High schools in Japan generally let out quite early, and Kitahara Minakaze’s school was no exception.
Classes ended at 3:30 PM.
As a result, Japanese high schoolers had a lot of free time on their hands.
However, most students participated in club activities after school.
Even those who didn’t usually hung out with friends.
There weren’t many members of the “Go-Home Club,” since parents tended to frown upon their kids coming home at three or four in the afternoon just to lie around.
But just because there weren’t many didn’t mean there were none.
Kitahara Minakaze was a proud member of the Go-Home Club.
The original owner of this body hadn’t joined any clubs, and the current Minakaze had no immediate plans to join one either.
As soon as school ended, he headed straight out the gates, planning to wait for Natsume Mio so they could walk home together.
He couldn’t help it.
He didn’t have any friends yet, nor did he have anything he wanted to do, leaving going home as his only option.
As for waiting for Mio, it was mainly because he worried she might run into trouble on the way.
After all, yesterday’s events were still fresh in his mind, and that emergency quest was still hanging over him.
Well, that, and the Fukuzawa Yukichi from this morning was still in his pocket…
In Minakaze’s memory, Mio was also in the Go-Home Club.
So, while he waited…
He wasn’t anxious in the slightest.
And then.
He ended up waiting from a little past three in the afternoon all the way until six o’clock…
…
“Bad intel…”
Minakaze crouched at the school gate.
After exchanging a glance with the security guard who was eyeing him warily, he stared down at the ants on the ground, feeling completely dead inside.
Mio had gone to club activities.
He had just gone back inside to confirm this with her classmates.
He would have liked to go find her directly to make sure she was okay, but he had no idea which club she was in.
At this point, someone might ask:
Did humanity invent cell phones just for you to use as a paperweight, Kitahara Minakaze?
Well, about that.
Minakaze did have a phone, but he had only used it for a single day.
Namely, yesterday.
During the attack, he had sat on it and cracked it right down the middle…
Snapped in half, completely unusable.
So right now, he had absolutely no way to contact anyone.
Even if he used a payphone, he hadn’t memorized Mio’s number.
“Yeah, this isn’t going to work. Never mind the communication issue, just killing time is agonizing without a phone. I need to find a part-time job and buy a new one.”
Minakaze watched the ants on the ground.
After crossing over into this world…
He had finally found his first goal in life.
Buy a smartphone.
The reason: sheer boredom…
“Brother…?”
At the exact same moment Minakaze discovered his life’s purpose.
Hurried footsteps suddenly approached from in front of him, followed by Mio’s voice.
Minakaze breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.
“It really is you. Why haven’t you gone home? What are you doing here?”
Mio glanced at the ants on the ground, then bent down to dust off Minakaze’s knees.
“Your pants are all dirty,” she sighed helplessly.
“Were you watching ants?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Eh?” Mio’s head snapped up to look at him, looking thoroughly surprised.
“Those are your classmates over there, right? They look like they’re still waiting for you. Is it okay?” Ignoring her expression, Minakaze looked toward the group of high school girls whispering among themselves near the gate.
“If it’s going to cause you trouble, you can go ahead with them. I can just trail behind from a distance.”
“You’ll be treated like a pervert if you do that,” Mio said, giving him a light glare.
“Besides, I’m not that mean. Wait here for a second.”
With that, she jogged off.
Minakaze watched as she ran over to her classmates, exchanged a few hushed words, playfully shoved them around a bit, and then her friends left first.
Mio then trotted back over to him.
“Let’s go.”
Minakaze nodded, grabbed his bag, and took the lead.
Mio followed closely behind, quickening her pace to catch up with her older brother.
“Sorry, club activities ran late, so I only just got out. But Brother, you really didn’t have to wait for me. Did you need something?”
Mio asked, struggling slightly to keep up with Minakaze’s long strides.
“After what happened yesterday, I was worried you might run into trouble again, so I waited a bit. It was the same deal this morning. I hope it wasn’t a bother.” Since he couldn’t exactly mention the system, Minakaze could only chalk it up to personal concern. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“…”
Mio froze, coming to a halt.
“Hm?” Minakaze took a few more steps before realizing she wasn’t following, so he stopped as well.
