Leaving the Hospital and Returning to Everyday Life

The white clouds in the sky looked like salted fish disguised as fluffy marshmallows. Against the blue backdrop of the sky, the wind pushed them lazily along as they drifted aimlessly about.

A few gentle breezes swept across the ground as well, blowing away fine dust and carrying off the strong smell of disinfectant.

Today was the day Uraraka Shige was officially discharged from the hospital.

He returned home with his mother from this life. It happened to be the weekend, and his older sister had been waiting for him at home since early that morning. Only his father was still busy at the company... Though Shige had no idea what there was to be busy with at a company that could barely get any business.

That was a little bit of resentment on Uraraka Shige's part, making him seem just like a child.

Those seven years had certainly helped him settle into this world.

"Shige, Shige, you're home!"

Ochaco Uraraka got off the sofa and ran to the door to welcome the patient home.

Of course, it wasn't quite that simple. She had her own little goal in mind.

"Shige, Shige, hey, let's play shogi."

She wanted Uraraka Shige to play with her. Because he was a transmigrator, whenever he played with his sister, he would recall games he had seen or heard of in his previous life. Those games and the ways they were played were undeniably appealing to Ochaco Uraraka, who was still a child.

But Ochaco's mother ruthlessly nipped her idea in the bud.

"Shige just got out of the hospital and needs plenty of rest, so he can't play shogi with you, Ochaco!"

"Huh? Is that true?"

Ochaco widened her adorable eyes and looked at Uraraka Shige beside their mother. Compared with her father and mother, who often worked at the family construction company, her younger brother Uraraka Shige took good care of her even in little things. They even went to the same elementary school, were in the same class, and sat next to each other, spending every day inseparable. At times like this, he was the one she was more inclined to trust and rely on.

And Uraraka Shige didn't disappoint her.

He turned his head to look beside him and, following Ochaco's gaze, looked at their mother. After a moment's thought, he tilted his head slightly, put on a sweet smile, and shamelessly acted cute.

"Mom, if I'm just playing a couple of games of shogi with my sister... that should be all right, shouldn't it?"

As he asked, Ochaco Uraraka once again turned her expectant gaze toward their mother.

"Sigh... All right, all right, go play. But Shige, you just got out of the hospital, so don't overdo it! If you feel tired, go rest right away. Don't get too caught up playing!"

Sure enough, when their mother had only the adorable Ochaco to face, she could still hold her own and even counterattack by turning down Ochaco's request.

But when Uraraka Shige also cast aside his shame and started acting cute, even their own parents were utterly helpless against that doubled cuteness!

Uraraka Shige kept smiling at his mother and gave a slight half-bow to express his gratitude.

"Thank you, Mother."

Then he let Ochaco pull him over to sit on the sofa with her, leaving their mother by the door to cover her mouth and chuckle.

Shogi was the most popular board game in Japan, ranking even above go.

Although Japanese shogi was also known as Japanese chess, it differed from both Chinese chess and international chess, with rules of its own. The most noteworthy was the promotion of pieces: rooks could be promoted to dragons, bishops to horses, and so on. Every piece could be promoted except the king or jeweled general, gold generals, and pieces that had already been promoted.

Normally, a game of shogi should have been intense and entertaining for those who understood it. But the games between Uraraka Shige and Ochaco were nothing of the sort, for a simple reason: Uraraka Shige himself had no interest in this kind of game, while Ochaco's interest was limited too, and she was only seven years old. As such, the games they played were less proper matches than children's games. Anyone who truly understood shogi would surely have turned and walked away in anger. After three games, Uraraka Shige and Ochaco also lost interest in continuing.

"Shige, tell me a story!"

Ochaco was rather bored, so she fixed her big, misty eyes on Uraraka Shige and stared at him, leaving him feeling helpless against her.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be the older sister?"

And so Uraraka Shige, his voice full of helplessness, put on an adorable (w) expression of his own and stared back at Ochaco with starry eyes full of admiration.

Before long, it had turned into the kind of staring contest that only children actually played, where whoever blinked first was a puppy. Their mother, who had just come out of the kitchen, found the sight quite amusing.

"Ochaco, Shige, stop playing and come eat. Shige needs to rest after the meal!"

After watching them for a while, their mother spoke up and interrupted the "contest."

Only then did Uraraka Shige remember that he wasn't really a child, while Ochaco remembered that she was the older sister.

All of a sudden, both their little faces turned red without their realizing it, a natural physical reaction when children were embarrassed.

"Ahem..." "Ugh..."

Uraraka Shige gave an awkward cough, and Ochaco let out an inadvertent whimper. Then the two of them spoke at the same time.

"I-I'll go wash my hands first." x2

Still embarrassed, Ochaco was so worked up that even her voice suddenly turned fierce.

"Let me go first!"

Normally, Uraraka Shige would have smiled and let Ochaco go first, but he was embarrassed too, so he instinctively retorted.

"I'm the patient, so I should go first!"

Ochaco instantly shot back, sounding fierce again.

"I'm the older sister, so let me go first!"

By then, Uraraka Shige had come to his senses, but for some mischievous reason, he retorted again.

"Precisely because you're the older sister, you should let me go first..."

And then...

"Grrr!!!"

She was already overly worked up, and Uraraka Shige had provoked her time and again. A growl came from Ochaco's throat, like the whimper of an angry puppy, startling Uraraka Shige.

"O-okay, you're the older sister, so you go first..."

Yet Ochaco didn't calm down just because Uraraka Shige agreed to her earlier demand. Instead, still worked up, she retorted again without thinking.

"Grr, you go first!"

That was practically a beast's roar! Her words even came out mangled!

And then...

In the end, their mother calmed them down, and Uraraka Shige and Ochaco went into the bathroom together to wash up.