“Hmm…”
Last night, I went to the department store with Bora and Haru. There, I bought some new dinosaur pajamas and Little Magician Lumi’s goods.
But when I woke up today, I thought all of this was childish. Just yesterday, I was so happy to buy these things…
Maybe it’s because I’ve grown up, but looking at these toys that only make me laugh now, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of self-loathing.
Why did I ever put so much importance on these toys? My past self seems so incomprehensible now. I got up and found a cardboard box. I started putting in all the things I now thought were childish, like Lumi’s figurines and magic wand.
I wanted to put in the dinosaur pajamas and dolls too, but there wasn’t enough space. I decided to throw away the rest tomorrow and just get rid of this box first. Just looking at these things reminded me of my past self, and I wanted to get rid of them quickly.
The room was once filled with Lumi, but now that she was gone, I felt a sense of peace. I picked up the box and walked to the office. My feet had grown, so I had to wear slippers instead of my usual shoes.
“Hana…?”
Haru was in the office, looking at something. When I appeared, she quickly closed her laptop, probably goofing off again. But now that I’m an adult, I could forgive her.
“Haru, can you throw this away for me?”
I showed her the box. These were things I was now too embarrassed to use. Remembering my embarrassing past of waving a magic wand and jumping around on the bed, I really wanted to get rid of them.
But Haru seemed to have other thoughts. She took out the items one by one, tilting her head.
“Didn’t you beg me to buy these for you? This! Yesterday at the department store, you grabbed my clothes and begged me to buy them.”
Ah!
Bringing up my embarrassing past. I felt my face turning red and shook my head vigorously.
“I must have been mistaken back then!”
“Really…?”
Haru seemed not to understand my behavior. I wanted to tell her that I’m a proper adult now, but she still sees me as a little kid.
“Haru, I’m an adult now, an adult! I need to graduate from these childish toys.”
“Is that so…? But are you sure you won’t regret it, Hana?”
Haru asked if I would regret it. Of course, I wouldn’t regret it. Even though these were limited edition goods, I couldn’t imagine myself waving them around anymore. I graduated from these toys after yesterday.
“Yes! I’m absolutely sure I won’t regret it!”
When I spoke firmly, Haru took the box without further comment. I could have secretly thrown them away in the backyard of the research institute without her permission, but these items were too noticeable.
Since I was the only one at the institute who liked Lumi, if these were thrown away, it would be obvious that I did it. So, getting permission made me feel better.
Haru looked at the box with a doubtful expression.
“But… the garbage truck is coming today, are you really sure?”
Haru, really, she treats me like such a child. Since she kept asking, I spoke decisively.
“Yes, of course.”
I said with a confident expression. I would absolutely not regret it. Because I’m an adult now.
——————————————–
Back in my room, I turned on my computer. I felt like I would do well in games today. My mind was sharp, and I felt like I had finally found my true self.
[‘Hanaboraharu’ has started streaming!]
As soon as I started the stream, familiar viewers joined. In less than 10 minutes, 40 viewers had already joined.
[Today, I’m really going to carry. I’m aiming for Grandmaster.]
– Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go
– Aiming for Grandmaster – [Currently Master 100 points]
– Let’s leave the jungle to Grandmaster, it looks tough
– Let’s gooooooo
“Sigh…”
Today, I was really different. It was time to show my changed self to the viewers. I confidently queued up. I hid the queue screen in case of snipers.
And a few tens of minutes later…
[Victory]
– You’re amazing
– Today is really different? Your objective control is insane
– Your brain skills are so sexy, it was a challenger-level decision
“Hehe.”
I couldn’t hide my smugness. Today, I felt something different. I was making great decisions that I could never have made before. It felt like a limit in my brain had been lifted.
Today, I won 10 matches and only lost 1.
Having a 90% win rate at this tier made my heart race since it was my first time experiencing it. Just a little more, and I could really hit Grandmaster.
[That’s it for today, bye-bye]
– Gonna spin the cube and go.
– Today, your physical skills are on point, but your judgment is legendary, right?
– LOLOLOL
The viewers, who usually tease me, seemed genuinely impressed today, leaving amazed comments. I was surprised myself, so I wonder how much more surprised my stream viewers were.
“Hana! Time for dinner!”
I turned off my computer at Haru’s voice calling from outside. Maybe because I didn’t get much sunlight at lunch, my stomach was growling.
“Coming!”
What’s for dinner tonight? Our company cafeteria makes a different menu every day, so satisfaction is high. I remember when I first joined, it was only pork cutlet… But I heard the research institute’s finances have improved, and they’ve been focusing more on employee welfare recently.
Thankfully. I put on my shoes and dashed towards Haru. Can’t resist delicious food!
——————————————-
“Ugh…”
I sat on the bed with a bloated expression. Haru was patting my back beside me.
“I knew it when you started eating a lot! Hana is Hana, after all.”
“Sniff…”
Tonight’s dinner was so delicious—hamburger steak—that I overdid it. I ate almost twice my usual amount. My old body used to feel full even if I didn’t eat much because it was small.
But now that my body has grown, I can eat a bit more, so I did, and this happened.
After a few dozen minutes of back patting, I started feeling better. Plus, gulping down cold water made my stomach feel lighter. Haru’s hands are truly magical.
“Feeling better now?”
“Yeah. Haru’s hands are magical.”
“Then sleep early~”
With that, Haru turned off the lights and left. It was 10 PM, so my eyes naturally felt heavy. Even with a bigger body, nights are hard to endure. I surrendered to the drowsiness and drifted off.
———
“Wake up!”
Another energetic day. I couldn’t control my lively body and shouted as I got up. Just yesterday, my condition wasn’t great, but now I felt invincible.
I got off the bed to wash up. But today, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It felt like nothing was covering my body. My clothes had grown too big and were slipping off.
“Huh?”
I realized the reason as I looked down at my body. I had returned to my old body. As soon as I confirmed it, I called Haru from the office. She’s the first person I’d call if something changed with my body.
“Hana?”
Haru opened the door, saw my shrunken self, and was startled.
“Put on some clothes! Clothes!”
Oops! I was naked now. The clothes I wore yesterday were all too big and had slipped off. The remnants were piled on the bed. Haru went to the room with my clothes and brought them over. It was a yellow hoodie that reminded me of a chick.
I entrusted my body to Haru’s hands. And a few minutes later, I became a yellow chick under Haru’s care.
“Ta-da!”
“Thank goodness Hana is back.”
Haru patted my head as she spoke. It seemed like my body growing was just a temporary phenomenon. But then, a memory flashed through my mind.
“Haru!”
“Yeah? What’s wrong, Hana?”
I couldn’t control my trembling body and spoke to Haru in fear.
“Did you throw away the box I gave you yesterday?”
“Yeah, you asked me to throw it away, right? I gave it to Bora to throw away.”
Hearing that, my world felt like it was crumbling. Those were the goods I had collected!!!
But since I was the one who asked to throw them away, I couldn’t blame anyone. It was entirely my fault.
“Waaah!!!”
I couldn’t help but collapse on the floor and cry. Thinking about not being able to see Lumi, whom I had collected stitch by stitch, made the tears unstoppable.
