Fuyunagi Shizuku was dressed in a luxurious kimono, her face adorned with makeup she normally never wore, transformed completely into an appearance meant for an important occasion.

She was currently at a high-end restaurant with her family—a place where she never normally sets foot… or rather, a place she wouldn’t even be allowed to enter in the first place.

It was Sunday.

The day after Majima Takuma spoke with Sado and Sakurada on Saturday.

A gathering was being held between the two families, partly as an apology for Fuyunagi Shizuku’s rudeness.

Fuyunagi Shizuku’s mother was smiling.

A pasted-on, Noh-mask kind of smile.

Her natural beauty… no, her excessive beauty… made even an ordinary smile look bewitching enough to dominate the atmosphere of the room.

Her daughter Fuyunagi Shizuku, however… was emotionless.

As if in perfect contrast to her mother, she was empty.

Her expression was empty.

Nothing was reflected there.

Absolute emptiness—pure void.

There was a fifteen-year-old girl, watching her in that state of emptiness.

A half-Japanese girl with blonde hair.

Kuzuryuu Shiori.

A girl in the special position of currently being a middle school student, while also a university student at the same time.

Rather than going to middle school to study, she goes there to develop her personality with general values appropriate for a girl her age and to learn social norms.

Having already self-studied all high school material back in elementary school, she spends more time teaching her classmates than learning from them.

For her, having finished studying the high school curriculum through self-study when she was in elementary school, she spends more time teaching her classmates rather than learning in middle school. However, she still has much to learn.

Because few students showed understanding with her unilateral teaching style, she is searching for ways to help them comprehend her teachings.

For her, middle school life has become a place to learn how to teach.

And the person whom she currently has her gaze fixed on is her older brother’s fiancée, Fuyunagi Shizuku.

Unlike Shiori, Shizuku’s long, pitch-black hair, flowing down to her waist, clearly marks her as a pure-blooded Japanese.

Her beautiful proportions, at a level that makes one question if she might actually be a working model, and her doll-like, almost artificial face were so perfectly formed that her beauty bordered on eerie.

Shiori lived fully aware of the fact that she was a beautiful girl.

She has never once doubted her own looks.

Yet seeing Fuyunagi Shizuku made it painfully clear—she was merely a frog in a well.

That was how overwhelmingly beautiful Shizuku was.

(A woman this beautiful… with my brother…?)

Shiori thought this because she simply couldn’t imagine her brother being a good match for someone like her.

Her brother had an okay face but absolutely no substance.

When they were little, she once found his wild, reckless personality cool, but now he was nothing more than a walking embarrassment who brought shame to their family name.

He had decent athletic ability, but academically, he was average.

He possessed no particularly outstanding talents.

Not that she disliked that. She didn’t look down on the talentless, the average, or the ordinary. Shiori liked people who made an effort—people who, even without talent, worked hard to stand alongside those who were gifted.

But her brother was the complete opposite.

He was thoroughly, completely dependent on others.

A blame-shifting monster who relied on the Kuzuryuu name more than anyone else… that was her brother, Kuzuryuu Souma, the older brother of me—Kuzuryuu Shiori.

Could someone like that possibly match a girl with such otherworldly grace?

No no no no… it was impossible!

That was Kuzuryuu Shiori’s honest opinion.

“First, I must apologize for my daughter’s rudeness the other day, Kuzuryuu-sama. I’m truly, truly sorry! She only acted that way out of embarrassment…”

“Hahaha! Please don’t worry about it. Anyone can make a mistake. Now, today is a time to put aside formalities. I hope you will enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh my! Thank you so very much!”

The adults began their social pleasantries competition.

Shiori had come along because she was expected to, but honestly, she wanted to go home as soon as possible.

She would rather lose herself in fun daydreams than sit through this farce.

Shiori always entertained herself with wild, imaginative ideas.

And then, as if she were some kind of psychic receiving otherworldly knowledge, flashes of inspiration would appear one after another. Those fresh ideas would end up in university papers and earn her high praise.

In short, Shiori is a genius type through and through.

But in a place like this, filled with nothing but stiff formalities, such flashes of inspiration would never be born. What an utterly pointless waste of time.

“Kukuku, now Shiori, today is our treat. You can eat as much as you like, whatever you want, understand? After all, today is our treat!!”

“Thank you very much…”

“Fufu, think nothing of it! Eat to your heart’s content. It’s a husband’s duty to learn his future spouse’s preferences, after all!”

Her brother casually spoke to the expressionless Shizuku-san.

He seemed to think he was building a good relationship with her, but it was painfully obvious he was completely missing the mark.

Why is this man so unbearably gross…? Even as his sister, he truly makes her sick.

With a sigh, Shiori quietly ate the dishes that were brought out one after another.

These multi-course meals never left her feeling satisfied.

Honestly, the family restaurants, the takoyaki or crepes stalls she went to with her middle school friends tasted better.

To her, spending more money on food didn’t necessarily make it better.

And so, while things continued in that fashion, the dinner gathering proceeded smoothly, and the two families’ get-together approached its conclusion.

“Thank you very much for giving us such an opportunity today.”

“No, no, we hope to build a long and lasting relationship from here on.”

“So, Shizuku, what do you say we do now? I had found a place that’s specially suited for you. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Oh my! Isn’t that lovely? It’s a wonderful gesture. Go on, Shizuku. Your mother will take care of everything else!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, yes! Enjoy yourself!”

“Shall we go, Shizuku?”

With that, Fuyunagi Shizuku stood up and began walking briskly out of the restaurant.

Her brother hurried after her.

“Hey now, Shizuku, aren’t you walking a bit too fast? I know you’re excited, but don’t forget about me☆”

Saying that, her brother reached out to take her hand…

And it was slapped away with a sharp, satisfying sound.

