When I Returned From Another World I Was A Silver Haired Shrine Maiden: Chapter 17
Ikutari’s Future
Dad said that I had two choices. I could either live as a Kisaragi, or I could live as a completely different person.
「Well, I want to live as Ikutari…」
However, my father wouldn’t say such a thing without a good reason. There must be advantages to the choices other than living as Ikutari. Or…
「Is there any disadvantages to me living as Ikutari?」
Dad seemed satisfied with my question and continued talking.
「In order to live as Ikutari you would have to make the existence of magic and the other world public. Do you know why?」
「Because even if I insist I’m Ikutari no one will believe me? Regardless of what my family says, there is no objective evidence that I am Ikutari.」
「That’s right. However, if you prove the existence of magic and the other world, you would be able to return to living as Ikutari.」
「In order to spread it, I could use video sites and SNS!」
「– But, in that case, you will lose your everyday life.」
「… Is it like becoming a celebrity? It can’t be, our family will become other people’s entertainment!?」
「You will be famous. After all, the existence of magic is something that will overturn the fundamentals of Human thought. If you succeeded in demonstrating magic, your name would mark a point in the history of humanity.」
「… In other words?」
「You would become a guinea pig. Your life and income would be guaranteed, but your actual position wouldn’t be much different from that of a laboratory animal. You would be completely isolated from others and have to undergo experiments every day.」
Yuna’s face went blue as she imagined that scenario.
It’s probably the case that it is the reality of the situation.
「That’s so terrible…」
「It’s inevitable. Even if you managed to leave the facility, you would be targeted by organizations all over the world. That is how valuable magic is.」
Well, what else.
「It’s a future that I could not see you enjoying…」
「On top of that, since earthlings don’t have any magical power, there will be people that think your children will be born with magical power… I’ll let you imagine what the result of that will be.」
「… In other words, I should give up on the idea of living as Ikutari.」
「If you have the resolve that you are willing to sacrifice yourself for the evolution of humanity, then it is a consideration.」
「Then, can I hear the other choices?」
「You will have to live as a totally different person… That’s how it is. You would be a daughter of a family from a foreign country, who became an orphan after your parents died. You would then be adopted and join our family register in Japan.」
「Can such a thing be done?」
「I have made some strong connections while I was working abroad. I can prepare some formal documents that would be acceptable by the Japanese government… It’s fine to leave that to me.」
… What are you saying. My father’s connections are absurd.
「I’m sorry, but we can only become your parents in law — I can’t make it so that we are legally related by blood…」
Dad could have me be his illegitimate child that was born in a foreign country. By doing so, I would become his child by blood, but it would bring disgrace to him as it would imply that he had an affair while overseas.
For dad to have an illegitimate child of marriageable age would make it seem like he had no love for mom.
「In order to not create discord about our family, being your child by law is enough.」
「Even if your official status changes, it doesn’t change the fact that you are our real child… Just remember that.」
「Ahh, I understand… Thank you dad.」
「Since you’ve come back to Japan, you should also return to school while you decide your future.」
Once more, can I go back to school… I’m honestly happy that I don’t have to give up halfway.
「That’s roughly how it would go. Ikutari, what do you think?」
「I don’t think there is any other good options. I will follow your advice.」
「… Does anyone else have any questions?」
「Papa, what school will onii-chan go to?」
「Hirayama high school will be our first choice. It’s the same school that Ikutari was already attending and since Yuna is also there it works out well. If you are able to enroll, I will try to get you into the same class as Yuna.」
「The same class!? I should be a second year…」
「Your family register will be newly made regardless. So, it’s not necessary to be concerned about your actual age. Besides, do you think you would be able to catch up after missing an entire year of studying?」
I find myself at a loss for words. It seemed like it would be rough to start off as a second year after completely missing the first year of classes.
In addition, it would already the second semester of the second year, a time when you should be looking towards taking university entrance exams.
