"Onii-chan! Wakey-wakey!"
Asagi woke up only to see a little girl smiling brightly right upon his face. Who? He frowned, could not remember at all who the girl in front of him was, but before he could ask her, the girl had spoken up again.
"Onii-chan, hurry up, you're going to be late!"
Asagi was stunned.
Onii-chan?
Well, he did have a younger sister, but his sister was definitely not this little girl.
"You are...?" Asagi wanted to ask the little girl if she just called him her big brother, but before he could finish his line, the little girl had fled out of his room as she told her okaa-san that her onii-chan had woken up. Asagi was perplexed. He had no idea what was that all about. He figured he would have his answer if he asked that girl, but just as he sat upon his bed, he froze.
He did not recognize this place.
Where was he?
He was in a bedroom, but this bedroom was not his. The furnishings were different. It was also too tidy and clean to be his bedroom. He had been pulling all-nighters for three nights, alright?! He had no time for tidying up. His room was supposed to look messy!
A while later, after feeling more awake, Asagi went to the desk in the room. There was a school bag, a laptop, and some stationaries on it. Beside the desk, he found books arranged neatly inside bookshelves. When Asagi looked up at those books, he found them to be high schooler's books, light novels, and mangas. There were also English dictionary, English grammar book, and other non-fiction books that did not necessarily belong to the high school book category, but all those books were definitely related to the education of a high school student. Some books had a name written on them, others did not, but all the name he could find in those books were his own name: Nagayama Asagi.
Now that was weird. He was sure he had graduated from high school years ago. Also, he already donated all his high school textbooks because he did not need them anymore. How come these books had his name on them?
As he pondered over the situation he was in, Asagi saw a mirror at a corner of his eye. He walked there to check on his reflection. When he saw his face, he was shocked.
He looked younger in the mirror. The reflection clearly belonged to a high school boy—no, it was his face when he was still a teen!
"What's this? Did I go back to the past?" he mumbled in confusion. "But that can't be true. That girl is too young to be my sister. Also, this room is obviously not mine. What in the world happened here?"
Oh, maybe he was dreaming.
"But why would I dream about strangers in an unfamiliar place?" the novelist denied his own theory again. If he was dreaming about his youth, why was his sister different from the sister he knew? Why would he dream about a different bedroom? It was not as if he disliked his family, nor did he dislike his old home. So why would his dream be like this?
"Well, let's get out of this room first. Maybe I will figure out what happens if I talk with that girl and her mother," Asagi said. He walked towards the half-opened door, noticing a set of neat school uniform hanged behind it. Blue jacket, white shirt, blue trousers, and green tie. For some reason, he felt familiar with these uniforms, but he paid no mind to it since he needed to go meet the little girl and her mother soon to ascertain his current situation.
As he stepped outside the room, he saw an unfamiliar sight of a three-bedroom apartment before his eyes. This is definitely not my old home, he thought, because not only did this place look unfamiliar, his old home was not an apartment, but a two-story house with a small backyard. He could hear the sound of the TV from the direction that seemed to be the living room. He could also hear the little girl chatting with her mother. Asagi took a deep breath before taking another step, walking slowly and carefully to the living room. Once he was there, he saw a middle-aged man watching the TV from a sofa attentively as he sometimes sipped his drink. Behind the sofa were the kitchen and the dining room. A middle-aged woman was busy cleaning the kitchen while the little girl that he met before was watching her from her seat at the dining table, sometimes talking with her. The little girl called that middle-aged woman okaa-san, so that woman must be her mother. As for the middle-aged man, perhaps he was the father?
"Oh, Asagi," the woman noticed him from the kitchen. "What are you doing there? Stop dilly-dallying and wash your face. If you're not getting ready now, you're going to be late for school."
"Huh?" Asagi blinked, a bit startled when the woman reprimanded him.
"Don't huh me! Hurry up or you'll be late!"
"Uh... okay..." what else could he say? That woman acted like he had known him for a long time, so how could he argue with her? It was impossible for him to ask who they were when they acted as if they were his family. He did not want to be thought crazy and ended up in the hospital or mental asylum. That would not help him at all.
