Chapter 77: Why Are You So Sluggish?

“Ugh…”

My head feels like it’s splitting. My stomach is also upset…

When I open my eyes, what unfolds is an unfamiliar ceiling…but I roughly know where this is.

It must be Chalet’s duty room…yesterday, after that drinking party, my memory is cut off from a certain point.

…Well, it’s natural since I drank non-stop, giving in to Sensei’s provocation.

I feel lethargic…what is this…in my previous life, I definitely had the experience of drinking until I became a dog.

The headache and upset stomach caused by the hangover are understandable…but it’s the first time I’ve felt this lethargic…

It seems that this body is weak to hangovers, regardless of whether it is strong or weak against alcohol.

During the Millennium Festival…I just passed out, but I remember that this time it was a little different.

The last memory is that I was clinging to my sister a lot.

I’m a little sorry about this…no matter what our relationship is, it’s not a very pleasant experience for someone drunk to cling to you.

With a headache and a fatigue as if I had been on field duty all night, I drag my slightly staggering body and leave the duty room.

The first place I head to is, of course, the Chalet office.

I have a few belongings in the office, and even if I go back to Trinity, I should say hello to Sensei.

“Oh! You’re awake~ Sora-chan~”

“Sister is…so energetic…”

“Ahaha☆ Yeah! Thanks to Sensei’s consideration? I only drank the weak ones, so I was fine.”

As soon as I entered the office, I saw my sister and Sensei, who were moving documents from the morning.

Considering the previous weekday duty, it’s a much smaller amount of documents, so I think they’ll finish soon and have a drink with the other on-duty children as they said yesterday…

[You’re awake, haha…yesterday, in the end, I lost…]

“Fufu, with this, Sensei can’t challenge me to a drinking contest anymore…”

[That…you know that’s not something a student should say, right?]

“Ahem…that’s too much of a logical argument…”

“Ahaha☆ Sora-chan was refuted!”

The last memory left to me yesterday is the memory of clinging to my sister, and in that memory, Sensei eventually couldn’t keep his sanity and fell asleep,

so it was proven that the drinking contest between Sensei and me ended in my victory.

…Sensei refuted that with a logical argument, but anyway, I won…anyway…that’s right…

[Do you want to go buy breakfast together?…It’s a convenience store, though.]

“Ah, yes, let’s go.”

[I’m sorry, but Mika, please watch over here for a while. It’s almost time for the other on-duty student to arrive.]

“Yeah! Sora-chan! A sandwich for me!”

“Yes, sister.”

As soon as Sensei put down the pile of documents on the table, he invited me to breakfast.

Of course, like Sensei, he said to just make do with a convenience store, and I wanted to say something about it, but more than that, I didn’t feel like I could cook anything with this unresolvable fatigue, so I ended up following Sensei.

“Hmm…”

[What are you worrying about?]

“Sandwiches.”

As soon as I entered the convenience store, the place I took was the corner where sandwiches were displayed.

It’s not that I’m trying to choose a sandwich, but I’m prioritizing my sister over myself, so the first place I took was the sandwich corner.

I can confidently say that I know my sister’s tastes when it comes to preferences, desserts, and snacks, but I can’t match that taste as a meal, so I was in the middle of worrying about what to choose.

[Sora, can you help me for a moment?]

“…?”

Suddenly, I hear Sensei’s call. I wonder what kind of help I need at a convenience store, so I move to the place where I heard Sensei’s voice with a question in my mind.

“Yes! Sensei! I’m coming!”

“What is it…what do you need my help for at a convenience store…”

“Eh?”

“…?”

Did I mishear? I’m sure Sensei called my name…

Sensei was choosing drinks, and as soon as I moved to the beverage corner, I met not Sensei, but a part-time worker at this convenience store who looked like a middle school student.

With blonde hair pulled back, I had met this child once or twice during duty since she is a part-time worker at a convenience store near the Chalet building, but it was the first time I had met her like this.

Judging from that child’s reaction, it’s clear that one of us misheard or there is some other reason.

[Ah…that’s right…]

And well…it was the latter.

Sensei lightly told me that this child and I have the same name, Sora…well, it passed as a light happening.

“Sigh…I’m tired…”

“It’s finally over…”

After buying breakfast at Chalet, I and my sister got on the vehicle to return.

We couldn’t borrow the power of Trinity’s transport department on weekends, so it was just public transportation, but it was a weekend morning at an ambiguous time, so there were no people,

and the inside of the bus was quiet because there were only the silent driver and us.

“That…um…um…I’m sorry…?”

“Huh? Why are you apologizing?”

Yesterday’s misbehavior, it’s me who told her to restrain herself, but I gave in to the provocation, drank a lot, and got properly drunk.

Moreover, unlike the previous drinking habits, I clung to my sister a lot and bothered her.

No matter what kind of relationship we have, it’s not a very pleasant experience.

“That…um…didn’t I…bother you a lot…? Me?”

“Ahaha☆ What, are you apologizing for just that? It’s so funny!”

Fortunately, it seems that my sister wasn’t the type to care about that.

