Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
After a day of classes, Tatsuo, Yakumo, and Chiho made their way down to the shoe lockers. However, when they arrived, Tatsuo did not immediately go to his own shoe locker. Instead, he walked past the shoe lockers for second-year students.
"What's he doing?" Chiho asked curiously.
"I'm not sure." Yakumo replied while shaking her head.
"Let's go see." Chiho said excitedly as she took Yakumo by the hand and dragged her to follow Tatsuo.
When the two girls reached Tatsuo, they saw him looking at another girl.
"That's Nee-San." Yakumo muttered quietly.
As Yakumo said, the girl Tatsuo was looking at was Tenma, Yakumo's older sister. However, instead of Tenma, the interesting thing in the shoe locker area seemed to be what she was looking at, as she was peaking from behind a row of shoe lockers at another student.
Quietly creeping up on Tenma, Tatsuo peered out from around the shoe locker, his head directly above hers.
"Oh, so that's the guy you gave that scroll to, huh?" Tatsuo said quietly.
"Yeah, isn't he dreamy?" Tenma responded on reflex.
A moment later, however, Tenma froze. Then, she slowly tilted her head upwards to see who was talking to her. When she did, she saw Tatsuo looking down at her with a teasing smile on his face.
It took everything Tenma had to not scream aloud from the shock. Then, once she got her surprise under control, she reached up with both of her hands, covered Tatsuo's mouth, and pushed him away from where the two of them were hiding.
Naturally, Tattsuo let himself be pushed back. Because no matter how hard Tenma tried, if Tatsuo did not want to move, there was no way she would have been able to move him.
"Wha-Wha-What are you talking about, Tatsuo-Kun?" Tenma asked while ringing her hands nervously as her eyes swam around. "Why would you think I was the one who wrote that extremely long love letter Kurasuma-Kun is reading?"
"But Tenma-Senpai, I never said anything about a love letter." Tatsuo said while tilting his head innocently. "So, why are you so sure it's a love letter if you weren't the one who gave it to him?"
Hearing that, Tenma's eyes opened wide with panic swirling in their depths. Then, her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as she tried to come up with an excuse. Meanwhile, Tatsuo's innocent expression never changed. But the glint of mischief swirling in his eyes brightened with every moment that passed.
"*Sigh* Please stop teasing my Nee-San, Tatsuo-Kun." Yakumo said, her sigh masking the amusement she was feeling. She then pointed at Tenma as she continued. "If you don't, I'm sure steam will shoot out of her head any minute."
And sure enough, because of all the thinking, Tenma's face had turned red from exertion. On top of that, her eyes were now spinning from the excessive heat gathering in her head.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Tatsuo said while raising his arms dismissively.
"So, do you have a crush on that guy, Senpai?" Chiho asked while peaking around the corner of the shoe lockers. "Well, he's kind of handsome. But he seems way too... Hmm... What's the word I'm looking for?"
"Serious?" Tatsuo asked.
"I guess that works." Chiho replied, though it was clear she was not completely satisfied with that answer. "Anyway, he seems too serous for you, who is lively and outgoing."
Tenma could not respond immediately. Instead, because of embarrassment and a giddy feeling, she cupped her bright red cheeks and began to wiggle in place.
"Well, I think that's all we're gonna get from her." Tatsuo said while shaking his head. "Anyway, we won't bother you any longer, Tenma-Senpai. See you tomorrow."
With that, Tatsuo left without waiting for a reply from Tenma with Yakumo and Chiho following shortly afterwards.
About a minute later, Tenma came back to her senses and was confused when her sister and her friends were nowhere to be seen. However, she did not dwell on that for too long, opting to turn back and look at Kurasuma Ouji, who was still reading her extremely long love letter.
After nearly two hours, Ouji finally finished reading the scroll. As he did, the scroll began to retract on its own. Meanwhile, Ouji wore an expression of intense consideration. Then, when the scroll finished retracting, he opened it again and started reading from the beginning.
"Huh? Why is he reading it again?" Tenma asked herself while continuing to watch.
After another two hours, the sun had set. And Ouji, with a lamp strapped to his head, finally let the scroll retract again. Seeing that, Tenma, who had been watching him read the entire time, let out a sigh of relief.