Asagi went to the washroom which was located near his room; that was how he managed to locate it in the first place since he immediately saw it the moment he went out of his room, but once he was there, he could only stand stupidly.
Which one is my toothbrush?
Asagi stared at four cups in front of him, each cup had a toothbrush inside. There was one that looked childish and small, so that one must be that little girl's. That left him with three toothbrushes. Asagi stared at the suspects intently, pondering in his mind. Which one was his? The purple, the blue, or the green?
Hmm, he liked blue or green more, so his toothbrush was probably one of them. That left him with two suspects. The blue one or the green one?
Probably the blue one. Asagi settled on the blue toothbrush. He chose it because he liked blue more than green. When he was still a kid, he liked ranger blue more than ranger red or ranger green. He did not like sports, but he fell in love with swimming simply because the water in the pool was blue. Of course, that meant he loved the sea and sky as well. Beach was one of his favorite holiday destinations while staring at the blue sky was one of his favorite activities during writer's block. When he was in high school, he was given an opportunity to name a female kitten that his family adopted. He liked blue, so he named the cat Saphira, a name inspired by a blue gemstone called sapphire. During the booming of Harry Potter, his friends asked him which house in Hogwarts he would like to belong to and his answer was Ravenclaw because it had the color of blue in its emblem.
Conclusion: he liked blue, so his toothbrush should be the blue one.
Of course, he knew very well that he might be wrong, but it did not matter for now. He did not have the courage to ask his "family" since he did not know them well, so he would just settle in his own assumption. He would ask once he had warmed up with them—or perhaps he could ask the little girl when they were alone. She was still young and innocent, so it should be safe to assume that she would not think that he was crazy or amnesiac only because he asked about his toothbrush.
Asagi took a deep breath, apologizing to the owner of the blue toothbrush if he was wrong in his mind before finally took the toothbrush and used it to clean his teeth. After a few minutes of washing, he stepped out of the washroom with a wet face, still wearing his pajamas. He forgot that he needed his towel. Oh, and spare clothes too—scratch that. Ever since he started working as a novelist, he had not been keeping up with changing clothes directly after washing up in the morning because his job rarely required him to get out of his home, but he usually never forgot to bring a towel with him when he washed up. Changing clothes was not even in his mind when he remembered he did not have a towel with him. Just when he was wondering about his towel, the middle-aged woman noticed his wet appearance. She shook her head helplessly before reprimanding him.
"You forgot to bring your towel, didn't you? Quickly wipe your face."
Asagi blinked. That was what he wanted to do, but he had no idea where to get his towel when he was in the washroom. Only now when he got out and saw a teak rack with four towels hanging beside the washroom door did he figure out where to get his towel. But then he got another problem. He did not know which one his towel was.
Definitely not the flower-patterned one, he thought, eliminating the towel adorned with flower pattern. There were the blue, the orange, and the gray left. Now, this was quite tough. He did not quite like orange, but he did not think gray was bad. Blue or gray? Hmm...
"Akari, what are you doing?" he could hear the middle-aged woman asking her daughter as he contemplated which one his towel was.
"Watching Onii-chan. Akari wants to know when Onii-chan will pick up his towel."
"Eat your food. Your brother doesn't need to be watched."
Feeling the curious stare from the kitchen, Asagi did not dare to think any longer. He just grabbed the blue one and used it to wipe his face. There was no one saying he got the wrong towel, so it seemed his towel was blue as well. Asagi sighed in relief knowing he did not get the wrong towel.
"Ah, Onii-chan's picking his towel," the little girl said excitedly from his seat. "Why were you staring so long? Did you find a spider on your towel, Onii-chan?"
...
"No."
From the outside, he looked calm as he spoke, but inside, he was freaking out. This girl knew his weakness! How?!
"Then why were you staring so long?" the little girl kept asking.
