"Good morning, Hina!"

Classmates greeted her warmly.

Decent face,

Decent grades,

Decent social skills,

And a body that, well,

She had a sizable bust, but she was somewhat chubby.

There was nothing about her that made people slow to warm up to her.

After classes, Hina went to attend the club activities.

Hina had developed a hobby of needle felting, which her mother had taught her long ago.

"Hina!"

It was Himari, a fellow member of the needle felting club.

Their names were both written with the same kanji characters, "Hina," but pronounced differently. Himari's name was read as "Himari."

It was thanks to having the same kanji characters in their names since their enrollment that they became good friends.

So, they started calling each other "Hina" and "Himari."

Himari was working on finishing a fluffy guinea pig in light brown and black.

"Himari-chan, it's almost complete, right?"

"Yeah, once I attach the seams and add the whiskers, it should be finished. Hina-chan, your work is quite ambitious, isn't it? Making a Fenrir this time, a character that often appears in another world. I tried adding a little bit of blue or purple to its pure white fluff."

"Oh, really? The blue parts make it sparkle and look beautiful."

"Right?! You get it?"

Hina usually wasn't very talkative, but when it came to needle felting, she became more loquacious. It's natural to feel elated when praised for something you love!

By the time it was time to be picked up, Hina's Fenrir was also completed with Himari's help.

"Himari-chan, I'm sorry, but my grandfather called me after this, so I have to go."

"I see. Hina-chan, see you tomorrow. Bye-bye."

As Hina left the school building, the limousine had already arrived to pick her up. Once she got inside, it moved quietly. The venue was about an hour away from Akashi.

***

Upon arriving at the venue, Hina changed into formal attire and sat next to her grandfather in the guest seats.

"Hina, you made it."

"Yes, Grandfather. It's been a while."

"Hina, you've become a middle school student now, haven't you?"

"Yes, I started as a first-year this spring."

They engaged in some casual small talk before settling into silence.

While Hina didn't dislike her grandfather, he had an air of dignity, spoke very little, and she found him a bit difficult to approach. Currently, he was the head of the Kawasakis, a prominent zaibatsu.

"Now then, everyone, since the keynote speech has concluded, I would like to proceed with the highly anticipated particle collision experiment."

"With this state-of-the-art accelerator, we will accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, imparting tremendous energy to them, thus recreating the Big Bang that marked the beginning of the universe. We aim to recreate the world one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang, allowing us to approach the mystery of the universe's birth."

"Our particles have already achieved maximum acceleration. Now, I would like to invite Miss Hina Kawasaki, the chairman's granddaughter, to initiate the first particle collision experiment of Spring ♾️ and start the Big Bang. Please give her a round of applause."

Amidst thunderous applause, Hina stepped forward and placed her index finger on the large, red button with a pronounced "Ripon" on it.

"Three, two, one, go!"

As the emcee's countdown ended, Hina pressed the button.

The sky seemed to tear open, and in an instant, the surroundings vanished, replaced by a pattern reminiscent of opal's iridescent effect, shimmering and everything transforming into "energy bodies."