In the end, this recess ended with just holding hands and taking a walk. Han… he doesn’t have stamina, but I have even less. We had no choice but to walk around the garden, and I had him teach me the names of flowers.
But I wonder why… The teachers were looking at us with strangely warm eyes.
The next period was English. The language of the British and Americans! …Eh? Modern kindergartens teach English? And why don’t I remember it even though I have memories of living until fifteen?
But well, even if it’s the famous Takamine Academy Affiliated Kindergarten, surely the teacher just lines up blocks with ABCs written on them and rearranges simple words, right? I underestimated it. It was different.
Picture books written in English were prepared in front of us.
Can everyone read this? Can they understand English normally? While I was shuddering, the surrounding children split perfectly into two groups.
The children who seemed to be from ordinary families or raised selfishly didn’t even glance at the picture books and started playing. The teachers didn’t even warn the playing children; they left them completely alone.
Ah… I see. So that’s how it is.
We are being sifted through these daily behaviors. Makes sense.
Are they familiar with foreign languages from a young age? Do they understand what the teacher says? Are they not spoiled by those around them? It might be that they are judging the parents using the children as mirrors to see if they are decent people with character, not just people with money.
And as expected, the children who seemed “proper” were reading the English picture books normally and discussing their impressions.
“Yuzu-chan, this book is interesting.”
“Yeah…”
Now… did the “me” before my memory confusion read normally, or did I abandon it and play?
Well, no use worrying. For now, let’s try opening the picture book Han… that he recommended. Well, it is indeed in horizontal text… hmm?
“Yuzu-chan, is something wrong?”
“Nope.”
Huh? I can read it normally. No, I’m not exactly “reading” it.
Since I have memories of being fifteen, I know English words, but I wasn’t confident with full sentences. But now, I can read it. I don’t know why, but I can read it.
When I stare at the text, the meaning of the characters and the flow of the sentences becomes visible in a form I can understand. When I say it out loud as is, it flows out naturally as English.
Then…
“You, your English is very good.”
I was addressed by a voice with a slightly unusual intonation, but one that felt full of strong will.
It wasn’t Han… Hyamu-kun. When I turned toward the voice, a cute boy with eyes that were blue close to black, and tea-colored hair so light it looked blonde, was staring at me with eyes full of curiosity.
Oh? Isn’t that the child who was in the center of the sparkly group?
“Ah, it’s Kouki-kun.”
“Hi, Beautiful Prince Handsome.”
“…Guh.” (Twitch)
…I can’t get used to it at all. Maybe my soul is rejecting it. Because he called his “True Name” normally with a smile like a storybook prince, my cheek twitched involuntarily.
Leaving that aside, if he is his friend, is he a child from a reasonably good family?
Does he have foreign blood? Behind the cute-looking Kouki-kun, a group of young lady-like girls holding picture books were following in a drove.
…You are being possessed. It seems he is a prince-type character, just as he looks. Several girls were shooting glances mixed with jealousy at me. Oh my, how cute. …I thought, staring at them with a smile, but they averted their eyes. Why!?
“You are… the child from the Togaki family… right?”
“…Yeah.”
For some reason, he knew about me too. I don’t seem to have been his friend, but maybe he heard about me from Han… or his parents. It might be related to Father’s work, so I should stay quiet.
“Hmmm…”
Kouki-kun peers into my face with a faint smile. Close, too close! Even if you are a beautiful boy, you’re too close, and the girls behind you are making a fuss!
“Did your impression change? Before, you used to be over there during English time, right?”
Saying that, Kouki-kun indicated with just his gaze the children who were not reading English books and playing as they pleased.
Apparently, the previous me was in that group over there. That’s fine, but by “impression” changing, does he mean my appearance? My personality? Or… my “power”?
“”…………””
We smiled at each other in silence. …Are we really five or six? You’re kidding, right? Upper-class children are amazing. Not that I can talk…
But, suddenly to us—
“Kouki-kun! Yuzu-chan!”
Han… Hyamu-kun suddenly raised a loud voice, grabbed my hand with both of his, and pulled me slightly towards him. I was surprised, but Kouki-kun was even more surprised.
“Beautiful Prince Handsome, you can raise a loud voice too! Yeah, that’s better!”
Kouki-kun looks at him holding my hand and me with a beaming smile.
“Um, Yuzu-chan? You are close with Beautiful Prince Handsome, aren’t you?”
“Y-yeah. Han (twitch) …Sam-kun is my friend.”
I stuttered again. The reason I can’t call his name honestly is because this feeling is surely… “weird.”
“Yuzu-chan calls you Sam? That’s nice! Can I call you Sam too?”
“Eh…? Yeah, sure?”
He affirms Kouki-kun’s words without really understanding.
“W-wait a minute!”
Sam!? What is that American-like nickname!? I don’t know if he has no interest in his own name or if he has given up, but for a pure Japanese person, that nickname is “painful” (cringe)!!
“What’s wrong? Yuzu-chan.”
“N-nothing!”
Kouki-kun and he turn around looking puzzled because I suddenly raised my voice and interrupted the conversation.
I stopped it instinctively, but what should I do!? Think, me! If I lose here, not only will I have to call him by a painful name forever, but I will also bear the heavy sin of naming him that!
“I was thinking… maybe [Ouji]-kun (Prince-kun) is easier to say…”
A new nickname with absolutely no twist spills from my mouth on the spur of the moment.
