Six-Year Promise with Sister Mikoto

A few days later, during recess.

Mirai Uzumaki slipped out of the second-year classroom and headed straight up to the third floor—the floor for upperclassmen.

He had already found out that Mikoto Uchiha was in Class One of the sixth year, in the second classroom on the left at the end of the corridor.

When he reached the door, he poked his head inside and saw Mikoto sitting by the window, writing something with her head lowered. Her profile looked as exquisite as a painting in the afternoon light.

"Senior Mikoto!" Mirai called, waving at her.

Mikoto looked up. When she saw him, she froze for a moment, then set down her pen and got up to walk over.

"Mirai Uzumaki? What are you doing here?" She bent down to look at him, clearly surprised. "Shouldn't you be in class today?"

"It's recess. Running around for a bit won't hurt." Mirai smiled, then turned serious. "That condition from last time—I've thought it over. I came to tell you."

Mikoto recalled their agreement at the school gate a few days ago and nodded. "Go ahead."

Mirai cleared his throat, then raised three fingers with a solemn expression.

"My condition is this—for the next six years, you can't have a boyfriend, you can't have a fiancé, and you can't get married."

The air fell silent for two seconds.

Mikoto blinked her beautiful black eyes. Her expression shifted from confusion to blankness, then from blankness to a complicated mix of amusement and disbelief.

"...Huh?"

"I was very clear," Mirai said without changing expression. "That's my condition."

Looking at his serious little face, Mikoto could not help laughing. "Why is a child like you thinking about things like that?"

"What's wrong with being a child?" Mirai put his hands on his hips. "Children have dignity too! Anyway, I've made my condition. Senior Mikoto, are you agreeing or not?"

Mikoto looked down at the little Kurenai-haired brat before her. It seemed ridiculous, but then she thought about it—no boyfriend, no fiancé, no marriage for six years?

She was only eleven or twelve now. Even six years later, she would only be seventeen or eighteen. She had never planned to think about marriage in the first place.

She was a genius kunoichi of the Uchiha Clan. Naturally, improving her Ninjutsu and carrying out missions came first.

At the very least, she wanted to join the Konoha Military Police Force.

So this request did not really have any practical effect on her.

"Fine," Mikoto said with a helpless smile. "I agree. I wasn't planning on any of that anyway."

"It's a deal!" Mirai's eyes lit up as he held out his little finger. "Pinky promise."

"...You really are a child." Mikoto said it, but she still held out her hand and hooked her little finger around his.

"Pinky promise, swear on the gallows—one hundred years, no changes!" Mirai recited the oath with great seriousness, then pulled back his hand in satisfaction. "All right, I won't disturb your class anymore, Senior Mikoto!"

He turned and headed toward the stairs. His Kurenai hair danced beneath the sunlight in the corridor like a tiny flame.

Mikoto stood where she was, watching his retreating back, and could not help letting out a soft laugh.

"What a strange little brat..."

All of this was witnessed by someone at the other end of the corridor.

Fugaku Uchiha had originally come to the school to see Mikoto today.

A few days earlier, his father, Yamamoto Uchiha, had told him that the marriage alliance with Mikoto Uchiha's family had nearly been settled. In a few days, they would formally visit her home to propose.

Although Fugaku was still young, he knew his father meant well.

Mikoto was widely recognized as a genius kunoichi within the clan. She was beautiful, gentle in temperament, and indeed the ideal choice for a wife.

With nothing to do today, he had thought he would come to the school early to see his future fiancée and learn what she was like in daily life.

But as soon as he reached the third floor, he saw his "fiancée" at the end of the corridor, bent over as she spoke to a little Kurenai-haired brat.

He had not thought much of it at first—what could a little kid possibly want?

Then he heard that sentence—

"For the next six years, you can't have a boyfriend, you can't have a fiancé, and you can't get married."

Fugaku stopped in his tracks.

His eyes widened as he watched Mikoto Uchiha freeze for a moment, then smile and extend her little finger to hook it with that Kurenai-haired brat's.

She had even agreed.

Fugaku felt a vein throb at his temple.

He drew a deep breath and stepped out from around the corner. His gait was steady and his face stern, though his slightly clenched fists gave away his emotions.

"Mikoto."

Mikoto turned around and was mildly surprised when she saw him. "Fugaku? What are you doing here?"

Fugaku glanced at Mirai Uzumaki beside her, then looked back at Mikoto, trying to keep his voice even. "I heard your conversation just now."

Mikoto frowned slightly. "...Were you eavesdropping?"

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I merely happened to pass by." A trace of stiffness appeared on Fugaku's square face. "Mikoto, why did you agree to such a ridiculous request? And from a... child, no less."

He glanced at the stopped Mirai Uzumaki, the disdain in his eyes undisguised.

Mirai raised an eyebrow and spread his hands. "You're Senior Fugaku, right? The agreement between Senior Mikoto and me doesn't seem to have anything to do with you, does it?"

Fugaku choked on those words.

Strictly speaking, it really had nothing to do with him. The engagement had not been formally proposed yet, and Mikoto did not even know about it. He had no standing to interfere with any decision Mikoto made.

But seeing his future fiancée pinky swear with a little brat that she would not marry for six years, he could not suppress the fire in his heart.

"Mikoto, you..." He turned to her, wanting to say something, but not knowing how to say it.

Mikoto's expression had already turned cold.

Though she was gentle by nature, she was still a genius of the Uchiha Clan, proud to the bone.

Being confronted by an uninvited boy from her clan over an agreement she had made with someone else—and one that clearly had nothing to do with him—made her deeply uncomfortable.

"Fugaku," Mikoto said, her voice turning colder, "what agreements I choose to accept is my freedom. Even if you are the young clan head, you have no right to question me."

Fugaku opened his mouth, his face alternating between Kurenai and pale.

He wanted to say, "I'm your future fiancé,"

But saying that now would mean acting first and informing her afterward. Not only would it be improper, it would also make Mikoto's opinion of him plummet.

He gritted his teeth. In the end, he merely gave a heavy snort, turned, and strode away.

"...How ridiculous." Mikoto watched his back and muttered softly.

Standing beside her, Mirai Uzumaki narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he watched Fugaku leave.

It seemed that if he had not intervened, Yamamoto Uchiha would soon have gone to Mikoto's home to propose.

Following the original story's course, Mikoto should have become engaged to Fugaku around this time.

"Six years should be enough, right?" he murmured to himself. "By then, I'll have graduated from the Ninja Academy too. Winning over Sister Mikoto shouldn't be much of a problem."

Mikoto did not catch that. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing! I'm heading back to class first, Senior Mikoto!" Mirai waved and dashed down the stairs.