CH 47

“I’ve done it now…”

I muttered to myself, lamenting my current situation.

The reason why I lamented was because I got separated from Saijo at the shopping mall.

…Why did we get separated?

Let’s go back to the beginning.

While Saijo was changing into the clothes I picked out for her, I suddenly heard an anime song in my ears as I waited for her.

It was coming from the central plaza on the first floor of the shopping mall.

From the sound of the surrounding customers talking, it seemed that a girl was standing on the stage and singing in front of the audience.

The atmosphere of Saijo was getting to me, so I decided to peek down from the third floor to the first floor to listen to the girl sing.

But the girl sang so well that I was absorbed in listening to her.

When I came back to myself after the girl had sung the whole medley, Saijo was no longer in the store.

I guess that’s just as well.

From Saijo’s point of view, it was as if I had disappeared without telling her.

Of course she would go looking for me.

As luck would have it, more and more people had come to hear the girl sing, and a large crowd had formed behind me.

I guess that’s why Saijo couldn’t find me.

But we had exchanged contact information beforehand, just in case something like this happened.

…I was so engrossed in singing that I couldn’t possibly have noticed the ringing in my pocket…

Saijo had called me several times in a short span of time, but I hadn’t noticed it, and one could say that I was ignoring her.

I’m sure Saijo is angry with me.

And now I couldn’t get through to Saijo when I called her.

I guess she’s walking around looking for me, and maybe the crowd is too loud for her to hear me.

What should I do…

After much deliberation, I decided to wait and trust that Saijo would come back to the store.

Then―

“There she is!”

I spotted a woman with long straight blond hair wearing a navy dress in the crowd, albeit from behind.

And in terms of height, she was about Saijo’s height.

Blondes are rare in this country, and judging from her clothes and height, I’m pretty sure she’s a blonde.

I went to call out to Saijo.

“Sorry, you were looking for me, right?”

I said, and put my hand on Saijo’s shoulder.

But then―

“Who…?”

I turned around to see a girl with blue eyes.

The girl who turned around had blue eyes, and she was someone I’d met recently.

“Byodoin-san…”

I looked at the woman in front of me and called her that.

So, the person I mistook for Saijo and called out to was Byodoin Alice, whom I had met at Byodoin Systems a while ago.

Byodoin-san tilted her head when she saw my face.

By Byodoin-san’s gesture, I remembered one thing.

The last time I met her, I couldn’t see her eyes because my bangs were in the way.

And yet, I’m talking to her right now with a different hairstyle.

Normally, a change in hairstyle wouldn’t make it so hard to tell someone apart, but in my case, all others could see was my nose and mouth, so there was a good chance I looked like a different person.

In other words, I was the first person Byodoin-san had ever met.

This is bad…

This would be terrifying for Byodoin-san, and it would be no wonder if she mistook me for a pick-up artist.

I immediately removed my hand from Byodoin-san’s shoulder and bowed my head.

“I mistook you for someone else! I’m sorry!”

I said, and turned my back to Byodoin-san.

I turned my back to Byodoin-san, but right after that, Byodoin-san tugged on the sleeve of my dress.

I reflexively looked back at Byodoin-san.

“Long time no see…”

Byodoin-san looked me in the eye as she said that.

As always, her eyes almost swallow you whole.

“You could recognize me…?”

I couldn’t help but ask.

In all honesty, not many people would be able to tell who I was with my hair down.

But still, I’m not sure if she truly recognized me.

“We’ve… met before at Byodoin Systems, haven’t we…?”

Apparently, she really did recognize me.

I nodded at Byodoin-san’s words.

Then Byodoin-san smiled and opened her mouth.

“Byodoin Alice. You can call me Alice… Nice to meet you…”

“Oh, I’m Kaito Kanzaki, nice to meet you too.”

Alice introduced herself, and I quickly did the same.

“Nice to meet you, Kai…”

I observed the expression on Alice’s face as she spoke.

Is this just a coincidence?

I’m not sure if this is a coincidence, or if she was listening to me at Byodoin Systems…

I tried to read Alice’s emotions somehow, but her expression was as expressionless as a poker face.

I decided that I couldn’t read her expression anymore, so I decided to ask her what’s her concern.

“Why are you here?”

“Aria… wanted some new clothes.”

That’s what Alice said to my question.

…… I see.

In other words, Aria-san wanted to buy some clothes and decided to go shopping, so she came along.

Somehow, her conversation jumps a little…

No, it’s more like they’re going to go buy the clothes themselves?

