Plans for a part-time job

[Amenonuhoko]

[Golden-Hooped Rope]

[Seven-Star Sword]

[Banana Palm Fan]

[Amber Purifying Pot]

But looking at all those glaring zeros on the price list, he realized that even all his Ninja Jewels combined would not buy a single item. In the end, he could only give up in disappointment.

After a simple lunch, he returned to his seat for a short nap, and soon it was time for class again.

Through the two afternoon classes, his stomach felt empty, and so did his head. After finally making it to the end of the school day, Uchiha Naruto planned to find a stall on the way home to fill his stomach, then look around his neighborhood for somewhere he could work part-time. He just did not know whether his remaining money would last until then.

As soon as he left the classroom, his homeroom teacher, Kinjo Ichiro, stopped him at the door.

"Uchiha, do you have a moment? Could you help me deliver something to Room 501 in the club activities building?"

Uchiha Naruto still showed teachers basic courtesy. It was only an errand, after all, so he took the document envelope from Mr. Kinjo.

The club activities building stood behind the classroom building, facing it across the sports field.

Uchiha Naruto had visited the club building several times while looking around the clubs last week. Besides the rooms used for club activities, Jinguji High School's cooking and home economics sewing classrooms were also located there.

He took the elevator to the fifth floor and arrived at the door to Room 501. The space beneath the room number was blank, with no indication of which club or department used it.

Perhaps it was a room used by the faculty or the Student Council.

"Come in."

Uchiha Naruto knocked, heard a response from inside, and pushed the door open.

Inside was a spacious, brightly lit activity room with exquisite, lavish decor. A red cashmere carpet covered the floor, and the room contained a television spanning half a wall, an enormous double-door refrigerator, luxurious leather sofas, and two-meter-tall wooden bookshelves packed with all sorts of books.

It felt as though he had walked into the Student Council office.

At the far end of the room stood an enormous mahogany desk. Behind it, a girl with long black hair stood at the window, her arms folded across her chest as she gazed out at the sports field and classroom building.

From that elevated window, everything on the sports field lay in plain sight, along with the lights, bright or dim, in the classrooms of the building opposite.

School had just ended, and the lively clamor of boys and girls throwing themselves into club activities echoed outside, along with cheers and shouts of encouragement. The nearby wind ensemble's recorders and oboes mingled with the pleasant sound of a piano farther away. That music, brimming with youthful energy, drifted into the room with the gentle spring breeze, stirring the girl's hair.

Like a mistress who had finished surveying her domain, the girl drew her gaze away from the sports field. Keeping her arms folded across her chest, she fixed Uchiha Naruto with a commanding stare.

"Good afternoon, Uchiha."

The girl had glossy black hair that reached her hips, delicate snow-white skin, bright, expressive eyes, and thin lips like a cherry blossom petal. Her features were exceptionally beautiful and well-proportioned.

She wore the same black uniform as the other female students, with a red ribbon tied in a bow at her chest to identify her as a student. Below it was a black pleated skirt, and black over-the-knee socks covered her long legs.

Uchiha Naruto's gaze swept over her face, traveled down her body, then returned upward. Finally, a look of recognition appeared on his face.

"I remember your name was Ichihashi? I didn't realize we went to the same school. So you don't wear glasses or braid your hair at school?"

Keenly catching the movement of his eyes, the girl nearly lost her imposing composure. A hint of fluster crossed her face before she immediately regained her earlier calm and spoke with a sharp look.

"It seems you really haven't been able to forget me, Uchiha. That was my disguise outside school. And my name isn't Ichihashi. I used a false name at the izakaya. I'm Matsudaira Chiyo from Class 2-A."

"Oh, so you're an upperclassman."

Although Uchiha Naruto used polite language, his tone held no respect whatsoever, only perfunctory courtesy.

Japan placed great importance on seniority. In club activities, even mediocre, incompetent upperclassmen could order talented new students around and throw their weight about. They could even determine who qualified for official competitions based on seniority rather than ability.

