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

Start of Fun Party

Translated by AmaLynne
Edited by AmaLynne

AN: Fun Party. It’s called a 楽会た; のかい; rakkai; tanokai for short. ―――It’s a made-up word.

The animal introduction corner is about to begin~!

Now, here are the animals I’m going to introduce today!

“Uuu…” ¹

Well, well, well…? He’s hunkered down in the corner of the multipurpose hall on the first floor. He seems to be frightened!

―――This child is a male of the human family, age 12 years old. He is a very energetic and hearty young man♪.

But he seems to be in low spirits.

…That’s because he’s a very timid boy.

He’s probably anxious because of the unfamiliar environment of the fun party.

If that’s the case, be gentle with him and don’t provoke him!

“Th-There~. I-It’s not scary at all~.”

“Uuu…”

Oyaa? Someone is approaching him, isn’t it?

The one who is slowly approaching him with suspicious-looking behavior is another male member of the human family, 6 years old, Itosaki Sho!

It seems that Itosaki Sho is trying to force the frightened boy to join the fun party!

Why would he do such a terrible thing? The reason is very simple!

Itosaki Sho looks like he’s six years old, but inside he’s a 28-year-old man. He doesn’t have a regular job, he’s dumb, he’s athletically challenged, and he can’t communicate well with the other humans!

He is like a filthy beast filled with lust! Even now, he’s trying to use the cowardly boy for his own personal gain!

In other words, he’s a very bad boy with a very bad heart!

“Who’s a bad boy with a bad hearttttttttttttt!!”

“Hiiii?!”

I wonder if he can hear my narration. Itosaki Sho seems to be very angry.

Observe Itosaki Sho a little more, who makes a loud noise.

Hey, ah, wa, wait! Wh-What are you doing coming in here without permission? I’m in the middle of a recording… Hey, security! Hurry up and do something about this guy… aa, ahhh!

―――Oh, dangerous, dangerous. I almost lost my position as the “voice of my heart” to a narrator who didn’t make any sense…

I can’t just drop out at a place like this, can I?

―――After I managed to get my position back, let’s get down to business.

In the second period, we had to decide on pairs. The students with the same number were paired with each other by lottery, a system that was perfect for my communicative disorder.

However, my joy was short-lived. I can’t help but think that there is some kind of force at work here. Does my life always have to have a plus followed by a minus to make me feel better?

In other words―――I drew the wrong end of the stick.

I wonder how it is for a human being to be so judgmental about who is right and who is wrong, but I’ll get to those ethical questions later.

First of all, I had to somehow communicate with this unreliable-looking sixth grader.

That’s right, I have to communicate with him at all costs!

Because I want the textbook!

―――So I have to do my best, no matter how unreliable this sixth-grader is.

I’ll do my best to communicate with him, use combinations, and eventually win this fun party!

I’m sorry for him, but he’s going to have to help me whether he wants to or not…!

I’m the kind of person who takes advantage of everything that’s available!

With a wicked smile on my face, I nudged my way over to him. This, of course, frightens him even more.

The physical distance is getting closer, but the psychological distance is getting further and further away.

Umm~mmm. I can’t get him to open up to me…

The only thing I can do is to hold my head in my hands, and I’m in trouble.

A sixth-grade girl walked past me and looked down at the huddled man.

Her long hair is tied back in a bun, giving off a somewhat masculine vibe.

“Kyousuke!”

She calls out to him in exasperation.

“Oh, Sh-Shouko-chan.”

He also called her with a frightened look.

Then she slowly touched his cheek.

“What are you doing? You’re pathetic!”

“I-It hurds it hurds it hurds!”

She pulled his cheeks strongly to the left and right sides.

What was it, this feeling of déjà vu? No, more like déjà vu.

“You promised you’d be good in front of the first years!”

“I'm shory, I'm shory, I'm shoryyy!!”

Yes, I’ve experienced this before. Something like this.

In my mind’s eye, I could see the scene of my sister being violent with me.

He was flailing in pain, and she, who I couldn’t see because she had her back to me, looked like a demon. And me, stunned by it all.

What the hell is this…

I can’t keep up with the situation, and I’m left behind. I’m a party to this, though.

“Ah. I’m sorry, he’s no good.”

When she noticed my presence, she apologized on his behalf.

“Ha, haa.”

To be honest, what I want now is not an apology, but an explanation. Or an improvement in the situation, and all that.

