"Alright then, you all don't need to worry about big brother. He will definitely live well at school."
Next to her, Nohara Himawari looked at her worried parents with a bit of helplessness.
She understood her big brother better than her parents did, and knew that Shin-chan's unreliable behavior when he was younger was just an act.
The Shin-chan from the past was indeed a child people worried about, but the current Shin-chan was already a man as trustworthy as Nohara Hiroshi.
Besides, she had received secret intel. This merger between Shuchiin and Sobu High had the influence of the Suotome family behind it. She believed that once school started and her big brother saw her, he would definitely be shocked, right?
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but secretly smile.
"Don't worry, don't worry! I'll pack my things and leave tomorrow!"
"Shiro, this time you have to come with me too!"
Shin-chan picked up Shiro. Since he was going to Sobu High for high school, of course he had to bring Shiro along.
Don't be fooled by how energetic Shiro looked right now, in reality, he was already over ten years old, considered a senior dog.
If something happened to Shiro while Shin-chan was away at school, that wouldn't be good.
"Just nice, it's a day off tomorrow. I'll drive you there."
"To celebrate Shin-chan moving up to high school, let's have sukiyaki tonight!"
Her husband and daughter's attitudes finally eased Misae's worries. Although Shin-chan was unreliable at times, he was dependable at critical moments. She was just currently going through menopause, so she had been overthinking things.
———
Inside a luxurious villa, a red-brown long-haired girl was drinking tea.
Finally back in Japan, she wondered how her dear Shin-chan had been doing recently.
Thinking of Shin-chan, Suotome Ai set down her teacup.
The Suotome Conglomerate was a top-tier organization far surpassing the Shinomiya family. Unlike them, most of the Suotome Group's industries were overseas. That's also why, after graduating from kindergarten, Suotome Ai went abroad to study.
This time, the merger of Sobu High, Shuchiin, and Toyozaki seemed to have the influence of the Suotome family behind it.
Although it was called a merger, in truth, it was just Shuchiin swallowing up the other two schools.
'It's time to give dear Shin-chan a surprise.' Looking at a photo of Shin-chan on the table, Suotome Ai couldn't help but smile, but that smile looked a little strange, no matter how you saw it.
Next to her, her bodyguard-maid Kuroisu looked on, a little helpless.
Every time her lady thought of Shin-chan, she'd become like this, a love-struck fool. If someone snapped a photo and leaked it, it could bring a pretty big blow to the Suotome family's reputation.
But her lady probably didn't care about that anyway. Besides, she had already passed her father's test and been confirmed as the sole heir to the Suotome family.
Shin-chan had good physical health, and he got along well with her lady too. If he joined the Suotome family in the future as a son-in-law, it would be just fine.
———
At that very moment, as Shin-chan was eating sukiyaki, he had no idea that someone was already looking forward to meeting him once school began.
On the other hand, the atmosphere in the Nohara household was still so warm, still just as happy.
To Shin-chan, this kind of slowly growing-up feeling over time felt even more real and joyful.
The next day, just as planned, Nohara Hiroshi drove Shin-chan to an apartment near the school. Since they had to carry luggage and bring Shiro, Himawari stayed home.
The apartment Hiroshi rented for Shin-chan wasn't far from the merged school. The room wasn't very big, but it was fully equipped, there was a bedroom, a small living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. In the bathroom, there was even a small tub for soaking.
"Shin-chan, if you run into any trouble, or if your allowance isn't enough, remember to tell us."
"Don't worry, I'll get a part-time job. Rather than worry about me, why don't you worry a bit about your own figure?"
Misae, who had been immersed in the sadness of her son starting to live independently, immediately clenched her fists.
"You little brat!"
She smacked Shin-chan on the head with a punch. Misae wasn't worried anymore, this damn potato-faced kid, he should just suffer a bit more.
"What kind of look is that?!"
After hitting Shin-chan, Misae turned and saw Hiroshi's guilty eyes, and her anger rose even more.
After years of being a housewife, her figure had indeed changed a bit, but wasn't that normal?
"Hahahaha…"
Hiroshi scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He actually got caught by Misae.
"Don't worry, Shin-chan. Even if our family's situation isn't that great, your living expenses are still more than enough."
After getting promoted, Hiroshi's monthly salary had increased a lot. The mortgage on their house still wasn't fully paid, but in Japan, the interest rate on first-home mortgages wasn't very high. For a detached house like theirs, the monthly payments were negligible, barely more than this apartment Shin-chan rented.
Shin-chan nodded. He wasn't too worried, he had basically never worried about money since he was a child. After all, Shin-chan had always had great luck. He was a child favored by the heavens. His luck with girls was even ridiculously good.
After helping Shin-chan tidy up the room, Hiroshi and Misae had to leave.
"Well, we're off then. Shiro, you have to take good care of Shin-chan, okay?"
Before leaving, Misae and Hiroshi hugged Shiro. The Nohara family all loved this smart little dog. Shiro was way more intelligent than most pets.
Being picked up, Shiro nodded, he seemed to feel that Shin-chan really did need his care.
"Hahahaha, I'm counting on you, Shiro."
After putting down Shiro, Hiroshi and Misae still looked a little worried. But Shin-chan had reached this age, he really needed to start becoming independent.
After sending off his parents, Shin-chan let out a sigh of relief. The room, cleaned up by Misae, felt warm and cozy. She even brought him plenty of snacks.
Looking at this room that was completely his, Shin-chan had a serious expression, then suddenly grinned and showed his signature smile.
"Ehehe~"
'Time to gulp down some ice-cold cola! Then stay up late eating snacks and watching TV!'
The happy solo life had officially begun.
As expected, he was still the same Shin-chan, he hadn't changed at all.
Shiro quietly shook his head and went off to explore the layout of the new home. In this new apartment, taking a walk on his own might be a bit tricky.
He opened the fridge, pulled out a can of cola, and grabbed a bag of chocolate cookies.
"As expected, canned cola tastes better than plastic bottle ones, but the best is still the glass-bottled kind."
After taking a sip of cola, Shin-chan let out a satisfied burp and couldn't help but comment.
Ring ring~
Suddenly the phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was from Kazama Toru.
"Hey, Shin-chan have you finished renting your place?"
"Oh, it's you, Kazama. I'm drinking cola right now. Don't you also think ice-cold canned cola tastes better than the plastic bottle ones?"
"Yeah, cola tastes best when it's ice-cold…"
Kazama Toru followed Shin-chan's lead and imagined the taste of cold cola, but then quickly realized something was off, the topic had gone off track again.
"No, no, that's not it! I was asking if you've finished renting your place. School's about to start, shouldn't we meet up with Masao, Bo-chan, and Nene?"
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