When I returned home, my mother quickly came to greet me.
"I'm home."
"W-welcome back. How was school?"
"Same old. I hung out with friends, and bought a cheap watch."
My mother looked relieved.
"I see. That's good, really good, that. I'm happy for you."
"Yeah. Sorry."
"It's fine. Perfectly fine. Do you have enough money?" She took out her wallet.
"I'm fine. I don't need any more than my monthly allowance. That's the rule."
I shook my hand. Lately, I rarely found an opportunity to use money. What I had left was plenty.
"If anything's wrong, you can talk to me."
"I know."
I made for my room on the second floor to end the conversation. This time, my sister popped her head out from the back room.
"… Welcome back."
"Y-yeah, I'm home."
My conversations with her were still mentally strenuous.
"… School."
"Yes?"
"… How was it?"
"Mn, well, I think I'm doing good for myself. Probably…"
"… I see, yes, in that case… good."
Like a cutout in a poorly produced anime, her face stiffly retracted. Our family was unsettled. It was all my fault so I couldn't complain.
After entering my room, I finally managed to relax.
I changed into my loungewear and inspected my purchase. Inside the cloth bag was the watch packed in vinyl, and a business card in place of a store advertisement.
My delight welled up. I didn't feel like throwing the wrapping or card.
I tried equipping the watch. A small timepiece interwoven between bundled leather bands. The sort of purchase I had never made before. Just like this, step by step, I just had to change my feelings. With my family, and with myself.
After dinner, I studied to around nine.
By my experience, the easiest and most efficient method consists eighty percent of just concentrating hard in class. The remaining twenty is to just review what you learned that day. Do that, and you won't have to panic before an exam anymore. Conversely, if you feel like you're drifting away during class, it will become an extraordinary liability on the exam. It's one of those tabs you build up.
"Geh, this is bad."
I went and forgot my textbook at school.
What's more, math class gave problems that had to be submitted the next day. I needed it now. While I had no choice but to go get it, it was hard to think the school was open at this hour. I wanted to avoid forgetting homework on the first week. At the end of my mulling, I decided to just go and see how far that got me. If it was no good, I could just turn back.
"… Let's give it a go."
Thanks to my good purchase, perhaps I was feeling optimistic.