Sotis I Also Dream of My Previous Life
* * *
Blink I open my eyes.
What cos into view is a room in the baron’s mansion I’ve been staying at recently…no, wait, this isn’t it.
Dirty walls covered in black mold.
Silverfish scurrying about.
A drafty, gapped wooden floor.
A windowless room.
Yet light filters in through cracks in the walls and ceiling, providing a dim illumination.
Ah, this is the storeroom at the house where I, the forr Aihara Runa, was last placed in my previous life.
Which ans, this must be…
A dream, huh.
A lucid dream, they call it.
I, or rather Aihara Runa, stretch out my body stiffened from lying on the hard floor.
Taking a deep breath of the dusty air.
Folding up the thin towel sheet and changing into my uniform.
Then heading straight to school.
I don’t show my face in the main house.
Because I can already envision the terrible treatnt awaiting there.
Tap tap, tap tap
My feet move of their own accord.
It’s a strange feeling.
This dream proceeds from Aihara Runa’s perspective.
I can’t control the body’s movents.
It’s like re-experiencing old mories.
Is it nearing the end of sumr in this dream world?
A feeling of school having just resud after sumr break.
A clear, deep blue sky. Fluffy clouds in the distance.
An occasional cool, pleasant breeze.
Seems it rained last night, with puddles here and there.
Without access to a mirror at ho, Runa uses a puddle to comb her hair with her hands.
But it’s futile resistance.
No matter how much she fiddles with it, her stubborn bedhead imdiately reverts.
Disheveled hair, rough skin, skinny limbs, wrinkled uniform.
Utterly unkempt, unbefitting a vibrant high school girl.
Well, can’t be helped!
I smile and accept it.
That’s right, I could still smile back when I was Aihara Runa.
Having heard so vague rumor that smiling leads to happiness,
I made a conscious effort to always wear a smile.
Though in the end, it probably just creeped people out.
At the park’s water fountain on my way to school, I wash my face.
Ahhh, refreshingly reinvigorated!
Thunk
Hm?
“Ah, crap! She noticed us!”
“Run away, run awaaay!”
Seems so cheeky elentary schoolers threw a rock at while I had my guard down.
Well, what can you do? Such is youth!
The kind-hearted Aihara Runa would just laugh it off with a smile.
No point in protesting, it would be futile.
Arriving at school.
No indoor shoes.
No choice but to use the guest slippers.
Got a glare from the security guard uncle when he noticed, but I pretend not to.
In the classroom.
There’s a vase of flowers on my desk.
Wowee, soone, I don’t know who, arranged these flowers for !
How lovely! Just so wildflowers from around!
Smile
I wonder who put them there?
Need to be careful handling them.
I want to tidy them up, but if I carelessly move them,
“I went through the trouble of putting those there, why’d you move them?”
I might get scolded.
What should I do?
“Mornin’~!”
“Good morning, Misaki-chan!”
My classmates greet with smiles.
I smile back in kind.
Runa-chan knows how to read the air, after all.
Can’t be the one gloomy face souring the mood.
No one actually talks to , but I just keep smiling nonetheless!
“Alrighty, ti for the morning assembly!”
The horoom teacher arrives.
Forgot his na, huh.
“……Oi, Aihara. What’s with that thing on your desk?”
Uh oh? Teacher noticed.
“Flowers.”
“I can see that, dummy! Why’d you put flowers on your desk? You think you’re being funny, huh? You little punk!!”
Well, I’m not a punk.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t give that ‘sorry’ crap!?”
“My apologies.”
“That’s not what I ant!!”
The teacher, shoulders tense, marched over from the podium straight to Runa’s seat, grabbed her disheveled hair, and forcibly yanked her up from the chair.
“This is how you apologize, dammit! You think you can just fool around and get away with it, huh!? Huh!?”
Then, with brute force, he pushed her head down, forcing Runa into a deep dogeza bow.
“First period is Japanese History. My class. Perfect timing, so you just stay bowed like that the whole ti. Don’t even think about moving.”
The teacher returned to the podium and began taking attendance as if nothing had happened.
My classmates were utterly indifferent to what soone had done to .
This was Aihara Runa’s daily reality.
From the ti she was cognizant until her soul was harvested to this other world, every single day was like this.
Runa’s father was a criminal.