"It's nothing," Asagi replied as he hanged the towel back on the rack before heading towards the dining table. He feigned indifference, but the truth was he felt perturbed. This little girl who kept calling him onii-chan seemed to know that he was afraid of spiders. If not, why did she stare at him so excitedly before? He felt as if he was meeting his little sister again. His sister also knew that he was afraid of spiders. She always enjoyed teasing him with spider toys during their childhood.
"Why haven't you got dressed yet? Aren't you going to school?" the middle-aged woman suddenly asked him. When he heard that, Asagi realized that he had not changed into his uniform. In normal circumstances, he did not have to change into a uniform since he was not a student or an employee. Having breakfast immediately after washing up had already become his habit for years. Looks like it was true that old habits die hard.
"Can I have my breakfast first? I'm hungry," he made an excuse. There was no way he would tell her that he had forgotten his schooldays habits.
"Alright, but make it quick or you'll be late."
"Yes."
Asagi quickly joined the girl at the dining table. The middle-aged woman gave him a portion of omurice and a glass of milk. He noticed the little girl also had the same menu. When she noticed that her brother had been eyeing her food, she put her hands around her plate protectively as she glared at him. Asagi laughed. Did she think he wanted to steal her food? This little girl was quite cute and amusing.
"I'm not going to steal your food. I have mine," he said.
"You better be, Onii-chan. Akari won't give you any even if the spider eats your food."
Again with the spider? This girl really knew his fear, didn't she?
"I told you there's no spider," he sighed. Please don't make him remember that horrid animal!
"Then why were you staring at your towel earlier? Why?"
"And I told you it's nothing."
"That can't be," Akari pouted, but a moment later, she smiled brightly. "Oh, Akari knows! Onii-chan is bored with blue!" the little girl made a guess which of course, was not true, but when he heard this, Asagi realized that this was his chance to confirm his toothbrush.
"Why do you think Onii-chan's bored with blue?" he asked her as he sat down on a chair beside her.
"Because Onii-chan always likes blue for a long time, so this time, you must be bored with it!" the little girl answered confidently.
"Oh, Akari knows Onii-chan likes blue?"
"Akari knows!"
"Then, does Akari know which one is Onii-chan's toothbrush?"
"It's the blue toothbrush!" the girl answered quickly.
"Then what about the purple and the green ones? Whose are they?"
"Purple is Okaa-san's, green is Otou-san's."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" the little girl nodded excitedly.
"Why?" Asagi kept asking even though he had achieved his aim.
"Because Okaa-san told me. She said Akari had to know so that she wouldn't use the wrong toothbrush."
"And you remember? Akari-chan is really smart."
"Of course!"
"But what if Onii-chan's towel and toothbrush aren't blue today? Will you be able to guess which one is mine?"
The little girl nodded again in confidence. "Okaa-san will tell Akari if she asks her!"
Asagi chuckled amusedly before flicking the little girl's forehead. "That's not fair, you know. I told you to guess, not to ask Okaa-san."
"But Sensei said we have to ask someone if we don't know something!" Akari argued, covering her forehead in reflex after Asagi flicked her.
"Your sensei's advice isn't valid now because the condition is you have to guess. Asking someone is prohibited," Asagi smirked at her. "So? Will you be able to guess right without Okaa-san's help, Akari?"
"Akari will ask Otou-san."
This girl had failed to understand the rule, hadn't she? Or did she just say that to annoy him? "What if you can't ask Otou-san?"
"Uh... uh..." the little girl looked flustered. She did not say anything for a while, but when she finally spoke, she shouted at him and kicked his leg, "Onii-chan you meanie! Akari won't be nice to you anymore! Hmph!"
"Ow ow..." Asagi hissed as he watched the little girl glaring angrily at him. That girl was so small, yet her kick was powerful enough to make him hiss. Asagi stroked his poor foot, frowning displeasingly at the little girl beside him. It was obvious the girl was in no way afraid of him because instead of apologizing, she 'hmphed' again and refused to meet his eyes.
