Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – A Familiar Person & An Outing

As you can imagine, alphabet songs and number counting aren’t all that interesting to a college graduate, it’s boring as fuck.

Giving up on my vain attempts at fitting in, I set my eyes on that familiar child.

I am sure we didn’t meet; I’ve only been at home or my parents’ company building before, no children were allowed there though, except for me, owner privilege and all.

I try my best to recall, but my mind only pulls a blank, even Manager isn’t responding.

She has an incredible singing voice, though. Her voice involuntarily makes me happy with the enjoyment she’s radiating.

“Tomoko-chan, please pay attention.”

“Ah! Yes! Sorry for being distracted.”

The teacher spots my inattention and calls me out on it. I quickly shift my attention back to the teacher.

Ohh, she’s started talking about letters and stuff… ugh, I can’t stay focused on something like this at all.

I guess I’ll start organizing future goals in my mind while acting attentive.

One of the things I’ll need to thoroughly study to is probably the zoology branch of biology.

Although the other world has monsters instead of animals, the animal counterparts have some commonalities in biological aspects.

I’ve also discovered that my analysis ability is faster the more knowledge I have on the subject.

Knowing any information about a monster might literally be the deciding factor between life and death in the other world.

A speedier analysis of a chasing predator’s weakness can help out in a pinch.

I’m too young to access a computer for now, much less visit a library. I’ll probably start contacting electronics by my eighth year of age.

Until then, my focus should be on analyzing any abilities useful for wilderness survival.

The deadline for learning new abilities should be the start of high school, I don’t know the real identity of the god D and whether they can sense me using abilities.

“That’s all for today, everyone. Please take one of these papers on your way out, they have some matching and coloring games that you can play!”

I hear those words as my attention snaps back to reality. The children have stopped singing and the teacher was announcing the day’s end.

Ahh, I was too absorbed in my own world, I’m glad I can put on a focused act.

Having to actually pay attention to this would be painful.

Let’s see where that girl is…. Hey! She’s already out of class, I gotta catch up!

Hastening my steps, I look around for her figure and… There! She’s waiting for her guardian outside.

“Hello, my name’s Tomoko Ito, can we be friends?”

I walk up to her and ask in a friendly manner.

“Ah…! Ummm, you mean me?”

She gets startled by my voice, turns around to see who’s calling, and gets momentarily confused when she sees me looking at her.

“Yes, our seats are next to each other.”

“Oh, umm… Okay, we can?”

Why does she take so long to reply? And what’s with the hesitant tone?

Maybe it’s her first time dealing with a stranger or something.

“What’s your name? Friends should know each other names, right?”

“Ahh, yes. My Name’s Aiko Iijima, nice to meet you”

{File retrieval: Reincarnation Class Roster}

And Manager-san comes up with the information right away! So fast!

Ohhh, I see why she feels familiar.

Aiko Iijima, she was a student of Hiiro Wakaba’s class, she was shown with the other reincarnations at the elf village in one of the anime episodes, with that voice she should get some sort of singing ability, right?

Her name was in the class roster illustration shown in the first volume of the series as well.

Well, I’ll ignore what I know about her for now, she was said to be a member of Mirei Shinohara’s group that Hiiro Wakaba after all.

However, what I’m dealing with right now is nothing but a child with incredible singing talent.

It’s also incredible how similar her pre-reincarnation appearance is to her post-reincarnation one… She only younger look with different hair colors.

I’m guessing the reincarnations’ appearances start diverging due to different environmental effects as they age, but the base form is how the soul looks.

“Hello, Iijima-san! I heard your singing, I love your voice.”

Complimenting someone is a good action if you want to become close, you shouldn’t overdo it though.

“Ah… Thank you very much, I-I think you are pretty, and you look smart as well.”

See? She’s stuttering and starting to speak more relaxedly, that’s a good sign.

No need to do more, social relationships are much simpler between children.

We talk about the things we like (mostly different types of food) until Theo arrives to pick me up.

We say our goodbyes while promising each other to meet tomorrow.

I get in Theo’s car, and I see a woman picking up Aiko, her mother probably.

I wave at her and she smiles and waves back while holding her mother’s hand.

“So, you’ve made a new friend, princess?”

Theo asks me in an interested tone after seeing my interaction with Aiko.

“Yes, big brother Theo, her name’s Aiko Iijima and she has an amazing singing voice!”