「By the way, the other choice is to have you restart from the third grade of junior high school.」
「Th, that’s a little…」
I’m going to be honest. It would be painful for for me, who is mentally 16 years old, to go to a junior high school now. However, with my appearance I could easily be seen as a first year junior high student.
「Being in the same class as onii-chan… Fufu, I’m looking forward to it!」
Yuna seemed to be in a very happy mood.
「… I get it. I’ll go to Hirayama high school (Hirako) with Yuna.」
To re-enroll at Hirayama High School and redo the first year. Realistically speaking, it seemed to be the best idea. Also being in the same class as my imouto, apart from my feelings as an older brother, it was reassuring that there would be someone else there who knows my circumstances.
「Well then, I’ll make it so that your birthday was one year later on February 10th.」
… There is a problem with that.
「Objection! That would mean that Yuna was born earlier than me… Can’t we move it by 2 months?」
I was born on February 10th, Yuna was born on February 8th of the following year, the difference in our birthdays isn’t quite a year. If my birthday is moved back a year, then our positions reverse. I want to avoid that as an older brother.
My mom immediately rejected my hope to have it changed.
「February 10th was the important day that I gave birth to you. It is also the origin of your name. Therefore, I won’t allow you to change your birthday.」
Mom was extremely serious as she said that.
I am aware that changing it would be disrespectful to my parents.
「Just accept defeat onii-chan. Resign yourself to becoming my imouto!」
It already seems impossible to stop my imouto’s usurpation.
「… I understand.」
In resignation, I lowered my head.
「It’s fine, just leave it to your onee-chan! It won’t be bad.」
As Yuna decided to be my older sister while in a public, she hit her chest and said that.
「Well then, let’s decide on your name next. Of course, your family name will be Kisaragi once you have been officially adopted. However, you must think of a new first name.」
「Hey, papa. Can’t we just use Alicia?」
「Alicia is part of Ikutari, if Ikutari also takes the name Alicia won’t it be confusing?」
「I see… Uun, do you have any good foreigner-like names?」
「Because you can always change it, even Japanese names are okay… Although there are some feelings of incompatibility if you have a Japanese sounding name.」
「Then, how about a foreigner name that is also used in Japanese? Maria or Sena.」
「That might be good. What other names are there?」
After that, my family shares various other names.
Incidentally, any attempt to keep the sound ‘ikuto’ in the name was dismissed right away. I tried suggesting names like Iku, Ikutia and Ikunatosu because they were subtle, but they were rejected.
In addition, it would be bad for people outside my family to think I’m Ikutari. Although it probably won’t come to light as long as I don’t use magic, it wasn’t necessary to add to the risk.
Uun… This is hard.
I keep getting candidates from my family, but nothing is that appealing.
While I was in the air about what to choose as my name,
「Does Alicia have any ideas?」
Yuna talked to Alicia.
『I, I don’t know much about names in this world…』
「It’s fine, everyone is just putting out ideas right now. We will judge it by the way it sounds.」
After I said that, Alicia answered rather timidly.
『How about Alice…?』(TN: Oh wow! Who would have thought of that! /s)
「That’s good!」
The first person to react to Alicia’s suggestion was Yuna. Following that, my other family members agreed.
「Well, the name Alice is sometimes used in Japanese, and there isn’t a sense of incompatibility when calling you that.」
「… Hmm, Alice in Wonderland. For the name of someone who went to a different world and had their body change it is a surprisingly good name.」
「It’s also good that part of Alicia’s name also remains.」
I agree with Yuna. It certainly does fit.
『Ah, no, I didn’t purpose it with that intention…』
Alicia denies it in a hurry, but I think it is nice to have some of Alicia’s name remaining.
「Alice…」
I say the name out loud… I felt like it was good.
「Okay, I’ve decided! From now on, I’ll be Alice.」
I declared.
『Kisaragi Alice』, that was my new name.
Though I was at a loss on whether to use kanji in the name, adding characters made it feel like it was being exaggerated, so I eventually decided on using Katakana for it.
