"Cherry!"
Someone is calling me. I don't know if I'm awake or dreaming, but in a daze I search for the alarm clock.
The time is 5:40am.
Today is Saturday, and there's no school, so there's no need to get up so early, but... once I hear this voice, I can't just ignore it, so I get out of bed, resisting the urge to stay asleep.
The voice belonged to Niya, of course. Just like yesterday, for the second day in a row I was woken up by her voice.
Yesterday, she fell asleep on the sofa in the living room, so I'm sure she was moved to the bed in the room that grandpa had prepared for her.
She must have woken up in a room she didn't recognize, with no one there, and that's why she called out to me. Her mind was clear for someone who had just woken up.
I didn't want her to cry like yesterday, so I decided to go to Niya's room to reassure her.
Yawning, I left my room.
Niya's room is next to mine, the room my mother used to use.
I arrived at the door and knocked. I felt like there was no point in knocking on her door, but... Although our cultures may be different, the other party was a woman of marriageable age. I should observe basic manners.
"Niya, I'm awake so don't worry..."
"Cherry!"
She seemed to realize that I was on the other side of the door, as she started making a thumping noise like footsteps, which was out of place in the quiet morning.
The footsteps gradually got closer, and when they stopped in front of the door, they were replaced by loud banging on the door.
"Cherry! Cherry!"
She kept knocking on the door, calling out to me.
Maybe she doesn't know how to open it?
Now, even when she doesn't understand something that is common sense to us, I'm no longer as surprised.
If Niya doesn't know, we have no choice but to open the door from our side.
"Niya, hold on I'm opening it."
Saying that, I put my hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door.
When I opened the door about halfway, I saw Niya on the other side, with a worried look on her face.
"Cherry!"
Perhaps happy to be able to see me with her eyes, Niya jumped on me with considerable energy before I had even finished opening the door.
"Argh! Not again!"
For the second day in a row, he was hit by a powerful jump from Niya that was like a tackle.
"Good morning, Niya."
"good morning?"
She doesn't understand my casual morning greetings because they are in a foreign language. However, I have learned over the past two days that she is able to absorb new words at a speed that is beyond that of ordinary people.
"That's right, when you wake up in the morning it's 'good morning'."
"...! good morning!"
"Ah. Good morning, Niya."
"Good morning, Cherry!"
She probably still has some questions, such as when to use them or the exact meanings, but I know that if she watches and hears our conversations like this and imitates them, it will be easier for us to communicate.
Even so, it must be thanks to her high intelligence that she was able to memorize, in such a short time, each person's name, the first-person pronouns "I" and "you," and words expressing requests such as "look" and "no."
"I thought there was some commotion... were you two already awake?"
Hearing our commotion, my grandfather came up the stairs from the first floor to see what was going on.
"Good morning, grandpa."
"Good morning, Grandpa!"
Following my greeting, Niya also speaks the words she has just learned to Grandpa, but her pronunciation of "Grandpa" is a little unsteady.
"Oh, you've memorized the morning greetings! Good morning, you two."
In the end, I didn't go back to sleep and woke up earlier than usual, so I headed to the bathroom to wash my face.
I washed my face with cold water and dried it with a towel. As I was about to reach for my toothbrush to brush my teeth, a notification appeared on the screen of my smartphone, which was nearby.
Looking at the screen, I saw that it was a message from Lina. I picked up my smartphone to check the contents.
"Sorry for the early morning, but if it's okay with you, can I go early today?"
In response to Lina's message, "Everyone's awake now, so you can come over anytime.The door is unlocked, so you can come in without ringing the doorbell," I tapped the keyboard to reply, and just as I was about to reach for my toothbrush again, I heard Lina's voice from the front door.
"Thank you for coming!"
--That's too early!
After brushing my teeth, I headed to the living room to find Lina and Niya there.
"Good morning, Cherry! Just now, Niya said 'good morning' to me!"
"Oh, you remembered when you woke up."
"That's amazing. We'll use the bathroom too!"
"Oh, thank you very much. Oh, that reminds me, I'm having breakfast..."
"eat!"
While Lina was taking care of Niya in the bathroom, I prepared breakfast with Grandpa. We made enough for at least four people, just like last night's dinner.
Once all the preparations were complete, Niya, whose bedhead had been smoothed and whose skin care routine had been completed, was brought in by Lina.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"Yep, breakfast is ready."
Just like the night before, the four of us gathered around the table and ate breakfast. Just like the night before, Lina and Niya ate about 70% of the generous portions of food that had been prepared.
After cleaning up after breakfast and taking a breather, we talked about today's main topic.
"Okay, time to get ready. I'll go get changed."
"Understood!"