In my image, a very rich person would have a housekeeper buy up a lot of clothes at random, or have a manufacturer special order them and bring them to their residence…

And I’m also concerned about the fact that there are no guards.

What if they are kidnapped?

“Are you free to go out and about? Or have you gotten permission from the people at the mansion?”

I knew it was rude, but I asked about it.

Well, I was just curious…

“Even my father can’t bind Alice and the others… Besides, there are escorts…”

After saying so, Alice looked towards the crowd a little further away.

There, a woman with large br**sts and a kind face, who looked slightly older than me, bowed to me.

…Eh?

That person’s an escort?

She doesn’t look like she can protect Alice though…?

Thinking so, I looked at Alice.

“If you judge a person by their appearance, you will regret it… If Kai had approached me earlier with a bad motive, you’d probably lose consciousness…”

Alice, who read the meaning of my gaze, laughed at me.

Seriously…

That person has such a kind appearance yet she’s so strong…

I mean, fainting is something out of a manga…

I couldn’t help but think that.

No, that’s just impossible under normal circumstances…

How could such a slender and shy woman be so strong…

There are many things that don’t make sense to me…

I thought about it, but another thing was bothering me.

Alice knew exactly what I wanted to ask by the way she looked at me and the question I asked her a while ago.

I’ve never seen anyone like her before.

“―Onee-chan, sorry for the wait!”

As I was looking at Alice, a girl with twin-tailed blonde hair came running up to me.

Byodoin Aria…

She’s also Byodoin― This is confusing, so let’s call her Aria-san.

When I looked at Aria-san, she looked at me with a suspicious expression.

“Who is this guy?”

Aria-san asked Alice, who was standing beside me.

You’re a young lady, but you still have a bad mouth, don’t you?

Well, Alice-san and also Saijo don’t have a ladylike tone, but…

“A friend…”

Alice-san called me a friend, even though we had only talked for a short time.

I was delighted inside.

I don’t have many friends, so I was happy to hear her say that…

“Hee~, this person huh…”

When Aria-san heard Alice-san’s words, she looked at me as if she was observing me.

I don’t like this…

I hate being watched, so I frowned at her.

“Kai… Let’s exchange contact information…”

As I turned my attention to Aria-san, Alice-san tugged on the sleeve of my clothes and said something like that.

Aria-san’s eyes widened in surprise at this action.

I wonder if it’s that unusual for Alice to ask to exchange contact information…?

Well, she doesn’t talk much and doesn’t seem like the type to interact much with her friends also.

I concluded the reason for Aria-san’s surprise, and took out my phone, received Alice-san’s phone, and exchanged contact information.

Aria-san continued to watch the exchange in silence.

“There, it’s done now.”

I confirmed that the messages and phone calls were properly connected to Alice-san, and handed the phone back to her.

“Thank you…”

Alice-san smiled when she received the phone from me.

She’s a pretty funny girl…

I thought so when I saw Alice-san’s expression.

It was a selfish assumption, but I had always thought that Alice-san was a girl that only has a poker face.

However, in the few exchanges we had, she had shown a smile many times.

So she might actually be a very expressive girl.

“―Hey.”

After confirming that our exchange was over, Aria-san called out to me.

“What is it?”

“You, what’s your name?”

Name huh…

If possible, I don’t want this person to know, but― since I’m answering to Alice-san, I’m not going to change it anyway…

“I’m Kaito Kanzaki.”

“I see… I’ll remember that.”

After hearing my name, Aria-san opened her own pouch, which she wore over her shoulder, and began rummaging through it.

I thought of this to Aria-san.

‘No, you don’t have to remember me.’

Because this person is known for her aggressive personality.

That’s a personality I don’t want to get involved with, even if I have to.

And this person doesn’t know about KAI.

If she were to find out anything about me on a whim, she might accidentally find out that I’m KAI.

If that happens, there’s no way she’ll keep quiet, and I’m sure she’ll give me a hard time…

“This is my business card. Please contact me when you have more time. I’d like to talk to you sometime.”

Then Aria-san pulled out a business card from her pouch and handed it to me.

“O-ohh…”

I took it, puzzled.

Why did she suddenly hand me her business card?

Could it be because of the fact that Alice called me ‘Kai’ that she thinks I might be KAI…?

…No, Aria-san would be more gushy if that was the case.

This is not to say that Aria-san’s personality as rumored on the Internet is exaggerated or anything.

From the way she talks on TV and the way she chooses her words, I have concluded that she is definitely who they say she is.

That’s why I don’t think she knows I’m KAI.

