"...And the office building we were eyeing—everything's finalized."
All the paperwork is done, and the renovation company will submit the design proposal within two weeks. That's about it."
Kisaki Tetta closed his notebook and adjusted his glasses as he finished his report.
Then, he turned to look at his older brother, awaiting further instructions.
"Thanks for the hard work, Kisaki. Have so tea, relax," Kyousuke replied casually, lying lazily on a recliner.
Watching his boss laid-back posture, Kisaki sighed and took a sip of the tea on the table.
"Even though the purchase is complete, I still need to say it—buying an office building outright really isn't necessary."
"From both a business growth and investnt perspective, it's not the best move. The company's bound to grow, and we'll need to move to a busier area, a larger building eventually."
"If this was an investnt, the return on this one's only 4.6%. With the current economy, I don't see that going up any ti in the next five years."
"But it's a safe investnt. With real estate, you have to think long-term. Five years isn't enough. You've got to look ten years ahead. You're still a bit too young, Kisaki."
"But don't forget—we bought this building with a bank loan. The interest alone is no small amount."
"We're covering that with the rental inco, aren't we?"
"...."
Logic told Kisaki sothing was off about that, but for a second, it actually sounded convincing.
"No—look, using a huge amount of capital to buy property during the early stages of a startup just isn't smart!"
"This was a vacant office building with no lease contract—those are rare! I had to grab it when I saw it."
But... this is Suginami Ward. You can find fully-rentable office buildings on every block.
The retort rolled around on Kisaki's tongue, but in the end, he swallowed it.
His brother might be a genius in so areas, but he really was reckless.
That building cost nearly 400 million yen—enough to fund a top-tier ani production.
"Well, Sword Art Online is about to release. If I really wanted, I could pay off the loan imdiately. Then we'd basically be saving on rent, so it's pure profit. Making money before we even start operations—that's promising, don't you think?"
Kyousuke waved dismissively.
He had enough money in the bank to buy the building outright but wanted to keep so liquid for spending.
His savings, which had dropped to around 200 million yen after the purchase and renovations, had already rebounded to 300 million thanks to book sales and reprints after the signing event.
"...."
Well, with his talent and work ethic, his recklessness didn't really affect the bigger picture.
He could afford to be reckless.
In fact, Kisaki had decided to follow him because of that overwhelming strength. Right now, his own 1% equity in the company was already growing rapidly.
Kisaki fell silent, placing his notebook on the table and leaning back in his chair just like Kyousuke.
He sipped his tea and took in the peacefulness of the night.
In the garden, the landscape lights weren't fully on, but the solar lights under the plants gave off a soft glow—enough to illuminate the space comfortably.
The cherry blossoms blood thickly on the branches, glowing faintly under the lights—like pale fireflies, mysterious and dreamlike, as if they didn't belong to this world.
Thanks to her, this garden looked too beautiful to be real.
It was only now that Kyousuke understood why this cherry blossom tree was called Edo Higan Zakura.
If the mythical Sanzu River really existed, the boatman ferrying souls would probably be waiting quietly beneath a tree just like this.
Across the table, Kisaki Tetta was also gazing at the cherry blossoms.
Spring is for night, Sumr for stars, Autumn for the full moon, Winter for the snow...
Just like his brother once promised—three years after they t, in the spring, the two of them sat in a mansion like this, sipping osmanthus tea and admiring the night.
They sat on opposite sides of a white foldable round table.
A glass teapot of pale yellow osmanthus tea sat in the center.
The garden was so quiet there was barely even wind; only faint chatter from pedestrians out on the street could be heard.
The cherry blossom tree, glowing softly, filled the entire view. Tranquil. Peaceful. Kisaki had never imagined he'd live a mont like this.
It was perfect.
Following his brother really had been the best decision of his life.
He had so complaints about how long it had taken Kyousuke to host this housewarming party, but knowing his brother's personality, he was satisfied nonetheless.
Naturally, others had co too—close associates from the organization—but most had already gone ho. Kisaki had stayed behind because he still had reports to deliver.
"This sakura—isn't it a shidarezakura, a weeping cherry from the Edo Higan variety?" Kisaki asked.
