Red Data Girl - Series 1 & 2

My First Familiar - 12

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
By Noriko Ogiwara
A Translation

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
Chapter 2: Miyuki
Part 3 (3 of 3)

Sagara's words remained in Izumiko's head. After he left, she sat on her bed for a bit and thought about them.

So, Mom was the one who braided my hair... I guess that makes sense.

No matter how hard she thought, she could only remember Sawa braiding her hair. It wasn't surprising. She had never really been in her mother's care. Even though she didn't look it, Yukariko's disposition was, while not like a man's, certainly rough.

When Yukariko visited the shrine in her time off from work, she generally stayed out all night, drinking sake with the people who worked at the shrine. She never even thought of cooking for herself and she ate the food Sawa made for her with more sake. On top of that, Sawa always made her spicy food, which Izumiko did not particularly like.

To Izumiko, it felt like she and her mother had drifted apart at some point. Yukariko didn't nag her which was appreciated, but they weren't close and Izumiko felt like she didn't really need such an overbearing personality in her life.

I wonder what Mr. Sagara meant when he said seal...

She had tried looking the word up in her dictionary, but the only definitions she had found were ones she had already known. But Sagara seemed to think that recent events had occurred because she had cut her hair. And knowing that, she couldn't stay calm any longer. After all, how could she not have noticed that the incident with the PC room had occurred on the same day she had cut her bangs?

As hard as she tried, she couldn't recall any memories of when Yukariko had first braided her hair, but another memory came back to Izumiko instead.

They were in gym class.

Their usual gym teacher, Mr. Karasawa was away on a trip so there was a substitute teacher. This teacher had decided that they would play dodge ball. The game was purely for fun, so the other students were ecstatic. Ayumi and Haruna were both eager to play as well, but they noticed Izumiko's reluctant expression.

"Today's game is only for fun, so you can do it too. We're not going to be graded on it."

"It's fine if you just run away from the ball. It's fun, so let's play together."

The two of them continued to invite her to play, but Izumiko only shook head.

"No. I'm... just going to watch."

Ayumi and Haruna were both aware that Izumiko was horrible at ball games. Generally, it was useless to try and get her to join in, so eventually they grabbed their coats and left. No one noticed that Izumiko stayed behind.

Izumiko passed the time in the gym classroom.

The first time Izumiko had decided to play during a gym class, she had broken a bone. Since then, Mr. Karasawa, who had been their teacher even back then, had quietly allowed her to sit out. No matter how much time had passed since that first class, Izumiko had firmly believed she was incapable of playing ball games.

Flying balls might not have been a big deal for most people, but to Izumiko, they were terrifying. She was bad with any sort of competition, but more than that, she was simply incapable of taking a ball from anyone. She could participate in sports like track and field and gymnastics, but the moment she was graded on it, she froze up. She only did sports while people watched when she saw the absolute necessity for it and even then, she was always nervous.