When I Returned From Another World I Was A Silver Haired Shrine Maiden: Chapter 17
Ikutari’s Future
Dad said that I had two choices. I could either live as a Kisaragi, or I could live as a completely different person.
「Well, I want to live as Ikutari…」
However, my father wouldn’t say such a thing without a good reason. There must be advantages to the choices other than living as Ikutari. Or…
「Is there any disadvantages to me living as Ikutari?」
Dad seemed satisfied with my question and continued talking.
「In order to live as Ikutari you would have to make the existence of magic and the other world public. Do you know why?」
「Because even if I insist I’m Ikutari no one will believe me? Regardless of what my family says, there is no objective evidence that I am Ikutari.」
「That’s right. However, if you prove the existence of magic and the other world, you would be able to return to living as Ikutari.」
「In order to spread it, I could use video sites and SNS!」
「– But, in that case, you will lose your everyday life.」
「… Is it like becoming a celebrity? It can’t be, our family will become other people’s entertainment!?」
「You will be famous. After all, the existence of magic is something that will overturn the fundamentals of Human thought. If you succeeded in demonstrating magic, your name would mark a point in the history of humanity.」
「… In other words?」
「You would become a guinea pig. Your life and income would be guaranteed, but your actual position wouldn’t be much different from that of a laboratory animal. You would be completely isolated from others and have to undergo experiments every day.」
Yuna’s face went blue as she imagined that scenario.
It’s probably the case that it is the reality of the situation.
「That’s so terrible…」
「It’s inevitable. Even if you managed to leave the facility, you would be targeted by organizations all over the world. That is how valuable magic is.」
Well, what else.
「It’s a future that I could not see you enjoying…」
「On top of that, since earthlings don’t have any magical power, there will be people that think your children will be born with magical power… I’ll let you imagine what the result of that will be.」
「… In other words, I should give up on the idea of living as Ikutari.」
「If you have the resolve that you are willing to sacrifice yourself for the evolution of humanity, then it is a consideration.」
「Then, can I hear the other choices?」
「You will have to live as a totally different person… That’s how it is. You would be a daughter of a family from a foreign country, who became an orphan after your parents died. You would then be adopted and join our family register in Japan.」
「Can such a thing be done?」
「I have made some strong connections while I was working abroad. I can prepare some formal documents that would be acceptable by the Japanese government… It’s fine to leave that to me.」
… What are you saying. My father’s connections are absurd.
「I’m sorry, but we can only become your parents in law — I can’t make it so that we are legally related by blood…」
Dad could have me be his illegitimate child that was born in a foreign country. By doing so, I would become his child by blood, but it would bring disgrace to him as it would imply that he had an affair while overseas.
For dad to have an illegitimate child of marriageable age would make it seem like he had no love for mom.
「In order to not create discord about our family, being your child by law is enough.」
「Even if your official status changes, it doesn’t change the fact that you are our real child… Just remember that.」
「Ahh, I understand… Thank you dad.」
「Since you’ve come back to Japan, you should also return to school while you decide your future.」
Once more, can I go back to school… I’m honestly happy that I don’t have to give up halfway.
「That’s roughly how it would go. Ikutari, what do you think?」
「I don’t think there is any other good options. I will follow your advice.」
「… Does anyone else have any questions?」
「Papa, what school will onii-chan go to?」
「Hirayama high school will be our first choice. It’s the same school that Ikutari was already attending and since Yuna is also there it works out well. If you are able to enroll, I will try to get you into the same class as Yuna.」
「The same class!? I should be a second year…」
「Your family register will be newly made regardless. So, it’s not necessary to be concerned about your actual age. Besides, do you think you would be able to catch up after missing an entire year of studying?」
I find myself at a loss for words. It seemed like it would be rough to start off as a second year after completely missing the first year of classes.
In addition, it would already the second semester of the second year, a time when you should be looking towards taking university entrance exams.
