Chasing After Rainbows

2005年私立○○小学校4年英語作文学期末試験 名前（漢字）: 宮沢泉美 名前（ひらがな）： みやざわ　いづみ 表記（日本語）： 私の冬休み My older sister has been unusually happy in recent days with that guy I saw at her birthday party. She's 16 and I'm only 10, but my youngest sister is only 4. A 12 year gap between the youngest and the oldest. I'm in between my two brothers by 2 years. When at home after school, I would play around with Kuniko and my brothers with toys shouting and screaming around. If they were to bully me and mom and dad are not around, Kotomi-oneechan would protect me from them because she is big and is like my third parent. Her room seems to be locked most of the time and she does not want to play with us. It's the only room in the entire house we don't get to play in. It cold outside, so everyone doesn't feel like heading out. I like to go into the kotatsu while watching TV and eating some snacks at the same time with my younger brother. My older brother is preparing for middle school, so I

I have been working at the current workplace long enough to know their names, their habits, and the things they do at work that they wouldn't want others to know, especially the boss. I wasn't expecting something unpredictable to happen when I asked Itsuki and Saeko to help clear the things in my late cousin's bedroom I'm currently staying at when i started to work: not only did those two remote the unwanted stuff quickly, they even designed the entire house (except the rooms Nanami and my great-grandmother sleep in) to look as though a professional interior designer had done it. Also, Nanami and Saeko told me individually that they had met each other when my cousin came home early when the cleaning up was going no. Saeko admitted that she was the upperclassman at the computer club room as the club's president when Nanami went there to meet up with a club member, who is in the same year as Saeko, last year. Nanami saw through her change of uniform and hairstyle, a

Now that I'm back from my university graduation trip, I have called Itsuki over to pick me up in that large car the last he picked me up. This time, I have carried all my stuff from the dormitory, the things I had bought and received since my first year there, and some souvenir for my friends and family in several luggage. It was a struggle just bringing it to the check-in counter from my friend's car back in California, and again from the luggage collection point here. So, taking the long train ride with all of these by myself is out of the question, and my family does not have a car. My uncle is obviously too busy with his work. When I called him to pick me up before I boarded my plane, Itsuki sounded rather reluctant to do it. He did, however, tell me to wait at the back end (following the flow of traffic there) of the airport's pick-up point. His car should already be there, or less than an hour, after my plane landed. I headed to the specified pick-up point. I do s

The day of the festival has arrived. I've brought my siblings along just to see what they could do there, or at least have fun there. To tell you the truth, I hardly know anything about them despite living in the same house and having the same set of parents. I wonder what do they see me as? Thinking back, the weird school principal who called me back on my birthday last year seem to be telling the truth. I didn't believe him back then as the time-traveling part seemed too hard to believe. However, he also added that there is some hidden truth about myself that I should know nothing of, but will soon find out anyway. What does he mean by that? I don't find anything odd about myself... As I was heading about with my duties as the organizing committee and as a student council member, I decided to drop by the computer lab. Sure enough, I heard my siblings' voices. Izumi: "You mean that it will happen?"

I know I had went back to Japan just to attend a funeral of a family of relatives, but Mamiko showing up to pick me up from the airport was really unexpected. The shocker is that she revealed that her mind is the original Itsuki from before the dimensional change. The current Itsuki is what would have happened if that event never took place, but he recognizes Mamiko as the original owner who was forced out. What I'm puzzled about the most is the place where had she kept the luggage I had brought along back then. I left them with Mamiko, but I don't see her carrying it and it mysteriously reappeared when I needed something from it. Also, where did she acquire such huge amounts of money she gave to Nanami (the only living family member mentioned earlier)? That is an amount that only my uncle, Kenjiro, would be able to earn at his current job (without including expenses for family and taxes) in a few short months. I hope she didn't rob a bank or something. I'll ask her

Mamiko seem to know what I was thinking about and pointed at her hips. Huh? What is that supposed to mean? This car is an MPV and not a sedan, so I can see the load by just looking behind the back seat, but there's nothing there. And where on earth are the wires connected to the notebook PC on Mamiko's lap connected to? Certainly not the cigar lighter receptacle I see over there.