Apparently killed many people.
I’ve heard of the stigma children of criminals face.
But even so, Aihara Runa’s daily life was excessively cruel.
Everyone, from all sides, was her enemy.
Enduring physical and ntal tornt every single day, she desperately clung to her smile.
What even was that daily existence?
In modern Japan, where human rights awareness should have been well-developed, I alone was denied any protection.
Looking back, it does seem like an abnormal situation.
In the end, Runa was not permitted to stop dogeza-ing, and Japanese History class ended with her still bowed.
During break, an unusual occurrence – a male classmate actually spoke to Runa.
The class leader, Suzudou Shota.
“Aihara-san, I need to talk to you about sothing.”
“What is it?”
Smile
“Sasaki-san’s Japanese textbook has been missing since yesterday……you stole it, didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
Behind Suzudou was the petite, timid Sasaki-san, trembling as she glared at .
“Aihara-san, return it quickly. She needs it for the next class, you know?”
“That’s right Aihara! Give it back already!”
“Poor Sasaki-san……”
Even if they say that?
Runa-chan hasn’t stolen anything, you know?
A complete false accusation.
Unclear why Runa was imdiately suspected as the culprit.
Generally, anything inconvenient was just blad on Runa.
That’s how the world around Runa worked.
With no recollection at all about Sasaki-san’s Japanese textbook, Runa just smiled through her confusion.
Ah, now I rember.
Co to think of it, sothing like this did happen, didn’t it?
After this, I was called to the guidance counselor’s office and beaten black and blue.
But when I returned to class, Sasaki-san’s textbook was properly in her locker – she had simply forgotten about it.
Ah, well that’s a relief, all’s well that ends well, I guess. And that was the end of it.
Of course, no apology or anything to .
Can’t be helped, so I just smiled it off as usual.
After that, so upperclassn picked a fight with in the hallway for no reason and assaulted again.
On my way ho, a police officer found all battered and assud I’d been in a fight with soone.
Then I was taken into custody.
And “disciplined” again when I got “ho.”
That was the kind of day it was.
For Aihara Runa, it was actually a relatively easy day.
My previous life was always like that, basically.
With not a single ally, I just tried my hardest to stay positive and keep smiling through it all.
An ally……
Ah, co to think of it, there was one girl who helped for a bit.
Though she went missing soon after, never to be seen again.
What was her na again…?
* * *
Blink I open my eyes.
What cos into view is indeed a room in the baron’s mansion I’ve been staying at recently.
Clean walls, no mold in sight.
Never even seen a creature called a silverfish in this world.
An old but well-maintained wooden floor, no gaps.
A small room, but with a window.
Bright from the light filtering in.
I’ve awoken.
“Fuwaaah……”
I rise up from the bed and stretch.
An involuntary yawn escapes .
My, what an unpleasant dream.
Worst way to wake up, really.
Though I have been reborn into this life only to face more ostracization and a difficult path,
I’m keenly reminded that it’s far better than my previous existence.
Because in this life, I have allies, few though they may be.
I have Extra-sama.
I had Master.
Sara-chan, too……
“!!?”
That’s right! Sara-chan!
What happened to Sara-chan!? And the baron!? Everyone!? The mansion!?
Oh, Extra-sama!
Hey, I defeated the Queen but got poisoned and collapsed, what happened after that!? Is Sara-chan okay!?
I hastily jump out of bed.
Seems I’ve been changed into a clean nightgown.
I stretch a bit and open and close my palms.
Yep, no issues moving at all.
In fact, I feel extraordinarily energetic? Far more so than before?
Thank you, Extra-sama!
But that’s not important right now!
Sara-chan was unconscious the last ti I saw her, what happened to her!?
Ah, ah, and also!!
Gururururururu……
What!? This overwhelming hunger, what is this!?
Ahhh, enough with the explanation already! My stomach, I’m so huuuungryyyy!
For the ti being, I devour the flowers in the vase and drain the water too.
Ugh, disgusting! And not even close to enough!!
……Wait, no!
The hunger can wait! I’ll just stuff myself with food later!
Where is Sara-chan!?
I prick up my ears.
Seems there are people gathered in Sara-chan’s room on the second floor.
I’ll head there first.
Still in my nightgown, I dash out of the room.
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