arc2 · 063-ch63

Chapter 63: Moving Day

What Yamamoto-san told me yesterday was incredibly eye-opening. I'd thought I understood the value of my skill, but he showed me it was worth far more than I'd imagined. On top of that, I'd believed I was being careful, but he really drove home just how reckless my behavior had been. I need to come up with countermeasures right away.

As for Skill Points, I decided not to allocate them to my stats and save them up instead. There might be more types of auxiliary units added in the future, and if nothing changes by the time I reach thirty points, I'll try exchanging them for a Flashlight.

But today, I've got other business to take care of. That's right—the time to move has finally come! I even let Umi skip school for today. Maybe that's why she woke up early this morning and was fidgeting around, waiting for it to be time to leave.

The three of us chatted over breakfast and did a final check of what to bring to the new house. Since we're buying most things new, it's honestly more stuff we're getting rid of than stuff we're bringing.

Just as we finished checking the luggage, I heard a car pull up outside. It was the moving truck we'd arranged. Mom handled all the packing logistics and truck scheduling. I should feel a little guilty about that.

We loaded everything onto the truck and set off. Apparently, after they drop off what we need, they'll take all the trash away too. That's a pretty helpful service.

The three of us called a taxi and followed the truck. I can barely contain my excitement!

Before long, the truck in front of us arrived at the Nishi-Hachioji apartment building. We got out of the taxi and guided the two movers—the older gentleman and the younger guy—to the entrance.

"The top floor of this place!? You're moving to an incredible spot!"

The younger guy with dyed-brown hair blurted out his honest impression, and the older gentleman scolded him. But honestly, if I saw someone moving to the top floor of this building without knowing anything about them, I'd probably think the same thing.

Thinking that it's actually us moving here gave me this strange, hard-to-describe feeling.

Well, even though it's the top floor, there's an elevator, and we barely have any large items. If anything, the big appliances being delivered later are going to be tougher to carry. Hang in there, delivery people.

The apartment building entrance had a facial recognition device installed, and Mom had already registered. Umi and I were set to register ours later.

The elevator required fingerprint authentication and would only stop at your own residential floor. There was also a camera mounted in front of the elevator, and if you used the touch panel below to enter a room number, it would connect to that room's intercom. When friends came to visit, they'd enter the room number here, and then someone from inside the apartment could operate the elevator to stop at their floor. Pretty impressive security.

Mom held the elevator open for us, and the two movers got in carrying boxes. They looked heavy, but I was rooting for them.

We reached the top floor, and when I opened the door, the morning skyline of Nishi-Hachioji spread out before me. Man, I saw it the other day, but it's still an incredible view. Even the two movers were captivated for a moment.

After that, Mom and I started unpacking boxes and putting things away. Umi was on elevator duty. Every time the movers rang the intercom, she happily operated the elevator to make it stop on our floor.

After the guys made several trips back and forth, all the luggage was finally brought up. I thanked the older gentleman and the younger guy, and as a token of appreciation, handed them an assortment of premium sweets. The older gentleman said it'd win points with his wife and daughter, and the younger guy said his girlfriend would be happy. Yeah, I hope they both find happiness.

Now then, a bunch of appliances and other deliveries should be arriving one after another. The whole day will probably be spent just receiving everything, but there's no helping it. Yamamoto-san did tell me to live somewhere with solid security, after all.

While I was unpacking clothes and dishes, the first thing to arrive was a large-screen TV. And the size—100 inches. It was absolutely massive and incredibly thin. Plus, the picture quality was stunning.

Next came the fridge and washing machine. I picked out a big, multi-function fridge for Mom since she loves cooking. Then the washing machine was one of those drum-style ones with a built-in dryer. Rainy days won't be a problem anymore!

After that, a microwave, vacuum cleaner, and futon dryer all arrived. Then came the full-length mirror and game console Umi had asked for, the cooking equipment Mom ordered, and finally the high-spec PC I'd requested. Pretty much everything we ordered was here.

It was well past noon by now, but since we'd finally finished bringing everything in, the three of us decided to go out for lunch.

Being a high-end tower mansion, this place had all sorts of facilities built in—restaurants, cafés, bars, a sports gym, spa, sauna, even places for karaoke and billiards.

We could've eaten at one of the restaurants here, but today we decided to have lunch outside while exploring the neighborhood. Before leaving the building, Umi and I got our fingerprints and faces registered. Now we could get back to our room on our own.

The area around the mansion wasn't as bustling as central Hachioji, but it was lively enough. There were plenty of places to eat, so we went to an Italian restaurant at Umi's request. She said she wanted pizza.

Eating out as a family—how many years has it been? Mom, who'd gotten younger thanks to the potion, and my cute little sister were drawing everyone's attention in the restaurant. They're both good-looking, after all. I had my hoodie pulled over my face as usual, but... I'm not the same person I used to be. Maybe it's okay to be a little more confident.

I probably can't do it right away, but I should get a proper haircut and get to the point where I can show my face in public without flinching. I was thinking vaguely about that while watching Mom and Umi happily picking out pizzas.

After our late lunch at the Italian restaurant, we were walking around the neighborhood when we spotted an electronics store. And it looked like they had a cell phone section, too. That's right—I'd been meaning to get phone upgrades for Mom and me, and a new phone for Umi.

If things went well, we might be able to pick them up right there at the shop. When I suggested it to the two of them, Mom was hesitant, saying her current phone worked fine, but Umi was overjoyed. Since it didn't seem like she was planning to transfer schools, having a phone would be good for her safety walking to and from school. Apparently, elementary schools allow kids to bring phones as long as you submit a request.

I convinced the reluctant Mom, gave her a nudge, and we headed into the electronics store.

"Welcome!"

As soon as we stepped into the cell phone corner, a male employee came over to help.

"U-um, I'd like to do a phone upgrade and, uh, a new contract, please."

Oh, I think I managed to speak more smoothly than usual!

"Certainly! Right this way!"

The employee perked up at the word "new contract." Every company sure is eager to land new customers.

First, I had them prepare phones for the upgrade and the new contract. We went with the most popular latest model. All three of us got the same phone—white for Mom, pink for Umi, and black for me.

Thanks to the enthusiastic employee, the contract process went smoothly, and Umi officially got her very own cell phone.

"Thanks, Onii-chan!"

Such a good girl—she never forgets to say thank word. It was worth all the effort. Mom appreciated it too, and it felt really good to know I'd been able to pay them back, even just a little.

(There's plenty more payback to come, so just you wait!)

While picking out screen protectors for our phones, I found myself thinking about that.