Skill Kasegi 1

A Strange Dream

One day, I met a strange woman —

No, I don’t think it’s quite the same as having met a strange woman.

It would be more convenient under the current circumstances to say that I had met her.

A brown-haired woman with a silver ring on the ring finger of her left hand is standing in front of me, though I can’t seem to get a good look at her because her face is blurry.

I can’t hear her voice, so I can only vaguely tell that she’s there.

But what is this feeling?

I don’t know her, but I can’t help but feel like I know her.

“Who the hell are you?”

Unlike most people, I have memories of my previous life.

The memories of a properly grown adult, not a seventeen-year-old high school sophomore. Yes, in a previous life I died in a car accident.

In broad daylight with the rain pouring, I was waiting at a traffic light when a slipping civilian car ran over me–

“And yet, what a frustrating feeling this is.……”

I don’t know. I remember that I died in a car accident, but I feel like I’m forgetting something important.

To be precise, only the information about it is hazy, as if it were hidden behind a fog.

It was supposed to be the most important thing in the world–

“Damn, just a little more, but I can’t seem to remember……!”

The more I try to force myself to remember, the more the truth seems to be slipping away proportionally.

But now I’m seventeen years old, and I can’t help but wonder why I’m seeing that in my dreams after all these years.

If that’s the case, could it be that she’s my destined person? No, I don’t think so……

That would have been quite a pleasant dream, but I honestly couldn’t imagine such an ideal happening in reality.

I didn’t know what it meant, and with the limited information I had, I kept struggling to get answers out of the distant truth. ——

beep beep beep beep

Suddenly, I got a call to wake up.

I turn off the alarm and lazily sit up.

The familiar ceiling, the familiar bookshelf, the familiar desk.

It seems that what I just saw was a dream.

“What was that, my dream just now……”

I was sitting on my bed in a daze, not knowing what to think, when there were three knocks on the door of my room.

“Good morning, Nii-san. Are you up yet?”

It was my younger sister, Hiyomi Asaumi, a freshman in high school, who came into my room with a mild tone.

She’s a girl with downcast eyes and medium black hair, and is called “the most beautiful girl in the world” by her classmates.

Well, as her older brother, I see her as nothing more than a younger sister.

“Yeah, I’m up.”

“Breakfast is ready, so why don’t you come down early?”

After confirming that I was awake, Hiyomi strolled back into the living room.

We are a family of four, my father, mother, me and my sister, and since both of my parents have moved out on their own, it’s not an exaggeration to say that I live with my sister.

I slipped out of bed, kidnapping my legs, and changed into my school uniform, a short-sleeved Y shirt.

The reason why I couldn’t shake the feeling of Japan even though I was supposed to be in another world was probably because of my name and uniform.

The name gave me a completely Japanese feel, and the uniform was a Japanese design with a slight twist.

If you were to ask me what is different about Japan, I would say that the only difference is “place names” and the existence of “magic”.

Yes, this is a different world that resembles Japan——

“Rather than that, what the hell was that dream I had just now?”

In the past seventeen years, I had never had a dream like the one I had this morning.

If I had to guess, I’d say that I had a craving for something that had been with me since birth.

But I threw that thing away a long time ago.

Because no matter how much I think about it, I can’t remember anything.

“I’m sure that’s just my delusion.……”

After I finished changing into my school uniform, I headed straight for the living room.

Then I saw Hiyomi, wearing a white apron over her school uniform, laying out breakfast on the table.

“Good morning, Nii-san. You look good in your summer clothes.”

“Thanks, Hiyomi. You look good, too.”

“Yeah, do I? Ehehe~.”

Seeing the smile on Hiyomi’s face, which didn’t seem to be full of joy, a part of my memory of my previous life suddenly came back to me.

According to my friend from my previous life, there is no such thing as a sister who is happy when her brother praises her uniform in three dimensions.

I heard that if you try to compliment her on her clothes, she’ll say, “Huh? Gross, die.” but apparently, Hiyomi is a bit of an odd sister.

I sincerely hope that she will grow up with her cuteness intact.

“It’s seems they finally gave us permission to wear summer clothes.” (Hiyomi)

“Well, it’s been getting pretty hot here lately.”

Even though it was late June, the temperature had been rising above 30 degrees Celsius day after day, and the teachers had no choice but to allow students to wear summer clothes.

But it was even hotter today.

As Hiyomi and I took our seats at the table, we shivered at today’s temperature.

It was only a physical temperature, but today’s temperature was much higher than the daily highs.

Maybe the summer bugs will show up on the ground in the wrong season.

“Let’s eat and go to school, we’ll be late.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, Itadakimasu.”

“iItadakimasu”

As if to appreciate the food, we had breakfast after we had behaved well.

And so, after safely finishing our breakfast, we stepped out into the blazing sun.

It was indeed the hottest day of the year.

The heat radiated back from the cobblestones that covered the road, and I could visually see the flickering shimmering flames laying thickly on the ground where I was going.

“Hiyomi, be careful of heat stroke, okay?”

“Yeah. Nii-san too, be careful okay?”

“Thank you.”

As we were walking to school, taking care of each other’s health like that, a cheerful and energetic voice stopped us from behind.

“Hiyo-chan! Senpai! Good morning!”