But― If that’s the case, why does she say she wants to talk to me next time…?

“Well, we’re going home now.”

“Bye, bye…”

“Ah, yes, goodbye.”

As I was pondering, Aria-san and the others greeted me and turned on their heels.

After that, I continued to think about Aria-san’s intentions until I met up with Saijo―.

**Aria POV**

“Is he a great guy?”

After we left Kanzaki, I asked my sister.

“Someday… You’ll see…”

She did not confirm nor deny my question.

But still, this meant affirmation.

The reason why I asked this is because my older sister, Alice, never calls anyone by their name except me.

If she did, she would call them by their characteristics, for example, to borrow the name of the man earlier, she would call them Kanzaki’s man or Kanzaki’s child.

However, my sister called Kanzaki by his nickname ‘Kai’ just now.

The fact that she called him by a nickname made me think of a guy I met the other day.

He was a man that my sister said she would regret making an enemy of.

He was also the only person she had ever called by a nickname.

I think the fact that she calls him by his nickname means that he is someone she approves of.

That’s why I set my eyes on the man she just called by his nickname.

There’s no doubt that he’s a very capable man.

…The reason why I care so much about my older sister’s approval is because she is a great observer.

And even though she is regarded by those around her as a “mysterious girl who doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” she’s actually not.

The truth is that she is better than anyone else.

Only a handful of people know that.

In the first place, they can’t even comprehend my older sister’s words.

It’s just that you don’t understand her words because she only speaks to the point and only what is necessary.

But, she wasn’t like this before.

At school, she kept a low profile for my sake, but she was a person who spoke well, even if she didn’t say much.

But after an incident, she changed into this person.

The incident happened― about two years ago.

At the time, she was running a company called Byodoin Systems, despite being a middle school student.

I think it’s very strange why my middle school older sister was running a company.

The reason for that is our father’s high expectations of her.

When she was little, our father gave her a big IQ test because she was too smart.

As a result, he said that she had an IQ of over 250, maybe even 300.

That’s why my father gave my sister a variety of gifted education.

I was not gifted, so I just followed her example and did the same things she did.

I found out that she had acquired a lot of knowledge and even had a good eye for observation, just as my father had expected.

Father introduced her to the big politicians.

The politicians liked her and tried to win her over.

They wanted to use her to make themselves richer.

It’s not hard to see how a smart girl like you could not see that.

But they continued to flatter her for our father’s sake.

And it wasn’t only the politicians who recognized her, but also the FBA people who met her through our mother’s connections, and they came to recruit her, even though she was only in elementary school.

They said that she would become an even greater child if she was carefully raised by the FBI―. (TLN: I don’t know why the other statement said FBA and this one said FBI, so don’t blame me for this.)

However, she refused the scouts and continued to listen to our father.

Then, when she graduated from elementary school, our father decided to leave her in charge of a small company.

However, ostensibly, our father was the president.

She only gave our father instructions on how she wanted to run the company behind the scenes.

It was our father’s job to convey these instructions to the executives at Byodoin Systems.

Then one day, my sister, who was in her third year of middle school, brought in an extraordinary person in two ways.

The first was that he had completed a high-performance anti-virus software program in just six months, a period of time that would not normally be possible, and he went on to complete a variety of other programs in a short period of time.

And just before we started high school, he created the world’s first anti-virus software with an amazing AI function.

My sister told me later that they had originally made various programs for it, and in the end, they just added another AI to the first high performance anti-virus software they had made, so the production time for the AI anti-virus software was quite short.

The second reason for our surprise.

Which was― The person who created the anti-virus software was a third-year middle school student like us at the time.

This fact was known only to my sister, our father, and me.

If it were true, it would not have been leaked to anyone else.

However, that fact became known to the world.

The reason for this was that our father had leaked the information to his own TV station.

Because of the buzz, our father broke his promise to my sister and announced that it was a middle school student who created the AI-powered anti-virus software.

However, it seemed that in order to keep the ratings up for a long time, he withheld the name at first and announced it later.

This is what she said to our father at that time.

“You did a terrible thing! He’s not supposed to be known by the world just yet! If so, he’ll be crushed!”

Perhaps her words were right, and the boy died a few days later.

The cause of death was announced as an accident, but it was actually suicide.

At that time, my sister said to my father,

“I don’t want to be part of this company anymore. I’m going to make him realize that he betrayed Alice and the others.”

She then used the big politicians to target Byodoin Systems from various angles.

The politicians sided with the promising sister rather than our father.

Or rather, they couldn’t help but take her side…

The politicians had followed her advice and won every election.

