Chapter 28: S is Just the Ceiling of the Ranking
After the assessment, it was time for Otonashi Chiya to register his information.
Among the options was a query on whether he required housing provided by Tokyo Public Safety. The dormitories were located in apartments near the headquarters. He checked the box for "Yes." His current home was in Nerima Ward; squeezing onto the subway every day to get to work would be a massive hassle. His Vitality wasn't yet strong enough to let him use Kamui to teleport between home and the office at will every day.
When he reached the section for "Devil Powers," Chiya hesitated for a moment before asking the examiners, "Can I keep this confidential?"
"Ah, that's fine. In your case, you don't even have to fill it out," one of the examiners replied.
Filling out that section was mainly to help them determine the final rank, as they needed to know exactly which devil's power a newcomer used during combat. Earlier, Aki had only listed the devil he used during the test; he kept his contract with the Curse Devil private.
However, Chiya's performance had been so dazzling that leaving the section blank wouldn't affect his final rating. To them, S-rank was merely the upper limit of the grading system, not necessarily the upper limit of Chiya's actual ability—much like Kishibe years ago.
"Alright then."
Aside from the devil power section, Chiya filled out everything required.
"That's all. For now, Himeno will continue to guide you through the preparatory work. Once the final rankings are released tomorrow, she will be the one to notify you."
The examiners clearly knew about Himeno's connection to them; she had likely greeted them in advance. While Chiya's rank was a foregone conclusion, there was still some uncertainty regarding Aki's rating, so they decided to announce both results together the following day.
After taking the elevator up from the underground base, they found Himeno waiting for them in the first-floor lobby.
"How was it? I assume you both passed smoothly?" Himeno asked with a smile as soon as she saw them.
"Passed," Aki answered succinctly.
"It was smooth enough," Chiya added.
"I knew you two would have no problem. Now we just wait for the rankings tomorrow. Let me guess what you'll get and see if I'm right," Himeno mused. "For Hayakawa Aki, I guess B-rank. As for Otonashi Chiya... I'll guess A-rank."
"I have a feeling your guesses won't be very accurate," Aki said.
"Oh? Which one is wrong?" Himeno asked curiously.
"You'll find out when the time comes," Aki said flatly.
He used the exact same phrase Himeno had used earlier to tease them—a taste of her own medicine. Himeno caught on immediately. "Wow, you've got a real vengeful streak, don't you, kid?"
"Whatever. I'll take you to see your new quarters. If you move in, Public Safety covers the rent and utilities directly. The reimbursement also includes travel expenses for missions later on. You'll see the full list of benefits once you're official."
Himeno then led Chiya and Aki to the apartment suites arranged for them by Public Safety. These apartments were more high-end than their original place in Nerima. The layout was similar, but the suites were about fifteen to twenty square meters larger.
"You should contact a moving company today to get your furniture over. If all goes well, you can move in tonight," Himeno explained. "Of course, if you don't want to live here later on, you can rent somewhere else or even buy a house. With a Public Safety hunter's salary, you can easily afford a house after working for a year or two."
In the original story, Himeno owned her own detached small villa. After all, by the main storyline, she was around 25 to 27 years old and had been working at Tokyo Public Safety for many years. According to the current timeline, Himeno is likely between 21 and 23, whereas Hayakawa Aki and Otonashi Chiya are both only 16.
"Alright, I'll head back and let my sister know, then I can call the moving company," Chiya said.
Himeno sighed with feeling. "Oh, so you have a sister? I have a sister too, but I don't want her living with me. If you do this kind of work while living with family, they nag you constantly."
Chiya just smiled and didn't say much. His situation was different from Himeno's, after all—Denji wasn't his biological sister.
While Himeno headed back to the headquarters to handle the paperwork for the rest of their recruitment, the two of them only had to worry about their living arrangements. Chiya took the subway back to Nerima Ward.
"Denji, I'm home."
As soon as Denji opened the door, Chiya got straight to the point. "Because of a job transfer, we're moving to a new house. I'm calling a moving company in a bit; we should have everything settled by tonight."
He figured Denji might not understand if he specifically mentioned "Tokyo Public Safety," so he just called it a job transfer.
"Okay~" Denji nodded, naturally having no objections.
By nightfall, with the help of the moving company, all the furniture had been transported to the new house and set in place. Denji was very satisfied with the new home; it was larger and more beautiful than their old one.
"My working hours from now on will be from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. I won't always be able to make it back for lunch, so I'll prepare it for you every morning ahead of time," Chiya explained.
This was the schedule Himeno had told him. Unless there was a sudden emergency mission, off-duty hours were completely free.
"It's actually fine, I can do it myself. You don't have to go through the trouble, Chiya nii-chan." Now that Chiya's work was becoming busier, Denji felt bad about him putting in so much effort for her.
"It's no trouble. I actually quite like cooking for you guys. If I ever get too busy, then you can handle it yourselves." Regarding this, Chiya felt he had inherited a trait from his father back in his previous life—both took great joy in seeing others enjoy the food they personally prepared.
"Mm-hm!" Hearing this, Denji's guilt lessened significantly.
The next morning at 8:00 AM.
Chiya set out an hour early. He and Aki were already members of Tokyo Public Safety; only their rankings were still pending, so they were expected to show up for work normally.
Aki had arrived as early as Chiya, but the staff in the first-floor lobby told them to wait for Himeno in the lounge area. It was likely that ordinary staff didn't have high enough clearance, and only Himeno was authorized to lead them through the subsequent procedures.
"I wonder when that woman will actually show up..." Aki muttered, sitting on a sofa in the lounge.
"I have a feeling Himeno-senpai is the type to arrive exactly on the dot," Chiya said with a slightly awkward smile, hoping his guess wouldn't come true.
Aki checked his watch. It was only 8:10 AM. He immediately looked unsettled, his brow twitching. "Does that mean we have to wait for over half an hour?"