[CH.5] Going to the library
"Ah, Sumire-chan! Over here!"
The moment I stepped into a room at the town's library, I heard this voice. It was from a girl who was three years older than me and had her hair braided into three sections, reaching down to the middle of her back.
Thinking that she shouldn't be speaking so loudly in a self-study room, I couldn't help but be amazed. Some high school students around us seemed annoyed, and they were giving her irritated looks. Whether she noticed their stares or not, she suddenly shuddered, then hid her face as if she wanted to disappear.
As for who she was and where she came from, it was Chika Kiyohara, a classmate of Masataka (Ma-kun). We were familiar with each other's faces, but we hadn't really talked before. It was when I first came here that we had a proper conversation.
In general, first graders don't use the library's self-study room. Although it was sporadic in terms of timing, most of the people around me were high school students.
Perhaps they thought they'd be disturbing our studies, but when I first came here, several people asked me, "What's wrong?" "Are you in the wrong room?" "Are you lost?" However, it was Chika-chan who gently helped me from those questions. Well, from my current perspective, their height is like a wall, and they can be intimidating, so I couldn't find the right words back then. I was really grateful at that time.
Of course, as someone with experience in entrance exams, I understood their feelings too. Elementary school students tend to speak loudly, and their movements can be rough and inconsiderate. If that happens, the concentration of students who are studying gets broken, and the purpose of studying here instead of at home becomes counterproductive. As indicated by the catchphrase posted on the wall in the self-study room, "Let's be quiet," this is a place where consideration for each other is expected.
Chika-chan, who can't concentrate on her studies at home due to the temptations of manga and the like, has been coming here independently three days a week for two hours. I thought she could just go to a cram school, but in this day and age, aside from the end of the Heisei era, children going to cram schools were basically elites aiming for middle school entrance exams. Of course, it also involves costs, and the level of commitment required wasn't something Chika-chan had in mind from the beginning.
Chika-chan, who has been using this place since last year, also initially had the same experience of being approached by other users and feeling scared, she said. So, when she saw a younger girl going through the same thing, she couldn't just leave her alone, she told me.
"Hello, Chika-chan."
I moved to the corner of the room and sat down at a long desk, which seemed to have been saved for me. Chika-chan had removed the bag that was placed on a pipe chair there, so I greeted her in a low voice.
"What are you going to do today?"
"Probably practice writing. I've gotten better at it, but I want to improve even more."
I answered while arranging notebooks and a book on writing that I had brought from the bookshelf before entering the room. I glanced at Chika-chan, who seemed to be studying mathematics.
The reason I started studying in the library in the first place was that it was suggested that I should start taking lessons soon. In my past life, I attended both an abacus and calligraphy class that my sister went to, but the focus of the abacus class here was on calculations using the abacus rather than mental arithmetic. I don't deny that, but honestly, as an adult, there's hardly any opportunity to use an abacus, and I had forgotten even how to position the beads, making it useless.
As for calligraphy, the difference in hand size from my previous life makes it feel a bit awkward, but I can write fairly neatly with a pencil. If I learn it at school, I'll probably regain the knack for brush writing, and I'll be able to write decently. In that case, learning something I had already learned in my past life seemed somewhat wasteful.
To convince my mother, I showed her handwritten characters with a bit of clumsiness after solving some textbook math problems. This allowed me to avoid attending lessons. When asked what else I wanted to learn, I requested English conversation, but it seems that there's still no such thing as an English conversation school in this rural area.
As for English conversation, it was temporarily put on hold, and I decided to request it again when I found something else I wanted to learn. However, if I didn't take any lessons, I would have too much free time on my hands.
Of course, I played with friends and helped my mother with various tasks, but playing with friends wasn't an everyday occurrence, and the tasks a first-grade elementary school student can do are limited. So, if I wanted to fill my time with entertainment, I considered it, but from my perspective, who had experienced various forms of entertainment in the Heisei era, things like television and manga in this era felt outdated. There were nostalgic anime series I wanted to watch again, but their broadcasts were still a long way off.