"What will he think about my love letter?" Tenma asked herself with anticipation.
"Hmm... Just as I thought." Ouji said while tapping the scroll in his free hand.
"What did you think? What did you think?" Tenma whisper-shouted to herself.
"Whoever left this..." Ouji said as he put the scroll in his pocket and reached into his shoe locker for his outdoors shoes. "They didn't sign it. So, I'm not even sure who it's from."
Hearing that, Tenma felt all color fade away from the world. Then, her surroundings turned darker than they already were before it felt like a whole opened up in the floor beneath her.
'Oh no~~~~~~~~!' Tenma shouted in her mind. 'I forgot to sign it! What do I do now?'
Had Tatsuo, or anyone, really, been there to see this, they would have just told her to tell Ouji that she was the one who wrote it... You know, since she was standing right there. Unfortunately, there was no one around to give Tenma such simple advice.
However, one good thing did come out of this failed attempt. And that was the fact that Ouji, after reading the letter, decided not to transfer to another school, appearing in Tenma's classroom the next morning.
As for Tatsuo, when he woke up the next morning, he realized that it was raining. Seeing that, he did not feel anything in particular. However, his memories jolted him when he, Kasumi, and Ayane were leaving the apartment building and saw Emi standing at the entrance, looking at the sky with a blank expression.
'Oh, is this the start of the Devil is a Part-Timer?' Tatsuo asked himself. 'I wonder what will happen if I change things...'
"Good morning, Yusa-San." Tatsuo said as he, Kasumi, and Ayane approached the building's front doors. "Where's your umbrella? It might not be raining too hard right now, but it's supposed to pick up soon."
"Good morning, Yusa-San." Kasumi greeted, as well.
Ayane, on the other hand, only nodded at Emi when she turned back to respond to the greetings.
"Oh, good morning." Emi replied with a troubled expression on her face. "Unfortunately, I lent my umbrella to a co-worker last time it rained. *Sigh* But she still hasn't given it back. So, I don't have one right now."
Hearing that, Tatsuo nodded at Emi with understanding. Then, he turned to glance at Ayane, smiled, and turned back to Emi with the hand holding his umbrella outstretched.
"Here, take mine." Tatsuo said while maintaining his smile. "I can share with Ayane-Oneesan. We're going the same way, after all."
"No, I couldn't---" Emi began to decline.
Yet, before she could even finish, Tatsuo tossed his umbrella at her, Emi fumbling to catch it for a moment. Meanwhile, Tatsuo snatched Ayane's umbrella from her, took a step out of the door, and opened it.
"Don't worry about it." Tatsuo said over his shoulder. He then looked back at Ayane, who was frowning at him, his smile widening as he continued. "Come on, Ayane-Oneesan, Kasumi-Neechan, let's go. We don't wanna be late."
Covering her smile with her free hand, Kasumi followed Tatsuo out of the building while Ayane grumbled for a few seconds before squeezing under the umbrella with Tatsuo. Then, the three left, making their way towards Yagami High, leaving Emi standing there with an awkward smile on her face.
"Thank you..." Emi said quietly as she opened the umbrella Tatsuo gave her. "I'll make it up to you next time, Soramoto-Kun."
Naturally, Tatsuo did not hear Emi. And even if he did, he would have pretended not to. Because as previously mentioned, he just wanted to see if anything would change from the canon, since Sadao would have no reason to give his own umbrella to Emi when they met at a stop light.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo, Kasumi, and Ayane made their way towards Yagami High among chatter and bickering.
"What's wrong, Ayane-Oneesan?" Tatsuo asked with a teasing smile on his face.
"Don't give me that." Ayane said wither arms crossed and a displeased expression on her face. "If you wanted to give away your umbrella, you could have walked to school without one. Why do I have to share with you?"
"*Gasp* Ayane-Oneesan, are you saying you'd let your precious little brother get soaked on his way to school?" Tatsuo asked with feigned heartbreak. "*Sniff* You're too cruel."
"Please stop." Ayane said while rolling her eyes. "That pitiful act is making me nauseated. Besides, you could have shared with Kasumi if you really had to help Yusa-San out."
