Lighting the cigarette with the guard's lighter, Rinji took a long drag and blew out a smoke ring.
"Ah... satisfying."
The bodyguard said nothing.
He had no idea that inside the young lady's body now lived the soul of Rinji. All he could feel was how drastically different she had beco.
Leaning against the wall, Rinji said while smoking, "I've heard a bit about you. Your mother's seriously ill, right?"
"Eh? Miss, how did you..."
"Soone ntioned it. I also heard you've been trying to raise money for her surgery."
"...That's true."
"A big hospital surgery isn't cheap. At your current salary, even if you didn't eat or drink, it'd take two years to gather enough. And your mom's condition can't afford to wait."
"You're right... but there's no helping it. I've already applied for a bank loan—"
"Don't bother."
Rinji flicked away the cigarette butt, pulled out a stack of cash and a letter, and handed them over.
"There's five million yen here. The letter is addressed to the main surgeon at Teito University Hospital—a friend of mine."
"This..."
The bodyguard was montarily speechless, staring at the money and envelope being handed to him.
He hadn't expected the young lady to not only know about his family issues but even step in to help.
"Miss..."
"Take it and shut up. I don't like wasting ti with long speeches."
Rinji shoved the items into his hands and gave his shoulder a pat.
"Consider this a favor you owe . You've got a week off to take care of everything. Co back after that and continue working."
"...Yes!"
He looked at Rinji with deep gratitude and bowed low.
"Thank you so much!"
"Mm. Now go. Oh, and leave your cigarettes."
The bodyguard left, and Rinji nodded with satisfaction.
He was convinced he'd nailed the role of Kaguya with zero flaws (totally legit).
---
Soon, dinner ti arrived.
The massive dining table was laid out with gleaming cutlery and plates—but only one red bean bun sat on the plate.
Across the table sat Togawa Yoshiko, the female president of a record label, with a rather complicated expression.
Rinji had seen this dark-skinned young woman before, back during the sumr when he participated in the Kengan Deathmatch Tournant. She was the CEO of a billion-yen company.
She'd co all the way during her spare ti to visit the Shinomiya heiress—only to be greeted with one red bean bun for dinner?
This was far from normal. Usually, when soone important visited, the al was carefully prepared with high-end ingredients to avoid damaging the family's reputation.
"President Togawa, if you're still hungry, there's instant noodles in the kitchen."
Rinji said while munching on the red bean bun.
"This... actually, this is enough."
"Good. As long as it's enough."
"..."
Yoshiko already felt that the Kaguya in front of her was quite different from the one in the rumors.
While Yoshiko was still deep in thought, Rinji was the first to speak.
"President Togawa, what brings you here today? Is there sothing you'd like to discuss?"
"Eh? Actually, it's nothing serious."
"Nothing serious and you're here just to bum a free al? You must have a lot of free ti," Rinji said with a grin.
"…"
Was this really sothing a lady from a prestigious family would say?
The elegant and well-mannered image she had in mind had just completely crumbled.
"Speak plainly. No need to beat around the bush. It'll save us both ti."
"…Alright. Actually, there is sothing I was hoping you, as the young lady, could convey to the main family. The entertainnt company and raw materials supplier we've long worked with suddenly stopped providing us resources. I was hoping..."
"You want to convince the main family to step in and diate, right?"
"Yes. After all, our company has long maintained ties with the Shinomiya family, and—"
"I refuse."
"Eh?"
TaYoshiko was stunned by how abruptly Rinji rejected her.
"Your company is worth over ten billion yen. Your collaboration with the Shinomiya family brings in considerable profit to the family. If a problem on your end truly mattered, they'd intervene even if you didn't ask. The fact that they haven't ans only one thing—they've probably already struck a deal with your rivals."
Rinji smiled as he said this.
"Even if I spoke to them, it wouldn't help."
"How could that be…"
"You're quite young to be president. Seems there are still things you don't quite understand."
"…I apologize. I was too careless."
"No, no, President Togawa, I don't think you understand what I an."
"Huh?"
"The Shinomiya family can't help you—but that doesn't an I, uh—ahem, Kaguya Shinomiya—can't," Rinji said with a smirk. "You ca to visit , yet you're asking for the family's help instead of mine? That's rather disrespectful."
"That's..."
"What the Shinomiya family can do, I can also do. What they can't do, I might still be able to. So think carefully about whose help you really want."
"…"
Biting her lip, Yoshiko said in a quiet voice, "Can you help ?"
"You shouldn't be asking whether I can help you. You should be asking whether you need my help."
"…Please help , Miss."
"Good."
Rinji snapped his fingers.
A server ca over and placed two glasses on the table in front of them, pouring brandy into each.
"A toast, and we'll be friends. Your problem is now my problem. Just don't hold back when I need a favor from you in the future."
"Understood."
For so reason, Yoshiko didn't feel like she was speaking to a female high school student. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
The only thing she knew for sure was that "she" carried an odd combination of fear and reassurance.
She picked up her glass and downed the drink after the toast.
---
At the Shirogane Residence.
Kaguya, completely unaware of the reputation damage being done in her na, was sitting at the dining table in Rinji's body.
It was her first ti at Shirogane's ho, and she couldn't help but let her mind wander.
'First ti visiting the President's house~ So embarrassing... Wait, no, I'm in Rinji's body right now. This should be totally normal… Dammit, I'm so jealous of Rinji.'
"My dad will be ho soon. Just sit here for a bit," Shirogane said, handing her a cup of tea.
"Ah, thank you, President."
"No problem."
Shirogane sat across from her and hesitated a mont before saying, "Rinji, do you think Shinomiya's been acting differently lately?"
'So the President usually talks about with Rinji, huh? He really does care... how cute~'
Smiling, Kaguya replied, "Nothing unusual. She seems normal to ."
"So you don't know either, huh…"
Shirogane looked a little worried.
"During our date today, I slled a strong scent of smoke from her mouth. Do you think… she's started smoking?"
Kaguya: "!!!!???"
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