「By the way, the other choice is to have you restart from the third grade of junior high school.」
「Th, that’s a little…」
I’m going to be honest. It would be painful for for me, who is mentally 16 years old, to go to a junior high school now. However, with my appearance I could easily be seen as a first year junior high student.
「Being in the same class as onii-chan… Fufu, I’m looking forward to it!」
Yuna seemed to be in a very happy mood.
「… I get it. I’ll go to Hirayama high school (Hirako) with Yuna.」
To re-enroll at Hirayama High School and redo the first year. Realistically speaking, it seemed to be the best idea. Also being in the same class as my imouto, apart from my feelings as an older brother, it was reassuring that there would be someone else there who knows my circumstances.
「Well then, I’ll make it so that your birthday was one year later on February 10th.」
… There is a problem with that.
「Objection! That would mean that Yuna was born earlier than me… Can’t we move it by 2 months?」
I was born on February 10th, Yuna was born on February 8th of the following year, the difference in our birthdays isn’t quite a year. If my birthday is moved back a year, then our positions reverse. I want to avoid that as an older brother.
My mom immediately rejected my hope to have it changed.
「February 10th was the important day that I gave birth to you. It is also the origin of your name. Therefore, I won’t allow you to change your birthday.」
Mom was extremely serious as she said that.
I am aware that changing it would be disrespectful to my parents.
「Just accept defeat onii-chan. Resign yourself to becoming my imouto!」
It already seems impossible to stop my imouto’s usurpation.
「… I understand.」
In resignation, I lowered my head.
「It’s fine, just leave it to your onee-chan! It won’t be bad.」
As Yuna decided to be my older sister while in a public, she hit her chest and said that.
「Well then, let’s decide on your name next. Of course, your family name will be Kisaragi once you have been officially adopted. However, you must think of a new first name.」
「Hey, papa. Can’t we just use Alicia?」
「Alicia is part of Ikutari, if Ikutari also takes the name Alicia won’t it be confusing?」
「I see… Uun, do you have any good foreigner-like names?」
「Because you can always change it, even Japanese names are okay… Although there are some feelings of incompatibility if you have a Japanese sounding name.」
「Then, how about a foreigner name that is also used in Japanese? Maria or Sena.」
「That might be good. What other names are there?」
After that, my family shares various other names.
Incidentally, any attempt to keep the sound ‘ikuto’ in the name was dismissed right away. I tried suggesting names like Iku, Ikutia and Ikunatosu because they were subtle, but they were rejected.
In addition, it would be bad for people outside my family to think I’m Ikutari. Although it probably won’t come to light as long as I don’t use magic, it wasn’t necessary to add to the risk.
Uun… This is hard.
I keep getting candidates from my family, but nothing is that appealing.
While I was in the air about what to choose as my name,
「Does Alicia have any ideas?」
Yuna talked to Alicia.
『I, I don’t know much about names in this world…』
「It’s fine, everyone is just putting out ideas right now. We will judge it by the way it sounds.」
After I said that, Alicia answered rather timidly.
『How about Alice…?』(TN: Oh wow! Who would have thought of that! /s)
「That’s good!」
The first person to react to Alicia’s suggestion was Yuna. Following that, my other family members agreed.
「Well, the name Alice is sometimes used in Japanese, and there isn’t a sense of incompatibility when calling you that.」
「… Hmm, Alice in Wonderland. For the name of someone who went to a different world and had their body change it is a surprisingly good name.」
「It’s also good that part of Alicia’s name also remains.」
I agree with Yuna. It certainly does fit.
『Ah, no, I didn’t purpose it with that intention…』
Alicia denies it in a hurry, but I think it is nice to have some of Alicia’s name remaining.
「Alice…」
I say the name out loud… I felt like it was good.
「Okay, I’ve decided! From now on, I’ll be Alice.」
I declared.
『Kisaragi Alice』, that was my new name.
Though I was at a loss on whether to use kanji in the name, adding characters made it feel like it was being exaggerated, so I eventually decided on using Katakana for it.