“Sorry…”
Mio jogged to catch up, explaining, “It’s just a bit surreal. Right before class started, I was hearing rumors about you humiliating classmates, beating them to a pulp, and having a thing for baby-faced girls with huge boobs. Then, the second school ends, you turn into this doting older brother worried about his sister. I just couldn’t adjust for a second…”
Minakaze’s blood pressure spiked the moment she brought that up.
“You just said they were rumors! Who humiliated a classmate? I was apologizing! And beating someone up is even more ridiculous. I tried to say hi, and the guy thought I was going to hit him. What was I supposed to do?”
“What about the last one? Is that true?” Mio blinked innocently.
“Your priorities are completely skewed, aren’t they?”
“Just curious.”
“…I do quite like them, actually.”
“Eh!?”
“Just being honest.”
“Brother, you’re definitely never getting a girlfriend.”
“?”
A vein popped on Minakaze’s forehead.
Mio burst into a fit of giggles.
Then, her expression softened.
Looking at Minakaze’s profile, she said, “Thank you for worrying about me.”
“Don’t mention it.” Minakaze nodded, his pace completely unaffected.
“By the way, you’re walking way too fast! I can barely keep up. Be a little more considerate of girls, would you?”
Mio grabbed his arm and hugged it tight, forcibly slowing him down.
Minakaze glanced down at her slender legs beneath her skirt and said, “Sorry, I didn’t take your stubby little legs into consideration.”
“I’ll hit you! They are not stubby! It’s obviously unfair to compare them to yours. What girl would compare herself to a guy who’s almost 190 centimeters tall?”
Mio squeezed his arm tighter and glared at him.
She certainly didn’t have as many reservations as she did when they first met yesterday.
“Well, I’m only seventeen, and you said I’d never get a girlfriend?”
“Okay, okay, you will, alright? When you came by this morning, one of my friends actually took a liking to you…”
“Oh? Care to introduce us?” The mention of a high school girl instantly perked Minakaze up.
“? Have some standards, Brother. She’s not right for you.”
Still clinging to his right arm, Mio struggled to lift her other hand—which was holding her bag—and gave his shoulder a firm pat.
“No, shouldn’t I be the judge of whether she’s right for me or not?”
“…I don’t think she’s right for you, so I’m not introducing you anyway.” Mio turned her head away.
“Tch, then why even bring it up?”
Minakaze clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
But despite his grumbling, he still held out his hand.
Mio gave him a confused look.
“Your bag. Isn’t it tiring to carry it with one hand while hugging my arm?”
“…” Mio blinked, instinctively handing the bag over.
Minakaze took it and gave it a brief glance.
Sure enough, it was covered in cute stickers.
Such a girly side to her.
He let out a quiet sigh of amusement.
Then, he looked away.
His pace wasn’t affected in the slightest.
After all, his Strength stat was three times that of a normal high schooler.
Let alone the weight of a single bag, he could probably chuck the rather light-looking Mio with his bare hands without much issue…
The two fell into a brief silence.
The afterglow of the setting sun washed over them, creating an indescribably harmonious and beautiful scene.
However, beautiful moments were meant to be broken.
They hadn’t even taken two steps.
When Minakaze completely ruined the mood by saying, “By the way, aren’t you holding on a bit too tight? My arm just brushed against…”
“Don’t say it out loud! Even if you felt it, don’t say it! Are you an idiot, Brother?!”
Mio, who had been hugging his arm with both hands ever since giving him her bag, quickly pulled away to create some distance.
She bit her lip, her face flushed red, looking utterly frantic.
“I was just worried you hadn’t noticed… Fine, if you say I shouldn’t bring it up, then pretend I never said anything.”
“What’s the point of saying that now?! You really are an idiot, Brother… Ah, whatever. It’s actually better that you said it. I was a little worried you might get the wrong idea, but now I can rest easy.”
“Hey, hey, hey, didn’t you just say something incredibly rude?”
“I pale in comparison to you! Who brings up something like that out of nowhere? I was just basking in your manly charm, and then you completely shattered the illusion!”
“Well, sorry about that, but the fact remains…”
“Shut up, Brother. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Alright.” Although Minakaze felt he hadn’t done anything wrong, he kept his mouth shut.
A real man doesn’t bicker with women.
“Honestly…”
Following that, the two fell into another brief silence.
This time, Minakaze didn’t ruin the mood.
Instead, as they walked, Mio suddenly sighed softly.
