Chapter 648

"Senior sister Mido, congratulations on your victory!"

Mido Orihime didn't say much, just expressionlessly took out a beautifully packaged candy from her pocket.

She reached out and handed the candy to little Saio.

Saio took it happily, her big eyes curved into crescents:

"Thank you, senior sister!"

Furukawa Masahiro, although always feeling a bit intimidated when facing this "Empress," still squeezed out a smile and congratulated respectfully:

"Miss Mido, congratulations on your smooth victory."

Natsume Chikage also nodded politely and sent his congratulations:

"Congratulations, Orihime."

Mido Orihime's gaze landed on Natsume Chikage's face, and on that beautiful face, the corners of her mouth seemed to lift upward imperceptibly for a moment.

Her mood seemed to have become good because of this.

"I hate crowded places."

Her cold voice sounded, carrying an unquestionable meaning.

"Since everyone is here, let's go."

Furukawa Saio immediately reached out her little hand, took the initiative to hold Mido Orihime's slightly cool fingers, and said happily:

"Mm-hmm! Senior sister, big brother, grandpa, let's go quickly!"

Seishin Middle School.

The bell for the end of the lunch break had just rung.

Natsume Ruri, who could no longer suppress her mood, almost immediately took out her phone from the drawer.

She skillfully unlocked the screen and began to search eagerly for information related to her brother's match.

Her heart was intertwined with worry, anticipation, and nervousness.

She didn't know how her brother's battle situation was right now.

If he really lost... what should she say to comfort her brother after going back?

As for the possibility of winning... Natsume Ruri hoped for it immensely in the depths of her heart, but reason told her the hope was slim.

Even if her brother had won against Aunt Miyuki before, that didn't prove anything.

After all, it was already the fiercely competitive fourth round, and there were too many players stronger than Aunt Miyuki.

And, her brother was usually at home, and she almost never saw him research shogi.

Although her brother mentioned that he was researching chess records or something... it seemed he had indeed researched them, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to win against Aunt Miyuki.

But Ruri had never seen her brother flipping through any chess records at home with her own eyes.

Even if her brother was researching in school during his spare time, she felt that he still had to balance heavy schoolwork in school, so how much time could he squeeze out?

Therefore, she knew very well that the time her brother truly invested in shogi was definitely not long, and at most, he might have started contacting it this month.

Under these circumstances, no matter how much she wanted to believe, no matter how much she hoped her brother could win... she couldn't help but lack enough confidence in her heart.

However, regardless.

Her brother being able to fight his way to the current fourth round, being able to become more responsible and more mature than before, she already felt very satisfied.

Thinking this way, after her mindset calmed down, Natsume Ruri instead didn't feel as tense as before.

She successfully found the live broadcast entrance and was preparing to click to watch.

Her good friend Kaga Reisa leaned over gently, lowered her voice, and asked with concern:

"Ruri-chan, are you watching the live broadcast of Natsume-brother's shogi match now?"

Natsume Ruri nodded and said in a small voice:

"Mm, I want to see how my brother's match is going."

"Do you want to watch too, Reisa-chan?"

Kaga Reisa nodded shyly, with a trace of curiosity and anticipation on her face:

"Mm... is it okay?"

And Ruri's other good friend, Ando Chizuru, also leaned over.

She asked in a small, shy voice:

"That... can I watch together too?"

Natsume Ruri smiled happily and moved her position:

"Of course you can, Chizuru-chan."

Other classmates in the class noticed them gathering together to look at the phone and also curiously gathered around.

Among them, it also included Izumi Hideaki, who had been secretly in love with Natsume Ruri.

But there were more and more people, and he couldn't squeeze into the inner circle at all, so he could only stand on the periphery, looking around on tiptoe with a distressed face.

At this moment.

Natsume Ruri had already clicked on the searched match page.

At first, the lens scanned the arena, but didn't immediately capture her brother's figure.

This caused her heart to skip a beat, and like last time, she felt the worry of "did brother lose quickly"...

After all, her brother's chess style was extremely fast, almost without hesitation.

Whether it was playing against her in the past, or against Aunt Miyuki, it was always like this.

Natsume Ruri's heartbeat accelerated slightly again.

But with the experience from last time, she was much calmer this time, directly finding the "text battle report" column on the tournament official website with ease.

There would be real-time match results and news briefs there.

After clicking to enter.

The latest report that came into view had a title that was surprisingly related to her brother.

When Natsume Ruri clicked on the article and quickly browsed through the content inside, she was stunned at first.

Immediately following, a huge surprise and excitement instantly drowned her.

She only felt that her brother was truly too amazing, this fourth round, he actually really won it too!!

You have to know, after her brother won this fourth-round match, he could get a prize of 80,000 yen.

This was a full 80,000 yen!

80,000 yen was almost enough to cover their family's rent for a month plus the expenses for daily three meals!

It seems they wouldn't have to go hungry for the month after next!

Natsume Ruri was so excited she almost jumped up. She turned to her friends beside her, her voice full of joy:

"Reisa-chan, Chizuru-chan! My brother... my brother actually won again!"

Kaga Reisa's face, which always carried a weak expression, was now also full of sincere joy.

"Natsume-brother... is really amazing."

"This is the fourth round of the match... I heard there are many very strong players... he actually won!"

Natsume Ruri nodded vigorously and had already started planning:

"Reisa-chan, let's make some delicious food for brother tonight! Celebrate!"

Kaga Reisa's eyes lit up, and she echoed happily:

"Mm-hmm! I think that's especially good!"

Ando Chizuru took advantage of Ruri not paying attention and secretly took a few more looks at the side profile of Natsume Chikage, who looked exceptionally focused and serious while playing chess on the phone screen.

Looking and looking, her little face couldn't help but flush red quickly.

Sure enough... compared to those boys in the class who still seemed childish, it was better to be a more mature and steady type like Natsume-brother...

However, no matter what, Ando Chizuru didn't dare to show her "interest" in Natsume Ruri's brother too obviously.

She could only choose to beat around the bush.

Before, she had actually secretly searched for a lot of information about Natsume Chikage and knew that his current part-time job location was the "Starlight Coffee Shop" in Shibuya.

After cheering herself up silently in her heart, she proposed very naturally:

"Ruri-chan, Reisa-chan... speaking of which, we haven't gone out to play together for several days... today after school, do you want to go to Shibuya to stroll around together?"

Natsume Ruri was immersed in the joy of her brother's victory and agreed happily upon hearing this:

"Mm-hmm! I think it's okay!"

Kaga Reisa, in the class, besides Natsume Ruri, her best friend, her relationship with other classmates was actually very average.