Because I had no choice! I can’t come up with names instantly! No, maybe Sam is fine since it’s a normal name overseas? No, no, it’s hard for me. The name “Prince” is also tough if the person doesn’t look like a prince, but fortunately, although he is chubby, he has a cute face, so if he loses weight, it will be barely acceptable! It’s at the limit of my mental durability, though!
“Really? I think Sam is easier to say…”
Kouki-kun looks slightly disappointed. Sure, that’s fine for you since you probably interact with foreigners a lot, but we are pure-born Japanese, so my heart hurts!
So, we discussed which was better.
“Either is fine, but I like Yuzu-chan’s idea better~.”
Finally, it was decided by that one word from the person himself.
He was holding my hand the whole time that was being decided, and if he’s fine with it, then I guess it’s okay?
But, thinking about it carefully, imagining him being called Prince [Ouji] next to Kouki-kun, who looks like a perfect “Prince,” made my stomach hurt just a little.
Thus, I, who had one foot in the commoner side, and Ouji-kun, who went back and forth between the middle and upper class, auspiciously (?) moved to the group Kouki-kun was in.
…Teacher, why are you taking notes?
If my “weird power” gets exposed because of this, it looks like it will cause trouble for Father… My peaceful life seems to be drifting further away.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
[Nikunoham] is a large meat processing manufacturer with annual sales of 800 billion yen, possessing branch offices and factories nationwide, several company-owned ranches and research institutes, about 2,000 employees, and over 15,000 across the group.
Nikunoham does not conduct all development and manufacturing in-house but partners with enthusiastic and skilled small and medium-sized enterprises, factories, and farms since the previous generation’s time to expand new businesses and sales routes.
There are over a thousand partner companies alone, but when it comes to those trustworthy enough to have been associated since the previous generation, the number narrows down to just a few.
Such companies are often involved in important projects that cannot be entrusted to enthusiasm and skill alone, necessitating a certain level of relationship regardless of the company’s size.
Biouji Hansam, the eldest son of a two-generation household, is the child of the current company president and his wife, who had gone many years without being blessed with children. In their over-the-top excitement, the couple gave him that name.
If the previous generation couple who had retired to the chairmanship early or their siblings had been nearby, his naming might have been different, but there was a reason why that didn’t happen.
Because everyone in the Biouji family held heavy responsibilities, including the previous couple who were busy traveling overseas, there were no elders nearby to voice an opinion, so no one could stop them.
His younger sister, Minako, was scheduled to be named Binasu when the parents went to register it at the city office, but the clerk who heard the reading persuaded them, and they came to their senses, narrowly avoiding disaster. However, even if they came to their senses now, it is difficult to rename him in his childhood when he has no self-awareness of it.
But Biouji Hansam himself has a gentle and carefree personality, and partly due to his age, he didn’t mind it yet.
Biouji Hansam was thought to be a quiet child by those around him.
Because of his name and body type, he was teased by children his age. Instead of fighting, he distanced himself from them, leading people to believe he had a quiet personality, but the root cause of his body type was stress.
The Biouji family are all plump, but they weren’t like that from the start. The cause of that body type was work stress because the previous president had a nature of always taste-testing new products himself. However, the compassionate members of the Biouji family couldn’t let the father do that alone, and as they joined him in tasting many times, they acquired their current physiques.
However, that is what raised Nikunoham, which boasts a homestyle taste, into one of the world’s leading large companies.
But success easily invites jealousy from peers in the same industry, and even at parties, relentless words of ridicule and stares were directed at the still-young Biouji Hansam.
Due to that stress, he began to overeat even more, and when he started secretly bringing tasting food from home to kindergarten, he was teased even further.
The reason Biouji Hansam has few friends is that being teased is also stressful. Therefore, he only interacted with friends from prestigious families like Kouki of the Kuon family, or those with family connections.
Among those few friends was Yuzu, the daughter of Togaki Trading, which had been a partner since the previous generation.
She also had a carefree personality, and being by her side, as she didn’t judge people by their names or appearance, gave Biouji Hansam a sense of peace.
However, that Yuzu also gradually drifted away from Biouji Hansam’s side.
Originally sickly and weak, she tended to lag in learning because of it. She couldn’t keep up with the high level of education at Takamine Academy and started playing only with children from ordinary families, leaving Biouji Hansam feeling lonely.
But… one day, Biouji Hansam heard from his father that Yuzu had developed a high fever and suffered memory confusion.
Biouji Hansam’s father and Yuzu’s father were friends from university days, and they had rejoiced together that their firstborn Biouji Hansam and the youngest daughter Yuzu were born in the same year. Biouji Hansam and Yuzu had played together since they were babies.
That Yuzu had memory confusion. He was told the situation wasn’t that terrible, but when Biouji Hansam thought about Yuzu possibly forgetting him, he felt his chest tighten.
Two weeks later, seeing Yuzu come to school looking energetic, Biouji Hansam felt relieved. At the same time, perhaps because he hadn’t seen her face in a long time, she looked cuter than before, and he felt his heart race.
Is it because of the memory confusion? Yuzu was a little different than before.
Although she was the same carefree Yuzu, she began to push her own opinions and thoughts forward. She took the hand of the withdrawn Biouji Hansam and taught him that the outside world is bright.
Connecting with others and the outside world, which had been so scary, wasn’t scary as long as he was holding hands with Yuzu.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’m going to play with Yuzu-chan again.”
Several days passed since then. Seeing their son, who had recently become bright and positive, happily talking about a single girl every day, the plump parents were overjoyed. They looked at each other, smiled, and quietly nodded.
TLNOTE:
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