Shuchiin Academy
It was already after school hours, and the Shinomiya family's car had arrived, as usual, to pick up their young lady.
However, before the Shinomiya heiress could get in, a pink-haired girl suddenly squeezed in ahead of her.
"Thank goodness! Kaguya, I'm so glad your family's car came today. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to get home. Wow, the rain is really pouring~~~"
The pink-haired girl looked like she had just been rescued.
In response, the Shinomiya heiress cast an expressionless glance at her. The person in front of her was being completely shameless, getting in without even being invited.
Hopefully this woman would behave herself today, because Miss Kaguya wasn't in a good mood.
Earlier, Hayasaka had finally managed to dig up some information about her fiancé, especially a photo, but her old phone couldn't open the file properly. Worse, the data was corrupted during the transfer, and the image was damaged.
Hayasaka had already deleted everything to avoid being discovered, so nothing was saved.
"It's not from his family, nor from the Spencer family… Is it a third party?"
Kaguya murmured.
According to Hayasaka's investigation, the strong resistance wasn't from either of the two families.
It seemed the fiancé's original family no longer cared about him. As for the Spencer family, the Shinomiya family still held more influence than them, so it wasn't likely from them either.
It was the third-party power that made Kaguya wary.
That party seemed to know the Shinomiya family was investigating and even issued a warning: if they intended to harm "his little friend," they should be careful, or he might just buy out the Shinomiya Group headquarters and turn it into an apartment complex or coffee shop.
What an outrageously arrogant threat, but the fact that he had tracked Hayasaka and she hadn't even noticed proved he wasn't just some ordinary person.
At the moment, all Kaguya knew about the man bold enough to sever ties with her family was his records from his first year at Shimamura Junior High. After that, no more trace—he stopped attending that school, and no one knew where he went.
Wait, if he already severed ties with the family, was the engagement even still valid?
Normally, no—it wouldn't be necessary to uphold it. That family wouldn't protest; in fact, they might even apologize and help find a better match for the Shinomiya family.
Unfortunately, this wasn't something Kaguya had control over, her father had no intention of canceling the engagement.
Regardless of whether the fiancé cut ties with his family, one thing could not be erased: the bloodline. And he was the only heir of that lineage, that was what the Shinomiya family truly cared about.
As long as there were descendants, the two families could become intertwined, and the Shinomiya Group would rise even higher on the global stage.
Such was the tragic fate of being the heiress of the Shinomiya family.
As for investigating her fiancé, she wasn't trying to eliminate him—she simply wanted to understand what kind of person he was.
Besides, the engagement didn't originally come from her father. It started as a half-joking promise between her late mother and his mother. After her father learned about it, he decided to make it official.
Suddenly, a ringtone snapped Kaguya out of her thoughts. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw that it was Chika answering a call.
"Huh? A number I don't recognize. Who is it? Hello, may I ask who's speaking—"
Her usual bubbly personality suddenly switched to a refined and elegant tone.
"FUJIWARA CHIKA, YOU—!"
A furious roar burst from the other end, so loud it nearly shattered the phone's speaker. The soundwaves were so intense they even messed up Fujiwara's hair.
But before the person could finish speaking, Fujiwara immediately hung up. She then did something on her phone, wiping what looked like cold sweat—or spit—off her head.
Kaguya gave her a cold look. Who had this woman provoked now?
One day, someone was going to kill her.
Just as she was about to look away, Kaguya caught a glimpse of Fujiwara's phone screen.
The caller had been marked as "Kiryu Big Idiot," and then she watched as Fujiwara blocked a contact named "Kiryu Yazuki."
Wait a minute.
"Kiryu Yazuki?"
Kaguya muttered in surprise as she snatched the phone out of Fujiwara's hand to confirm the name.
"Huh? What is it? You know Kiryu the Big Idiot too?" Fujiwara asked.
"Tell me everything you know about him!"
"Huh?"
"I said, tell me!"
"You really don't know? That's weird. I mean, in a way, you should know of him…"
Fujiwara sounded confused.
What she had said earlier seemed contradictory—earlier she meant "know him" as in being acquaintances, but now she meant "know of" him, like being aware of his name and face.
"What do you mean I should know him?"
"That guy transferred into our school in the middle of our first year, and he got in with the highest exam score!"
That matched with the intel Kaguya had.
That guy had disappeared halfway through his first year at Shimamura Junior High—and now it turns out he transferred to Shuchiin Academy?
As for why she didn't know about someone named Yorugetsu attending her school, that was only natural. If she didn't care about someone, she wouldn't waste brain cells remembering them.
"What was the name of the school he originally attended?"
"Um, let me think… Something with 'Shima'… Shima…?"
"Shimamura Junior High?"
"That's it! Oh? Kaguya, how did you know? You've never mentioned Kiryu the Big Idiot before. Why the sudden interest? Oh, oh, I get it! It's because of this morning, right?"
"This morning?"
What happened this morning? Kaguya was confused, why couldn't this woman ever get to the point? It made Kaguya want to strangle her.
Sensing Kaguya's rising hostility, Fujiwara quickly explained.
"This morning's paintball bicycle race! That guy leading the pack—that was Kiryu the Big Idiot!"
Kaguya's face twitched at the corners and darkened.
That guy… was him?
Was this a joke?
That kind of guy—just from the looks, he screamed "delinquent," someone who drifted through life, useless, and only good at flirting with girls.
That guy got into Shuchiin Academy? Must have been through bribery.
But… no, that didn't add up. If it was bribery, it would've drawn attention. Yet, there were no rumors, no one knew his background. Clearly, his identity was a secret.
"He didn't attend Shuchiin Academy's high school?"
"Oh, that—yeah, he got expelled in the second semester of third year because his grades dropped too badly!"
Fujiwara looked both annoyed and amused as she said this. Apparently, the only reason he transferred into Shuchiin was for an "impure" goal—something ridiculous and laughable.
Hearing that, the Shinomiya heiress felt hopeless. A man with absolutely no redeeming qualities was supposed to be her future husband?
She wanted to die. No—she wanted to kill him.
…
"Achoo~ Achoo—ACHOO!"
Somewhere, a certain person waiting for his ride sneezed three times in a row.
Who was cursing him now?