Sworn Brothers

As the crowd gathered around her, Sakayanagi Arisu quickly composed herself. Her signature calm smile returned, and she looked just as confident as ever.

Listening to the overlapping greetings and expressions of concern around her, she simply smiled warmly and replied, "Please don't go out of your way for me just because of my father. Rather than being the chairman's daughter, I'd much rather be an ordinary student and spend these next few years with everyone."

Her words were gracious and approachable. She deftly avoided the special treatment that came with her status while bringing herself closer to the others. The chatter around her gradually died down, and many people looked at her with a newfound respect.

"Hey, you. Aren't you worried about offending the chairman's daughter? What if she makes your life difficult?" A clear, feminine voice suddenly came from beside him, interrupting Uesugi Hara's thoughts.

Uesugi Hara looked around, then pointed at himself and asked uncertainly, "Are you talking to me?"

"Who else would I be talking to?" The girl rolled her eyes, sounding a little exasperated.

Uesugi Hara immediately clasped his hands and struck a pose straight out of a martial arts drama. "Might I ask your esteemed name?"

"Kamuro Masumi."

"So you're Brother Kamuro. I've heard much about you." Uesugi Hara replied with mock solemnity, then changed the subject. "I'm Uesugi Hara. Just call me Uesugi. As for my background... let's leave that for another time."

"Can you talk normally?" Kamuro Masumi frowned, clearly unimpressed by his act.

"Oh, sure." Uesugi Hara dropped the strange act at once and returned to normal. "I was just messing with Classmate Sakayanagi. How could that count as offending her?"

"Didn't look like you were messing around to me. You didn't see her face just now?" Kamuro Masumi raised an eyebrow. "By the way, do you really not know her, or are you pretending?"

"Of course I really don't know her!" Uesugi Hara retorted, annoyed. "If I did, why would I have tried to fob her off with that act?"

"But she acted like she knew you pretty well. That didn't seem fake, either." Kamuro Masumi still found it strange.

Uesugi Hara rubbed his chin and suddenly put on a mysterious air. "Maybe my reputation has already spread across the martial world, and she came here because she's heard of me?"

Watching him spout nonsense with a straight face, Kamuro Masumi couldn't help snorting. "You? A reputation across the martial world? More like a reputation for embarrassing yourself."

Seeing the mockery on Kamuro Masumi's face, Uesugi Hara's eyes darted about. He suddenly slapped his thigh and resumed his martial-arts-hero tone. "Meeting you today and hitting it off at once is truly a stroke of good fortune!"

He edged closer and said with a perfectly straight face, "I'd like to become sworn brothers with you. From now on, when there's good fortune... naturally, I'll enjoy it first. And when trouble comes... you go first? What do you say, Brother Kamuro?"

Kamuro Masumi didn't even raise an eyelid. She managed to squeeze out just one word: "Scram."

"Sure!" Uesugi Hara answered readily, immediately scooting back, a cheeky grin on his face as if he felt no embarrassment at all.

Kamuro Masumi was so exasperated by his shamelessness that she laughed and shook her head, then ignored him. Still, she thought he was a little ridiculous, but not exactly annoying.

Kamuro Masumi had no interest in continuing the conversation, but a girl in the row ahead seemed drawn in by their exchange. She turned around and looked at Uesugi Hara with bright, curious eyes.

Uesugi Hara immediately caught on and struck his martial-world pose again. "And you, traveler—what might your name be?"

The girl paused, pondering for a moment, then realized he was imitating his earlier way of speaking.

"Morishita Ai." Watching Uesugi Hara's exaggerated martial-world act, she didn't find it strange. Instead, she nodded seriously, as if responding to some solemn ritual.

Seeing that she'd played along, Uesugi Hara grew even more enthusiastic and cupped his hands. "Greetings, Miss Morishita. I'm Uesugi Hara."

Morishita Ai tilted her head and asked softly, "Uesugi Hara, did you just say... you wanted to become sworn brothers with Kamuro Masumi? Like in those Chinese dramas?"

Her gaze was clear and innocent, with a hint of curiosity about something new, though her bearing was rather cool.

Uesugi Hara couldn't find the book by searching its title. Maybe it had been renamed—try searching for the author!

Uesugi Hara was amused by how seriously she took it. Deliberately putting on a stern expression, he emphasized, "Of course. What is it, Miss Morishita? Do you want to join us?"

