Chapter 4: I Became an Elementary School Student
Time passed as it would, and I became an elementary school student. I moved up properly from Takamine Academy’s affiliated kindergarten and will be attending the Elementary Division starting this year.
There weren’t really any special events during that time. Just one kidnapping incident and one traffic accident.
No, wait, why? Isn’t that probability way too high?
Other than that, since I always strive for impeccable conduct, there have been no problems at all.
In the autumn, I had my sixth birthday. Father gave me a plushie from a famous brand, Mother gave me a foreign picture book, Oba-niichan and Koto-chan gave me a beautiful brooch and a cute hairpin, and this year, my childhood friend Ouji-kun gave me—of all things—a pig. Specifically, an American Duroc.
The Duroc breed is a very high-quality pig known for its marbled meat.
[Buhi?]
Its round eyes are quite adorable, aren’t they?
“Father. Please process this at our factory.”
“Yuzu…”
Even if you look at me with those eyes, I have no intention of keeping a pig that exceeds three hundred kilograms!
So, things like that happened, but I became an elementary school student without any issues… wait? I feel like I have a memory of something terrible happening at the entrance ceremony, but surely it’s just my imagination.
Since I’m now an elementary student, I swept my grown-out bangs to the side and pinned them. Hmm, doesn’t it look very “refined young lady-like”? Koto-chan still requested twintails, but those are actually quite embarrassing.
Speaking of Koto-chan, she is now a third-year in the Middle Division, and Oba-niichan is a second-year in the High Division. Since Takamine Academy only goes up to high school, getting into university seems like it will be tough for Oba-niichan.
And regarding Koto-chan and Misa’s dad… Dad? Well, whatever. Regarding him and Koto-chan, things seem to be going quite smoothly.
At first, he didn’t trust the middle school girl who suddenly claimed to be a relative—especially since his own relatives hadn’t helped him. But as Misa grew attached to Koto-chan’s devotion, and as Koto-chan took care of various things while entering puberty and becoming increasingly beautiful, his heart seems to be wavering.
Koto-chan is beautiful and cute, so it can’t be helped. …Really though, Koto-chan can only love men who are hopeless without her care, or something like that, right?
Leaving Koto-chan’s proclivities aside, regarding my elementary school life: thanks to the class placement, I ended up in the same class as Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun.
…No, seriously, is this intentional?
I guess I should have expected it, but the group that could read picture books in English back in kindergarten ended up in the same class, while the kids in Kouki-kun’s entourage who couldn’t read English were placed in different classes.
Takamine Academy is a prep school, but its essence is catered to the children of the upper class. You cannot enroll without a certain pedigree, a certain level of academic ability, or a certain level of wealth and donations. There are children from general households, but they are kids with high academic ability who couldn’t be satisfied by ordinary schools.
For a general household that is merely “somewhat wealthy,” the burden of enrolling a child in Takamine from Kindergarten or Elementary is too great. So, for people who just want the [Takamine] brand, it is apparently common to enroll from the Middle Division. Though I hear some parents push themselves to the limit to have their kids take the exams earlier.
Therefore, the Elementary Division has very few classes—only four. Among them, there is only one “special” class that gathers children of particularly good lineage or exceptional talent. It is not a school you can enter just because you want to wear the cute uniform from elementary school.
Kouki-kun taught me this, but apparently, this “special” class is maintained through the Middle and High Divisions. The only ones who can receive the benefits of high society as [Takamine Graduates] are the graduates of this “special” class; students who enter from the Middle Division just for the brand are supposedly not eligible.
“…Kouki-kun, are you really seven years old this year?”
“No, I don’t want to hear that from you, Yuzu-chan.”
Well, true…
In other words, unless I cause a specific problem, I am stuck spending the next twelve years of elementary, middle, and high school with the same twenty or so people. …Did I make a mistake?
Given my family background and my actual ability, shouldn’t I be in the remaining three general classes? If I were truly upper class, my social circle would expand through clubs and lessons, so there wouldn’t be a problem, but for me?
“Yuzu-chan, what’s wrong~?”
“Just feeling like I made a mistake in my life choices.”
“…Yuzu-chan says difficult things sometimes, doesn’t she?”