“Hi, Sara-chan. Good morning!”

The person I turned around to see was Sara Sunahara, a first-grader junior and a friend of Hiyomi.

She is the embodiment of the term “blonde beauty”, and the gap between her blonde hair and her purplish blue eyes is what attracts the attention of men.

The flower-patterned catsuit that adorned her long golden hair that hung straight down was also a high point.

“Huh? Shinya-senpai, you’re not looking well. What’s wrong?

“Not really, with this much heat, you’ll lose your energy.”

“Mmm, you can’t do that. It’s because it’s hot that we have to raise our spirits!”

“You’re pretty tough, aren’t you? ……”

Then we start walking again.

Hiyomi and Sara are talking amicably, and I’m completely left out of the loop.

Well, the content is quite the content, so I don’t mind if they treat me like an air.

“Hey, it’s today, right? The results of the Love Affair Survey back then.” (Sara)

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I forgot about it because I didn’t really care.” (Hiyomi)

“Eeeh! Since you know many people like you, you don’t really care?” (Sara)

“Because I don’t have anyone I like.” (Hiyomi)

Apparently, Hiyomi doesn’t have anyone in her life that she likes.

My sister is a sinful woman who has no one to love her even though she is called “the most beautiful woman in the world.

I feel more than a little sorry for the men who have feelings for Hiyomi.

“I wrote Nii-san’s name on the question people I like.” (Hiyomi)

“…… Oh.” (Shinya)

“So don’t worry, Nii-san will have me for entire life!” (Hiyomi)

“No, I don’t see any reason to not worry about that. Rather, there is nothing but anxiety about the future!” (Shinya)

“Mou~, Nii-san sure is good at joking!” (Hiyomi)

I couldn’t help but sigh as Hiyomi smiled mischievously at me.

Just because you don’t like someone, you don’t usually write down your own brother’s name instead.

It was probably a joke in Hiyomi’s own way, but it was a little too much for me.

Because I’ve never been popular.

I know in my head that I’m overthinking this, but I can’t help but think that my sister, who couldn’t stand to see me like this, gave me her vote of mercy.

The cute junior politely changed the subject with me, as if she had realized the tragic situation by the look on my face.

“Oh, by the way! Is there anyone you like, Shinya-senpai?” (Sara)

“… S, someone you like?”

“Yes! In fact, I think senpai is quite popular. So I was wondering if you have at least one person you like.” (Sara)

“Wait, what’s the logic behind that?”

I don’t really understand Sarah’s reasoning, but I do have a girl that I’m more interested in than a guy that I like.

But I don’t think there’s any need to confide in her here.

So, I decided to play along with Sara’s question.

“I’m not popular at all. I’ve never even going out with anyone before….” (Shinya)

“Well, Nii-san have me, so there’s no room for anyone else. I’ve also ripped up love letters sent to Nii-san several times!” (Hiyomi)

“So you are the reason I can’t date anyone!” (Shinya)

“Hiyo-chan really has severe brocon.” (Sara)

“Yeah, that’s why I don’t really need a someone to like me.” (Hiyomi)

Hiyomi didn’t seem to react at all to my tsukomi, and smiled at me.

The fact that my little sister likes me must be something that makes an elder brother jump for joy.

But of course, the world will never allow you to become lovers with your own sister.

It was the same in this otherworldly land that resembled Japan.

Well, I have never looked at Hiyomi that way before.

“I’m going to have another shopping date with Nii-san after school today.”

“That’s new.…… Well, I don’t mind.” (Shinya)

“Yay! Thank you, Nii-san!”

She said that and hugged me adorably, but to be honest, it was too hot.

But I couldn’t shake off my cute little sister, so I had to endure the heat in silence.

“Mou, Hiyo-chan! You don’t do that kind of thing in the middle of the street …… huh?”

Sara’s movements suddenly stopped as she went to the trouble of trying to pull Hiyomi off of me.

Then Sara gently rubbed my arm and opened her mouth fearfully.

“Senpai, what’s wrong with this cut wound ……?”

“Hmm? Oh, I see. I’ve been wearing winter clothes until now, so Sara-chan doesn’t know about it. It’s been like that since I was born. I’m not sure why.”

“Is that, so, I’m a little surprised.……”

As I looked at Sara, who was laughing “ahaha” as if she was out of her mind, it was quite painful to feel guilty for having told a lie.

Because this scar is probably from the car accident in my previous life–

“Hiyo-chan, Shinya-senpai is getting hot, you should leave him alone.” (Sara)

“Yeah, I’m getting hot too.” (Hiyomi)

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t you not stuck together from the beginning?” (I don’t know who’s talking)

“I need to get attached once a day to keep my energy up.” (Hiyomi)

“What the hell, I’ve never heard of that character setting…” (Sara)

“That’s because I just thought of it.” (Hiyomi)

“You just thought of that?” (Shinya)

For some unknown reason, my body and mind were in a dead heat with the heat, you know?

Well, I don’t want to say anything about that because it probably won’t make a difference to Hiyomi anyway.

And so the three of us, enduring the heat, headed straight for school without taking any detours.

Author’s Note :

Thank you for reading to the end.

Since it’s the first part, I’m sure there are many parts of the story that I haven’t seen the direction of, but I hope you will continue to read.