Volume 3 Chapter 60 The Best Place to Hide a Tree
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The third Saturday of February arrived. Since the kindergarten was closed that day, I was finally facing the real deal.
”Are you nervous, Suu-chan?” I asked.
”Mm-mm, I’m okay,” she replied.
When I asked the girl sitting next to me, she gave her head a tiny, rhythmic shake. The pigtails we had styled so cutely for the occasion swayed along with her. Even though this was her first time doing something like this, she didn’t seem to be acting tough. For someone so shy, she really had nerves of steel. I was actually a little jealous.
”Maa-kun, you’re the one who’s nervous,” Suu-chan said.
”You think so?” I asked.
”I’ll hold your hand until we start,” she said.
”Thank you,” I replied.
”…Heh.”
She ended up being the one worrying about me instead. She leaned in closer, pressing her shoulder against mine.
I certainly was nervous… or more accurately, my heart just felt heavy. I was wearing a white shirt under a light blue vest and trousers made of non-woven fabric. Beside me, Suu-chan wore a white shirt with a pink vest and skirt. Looking around, my classmates were a kaleidoscope of color-vibrant reds, greens, yellows, and everything in between.
Right in front of us hung the heavy stage curtain. On the other side were nearly four hundred audience seats. I was sure plenty of parents were out there, waiting with bated breath for the curtain to rise so they could burn the image of their children into their memories.
Yes, today was the School Arts Festival¹. Depending on the region or the facility, they sometimes called it a “Play Recital,” and for this event, we were standing on the stage of a cultural hall located just a short distance from the kindergarten.
(Good grief…)
I desperately fought back a sigh. Since I was an adult on the inside, I really wanted to be the one in the audience watching these kinds of events, not the one performing. To be honest, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wished this day would never come.
It wasn’t that I looked down on it as “kids’ stuff,” and I didn’t think participating is embarrassing, per se. The somewhat tacky, non-woven costumes had a certain charm if you looked at them long enough. I knew the teachers had gone through a lot of trial and error to change things up from the previous year, and I’d seen the other youngsters practicing with everything they had from up close.
However, when I thought about having to wave handmade pom-poms and dance in front of adults who were roughly the same age as my previous self, I felt like a piece of my soul was being chipped away. On top of that, Shiho-chan’s Mom had told me the other day, “Makoto-kun, I heard you’re a natural at dancing. Everyone’s looking forward to seeing you.”
…The misunderstanding was deep.
I wasn’t actually good at dancing. I’d heard rumors that they had started incorporating dance into the school curriculum back home, but that didn’t happen in my previous life. I had no training, nor did I dance for fun. At most, the only things I could manage were the standard Radio Calisthenics² and the Soran Bushi³ folk dance.
Sure, compared to my classmates who weren’t even five years old, I was obviously better. To avoid being all talk, I tried to stay conscious of how I used my body, not just my head. I never skip my moderate exercise and daily stretching. Therefore, I could handle the basics-keeping a precise rhythm, moving accurately, and stopping on a dime. I could faithfully reproduce any instruction the teacher gave.
Because of that, I tried to slack off. Since the choreography was simple and relied on everyone moving in sync, I’d stand out like a sore thumb if I did it perfectly. But as it turns out, if you half-ass a dance, it suddenly becomes incredibly embarrassing.
To make matters worse, Suu-chan started worrying about me, asking, “Maa-kun, are you feeling sick?” while Riko-sensei scolded me, saying, “Makoto-kun, let’s do this properly, okay?” Even Jun ended up laughing at me, mocking, “Makoto, you look like a total loser.”
That’s when my spirit finally broke. I changed my strategy and decided to focus on raising the dancing skill level of my entire class instead. I gave one-on-one coaching to the kids who were struggling. I gave pointers to the kids who were already good. I even gave personal lessons to the kids who were burning with jealousy.
I taught them and praised them; when they succeeded, I praised them some more. I just kept the compliments coming. Maybe my passion got through, because the kids in the Rose Class improved tremendously. Riko-sensei was even acting all smug toward the teachers from the other classes.
However, failing to anticipate that this enthusiasm would spread from the children to the parents… well, that was my blunder. The logic for them was simple: Makoto teaches dance enthusiastically, so he must love it, which means he must be a pro.
I had a feeling my mother thought so too. When I was very little, I had performed a weird dance that made my mother’s stomach muscles cramp from laughing. It was true that I might have gotten a bit carried away back then. I guess this was just the price of my own actions. Being misunderstood on top of being told I was the center of attention… even I was going to feel heavy-hearted at that.
I even thought about just phoning it in during the actual performance, but if I were comforted afterward with something like, “Oh, you just got stage fright in front of the big crowd, didn’t you?” the psychological damage would be even worse. Honestly, I’d backed myself into a corner. But it was too late for regrets now.
