If one day I truly had to disappear from the surface for a while, I wouldn't lack anything.
That constant busyness made time pass almost unnoticed.
Day after day slipped by, filled with work that almost never stopped. Testing equipment, reinforcing barriers, making sure everything functioned exactly as it should.
And before I fully realized it, a year had already passed.
The calendar had turned once again.
Now the year had reached 2001.
I stood for a moment outside the building, looking up at the evening sky that was slowly darkening. A cool breeze drifted gently through the air, carrying a quiet atmosphere I had rarely felt during the busy months before this.
It had been quite a long time since the moment I first opened my eyes in the body of an orphan living in this orphanage.
Many things had changed since then.
Yet there was one thing that remained the same.
I was still alive.
And so far, I had managed to adapt fairly well to this chaotic world.
...
...
...
This year had finally arrived—my first year in elementary school. The small uniform I wore felt somewhat strange on my body. Not because the size didn't fit, but because of my own awareness. It felt like wearing something I should have left behind a long time ago.
As I stepped through the school gate as a new student, Shizuka and Rika were already in their final year. They were now sitting in the sixth grade, the highest grade in this elementary school. Before long, they would leave this place and move on to the next stage.
Thinking about it felt a little amusing.
I had just begun my first step here, while they were already standing near the finish line. The difference in timing was clear, as if we were walking along the same road but starting from different points.
When I first entered the school grounds, a thought briefly crossed my mind. Considering that this world was a chaotic Crossover world where many storylines were mixed together, it was possible that I might encounter some characters from other anime who should also exist in this world.
Small changes in the timeline could easily cause many things to differ from what I remembered. If that were the case, it wouldn't be impossible for various characters from different worlds to end up attending the same school.
At the very least, that possibility had made me a little curious.
However, the reality was far more ordinary than I had imagined.
There were no faces that felt familiar. No names that triggered memories from my previous life. All I saw were ordinary children—with brightly colored backpacks that looked almost too large for their small bodies, and lively voices filling the schoolyard since morning.
Some ran around chasing their friends, while others gathered together chatting with excited expressions. It was the typical noisy and innocent atmosphere of an elementary school.
There was nothing special.
Perhaps it was because Akiruno was only a small town. A place like this certainly wouldn't be the center of attention for many important figures from various worlds.
Or perhaps not every major character would coincidentally gather in one place.
Whatever the reason, the result remained the same.
My first year in elementary school… felt boring.
For someone who had already lived once, died, and then awakened again in the body of a small child in this chaotic world, sitting in an elementary school classroom again felt like replaying an old cassette that had already been played far too many times.
Basic mathematics, reading, writing, and various other simple lessons were nothing new to me. I had already understood all of them long before I even stepped into this classroom.
But I still had to follow the flow.
I pretended to study like the other students. Opening textbooks, writing in notebooks, and answering the teacher's questions at a pace I deliberately slowed down so I wouldn't appear too suspicious.
Sometimes I answered correctly, sometimes I deliberately appeared a little slow.
Even so, because I often looked lazy in class, several teachers had reprimanded me more than once. They thought I wasn't paying attention to the lessons.
But every time exams came, the result was always the same.
The scores I received were almost always near the top.
In the end, the teachers could only sigh. They couldn't really scold me as long as I didn't cause trouble in class.
As long as my grades remained good and I didn't disturb other students, they chose to leave me alone.
My routine continued as usual.
Every morning I always woke up earlier than the other children in the orphanage. When the sky was still pale and the morning air of Akiruno felt cold and slightly damp, I had already begun training.
Push-ups, sit-ups, squat jumps, and then finishing with a run around the area surrounding the orphanage.
This small body still needed to be tempered.
Having potential alone was not enough. Without discipline, all of it would only become something useless.
After finishing my training, I returned to the orphanage. I took a quick shower, then put on the school uniform I had prepared since the night before.
After that, I had breakfast with the other children at the orphanage as usual.
I kept my behavior natural. Occasionally joking, speaking only when necessary, and making sure no one saw the other side of who I truly was.
In their eyes, I was just an ordinary child.
And that was exactly how it should be.
After school ended, I never stayed there for long. I went straight back to the orphanage like any other student.
Only after that did I head toward our temporary base located around Akiruno together with Shizuka and Rika.
Even though we were in the same school, the difference in our ages placed us in different classes and grades.
Because of that, while we were at school, we deliberately kept our distance.
We didn't talk too often in front of others. We didn't walk together for too long.
All of that was to avoid attracting attention from anyone.
Meanwhile, ever since Mei Mei received the Ten Gates Gauntlet I had given her, the frequency of her appearances began to change. If previously Mei Mei only came at the end of the month according to our original agreement, now Mei Mei appeared far more often than I had expected.
The agreement itself was actually quite simple. Mei Mei helped with several matters we needed, and in return Mei Mei received benefits that were worth it. At first, everything went according to the deal.
However, after the Ten Gates Gauntlet was in her hands, the situation slowly changed.
With that tool, Mei Mei's mobility increased significantly. Mei Mei was no longer bound by the limitations that had previously slowed her movements. Now Mei Mei could move from one place to another with far greater flexibility.
As a result, Mei Mei began to appear whenever she wanted.
Sometimes I didn't even realize Mei Mei had arrived until I opened the door of the base when I got there, only to find Mei Mei already standing inside with that familiar faint smile.
A smile that always looked as if Mei Mei was bringing something.
Whether it was good news… or a new business opportunity that Mei Mei considered too interesting to pass up.
Even so, I didn't really mind this change.
On the contrary, the more often Mei Mei was around us, the easier it became for us to coordinate. Some things that previously had to wait until the end of the month could now be discussed sooner.
For someone like Mei Mei, who was always thinking about profit, her more frequent presence also meant more possibilities that could be taken advantage of.
Amid this routine that seemed to run normally, my own mind was never truly at ease.
There were many other things that continued to spin inside my head.
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