A Promise!

The next day.

Ring-ring—

His phone alarm went off.

Natsume Chikage opened his bleary eyes, and the familiar cramped ceiling still filled his view.

Awake right on time, he reached out with his right hand and turned off the alarm.

Since school was starting today, Natsume Chikage gently shook Natsume Ruri in the other bed. "Ruri, time to get up."

"It feels like I just closed my eyes... How is it already morning?" Ruri sat up groggily, her hair a mess, her eyes half-closed, and her body swaying as though she might collapse back onto the pillow at any moment.

Seeing his sister like this, Natsume Chikage smiled, reached out to ruffle her messy hair, then got up and headed to the bathroom to wash up and change.

Once everything was ready.

He looked at himself in the mirror, dressed in his school uniform, with a somewhat strange expression. Clearly, he had not expected to have to repeat high school.

But since he had been given a chance to start over, he had to get into a better university this time, no matter what.

Although Natsume Chikage had previously attended a Project 985 university, it had not been a particularly famous one.

University of Tokyo, on the other hand, was one of the top prestigious universities even in all of East Asia.

Its ranking was who knew how much higher than that of the university he had attended before.

Now that he was living in Tokyo, Natsume Chikage felt that he should work hard and try to get into University of Tokyo this time!

When he came out of the bathroom, Ruri had already neatly made the bed and was preparing breakfast and lunch boxes by the stove.

An enticing fragrance filled the tiny three-tatami-mat room, making Natsume Chikage's stomach growl traitorously.

During breakfast, Ruri carefully spoke up:

"Although Dad only paid your tuition for this semester before he passed away, you mustn't think about finishing this semester and then going out to work or anything."

"Studying is still very important!"

"Only by studying hard can we have a greater chance of escaping our current poverty."

"Without the necessary knowledge, even if an opportunity to make money were right in front of us, we might not recognize it."

"So Ruri was thinking that even if our family doesn't have enough money to pay your tuition next semester, we could talk to the bank and get some kind of student loan."

"You have to give something up to gain something."

"Those student loans aren't that stressful. Once Ruri gets to university, it would be fine for me to help you repay them, Brother!"

"Ruri just hopes you won't give up on school or start considering getting a proper job at this age. That would be too hard, and you wouldn't earn much either. The returns would be inversely proportional to studying..."

"Do you understand what Ruri means, Brother?"

Natsume Chikage ate his breakfast without even looking up. "I know."

Seeing how absentminded he looked, Natsume Ruri could not help pouting. She felt that her idiot brother definitely had not understood what she meant.

Sitting beside Natsume Chikage, she asked in the simplest possible terms:

"No matter what, Brother, you have to promise me that you'll finish university. You absolutely can't drop out halfway through, okay?"

Looking at his sister's serious expression, Natsume Chikage replied with a smile:

"Don't worry. My goal is the same as yours: University of Tokyo."

"I was even thinking that when we're in university, I could make you call me Senior or something, so there's no way I'd drop out halfway through."

"You'd better mean that!" Natsume Ruri gave Chikage a shy yet helpless punch, feeling that her brother really was completely unreliable.

Though she was happy inside to hear her brother say he wanted to attend the same university as her, she did not place much hope in it.

She had watched her brother's grades ever since they were little.

He had consistently ranked dead last in school.

He had no particular talent either, so even becoming a special-admissions student would be difficult.

With his situation, getting into University of Tokyo was absolutely impossible.

Still, since her brother had promised to properly finish university, she did not say anything else that might hurt his confidence.

Anyway, she thought it would be enough for her idiot brother to have a university degree. It did not matter whether he could make money in the future.

Although her brother was currently the one earning money to support the family, once she turned sixteen and could legally work, it would be her turn to support him!

Inside the subway station.

Natsume Chikage's gaze unconsciously drifted toward the bracelet on his sister's wrist.

He could see it, and he craved it.

Natsume Chikage sighed inwardly. Until I come up with a suitable excuse, it'll probably be difficult to get this special equipment from my sister.

With a thought, he summoned the panel in his mind:

[Character: Chikage]

[Age: 16]

[Strength: 4] (The average attribute value for a normal adult is 5)

[Agility: 4]

[Mental: 5]

[Constitution: 5]

[Charm: 9]

[Equipment: "Young Boy's Painful Diary" "Dust-Covered Chess Manual"]

[Until the next attribute point reward: One more piece of equipment needed!]

One more piece...

Besides the one on his sister and the one with the Kondo family, where else could there be one?

Would there be one at school?

After thinking it over, Natsume Chikage decided that whenever he had spare time at school, he would wander around and see whether he could find any special equipment.

The two arrived at the train platform.

Knowing that Ruri was headed in the opposite direction from him, Natsume Chikage softly reminded her, "Ruri, if anything happens, remember to call me first thing, okay?"

Natsume Ruri obediently nodded. "Ruri knows."

After a pause, she looked at her brother with bright eyes and seriously added, "But the same goes for you, Brother. If anything happens to you, remember to tell me too. Ruri will worry about you."

Warmth filled Natsume Chikage's heart, and he answered with a smile, "Mm."

Just then, the sound of a train approaching came from the distant tracks.

The train Ruri was taking arrived before Chikage's.

The train came to a steady stop by the platform, and the doors slowly opened with a hissing release of air.

Natsume Ruri turned around and looked at Chikage. "Brother, I'll be going now."

"Mm, be careful on the way. Bye." Natsume Chikage waved, watching his sister's figure lightly step into the carriage.

The doors closed, and the train gradually accelerated before finally disappearing at the end of the tracks.

He withdrew his gaze and stepped back to the opposite platform, quietly waiting for his own train.

A refreshing breeze swept across the platform, gently stirring the hair over Natsume Chikage's forehead and carrying a trace of thought with it.

He suddenly wondered whether any of the classmates he had known before had also enrolled at Moonlight Academy.

The thought lingered in his mind for a moment before he helplessly shook his head.

It did not matter whether there were or not.

At his old school, his former self had basically been an outsider and had not been particularly close with any of them.

Perhaps once he got to school, no one would even remember him.

As for now... it was more important to make use of this brief free time and quickly write out The Devotion of Suspect X.

With that thought, Natsume Chikage composed himself, lowered his head, and rapidly tapped across his phone screen.