Writing a Will in Advance Is Necessary

Patriarch Fugaku took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation in his heart, and turned his gaze toward the flustered Izumi in the office.

"Uchiha Izumi."

"Present!!!"

Fugaku was nearly startled by the young girl's shout. Keeping a straight face, he reminded her, "You don't need to be so loud."

Two visible blushes crept up Izumi's embarrassed face.

It was all because of Chisen-senpai's training. Whenever she heard someone call her name, she almost reflexively shouted "Present," terrified that responding too slowly would anger Chisen-senpai.

"Even I don't know why Chisen has such a huge issue with Itachi. Perhaps their personalities simply don't get along?"

Fugaku pondered for a moment. "You don't need to take Chisen's words to heart. I know you are one of Itachi's few friends. Right now, he needs the company of friends."

"Because..."

"His best friend has already left him."

Izumi knew who Patriarch Fugaku meant by "Itachi's best friend."

Itachi had mentioned that person to her before—one could even say he mentioned him often. Every time he brought up someone named Uchiha Shisui, the normally taciturn Itachi would become remarkably talkative.

"Uchiha Izumi..."

"Present!!!"

Fugaku: "..."

Izumi: "..."

With her hands clasped before her, Izumi was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground. She hurriedly bowed in apology. "My deepest apologies!"

"Ahem."

Kindly, Fugaku said, "If... you feel that Uchiha Chisen is unsuitable as your evaluator, I can pull a few strings and help you choose another evaluator who suits you better."

Fugaku was worried that this girl would be harmed by Uchiha Chisen.

Of course.

This sort of "harm" did not mean harm to her chastity, but harm to her life. Uchiha Chisen had precedent for that!

When Fugaku had said earlier that Izumi was one of Itachi's few friends, he had actually lied.

After Shisui's death...

Itachi's only remaining friend was this child, Uchiha Izumi.

No matter how harsh and demanding he was toward his son, or even how he had done things to Itachi in order to make him awaken his Sharingan—things that had nearly shattered their family bond—Fugaku still believed that he was, ultimately, a father.

A father...

Should at least spare a thought for his child's circumstances.

Izumi froze.

"Changing evaluators..." She hesitated. Chisen-senpai truly put immense pressure on her, and if she was even slightly careless, she would be scolded bloody by him.

But.

Izumi gritted her pearly teeth and looked up earnestly. "Lord Fugaku, I joined the Konoha Military Police Force to become a qualified law enforcer! Chisen-senpai may be strict, but I believe he can train me into a qualified, outstanding law enforcer!"

"Although today was only my first contact with Chisen-senpai, he has already taught me many things. Perhaps Chisen-senpai and I simply need time to adjust to each other."

Izumi had never seen anyone as devoted to justice as Uchiha Chisen.

Even if this senior's methods were somewhat extreme, even if he seemed to have some misunderstanding about Itachi.

He was absolutely a good person!

"Is that so..." Fugaku sighed. He had already made it quite clear, yet Izumi still insisted on following Uchiha Chisen. There was nothing more he could do except remind her, "Remember, do not defy his orders. Treat him as your superior."

"Yes, Lord Fugaku!"

Izumi nodded solemnly.

The next day.

With faint dark circles beneath her eyes, Izumi dragged herself out of bed listlessly. She had slept poorly last night, suffering several nightmares in a row. Her mind had been filled with the corpses of that criminal and that child, and she had even dreamed of being harshly scolded by Chisen-senpai for an entire day.

She wondered how the Konoha Military Police Force had dealt with the criminal's and victim's bodies...

And she wondered even more how desperate that child's mother must be now.

After all, her husband was dead, and her child was dead too. Worse still, the child had died at her husband's hands. It was simply too tragic.

Izumi rubbed her eyes, shook away the jumbled thoughts in her mind, tugged at her pajamas that had slipped off one shoulder because of her poor sleeping posture, then glanced at the alarm clock beside her bed.

Izumi instantly sobered up.

She nearly stopped breathing from fright.

"Crap!"

"N-Nine o'clock! I'm doomed! I forgot to set my alarm last night! I also forgot to tell Mom what time to wake me up in the morning!"

There had been no time to change into her Konoha Military Police Force uniform, much less eat breakfast. Chisen had even rushed out barefoot, flinging open the door in a panic, her fair little face drained of all color.

As a result.

She found her mother, "Uchiha Hazuki," talking outside with her senior, "Uchiha Chisen."

Then.

She watched helplessly as Senior Chisen turned his gaze toward her.

Chisen suddenly had an absurd thought—if she killed herself now, would she at least die looking a little better?

"Ah... Chisen, you're awake?" Mrs. Uchiha Hazuki, who had raised her daughter alone, showed a trace of apology on her still-charming face. "When Lord Chisen came looking for you, I wanted to wake you up, but he told me not to. He said... he wanted to see just how long you'd sleep."

Chisen stared blankly.

Her entire mind went foggy.

She felt that her days were numbered. She should have listened to that female Uchiha senior and written a will in advance—then it would have come in handy very soon.

"S-Senior..."

Chisen's voice trembled.

Uchiha Chisen looked at the girl, whose eyes had lost all light from fear and helplessness, and said expressionlessly, "Change your clothes. You were two hours late today. You'll work four extra hours tonight, and all your weekends off this month are canceled."

"Y-Yes... Huh?"

"...Ah?"

Chisen froze. She stared at Senior Chisen in disbelief—the man who, in the words of the other Konoha Military Police Force seniors, had practically become "the Great Demon King who killed trainees during evaluations without hesitation."

For a moment, Chisen felt as though she were dreaming, as if she had not woken up yet.

"You thought I was going to kill you. Didn't you?"

Chisen: "..."

She couldn't hide her thoughts from Senior Chisen at all!

Uchiha Chisen said flatly, "The day you betray Justice, I really will kill you without hesitation. You have thirty seconds. If you're not standing before me within thirty seconds, you'll fail your evaluation. Then you can crawl back into bed and sleep until tomorrow morning."

Chisen immediately shuddered.

"Yes, Senior!"

She hurriedly turned around and shut the door, stripping as she ran. A burst of clattering came from inside the house. At the twenty-nine-second mark, a second-floor window flew open, and Chisen hurriedly leaped down, landing steadily in front of Uchiha Chisen.

"Phew... phew..."

Chisen's little heart was pounding wildly. Her Konoha Military Police Force uniform was crooked and disheveled, as though she had thrown it on in a rush.

She carefully stood beside Uchiha Chisen.

With her head lowered, she did not dare make a sound.

"Lord Chisen, Chisen is a special child. Her personality is different from the other Uchiha in the clan. If Chisen causes you any trouble, then please, Lord Chisen..."

Before Mrs. Hazuki could finish, Uchiha Chisen cut her off. "I only care whether she can do her job properly. Let's go."

Chisen clutched the hem of her clothes and obediently followed behind Uchiha Chisen.

Just then, she noticed that her senior was carrying something.

It looked like a takeout bag from Ichiraku Ramen.

"I don't make a habit of wasting food." Uchiha Chisen casually tossed it over, startling Chisen into catching it.

Chisen immediately remembered that Senior Chisen had said yesterday that they were supposed to meet at Ichiraku Ramen this morning.

She was so ashamed that her eyes reddened.

"I'm sorry, Senior..." Her voice caught slightly.

"Rookie, the reason you should apologize is that because of your lateness, Justice was late as well."

Chisen carried the Ichiraku Ramen.

Her little head drooped again.

"I'm sorry..."