Hanamaru Kindergarten

Before the last class of the afternoon began, Yui Yuigahama, who had been chatting with Kotomi while sitting backward on her chair, suddenly heard her phone ring.

"Sorry, I need to take this call," Yui said as she stood up and walked out of the classroom with her phone.

A short while later, Yui returned, but after sitting down, she let out a sigh.

"Did something happen?" Kotomi noticed Yui's troubled expression and asked.

"Yuka's kindergarten is letting out early today. Half an hour earlier than usual. I think the teacher must have called my mom, but since she was probably busy in the kitchen baking, she didn't hear it, so they called me instead."

"Half an hour early? Wow, kindergartens have it good. I wish I could go back to kindergarten!" Seiko Kirigiri, who had been listening, said with an envious tone.

"But today the cake shop is going to be super busy. I still have to buy butter and sugar for a custom cake that needs to be delivered by six this evening. If the kindergarten had let out at the usual time, I could've bought the ingredients, dropped them off at the shop, and then gone to pick her up. But now, with the earlier dismissal, I'm not sure I'll have enough time," Yui said, clearly feeling stressed.

Kotomi could tell from Yui's explanation that it wasn't just a matter of not having enough time—there was no way she'd be able to manage it all.

After thinking for a moment, Kotomi offered, "If that's the case, why don't I go pick up your sister for you?"

Since she was already collaborating with Yui's mom, helping to pick up her younger sister was no big deal. Besides, Kotomi had some free time.

It was a perfect opportunity, as Kotomi hadn't been in the mood to attend her art club activities today anyway. She just wanted to go home early and play Azur Lane, but she hadn't found a good excuse to skip the club. Now, the perfect excuse had presented itself.

Picking up Yui's sister from kindergarten and dropping her off at the cake shop wouldn't take too long. She could help Yui, score some brownie points with both Yui and her mom, and still have time to go home early to play games.

A win-win!

"Really? Are you sure?" Yui asked, surprised by Kotomi's offer. Though she was in a bind, she didn't want to inconvenience her friend.

"Don't worry about it." Kotomi waved her hand dismissively, then lowered her voice and whispered to Yui, "Honestly, I didn't really feel like going to art club today. I just wanted to go home and play games, but I couldn't come up with a good excuse."

Both boys and girls occasionally have those days when they just want to slack off. Kotomi was having one of those days. She couldn't explain why, but she just didn't feel like drawing today. She wanted to lie in bed and play games.

If she could do that with a bag of plain chips and some cola nearby, it would be the ultimate heaven!

Yui nodded in understanding, fully relating to that feeling. Everyone has those days when they just want to take it easy!

"Got it. Thanks so much, Kotomi! I'll leave my sister in your care!" Yui said gratefully.

"You can count on me!"

Kato Megumi, who had been quietly listening to Kotomi and Yui's conversation with a smile, finally spoke up when they finished discussing their plan to slack off.

"Um, Kotomi, since you're offering to help, do you know which kindergarten Yui's sister goes to?"

Kotomi blinked in surprise, suddenly realizing that she didn't know which kindergarten Yuka attended.

"Oh, right! I almost forgot! That's the most important detail. Yui, which kindergarten is your sister in?" Kotomi quickly asked.

"Oh no! I forgot to mention it! Yuka goes to Hanamaru Kindergarten."

"Hanamaru Kindergarten? No problem, I know where that is," Kotomi said.

Although it was a bit of a walk from Sobu High School, she could get there in about fifteen minutes if she hurried.

"Since this is your first time picking up Yuka, here's her Good Kid Badge ID. When the teacher asks, you can just give them this number," Yui said, sending the ID number to Kotomi via text.

Kotomi glanced at the message and instantly memorized the number. The so-called "Good Kid Badge ID" was actually just a student ID number based on the child's birthday.

02070125.

That meant Yuka Yuigahama's birthday was January 25.

Kotomi silently committed Yuka's birthday to memory. Since it was a kindergarten for little kids, the director had cutely renamed the student ID system to "Good Kid Badge IDs."

It was pretty adorable.

"Thanks, Kotomi!"

"No problem. Just treat me to some cake later."

"I'll treat you to the biggest one!"

"I probably couldn't eat the biggest one by myself…"

As they were chatting, the bell for class rang, and the noisy classroom gradually quieted down.

Before the teacher entered, Kotomi lowered her voice and said to Megumi, "Megumi, I might not be able to walk home with you today."

"That's fine. Hanamaru Kindergarten is a bit far from Sobu High School, so take care on your way there," Megumi said with a gentle smile.

"Got it!"

After the last class of the day, Kotomi called Naegi Hibiki to explain her reason for skipping art club.

Hibiki was quick to approve her leave.

It really paid off to have a good relationship with the club president's sister—getting permission to skip was a breeze. All it took was a phone call or a text, and she'd have her leave approved.

With her absence from art club secured, Kotomi left the school and headed straight for Hanamaru Kindergarten.

When she arrived at the kindergarten gates, it had taken her almost exactly fifteen minutes, just as she expected. There, she saw Yuka Yuigahama, Yui's younger sister.

However, the kindergarten teacher was cautious about Kotomi's identity. After all, the top priority for kindergarten teachers was the safety of every child in their care.

"I'm Yui Yuigahama's classmate. Since she couldn't make it in time today, she asked me to pick up her sister, Yuka. You can call her to confirm," Kotomi explained.

The teacher called Yui and, after a thorough inquiry, described Kotomi's appearance and asked if this was the right person.

After receiving confirmation from Yui, the teacher turned to Kotomi and said, "Can you please provide Yuka's Good Kid Badge ID?"

"02070125."

Kotomi gave the number, and after verifying that it matched, the teacher finally relaxed, hanging up the phone and saying, "Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier. I've just never seen anyone other than Yuka's mom or her sister come to pick her up, so I was a little concerned."

The teacher smiled apologetically, clearly feeling bad for being so cautious. She had seemed rather stern at first.

Kotomi smiled in return. "No worries. When it comes to the safety of children, it's better to be overly careful."

At that moment, Yuka, who had been standing behind the teacher, peeked out, her cute eyes lighting up when she saw Kotomi.

"Wow! You're the Izumi-neechan my sister talked about! Are you a little penguin?!" Yuka exclaimed excitedly.

"Huh?" Kotomi was momentarily confused by Yuka calling her a "little penguin," but then she realized that Yuka had noticed the chubby little penguin charm hanging from her backpack.