Video games were still in their early stages, and analog games like shogi didn't seem like a good option either. I thought about it, but there were no other kids around to play with, and finding opponents would be difficult.
That's when I came up with the idea of studying. It's embarrassing to admit, but my intellect wasn't particularly outstanding; my academic performance during my student years was average at best. Moreover, before I was reborn, I was in my forties, so I had almost forgotten everything I had studied. I was still young now, and the content of what I needed to learn was relatively easy, so I could easily fit into the category of "excellent." However, I believed that as I grew older, the challenges would become more demanding.
If you use this free time to study ahead even a little, wouldn't that be a good idea? That's what I thought, and I was about to put that into action. However, a concern came to mind at this point. It would be quite unnatural for a first-grader to study advanced material that upper-grade students are learning, wouldn't it? Thinking about it, it was quite obvious, but if my parents saw me doing that, they might find it suspicious and it could jeopardize my current peaceful life.
For me, this opportunity for a fresh start was valuable. Instead of being treated like a genius and leading a restrictive life, I wanted to live a normal, peaceful, and happy life that ordinary people would expect. So, I didn't want to take actions at home that would raise suspicions.
In addition, to study the material of higher grades, I would need study materials such as reference books. The most natural place to obtain them would be the school library or the town's public library. If a first-grader frequently visited the school library to study on their own, and especially if they were studying the material of upper-grade students, it would draw a lot of attention. Also, this is a very personal reason, but I have a traumatic memory associated with the school library.
The school I attend is a small, rural elementary school as mentioned earlier, and the number of students is relatively small. The school librarian is not a full-time position. So, what happens in such a situation is that those shiny pests lay their eggs in the books. In my previous life, during a certain class, my classmates and I found a large number of tiny bugs pouring out of one book. There were screams from boys and girls alike throughout the classroom, and even the teacher fled the scene. As a result, the majority of my classmates became bug-phobic. Oh, just remembering it gives me goosebumps; it was truly unbearable and revolting.
So, the school library was ruled out, and I started going to the town's public library. By the way, I could ride a bicycle without any practice; it seems my soul retained the sense of balance from my previous life. In my previous life, I fell many times as a child and went through painful experiences to learn how to ride, so I'd appreciate having this advantage.
Today, I'm practicing writing, but I'm checking the learning materials for each grade level, including Japanese, mathematics, science, and social studies. I'm relearning any parts that seem suspiciously advanced. Surprisingly, this is progressing quite efficiently. The advantage of having learned it once before is more significant than I thought, and at this rate, I should be able to cover the material up to the fourth grade by the time I finish the first grade.
"Wow, Sumire-chan, you're really good at writing. Do you have any tips?"
While talking in a low voice, Chika-chan, perhaps having finished what she planned to do today, leaned over to peer at my notebook.
"I don't really have any tips, but I just copy from a model. And then, I practice so I can write it the same way anytime."
In my previous life, I had tried penmanship lessons as an adult, but ultimately, what's needed is repetitive practice. Learn the balance of characters from a model and make it your own. There's no other shortcut.
Chika-chan said, "I guess I need to practice more," with a slightly disappointed look on her face, as she started to pack up her notebook and textbooks in her bag. Oh, is it already that time? I thought to myself as I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost 4:45 PM. This was bad; I had a promise with my mother to be home by 5 PM.
Perhaps I was more focused than I realized, or maybe I got lost in thought. I hurriedly packed my notebooks and pencils into my backpack and hugged the penmanship book I had brought from the library against my chest.
Chika-chan and I left the self-study room together, returned our books, and exited the building. She was going to walk, and I was riding my bicycle, so it was time to say goodbye. We promised to study together again next time and parted ways.
I arrived at the bicycle parking area in a hurry. I put on the dorky helmet that was required by school rules and mounted my bicycle. It was probably about 10 more minutes until 5 PM. I prayed that I would make it in time and began pedaling vigorously.
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