Even though they were big-name politicians, they didn’t want to risk losing the election by losing her backing.

I also saw my sister crying and screaming for the first time in my life.

“If only I didn’t ask to make this thing, then he wouldn’t have to go through that! This stuff should just go away!”

My sister was trying to erase the program that had the world’s first astonishing AI function.

So I stopped her.

“Don’t do it, Onee-chan. This is a memory of you and that person, right? If you erase it, then the proof of your relationship with him will also disappear. Also, you’ll be wasting his efforts. Rather than that, wouldn’t it be better to make this program accessible to everyone for his sake?”

When I said that, my sister agreed with me.

And instead of my sister, I decided to take over Byodoin Conglomerate as soon as I entered high school.

We didn’t want to hide behind my father, but I wanted to make her take the lead.

I wanted to prove that even without our father’s help, my sister and I could make it on our own.

My father also left it to me because he thought that if my sister’s outbursts stopped and I would stand in the front, she might be able to help me.

As a result, using the AI-powered anti-virus software created by the boy who had passed away, Byodoin Systems became one of the top companies in the Byodoin Group.

Because of this achievement, I later decided to take over the three new companies from our father.

One of them, for some reason, my sister demanded a TV station.

Only she knows the reason.

She didn’t tell me when I asked her about it.

Because of this past, she became the way she is now.

But she still lends me her help.

However, she did most of the work, and she was the one who stopped me when I was in danger of going too far.

But thanks to her, I’ve come to be regarded by those around me as “a high school president with an aggressive style who doesn’t push too hard and knows when to back off.”

After all, there’s nothing wrong with what she says.

I said to her before, “I want to ask KAI to modify the anti-virus software with AI. But he’s notorious for not modifying other people’s programs, so is there any way you can get him to do it?” She replied, “Just make the request fee 20 million.”

It was well known that KAI doesn’t accept any high-paying commissions, so when I asked her about it, she said, “No problem.”

As a result, I was really able to make a request to KAI.

It was said that making a request to KAI was like winning the first prize in the lottery, but she did it with ease.

Also, since the day she made the request to KAI, she has been going out every Saturday.

I think she wanted to see KAI, but I didn’t know why she only went out on Saturdays.

However, as soon as the contract with KAI ended, she stopped going out on Saturdays the following week.

Maybe she is seeing KAI.

No, on the contrary, I think she knew who KAI was from the beginning.

I don’t know if it’s because she used big politicians to find out about it or some other reason… Or maybe it was just a coincidence in the first place…

However, the name of the man earlier on, “Kaito Kanzaki,” stuck in my mind.

I think I’ve heard that name somewhere in the past.

Maybe I’ve met him somewhere and he is KAI.

It crossed my mind for a moment, but I didn’t think so.

Because KAI is known to be a man in his forties.

I was almost certain of that.

Besides, I don’t think that a man of our age could have mastered the skills of KAI.

That is, unless he is as talented as the boy who died…

But I don’t think there will ever be another talent like that.

My sister was talking to him happily at the time.

He was far beyond her expectations.

I don’t know of anyone else who could have exceeded my sister’s expectations.

He was a gifted person with a great deal of talent…

“―What are you doing here!?”

I was thinking about the past when I heard a voice.

I see the blonde girl in front of me who may have said the voice.

Her dyed blonde hair was straight down and she was wearing a navy dress, just like my sister next door.

However, I don’t know anyone with blonde hair like this.

“What’s this suddenly? Do I know you?”

As I said this, I looked at the face of the woman in front of me again.

I don’t know why, but she’s giving me a look of hatred.

No, I’ve seen this face somewhere…

“…It’s nothing.”

After saying so, the girl in front of me restores her expression and tries to walk past me.

…I remember now!

As soon as I remembered who this woman was, I caught her arm.

“一What the hell is wrong with your hair? Maybe you were trying to imitate us, loser Kirara-chan?” (TLN: Saijo Kirara, refer back to the first Translator’s note from Apprentice Translations on chapter 10)

When I say this, Kirara gives me a furious look.

“It hurts…”

However, contrary to her expression, her words were weak.

“This is good, let’s talk for a bit. Kirara-chan, who left the school in tears after losing to me?”

“―! You did something cowardly, not me!”

Kirara was struck by my words.

…Hee~, even though you’ve been through so much, you still haven’t lost your mind.

I knew it, I had to smash this person.

Besides, I’ve got an idea.

It’s almost time for the announcement.

I tucked my arms into my pockets and turned on my voice recorder.