"Yeah, beautiful, isn't it?" Kyousuke opened his eyes, glancing over.
"Weeping sakura really does have a different charm from the usual Soi Yoshino... but isn't this a variety from Kyoto?"
Kisaki was surprised his brother hadn't dumped the ho and garden planning on him.
He had started studying landscaping and interior design ages ago just for this.
"Yep. I picked it myself in Kyoto. Supposedly a direct descendant of the ancient Jindai Zakura."
Hearing that, Kyousuke even sat upright in pride.
"Well, that's a surprise—didn't expect you to have this kind of aesthetic side," Kisaki remarked.
"Haha, a pure-blooded single like you wouldn't understand this kind of thing."
"...My high school romantic cody is just getting started, thank you very much!"
"So mbers of the organization are asking whether we should expand our territory to Toshima Ward. I an, it's kinda odd for our leader to be going to school in soone else's turf."
"You guys decide that stuff. Or hey—Kisaki, why don't you take over as the third-generation boss? Honestly, we should've stopped playing that ga after junior high."
"No way. Without your na as our leader, Rampaging Angel and Bunkyo Ward would fall into chaos in no ti."
Kisaki didn't take offense at his forr dreams being called a "ga."
He knew—deep down—that in his boss eyes, all this gang stuff really was just child's play.
At the beginning, the group had supported Kyousuke. But now, the help they offered was almost negligible.
To Rampaging Angel, Kyousuke, the second-gen boss, might not have done much apart from a couple solo raids and so coaching at Higashi's kendo club but that didn't matter.
As long as he remained their leader, the group thrived under his shadow.
He was like a banner.
A sun hanging high in the sky.
Everyone could see him, feel his brilliance.
No rival group dared step into their territory.
And new mbers kept arriving, drawn to his strength.
"What a pain..." Kyousuke sighed he hadn't been to a single gang eting in nearly half a year.
The joy of cherry blossom viewing was already fading. He reached for his teacup—then suddenly paused.
The light from the living room cast a shadow behind the teacup, and within that shadow, there was a speck of even deeper color.
It was an ant.
Tiny, with two twitching antennae probing the air, trying to locate the source of that sweet scent.
Its head cautiously poked out of the shadow and into the glow of the living room lights—only to jerk back imdiately.
It hovered in place for a mont, then began climbing toward the cup.
First, its antennae touched the smooth surface of the cup.
Then, with surprising resolve, it began to ascend. Strange, really.
The glass looked far too slick, yet the ant scaled it with ease.
On the turquoise glass of the teacup, the black ant almost blended into the dark swirls of the design.
It looked like a lone mountaineer mid-ascent.
"Old but gold," soone thought, watching its nimble movents with admiration.
He knew that in ant colonies, the foragers were usually older, more experienced worker ants.
Halfway up, its antennae twitched again, as if double-checking its direction.
Finally, it reached the rim of the cup, its antennae now dancing rapidly—was it excitent, or was it analyzing the honey content in the osmanthus tea?
If it were Sakura, she'd definitely hide the cup the mont the ant left to report back.
Thinking this, a smile unconsciously crept across his face.
"Huh? Why's there an ant here?" Kisaki Tetta finally noticed sothing odd and reached out to remove the tiny intruder for his brother.
"Don't move," Kyousuke said, raising a hand to stop him.
Just as the ant began climbing down the inner wall of the cup, Kyousuke pulled out his phone, snapped a photo, typed a ssage, and sent it.
Elsewhere, in a hospital room, Sakura had just been awakened by a nurse who'd given her an injection of sothing and was now wide awake, unable to fall back asleep.
When her phone chid, she grabbed it eagerly.
————————————————————————
"An ant climbed onto my cup. For a second, I thought it was you, greedy little Sakura." —Kyousuke
————————————————————————
In the photo, a tiny ant stood on the rim of the turquoise glass teacup, looking vaguely dazed and confused.
"Pfft... Wahahaha—!"
Even though her whole body ached, Sakura couldn't help bursting into laughter the mont she saw the ssage.
The motion tugged at her wounds, causing her to wince but the pain only made her laugh harder.
