Chapter 9 – Change (8)

Translator – Vodka

I am still having site access issues, so couldn’t post on Sunday . Will have Rum solve it over the holidays .

Anyways, guys Happy holidays . A merry Christmas, and a happy new year to all of you wonderful fellas . Have a great time .

And with this, the curtain falls on 2019’s Ordinary I and extraordinary them . Cheers!

Be it humans, or animals, or even buildings and natural environment, everything disappeared with time .

Depending on the case, it may be called life span, extinction, or environmental destruction .

[TN – the above line hardly makes sense, but it is what is written]

Nothing could stay the same forever .

Time was limited, and its beauty lay in its transience .

It was the same for people’s memories .

Human memory was updated daily .

With the pa.s.sage of time, our memories gradually faded . Without us realizing, they had already been driven to a corner of our heads . Even when we tried to remember, it was difficult to do so completely .

Maybe it was for this reason, that we would be recording the various events in our lives as data in photos and videos, so as not to forget that day, the emotions we felt, and the feelings we had at that time .

In particular, the performance of smartphone cameras had also remarkably improved .

Now, it was even possible to clearly capture the colour of the background scenery, and the details of one’s face .

The memories, we thought were important at the time of taking a photograph, would change with time .

However, even if people did understand that they would forget, they must still want to record that one moment, by having it photographed .

A day had pa.s.sed since I had lunch with the president .

The cry of the chickens reverberated in the neighbourhood, under the morning sky .

The person standing in front of the mirror had the usual cloudy eyes, devoid of light .

A development like that of in a dream-like story, where I woke up and found myself staring at a good-looking guy in the mirror didn’t unfold .

Rather, I even seemed a little bit older than yesterday .

By looking at my hair, it could be said that it wasn’t a case of bed hair . However, it seemed like cold water had been used to wash away the night sweats, along with the worldly thoughts inside of my head .

I wiped my face properly with a towel, threw it into the was.h.i.+ng machine, and got out of the bathroom .

“Good morning, Nii-san!”

Today as well, Kaede greeted her brother cheerfully, in the living room .

I wasn’t so much of a morning person as my sister that I could act as cheerful as her, so early in the morning .

I replied with the simple act of raising my hand .

It was the same as always . Kaede too didn’t mind it .

I endured the yawning, sat down on the sofa and watched a news program that I wasn’t particularly interested in .

On the screen, was a familiar female anchor, whom I had gotten used to watching on the TV, explaining the recent news with a serious look on her face .

Since she was a popular anchor, there wasn’t a day she didn’t appear on the program .

Having to work so early in the morning every day, Journalism is a hard job .

Albeit she was a stranger, and I had only seen her on TV, I had a lot of respect for her, engaging in her work every day like this . I heard footsteps emanating from a different direction from that of the TV .

“Nii-san, didn’t you say you have the photography session with the student council today?”

“Hm……I certainly said so”

“In that case, let’s tidy up your hair more than usual”

Kaede moved in front of me and started to lightly tidy up my dishevelled bed hair with her hands, a sweet smile hung on her lips .

……I wonder why . I feel like I am overflowing with energy .

Was her dazzling smile, like that of the sun, giving me power, just like in the case of solar power generation?

From here on out, whenever I am in a bad mood, let’s have the Kaede-style solar power generation give me strength .

“I think the usual is fine”

“It isn’t though? It’s the commemorative photo of the Kaichou-san, you know”

[TN – “Kaichou” is president]

Said Kaede . Like scolding a child, she hit my head with her white hand .

I knew it’s a commemorative photo for the president, but very few people cared about my being in that picture .

Kaede, who saw through my thought process, clapped her hands to change the conversation .

“But before that, shall we have breakfast?”

“Yes……”

Kaede held out her hands . I grasped them to stand up . I walked to the table, where a freshly prepared breakfast was lined up .

On the table, was a fas.h.i.+on magazine for young people, with carefully tagged sticky notes inside it .

When I opened it, I saw it had advice on how to properly set the hair of high school students, written in it .

With my eyes, I urged Kaede, who was sitting across me, to disclose what this was about . She said this in a serious voice .

“Nii-san should start caring about your appearance too, you know?”

“… . . ”

Since she said it in a serious tone, it inflicted a lot of psychological damage .

Being told so by a close family member was unexpectedly hurtful……

In an attempt to dodge the subject, I poured some coffee into my mouth . It was somewhat more bitter than usual .