Morishita Ai didn't answer right away. Instead, she blinked and looked at him earnestly. "Then why is Kamuro Masumi a brother, while I'm a young lady?"

Uesugi Hara was taken aback. He glanced at Kamuro Masumi beside him, then turned to Morishita Ai and looked between them.

He rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, then explained, "Maybe Kamuro just looks like a boy. Look at her—" He nodded toward Kamuro Masumi. "She obviously never wears makeup, and she doesn't sit with her legs together like other girls. She keeps them slightly apart and even bounces her leg a little. It's pretty easy on the eyes, but she does seem a bit... well, unconcerned with appearances."

Kamuro Masumi was drinking water. At his words, she nearly choked, then glared furiously at Uesugi Hara. "You're the one who looks like a boy! Your whole family looks like boys!"

Uesugi Hara dodged her glare with a grin and turned to Morishita Ai. "See? She's got the temper of a boy, too."

"I see." Morishita Ai nodded thoughtfully.

Morishita Ai stared at Kamuro Masumi for a few seconds, then turned to Uesugi Hara and said seriously, "But Kamuro Masumi's hair is long. It's longer than mine."

Uesugi Hara was at a loss for words. He followed her gaze to Kamuro Masumi. The other girl did indeed have purple hair that reached her hips, though she wore it loosely over her back. With her uniform, she did seem less gentle and more brisk.

"You don't understand," Uesugi Hara said, clearing his throat as he tried to save face. "True martial-world heroines don't care about appearances. Classmate Kamuro is... well, she's got a heroic air!"

Kamuro Masumi's anger, which had just begun to subside, flared up again. She snatched a paper cup off the table and threw it at him. "Heroic air, my foot! Uesugi Hara, keep talking nonsense and I'll carve 'I'll enjoy the good fortune, you face the danger' into your face!"

The paper cup skimmed Uesugi Hara's arm and fell to the floor. He quickly bent down to pick it up, pleading as he did. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Spare me, Heroine Kamuro! I was wrong. You're not just heroic—you're gallant and dashing, and much prettier than those prim little girls!"

That sounded a little better. Kamuro Masumi gave a soft snort and let it go.

Watching the two of them bicker, Morishita Ai seemed to have discovered something interesting. She suddenly asked, "What about me? Am I a prim little girl?"

Uesugi Hara had just picked up the paper cup and handed it back to Kamuro Masumi. At her question, he looked up at her. Beneath her straight bangs, her blue eyes stood out, their outer corners drooping slightly. The curve should have looked gentle, yet her eyes held a cool distance, like a lake covered in thin ice. Her blue hair fell straight to her chest without a single kink, accentuating her long neck. She sat upright as a pine tree, and though she was tall, she had an aura that kept people at a distance.

How was she a prim little girl? She was the very picture of a cool older sister.

Uesugi Hara rubbed his nose. He swallowed the "Of course not" that had risen to his lips and chose another answer. "You... seem more like a seasoned martial-world veteran with a story to tell."

A flicker of confusion crossed Morishita Ai's blue eyes. "A martial-world veteran?"

"Exactly," Uesugi Hara said, making things up with a perfectly straight face. "You don't say much, but there's a story in your eyes. It's obvious you're no ordinary person. Maybe one day you'll pull out a sword and say, 'The truth is, I'm a hidden master.'"

Kamuro Masumi, listening beside them, couldn't help snorting. "Why not say she's a princess traveling incognito?"

"That's going a bit far," Uesugi Hara said, waving a hand, his tone teasing. "A princess wouldn't have her aura. Besides, if we're talking about princesses, there's one right over there."

As he spoke, he nodded toward Sakayanagi Arisu.

Over there, Sakayanagi Arisu was surrounded by several classmates, chatting with them. Her elegant posture, composed smile, and every graceful gesture gave her an air of nobility. She really did look like a princess raised with the utmost care.

Morishita Ai followed his gaze, then looked back at Uesugi Hara. A look of understanding passed through her blue eyes, but she didn't reply. She simply nodded.

Just then, the homeroom teacher walked in with the attendance sheet. His leather shoes struck the floor with a steady rhythm, and the classroom, which had been somewhat noisy, fell silent at once.

The group stopped talking in unspoken agreement. Uesugi Hara returned to his seat, leaned back in his chair, and let his gaze wander around the classroom.

He couldn't help musing: It's only just begun, and I've already run into the chairman's daughter, a spiky-haired heroine, and a cool older sister. Things are going to get interesting.