Standing beside her, Yamauchi Makoto, her mother, imdiately guessed who the ssage was from.
Seeing her daughter laugh like that, she almost cried.
The surgery had been over for days, and though they said all the sleeping ant fast recovery, watching her once-lively daughter lie so still all the ti had slowly worn her down with worry.
But she couldn't let herself cry.
If she did, her daughter would only feel worse. A mother should never make her sick child the one offering comfort.
"I'm stepping out for a bit," she said softly, giving Sakura so space.
"Mm-hmm, thank you, Mom," Sakura replied cheerfully.
She instinctively moved to hit the call button—but paused.
Her voice was still too weak.
If Kyousuke heard her like this, he'd definitely worry.
So instead, she typed out a reply:
————————————————————————
"Whaaa! Did you just call an ant? That's so an! I'm mad. Super-duper ga mad!" —Yamauchi Sakura
————————————————————————
Attached was a sticker: Sakura puffing out her cheeks in mock anger, her delicate finger pointed fiercely at the cara.
She had an entire collection of custom stickers—only ever used with three or four special people.
Looking at the ssage, Kyousuke's smile softened even more. His fingertips lingered gently over the screen.
But what's the connection between ants and love? How could one tiny ant make Big Bro look this giddy?
Kisaki Tetta was full of questions.
Shouldn't he be jotting this down in a reminder to call pest control tomorrow? Clearly, when it ca to romance, he still had a lot to learn from his brother.
————————————————————————
"But Sakura is a little glutton."
"Hey! I may be a glutton, but you can't just say it like that! I don't care—I'm punishing you. You have to sing a song!"
————————————————————————
Bathed in the screen's soft glow, Sakura's face brimd with longing.
She missed him.
She wanted to hear his voice, see his face... run her fingers over his brows, his nose, his lips...
Reading her ssage, with her cute little sticker of mock rage, Kyousuke hesitated, then looked over at Kisaki.
"Kisaki."
"Yes, Big Bro?" Kisaki straightened, noticing the serious look on Kyousuke's face.
"I'm about to reveal my biggest secret. Can I trust you to keep it?"
"Of course! You can always count on !" Kisaki thumped his chest. He had no idea what was going on, but his loyalty was unwavering.
"Good... that's what I hoped."
Kyousuke glanced up at the second floor.
Shouko's window was open.
She was inside, watching ani—part of their curriculum, though the main focus was vocal training.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was, if he sang, Shouko would hear it too.
Sure, she already knew how bad his singing was, but still... it was embarrassing.
He gave Kisaki one last aningful look. Kisaki swallowed hard, suddenly feeling the weight of a sacred mission.
Kyousuke pressed the record button, took a deep breath, and began to sing:
"The crimson sun sinks into the desert."
"A big ol' monster, living its slow, lazy days."
"One morning, it woke up—"
"And from afar ca a caravan of cals..."
Kisaki's solemn expression crumbled the mont Kyousuke opened his mouth.
He hadn't even finished one line before Kisaki squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth in secondhand pain.
Three years as student council president, countless monts of social suicide—Kyousuke had gained nerves of steel.
He was a master of pretending everything was fine, even when it clearly wasn't.
If Sakura wanted to hear him sing, then he'd sing—seriously, wholeheartedly.
In the stillness of the night, his off-key lody drifted upward, seeping into Shouko's room, into Naoka's study.
Shouko paused her video and walked to the window, looking down at Kyousuke.
Her face showed first surprise, then a tender smile as she listened closely.
So nostalgic.
All these years later, and Kyousuke-kun's voice was still as... unique as ever.
It was his voice, after all, that had taught her how to sing... how to speak.
"I want to see the sea..."
"I want to love and be loved..."
"Even if I'm a monster, I still have a heart~~"
Eyes glistening with emotion, Shouko softly sang along.
Below, Kyousuke didn't even glance at Kisaki.
Back in grade school, he'd thought the song was about Shouko. But now, he realized—it was about himself.
"Then let's go, Let's leave this desert behind, And head toward love..."
"And the sea~~"
He ended the song, lifted his finger, and hit send.
"Well? Amazing, right?" he said, face blank, voice deadpan.