“This is nice.”
“Hm?”
“Being able to participate in club activities in peace, and then walking home in peace… it’s really nice.”
Minakaze asked curiously, “What club are you in?”
“The Kendo Club.”
“…An expected hobby. You’re the type to transform into a magical battle girl the second school ends, aren’t you?”
“I don’t transform. What kind of girl actually likes fighting people?”
Mio, holding onto Minakaze’s arm with both hands again, looked down at the ground.
She lightly kicked a pebble and murmured, “If I had to choose between fighting and going to karaoke with my classmates, I’d choose the latter every time.”
“That sounds so heavy. To think you’d rather sing with people than get into a fight.”
“Right?” On this particular point, Mio and Minakaze were surprisingly in sync.
“But is it really okay for you to do club activities? Won’t those people come looking for you while you’re alone at school?”
“The Countermeasures Division has strict rules, so they won’t come to the school. If anything, I feel much safer there.”
“What about at home?”
“Usually not. While it’s not impossible, Grandpa is the head priest of the shrine. Ordinary familiars are no match for him.”
“…That works, then.”
Hearing this, Minakaze didn’t press further.
He didn’t like forcing people to talk.
Now the scope of the quest was clear.
If only the commute was dangerous, finding a part-time job nearby should solve the issue.
He just didn’t know how long this quest would last…
“Brother?” Mio called out to him.
Minakaze snapped back to reality.
“Let me tell you something. I’ll probably be looking for a part-time job over the next couple of days. I was worried you might run into trouble at school, but since you said it’s safe, I can rest easy.”
Mio asked in surprise, “Why the sudden urge to find a job?”
Minakaze shrugged.
“I need to earn money to buy a phone. My old one broke yesterday, and it’s really inconvenient without one.”
“I see. I hadn’t considered that.”
Mio thought for a moment, hesitated, and then asked, “How about I buy one for you?”
“Forget it. While that’s certainly a tempting offer, I need to find something to do with my time anyway.”
“But you won’t get paid right away, will you? And it’s inconvenient not being able to contact you normally… Hmm, I wonder if we still have time… This way.”
Mio glanced at the sky, then suddenly grabbed Minakaze and started pulling him toward the station.
Minakaze raised an eyebrow.
“Where are we going?”
“The station. We need to buy groceries, and we can get you a phone while we’re at it. If we go now, I remember there being a mobile shop near the south exit of Fujisawa Station.”
“…”
Minakaze stared in amazement at Mio, who was a full head shorter than him.
For a split second, he felt like a sugar baby being kept by a wealthy older woman…
Feeling his gaze, Mio turned her head and asked curiously, “Brother, what’s with that look?”
“Nothing, just feeling a bit sentimental. Let’s buy it, then. It really is inconvenient without a phone. I’ll consider this a debt I owe you, along with the 10,000 yen from this morning… I’ll slowly pay you back with my part-time job over the next while.”
Snapping out of his daze, Minakaze thought it over and decided not to refuse her offer.
It would be too pretentious to say he didn’t need it at this point.
Of course, he definitely had to pay the money back, even if living off a woman was admittedly quite nice.
Joking about it was one thing, but actually sinking to that level would make him too much of a loser.
Minakaze knew he didn’t have the shamelessness of a professional freeloader, and besides, his stomach was perfectly fine—he didn’t need a sugar mommy.
Hearing Minakaze’s words, Mio opened her mouth, originally intending to say he didn’t need to pay her back.
But just as the words reached her lips, she suddenly thought that it wouldn’t be good for the man of the house to lack ambition.
So, in the end, she swallowed her words.
“So that’s the plan. Once I get a phone, I’ll probably start working. If you run into any trouble, please call me immediately.”
Minakaze thought for a moment and gave her a firm reminder.
“Mhm.”
Mio hummed in agreement, though she didn’t seem very enthusiastic.
Right after swallowing her words, it suddenly dawned on her that if her stepbrother got a part-time job, she would hardly ever see him.
After all, part-time shifts usually lasted until late at night, which meant they wouldn’t be able to walk home together after school anymore.
Even though today was just a coincidence.
She felt really safe walking back with him.
Now she would have to go back to walking home in constant fear…
Hmm…
thinking about it that way.
A man’s ambition…
didn’t seem all that useful after all.