As I was constantly trading, I carried the voice recorder with me so that I could always have evidence.

With that in mind, I decided to stir up Kirara.

“Coward? That was rather your fault for being so honest, wasn’t it? It was a decent move, right?”

“How dare you say such a thing―!”

“But, that’s right… If you’re not satisfied with the result, should I give you another shot?”

“You’re going to try something sneaky again, aren’t you…?”

“Well, if you’re so worried, why don’t we play with the stock market? I don’t know anything about stocks and there’s no way I can cheat.”

“…I don’t believe you. Besides, we’re not just going to compete normally anyway, are you…?”

“Yeah, if I win, I’ll get all the shares of the Saijo Corporation that Kirara owns.”

“You can’t do that―!”

“However―”

I interrupted Kirara’s words that were about to argue.

I understand that there is no way that Kirara will accept these conditions.

“If I lose, I will give you shares of the Byodoin Group for double the price of the shares you have put up.”

Yes, this should make Kirara hesitate.

As the daughter of the Saijo Corporation, Kirara owns quite a bit of stock.

If it was double that amount, she would be dazzled by the reward.

As expected, the Kirara in front of me was shaking her eyes and wondering.

“…I’m not partaking…”

“What?”

“I don’t need… the money anymore…”

Kirara had defied my expectations.

She looked back at me with eyes that were filled with a strong will.

I also couldn’t believe that someone who grew up in our world would say that She didn’t need money.

I wondered what had happened to Kirara while I wasn’t keeping an eye on her…

I’m curious about that― But I’ve known her for quite some time.

Which means that I know what to do to get him to accept the match.

“Hmmm, you’re running away again? Well, I guess so. If you lose, you will be abandoned by your family, right?”

Kirara’s eyebrows twitched at my words.

“You know how high the Saijo family is, don’t you? It’s the kind of house where a scaredy-cat like you grows up. The people you surround yourself with are all losers, right?”

With my words, Kirara’s expression changed.

She’s always been like this.

She gets angrier when people around her are ridiculed than when I make fun of her.

And if it’s someone she cares about, she doesn’t think twice about it anymore.

Yes― Just like the old days.

“I can’t believe you’re running away with such a huge reward in front of you. Well, that’s okay, isn’t it? The weak should go to the corner and lick each other’s wounds.”

“―That’s not it…”

“Eh, what was that? I can’t hear you, you know?”

“Kaito is not a weakling! He’s far more amazing than you!”

I hold back the urge to laugh when I hear those words.

She’s a real cheapskate.

And as for Kaito…

Now I understand why my sister was with that guy earlier.

Kanzaki mistakenly thought my sister was Kirara and approached her.

And now for the remarks.

If the game goes on like this, Kirara will rely on Kanzaki out of all possibilities.

In other words, we can see how strong that man is.

I look at my sister for a moment.

She didn’t show any signs of stopping me.

My sister is probably aware that Kirara and Kanzaki know each other, so I think she’s decided that Kanzaki’s intervention won’t be a problem and that she won’t lose.

All right, let’s make Kirara accept the match as it is.

“Whatever. He’s just a guy with a loser like you, right? He’s not worth it.”

“That’s not the case! You don’t know anything about me!”

“Then prove it to me.”

“Eh…?”

“I’m asking you to prove it to me in this match. Since you’re so determined, you can do it, right?”

“…All right.”

Kirara nodded at my words.

I smirked at the prospect of a match.

“Okay. Now then, I’ll explain the game and the rules.”

“Rules?”

“That’s right. Well, it’s not that difficult. First of all, to prevent cheating, only 100,000 yen can be used in this app. You can see the date and time of how the money was transferred, so it’s impossible to start over and cheat. Then, exactly two weeks later at 5:00 pm. You will only present the total amount of shares you have bought in advance and compete for the total amount of shares you have at that time.”

“In other words, I don’t have to sell my shares to make money, but I have to compete for the total amount of shares I own?”

“That’s what it means. That’s the only rule. There are no other rules.”

“I understand.”

“Well, that’s about it―Ah, and you can’t run away when you’re about to lose, okay?”

After saying that, I took out the voice recorder from my pocket, which I had been recording earlier.

Kirara looked surprised for a moment, but quickly tightened her face.

“I won’t run away.”

“Well then, I’ll see you in two weeks.”

I said, exchanged only my contact information and turned my back on Kirara.

She’s such an idiot.

The fact that you accepted this game means that you may have knowledge of stocks and were confident that you could win― But when you accepted this game, you already lost.

Convinced that I had won, I started on my way home―.