With that, I went back to my room and changed from my loungewear into a white hoodie and navy blue jeans. I was quicker than a woman, and finished getting ready in less than five minutes. When I returned to the first floor, Lina and Niya were still in the living room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Are you done yet? Niya, I'm going to get ready now..."
"There's nothing to be in a hurry... right, Niya?"
As I was talking to Lina, Shirahana, who usually just listens and watches our conversation quietly, suddenly stepped in between us and started staring intently at my outfit.
Were you surprised by the sudden change in your clothes?
"What's wrong, Niya...?"
Without showing any reaction to Lina's words, Niya continued to observe my clothes. Then, as if she had suddenly noticed something, she took a startled look and ran off to the entrance.
"Hey, Niya! Where are you going?"
Even though I said that, Niya didn't stop. With no other choice, An and I followed behind Niya, and just before the entrance, Niya turned towards us, spread her arms wide as if to block the passage, and opened her mouth.
"No!"
"...Huh? What do you mean?"
Lina also seems confused by her mysterious behavior.
"Cherry, Lina! No!"
Judging from her behavior, Niya doesn't want us to go to the front door. But why is she doing this now?
As Lina and I looked at each other, unable to come up with an answer, we heard grandpa's voice from behind us.
"Maybe Niya is worried that Cherry and Lina will leave her behind like they did yesterday?"
"I see... so that's why you're blocking the entrance."
Just when I had finally understood, Lina asked the next question.
"But why were you looking at Cherry's clothes?"
Lina's question was natural, as Niya had noticed something when she saw my new clothes and headed for the entrance. However, I had a hunch that this was the reason for her question.
"Maybe it's because I changed clothes? Look, even yesterday we changed into our uniforms before we left, so I guess she thought that if we got changed inside, we'd leave her behind and go outside."
"Oh, that's it!"
We were able to clear up our doubts in our own way. When we looked at Niya again, she still had her arms outstretched and was looking at us with a slightly glaring expression. She must have been extremely shocked when we suddenly disappeared yesterday.
Once again, I regret having done something like that to Niya.
"It's okay! Niya , do you want to come with me today?"
"No!"
Lina approaches Niya and tries to speak to her, but Niya doesn't understand, and she spreads her arms out even wider to prevent Lina from passing before her.
Of course, I can't just let Niya go out in her loungewear. I want to somehow get her to change, but...
Thinking that, and looking at Niya blocking the passage and refusing to move, a plan came to mind.
"Lina , you change Niya's clothes in her room on the second floor, right?"
"Eh? Uh, yeah, that's true but..."
"Okay, come with me."
With that said, I climbed the stairs with Lina and headed to Niya's room. When we got there, Niya's clothes for going out were neatly folded and placed there.
"What if we were the only ones who got here first?"
"Well, let's give it a try. Ah, leave the door open."
Saying that, I take a deep breath. The reason is so that I can speak louder.
"Niya!"
As I said that, I heard footsteps coming towards me from the first floor. The footsteps stopped just before the door to the room we were in. Then, Niya popped half her head out of the open door, still wearing her wary expression.
"Now you can get changed, right?"
"Thanks. Now, Niya, should I get you changed into this?"
In this way, I managed to get Niya changed, but while Lina was changing Niya, I waited outside her room. However, I couldn't stray too far from Niya's room.
"Cherry!"
Niya called out to me from inside the room.
"Yes, yes, I'm here."
Here's why.
Niya called out to me several times to make sure I was nearby so that I wouldn't run off while she was not looking.
"Niya! Where are you going, stand still for a second?"
It seemed like Lina was having trouble changing Niya's clothes, but the door opened in less time than I expected, and Lina came out.
"Cherry, sorry to keep you waiting!"
"Well, considering how hard it was, it was quick."
"Ahahaha,Niya seems to be interested in Cherry so I was surprised when she tried to leave the room in her underwear."
"That's no joke..."
"Now that I think about it, when you were about 3 years old, you used to run around my house in just your underwear."
"You don't need to remember that!"
Next to Lina, her face bright red and wearing a white knit sweater and black denim pants, was Niya, who was wearing a light bluish top and a long white skirt.
"Okay, we're ready, let's go!"
"That's right."
The three of us went down to the first floor and headed for the entrance. Niya had also changed her clothes, so she didn't try to block our way like before, and seemed a little confused.
First, to make sure that Niya is also going outside today, she had her put on the shoes that Lina had lent her.
After that, Lina and I put on our shoes and put our hands on the doorknob of the front door.
"Well then, grandpa. I'm off."
"I'm off!"
"Yeah, be careful. Have a nice trip."
When I opened the front door, the outside air and light came in.
Next to me was Lina, whose expression showed excitement. And Niya, who was clutching the hem of my jacket, perhaps out of some anxiety, but with sparkling eyes of curiosity about the outside world .