It looks like I'm back in the original dimension I belonged to: Hisakawa-san has turned back (sort of) into a guy and that clone following around like a servant, invading our privacy, is gone too. Seeing that my colleagues, including Itsuki, recalled things differently, it seems as though the nightmare I had been through is over. Shin'ichi doesn't recall that earthquake-like feeling everyone there had been through. This means one thing: they are still stuck at that dimention and the ones here are like on auto-pilot, unless they never changed dimensions. But still, will I die this December?

(continued from part 18 ) (Related: Alternate Dimension Part 31 ) After reaching the place and dealing with that weird man in charge of the place, I examine closely at Mamiko: she doesn't have a belly button (huh?) and is wearing a black competition swimsuit that doesn't seem removable or be able to cut open, as though it's now part of her body. She says that she has been wearing it since my siblings went overseas during the summer vacation (WHAT? That long ago?) and somehow still appear brand new despite not bathing at all. How's that possible? It's glued to her body (wouldn't that be uncomfortable?), been wearing it for weeks, running around in the summer weather with clothes on top of it, not taking a bath, and is still oddly free from sweat, dirt and odor as though she goes through thorough cleaning everyday. (She also added that she has not eaten, drank, or had been to a toilet in that same duration too. How is that possible and still appear energetic

Apart from doing some final preparations on the eve of the festival, a classmate of mine, who was the leading actress, fell ill. I called Saeko and Mamiko over so that I could program the latter of the two like a robot to perform the act. I was wondering around where they had went to until I reached class 2-6. Why is only half of that class used? Also, in the unused portion, why is Itsuki's table the only one that has not been moved? Me: "Hey, 2-6! Why are you not using the entire classroom when it's obviously crammed? And why are you guys not moving this table?" I walked towards Itsuki's table and placed my hand on it. I could see books with his name underneath. Hold on, why are those still there and the name not changed to Saeko? Itsuki is now Saeko in this dimention and technically has not and does not even study here. Student A: "Oh, it's Miyazawa-san from the student council! We were..." Student B: "Hey! Don't touch that table

The preparations are taking some time to be prepared for some reason. I don't know why, but the logistics does seem to be one of them. Also, the school does not want the festival to be held during or before my cousin's academy's festival to be held during or before my cousin's academy festival. They know that it's just a short distance away and by having it early means that fewer people would turn up. On top of that, my school could use this as an opportunity to relax and obtain ideas for the following year. My duty during the school festival is to help people who might require assistance and guide the guests around. I could tell that there will be a lot of people rushing around. During preparations, I decided to bring out the old computer that I had pushed aside for my (then) new notebook PC back in November last year. I just realized that I did not backup my files from there and need to transfer them over to the new computer. It's a good thing that the old

I woke up late the following day, so I was almost late when I arrived in school. However, I didn't see Itsuki today. Well, today is only a half day, being a Saturday, so it is possible that he either skipped classes, or headed home early. However, I didn't see him the following Monday, so is he really sick? I went to class 2-6, Itsuki's classroom. I asked everyone, including his best friend, Kenjiro Tanigawa, about his whereabouts. Student A: "Oh, Miyazawa-san! What are you doing here?" Me: "Do you guys happen to know what happened to Itsuki?" Student A: "Itsuki who?" What do you mean "who"? Me: "Itsuki Hisakawa! My boyfriend and your classmate! Ugh! Tanigawa-san, do you know where he is?" Kenjiro: "Who? Sorry, I there's nobody I know with that name." How can his own best friend not know who he is? I noticed that his desk is unoccupied and I pointed at it. Me: "Then who sits there?&

(continued from Part 13 ) After a long day of exploring the capital , we headed back home with my new computer. I can't wait to try out this new computer. I had also bought a new mobile phone as the previous one looked quite old with the bi-directional navigation buttons and the monochrome screen. I also like the clamp-shell design and that small screen on the outside so I can check who's calling without opening the phone. Also helps preventing pressing keys by mistake: my friends kept complaining to me that I had called them but didn't say anything even though I didn't, except that the call logs said that I did. What a nightmare. When reached home, the first thing I did was to put aside the old computer by disconnecting the wires and placed it on the floor. I notice that the area underneath where the old PC stood was dirty, so I had to clean that before placing the new one there. Since it's a mobile computer and not a desktop one, there are fewer wires to deal

