Chapter 19: Interlude - The Sickly Daily Life of Onjōji Chitose

[Slice of Life]

In works that primarily depict serious, extraordinary events, such as battle-oriented stories, these episodes often portray the peaceful daily lives of the protagonists and heroines.

In works that tend to have difficult and painful developments, these episodes serve as a precious oasis for readers, and because they offer a glimpse into the characters' everyday lives that are usually hidden, they tend to be popular.

These episodes are also common in genres other than battle-oriented works. For example, in suspense stories, they might depict small mysteries in everyday life without any major incidents, or in sports anime, they might portray days off rather than matches or practices.

While what people seek in these episodes—the peaceful moments, unexpected sides of the characters, the realistic feel of their lives—will vary, I don't think many people dislike them.

Of course, there were occasionally people who wanted the story to progress quickly, and I understand their feelings. At least I liked these episodes regardless of genre. Voice dramas and mini-anime are great too...

Well, what I'm trying to say is—it's nice when the heroine's morning routine or those kinds of everyday habits are depicted.... even if knowing them doesn't mean anything to the story, and to put it harshly, it's just padding the text or pages.

'But that's what's nice... so nice...'

★★★

Chitose-chan's mornings start early.

"Cough..."

The first thing she does when she wakes up is a faint cough, a symbol of a sickly heroine. Then, slowly and gently, as if taking care of her body, she slowly gets up, looking pained. At this point, she absolutely must not jump up like a boy on summer vacation.

Well, if Chitose-chan were to get up that energetically, everyone in the house would simply be happy.

But that would mean the death of Chitose-chan, the sickly heroine.

Of course, a scenario where she gets better and then her illness worsens again is a classic trope, and I'd like to try it, but the difficult part is that if I do it too often, it becomes cliché and just becomes another everyday occurrence.

The essence of a sickly heroine lies in the tension created by the uncertainty of when she might disappear, something other heroines lack. Because she is constantly acutely aware of death, the end of life, even the most ordinary moments feel precious.

In other words, the contrast is the greatest weapon of a sickly heroine.

The greater the contrast, the stronger and more impactful it is for those around her.

As with anything, becoming the ideal sickly heroine requires patience and daily effort.

'A sickly heroine isn't made in a day!'

This early rising is part of that effort; Chitose-chan wakes up early every morning to naturally portray the difficulty of getting out of bed. Incidentally, rather than getting up the same way every day, it's more natural if it varies from day to day, so sometimes she gets up easily, and other times it takes her up to an hour. On some days, she even plays the role of not being able to get out of bed at all. Thus, the sickly heroine act begins the moment she wakes up in the morning.

Incidentally, in this world, the division of time is also related to Yin and Yang.

From dawn to noon is considered Yang within Yang, from noon to evening is Yin within Yang, from evening until late at night is Yin within Yin, and from late at night until dawn is Yang within Yin.

From these, time in this world is further divided into hours.

As always, I think everything is based too much on Yin and Yang, but it can't be helped since the Yang and Yin energies tend to be higher at those times.

In my previous life, my body was activated when exposed to sunlight, so if you think of it as just that this is more noticeable and amplified, then it might not be so strange.

It's subtly different, but the Yin and Yang energies seem to have a similar role to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and while the overall effect is more pronounced, I feel that the big picture isn't that different from my previous life.

Well, there are some blatant differences in things like supernatural phenomena, though.

Anyway, after getting up and getting ready for the morning with Sakura-chan's help, it's time for breakfast.

This also varies depending on whether I'm feeling well or not; sometimes it's brought to my room, and sometimes I eat with Otou-sama and Okaa-sama.

Basically, I eat porridge, but on days when even that's not possible, they give me rice gruel.

Honestly, it's a bland meal, but while it's fine to occasionally eat sweets, a sickly heroine who devours white rice three times a day just doesn't seem right, so it's a necessary sacrifice.

Besides, Otou-sama and Okaa-sama are happy when I eat a substantial amount or something other than soft food, so this restriction is definitely necessary for a sickly heroine. It's nice to have parents who are happy about things that are normal for other children...

After meals, it's basically free time.

Or rather, since Chitose-chan is a child and in this condition, there's hardly anything she's allowed to do. She mainly spends her time in her room reading books, talking with Sakura-chan, and sometimes teaching Chiharu-kun to read and write.

She's been doing this a lot lately because it's so cute to see Chitose-chan, with her small body, pretending to be a teacher, and Chiharu-kun seriously humoring her.

WELL!

I don't know whose fault it is, but there are days when I can't catch Chiharu-kun at all! 

Do you hear me, Onii-sama?!

