The first day of school after the summer break.

I'm off to a rocky start, unable to produce any results.

I didn't seem to be able to deepen my friendship with Mizui Hime, the only person I could talk to.

I guess you could say that my first step yielded zero results.

But let's not think too negatively about it.

It's still good that it didn't turn into a negative.

If it is still at zero, there is still plenty of opportunities to make up for it.

Don't be pessimistic, but don't be overly optimistic either, and switch your thoughts.

While I was looking for that chance, the opening ceremony was held.

All the students from the first to the sixth grade, without exception, brought their chairs and gathered in the gymnasium.

More than a thousand students lined up in the gymnasium in the order of their attendance numbers by gender, and the teachers sat at equal intervals with their backs to the wall, as if they were monitoring the students.

It looked like. It seems to be true.

While older students such as fifth and sixth graders can maintain discipline, younger elementary school students like us tend to joke around with their friends or even get restless and leave their seats without permission.

I guess the teachers are keeping a close eye on them to deter them.

It's tough being a teacher. I think so as if it were someone else's problem.

Our school is not big, but unlike the middle and high schools, it is a six-year school, so the number of children would inevitably be large.

Even the large gymnasium feels small with nearly a thousand students.

And since even one class was so crowded, a gathering of about 20 classes would be just like a live concert at its peak.

I couldn't help but want to cover my ears.

In the gymnasium, where people's voices were swirling, the principal and the teacher in charge of the ceremony took the stage. The principal stood on the podium in the center of the stage, where most eyes would be looking, while the teacher in charge of the ceremony stood in the corner, inconspicuously watching the noisy students.

『 Ehh, let's all be a little quiet. 』

The principal says through the microphone in a gentle voice, trying to be as non-threatening as possible.

The majority of the students obeyed the warning, keeping their mouths shut and their backs straight.

The others, however, ignored the warning, or rather, were too absorbed in the discussion to hear.

The teachers surrounding the gymnasium went to the students and warned them.

The teacher in charge of the ceremony, holding a microphone and a piece of paper on which the program was to be written, began to speak.

『 Now then, we will begin the opening ceremony. First, the principal will speak. 』

『 Ehh, good morning everyone. I'm Furuya, the principal of the school. Did you enjoy your summer vacation? Did you do your homework well? Well, I'm sure you all had a lot of things to do during your summer vacation. Ehh, I went to the beach. Ehh, what else―― 』

The principal's story continued like this.

I guess the principal's boring stories are the same even though times have changed.

The students didn't make a fuss, but I couldn't see any of them listening sincerely.

Most of them were just listening to the conversation in a daze.

The rest of the students are talking in secret so that the teachers don't find out, or counting the fingers every time the principal says "Ehh".

There is usually one person in the class who counts the principal's exclamations, but I wonder what the point of that is.

Is there a duty to report?

I thought about this as I listened to the principal's speech from the left ear to the right ear.

『 Next, the student representatives will present their essays. 』

After what seemed like an eternity, the principal's talk was finally over and we moved on to the next program.

Incidentally, he had said "Ehh" 87 times.

Then a male student, about a size larger than me, took the stage and nervously unfolded his essay paper on the podium.

『 Memories of summer vacation. I went hiking during my summer vacation. I went with my mother and father. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of fun. 』

You can see a glimpse of his innocence in his poor Japanese, which is typical of elementary school students.

The way she read the essay in a slow and clear voice as if she had been practicing, stimulated my maternal feelings, which should not be there.

I wonder if it's because I'm an old man that I feel like cheering so much when I see something like this.

In contrast to the principal's lengthy talk, I listened attentively to the essay presentation.

I think I understood a little bit the feeling of parents who cry over their children's essay presentations.

Next, the PTA president gave a speech, and the rest of the program went off without a hitch.

『 The last program was the awarding of certificates. ――Asakura Kaoru, class 1, attendance number 1. 』

『 Yes! 』

For a moment, I couldn't tell her gender from her neutral name, but as soon as I heard her crisp, high-pitched voice, I knew she was a girl.

However, her hair and appearance were completely male, and if I hadn't heard her voice, I might have mistaken her for a boy.

Her body was covered with sunburn marks, giving her the appearance of a boyish sports girl.

She walked up to the stage with a firm step and faced the principal with a certificate.

『 Ehh, congratulations on winning the freestyle at the National Elementary School Swimming. I hereby award you with a certificate of honor. ――Congratulations. 』

『 Thank you very much! 』

She bowed her head and accepted the certificate handed to her by the principal, and shouted her thanks louder than the principal's voice through the microphone.

It's quite a feat for a first grader to win. This looks like a promising future.

When the certificate was presented to her, she received a generous round of applause, to which she responded by holding up the certificate and giving the V sign.

I guess girls like her are the ones who will make it big in the future.

I'll try to live a steady life like an ordinary person.

I applaud her as if I were looking into the distance.

◆

And so the opening ceremony came to an end.

The sixth graders returned to their classrooms in order, and the first three classes, to which I belonged, left the gym at the end of the day with their seats and returned to their classrooms.

After a ten-minute break, the second period, homeroom, began.

"We're going to start homeroom now. First, everyone turn in your homework."

When the teacher in charge, Misato-sensei, said the words in a calm voice, classmates shouted "Ehh!?" in disagreement.

I'm sure some of the students still had homework to do.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, there's no problem at all.

I have completed my memory essays, book reports, Japanese and math drills, and so on.

The fact that I'm doing my homework makes me feel good about myself and I snicker about it.

There was no way that I, who had already mastered the first grade of junior high school, would have trouble with the homework of a first grader.

There was nothing to be afraid of, as I had finished it in the middle of the summer vacation with ease.

"Ye~s, it seems like there are a lot of objections... So let's start with a fun free research presentation!"

Misato-sensei was careful to attract the reluctant students with something fun.

We're going to start with free research? Well, that's not so bad.

I've finished all my homework in the middle of the year, so it doesn't matter which one I do first.

Of course, I'm doing my free research................

............? Free research?

............ Huh?

............................

I didn't do any free research!!!!!