In front of a high-end apartment building.
Fujiwara Aoi stopped walking and pointed upstairs with a slightly shy expression.
“My house… is right up there.”
Natsume Chikei looked up at the impressive apartment building and thought to himself that it was no wonder Fujiwara Aoi could casually afford a sports watch that cost over 60,000 yen.
People who lived in a place like this definitely weren’t short on money!
He really hadn’t expected that her house was actually on his way home.
It was completely convenient.
It was strange that they had never run into each other before.
“It really is close to the coffee shop,” Natsume Chikei said sincerely.
Compared to the tiny three-tatami room he currently lived in, this place was much closer to the station.
Just a few steps and you were there.
Meanwhile, it took him about ten minutes every day just to walk from his place to this station.
Ten minutes might not sound like much, but over the course of a year it added up to a serious amount of time.
And saving ten minutes of walking every day meant ten extra minutes of sleep.
Only people who had experienced the pain of long commutes truly understood how precious those ten extra minutes of sleep were.
Fujiwara Aoi curiously pointed down the road ahead.
“Natsume-kun, is your house straight ahead that way?”
“Yeah.
About a ten-minute walk.” Natsume Chikei nodded, then glanced at the time.
“It’s getting late.
I should head home.
See you tomorrow.”
Fujiwara Aoi waved with a smile.
“Mm, see you.
Please be careful on the way home.”
Natsume Chikei waved back and turned to leave.
Fujiwara Aoi stayed where she was, watching his figure grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared into the night before finally turning and walking into the high-end apartment building.
While riding the elevator up.
Her face was filled with uncontainable joy.
If she weren’t inside the elevator, she probably would have jumped up and down in excitement!
After all, today had been a major step forward—Natsume-kun had personally walked her home!
Even if it was just on the way, they had still walked back together, right?
If this happened more often, maybe feelings would gradually develop?
And most importantly, now she knew his house was only ten minutes away from hers.
That meant if the chance came up, she could find an excuse to visit his place!
The door opened quietly.
“I’m home.”
Natsume Chikei stepped inside.
The same cramped three-tatami room greeted him.
Natsume Ruri was sitting at the small table, drowsily trying to study.
The moment she heard her brother’s voice, she perked up, stood, and greeted him with a smile.
“Welcome home, big brother!”
“Are you hungry?
Want me to make you a late-night snack?”
Natsume Chikei shook his head.
“I already ate the staff meal at the coffee shop.
I’m not hungry.”
“Why didn’t you go to sleep first?”
Natsume Ruri smiled brightly.
“I can’t sleep well when you’re not home.”
“So I wanted to wait until you got back before going to bed.”
He reached out and gently rubbed her hair.
“You don’t have to wait up for me.
If you’re sleepy, just go to sleep, okay?”
Natsume Ruri nodded with a smile.
“Mm.
I’ll sleep if I get tired.”
“But it really is late now.
You should go take a bath, big brother.”
Natsume Chikei didn’t say anything more.
He grabbed his change of clothes and headed to the bathroom.
When he came out after his shower.
Natsume Ruri, still sitting at the small table, patted the spot beside her.
“Big brother, come sit here.”
Natsume Chikei sat down as told and asked curiously,
“What’s up?”
Ruri muttered in a small voice,
“Nothing really.
I was just curious how your first day of school went.
Nothing special happened, right?”
Chikei thought for a moment.
“No.
Everything was fine.”
Ruri continued muttering,
“That’s good then.”
“But I was watching TV earlier and they said a lot of high school girls these days are really bad.
They play with boys and mess them around!”
“So you have to be careful, big brother.
Don’t just casually date any girl.”
“If a girl ever confesses to you, you absolutely cannot agree right away.
You have to tell me first.
Only if I think it’s okay can you start dating her!”
Natsume Chikei was amused.
“So if I want to date someone, I need your permission first?”
Natsume Ruri puffed out her cheeks and grumbled,
“Of course!”
“Right now Ruri only has you, big brother.
If you get tricked by some bad woman, Ruri will be really, really, really troubled!!”
Chikei chuckled and gently pinched her cheek.
“You’re overthinking it.”
“And I’m not planning to date anyone right now anyway.”
Ruri blinked, then a bright smile slowly spread across her face.
“Really?”
Chikei nodded firmly.
“Really.”
“With how things are at home right now, where would I even get the money, time, or energy to find a girlfriend?”
Ruri broke into a happy laugh.
“That’s true!”
Chikei suddenly remembered something and asked,
“Did you need any money for school today?
If you’re short, just tell me.
I don’t really spend much myself.
If you need it urgently, you can take some first.”
“No need.
I don’t really spend money either.”
“But big brother, you’re in high school now.
You should keep your money for yourself.
What if you want to go out with friends and don’t have any?”
“Oh right, today was your first day of school, wasn’t it?”
“Did you run into any old classmates?”
Natsume Chikei nodded.
“Actually, yeah.
There’s a girl in my class named Nishizonoji Nanase.”
Natsume Ruri recognized the name and looked surprised.
“Nishizonoji Nanase?
You mean the daughter of the Nishizonoji family?”
Chikei looked confused.
“What Nishizonoji family?”
Ruri pouted and said in an exasperated tone,
“Big brother, don’t you remember?”
“We went to Nishizonoji Nanase’s house before.”
Chikei was completely lost.
“We did?”
Ruri sighed helplessly and explained,
“The Nishizonoji family is a very famous collector family and auction house in Japan.”
“A lot of famous paintings and antiques get sold through their auctions.”
“Dad used to like collecting strange and unusual things, so he knew the Nishizonoji family.”
“When you were in middle school, Dad took us to visit their house once.”
“He even made you play with Nishizonoji Nanase back then.
You really don’t remember?”
Chikei shook his head.
“I really don’t.
No memory of it at all.”
Ruri muttered under her breath,
“If you don’t remember, then how did you know she was an old classmate?”
Chikei explained,
“She was the one who told me.”
Ruri’s cheeks puffed up slightly.
“She told you herself?”
Chikei nodded.
“Yeah.
Why?”
Ruri narrowed her eyes and pressed,
“Did she add your contact info?”
Chikei shook his head.
“No.”
Ruri’s mood visibly improved.
She smiled happily.
“That’s good then.”
“Oh right, your clothes haven’t been washed yet, right?
Ruri will go wash them now!”
Natsume Chikei heard her and looked down at the brand-new identical bracelet in his pocket.
He was planning to find a way to swap it with the special one Ruri was wearing right now.
And he wanted her to willingly give him the original bracelet.
As soon as the thought occurred to him, he turned to look at Natsume Ruri.