[Hey hey hey, what are you doing? I'm not planning to buy this stuff.]
Saiki put the bear biscuits back on the shelf.
Shin-chan: "Ah! My bear biscuits!"
[They're not yours.]
"How can you be like that? I worked so hard to come here with Saiki-oniichan to help. This is my hard-earned fee."
[What exactly are you even talking about?]
"Ah, Action Kamen!"
Shin-chan pushed Saiki's cart and ran toward the toy section.
[Hey, wait up, that's my cart.]
"Action Kamen!"
Shin-chan had just grabbed the toy when Saiki picked him up and put the Action Kamen back in its original spot.
[You little rascal. Wait till you get home and ask your mom to buy it for you.]
"No way. Misa won't buy it for me. Flat chest, huge butt, giant belly, but she's so stingy."
[If your mom heard that, you'd be in for it.]
Shin-chan scratched his head: "I'm not that bad."
[So how does it end up sounding like I'm complimenting you no matter what I say?]
"Big brother, buy it for me, buy me the toy!"
"Umaru, behave…"
Saiki heard a familiar voice and looked over. A beautiful girl with black stockings, blonde hair, and pure white clothes was acting spoiled toward a young man.
Wasn't that Umaru?
The next second made Saiki's eyes widen. The little white figure shrank from a beautiful girl into a small child, and crucially, her clothes shrank along with her body, seriously violating the laws of physics and biology.
Saiki was shocked. (This… how is this possible? This isn't scientific…)
Umaru's brother had just set her down and warned her: "Umaru, Ebina's coming back soon. Stop messing around."
Umaru instantly turned back into the beautiful girl from before and looked around. No one seemed to have noticed.
That should have been the case, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a pink-haired figure.
"Brother, wait a sec. I have something to take care of."
Umaru dashed off in an instant.
Saiki immediately pushed the cart with one hand and held Shin-chan with the other, heading toward the back, but he was still blocked by a blonde figure. Saiki positioned Shin-chan in front of his face as a shield.
Shin-chan looked at the big sister in front of him and greeted politely: "Big sis, don't stare at me like that. Want to go eat bear biscuits with me?"
"Mm, no thanks."
Umaru looked at Saiki in front of her and said: "You're…"
[You've got the wrong person. I'm not Saiki Kusuo.]
Umaru: ...
Shin-chan, still dangling in midair, said helplessly: "Sigh, Saiki-oniichan, didn't you just say you were Saiki Kusuo? When did you change your name? When?"
...
Umaru grabbed both of Saiki's hands, pulled Shin-chan down, looked at Saiki's face, and said: "Saiki-shishou, you saw that just now."
Saiki put on a completely confused face.
[I didn't see anything. What happened?]
Doma Umaru: "Saiki-shishou, has anyone ever told you your acting is really bad?"
[You're so annoying.]
Umaru glanced at Saiki: "Why? Why is it always Saiki-shishou who sees me like this?"
[Anyway, let go of me first.]
"You're not going to run away, are you?"
[Of course not.]
Hearing Saiki say that, Umaru gripped even tighter: "Really? I don't believe you. You said you'd hang out with me last time, but you never came to find me. When I went to find you, you always ran away at school."
[You…]
People around them gradually gathered. A beautiful blonde girl was clinging tightly to a guy, refusing to let go. The aunties on the street started whispering among themselves.
"What's going on?"
"Are those two young people a couple?"
"Come come come, gather around, listen to me."
Shin-chan began whispering to the surrounding aunties: "I heard it's because of relationship issues. They felt they weren't compatible and started fighting, ma'am."
"Oh oh, I see."
"Young people these days…"
[You, get over here.]
Saiki grabbed Shin-chan by the collar and pulled him away from the crowd.
[Nohara Shinnosuke, you little…]
Shin-chan hid behind Umaru, scratching his head and acting cute: "Aw, sorry, Saiki-oniichan."
Umaru shielded Shin-chan: "Alright, Saiki-shishou, he's just a kid."
Saiki had no intention of paying attention to this kid anymore. He had already completely recognized who this person was. After all, his memories from before coming to this world were really sparse, and they only became clearer after arriving here. How could he possibly remember something from so long ago?
Saiki looked at Umaru.
[Anyway, I'm not going to tell anyone. Have you ever seen me spill something like that before?]
Umaru thought about it and seemed to confirm something: "Okay then. So why won't you come hang out with me?"
[Come hang out with you for what?]
Umaru puffed up angrily and explained: "Didn't I say last time that if I got first place on the test, you'd hang out with me? How long are you going to keep me waiting?"
Saiki scratched his head and thought seriously. [Did I really say that?]
"You did! In chapter 23, you promised me. If you don't believe me, go check. If you don't believe me, ask the author."
Author: "Mm, that's right. You did promise."
[Shut up, stop breaking the fourth wall.]
Author's note: Today I'll answer a few small questions. First, a lot of people say there are too many typos. That's definitely true. Because I started thinking about writing this book a long time ago, but back then I didn't have time, so whenever an idea came, I just wrote it straight into my phone's notes. A lot of chapters were copy-pasted, and many parts weren't edited. I'm fixing them now. Anyway, there should be way fewer typos going forward.
Also, about Saiki Kusuo using [] for his speech and other people's thoughts—some people aren't used to it. Just try to get used to it. In the original, he doesn't speak out loud; it goes straight into people's heads. So a lot of readers don't know when he's actually talking versus when he's just snarking. But for the protagonist's inner snark, I'll use () instead. Isn't that easier to read?
Using [] for telepathic speech is better, and other people's thoughts usually have their name in front, so it's easy to tell who's thinking what. We've come this far, so no way am I changing Saiki's speech back to "". That's not happening.
As for romance and who the heroine is… how should I put it? Since this fuses a lot of anime heroines, just treat all of them as heroines. So a heroine doesn't have to become the male lead's girlfriend to be called a heroine. Take Teruhashi-san from the original. Is she a heroine? Of course she is. But is she the person Saiki likes? Of course not.
Honestly, I don't want the male lead to start dating yet. Although I originally planned for a harem, if the male lead gets into a relationship too quickly just because it's a comedy anime, the comedy would decrease, and a lot of people would lose motivation to keep reading. Besides, the author hasn't dated anyone yet, so how could I let the male lead date? Daily life means daily life. Of course it has to keep going day by day. There are still many parts that haven't been wrapped up, so you can take your time reading.