With Marin-senseiâs help, I managed to get past a term-end exam. I donât think I did well, though. Thatâs why I decided I would enroll for summer cram school.I guess Iâm too weak-willed for self study. Thereâs just too much temptation lying around the house. Each time there was some problem I couldnât solve I found myself needle felting, or rearranging my room, or something else.Iâve decided that if I like the cram school Iâll continue doing it in Term 2 as well. So please, anything but the remedials again&h.e.l.lip;
The day of the last exam. It finished in the morning so I went home and got changed. Today I had somewhere to be.The post office. I wanted to deposit some money, and to buy some postage stamps.Itâs actually a small hobby of mine, stamp collecting. Itâs fun keeping some of the cute ones. I donât have anybody to send letters to, though.I particularly like some of the anime ones, or the ones with cute figures on them. I have some robot anime ones, and some with characters from picture books.There was also this Rococo Queen one. Naturally I bought some. I think youâre meant to use multiple stamps or something so I bought extras just in case. Not that I have anywhere to send anything right now.I was a little embarra.s.sed because I was worried somebody would think I was cosplaying her, but I liked these the most so Iâm glad I found the courage.I hope Iâll get to use them though. Aoi-chan would probably accept it with a smile. Maybe Iâll send her something then~
I was wearing something more casual than most of my other outfits, a feminine dress with a ribbon below the chest. There was somewhere else I wanted to go today, so it wouldnât do to look too much like an ojousama.Before going to the post office, I was going to have lunch at a soba restaurant, so I chose something less eyecatching.Geez, Iâm so hungry. What should I have~
The soba place was in a mall building. Looking at the menu I found myself at a loss. Sansai vegetable soba would be good, but then chilled soba sounded appetising too. Aah, but it has to be tempura soba in the end!
It came with two prawns, and was delicious. Iâm glad I picked this. It had plenty of spring onion too, which is good for the blood, right?Actually it was so delicious that I ended up draining the broth dry. Mn, so satisfied!
After relaxing a bit, I headed to the post office, a large one nearby.The counter was packed with people so I got a ticket and went to browse the stamps.These animal stamps are pretty nice, but I like these traditional art-themed ones too~ Maybe Iâll get a few of these j.a.panese Waka poem stamps.In the end I found some cute animal ones so I decided to buy those this time. I made up my mind to come again someday.Happily making my way back to counter, I discovered that there was still quite a while until it was my turn. It was packed so there probably wasnât anywhere to sit either.Ah well. Iâm still young so a bit of standing wonât kill me.Just as I was thinking that, some salaryman gave me his seat.What a gentleman! I guess even j.a.pan has learnt the âladies firstâ custom. Thank you, nameless salaryman.I thanked him with a smile and took a seat.Itâs funny how small acts of kindness can really pick up your mood.Not that I wasnât still feeling a bit ill from all the tempura soba I ate. I mean, I drank all the broth too.As I rubbed my tummy unconsciously, the lady next to me asked,
âHow many months?â
Months? What months?
âYou look around 5 months, Iâd guess? I hope you give birth to a healthy child.â
&h.e.l.lip; &h.e.l.lip; &h.e.l.lip; &h.e.l.lip;Eh?
Donât tell me&h.e.l.lip; Donât tell me Iâve been mistaken for a pregnant woman!?Why!? Because I rubbed my tummy!?Iâm not! Itâs just because my stomach is full!
â&h.e.l.lip;Iâm&h.e.l.lip; not pregnant&h.e.l.lip;â
âEh?â
âThereâs no baby in there&h.e.l.lip;â
I tensed my muscles and pulled in my stomach as far as possible. Which wasnât far, mind.
âOh, oh goodness, Iâm sorry,â she said, looking incredibly awkward as she found somewhere else to sit.
Gasp! Donât tell me!I turned around and the salaryman from earlier averted his gaze.You too!?So he gave me my seat because he thought I was pregnant!?
Holy h.e.l.l&h.e.l.lip;Apparently I became pregnant without realising. Iâll bet some archangel will descend to announce my pregnancy at any moment now. Son of the G.o.d of the Fat Country, please hurry up and be born. If not Iâll be stuck with this belly forever.
&h.e.l.lip;Haha. I really need to stop escaping reality. I was just getting fat.And there was one other thing I needed to accept.Could it be that Iâm aging? Do I look old enough to be happily pregnant already?Not only am I fat, Iâm older-looking too?Wow, these lights are kind of dazzling. So dazzling that my eyes are tearing up&h.e.l.lip;And it still wasnât my turn at the counter yetââ
After trying not to cry as I made my way home, I shut myself in my room and transformed into a hula-hooping devil.Then I did sit-ups and crunches too. I noticed that I was less fit now.
Starting from the next day my lunches were going to be basically salad. I told the girls at school,
âThe heat has been a bit much so my appet.i.te has been dwindling&h.e.l.lip;â
Although they replied with stuff like âGet better soon,â Iâll bet they all realised&h.e.l.lip;At the Pivoine I only drank tea. Apparently todayâs snack was blueberry tarts but I couldnât have any!People keep recommending this or that but I could only reject them with an excuse about my appet.i.te.Even looking hurt.While that was happening, Enjou who happened to pa.s.s by suddenly smiled and said,
âDo your best,â before leaving.
He noticed too? Donât say needless things! Youâre making me even hungrier.
When I texted Sakura-chan my grievances, she suddenly replied,
âZazen meditation, and waterfall training. Which do you want?â
Apparently she thought I ought to fix my weak will first. Not that she didnât have a point. Iâm honestly one of those people who are harsh on others but easy on myself.Anyway, thatâs why I now had a trip to a zazen session with Sakura-chan planned.By the way, Sakura-chan, Iâll probably fall asleep if I keep my eyes shut for more than three minutes but is that okay?Also for some reason Okaasama suggested I go to some fasting camp with her. So there was that planned too.Apparently my entire summer break was going to be dedicated to training and losing weight.Is my third eye finally going to open!?