A few days later, during a break between classes.
Mirai slipped out of the second-year classroom and headed straight to the third floor, where the upper grades were located.
He had already asked around.
Mikoto Uchiha was in Class One of the sixth year.
Her classroom was the second door on the left near the end of the corridor.
When Mirai reached it, he poked his head through the doorway and immediately spotted Mikoto sitting beside a window, writing something with her head lowered.
Her profile beneath the afternoon sunlight looked almost like a painting.
“Mikoto-senpai!”
Mirai called out and waved.
Mikoto looked up.
When she saw him, she paused in surprise before putting down her pen and walking to the door.
“Mirai Uzumaki?
What are you doing here?”
She bent slightly to look at him.
“Don’t you have class today?”
“It’s break time.
A little running won’t hurt.”
Mirai smiled, then became serious.
“That condition from before—I decided what I want.
I came to tell you.”
Mikoto remembered their agreement at the Academy gate several days earlier and nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Mirai cleared his throat, then solemnly raised three fingers.
“My condition is this: for the next six years, you’re not allowed to have a boyfriend, you’re not allowed to get engaged, and you’re not allowed to get married.”
Silence filled the corridor for two full seconds.
Mikoto blinked her beautiful black eyes.
Her expression went from confusion, to bewilderment, and finally to an almost helpless amusement.
“…What?”
“I was very clear.”
Mirai maintained a perfectly straight face.
“That’s my condition.”
Mikoto stared at his serious little expression and couldn’t help laughing.
“You’re a child.
Why are you worrying 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 stated my condition.
Are you agreeing or not?”
Mikoto looked down at the red-haired brat in front of her and found the whole thing ridiculous.
Then she thought about the actual request.
No boyfriend, no engagement, and no marriage for six years?
She was only eleven or twelve now.
Six years later, she’d still only be seventeen or eighteen.
She hadn’t been planning to think about marriage anytime soon in the first place.
She was one of the Uchiha Clan’s talented young kunoichi.
Improving her ninjutsu and completing missions naturally came first.
At the very least, she wanted to join the Konoha Military Police Force.
So the condition didn’t really inconvenience her at all.
“All right.”
Mikoto gave a helpless smile.
“I agree.
I wasn’t planning to think about those things anyway.”
“It’s a deal!”
Mirai’s eyes lit up, and he immediately held out his pinky.
“Pinky promise.”
“…You really are a child.”
Despite saying that, Mikoto still hooked her pinky around his.
“Pinky promise.
No changing your mind for a hundred years!”
Mirai recited the childish oath with complete seriousness before finally withdrawing his hand in satisfaction.
“All right!
I won’t interrupt your class anymore, Mikoto-senpai!”
He turned toward the stairs, his red hair bouncing beneath the sunlight like a small flame.
Mikoto remained where she was and watched his retreating back before quietly laughing.
“What a strange little boy…”
Someone at the far end of the corridor had witnessed everything.
Fugaku Uchiha had originally come to the Academy looking for Mikoto.
A few days ago, his father, Yamamoto Uchiha, had told him that marriage discussions with Mikoto’s family were nearly complete.
In a few more days, they planned to formally visit her family and propose the engagement.
Fugaku was still young, but he understood that his father was thinking about his future.
Mikoto was widely recognized as one of the clan’s most talented young kunoichi.
She was beautiful and had a gentle personality.
As far as Fugaku was concerned, she was an ideal future wife.
He had been free today and decided to visit the Academy to see his future fiancee and learn what she was like at school.
Instead, the moment he reached the third floor, he saw his “future fiancee” bending down at the far end of the corridor to speak with a red-haired brat.
At first, Fugaku didn’t think much of it.
He was just a little kid.
What could possibly happen?
Then he heard the words:
“For the next six years, you’re not allowed to have a boyfriend, you’re not allowed to get engaged, and you’re not allowed to get married.”
Fugaku stopped walking.
His eyes widened as he watched Mikoto stare in surprise, then smile and hook pinkies with the red-haired brat.
She agreed.
Fugaku felt a vein pulse at his temple.
He drew a slow breath, emerged from around the corner, and walked over with measured steps.
His expression remained solemn, but his slightly clenched fist betrayed him.
“Mikoto.”
Mikoto turned around and looked surprised when she recognized him.
“Fugaku?
Why are you here?”
Fugaku glanced at Mirai before looking back at Mikoto, doing his best to keep his voice even.
“I heard what you were talking about.”
Mikoto frowned.
“…Were you eavesdropping?”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping.
I happened to be passing by.”
A trace of stiffness appeared on Fugaku’s square face.
“Mikoto, why would you agree to such a ridiculous request?
Especially from a…
child.”
He glanced at Mirai again, making no attempt to hide the dismissiveness in his eyes.
Mirai raised an eyebrow and spread his hands.
“You’re Fugaku-senpai, right?
The agreement between Mikoto-senpai and me doesn’t really have anything to do with you, does it?”
Fugaku choked on his response.
Strictly speaking, Mirai was right.
The engagement hadn’t been formally proposed yet.
Mikoto didn’t even know about it.
Fugaku had no standing whatsoever to interfere with her decisions.
But watching the girl his family intended him to marry make a pinky promise with some brat that she “wouldn’t marry for six years” made anger burn in his chest anyway.
“Mikoto, you…”
He turned back toward her, wanting to say something, only to realize he didn’t know what he could actually say.
Mikoto’s expression had already cooled.
She was gentle by nature, but she was still a proud genius of the Uchiha Clan.
Having another clan member suddenly question an agreement she had freely made—especially when it was none of his business—made her uncomfortable.
“Fugaku,” Mikoto said, her voice noticeably colder, “what I choose to agree to is my own decision.
Even if you’re the clan heir, you don’t have any right to interrogate me about it, do you?”
Fugaku opened his mouth.
His face shifted between red and pale.
He wanted to say, “I’m going to be your fiance.”
But saying it now would reveal that the families had been arranging everything without first telling her.
It would not only be improper, it might ruin Mikoto’s impression of him completely.
He gritted his teeth, finally gave a heavy snort, and strode away.
“…What was that about?” Mikoto muttered while watching him leave.
Standing beside her, Mirai narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at Fugaku’s retreating back.
So if Mirai hadn’t interfered, Yamamoto Uchiha would probably have gone to Mikoto’s family very soon to formally propose the engagement.
Following the original timeline, this was likely around the period when Mikoto and Fugaku’s future marriage had been arranged.
“Six years should be enough, right?” Mirai murmured.
“By then I’ll have graduated from the Academy.
Winning Mikoto over shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Mikoto didn’t hear him clearly.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, nothing!
I’m going back to class, Mikoto-senpai!”
Mirai waved and sprinted down the stairs.