"You two, stop playing around! Hurry up and eat your food!" the mother rebuked them. Akari was not afraid of her brother, but she seemed to be afraid of her mother. She quickly ate her food as her mother told her to. What a good girl. Asagi was not afraid of her mother, but he feared his foreign environment, so just like the little girl beside him, he too quickly ate as the mother told him to.
After finishing his breakfast, Asagi went back to his room to change into his uniform. He felt weird when he saw his reflection in the mirror wearing a high school uniform again. This uniform looked familiar, but he was certain it was not his uniform back in his high school days. Asagi did not dilly-dally in front of the mirror because he still remembered the middle-aged woman kept telling him that he would be late if he did not hurry up (not that he actually cared, but he had to since he was in unfamiliar circumstances), so once he was done changing, he immediately grabbed his schoolbag. He checked whether or not he had brought the right books for today's schedule before he finally decided that he was ready.
"Otou-san, Onii-chan's ready! Let's go!" the moment Asagi went out of his room, Akari, bringing her own backpack on her back, called her father. The middle-aged man nodded, turned off the TV, and then took his own jacket and briefcase.
"Honey, we're off," he said as he kissed his wife on the cheek.
"Be careful," the middle-aged woman replied warmly as she kissed him back on his cheek.
"Okaa-san, kiss me too!" Akari tugged her mother's shirt, begging for a kiss. Her mother smiled and gave her a kiss on her cheek as well.
What an affectionate family, Asagi thought when he saw how warm and loving they treated each other. He would not say his real family was not affectionate, but it was obvious this family was more affectionate because his parents never kissed before going to work. They kissed him and his sister when they were kids, but that stopped when they reached puberty.
"Do you want a kiss too, Asagi?" his current mother asked teasingly. Well, that was understandable. A teenage boy would be embarrassed if he was kissed by his mother because it made him look spoiled and uncool. Every mother knew this. Even Asagi was a victim of this misconception during his adolescence. But that was then. This time, Asagi was not a teenager inside and he knew how important a kiss from a mother was, so why feel embarrassed?
"If you don't mind, Kaa-san," he said with a simple smile. His mother looked surprised, but it was only for a brief moment. After that, she smiled and kissed his cheek as well.
"Study well, you two," she said to her children.
"Yes, Okaa-san!" Akari replied while Asagi only nodded. Not long after, they left their apartment to the parking lot in the basement. It turned out that their father would drive them to school before going to his office. Asagi wondered what his current father's job was, but he refrained from asking because really, it would be weird if he asked his own father about his job after he already became a high schooler.
So, they live in a three-room apartment and have a car, Asagi concluded when he was riding in his father's car. Judging by these facts, he assumed that this family was pretty well-off and perhaps even richer than he thought. Not only that, they also loved each other. They were the perfect depiction of an ideal family.
What a strange yet good dream, if this is a dream, he thought again. He still could not comprehend what in the world had happened to him. Who were these people? Where exactly was he? And who was he? These questions kept popping out in his head because this family was not his nor was he familiar with them. He also could not seem to recognize his surroundings. This building, that building, that park, that road, he did not remember any of them. And the last one, he kept asking who he was because it would be strange for him to think of this body as his because the family and the environment were different from his past. He was Nagayama Asagi, but he had a feeling he was inside the body of a different Nagayama Asagi.
Oh, is this the famous reincarnation? Or transmigration? he suddenly thought up a good idea. Was I isekaied? Really?
While he was busy pondering over his circumstances, the car had arrived at an elementary school. When he noticed that they had stopped, Asagi turned his head to look at his surroundings. He still could not recognize anything, but his sister and his father seemed to know the area pretty well. His father calmly told the girl to be careful and behave well at school and the girl answered positively before jumping out of the car in excitement. Only then did Asagi realize they had arrived at his sister's school. From the car, he watched as the little girl walked inside, greeting her friend that she met along the way.
So that's her school... I have no memory of a school like this though, he thought. It was not that the school looked strange or uncommon. It looked as common as any school in Japan could be, but he did not remember there was a school with a building like that in his town. At this point, Asagi should know that it was not strange to find an unfamiliar school since he pretty much could not recognize anything here, but since it was his sister's school, he felt he needed to know about it more. Asagi tried to look at the school's name and when he found the plate name at the school gate, He was so shocked he forgot to breathe for a moment.
