A Warm Place

IV A New Morning

“Hinata~! If you’ve finished tidying up over there, can you give me a hand over here~?”

Hinata. That’s my name, given to me by my second mother after I reincarnated.

“Okay, okay— just wait a bit.”

I put off organizing the reference books and walk towards the room where the voice came from. There, I see my mother buried in a large heap of clothes. Ouh, what is she doing?

“What are you doing, Mom?”
“I accidentally kicked away the cardboard box where we kept our clothes, and I ended up like this. Can you help me?”
“What can I do with you…”
“Hinata, you’re so kind~ That’s my girl~”
“Sure, sure. Just move aside.”

I gather up the clothes that are scattered about, then I fold them carefully before storing them in the dresser one by one. While I’m folding the summer clothes, I spot one T-shirt with a cute character illustration from an anime that I know. Although, I’ve never seen this shirt before.

“……Mom, is this yours?”
“Oh my. I had bought that for you, but it went missing before I could hand it over.”
“…Ah! Speaking of which, you told me you wanted a new clothes, right, Saki? I’ll give this one to you.”
“I don’t want that embarrassing shirt.”

I show the clothes to Saki, my younger sister, but she openly refuses it with a frown on her face.

“Then, should Mom wear it instead?”

“”Don’t.””

Mother has a catastrophic fashion sense. That’s why we buy our own clothes instead of asking her. There was a time when I asked her to buy me a shirt, and she picked an aloha shirt or something. Looking at Mother who is wearing a bright, seven-colored underwear makes me sigh in secret.

“Oh, right. Hinata, there was a phone call earlier. Apparently, your uniform will arrive tomorrow. Can you retrieve it yourself?”
“So, my uniform’s ready.”
“And Saki’s uniform, too, while you’re at it.”
“Roger.”

This spring, Saki will be sitting in her second year of middle school, while I will become a sparkling new first year high schooler. After various deliberations, I took the entrance examination to the high school where I had enrolled before.

Since I already have the knowledge to reach the university level, it doesn’t really matter which school I pick. But in the end, I decided on that school because it is close to home. I have mixed feelings about attending the same school again, but it is hard for me to give up on the charm of being able to sleep in until the last minute. Although, I didn’t think that I would have to attend school again all the way from the beginning. It somewhat feels as if I am repeating my grades.

“I’m gonna have a new school life when spring break is over, huh~ I think I feel a bit anxious.”

I don’t feel that way because I am going to attend as a new student. But unlike me, my sister will be there as a transfer student. It might be a bit difficult to join the already existing class groups.

“You’ll be fine, Saki! You’re cute, so you’re going to be super popular!”
“No way. I just wanna be normal.”
“Saki has always been popular with both boys and girls, after all. That’s my girl!”
“Okay, okay. Help me tidy up these clothes, Mom. And Saki, if you’re free…”
“Oops, I haven’t finished tidying up my things, so I’m gonna pass!”