It's said that men could take arrows and still walk properly as if nothing happened. The male body has strong adrenaline that makes it forget things like this. That's why there's a famous saying, "Nah, I'd win", and I agree because men were basically made for that.
However, when it comes to certain illnesses, the male body can't even cope with a simple thing called fever. What the fuck, man. I've been bedridden for three days after taking care of my girlfriend!
"Kazuya? Where did you put the black pepper?"
Hearing Ai from the kitchen, I just grabbed my phone and told her where it was. I'm so weak that I couldn't even speak that loud with this kind of fever.
"Okay! I got it!"
Right now. Since I live alone, Ai decided to come take care of me.
After a while, Ai came into my room wearing an apron. She sat beside me with a playful laugh.
"This is why I like small apartments. They're easy to clean and blablablabla."
Fuck lazy writing. At this point, I couldn't even tell what she was saying.
"You know, I'll surely adapt to this. So, thank you. You can go home now."
Ai grinned as she replaced the cold towel on my forehead. "Why? I mean... you're weak."
Hold on. Where did I hear that line before?
"Kazuya, I wonder if it's alright if we go on a date at Christmas later. Like, we can eat at a nice restaurant or maybe go window shopping together."
If she's asking me this, then I'm sure she already planned it—and sure enough, she'll drag me to some exaggerated place I'm going to refuse.
"No. I'll only change my mind if it's Seven Eleven."
"Don't worry about money~ I found this place, and it's really cheap! Look."
I took her phone and sighed.
"You call this cheap? That's 30,000 yen for steak."
"I mean, it'll be on me! Wait—I know! Let's just buy plenty of meat and have a barbecue together with everyone!"
Hearing her get all excited, now I wonder how she spends all her money.
"Hey, can I ask something sensitive?"
Ai turned her head and hummed. "What? Oh..." She blushed and averted her gaze. "I-if you're asking me to wear a naughty costume for Christmas, g-give me a moment to think about it."
"As much as I think that's a better idea compared to the rest—that's not what I mean."
"What?! So you do want me to do naughty cosplay then?"
"That's not it! Kuhum…"
I sat up in bed and continued.
"How have you been spending your money until now? No—first, how much money do you even have?"
Ai blinked and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "If you're asking, I've collected a decent amount—about 712 million yen over six years. Why?"
That's quite a sum.
"And do you have any plan to preserve that money? Or did you just park all of it in your bank account?"
"Uh, yeah. Is that wrong?"
I knew it.
She reminds me of my past life. I met a lot of single moms who had no idea what to do with their divorce settlements, and I helped them manage their finances. In short, I know how to keep people rich for at least the next ten years.
Holding my laptop, I reviewed everything she bought—including a 100 million yen condo, jewelry, and so on. One thing's, she has no plan to preserve the value of her money.
"This won't do. If you stick with this plan, you'll lose too much money without realizing it."
Ai smiled brightly. "Don't worry! I use my salary to cover my living expenses!"
"Really? As far as I know, excluding taxes, your condo's maintenance alone costs 500k per year. And if you keep visiting fancy restaurants for dates, you're going to go broke. That's something I don't want to see happen—especially since you have kids."
Hearing this, Ai seemed to realize her shortcoming.
"You're right. But… I don't know what to do with all the money I have."
I smiled. "If you trust me, all you need to do is follow my plan."
---
Around a month has passed. I just dropped Aqua and Ruby home after their special cooking class at school. As for the plan, it's going really well. Ai even trusts me blindly now—so much so that she gave me another 150 million yen to invest.
Usually, I'd take 10%, but since she's my girlfriend, I only take 2% of the profits so she doesn't feel guilty.
As for me and her, so far, we've just been watching each other's backs. Our relationship is solid—not one-sided. I help her, and she helps me. As for her kids, well, they behave well. At first, it wasn't smooth, but I've got a motto, it doesn't need to take 300+ chapters' worth of development.
"Wait."
The voice came from my side as I pressed the elevator button. It was Aqua calling me.
"Yo?"
"Sorry. There's something I want to ask."
"Alright, go on."
Aqua sighed, his face turning serious. "Can you spare time tomorrow or the day after?"
I hummed. I had no idea what this little guy wanted. But it was the first time he asked something. Considering that, I couldn't make excuses.
"There's a place I want to visit, but I don't mind if you tag along. Tomorrow, after school. I'll pick you up."
He nodded. "Okay."
I nodded back and entered the elevator. Hm. He's probably going to ask me to teach him how to fight or something.
---
(Third POV)
When the bell rang throughout the school, Aqua packed all his books into his bag. Beside him, his twin sister Ruby noticed his haste and raised an eyebrow.
"That's unusual. You never pack your things this fast. Did you get a new role?"
Considering he was still working on a movie set, Ruby suspected it had something to do with that.
"No. I've got to go. Don't mind me—and please tell Miyako-san."
Ruby frowned. "Huh? Hey!"
But Aqua had already dashed out of the classroom at lightning speed. From the school hall to the parking lot, he earned a few stares from students—and even teachers since Aqua was famous for reading books meant for college students.
"Hah..."
He sighed as he passed the kindergarten entrance.
There, leaning against his sports car while eating chips, stood a man who was attracting quite a bit of attention—especially with that modified RX-7.
As Aqua approached, Kazuya slipped the snack bag into his pocket and gestured.
"Get in."
"Where are we going?"
Kazuya opened the car door and replied, "Racing."
"Huh? Racing what?"
This might be illegal, right?
---
A/N: thank you for reading my story! don't forget to leave a comment and drop all your Power Stones to keep me motivated.