"Yep... you've got the aura of a true boss." Kisaki nodded solemnly.
————————————————————————
Back at the hospital, Sakura had already lain down during the wait.
She tapped play.
The song was awful—objectively awful—but as she listened, the pain in her body seed to fade.
Comforted, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
When Yamauchi Makoto returned, this was what she saw: her daughter, fast asleep, still clutching her phone.
The voice ssage hadn't even finished playing.
"Heh, after all these years, Kyousuke still sings like a dying cat."
————————————————————————
The next day, as Kyousuke was sunbathing in the courtyard, he got an unexpected call.
"Hello? Good morning, Hiratsuka-san."
The call was from Hiratsuka Shizuka, a friend of Okudera Miki.
They had only exchanged numbers out of courtesy, and although they occasionally dined together at Entei, they weren't exactly on morning-call terms.
"Morning, Hojou," ca her voice, completely unreserved.
Apparently, the idea that they weren't close was only in Kyousuke's mind.
After all, this wasn't the first ti Shizuka had been carried ho by him and Miki after drinking too much.
In her eyes, he had already made it into the friend zone—just one tier below Miki, of course.
"Are we eting at Miki's for a al today?" That was the only reason he could think of for her to call.
"No, no. Didn't we just eat together the day before yesterday? I haven't even thanked you for seeing ho yet," Shizuka replied.
"You're Miki's best friend. Sothing like that doesn't need a special thank-you."
"Ah, well, the thing is..."
After saying that, she went quiet. Kyousuke waited a few seconds before prompting her.
"Is there sothing you need help with?"
"Not exactly help... but it's sothing only you can do."
"Huh?"
"Do you rember the first ti we t?"
"Sure, at that bar in Shinjuku."
"And do you rember what you said to Miki on the way there?"
Her tone began to grow more serious, and mories started resurfacing for Kyousuke.
A bad feeling crept in.
"Miki ntioned it was a sha you were already in high school."
"Otherwise, you might've been one of my students. And what did you say to that? You rember, don't you?"
Of course he rembered.
With a brain brilliant enough to single-handedly push human civilization forward, how could he forget?
Especially since he had mistaken it for a ssage from the gods of fate themselves.
Before he could respond, Shizuka pressed on.
"You said, 'If I could, I'd love to, but transferring isn't really an option now.' Right?"
"Yeah... I did say that."
He already knew where this was heading, but Kyousuke still admitted it right away.
In many ways, he was flexible with the truth—but not when it ca to soone he liked.
He was always honest with them. The only lie he'd told so far was about his age to Miki. And now... was this karma catching up?
"Then transfer to Soubu High School. I'll take care of all the paperwork."
"Does Miki know about this?" If she was the one asking, he'd bite the bullet and go apologize to Eriri on his knees.
"On the day Entei opened, Miki showed up at my place in the middle of the night and drank three full bottles of sake."
"Usually, she's the one telling to drink less—but that night, I was the one holding her back."
"She cried the whole ti. Do you have any idea how heartbroken she was when she found out you were just a middle schooler?!"
Shizuka shouted down the line.
She had waited until now to bring this up—to deliver a lesson.
To make this little punk feel what it was like to have his carefully laid plans and dreams shattered.
A guy like that needed a little... discipline.
"I'll go talk to Miki later."
Even though she hadn't said it outright, Kyousuke had pieced it together.
Miki would never ask him to do sothing that might trouble him.
That graceful, mature woman—what made her so captivating was her empathy and understanding.
Back when Shizuka had ntioned that night, he hadn't noticed anything strange when he visited Entei the next day.
Miki was as elegant as ever, still carrying that alluring hint of cigar fragrance.
She always kept her feelings to herself—never made things difficult.
This whole transfer idea? It was entirely Shizuka ddling in things.
"I'll enroll at Soubu High."
"That's more like it. See you at the start of the term."
The call ended.
Kyousuke stared at his phone for a couple of seconds.
What was with that smug tone in her voice?
Did she think that just because he was going to Soubu, she had him wrapped around her finger?
The only reason he agreed was guilt toward Miki.
Shizuka had absolutely nothing to do with it.
'Eriri. Senior Kasumigaoka. Naoka...'
