“Liar.”
Wrapped in a bath towel, Jiang Jian Yue walked out of the bathroom and stared speechlessly at the job posting Yuki Asahi had brought back along with the medicine.
Yuki Asahi—he seemed like the type who bought tea when young and health supplements when old.
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Yuki Asahi said regretfully as he opened the medicine box.
He didn’t really believe such a good thing existed, but he couldn’t help fantasizing.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Yuki Asahi glanced at the caller ID—”Koji Hattori”—and pressed the answer button in confusion.
He turned on the speaker, skillfully tore open the painkiller packaging with his other hand, and poured out two pills.
“Hattori-san? It’s late, is something—”
Yuki Asahi’s question was cut off by the voice on the other end.
“Yuki! Where are you?”
Koji Hattori’s voice was filled with urgency, and the sound of wind could be heard in the background.
“I’m at… home, why?”
Yuki Asahi asked, puzzled.
He took the empty water cup Jiang Jian Yue handed him and prepared to pour hot water.
“You’re in danger right now. That bastard… the guy named Nine-Tails Seiji. He’s going to make a move on you! Don’t go anywhere, tell me your address, I’ll come to you.”
In his mind, the image of Nine-Tails Seiji—the big brother-like figure he met on the train—flashed by, his face blurring in memory.
Yuki Asahi trusted Uncle Hattori more than the Nine-Tails Seiji he’d just met.
After giving his address, he handed back the cup filled with hot water and the medicine, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Hattori-san, my safety isn’t that important, is it?”
Then, he felt a gentle step on his instep.
Looking up, he saw Jiang Jian Yue frowning slightly at him.
Don’t belittle yourself like that!
“Of course, it’s for Princess Yue! If something happened to you, Princess Yue would be very sad.”
Iron sheep! Koji Hattori! What are you saying!?
Jiang Jian Yue hurriedly threw the painkiller into her mouth and covered her embarrassment by drinking water.
***
Koji Hattori arrived at the apartment entrance in about ten minutes.
After entering, he was a bit surprised.
“Yuki-kun… lives in such a nice place?”
“Just rented.”
Yuki Asahi replied awkwardly, glancing at the empty living room without even a seat.
So the two could only stand in the living room as Koji Hattori explained all the information he’d gotten from Morita Aoya.
“I see.”
Yuki Asahi frowned, sensing that things were getting complicated.
“Just kill him. Wouldn’t that solve everything?”
Suddenly, Jiang Jian Yue’s voice came from the master bedroom.
Koji Hattori’s eyes widened instantly.
“Eh? Ojou-sama… she’s here?!”
“Eh? You didn’t know?”
Yuki Asahi was even more surprised.
Koji Hattori shook his head, choosing not to comment further on their situation, and continued.
“Ojou-sama’s thinking is a bit naive…”
“Getting rid of Nine-Tails Seiji just means someone else will take his place. It doesn’t matter who. The Marriage Contract isn’t important at all… His power doesn’t come from being Ojou-sama’s fiancé, but from being chosen as the leader by the Homecoming Faction.”
Koji Hattori spoke quietly.
“In the past, there were only about a hundred ‘marginal people’ left in the homeland, and all business revolved around Ojou-sama. Naturally, she could rely on DRG’s binding with the Japanese Government and enterprises for considerable power.”
“But the more Ojou-sama acts in Japan, the more the family head worries that someone on Japanese soil will harm her, deepening their ties with the Japanese Government.”
“Those contracts and alliances formed from mutual benefit—Morita Butler, as a marginal person, doesn’t dare to get deeply involved. Ojou-sama also doesn’t care about such things and leaves everything to the company.”
“Who is most interested in Japan? Of course, it’s the young people of the Homecoming Faction. ‘Japan’ is the promised land granted to them by the family head.”
“It’s just… Morita thought they would respect us ‘marginals’, but the Homecoming Faction’s urgency exceeded his expectations, especially since Ojou-sama happened to leave home.”
The master bedroom door slowly opened.
Jiang Jian Yue’s voice grew clearer.
“So you’re saying… it’s my fault?”
“No! I didn’t say that!”
Koji Hattori quickly explained.
“Ojou-sama is still a child. She shouldn’t have to handle such things.”
“And you adults… didn’t handle it well either, did you?”
Jiang Jian Yue wrapped the coat around herself and appeared in the hallway outside the bedroom, her face expressionless.
“…Ojou-sama, you don’t really intend to kill Nine-Tails Seiji, do you?”
Koji Hattori forced a smile, a chill running down his spine.
The first candidate for the Marriage Contract had died in internal conflict.
Would today’s newly promoted candidate also die the same way?
The family head needed the support of these young people to resist the increasingly unruly Board of Directors.
Killing Nine-Tails Seiji would only make things worse.
“Not for now.”
Jiang Jian Yue replied casually, then glanced at Yuki Asahi.
“Yuki thinks so too, right?”
Yuki Asahi froze for a moment.
Even after hearing so much, he still didn’t harbor any murderous intent toward Nine-Tails Seiji.
His simple values didn’t deem Nine-Tails Seiji’s actions worthy of a death sentence—unless he committed murder or some other grave act.
But… from what Koji Hattori said, these people’s methods were overbearing, disregarding ordinary civilians, and their goal was to turn Japan into a nation ruled by enterprises.
Yuki Asahi wasn’t a combat cherry blossom, but he still felt uncomfortable.
Maybe it was because he’d seen too many cyberpunk works and had a bad impression of corporate-ruled nations.
–Which is more evil, the oppression of an entire class or the direct violence of taking a life… As a high school student, Yuki Asahi couldn’t figure it out.
It wasn’t something someone his age should be worrying about.
Jiang Jian Yue’s thoughts were much simpler.
She walked to the living room, turned to look at the Tokyo nightscape through the floor-to-ceiling window, and spoke softly.
“Actually… I don’t care… about money…”
Koji Hattori coughed a few times, suppressing the curve at the corner of his mouth.
—Such words always carried a faint sense of humor when spoken by the wealthy.
“Homecoming Faction… if those people want Japan and power… let them have it… it doesn’t matter…”
“But.”
As everyone knows, anything said before “but” can be ignored.
“If they touch my people—”
Jiang Jian Yue turned around, a faint murderous intent flickering in her red eyes.
When she learned Morita Aoya had been driven back to the Setagaya old house, Jiang Jian Yue was angry.
Very angry.
And when she discovered Nine-Tails Seiji had mobilized people from the apartment to force them out, her fury was unprecedented.
Inside Jiang Jian Apartment, almost everyone was a long-time acquaintance.
Jiang Jian Yue had poor memory—she still hadn’t remembered the black long-haired class president’s name—but she could call out the names and remember the faces of every maid and bodyguard in the apartment.
In her mind, everyone in Jiang Jian Apartment was one of her own.
This also included Koji Hattori and the young men who joined after the Ikebukuro Monster Incident.
But Nine-Tails Seiji…
He treated my people like this?
Fine, so that’s how you want to play…