As she spoke, Ayane glanced at Kasumi, who was smiling brightly at the back and forth between her younger siblings.
"Stop smiling like that." Ayane said as she looked away from Kasumi. "It's disgusting."
Hearing that, Tatsuo's smile widened while Kasumi raised her free hand to cover her mouth, so Ayane would not be able to hear her giggles.
Like that, the rest of the trip to school passed with Ayane's frown never leaving her face, Tatsuo's smile only getting wider with every complaint Ayane made, and Kasumi continuing to smile, happy that Ayane was becoming more than just an unfeeling kunoichi with every day she spent with the Soramoto Family.
'Ayane's not the only one changing, though.' Kasumi thought to herself while watching Tatsuo and Ayane bicker. 'Tatsuo-Kun is changing, too. Ever since he met his friends from that [Dimensional Chat], his smiles have been more genuine. Not just those fake smiles he was taught to make in order to fit in with the rest of society.'
Not long later, the three reached the school. When they stepped inside and Tatsuo closed the umbrella, Ayane snatched it from him before heading to her shoe locker, leaving Tatsuo to smile wryly.
Shortly afterwards, Kasumi also left to change shoes. However, before Tatsuo could go to his own shoe locker, another student, one Tatsuo was familiar with, stepped through the doors.
"Hey, Harima-Senpai." Tatsuo said with a smile. "You weren't here yesterday, you alright?"
"Soramoto." Kenji replied with a nod. "Yeah, I'm alright. Great, even. Yesterday, I had a little chat with the administration. And now, I'm in the class I should have been in, Class 2-C."
When Tatsuo spoke with Kenji, the other students near the entrance looked at him like he was some kind of alien. Kenji was known as the worst delinquent the school had ever seen. So, most of the students were afraid of him. Yet, this first-year spoke to him as if they were friends.
What surprised them even more was Kenji's cordial response. But the most surprising thing was when they heard Kenji say that he managed to talk the school's administration into letting him return to the grade he should have been in. And when they heard that, the only thing they could think of was Kenji threatening the teachers and staff to get his way.
Meanwhile, Kenji, as he spoke of his conversation with the school's administration, remembered the conversation he had with them. And the image of him bowing with his forehead to the floor while begging to be promoted to the second year almost made him blush.
"That's good." Tatsuo replied while taking a step forward and patting the older boy on the shoulder. Then, when he was closer, he lowered his voice to a whisper as he continued. "Congratulations on getting into the same class as Tenma-Senpai. I'll be rooting for you. But there's something you should know."
"Something I should know?" Kenji replied, instinctively whispering in return.
"Yeah, from what I know, Tenma-Senpai already has someone she likes." Tatsuo said in a solemn tone. "I'm not sure what the guy's name is. But she seems really head over heels for the guy."
"What!? How dare that bastard!" Kenji's enraged shout scared most of the students in the entrance. "Just wait until I find out who he is! I'll make him pay!"
The nearby students changed their shoes as quickly as possible, leaving Tatsuo and Kenji as the only students in the entrance. Then, after exchanging a few more words, Tatsuo changed his shoes and headed to his class, as well, with a sly smile on his face.
"Although I could have told Harima-Senpai who Tenma-Senpai likes, where would the fun be in that?" Tatsuo asked himself while walking through the first-year corridor. "I mean, the silly rom-com stuff they got up to in the manga and anime was hilarious."
Not long later, Tatsuo reached Class 1-D. Upon entering, he looked around, noticing that he was the last one to arrive. He also noticed that Suzumiya Haruhi, like yesterday, had changed her hairstyle and the color of her headband.
'She's got two ponytails today.' Tatsuo thought to himself while walking to her classroom. 'So, by Friday, she'll have four. Then, she'll start with a different number on Monday and add more every day until Friday, just like she did in the anime.'
While he was thinking and making his way to his seat, Haruhi also noticed that Tatsuo was looking at her. Boys looking at her was not particularly noteworthy for her. However, Tatsuo's glance, which was aimed at her hair instead of her face or body, was something new.
Even so, neither Tatsuo nor Haruhi took the initiative to speak to each other. And less than a minute after Tatsuo sat down, Itoko entered the classroom, and the bell rang shortly afterwards.