Ugh. Headache.
Standing alone in the courtyard, Kyousuke felt the headache settle in.
He was the only one ho today—Shouko had gone to her training center, and Naoka was out fabric shopping.
He hopped on his bike and headed straight for Entei.
In the kitchen, Okudera Miki was prepping ingredients for the day.
Sunlight spilled in through the door, and when she turned around, she was stunned to see Kyousuke standing there.
"Oh! Kyousuke, what brings you here?" Her long lashes blinked in surprise, those pale gray eyes instantly lighting up.
"Why? Not happy to see ?"
"Of course not." She smiled.
They'd only seen each other two days ago—by their usual rhythm, it would've been a few more before the next visit.
"I was starving. Got a craving for your cooking." Seeing how genuinely happy she looked, Kyousuke's gloomy mood lifted right away.
'Sigh.' He'd made such a wonderful woman cry.
Coming here was the least he could do—for himself, as punishnt.
After the al, he chatted with Miki upstairs for a bit before heading ho.
He called Sakura to let her know about the school transfer and explained why.
She laughed, clearly amused, and agreed without a second thought.
That night, he brought it up with Shouko and Naoka.
Shouko, of course, would be transferring with him to Soubu High.
Naoka, on the other hand, decided to stay at Toyogasaki.
Kyousuke and Shouko understood completely.
Just like Shouko had been willing to skip high school to pursue voice acting, Naoka had been chasing her dream since elentary school.
The textile club at Toyogasaki could do wonders for her aspirations.
"Don't look so down, Naoka. We all live together, rember? We see each other more now than we ever did in elentary school," Shouko said, gently holding Naoka's hand.
"Yeah! And our schools aren't even far apart. After classes, Shouko and I can swing by your place and we can all go out to eat or shop together," Kyousuke added.
Their house was right between the two schools—Toyogasaki to the left, Soubu High to the right.
"Kyousuke, you better take care of Shouko! Don't let anyone ss with her!" Naoka said firmly, looking up at him.
"Obviously."
"Hehe, I'll take care of myself too, Naoka," Shouko said with a sheepish smile.
Now that things were settled at ho, next up were Eriri and Kasumigaoka-senpai.
Just thinking about that made Kyousuke want to curl up and sleep.
————————————————————————
The next day, 10 a.m., Kyu-Furukawa Gardens.
"You're here already?" Eriri asked in surprise.
She was still in her pajamas when she got the call and had rushed down to open the gate for him.
"It's already ten. Don't tell you stayed up late again? Also, your pajama strap is slipping."
Looking at the sleepy-eyed girl with ssy bed hair, Kyousuke pointed to the white lace strap of her nightgown.
The strap had slipped off her shoulder, revealing a large swath of porcelain-white skin that practically glowed in the morning sunlight.
Eriri had grown into her figure quite nicely—enough to give a certain soone a serious case of dry mouth.
"Waaah! Pervert! You creep!"
In an instant, the grogginess vanished from her face, replaced by a blush that blood from her ears to the tip of her nose.
'Bang!'
The front door, which had just been opened, slamd shut again.
Kyousuke, guilty as charged, didn't dare laugh—he simply stood outside in silence.
About five minutes later, the door opened once more.
Eriri had changed into a yellow skirt, her fluffy blonde hair now tied into twin tails.
She'd even pulled on a pair of black cotton tights over her slender, shapely legs—spring mornings were still chilly, and it seed she'd picked up soone's habit of hating the cold.
"You can co in now," she said, her face still flushed, her voice laced with embarrassnt.
"Thanks for having ," Kyousuke replied, sounding unusually polite.
"When did you beco so well-mannered?" Eriri shot him a curious look over her shoulder.
"I've always been polite, thank you very much!"
"Really now?" She gave him a skeptical glance.
"Is Aunt Sayuri not ho today?" Kyousuke glanced around the living room.
Usually, when he visited, Sayuri would be downstairs watching TV or enjoying a cup of tea. As for Mr. Spencer, it wasn't a weekend, so he was already at work by now.
"Mom went to a flower arrangent event," Eriri said as she started up the stairs.
[TL Note – You're death my boy...]
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