The next day.
Ding-a-ling-ling——
The phone alarm went off.
Natsume Chikei opened his bleary eyes.
The familiar, cramped ceiling greeted him once again.
He reached out with his right hand and turned off the alarm on time.
Since today was the first day of school, Natsume Chikei gently shook the other bedding where Natsume Ruri lay.
“Ruri, it’s time to get up.”
“Feels like I only just closed my eyes… How is it morning already?” Ruri sat up groggily, hair messy, eyes half-closed, body swaying as if she might topple back onto the pillow at any second.
Watching his sister like this, Natsume Chikei smiled.
He reached out and rubbed her messy hair, then got up and headed to the bathroom to wash up and change.
Once he was ready.
He looked at himself in the mirror wearing the school uniform and his expression turned strange.
He clearly hadn’t expected to be redoing high school.
But since he had been given a second chance, he was determined to get into a better school this time.
Although the university Natsume Chikei had attended before was already a top-tier 985 school, it wasn’t particularly famous.
Tokyo University, on the other hand, was one of the most prestigious universities in all of East Asia.
Compared to the school he had gone to before, its ranking was far ahead.
Natsume Chikei figured that since he was already living in Tokyo, he might as well aim for Tokyo University this time!
When he came out of the bathroom, Ruri had already neatly made the beds and was at the stove preparing breakfast and bentos.
The small three-tatami room was filled with an appetizing aroma that made Natsume Chikei’s stomach growl traitorously.
While they were eating, Ruri carefully spoke up.
“Even though Dad only paid for this semester’s tuition before he passed away, you shouldn’t think about just finishing this semester and then going out to work or something.”
“Studying is still really important!”
“Only by studying hard will we have a better chance of escaping our current poverty.”
“Without the right knowledge, even if an opportunity to make money is right in front of you, you might not even notice it.”
“So Ruri was thinking… even if we don’t have money for your next semester’s tuition, we could talk to the bank about getting a student loan or something.”
“You have to give up something to gain something.”
“The pressure from those student loans isn’t that bad.
Once Ruri goes to university, I can help big brother pay it back.
That’s fine too!”
“It’s just that Ruri hopes big brother won’t give up on school.
Don’t start thinking about getting a full-time job at this age.
That would be too hard, and the money you’d earn wouldn’t be much.
The returns are the opposite of studying…”
“Ruri saying all this… can big brother understand?”
Natsume Chikei ate his breakfast without looking up.
Natsume Ruri saw his casual expression and couldn’t help puffing out her cheeks.
She felt like her dummy big brother definitely hadn’t understood what she meant.
She sat beside Natsume Chikei and asked in the most straightforward way possible.
“Anyway, no matter what, big brother, you have to promise me you’ll finish university.
You absolutely can’t drop out halfway, okay?”
Natsume Chikei looked at his sister’s serious expression and smiled as he replied.
“Don’t worry.
My goal is the same as yours—Tokyo University.”
“I’m even thinking that when we’re in university, I’ll have you call me ‘senpai.’ So there’s no way I’m dropping out halfway.”
“You better mean it!” Natsume Ruri shyly and helplessly punched him, thinking that her big brother really was hopeless sometimes.
Still, hearing him say he wanted to go to the same university as her made her feel a little happy inside.
But she didn’t have high expectations.
She had seen her brother’s grades since they were kids.
He had always been at the very bottom of the school rankings.
And he didn’t have any real talents either.
It would be hard for him to even get in as a special student.
In this situation, getting into Todai was absolutely impossible.
Still, she felt that since her dummy big brother had promised to finish university properly, there was no need to say anything that would hurt his confidence.
Anyway, she figured that as long as her big brother had a university degree, that would be enough.
Whether he made money later or not didn’t really matter.
Even though right now her big brother was the one working to support the family, once she turned sixteen and could legally work, it would be her turn to support him!
At the train station.
Natsume Chikei’s gaze unconsciously drifted to the bracelet on his sister’s wrist beside him.
He saw it.
He wanted it.
Natsume Chikei sighed inwardly.
Until he thought of a good excuse, it would probably be very difficult to get this special piece of equipment back from his sister.
With a thought, he brought up the panel in his mind:
[Character: Chikei]
[Age: 16]
[Strength: 4] (Average for a normal adult is 5)
[Agility: 4]
[Spirit: 5]
[Constitution: 5]
[Equipment: “The Boy’s Sorrowful Diary” “Dusty Old Shogi Record”]
[Until Next Attribute Point Reward: Still need one more piece of equipment!]
Still one short…
Besides the one his sister had and the one at the Kondo house, where else could there be more?
Would there be any at school?
Natsume Chikei thought about it and decided that once he had some free time at school, he would wander around and see if he could find any special equipment.
The two of them arrived at the platform.
Natsume Chikei knew Ruri’s train went in the opposite direction from his, so he gently reminded her, “Ruri, if anything happens, remember to call me right away, okay?”
Natsume Ruri nodded obediently.
“Ruri knows.”
She paused, then looked at her brother with bright eyes and added seriously, “But the same goes for you, big brother.
If anything happens, remember to tell me too.
Ruri will worry about you as well.”
Natsume Chikei felt a warmth in his chest and smiled.
“Mm.”
Just then, the sound of the train approaching came from the tracks in the distance.
The train Ruri was taking arrived first.
The train stopped steadily at the platform.
The doors opened slowly with a “pssh” of released air.
Natsume Ruri turned around and looked at Chikei.
She said softly, “Big brother, I’m going first then.”
“Mm.
Be careful on the way.
Bye.” Natsume Chikei waved and watched his sister’s figure lightly step into the carriage.
The doors closed.
The train gradually accelerated and finally disappeared at the end of the tracks.
He withdrew his gaze, stepped back to the opposite platform, and quietly waited for his own train.
A cool breeze swept across the platform and gently brushed the hair in front of Natsume Chikei’s forehead, stirring a few thoughts.
He suddenly wondered if any of his old classmates from before had also entered Private Gekko Academy.
The thought lingered in his mind for a moment before he shook his head helplessly.
Whether they had or not didn’t really matter.
At his old school, the previous him had basically been a background character.
He hadn’t had any deep connections with those people.
Maybe after going to school, no one would even remember him.
That was also very possible.
As for now… it was more important to use this spare moment to finish writing The Devotion of Suspect X as soon as possible.
With that in mind, Natsume Chikei reined in his thoughts, lowered his head, and began rapidly tapping on his phone screen.