The family first returned to Daichi Yayahara's old home to collect the documents needed for the adoption.
In what used to be his room, Daichi—or rather, Harry—saw many items that felt both familiar and foreign: toys, manga, a baseball set, and other belongings.
His new foster father told him to take anything he might need in the future, so Daichi chose the baseball gear. After all, he assumed he'd be playing baseball a lot from now on.
Ironically, it would turn out that he barely touched it in the end.
With everything packed, Daichi felt a wave of emotion. He was about to leave a place he had never really known, yet had technically lived in for nearly ten years.
Just as he was about to step out, a photograph on the wall caught his eye—a family portrait. Everyone was dressed in traditional kimono, smiling warmly as they posed in the living room.
No one in that photo could have imagined how quickly separation would come.
"He must've lived a happy life before…" Daichi took the photo down and gently wiped the dust from the glass. Two teardrops fell onto the frame.
He instinctively wiped his eyes. The emotion had come from Daichi's residual consciousness, but he didn't suppress it. After all, he wasn't the only one grieving.
For reasons he couldn't explain, he took the photo with him to the new house and placed it on Dekisugi's desk.
That afternoon, he accompanied his foster father to complete the adoption paperwork. When they returned home in the evening, a hearty dinner awaited them.
"Let's celebrate the newest member of our family. Come, cheers!"
Everyone raised their glasses and downed their drinks.
Laughter and joy filled the table. The food was excellent too—exactly what Daichi's empty stomach needed.
After the meal, Daichi and Dekisugi washed the dishes together before heading back to their shared room.
Dekisugi's room was as tidy as always. He had great habits—everything was promptly returned to its place, never left lying around.
Harry didn't want to disrupt the order, so he decided to adopt the same habits himself.
The two boys sat at their desks, each reading a book. Dekisugi read something scientific, while Daichi went with a history book.
Though he'd seen every episode of Doraemon, nearly all focused on Nobita, offering little in the way of worldbuilding.
To be blunt, he was a clueless outsider who needed to brush up on this world's knowledge.
Fortunately, since expanding his consciousness, his memory and intellect had noticeably improved. By the end of the night, he had finished most of the book and gained a basic understanding of this world.
Checking the time, he realized it was already 10 PM—time to sleep.
Dekisugi stood up to go wash up. Watching his ever-present smile, Daichi asked, "You seem pretty happy."
"Of course!" he replied cheerfully. "It's rare to meet someone with similar interests. Most of my classmates don't read this kind of stuff, so it's hard to talk to them."
No, Daichi thought privately. It's not because they don't read—it's because you're too perfect. You're so far ahead, they don't even try to catch up. And honestly, most kids your age are supposed to be reading manga!
After washing up and returning to the room, Daichi planned to do what Nobita always did—lay a futon on the floor. But this room didn't have a built-in closet like Nobita's, which meant no place to store an extra futon.
Dekisugi had changed into pajamas and was now sitting on the bed, having left space for one more person—plus an extra pillow.
"Why are you just standing there? Time to sleep. That spot's for you," he said, patting the bed beside him.
"We're… sleeping in the same bed?" Daichi was surprised. Even Nobita and Doraemon didn't sleep together. (Then again, maybe that's because Doraemon was too fat…)
"Yeah. We didn't expect to have more people, so there's no extra futon yet. We'll get one in a couple of days. What, you don't want to? You could always squeeze in with Mom and Dad."
Daichi briefly imagined squeezing in with that middle-aged uncle and the prematurely menopausal aunt… Nope, this bed sounded way better.
"No, it's fine. This'll be my first time sharing a bed with someone my age. Sorry for the trouble." He climbed in.
"Alright then, good night!" Dekisugi turned off the light and quickly fell asleep.
Daichi, meanwhile, spent another two hours cultivating before finally dozing off in exhaustion.
The next morning, his internal clock woke him up right on schedule at 6:30. Seeing that Dekisugi was still sound asleep, he quietly got dressed, opened the window, and climbed out onto the roof to watch the sunrise over the town.
From this angle, the world didn't feel quite real—more like something drawn in an anime.
Soon, people began appearing on the street in twos and threes. Some had long commutes and had to leave early.
As Daichi enjoyed the peaceful morning, he spotted two familiar figures walking down the street—his foster parents. Getting up so early for work couldn't be easy.
He cast a Level 1 Wind Step spell on himself and leapt from the second floor, startling the family dog.
He walked around to the front and entered the house.
One thing about Doraemon that never made sense: if kids were home, doors didn't need to be locked. Seriously? What if some random thief just waltzed in? No sense of security at all.
Inside the dining room, he found two servings of breakfast laid out. A small surprise, but a pleasant one.
It was nearly 7:00 AM. Daichi headed upstairs to wake Dekisugi but found him already coming down.
"Huh, you woke up earlier than I expected," said Dekisugi with a smile.
Daichi replied blankly, "Yeah. I wake up early. Just can't sleep in."
"Come on, I bet breakfast's waiting for us. Let's wash up first."
After they freshened up, Daichi set the table while Dekisugi went to change. Soon, he came down wearing his usual outfit: long-sleeved shirt and shorts.
Strangely enough, all the boys in this show wore the same thing—Nobita, Suneo, Gian, and now Dekisugi too.
Was it a cultural thing in Japan at the time? Or maybe Fujiko just didn't want to draw too many outfit variations.
Dekisugi grabbed his bowl and headed to the living room, where he turned on the TV.
Haha, I knew it! What kid doesn't like cartoons? Even Dekisugi—
Daichi's amusement was crushed immediately—Dekisugi was watching the morning news.
He followed him into the living room, carrying his own bowl, and muttered, "Wait, do kids in Japan not need their memories wiped when they reincarnate? How is he this mature?"
After breakfast, Dekisugi kept watching the news with great interest, while Daichi did the dishes.
When he returned, the broadcast had ended, and Dekisugi had gone back to his room. Curious, Daichi went to see what he was up to.
Sure enough, he was already reading again.
"You're reading already? Don't you have anything else planned today?"
"Plans? Nope. That's why I'm reading. Nothing better to do."
Daichi was speechless. What am I supposed to say? This is so depressing… Am I seriously going to spend the next ten days reading books with this guy?
What a joke. I didn't even study this hard during exam season!
He took a deep breath to calm himself and suddenly remembered—he hadn't folded his pajamas after changing.
But now, he couldn't find them.
Dekisugi noticed him looking around. "Are you looking for your pajamas?"
"Yeah. Have you seen them?"
"I folded them and put them in the wardrobe. From now on, try to put things away after changing, okay? Leaving stuff scattered makes the room look messy."
Daichi took 10,000 points of psychic damage.
(End of Chapter)