“Eh?”

The sharp, satisfying sound echoed throughout the entire restaurant.

Her brother had no idea what had just happened.

His face showed nothing but bewilderment.

“Hey, you.”

“Eh…?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? Don’t go calling me by my first name so casually.”

“Huh…? Wha…?”

“Are you really so dumb that you can’t understand unless I say it over and over?”

“………Wh—! Y-You!!”

“Sigh… first you drop the honorifics, and now you’re calling me ‘you’? I guess rich brats really have no manners.”

“W-What did you say, you!?”

“Seeing the childishness of someone like you—only able to puff up your chest by leeching off your parents—I suppose it can’t be helped. Must be nice, right? With Mommy and Daddy preparing everything for you, I’m sure your life is oh-so-easy and comfortable. It makes me sick.”

“Tch… You despicable little tramp—mocking me again?! Hah haa! Don’t pretend to be strong, you lowly girl! I already know you love me—you just haven’t realized it yourself yet!! Heh hee! Don’t strain yourself trying so hard?! Just whimper and whine for me in my presence—that’s all you need to do, right??”

“Your habit of looking down on women… it truly disgusts me… and that bad habit of assuming someone loves you with no proof or basis at all… You must live such a laughably deluded—”Silence, Shizuku!!”—life…”

Cutting her off, Shizuku’s mother burst out in anger, spitting as she shouted.

Shizuku quietly glared back at her.

“What are you saying, dear? What are you saying to your future husband? You mustn’t say things like that. You mustn’t, okay? Hey… that’s not okay, is it?”

“Haa… Mother… how many times have I told you? I have no intention of playing along with this pretend relationship.”

“Preteeend!? How many times do I have to tell you!? This isn’t pretend, and it isn’t a game!! Listen, Shizuku, this arrangement has the future of the Fuyunagi family riding on it!! This is the Fuyunagi family’s long-cherished wish! I’ve told you over and over! You’re seventeen already, aren’t you!? Start acting like a proper member of the Fuyunagi family!!”

“I’m sick of this! I’m not your tool! I will choose the person I’ll spend my life with! And it won’t be this man! I already have someone I’ve promised my future to! Someone I want to dedicate my whole heart and soul to!! I don’t care about Fuyunagi or whatever that name means!!”

“Haa… you mean that boy? Stop it right now. Someone plain and charmless can’t even compare to someone from the Kuzuryuu—“HAAAAAHH!?”—family…”

“No way… are you serious? That’s nonsense, even as a pretext to marry me into the Kuzuryuu family… Are you genuinely saying this man—this empty show-off—can be compared to Taku-chan? Haa… I guess there’s no helping it! I kept quiet about all of Taku-chan’s good points so you wouldn’t try to steal him, Mother, but this! I! HAVE! to tell you, don’t I? Ugh! Fiiine, I guess I haaave to~~!!”

Up until now, Shizuku’s face had been completely expressionless.

Even while arguing with her mother, she hadn’t shown so much as a flicker of emotion.

But the moment she started talking about this “Taku-chan” she spoke of, she lit up like a completely different person—her expression sparkling brightly.

“Hey? Mother?

Do you love Father? Knowing you, you probably didn’t even like him that much when you started dating, right? You married him because you wanted to bring the Takano family under the Fuyunagi name. And even that wasn’t enough to satisfy the old geezers’ demands… So now you’re trying to use me in your place, aren’t you?”

But nooope! You see, I grew up watching you, Mother.

Ever since I was a child, there was only one thing I realized from watching you, Mother.

I absolutely hate the thought of living an empty life like yours, Mother… That was my one and only fear!

That’s why I had a ton of boyfriends, why I dated around, but it was useless… men were all boring! That rich brat over there is the same! A useless good-for-nothing who can’t do anything unless he’s under the Kuzuryuu family’s protection—and on top of that, a piece of trash who looks down on people!! The Kuzuryuu family throws their garbage at me and expects me to deal with it! Taku-chan is the only one who supports my heart!!

Taku-chan is the light I finally found in my seventeen years of life!!

You wouldn’t understand, would you, Mother?

You, who have never seen the light!!

Out of all the countless worthless men, he’s the only one who shines!

Compared to him, this man only evaluates me by my face! And then my breast, my butt, my body! He only ever looks at my appearance, yet he plans to make me his spouse just because his parents told him to!

He never even tries to see my true self!! He thinks if he just obeys his parents, he can do whatever he wants with me!! He hasn’t thought about anything that comes after marriage!!

“He thinks if he just obeys his parents, he can do whatever he wants with me!! He hasn’t even thought about aaaaanything that comes after marriage!! But Taku-chan!! But Taku-chan!! He truuuuuly thinks about me! Taku-chan is my—”

“Shi-Shizuku!! You be quiet for a moment!”

“Shut up!!! And listen!! I’m the one talking right now!!! Taku-chan is the one who—”

What is this……

Shiori was utterly stunned.

It was, quite literally, a total mess.

Her brother—who was compared to this mysterious Taku-chan at every turn, rejected, pointed at, and labeled a spoiled rich boy by the beautiful girl—was completely exhausted, his eyes rolled back in defeat.

Well… knowing his personality, he’d probably twist it into something convenient in his head and recover on his own sooner or later…

But honestly, Shiori couldn’t care less about that.

This was meant to be an important meeting that determined the future between both families.

Despite all that, Shizuku-san boldly declared it with an imposing presence.

Everything she felt.

Without thinking about the consequences.

What she thought now, what she had felt all this time—

She was spilling all of it right here.

She had probably come to this meeting for this very purpose.

This was her battlefield.

A place to shatter the arranged marriage with Kuzuryuu Souma.

She thought this girl, Fuyunagi Shizuku…

was cool.