In the workplace, this became the seniority system. So what if a newcomer was outstanding at their job and highly capable? Want a promotion? Wait your turn.

"These are the documents our homeroom teacher, Mr. Kinjo, asked me to deliver to Room 501. I'll leave them on the desk. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

Uchiha Naruto clearly remembered how aggressive and narcissistic Matsudaira Chiyo had been at the izakaya. Now she was acting like a refined young lady and addressing him politely. Going from arrogance to courtesy like this did not bode well. He had better leave first.

"Thank you for coming all this way to the club building to deliver the documents, Uchiha Naruto. Would you like some tea or a cup of coffee?"

"No, thank you."

Uchiha Naruto placed the document envelope on the desk and turned to leave.

"You can leave today, Uchiha, but surely you don't want to come deliver documents to me every day," Matsudaira Chiyo said with a sigh.

"What do you mean by that?" Uchiha Naruto stopped and turned to ask.

"You don't really think Mr. Kinjo just picked a student at random to deliver something to the club building, do you? I specifically asked him to send you here. Surely you don't want to deliver something to me again tomorrow."

Why would Kinjo, a teacher, obey a female student? Even if Matsudaira Chiyo was the Student Council president, she would not have that kind of authority.

As though she could read Uchiha Naruto's thoughts, Matsudaira Chiyo gave a restrained smile.

"In modern society, the only legal ways to control others are power, money, and love. My mother happens to be the chair of this school's board of directors, so when I occasionally make one or two requests that aren't too unreasonable, most teachers won't refuse."

"Can we sit down and talk for a moment now? Black tea or coffee, Uchiha?"

"With a refrigerator that big, don't you have any soda? I want cola. Chilled."

Picking up a can of cola covered in droplets of condensation, Uchiha Naruto opened it and gulped down half the can before speaking without the slightest reserve.

"So what business does Lady Matsudaira have with a commoner like me? Surely you're not writing a report on observing commoners."

He deliberately emphasized the word "Lady." Matsudaira Chiyo smiled, seemingly unbothered by his mockery, then brushed back her long hair and spoke in a clear voice.

"I called you here because I wanted to ask about what happened that day. How did I fall into the water? I couldn't see clearly in the lake, but it felt as though something grabbed my foot and dragged me in."

"I don't know either. I just saw you fall in and pulled you out. I didn't see anything in the lake. You said something dragged you underwater? Maybe it was a crocodile or a python?"

Uchiha Naruto certainly could not tell Matsudaira Chiyo that a monster had dragged her underwater, so he made something up offhand.

"Please don't joke, Uchiha. How could there possibly be a crocodile or a python in Nakano Park's artificial lake?"

"You never know. Isn't there a famous American urban legend about alligators in the sewers? In a big city like Tokyo, it's perfectly normal for people to keep reptiles like crocodiles, pythons, or green iguanas, right? And once they get too big to keep at home, tossing them into an artificial lake would be perfectly normal too, wouldn't it?" Uchiha Naruto said with a smile.

Seeing how he kept joking around, Matsudaira Chiyo frowned in displeasure and stared intently at him.

"I already contacted the park management over the weekend and had them drain the artificial lake. There weren't any crocodiles or pythons. There weren't even any particularly large fish."

Uchiha Naruto was a little dumbfounded. Was this what it meant to be a rich young lady? She could even get something like that done. He had thought only fishing fanatics did things like that.

"If it wasn't a crocodile or a python, what else could it be? Surely it wasn't a kappa or a water ghost?"

"You're getting more and more ridiculous, Uchiha..." Matsudaira Chiyo's suspicious gaze roamed over him.

"Anyway, that's all I know. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."

Uchiha Naruto picked up the remaining cola and drained it, then prepared to rise and leave.

"Please wait."

Matsudaira Chiyo said, "Repaying kindness is a rule in my family. Uchiha, if you ever have any trouble at Jinguji High School, you can come to me."