“Hmm hmm~”
I hummed a tune as I entered the room. Since it was evening, I took off my clothes and changed into my dinosaur pajamas. The dinosaur pajamas and I were one, so I never took them off when sleeping or in the morning. And these were glow-in-the-dark dinosaur pajamas, so my sparkling appearance in the dark was absolutely awesome. The glamour was incomparable to my previous dinosaur pajamas.
I wanted to take a photo. Of course, when I took a photo, only the glow-in-the-dark parts of the dinosaur pajamas showed up. My figure was hidden in the dark and didn’t get captured.
I ran over and turned on the TV. Just in time, “Little Magician Lumi” was starting. I started watching as if I was being sucked into the TV. Lumi was always right. My dream was to become Lumi.
Last time, my dream was to be an internet streamer, but dreams change in real-time, right? Just like how in elementary school, your dream might be to become a scientist or president, but as you grow older, you realize reality and your dream changes to becoming a civil servant or office worker. I was changing like that too.
“Yah! Transform!”
I picked up my magic wand and repeated the transformation line of Little Magician Lumi from the TV. Sadly, nothing happened even after shouting the transformation line. Lumi in the TV changed clothes and held a dazzling weapon, but…
“Hmm…”
I felt something and turned around to see Haru filming me with her phone. Embarrassed, I put the magic wand on the bed and ran over to Haru.
“Don’t film me, Haru!”
I clung to Haru’s leg like a cicada. Normally, I wouldn’t mind being filmed, but I didn’t want to be filmed while pretending to be Lumi. I had seen myself acting like a child before, and it was so embarrassing. In the phone, I looked just like a little kid.
“Hana is so cute, how can I not film you…”
Haru said regretfully and stopped filming. I sighed in relief. That was close.
“Huh?”
Haru slipped her hand under my armpit and lifted me up. My feet were dangling in the air. When I got high enough, I met Haru’s eyes. In her pupils, I could see my reflection in the dinosaur pajamas.
“Who do you take after to be this cute?”
Haru said and then rubbed her cheek against mine. If it were a guy, I would have felt the scratchy stubble, but Haru was a girl, so her skin felt soft.
Having skin contact with a beautiful woman wasn’t a bad thing for me. In fact, I liked it. After rubbing cheeks for a while, Haru seemed to come to her senses and put me down. Then she said:
“Hana, want to take a bath with me?”
Haru was really serious about taking a bath together. She took off her outerwear and changed into lighter clothes.
“Ah!”
It was 8 o’clock, an awkward time. And taking a bath with an adult woman? My face turned bright red. Of course, I really wanted to take a bath with her, but it felt too perverted, so I shouted:
“I… I can take a bath by myself, Haru!”
“Really? Can’t we take one together for old times’ sake?”
Haru’s words were tempting, but I shook my head vigorously. It was a desperate move.
“Hana is an adult now and can take a bath by herself!”
When I said it firmly, Haru looked disappointed and nodded. I gently took off my dinosaur pajamas and threw them on the bed. Then, wearing only my underwear, I went into the bathroom to take a bath.
“Let me know if you need help, Hana!”
I ignored Haru’s words from behind and picked up the showerhead. I wasn’t an ordinary kid, so I could take a bath by myself.
—————————————————————
“Haah~”
I stepped out of the steamy bathroom. I turned on the exhaust fan to ventilate, and the steam slowly dissipated. When I came out, Haru was sitting on the bed, her eyes shining as she waited.
“Ha~na~”
“Uh… yeah!”
“Come here. Let’s dry your hair!”
“Okay, Haru.”
Haru was just like a mom. She was like an aunt doting on her niece, overflowing with affection for me. Sometimes that affection felt a bit overwhelming. Of course, it wasn’t a bad thing. Being loved by someone is warm and feels good.
“Yah!”
I let out a shout and plopped myself onto Haru’s lap. Haru smiled brightly and turned on the hairdryer.
“Whoosh!”
The hot air from the hair dryer dried my hair strand by strand. The temperature of the air was just right, and it made me feel good. After drying my hair for a few minutes, I was finally able to escape from Haru’s embrace.
By the time I finished everything, it was already well past 9 o’clock. It was the most important time of the day. Haru put me down on the bed and then disappeared somewhere.
A few minutes later, Haru came into the room. In one hand, she held a box to put something in, and in the other, she held a pair of hair scissors. It was time to cut my hair.
“Hana, don’t move, okay?”
Haru carefully grabbed my hair and started cutting it with the scissors. She wasn’t shaving it all off. She slowly cut my hair, which reached down to my waist.
Snip snip.
I could hear the sound of my hair falling. Haru was doing her best, cutting my hair very slowly, as if she couldn’t let even a single strand escape. Still, it didn’t take too long.
“Haru, can’t we just cut my hair in the morning?”
Honestly, short hair was much more convenient for activities than long hair, so I told Haru my opinion. But Haru shook her head firmly, saying no.
“No! A girl’s hair should be long! And according to the Research Institute’s policy, we have to cut it before bed, so it’s going to be tough, Hana…”
“Really? Well, I guess there’s no choice then.”
Actually, since Haru and Bora took care of my hair, it wasn’t that inconvenient. Even if my hair reached down to my waist, tying it up in a ponytail didn’t really hinder my activities.
About 10 minutes later, I had short hair. Of course, when I woke up, I would have hair down to my waist again. It was a strange thing. It wasn’t like I was wearing extensions, but my hair would grow long again after I slept.
“Hana, you worked hard.”
Haru was handling the box containing my hair as if it were a treasure. Well, the value of my hair in that box must be worth billions, right? Losing it would be a disaster. Of course, there were reserves, so losing it once wouldn’t ruin everything.
“Haru, you worked hard today too!”
“Hana, you should go to bed when it’s time. If you stay up late watching TV, you won’t grow tall!”
“Gasp!”
At Haru’s words, I quickly pretended to sleep. I lay down on the bed and pulled the blanket up to my chin. Seeing me like this, Haru smiled contentedly. Then, looking at me, she backed away, turned off the light, and left the room. I perked up my ears.
The sound of Haru’s footsteps walking down the hallway grew fainter. I smiled victoriously. When I couldn’t hear Haru’s footsteps anymore, I quickly got up and turned on the TV. It was still too early to sleep. I had to make the most of tonight.
Little Magician Lumi wasn’t doing anything at this hour, so I thought I’d watch a movie I hadn’t seen in a while. Watching just one movie before bed would be just right, wouldn’t it?
To turn my room into a movie theater, I took out a bag of snacks I had hidden under the bed. Going to bed at 10? That was nonsense. I used to be a night owl, only going to sleep at dawn.
“Hmm…”
But not long after the movie started, I was overcome with sleepiness. I hadn’t even opened the snacks. It seemed this fragile body was demanding sleep. I could have had coffee or something cold to wake myself up, but the movie wasn’t that interesting anyway.
Losing interest in the movie, I turned off the TV and lay down on the bed. The fluffy blanket felt like heaven. A pleasant scent wafted up from the blanket.
It felt like I had spent today very productively. With the confidence that tomorrow would be just as productive, I drifted off to sleep.
Another ordinary day had passed like that.
