Chapter 43: White Chrysanthemum

White Chrysanthemum

My first winter break as Iori was unforgettable, despite lasting only two weeks. So much happened that I could never forget it. However, I can’t say it was a fulfilling vacation. If anything, it was a series of experiences that, in some small way, helped me grow, even at this age.

But the most significant takeaway from this winter break wasn’t my own growth.

The biggest achievement of this winter was confiding in Tachibana-san about everything—and successfully gaining her as an ally.

From the day after I revealed everything to Tachibana-san until today, our already close friendship deepened as we started communicating even more frequently.

Most of our conversations revolved around my upcoming trip back to my hometown this month. However, we didn’t just focus on rigid topics; sometimes, we discussed studying, and other times, we simply chatted about random things.

Just as my friendship with Tachibana-san had grown even stronger, the long-awaited school day arrived.

When I first became Iori, it was around the time of the seasonal change to short-sleeved uniforms. Now, I was layering a down jacket over my school uniform, fully prepared for the cold. Maybe it was because I had been thrown into such an incomprehensible situation, but I couldn’t help but reflect on how quickly time had passed.

“Good morning.”

When I boarded the train from the station closest to my home, I saw Tachibana-san sitting in her usual seat. She looked completely at ease, engrossed in her studies with a reference book in hand.

“Morning. How’s your health?”

“I’m fine now.”

Even though several days had passed since I had a fever during the New Year holidays, Tachibana-san was still concerned about my condition. Her kindness warmed me, making me feel like I might smile involuntarily.

The train rattled along the tracks.

Sitting beside Tachibana-san, I opened the family budget app that Kaori had insisted I install.

Before I knew it, this budgeting app had become a part of my daily life, and recording my expenses had become second nature. Since I was facing an imminent large expense—one quite significant for a high school student—I was using the app daily to keep my spending in check.

“Has your bookkeeping work been helpful?”

“Hard to say. The secondhand bookstore’s business hasn’t shown any clear signs of improvement yet.”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re even using an app like this, so I figured maybe you were getting used to managing finances.”

Saying that, Tachibana-san lowered her gaze.

“Now that I think about it, you’re really thirty-five years old inside, huh?”

“Even at thirty-five, there’s still so much I don’t know. I’m sure that even when I grow old and die… even after death, there’ll be more things unknown to me than known.”

I felt like I had just stated something profound, but Tachibana-san’s reaction was underwhelming.

“…Should I start using honorifics with you or something?”

After a brief silence, as if contemplating the thought, Tachibana-san suddenly posed that question.

She seemed completely serious, but the shift in conversation was so random that it was almost absurd.

“No, just keep talking to me the way you always have.”

I answered with a wry smile.

Having her suddenly change her manner of speech would only make things awkward for me as well.

“You sure? …Alright then.”

Once again, Tachibana-san turned her eyes back to her reference book.

I, too, returned my gaze to the budgeting app.

Everything I recorded in this app was synced with Kaori’s account. Because of that, ever since I first expressed my desire to start a part-time job after taking over this body, Kaori’s financial worries seemed to have eased, and she had stopped making remarks about money altogether.

However, one thing I realized after starting to use this app was that, despite being the one who suggested it, Kaori wasn’t particularly diligent in keeping track of her finances.

Kaori only opened the app once a month to log her income and expenses. I had lost count of how many times I had seen her staring at a pile of receipts and invoices on her desk at the end of the month.

Well, since she was doing it in between work, it wasn’t surprising that she was a bit careless about it.

Still, the whole point of budgeting is to keep track of expenses regularly. After some discussion, I ended up taking over Kaori’s budgeting bookkeeping as well.

…Another thing I realized after keeping track of Kaori’s expenses was that she was surprisingly frugal. Or maybe, since her job didn’t allow her to go out often, she simply didn’t have many opportunities to spend money.

But watching our savings steadily grow made bookkeeping a rather satisfying task.

Lately, managing the family budget had practically turned into a hobby of mine. It felt somewhat pitiful for a high schooler to have budgeting as a hobby, but considering I was actually a thirty-five-year-old bachelor inside, it didn’t seem that strange.

And so, as my interest in this budgeting app grew, I found myself scrolling through my savings history.

I gazed at the numbers, feeling a sense of pride in how much money I had saved.

“You’re seriously smiling just from looking at numbers? Are you planning to become a business tycoon or something?”

Before I knew it, Tachibana-san had leaned in so close that her face was practically resting on my shoulder. She gave me a deadpan look as she spoke.

“Well, I do hold the financial reins of my family, so to some extent, that’s true.”

“You should only say that after you actually start contributing money to the house.”

I had no argument against that.

With a sigh, Tachibana-san turned back to her reference book.

I, too, resumed staring at my budgeting app.

As I watched the steadily rising savings graph, I suddenly noticed something.

It was from last April. While my savings had generally increased at a steady pace, there was one month where it had stagnated… or rather, completely plateaued.

Curious, I checked my expenditures from April of last year.

[Two White Chrysanthemum Stands]

The brief entry, presumably made by Kaori, immediately caught my eye.

Had there been multiple deaths around that time? Or had she used them for a hospital visit?

Now that I thought about it, it was the following month that I awoke in Iori’s body. If that was the case, perhaps one of those stands had been for me.

As for the other one… I had no idea. Maybe Kaori’s husband’s death anniversary was approaching, and she had bought them together?

Either way, I felt a surge of excitement at having uncovered an unexpected clue. If I could pinpoint the exact period when Iori’s coma began, I could check newspaper archives from that time, significantly expanding my research scope.

Maybe there were more clues hidden somewhere.

Kaori had started using this app in August two years ago. I skimmed through the records but found no other striking new information.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

Prompted by Tachibana-san, I stepped off the train.