"Some of these families have had trouble with the Fujikawa family before—especially the Ayanokouji family. We've always had... differing opinions about how to handle things ," Akifumi Ye said, his tone calm but firm.
"The rest of the families are pretty harmless for now. But just in case, keep these names in mind."
Mugiho picked up the tissue from the table where several names were scrawled in neat handwriting. The moment his eyes scanned the list, his head throbbed.
Every single one of them was bad news.
Shinomiya. Sakayanagi. Ayanokouji. Yukinoshita.
Migraine, unlocked.
Of course he already knew the name Shinomiya—thanks to Hayasaka Ai, he was well aware that the youngest daughter, Shinomiya Kaguya, existed in this world too.
And now these other names? Sakayanagi, Ayanokouji, Yukinoshita... He wasn't sure if they were the same terrifying names he'd heard of in his past life, but he could always look them up online.
Still... this couldn't be a coincidence, right?
I should've known things would get complicated... ever since Yor showed up...
Slice-of-life world, my ass. Is the world of the rich always this much of a mess?
If Mugiho had known this from the start, he might've gone back to the heavens and demanded a refund. This was way too much for a normal person to handle.
'And now even my peaceful daily life with Eriri and Mahiru is in danger... No dating both of them is already asking for trouble in the first place...'
He sighed heavily.
'Why do I feel like I've signed up for a death flag package instead of a quiet life...?'
"About the Shinomiya family..." Mugiho said with a wry smile, recalling his own first encounter with Hayasaka Ai.
"Hm? What about them?" his father asked.
"I was... contacted by them. No—'contacted' isn't the right word. More like their youngest daughter sent me something before."
"Huh?" His father tilted his head, clearly confused.
Then, as if a lightbulb went off in his mind, he snapped his fingers. "Ah! You mean that truck full of knives?"
"That's totally your fault, you idiot!"
"Pfft—Ahahahaha!" Akifumi Ye suddenly burst out laughing and gave his son a hard slap on the back.
Mugiho let out a tired sigh.
"What do you expect me to do? Put a disclaimer at the start of every story that says 'Warning: Bad things might happen ahead'? Isnt that count as a spoiler?"
"Well... you could tone it down a little, you know, ever since your mom finished reading Your Lie in April, she's been in a terrible mood with me."
"I still don't see how that's my problem. Sounds like your problem to me."
"You ungrateful brat..." Akifumi Ye clenched his fist, clearly tempted to give his son a proper smack on the head—but held himself back.
'No good... If my wife finds out I hit him, forget about sleeping on the couch... I'll probably get kicked out of the house entirely...'
'Seriously... that doting wife of mine... I miss my honeymoon periods where my wife pamper me...'
"But there's still something bothering me," Mugiho said, snapping out his father from his thoughts.
"Hmm? What is it?" he asked with annoyed tone.
"If my very existence was supposed to be a secret… how did this information even leak in the first place? Doesn't that mean these people might just be a distraction?"
"Well..." Akifumi Ye fell silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully before continuing. "The only ones who know about you are the two leaders from DA and one executive from the Alan Institute, but the fact that you're still alive suggests it likely wasn't any of them."
"But I'll be a relief if this really was the work of some outsider, and not someone from my family... I really don't want to think there's a mole inside, but just to be sure...."
Without warning, Akifumi Ye pulled another pendant from his pocket and tossed it to Mugiho.
"Here, you take this."
Mugiho caught it on reflex, staring down at the familiar emblem of owl gleaming in his palm. His eyes narrowed. "What's this supposed to mean?"
"I want you to become one of Alan's children."
"…You're kidding, right?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" He replied flatly, not even a hint of humor in his expression.
"Yes. Totally." Mugiho deadpanned.
"Just hear me out first, will you?" Akifumi sighed. "You know that the Alan Institute provides full support for geniuses, right?"
"Yeah…"
"But there's another rule. Once someone becomes one of Alan's children, the institute forbids its members from making any direct contact with them, unless a special circumstances, So if you officially join Alan... even if they want to get to you, they can't."
"And you seriously think they'll follow that rule?" Mugiho raised an eyebrow.
Akifumi Ye chuckled at the doubt in his voice.
"Oh, they'll follow it. Trust me. You have no idea how fanatical those Alan folks are about their own rules, even if Alan did have a mole"
Well, that's true… if I remember correctly, In the original there's that guy—Yoshimatsu Shinji... That guy's on a whole different level when it comes to dedication, even to the point to pointed a gun to his lover, and to Chisato who is like a daughter to him.
'Speaking of Chisato does that café exist in this world?'
Glancing down at the pendant in his hand, Mugiho smirked.
"Don't tell me... this whole 'Alan' thing is actually some weird cult or something?"
'Cough—cough!'Akifumi Ye nearly choked on air.
"What kind of image do you have of your own father?! You think I'm that sketchy? Some shady cult leader or something?"
"Yes. Yes, I do." Mugiho replied with a chuckle.
"At least try to deny it…" Akifumi sighed, rubbing his temple.
"Well, thanks for this anyway," Mugiho said, slipping the pendant into his pocket. "So... what exactly do I have to do for Alan?"
"You're not seriously telling me there is nothing that Alan can support me with, right?" he added with a teasing smirk.
His father glanced at him, lips twitching as if holding back a sigh. Mugiho looked like a kid about to shamelessly ask for New Year's money.
'This brat... Didn't you already make a fortune? And now the moment you know your parents is loaded, you want to squeeze your own father dry too?'
Akifumi Ye sighed, shaking his head at his son's greedy grin.
"For that... you only need to keep doing what you're already famous for."
"My manga?" Mugiho asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Alan Institute exists to support and nurture struggling geniuses in any field, even your talents in manga, novels, anime... game development—you name it. That's what Alan will fully back you on from now on."
As he spoke, Akifumi Ye casually pulled out his phone and sent a message to someone.
"I don't think I'm struggling though," Mugiho muttered.
"Maybe not now," his father replied, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
"But after your works started selling globally, haven't you hit a bit of a plateau? If you want to push past that limit... you'll need proper backing."
Akifumi Ye smirked slightly, eyes glinting.
"I'll introduce you to someone. If you ever need anything, just go to her. well you probably already know her, anyway."
"Her?". Mugiho tilted his head in confusion.