”
“Haah…” George sighed and stood up. He stopped before the circle of cats surrounding Emma and ruffled her hair roughly with a smile.
“Let me confidently assure you that Emma is my younger sister. You don’t have to worry about anything. Koumei feels the same way too, right?”
“Meow meow!”
Koumei licked the tears spilling on Emma’s cheeks.
“Nii-sama, really? Koumei-san, you will always stay together with me? Everyone too?”
Emma asked with a shaky voice as if she wanted to cling desperately to George’s assurance.
“*sob sob*… Emma… so you love Daddy this much, huh? We will never be apart! Even if someone who looks like Minato exists, the daughter I love is only Emma! You’re definitely not a fake. Because this love is REAL!”
*squeeze* The bawling Leonard hugged Emma and the ball of cats together.
“I know you have a quirky way of thinking, but keep it within bounds too, Emma. How could I possibly confuse the child I personally gave birth to with another child? You are Minato in our past life and Emma in this life. It’s okay now, so don’t cry.”
Melsa gently wiped Emma’s tears with a handkerchief.
“*hic*… Wuu… But, she looked… exactly like me as Minato… right before I died…”
With her excellent powers of observation, Emma knew well that that person had Minato’s appearance. She saw it so clearly that it made her anxious.
It was exactly because she was an otaku who had read so many stories that she felt this scared.
“Everything’s alright, Emma. I’m not an idiot who will mistake my own sister with someone else.”
“Meooow!”
“Emmaaa… *sob sob*… Daddy will protect Emma… Don’t cry Emmaaa…”
“Geez, you and Emma should pull yourself together already. William, you too, say something.”
Melsa called William, who was pondering over something by himself while the whole family was trying to calm down the sobbing Emma.
“As expected of Nee-sama… Your focus always strays away from the normal track… Hmm, but you do have a point… Maybe there’s the trope of ‘taking over someone else’s place’ here and whatnot?”
“Uh-huh,” the no. 1 most-dedicated otaku in the Tanaka family, William, nodded in approval to Emma’s hypothesis.
“William?!” What are you saying in this situation? Melsa glared at her youngest son.
“No, well… I also think that Nee-sama is, without a doubt, my older sister. But, to be honest, even if by any chance Joanna-sama turns out to be the real one… I will still choose to side with the loli beauty Emma nee-sama over Mina-nee in her 30s, so don’t worry!”
William declared with a confident smirk.
“I don’t even need to think twice when there’s such an obvious choice,” he added.
“Waaahhhh… Peita’s so freaking gross…”
Emma started crying even louder after hearing what William said.
“Fufufu, that foul mouth is no doubt Mina-nee‘s.”
William rose to his feet and went to cuddle Emma with a tender smile, joining the family and the cats’ big group hug.
♠♠♠
Author’s corner:
Serious :*pant pant* I did it.
Crisis : Oi, you overdid it!!! If you didn’t keep it low-key, that person wouldn’t stay silent, y’know? I’m talking about the BOSS of this world, Sir Comedy!
Serious : Don’t worry, don’t worry. Sir Comedy is on New Year’s holiday☆
Crisis : You idiot! It’s already February, okay?!
Serious : You’re kidding, right? It’s February already?! My New Year’s rice cake is still in the freezer, though?!