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“Hoh, that’s nice, how’d your day go? Anything upset you?”

“Well, kindergarten is boring, I already know all the stuff the teacher is talking about.”

“You’re too smart for your age princess, of course, you’ll be bored ... You don’t need to care much about what’s being taught if you’re making good friends and getting full grades, though.”

He chuckles while ruffling my hair, to which I roll my eyes and try biting his hand.

“This should not be the way home, right Theo? Where are we going?”

“That’s a surprise, princess, you’ve gotta wait until we arrive.”

“It better be amazing or I’ll ignore you, humph.”

 “Ah, I’m sure you’ll love it.”

I turn around and watch the moving scenery while trying to curb my curiosity.

A comfortable silence settles over us until Theo starts humming a soothing song.

I’m feeling drowsy, I’ll close my eyes for just a bit…

 

Huh, what time is it now? The sun’s setting… We’re not there yet?

I was more tired than I thought though, I rub my blurry eyes and see Theo parking next to a grassy hill, we’re out of town?

“You awake, princess? We’re here.”

“Ah! I’m awake … Where is this by the way?”

“It’s a nice spot I found in my childhood days, hop out, you don’t want to be late.”

He smiles nostalgically while hurrying me.

I hop out and move to the only path I can spot; Theo catches up a few minutes later while carrying four foldable chairs.

Is someone else there…? Mom and dad maybe? Why all the way out here though?

Walking uphill, the scenery beyond the hill unfolds in front of my eyes.

Reflexively holding my breath, I take in the scene of the entire city under the sunset.

“Beautiful…”

“It is, isn’t it? I used to come here whenever I’m feeling down, the view is healing. Leo said you’re a lot smarter than other kids, yet you easily stress yourself out. Let’s go, food’s gonna get cold if we’re late.”

“Food?! Where?! Hurry up, big brother Theo!”

My eyes shine at the mention of food, and I started urging him to move faster, my tense body unconsciously relaxes, I hadn’t even realized I was this nervous.

Being away from my family for the first time really got on my nerves, I mean, we’ve been inseparable for four years.

Suddenly being thrust into a new environment had me on edge.

We arrive at the edge of a small cliff, and I see mom waving at me- wait, is that a barbecue?!

Awesome! I sprint in her direction, wishing I’d gotten some spatial movement skills to get me there faster.

We rarely eat this type of food as it is often unhealthy, and it always tastes more delicious too, what a bummer…

As my attention is elsewhere, I trip on a rock and land in a warm embrace.

“Slow down, baby, the food’s not gonna run away. How was your day?”

Mom catches me with a chuckle and asks about my day.

“It was fine mommy; I even made a friend!”

“Hoh, that’s great, sweetie. Let’s eat first, and then tell me all about it.”

She hands me a pair of plastic gloves and starts setting up food on a foldable table they had brought earlier, Theo had already set up the foldable chairs and was helping dad with the barbecue grill.

They prepared a variety of original recipes Theo had put together over the years.

A few minutes later, we start eating under the sunset while watching the city gradually come to life.

“If you ever feel stressed out, don’t force yourself, sweetie. We might be doing the best for you, but your feeling is certainly more important.”

My mom suddenly says while dad looks at me seriously.

“We know you’re mature, Tomoko, too much for your age in fact, but you’re ultimately still a child, take your time and slowly adapt instead of forcing yourself for our sake.”

I mull over their words for a while and then respond with my genuine thoughts in a serious voice void of my usual childishness.

“I think mother and father are trying their best for me. Your decisions are all for my sake, so I will follow them unless something truly feels unacceptable to me. What I like is learning as many new things as possible, so I’m okay with anything except for time-wasting activities like sports or activities of the same branch.”

They pause for a while, taking in my words, then father acknowledges my reply in a tension free.

“Well, sweetie you can learn as much as you want, I’ll even buy you some books suitable for your age. Sports don’t matter much, though regular exercise is a must for keeping in shape.”

Mother just silently gives me an encouraging look.

“Woah, a wise princess template, huh?! Go for it, princess.”

And Theo just says well…. Theo things, completely ruining the mood.

We talk about how my first day at kindergarten went until dark, then we pack up and head home.

I fall asleep on the way home, happy with how the day went.

I will become strong enough to protect them from anything in the future, I promise.