I’m Back in the First Grade of Elementary School, so I’m Going to Live Well

First Year, Sixth Year

Translated by AmaLynne
Edited by AmaLynne

―――With great enthusiasm, but the fun party has yet to begin.

Too long, prologue! You may think it’s too long, but please wait a little longer. In the next hour, the fun party will begin.

So please just wait a little longer.

…Who am I to make excuses? …Well, okay.

Anyway, now we’re talking about the second hour.

The second hour.

The first and sixth graders gathered in the multipurpose hall on the first floor.

This is the time of the fun party, the time of the “pairs”.

As I explained a while ago, first-graders and sixth graders, second graders and fifth graders, and third graders and fourth graders are supposed to form pairs for this event. The purpose of the party is to bring students from different grades together.

And as a first-grader, I’ll be paired with someone from the sixth grade.

…Oops, I’ve been a loner for 28 years, so there’s no way I could casually say “pair with me” with someone from a different grade. Phew, that’s too bad.

This pairing is based on a lottery system!

So there’s no need for me to summon up the courage to take action, all I have to do is draw lots and my pairing will be automatically and passively decided!

Oh, really, lottery is wonderful! I think they should introduce a lottery in every system in Japan!

By the way, to explain the lottery system, there are two lottery boxes, one for the sixth graders and one for the first graders, and the pair that matches the lottery numbers becomes the pair.

It is a very good system.

I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve been tortured by the words, “You can team up freely” (a death threat).

Well, thank you very much. I really appreciate the lottery. I think the word “lottery” should be read as “messiah” now.

I thought to myself, “I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I’m waiting for my turn to draw lots.”

The order of the lottery is based on the order of the first in line, so I stood at the end of the line, waiting leisurely, not really wanting to draw the lottery early.

Then, there it was,

“―――I hope we can be paired together. Sho-kun.”

A girl who still didn’t understand the pairing system came in line.

No, she does understand it. It’s just that she hasn’t accepted it.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Mizui-san.”

“Don’t worry, the power of love will take care of it.”

“The power of love is not a cure-all, you know!?”

Unlike the convenience of anime and manga, the power of love is not that potent.

…I’m not familiar with love. It wouldn’t be convincing if I said this. In fact, I’ve lived a life that’s far from romance and marital love.

I said, leading to emotional self-injury.

“Hey! Let’s form a pair!”

Not only did he not understand the pair system, but I doubt if he even understood the meaning of the word “pair”. In other words, my friend, Rinta, came over.

You’d better read the pamphlet for the fun party and the Japanese dictionary!

I said in my mind, a bit unreasonably bitter for a first-grader.

“Sunagawa-kun. Pairs are made up of two people, you know.”

“R-Really?”

Mizui-san taught the ignorant Rinta as if to admonish him.

“Yes, that’s right♪. The two people who like each other should be in pairs.”

Suddenly, Mizui-san wrapped her arms around me and said, emphasizing the words “two people who like each other”.

“Can you please not change the pair system without permission?”

“I’ll do something with the power of love.”

“No, you can’t!!”

I reject the “power of love invincibility theory” proposed by Mizui-san. This is because it is a theory that is incompatible with my theory of the “invincibility of lottery draws”.

―――The three of us were joking around together.

“It’s your turn, Itosaki-kun.”

Misato-sensei, holding a lottery box, told me.

Before I knew it, the line in front of me had disappeared, and the only people who hadn’t drawn lots were the three of us who had been joking around. The fact that some of them were already paired up showed that we were late to the party.

But there’s no need to be in such a hurry.

It’s not like there’s anything good about drawing early.

In fact, there is a saying that there is good fortune in leftovers. You might be able to get a better one if you draw it later.

I gently let go of Mizui-san, who was tangled in my arm, and headed for the lottery box.

Around me, pairs were steadily being made, and the number of people who hadn’t been paired was decreasing relatively.

I guess I’ll be able to find out who drew the same number as me soon.

Yes, yes. It was the right decision to draw it later.

Realizing once again that I had made the right decision, I put my hand into the lottery box.

There were only three cards left.

Without pondering, I quickly and intuitively draw the lottery ticket.

Let’s see… what’s the number?

The number “9” is written on the paper.

I’m pretty sure that 9 is not a lucky number because it contains a meaning like “suffer” and is avoided like 4?

…N-No, no, I’m thinking too much.

Just because things always happen behind my back doesn’t mean they will this time, too…… It should be……… maybe.

I have a bad feeling about this, but I look for the sixth-grader with the 9 lottery ticket.

As I looked around, a lottery ticket with the number 9 written on it, which was not mine, miraculously landed in front of me, fluttering in the air.

Apparently, the owner of the lottery had dropped it.

I picked up the lottery ticket on the ground and looked for a sixth-grader who might be looking for it.

By the time I was looking for it, most of them had already paired up.

All I had to do was find someone who was alone and didn’t have a lottery ticket in his or her hand.

―――The pairings are going really well, aren’t they?

No, not really. It’s not a bad thing. Yeah. It’s not a bad thing at all.

…But it seems like a flag.

I stare at the lottery ticket I picked up, wrinkling my brow.

9. Suffer. Suffering…. If it were an idiom, it would be anguish or hardship.

“……Implies. It’s not…… right?”

“Oh, um…”

The voice was so low that it seemed to fade into thin air.

It had the high-pitched tone of an elementary school student, but it was also the low voice of a boy.

I turned to look at the owner of the voice.

There was a boy who was two times bigger than me, a first-grader.

Physically, he is by far the bigger one.

Yet, I wondered why.

He looked awfully small.

Is it because he’s thin, or because he’s hunchbacked, or is it the negative atmosphere he wears?

Perhaps it’s his slender frame, or perhaps it’s the negative atmosphere he carries.

Since he approached me, I’m pretty sure he’s the owner of the lottery ticket with the number 9 written on it that I picked up.

But there’s always a chance. Just in case, I’d better check.

“Who dropped th―――”

“Hiiiiii!?”

He jumped up and down.

He was so scared that his whole body reacted to being called out by me, who was two times shorter than him.

…… ………… 

“I-I’m sorry!　I-I-I-I-II just, th-that, d-d-d-dropped the lottery…”

“Eh, ehh, so I just wanted to make sure it was―――”

“Hiiiiiii?!”

“Where is the scary part now!?”

The sudden scare caused me to shout out half-reflexively.

“Hiiii!? H-He shouted at me…! I-I’m scared!”

“No, no, no, I didn’t mean to scare you by yelling.”

“What!? He’s comforting me!”

“That’s enough!!”

“Hiiiii!? He shouted at me again…!”

“Ehh, what is this, an endless loop? Do I have to go through this process every time I yell?”

I crouched down and stared at him like a frightened big dog and was astonished.

Is this the guy who’s my pair?

This sixth-year boy who’s scared shitless of his first-year partner?

―――I thought the lottery system was a good idea.

This is a relatively good system for me because I have a hard time talking to people.

…But be that as it may, the pairing was something that was important to me.

It’s all about the prize.

I know I’m not a great person to be able to judge others, but I still wanted to be paired with a competent person.

However, when it comes to the lottery system, there is no room for my wishes to intervene. I could only hope to God.

Conscientiously and cruelly, the lottery is equal.

I want to have an easy time in the lottery, and I want to work with competent people. It’s a dilemma.

I should have known that I am not a lucky person to be able to take both sides.

So this was foreseen. By lottery numbers.

A future of suffering. Suffering and hardship. The beginning.

“……”

“Uuuu, I-I’m scared…”

…There is no such thing as good fortune for the rest of us.