”Hey, Suu-chan,” I whispered.
”Hm?” she hummed.
”Being good at dancing… isn’t a bad thing, right?” I asked.
”Nn! It’s cool,” Suu-chan replied.
Those words were my only saving grace.
”-Next up is a dance performance by the Rose Class-“
The announcement echoed through the hall, followed by the sharp ring of a buzzer. Then, the curtain that separated us from the audience began to rise.
* * *
A few short minutes later, the Rose Class presentation was over. The curtain lowered amidst thunderous applause. The expressions on the youngsters’ faces were a mixed bag. Some looked satisfied that they’d performed just like in practice, while others looked annoyed because they hadn’t danced enough, and some were fretting because they’d messed up the choreography.
While being praised and encouraged by the teachers saying, “You were all amazing!” we filed back into the dressing room.
”Phew…” I let out a long, deep breath.
Thanks to the audience being dark and hard to see, I didn’t feel as self-conscious as I’d feared. Since there was a boy in the center of the stage doing a dynamic dance fueled by his overflowing energy, I-tucked away at the edge-probably didn’t attract much notice.
”Maa-kun, want to hold hands?” Suu-chan asked.
”I’d be honored,” I replied.
”~♪”
Once it was over, it really was no big deal. I’d just say I was filled with a sense of fulfillment for having seen it through. I shouldn’t think too deeply about things that were already in the past.
The School Arts Festival continued smoothly after that, working through the program without any major incidents. We moved toward the events scheduled for after the finale.
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Summary:
Makoto participates in his kindergarten’s School Arts Festival, struggling with the second-hand embarrassment of performing as a child despite his adult mind. After his attempt to slack off backfires, he accidentally becomes the class’s dance coach, leading to high expectations from parents. The performance ends successfully, allowing Makoto a moment of relief and a quiet connection with Suu-chan.
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Trivia:
- Makoto’s tendency to over-prepare (exercise and stretching) prevents him from truly acting like a normal child, a recurring theme in his struggle to hide his ‘adult’ nature.
- The mention of Shiho-chan’s mother highlights how Makoto’s influence is spreading beyond his immediate peer group to the community.
- The title ‘The Best Place to Hide a Tree’ (referencing a forest) signifies Makoto’s failed attempt to blend into the crowd by improving the group’s overall skill
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Character Insight:
Suu-chan shows significant growth in her ‘nerves of steel,’ moving from someone Makoto protects to someone who comforts him during his anxiety. Their bond is cemented through the simple act of holding hands, showing a deepening trust.
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Lore And Worldbuilding Context:
The setting emphasizes a modern Japanese upbringing, focusing on cultural staples like the School Arts Festival (Gakugeikai) and traditional/standard exercises like Radio Calisthenics.
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TL Notes:
The translation preserves specific Japanese cultural terms like ‘Soran Bushi’ to maintain the ‘Modern Japan’ isekai setting, providing footnotes for readers unfamiliar with these specific cultural activities.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Makoto – Four‑year‑old Maa‑kun (93 cm, 13 kg) wears a neat white shirt, light‑blue non‑woven vest, trousers and cap with a backpack in Rose Class. He is a reincarnated 30‑year‑old salaryman calling himself “Toilet Master”, male despite his father’s view, and is known as Boss by peers. Polite, short‑haired, he protects Suu‑chan, mediates fights, reads Kanji, speaks English, aids his mother and neighbors, and keeps distance from everyone except his “future bride” Suzuki.
• Shiho – Four-year-old Rose-Class girl with shoulder-length hair in a side-up ponytail, wearing a white kitten-themed placemat and training chopsticks, deeply attached to her favorite hair clip; younger sister of Hina, classmate and peer of Makoto, close friend of Suu-chan and Yuma, quietly competes with Suu for Makoto’s attention, kind and considerate of Suzuka’s feelings, overcame fear of water to love swimming, leans on Makoto’s “secret” advice to make mud dumplings, and wishes happiness for the Tanabata deities.
• Riko – Riko‑sensei, lead teacher of Rose Class and PE instructor at Hinomori Kindergarten, also serves as school nurse. She wears a rash guard and athletic shorts for pool duties, exuding calm, observant warmth. Internally dry‑cynical, she judges coworkers sharply, yet finds quiet solace in Makoto’s subtle influence and Maa‑kun’s athletic skill.
• Jun – Rose, the Imai family’s youngest daughter and a Rose Class kindergartner, sports short‑sleeve tops and shorts year‑round, has a huge appetite, is ultra‑competitive, idolizes her mother, and is warned about germs by her older brother while Makoto reins her in. Energetic, physically strong, heroic, often forced to be ‘it’ in tag, now can count to ten, close friend of Makoto, and also a classmate who mocks his dancing.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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