In this Second Chance at Life, where I can see skills as clear as day, everything feels like a breeze. And to make it even better, I’m spending my days joyfully with my First Love. - Chapter 42

Ichika Kobayashi starts her mornings early.

Washing laundry and cleaning are tasks she can complete in less than a second using magic, a perk of her Witch profession that she acquired on the first day of summer vacation. Even preparing a fairly luxurious breakfast—rice, grilled fish, and miso soup—takes no more than 30 minutes.

So, there’s really no need for her to wake up so early, but since Ichika tends to go to bed earlier than most, she usually gets up one or two hours before Yasushi does.

Her morning routine begins with spending an hour quietly gazing at Yasushi’s sleeping face.

To be precise, she first brushes her teeth, washes her face, gets dressed, and tidies herself up. After all, as a girl entering the room of someone she likes, she makes sure to look her best—it’s something she feels she has to do.

For Ichika, this hour of quietly admiring Yasushi’s peaceful sleeping face is pure bliss.

Yasushi was never one to sleep in late. In fact, he used to wake up early for morning runs, keeping to a disciplined lifestyle of going to bed early and rising early.

But ever since transferring to this school and dealing with the changes in his life, his daily rhythm has become irregular, and now he struggles to wake up in the morning.

To be honest, Ichika finds this “morning Yasushi” incredibly convenient.

When he’s awake, Yasushi is always focused—training, studying, or doing battle simulations. Ichika admires him during those moments too. But there’s something irresistibly cute about the way Yasushi looks when he’s fast asleep.

It’s not that Ichika has a thing for younger boys. She doesn’t. But the contrast between Yasushi’s usual demeanor and his defenseless, peaceful sleeping face tugs at her maternal instincts.

And then there’s the joy of waking him up. Half-asleep, Yasushi can be surprisingly clingy and sweet in those moments, which, for Ichika, feels like a little reward.

Middle school life is truly wonderful. Youthful skin and an abundance of energy mean there’s no need for makeup, and simply brushing her hair is enough to make her presentable. The free time she has is one of childhood’s greatest privileges.

About 30 minutes into her morning ritual of enjoying Yasushi’s sleeping face, Ichika decided it was time to prepare breakfast. As she moved to stand, their eyes suddenly met.

(Huh? Why is he awake? He’s usually still asleep at this time… Oh, wait. Yesterday he came home early and went to bed earlier than usual…)

That must be it—he’d gotten enough sleep.

Even with her Keen Insight ability, Ichika’s memory wasn’t infallible, and she had completely forgotten about yesterday’s early bedtime.

She felt her cheeks burn as they flushed bright red.

“G-good morning…” she stammered.

“…Y-yeah. Good morning. What do you want for breakfast?”

Since I didn’t have to attend boring gym or skill exploration classes anymore, I went to bed early last night, feeling surprisingly refreshed when I woke up. I thought I’d make breakfast for Ichika for a change, to give her a break.

But as I opened my eyes, I found myself locking gazes with her.

Ichika, who had been staring at me, suddenly widened her eyes in surprise, and her ears and cheeks flushed bright red.

A quick glance at the clock on the wall told me it was around 6:30. I usually aim to wake up at 7:30, which still leaves plenty of time to get ready and head to school. I’d assumed Ichika would still be asleep at this hour.

“G-good morning…” she stammered.

“…Y-yeah. Good morning,” I replied.

Wait… was she watching me sleep?

It didn’t seem like she was here to wake me up. I always make sure to put out the laundry the night before, so there’s no reason for her to be in my room.

And yet, the moment I woke up, our eyes met. Her face and ears were bright red.

Am I overthinking this? Or… has she been watching me sleep?

Was it just today? Or… has this been happening every day?

If that’s the case, it’s embarrassing… but it makes me really happy.

I like Ichika. Even if she doesn’t like me back, I plan to keep liking her. But if she does like me, it would make me incredibly happy.

“I’ll make breakfast today,” I said, springing out of bed.

Leaving Ichika frozen in place, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, I began getting ready to cook.

Of course, I didn’t ask her anything as awkward as, “Why were you watching me?” However, with her Keen Insight, she probably already knew exactly what I was thinking. When she ate the breakfast I made, she looked slightly frustrated.

Even that expression of hers was incredibly cute. Period.

And so, time passed, and winter break arrived.

Since my family home is less than a minute’s run away, I went back for the holidays.

That said, I’d already been visiting home frequently on weekends since it’s so close. Both Ichika’s parents and my own are aware that we live together in the dorms, so there were no major issues with me coming and going.

During winter break, I spent my time as usual—going for runs, wrestling with my clones in the dungeon I’d packed into my item box, and doing all sorts of training.

Speaking of wrestling, lately I’ve been trying to replicate judo and aikido techniques by watching videos and reading books.

I haven’t unlocked any skills like Jujutsu or Aikido, though. I think I’ve been pulling off the moves pretty cleanly, but maybe there are specific conditions I need to meet?

Pondering this, winter break came to an end, and the third term began.

Monday, January 7th.

When I arrived at school for the opening ceremony, I noticed something odd—there were noticeably fewer students in every class.

Even in the special class, three seats were now empty.

As I wondered why, Ichika explained, “It seems they sent back students who didn’t seem as promising as expected to their original schools.”

Incidentally, the ones who left our class were mostly What’s-His-Name and his group.

Apparently, they transferred to a vocational school in another prefecture.

Koumei provided this information, but seriously, where do Ichika and Koumei even get this kind of intel?

In any case, it seems this school’s nature as a “program to select and nurture students with promising professions” leads to a lot of turnover.

Not that it affects me, Ichika, Koumei, or the other students in the special class. The case with What’s-His-Name and his group seems to have been a bit more complicated anyway.

And so, starting in January, the three empty seats in our class would soon be filled by transfer students.