“Hehe…actually…it was rather good? Yeah! It’s a bit embarrassing to say it directly in front of you, but Sora-chan, you don’t do that at all, so it was a new experience!”

She wrapped it up as if it was rather good…the fact that my sister said that such an act was good to her was lovely, and this situation where she said that again is trying to make me blush again.

Calm down…calm down…aren’t you used to this level by now…?

I was in the middle of trying to calm down by repeating that to myself.

“And that…um…um…so…yeah…no! It’s nothing after all!”

“…? Yes…? Wait..did something happen?!”

Suddenly, my sister seemed to be recalling yesterday’s events, and it seemed like something that couldn’t be said happened during my memory loss, and she couldn’t continue talking with a red face, and in the end, she cut off her words.

It’s the first time I’ve seen my sister like this.

My sister, who always rushed at me head-on, so this appearance was impossible to find in normal times, and that’s why such a sister showing this appearance was directly connected to the fact that there was something I didn’t know.

“That…I can’t say it!”

“No! I’m more curious now, uaaak!”

A bomb called my sister, which exploded while I was barely calming down, in the end…I couldn’t calm down, and for the reason that I don’t know the reason, I blushed and my face turned red.

…It’s a good thing there’s no one on the bus…

“Ugh…it’s good to spend more time in this state…yeah…that’s right…I’m tired…”

“Then shall I see you off?”

After changing buses and trains, we crossed from D.U., where Chalet is located, to Trinity, so it was lunchtime when we finally arrived at Trinity.

If it were a normal duty, I wouldn’t have wasted two days like this, but I ended up spending a night at Chalet due to yesterday’s drunken rampage, and in the end, the weekend was evaporated.

It’s a shame, but in other words, I spent two days with my sister, so it’s good…no, that’s not it….

“Ahaha☆ Good!….I want to say, but I’m sorry. I actually have something to do nearby…yeah, I’m sorry you were thoughtful! I’ll go in a hurry!”

“Ah, yes, good work.”

I watch my sister’s back, who is running in a hurry, far away, and leave when that figure disappears from my eyes.

A feeling of regret and a thought that it can’t be helped pass through my head, and I move my body.

“Really…I blew the whole weekend…well…yeah, that’s what a drinking party is like…”

Come to think of it, considering that when I had a drink with my friend in my previous life, I woke up at my friend’s house, which was relatively close to the bar, it’s a familiar day if it’s a familiar day.

However, it’s a bit of a disconnect that that familiarity is the same kind of strange experience as seeing a scene from a movie happen in reality.

It’s an experience that I often felt right after the memories of my middle school days, the memories of my previous life, came to mind…perhaps the reason is that I drank twice in a row and drank enough to blackout, unlike during the Millennium Festival.

Anyway, the lethargy is slowly disappearing from my body, and it’s a shame to lose the whole weekend that came, so I decide to visit a nearby park.

Unlike my previous life, I have come to be able to live with various margins in my present life.

That’s why I have a hobby, have my own goals and dreams, and yet I have come to be able to live while enjoying hobbies and walks.

As a result, the park was one of the places I often visited, and fortunately, there was one park with scenery that I thought I would draw later nearby, so I naturally moved there.

“…? Huh?”

A familiar voice mixed with various sounds…the sound of guitar and drums hits my ears.

And this voice is definitely familiar.

As expected…there are people gathered in a small hall in the center of the park.

I saw a familiar back in the crowd of people…ah, this playfulness is starting to rise.

“Huh…? Huh?”

“This way!”

“Ueeek?!”

Kazusa, I see her back, so I quietly approach her, put my hand on her right shoulder, and quickly turn to the left and surprise her.

“What…it was you…you weren’t seen all week…”

“Haha, I was a little busy, but this voice…”

“That’s right, it’s that guy.”

Yumeka, a familiar sight, there were people gathered like this at that time too.

At that time, I was with this friend next to me.

At that time, that child was at the very center of the crowd.

Many factors are the same as before.

But the most important thing is different.

Now that child…was smiling endlessly happily.

“Encore!”

“Encore!”

“I’m sorry! I’m busy, so I’ll go down~ Thank you!”

After some time, the song comes to an end.

She skillfully dealt with the many crowds shouting for an encore with all their might, and walked to where we were with the guitar still on…

“Ugh?!”

“Heok?!”

She tripped over the wire connected to the installed amplifier and guitar while walking.

Even if we have a halo properly attached, it won’t even leave a scratch, but the disconnect that comes from the memories of my previous life,

and the fact that that child is still a young child, made my body move before such thoughts could even arise.

“Are you okay?!”

“Hey…aren’t you overreacting…?”

“Huh? Sora-senpai also came? Hehe…was it worth listening to?”

A child who might have spent her whole life quietly and pale, without even blooming this much talent, is standing in front of me.

She gets up, shaking off the dirt from her clothes, which were soiled by falling with both legs.

The momentary disconnect disappeared like a ghost, and I returned to my usual daily life.

The doubts I had about myself disappear, and it is proven once again that what I have done was not meaningless.

That’s right…I’ve been living a meaningful life.