Teaching Kendo in Tokyo 1980

This was the first time since Kazuma had crossed over that he'd gone out shopping with his little sister.

Chiyoko clutched her bag in front of her chest protectively—after all, it contained a "small fortune."

Kazuma thought to himself, If you hold your bag like that, you're basically advertising to pickpockets: "Come on over, there's something valuable here."

But seeing how happy she looked, he simply sharpened his own vigilance and let her hop along however she pleased.

After all, the month of April that had just passed hadn't left Chiyoko with a single happy memory.

The street was bustling with pedestrians. At first, Kazuma had expected to see lots of salarymen headed to izakaya for their usual "social activities," but instead the crowd was mostly families out together—plenty of children too.

Then it clicked: it was Golden Week. Even in workaholic 1980s Japan, many people would choose to spend the first day of Golden Week enjoying time with their families.

Chiyoko dragged Kazuma by the hand, making a beeline for the newly opened shopping plaza in front of the station.

Kazuma eyed the glamorous interior decor of the plaza and commented a little anxiously, "The bookstores here must be expensive, huh?"

"Bro, book prices are fixed nationwide. They don't change just because of location," Chiyoko replied, tugging him eagerly through the plaza's main entrance.

"It's so cool in here!" she sighed happily. "The weather's getting hotter and hotter. We should take out the fan when we get home."

Air conditioners certainly existed in this era—but the Kiryu family couldn't afford one.

Forget buying an air conditioner—the monthly electricity bill alone would be a killer.

They'd have to make do with electric fans and ice water for the summer.

Thinking of fans, Kazuma suddenly remembered something: We should hang a wind chime on the engawa. What's summer without a wind chime?

Seasonal touches like that were important—not to mention it might boost his "status" in the system.

As Kazuma was pondering this, he noticed Chiyoko's gaze drifting toward the clothing and cosmetics sections.

He grinned. "Want to check out the fashion counters?"

"Nope!" Chiyoko shot down the idea immediately and dragged him off toward the bookstore.

A few minutes later, Kazuma was standing in front of the educational materials section, brow furrowed.

He'd heard Japanese reference books and prep materials were expensive, but this was ridiculous—unless this world's pricing structure was different from his previous life's, and an extra zero had been added somewhere?

He randomly pulled out a prep book for Meiji University entrance exams and glanced at the price. Yikes. Kids from poor families probably can't even afford study guides.

Then again, most students aiming for private universities probably weren't from poor families to begin with.

Kazuma carefully returned the book to the shelf.

He could feel the gaze of a shop clerk behind him. Considering the prices on these shelves, their vigilance was understandable.

Chiyoko pulled out the list Kazuma had slipped into her bag earlier and said, scanning it, "Bro, which subjects are you weak in? Let's buy those books first. These prices are even higher than I expected—we can probably only get a few."

Without thinking, Kazuma replied, "Japanese language, and history."

"Huh?" Chiyoko was surprised. "You can use really tricky four-character idioms perfectly, and that's your weak subject?"

That's knowledge I brought over from my past life, Kazuma thought to himself.

"I think Japanese language and history are over here..."

"Kiryū-kun?"

Kazuma and Chiyoko both turned at the same time. "Hm?"

After all, they were both "Kiryū-kun."

A girl with thick-rimmed glasses and chunky braids was startled by their synchronized reaction and took a small step back. Then she caught herself.

"Ah, this must be your sister, Kiryū Chiyoko-san?"

Chiyoko gave Kazuma a side-eye. "Bro, who's this?"

Kazuma scratched his head. "She's our class rep."

Calling her class rep still felt odd—it always made him think she was about to start micromanaging everything.

The class rep pushed up her glasses. "Calling me by my title, Kiryū... Kazuma-kun, how rude."

She had originally been about to say Kiryū-kun, but to distinguish between brother and sister, she switched mid-sentence.

And in Japan, calling someone directly by name—even with a suffix—was a sign of closeness.

Chiyoko raised an eyebrow and scanned the class rep from head to toe like a scanner.

Then she gave Kazuma a hard slap on the waist. "Bro, not bad."

Kazuma ignored his sister and addressed the class rep. "What a coincidence, class rep. You're shopping for study guides too?"

"Mm. I got a copy of the book list from the homeroom teacher—same as yours," she said, holding up her list. But unlike Kazuma's, hers was covered in notes.

Kazuma took the list and saw the annotations: where to find each book.

Some were marked "available at library," others "possibly at secondhand shops," and a few had already been crossed out—presumably already secured.

"Impressive, class rep," Kazuma said. He almost slipped and said micro-managing master, but corrected himself in time. "As expected."

The girl pushed up her glasses. "Why do I feel like you're teasing me?"

"I'm not. Just your imagination."

She shrugged and took her list back. "These books are expensive. Buying everything new would cost a fortune. Better to find cheaper ways. Besides, cram school fees are extra—and the school's regular classes aren't enough on their own."

"I see..." Kazuma could only nod. "You've really thought this through."

"Kazuma-kun, haven't you?" the class rep asked.

Kazuma replied seriously, "I'm thinking about it now."

"Huh? I thought you'd been going to cram school since winter break. How did your English and math improve so much?"

Kazuma started sweating. If she keeps this up, I won't be able to cover for myself...

"Uh... I self-studied," he said, bluffing.

The class rep pressed on. "Self-studied? What study guides did you use? I'd like to try them too if they're that effective."

"Uh... the textbooks," Kazuma answered, barely hanging on. The sharp gaze behind those thick glasses made him feel like his little secret was about to be laid bare.

The class rep tilted her head and pushed up her glasses again. "Textbooks?"

"Yeah. Mastering the basics thoroughly is the foundation for building more advanced knowledge."

"But... do the textbooks cover calculus?" she asked, puzzled.

(End of Chapter)