Kato Marumi

At night, Satsu tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. It wasn't for any particular reason—he was simply excited.

Anyone would have been excited after earning a hundred thousand points in two days. He'd come to this school with plans to make money, but he hadn't expected to do it so quickly.

Staring at his huge pile of points, Satsu excitedly burrowed under the covers and rolled around on his bed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, inside a luxury hotel,

a young girl was sprawled on a sofa, absorbed in a copy of Les Misérables.

Her white hair spilled down like moonlight, draping softly over her slender shoulders and gleaming against her silky skin.

A few unruly strands rested against her rosy cheeks, quivering gently with every breath.

Apparently annoyed by them, the girl puffed out her cheeks, turned her head, and blew the playful strands away. Her adorable, slightly pouty expression made her impossible not to dote on.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in."

Hearing the knock, the girl answered in a sweet voice.

"Miss, Snow Spider has come to pay her respects." Snow Spider bowed slightly and spoke respectfully.

When she saw Snow Spider, the girl's eyes lit up. She hurried to her feet and trotted over.

"So you're my brother's mother? It's nice to meet you. My name is Kato Marumi."

As she spoke, Marumi leaned forward slightly, tilted her head, and studied Snow Spider without blinking. Her curious expression made her all the more endearing.

"It's an honor to meet you." Snow Spider replied respectfully.

Marumi straightened up, and the curious light in her eyes faded. "I called you here because I wanted to meet you."

"Grandpa said you never age. If I remember correctly, your file says you're thirty-six, right?"

"Yes, miss," Snow Spider replied. She had remained bent at the waist the entire time, as if waiting for Marumi's permission to stand at ease.

Marumi had obviously noticed, but had no intention of letting Snow Spider relax.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The knocking came again. This time, an elderly man in a butler's uniform entered.

The old man was tall and straight-backed. The saying that time spared no one didn't seem to apply to him. Every white hair and whisker only added to his dignified air.

"Miss, we have news."

The old man's voice was rich and pleasant to listen to. "That person has agreed to become our eighteenth umbrella, codename Eighteen."

"Congratulations, miss. You've once again done an excellent job carrying out the master's orders."

Marumi listened patiently to the report. Then she turned around, leaving the two of them with only her back in view.

With her hands clasped behind her, she raised her left foot slightly and stared down at the floor, thinking as she asked, "How is my brother doing at that school?"

The old man answered at once. "The young master seems very busy. He's already had two students expelled after just two days of school."

"Really?!" Marumi asked excitedly, but soon she began to complain. "I wanted to go to that school too. It's all Uncle Xiao's fault for not letting me!"

"Hahaha, don't be silly, miss," Xiao replied with a laugh.

"None of us expected the young master would actually go to that school. Wouldn't it have been a shame if you'd gone and he hadn't?"

"Then I want to go now!"

"You can't, miss. The earliest you can go is next school year. Besides, you'd find it boring there."

"With my brother there, I won't be bored."

After saying that, Marumi turned to Snow Spider. "Does my brother know about me? What kind of person is he? I've only seen him in photographs."

"Satsu..."

"Smack!"

Snow Spider had barely said Satsu's name when Marumi raised her hand and slapped her.

The blow was hard enough to leave a clear red handprint on Snow Spider's cheek.

"You're not allowed to call my brother by his name." Marumi's tone remained as sweet as before.

Xiao took a handkerchief from his pocket, stepped forward, and carefully wiped Marumi's right hand, the one she had just used to slap Snow Spider. Marumi didn't resist, letting him do as he pleased.

"Let's go, Uncle Xiao! I want to visit Yi." Marumi had lost any interest in staying. She spoke casually.

"Yes, miss."

After the two of them left, Anderson rushed into the room. "Are you all right? I heard a noise."

"Where's the miss?"

"She went to see Yi," Snow Spider replied.

"Yi? I thought he was the governor of X State in the United States."

"I haven't been here long. I only just learned about that kind of thing myself."

Snow Spider nodded slightly, agreeing with what Anderson had said. "What else do you know?"

Anderson was a little taken aback that Snow Spider was asking him questions, but he answered anyway. "They're our umbrellas. There are seventeen of them, each using a number as a codename."

"You've been here longer than I have. Shouldn't you know that already?"

Snow Spider didn't respond. Instead, she continued, "Just now, we got an eighteenth umbrella."

During the day, on campus,

Satsu hadn't slept well at all. In fact, he'd barely slept. As soon as he left the dormitory, he couldn't help yawning.

"Kato!"

"Ah!!!"

Kikyo suddenly sprang in front of Satsu, startling him so badly that he was wide awake.

"Oh, it's Kushida. You scared me."

Satsu let out a long breath and asked, "What's up?"

"Did I scare you? I'm so sorry."

Kikyo first apologized sincerely, then said, "I wanted to ask if you'd exchange contact information with me. I want to be friends with everyone."

"If I'm seen with him often and we look like we're close, I should get more attention at school." (Kushida Kikyo)

Hearing Kikyo's inner thoughts, Satsu answered without hesitation, "I'll exchange contacts with you if you press your thumb against mine."

"Press our thumbs together? What do you mean? Are you asking me to make a promise with you, Kato?" Kikyo asked, confused.

Satsu naturally wasn't going to explain what he meant by pressing their thumbs together. He'd said it that way purely because he knew she wouldn't understand.

"I mean this!"

As he spoke, Satsu held out his left hand and gave a thumbs-up. Kikyo immediately understood what he meant, smiled, and gave a thumbs-up too.

Their thumbs pressed together, seemingly symbolizing the beginning of their friendship.

"Such a childish game." (Kushida Kikyo)

"She's definitely the easiest character to win over. She practically threw herself at me." (Kato Satsu)

"If you don't mind, just call me Satsu from now on."

"Of course. Then I hope you'll call me Kikyo too."

Though they each had their own plans, at least for now, to any onlooker, they were going about making friends exactly the right way.