Starting Over as a Kindergartener to Fulfill My First Love! - Episode 2.3

Finally, the long-awaited summer vacation has arrived.

And today is Sunday…

Even during summer vacation, if it’s a weekday, there is a possibility that Tsune-chan is at kindergarten.

But I figured there’s no way she’d go to kindergarten on a Sunday.

I also took measures so that my mom wouldn’t get suspicious.

Today, I told my friend Kenichi Takayama that I would be going to his house to hang out since this morning. Of course, I had already asked Takayama about today.

The other day, when I explained the same thing I told Kotozuki to Takayama, he casually replied, “It’s fine with me~.”

As always, Takayama is a carefree guy in both the “real world” and the “current world,” but I’ve been quite helped by his personality so far.

I am fully prepared, but that doesn’t mean I have no worries…

That means Tsune-chan might be out with friends and not at home.

It’s Sunday, so there’s a high possibility.

I just made sure not to think about the fact that I was “out on a date with my boyfriend” here.

That possibility isn’t zero, but I don’t want to think about it…

Just thinking about it, just imagining it, makes me want to cry…

And now I am standing in front of the ticket counter at the station.

“The nearest station to Tsune-chan’s house was ‘Aoba Kita Station,’ right…? Huh? Oh!! I thought it was 150-yen one way, but it’s only 100 yen!? Oh! That’s right! Prices are low these days!! This is super lucky!!”

The adults nearby were looking at me with puzzled expressions as I, a first grader, was saying something that didn’t seem fitting for my age.

I came to my senses, felt a bit embarrassed, and my face turned slightly downward. Amidst this, I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

“Huh? Isn’t that you, Ryu-kun? What are you doing here?”

That familiar voice belonged to Shiho Kamata, who lives in the neighborhood.

I just met Shiho-san for the first time since coming to this world, and just like when I met “Mom” now, I couldn’t help but shout in my mind, “So young!” and “So beautiful!”

This Shiho-san is the person who will become Tsune-chan’s junior in the future and who informed “the real-world me” about Tsune-chan’s death.

She is about ten years older than me and is twenty years old this year.

I think I’m currently a second-year university student.

“Ah, Sh, Shiho-san… it’s, it’s nothing really…”

It was so sudden that I couldn’t come up with a proper response for Shiho-san.

“Shh, what do you mean by ‘Ms. Shiho’!? Seriously, you’re acting so formal!! You always call me ‘Sis Shiho,’ right!? Just because I startled you by calling out suddenly, there’s no way you’d get my name wrong!! And I don’t think there’s nothing going on… Were you trying to ride the train alone, Tak-kun? Right!? There’s no way that’s not it!!”

Shiho-san is the eldest daughter of a famous beautiful sister duo in the neighborhood, but she had a somewhat masculine personality and a few disappointing traits…

My “adult intuition” told me that saying the same things to this person as I did to Kotozuki and Takayama wouldn’t get through to them.

So, while hiding the fact that I liked Tsune-chan from Shiho-san, I explained that I wanted to meet Tsune-chan, who used to be the kindergarten teacher, and that I thought I would try going to her house alone once.

Then, Shiho-san smiled gently and said to me,

“Oh, I see… Even after graduating, former students come to visit at home… That teacher must be really lucky…”

“Eh, really? I wonder if Tsune-chan will be happy.”

“Of course!! They’ll definitely be happy!! If it were me, I’d be jumping for joy!!”

Thanks to Shiho-san’s words, I felt like the little bit of anxiety that remained had completely disappeared…

“Alright!!”

Suddenly, Shiho-san spoke with a determined expression.

“Huh? What’s with the ‘Alright’…?”

“I’ve decided. Actually, I’m planning to become a kindergarten teacher after I graduate from university!! So, from now on, I’m thinking of going with you, Tak-kun, to meet that ‘Tsune-chan’ person and get some advice from a ‘future senior’!!”

“Huh? Wha――――――t!?”

Since Shiho-san is the type of person who never bends once she makes a decision, I know from our decades of acquaintance that it’s pointless for someone like me to refuse…

So, I reluctantly decided to go to Tsune-chan’s house with Shiho-san.

Shiho-san even paid for my train fare… that was my only solace.

There will be countless opportunities to go alone from now on!!

Telling myself that, I boarded the train.