But it’s a bit harsh to ask her to instantly understand that she’s still in elementary school.

“Err… what-kun?”

“Ah, it’s Itosaki. I’m Itosaki Sho.”

Physically, she is five years older than me. It may not be necessary to pay much attention to elementary school students, but I’ll use polite words just in case.

“I see. Itosaki-kun! That’s great that you can say your name!”

She laughed cheerfully and patted my head.

…Am I being licked? Is she made fun of me?

No, no, but is this the normal way to deal with first graders?

Also, she may think she’s stroking me gently, but it hurts a lot. It’s quite painful to have your brain gouged by her palm. Yes.

“Ah, I didn’t tell you my name. ―――I’m Taketsuka Shouko. And the no-good over here is Tajima Kyousuke.”

He was nodding off, and she, Taketsuka-san, tugged on his ear to force him to stand up.

“Y-You’re hurting me, Shouko-chan! D-Don’t pull my ear!”

“Get your head straight, then!!”

“Hiii!!”

I felt a little sorry for Tajima-kun.

However, it’s not like I can intervene, so I can only watch the exchange between the two of them like a spectator.

Tajima-kun and Taketsuka-san have completely created their own space, and I feel like I’m outside the mosquito net.

“They’re childhood friends.”

As I stunned watched their interaction in the background, Mizui-san stood beside me and told me so.

The distance between the two of them indeed makes it understandable that they are childhood friends.

―――Or rather.

“How did Mizui-san know about that?”

“Because Shouko-san is my partner.”

“…What a coincidence.”

“Fate? Do you think its fate?”

“I think not.”

Let me categorically deny it. Well, the odds are not impossible.

When there are a total of about 150 sixth graders and first graders, and the sixth graders and first graders are paired up, the probability of a coincidence like this happening right now is… ―――……Well, it’s not an impossible probability. Yeah.

No, it’s not that I couldn’t calculate it okay? It just didn’t come out quickly, but if I had thought about it a little more, I would have found the answer. Definitely.

“See, because of you, Itosaki-kun is in trouble!”

“B-Buttt…”

“Not but! You’re older than me, you have to be strong!”

“Uuu…”

“…I’m starting to feel like they’re more like father and son than childhood friends.”

My true feelings come out in my words.

“I think the two of them have a good relationship.”

Mizui-san replies to the monologue as if following the two of them. But she doesn’t deny it.

“Anyway, you better behave properly! You have to take care of Itosaki-kun by yourself during the fun party!”

“Fuee, that’s impossible―――”

“Don’t say “impossible”, say “yes”!”

“Ugh, y-yes…”

Tajima-kun was forced to shake his head half-heartedly.

―――Surprisingly, for a boy as timid and reserved as Tajima-kun, the forcefulness of Taketsuka-san may be just right. Otherwise, Tajima-kun seems to be unable to tackle any task.

However, I don’t think I can learn from her forcefulness.

“―――Then, I’m going to go, so you’d better do your best.”

“That’s imp―――”

“Aaa?”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

Tajima-kun swallowed his true feelings, perhaps sensing his own danger, and replied.

That’s a wise decision. It is better not to go against the type of person like Taketsuka-san. I’m sure it’s because I’m the one who’s been through the pain of defying my sister, who is the type of person like Taketsuka-san.

“Itosaki-kun. You can rely on him all the time, even though he is unreliable, timid, and useless in many ways.”

“Y-Yes.”

It’s hard to rely on him when he says so!

I swallowed my true feelings and nodded.

“See you later, Kyousuke, Itosaki-kun.”

“See you later, Sho-kun.”

After saying that, Taketsuka-san and Mizui-san left the place. I waved at them as they left.

I didn’t want them to go if I could help it…

“Uuu… I want to go home.”

―――Because the situation is going to backfire.

Taketsuka-san comes like a storm and leaves like a storm. In the end, there was no improvement in the situation or in Tajima-kun’s psychological state, and in fact, he seems to have become more depressed after her attack.

The scars left by the natural disaster seem to be deep…

I was so troubled that I could no longer do anything but stand there.

……No, no, no! I have my own reasons for not giving up!

I bobbed my head to the side and reconsidered.

Anyway, before the fun party starts, I’d like to communicate with Tajima-kun at least a little bit.

『 Pin pon pan pon 』

A moment later, the school’s announcement came on.

『 The fun party will now begin. 』