The one speaking to me is [Ouji-kun (Tentative)].
Speaking of him recently, thanks to my hard work over the last year, his meat content has decreased by about 20% (personal comparison). Thanks to that, the current Ouji-kun has transformed from a metabolic toddler into a [slightly chubby, cute boy].
I… did my best! Since he had a cute face to begin with, now that he’s slimmed down a bit, girls in the class talk to him more often. But for some reason, he won’t leave my side.
Now that we’re in elementary school, bringing a cooler box (meat) is prohibited, so I thought my role was finished, but…
“Ah, Yuzu-chan. The school store is selling sausage bread (large bag).”
“Ah, let’s go to the schoolyard!”
“Eh, okay.”
While stopping him every time he tries to buy something (food) whenever he sees the school store or vending machines at Takamine Academy, staying together eventually became the norm.
“Yuzu-chan, you really work hard.”
Kouki-kun understands my struggle. Perhaps due to his high intelligence, he doesn’t seem to click with the elementary school girls in his entourage, so he started hanging out with me, someone not very child-like, quite often.
Since their parents knew each other, Kouki-kun was already friends with Ouji-kun, but by spending all this time together, it seems they’ve become best friends.
Best friends… As for me, because I’m constantly with the top two boys in the grade, the girls in the class are jealous, and I don’t have a single friend…
“Life just doesn’t go the way you want it to, does it?”
“…Yuzu-chan says difficult things sometimes, doesn’t she?”
However!
God did not abandon someone like me! Believe it or not, a girl from the class spoke to me! Thank you, God! …Hm? Is that an earthquake?
“Tougaki Yuzu-san, may I speak with you for a moment?”
“…………”
Why is this child glaring at me…? With ringlet curls that scream “Ojou-sama” and beautiful, slightly upturned eyes, she has quite an intense presence.
Even so, just like with Kouki-kun, the fact that “Beautiful” comes to mind before “Cute” for a first-grader… Upper-class blood is amazing.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
“Could I get an answer?”
“Eh… sure, but here?”
By the way, we are in the girls’ restroom. Naturally, even Ouji-kun didn’t follow me in here. …Though I feel like he might be waiting outside.
The girl was alone. I had thought I might be surrounded by a jealous group, so I was a little disappointed.
“Um… here is a bit…”
As expected of an Ojou-sama, she doesn’t intend to have a complicated discussion here. No matter how beautiful or expensive it is, it is a toilet.
As if composing herself, she fluffily swept up her beautifully curled drills, and looked down at me dexterously, despite being a six-year-old with a height not much different from mine.
“My name is Shijuuin Kako. I will be waiting for you at the Animal enclosure on the school grounds after school today.”
“Ah, yes.”
…First graders these days are amazing. (No self-awareness). She even taught me the kanji for her name; it’s vaguely confusing because it’s [Kako], not [Hanako].
Classes ended normally, I parted ways with Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun, and contacted my driver via my mobile device before heading to the Animal enclosure. I don’t know what the talk is about, but my only friend my age is Misa, so I’m a little excited.
The meeting place, the Animal enclosure, was located in a small forest within the vast Elementary Division grounds.
It doesn’t really matter, but the Animal enclosure was a glass-walled building with a concrete foundation, like something out of a zoo. Spending money on something like this—as expected of a rich school. But…
“…A clay stove?”
For some reason, I was bewildered by the “Shichirin” (portable clay cooking stove) placed beside the Animal enclosure. Eh… why? Did someone leave it here to throw it away? Please tell me that’s it.
When I peered through the glass into the Animal enclosure, there were about five rabbits. The rabbits that noticed me froze. …I wonder why? Just like that dog at the park, I don’t recall doing anything to be hated by animals.
“—Yuzu-san? You were already here?”
“Ah, Kako-san…”
The girls in class called each other by their first names for some reason, so when I inadvertently called her by her first name, her eyes widened slightly.
Is she not used to being called by her first name? Is she usually called “Sama” because she’s an Ojou-sama? No, that doesn’t matter. Why is she, with her Ojou-sama-style vertical ringlets, fully equipped in a “jersey and work gloves”?
TLNOTE:
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