It's really not okay for you to come and show your cute sister the bugs you and Chiharu-kun caught with that smug look on your face, Onii-sama!

That's why you get beaten up by Ayame-sensei, Onii-sama!

Even though Ayame-sensei was your classmate, you need to understand that it's quite something for her to hit someone on the head!

Incidentally, the term "classmates" refers to the state-run academy for training government officials.

In this world, anyone who passes the civil service examination, regardless of age, is ordered to enroll in the academy. There, in addition to general education, they learn the specialized skills required for their desired government office, and finally, they take the national examination for their respective fields (e.g., a doctor's exam for a doctor), which determines whether they are assigned to a specific position.

You might think that this is unnecessary since they've already passed the civil service examination, but Onii-sama said it serves various purposes, such as checking for character issues and strengthening camaraderie among classmates.

Furthermore, Ayame-sensei said that while simple reading and writing skills are manageable, people with specialized skills like those of a doctor are difficult to find simply by waiting.

Therefore, it's faster to train them in-house, and having an academy is convenient for this purpose.

Indeed, it makes sense that finding interested individuals in a place where people with a minimum level of education gather would allow them to skip basic reading and writing, thus shortening the training period.

As I've explained, the curriculum varies considerably depending on the government office one wishes to work in, so the number of years spent at the academy differs depending on one's desired assignment. Therefore, although Ayame-sensei and Onii-sama enrolled at the same time, Ayame-sensei graduated—or rather, was appointed as an official—a bit later than him. 

It might be easier to understand if you think of it as a facility where things like police academies and medical schools are all mixed together, similar to what we might have experienced in my previous life. 

Incidentally, I was reminded that there are shortcuts and loopholes in any world, as evidenced by the fact that children of a certain level of nobility are exempt from the exams, and there's also the option of working as an official without entering the university, although this eliminates the path to advancement.

Also, as we can see from Ayame-sensei's example, in this world, there are women who choose that path as well. Perhaps the ability to be considerate of others is a bigger factor than gender differences. I don't know, though.

So, if Chitose-chan wanted to go, she could, but it seems like it depends on Chiharu-kun.

If I could, I'd also like to do a school-life story about a sickly heroine!

But I also like these one-on-one rom-com in a small world...!

Well, to begin with, there's the problem of how to convince Otou-sama, so it's not as easy as it sounds.

On a more fundamental level, as a Lunar, with its unbalanced nature in this world, doesn't have a very good reputation, so that's another question.

First of all, Lunar's bodies are weak, so it's questionable whether they can work as officials, except for exceptions like Chitose-chan.

Furthermore, just as Chiharu-kun sensed Chitose-chan, they can also attract opposing forces like the Yin-type or Yang-type of Stranger. 

Rather than being a negative force, the Lunar and the Solar were just considered unconventional in this world, and tend to be treated with a bit of disdain.

This is perhaps understandable when you consider them as being associated with congenital, incurable diseases.

..... Besides, children born as Lunar usually die the moment they're born, and children born as Solar can't maintain their sanity, so it's questionable whether there are even any rules on how to treat such beings.

Well, in Chitose-chan's case, it doesn't really matter since she'll have a happy ending with Chiharu-kun no matter what!

Okay, enough about the academy for now.

Chitose-chan spends most of her time at home with Chiharu-kun and Sakura-chan.

When Ayame-sensei comes to visit, she naturally goes to see her.

When Otou-sama and Onii-sama have some free time, she sometimes gets some light lessons in Onmyōdo. It's really just light lessons, mostly theoretical, but it's quite interesting.

Well, I do think it's a bit much when Otou-sama and Onii-sama get all excited and start digging holes in the garden.

In the end, Otou-sama and Onii-sama were taken out by Okaa-sama after that and didn't come back until night. 

A mother's love is strong.

Conversely, when Okaa-sama has some free time, we sometimes read books together or admire flowers.

When you think about it this way, you realize that Chitose-chan is basically always with someone.

Oh no... Chitose-chan is spoiled too much...!

That's how it is.

Well, she's so cute, so I guess it can't be helped...!

That's how Chitose-chan spends her day, and after dinner, all that's left is to go to sleep. She could stay up late, but going to bed early and waking up early is fundamental to a healthy life. These daily efforts are essential for a healthy, frail heroine life.

Incidentally, when she goes to sleep, Sakura-chan holds her hand until she falls asleep.

Sakura-chan is truly the ideal best friend character...

And recently, Chiharu-kun has been trying to sleep with her sometimes.... Well, Sakura-chan certainly doesn't allow that.

And so, surrounded by those who watch over her, Chitose-chan spends her days.

Surely another fun, sickly heroine life awaits her tomorrow!

Ganbare, Chitose-chan!!!