Teitan Elementary.
That school was Teitan Elementary!
Teitan—what the hell?!
he was shocked after reading that word, but after taking a look for the second time, he had to accept that Akari's school was really Teitan Elementary, which meant he was inside a fictional world, the world of Detective Conan.
That meant he was really transmigrated. Or reincarnated. To the world of Detective Conan.
What. The. Hell.
"Asagi?"
Asagi had not yet recovered from his shock when his father called him, so he just turned his head towards him rigidly, unable to say a single word.
"Since your school is near, do you want to get off here? Or do you want to get off right before the gate?"
"Ne-near?" before he knew it, he had already uttered that stupid question. Thankfully, his father only lifted his eyebrows in puzzlement before affirming him.
"Yes, near. Well, you know your school is right beside Akari's, so I thought you probably want to get off here."
"O-oh..." Asagi blinked. His school was right beside Teitan Elementary? He had no idea...
Right, okay. Calm down. Asagi tried to calm himself when he realized he was losing his composure. It would not be good if he freaked out in front of his fictional father. He really did not want to end up at a hospital or mental asylum.
Okay, so I'm in Detective Conan world. My sister is a student at Teitan Elementary. I myself am a high school student whose school is beside Teitan Elementary.
Unfortunately, he did not have any knowledge about geography in Detective Conan. He did not know which high school was built beside Teitan Elementary. His uniform also did not give him any clue—or not!
Blue jacket, blue trousers, white shirt, and green tie. He had been thinking many times that this set of uniforms was very familiar to him and now he understood why he thought so. This uniform belonged to Teitan High! He had seen Shinichi wearing this uniform in the anime, manga, posters, fanbooks, and even merchandise. No wonder he felt familiar with it.
This means I am a student at Teitan High now, he thought, somehow feeling tired after experiencing so much shock in a day. But he was aware his father was watching him, so he could not even sigh to express his distress.
"Asagi? Hey, you okay?" his father seemed to notice that there was something wrong with him because he was looking at him worriedly.
"I-I'm okay," he stuttered. Damn, why couldn't he behave normally?! "Sorry, Tou-san, I just have something on my mind," he added with a forceful smile.
"You're making me worried," his father said, looking even more worried. "Forget it, I will drop you off at the gate. No need to get off here."
"Oh? Oh..." Asagi could only nod dumbly. He was grateful that his father seemed to care about him, but he was still in shock even though he had been telling himself to stay calm. He really could not act normally now. He could only hope his father would not think too far about his behavior.
Not even three minutes later, they had already arrived at Teitan High's gate. Asagi thanked his father before getting off of the car. He took a deep breath, staring at the big building in front of him. Teitan High, the protagonist's school. And now, it became his school as well. Honestly, he felt both nervous and terrified. Detective Conan was a crime story and the protagonists, Shinichi and Ran, were students in Teitan High. Crime cases would always come to them whether they liked it or not and now he became their schoolmate. He was afraid he would get involved in their dangerous cases if he made contact with them. He might be a novelist who had read various genres including horror, thriller, and crime, but that did not mean he would be interested in experiencing the cruelty of those genres in real life.
He very much still loved peace and tranquility, thank you, but this damn world just ruined his life by making him a student in Teitan High. This was simply a disaster for him.
Still, there's no use in complaining, he thought in resignation. There was nothing he could do except to accept everything and live his new life here. Besides, it was not as if he had lost all hope of living in peace. As long as he did not make contact with the characters in Detective Conan, he should be fine.
Right, let's be optimistic. I've returned to being a high school student again, so this is my chance to experience new things. It will be beneficial for my new novels. Right, let's just treat this as research for my novels.
Asagi took a deep breath again and started to walk. This time, he walked with a more optimistic look. He had decided to treat this life as research for his novels. It should not be too hard as long as he kept his distance from the characters of Detective Conan.
Yes, he could do this.
~o0o~
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