"Anyway, thanks to your Shinomiya family, my business and love life are both in ruins. If I don't get revenge, I'm gonna lose my mind."
Takamine pointed straight at Kaguya, his expression fierce.
"I may not be able to act right now since I'm supposed to behave like a normal student, but don't think this means you've won."
With that, he turned and walked away without looking back.
"..."
"Um, Shinomiya... who exactly is that Takamine guy?"
"Ah, just someone I used to know."
"He mentioned Ai Hayasaka—I remember she's in Class 2-A. She and you..."
"We're just acquaintances who took classes together."
Kaguya didn't want Shirogane to know that Hayasaka was her personal maid. She had her reasons.
Of course, Takamine didn't know that either. He still thought Hayasaka just lived with Kaguya.
"So... what kind of person is Takamine?"
"He..."
Kaguya looked in the direction where Takamine had disappeared.
"Fierce, brutal, disregards rules, and treats people like they're not even human."
"...Is it really that exaggerated?"
---
"Tch, so the Shinomiya family's actually attending this school—and to top it off, Aunt Kaya even warned me about them... guess you dodged a bullet."
Rinji walked along the stone path of the school, bored, kicking a small rock in front of him.
That year, he really did like a girl named Hayasaka Ai. Back then, when he didn't have many friends in Japan, she was the first person he could really talk to.
Although he blamed the Shionomiya family for his failed confession, he was well aware that even without their rules, that girl probably still wouldn't have liked him.
He couldn't help but recall something his father had said to him two days after his heartbreak.
…
"You're still using that outdated 'White-Robed Crossing' tactic at this stage of the game? My roach queen's already up and dominating, hahaha..."
…
"No, not that one. That was something he said when we were playing that blind guy game together. It should be before that."
Rinji remembered again what his father had said to him the first day after his heartbreak.
…
"Son, you inherited my genes, and there's something I have to tell you. Back when I was young, I wasn't popular with women either. The fact I even managed to marry your mother was pure luck. So as my son, getting your heart broken is perfectly normal. The more times you experience this..."
"I'll eventually find a girlfriend?"
"No, you'll just get used to it."
"..."
…End of flashback…
---
"Tch, thinking about it just makes it worse."
Whether his father was unpopular with women or not, Rinji wasn't sure—but what he was sure of was that his dad had zero talent for comforting people. And his emotional intelligence was rock-bottom.
Upon hearing about the breakup, his dad dropped work to spend a whole day playing computer games with him—and utterly crushed him in every match, which only worsened Rinji's mental state.
Honestly, the fact that guy managed to get married is absolutely insane to Rinji.
"Forget it. I should put all that behind me for now. Just one more year until I can leave Japan. I need to focus on making money."
When he arrived in Japan, his dad gave him $100 million. After getting scammed out of $80 million, only $20 million remained. Thanks to some mercenary work in the Middle East and occasional jobs helping with smuggling on the high seas, he managed to recover a bit. Now he had $23 million left.
"Twenty-three million dollars... if I spend carefully, I can last the year. But if I go home with just this much leftover..."
He could already picture that mocking look from his father: "See? The kid's hopeless without me."
"...Besides attending school here, Uncle Sagara also helped me get a side job in the research department of the Japan branch. Monthly salary: $200,000. So... I probably still need to do more work on the high seas. Ahh, if only I were as filthy rich as those bastards from the Shionomiya family..."
The Shionomiya Zaibatsu had total assets of 200 trillion yen (roughly 1.8 trillion USD), with over a thousand subsidiary companies. With that kind of wealth, squashing Takamine Rinji would be child's play.
Of course, that was assuming he didn't snap and escalate things into armed conflict.
Under normal circumstances, turning his remaining $23 million into $2 trillion was basically impossible.
Unless he straight-up robbed people.
And to be honest, robbing people wasn't beyond him.
"Haaah... so annoying. Guess I'll smoke a cigarette."
Deciding not to think about stressful stuff, Rinji leaned against the wall of a nearby building, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one.
Click.
As the flame lit, he exhaled a ring of smoke.
"Which bastard thought it was a good idea to send me to Japan anyway? Uncle Sagara? Or my dad?"
"Hey, student! Smoking is prohibited on campus!"
"Huh?"
Rinji turned around indifferently—and saw two girls standing in front of him.
One had chestnut-colored hair tied into twin braids and was angrily pointing at him. The other girl wore thick glasses and looked pretty plain at first glance.
"Cops?"
"Who are you calling a cop!?"
The girl in front snapped, pointing to the armband on her arm.
"I'm a member of the Disciplinary Committee. Which class are you from? Don't you know smoking on campus is against the rules?"
"How would I know which class I'm in?"
Class assignments were only being announced tonight.
Rinji didn't know who this girl was or what exactly a disciplinary committee did, but his instincts told him—this girl was trouble.
He offered the cigarette in his hand to her.
"Want one too?"
"..."
The girl's body trembled. She was clearly furious.
"You... you jerk..."
"Hmm? Oh, I get it."
Rinji nodded knowingly and pulled a $100 bill out of his pocket, holding it up to her.
"First offense. Just let it slide—pretend it didn't happen."
This was a trick he'd learned after getting dragged to a police station during a business deal on the high seas.
"You think I'm that kind of person!?"
She slapped his hand away in outrage.
"...Yep. Definitely a tough one."
Rinji's eyes grew serious.
Looks like he had to use that move.
"Ah... ni zai shuo shen me, wo shi waiguo ren, wo ting bu dong ni zai shuo shen me. (What are you saying? I'm a foreigner, I don't understand you.)"
"No smoking on campus. What's your class?"
Takamine Rinji: "..."
Damn. This girl's bulletproof.