The holiday came to an abrupt halt. After one last blissful night, Natsume woke to find herself already in the second semester.
Though today marked the first day of the new term, Natsume's mind was already drifting toward winter break—still months away, but already a comforting thought.
So much had happened over the break it was almost dizzying, yet everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.
Honestly, Natsume was pretty satisfied with how things had turned out.
Whether or not the events directly involved her didn't really matter. At the end of the day, she was just trying to protect the ordinary lives she and her friends had built.
If something felt like the right thing to do, she did it—no other reason needed.
"Alright, it's started. Gotta give it my all this semester too."
Standing before a half-height floor mirror, Natsume carefully checked her outfit.
No wrinkles on her blouse, her pleated skirt as crisp and clean as ever—everything was perfectly in order, just like any other Tokiwadai student.
Ordinary. That was a word Natsume had always liked.
It only took her a few minutes to get ready. With that, she hurried out the dormitory door.
The hallway was empty. A quick glance at the clock confirmed what she already suspected—she was once again among the very last to leave.
"Well, that's perfectly normal," she muttered to herself, calm as ever. "Nobody can wake up early every single day. Everyone slips up sometimes."
She remembered a stretch not long ago when she'd been one of the earliest risers—a real achievement, if she did say so herself.
Today was just an exception.
As she walked, Natsume paused at the top of the second-floor stairs. She silently counted to three… and right on cue, a figure in a tailored women's suit passed through the lobby below.
Rule number one of surviving Tokiwadai: if you're among the last to wake up, for heaven's sake, avoid the Dorm Supervisor on patrol.
Only after the soft click-clack of the Supervisor's flats faded into the distance did Sonoko Natsume relax. She slipped down a side path toward the dining hall for breakfast.
Black satchel in hand, she strolled along the path to school, bored out of her mind.
She'd originally planned to take the campus shuttle, but lately she'd had the nagging feeling someone was watching her.
It had been several days since she'd run into anything like that dolphin girl incident.
Sure, her usual habit of fading into the background probably helped, but things had been suspiciously quiet.
Truth be told, she was pretty annoyed about being deliberately targeted like that.
After the dolphin girl was apprehended, Natsume had given her statement to the Anti-Skill instructor and picked up a few details. The girl hadn't known who'd hired her—just some mercenary who'd snuck into Academy City from outside.
Even though that lead had gone cold, Natsume had a pretty good guess about who was pulling the strings: fanatics obsessed with the Level 6 Shift Project. That narrowed things down considerably.
She'd been turning all this over in her head for days. Soon, she'd ask Uiharu to look into it. Clues always turned up eventually.
Shaking off her worries, Natsume refocused. Today's main mission was school. She straightened her posture, and once again, melted into the light.
First period of the new semester: Math.
The bell rang, followed by the familiar scrape of chairs being pushed back.
Classmates gathered their books and filed out one by one—but one girl with a bun stayed firmly planted in her seat.
"Natsume-san, I just got word—you're to report to the school board office this afternoon. The Chairwoman wants to see you."
Natsume, head buried in her desk and scribbling furiously through her math homework, felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Oh! Dagu-sensei."
She snapped her notebook shut instinctively. She'd worked so fast she was already several lessons ahead.
"So don't forget this afternoon. You've already prepped this far ahead? You really are diligent, Natsume-san."
Dagu-sensei sighed with quiet admiration. The bun-haired girl blushed faintly—she just hated wasting time on homework after class, that was all.
"I'll remember," Natsume said firmly, nodding.
The Chairwoman wanted to see her—it had to be about that. After all, the physical exams were coming up soon.
She'd only seen Tokiwadai's Chairwoman once, back at the opening ceremony: an elderly woman with a full head of curly white hair, clearly fond of perms and keeping up with fashion.
Rumor had it he enjoyed smoking and drinking, much like Komoe-sensei. But like most teachers, he never brought those habits onto school grounds.
Still, meeting the Chairwoman made her nervous.
Yet whenever Natsume got nervous, she always found a way to distract herself—and this time was no different.
Suddenly remembering something, she smacked her forehead lightly, her expression thoughtful.
A talk with the Chairwoman… maybe this was her chance.
For ages, Natsume had been openly complaining about Tokiwadai's ridiculous uniform policy.
She'd even slipped several unsigned suggestion letters into the school mailbox herself—but they'd all vanished without a trace.
In Academy City, students had to wear uniforms all the time—school days, holidays, you name it. And among the city's five elite schools, only Tokiwadai clung to this infuriating rule.
Maybe she could use this meeting to propose a change—like only requiring uniforms during actual school hours.
Lost in thought, Natsume barely noticed Dagu-sensei watching her with concern.
"Natsume-san, don't worry so much. The Chairwoman's actually a very kind woman."
"Huh? Oh, Dagu-sensei, I'm fine!" Natsume shook her head quickly, snapping out of her reverie.
The Urban Legends Research Club room—this was only the second time Natsume had stepped inside all year.
Normally, clubrooms were where students spent most of their time. But Natsume's "club" was anything but normal.
Just as expected, even on the first day of the new semester, the room was deserted. Everyone else was out doing actual club activities—like shopping, apparently.
If not for the janitors, the place would've been thick with cobwebs.
Natsume blew a stray wisp of dust off a chair and sat down, satisfied. She was here to write that suggestion letter—properly this time.
She'd decided: this one, she'd hand-deliver to the Chairwoman herself.
After a while, she tucked the carefully revised letter into her bag, checked her phone, and realized it was nearly time for her appointment.
Walking to the Chairwoman's office felt just like heading to a teacher's room—except with ten times the psychological pressure.
Natsume was helpful, hardworking, and top of her class—but even she wasn't immune to nerves.
She hesitated outside the office door for a moment, then took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in."
A strong, resonant voice answered from within.
Opening the door, Natsume found an elderly woman in a sharp suit seated behind a wide desk—about three feet across, piled high with documents, yet meticulously organized.
"Good afternoon, Chairwoman," Natsume said, bowing slightly with practiced seriousness.
The moment she stepped inside, her nervousness vanished, replaced by sharp focus.
"So you're Natsume-san. Good afternoon."
The Chairwoman looked up, studying her carefully before rising to his feet. She pulled a file from a nearby stack and walked around the desk.
Natsume sat on the sofa, facing the Chairwoman of Tokiwadai Middle School, a single file now resting on the table before her.
"Natsume-san," she began, "the Academy City Board has issued the evaluation documents for the Eighth-ranked Level 5. If there's been no error, Tokiwadai is about to welcome its third Level 5. There are certain matters regarding your new status that I believe we should discuss preliminarily."
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.