(continued from Part 12 ) Just as I was about to leave, Shin'ichi wanted to tag along with me. Well, since he's about to enter middle school next year and the most mature among my siblings, I don't see why not. Along the way, we walked past an ad for enrollment into a university and academy specializing in certain fields: the school our cousin went to was one of them. The sight of those ads made him think about which middle school he should go to. Me: "If you're thinking about entering the academy Aiko went into, you should keep in mind that many people are applying for it and admission is based on the grades you scored for the entrance tests and the amount of places avalable. So in order to guarantee being able to get in, you need to score around full marks." Shin'ichi: "Kotomi----oneechan, why is it that you did not enter that school and chose a normal high school instead when you obviously can score high?" This brother seem to alwa

(continued from Part 11 ) It has been quite some time since my birthday. The weather has started to get colder, and the trees are shedding their leaves with some already bare. I find myself to be with Itsuki and at his house more than I do with my other friends when I'm not working. I don't know why I am seeing him more frequently lately. Is it because of his house? That's not it: his house seems average but less maintained compared to mine. Not to mention the mess and dirt I saw when I first went there. The food? Wait, it was me who bought, prepare, and cook them at his house... Something he did at school? Unlike me, he seems to be the very opposite: hardly anyone knows him, scores quite low for exams, not in leadership role of the things he joined... Why did I choose him over guys all the girls are crazy over, or one of the guys who showed interest in me? The answer to that: I don't know myself. I woke up to a cold Sunday morning. It took me a while from the tim

(Continued from Part 10 ) On a particular day not too long after I noticed people behaving strangely towards me, the principal had called me to his office at the end of school. Well, I don't have anything on today, so I don't mind being held back, but for what reason? Since the announcement was through the PA, everyone knew about this. The only times I heard of a student being calling to the principal's office was if they had done something seriously wrong or something bad that had happened involving them, or, in rare cases, the student having outstanding performance and/or representing the school and want to reward them with something big, but what did I do? I was clueless and worried at the same time. The principal's office is located just next to the teachers' staff room. I myself had never been there before, so I don't know what it's like. I knocked on the door. "Come in," said an unfamiliar male voice. I entered the room. The off

(continued from Part 9 ) It has been quite some time ago since my first face-to-face meeting with Itsuki Hisakawa, not sure if it's just me, but I feel that I am now even more closer to him since we are somehow already calling each other by our given names. Because I found out that my IQ level is surprisingly high (which explains why everyone else seems like idiots), there was also the pressure for me to join the student council. I forgot that there was such thing as their presence seemed somewhat hidden and are not distinguished from students who are not in it except for major school events. On the last day before the summer holidays, Itsuki would want to bring me to his house for the first time. He said that his parents are working quite far away, so they have not been back for many months now. Well, that's good, since having peace and quiet is quite hard to come by at my house: my younger siblings and mom keep bugging me even though I had the door of my room locked. Th

[Revised: 19 April 2009] (Related: " Alternate Dimension (Part 25) ") I had just come back from the time pane of Hisakawa-san's school festival of last year and I am now walking from the safest spot I could reappear from where I started time travel. Since I had to wear my summer uniform in that time pane so as to not look out of place, I am feeling now feeling freezing cold as it is now winter. I wish I had brought warm clothing along... I have now certainly missed seeing my boyfriend as a girl, but I have to turn her back into a boy partly because of what I had just found out, and for the sake of me being able to marry him. What I had found out was that I was supposed to be born as a boy, but during mom's pregnancy of me, uncle used a machine of some sort that would turned me into a girl. I have been having visions of it since after graduating from middle school. I would like to congratulate on the experiment being successful, but the idea of doing something

[ Author's note 1: This is what I would have written in narrative form or the point of view of minor characters if I had started in the timeline of Part 4 & Part 5 . With that, it includes what the heroine didn't see/know that is related to the storyline. Might also include content from Part 8 , the other two stories, and content I have yet to put up.] With the graduation from middle school still fresh in her mind, Kotomi Miyazawa begins a new chapter with the start of her high school. With this new start, she have decided to go with a new hairstyle that shocked her family, as they were not used to seeing her with it and made her more attractive. During the self-introduction, what made her stood out from the rest was that she said that she could have gone to the well known academy at the top of the hill the school is at, but chose to go here instead so as to help the others. She also added that she's the niece of the well-known Kenji Hirano, works with him in a jo