Chapter 43: Truth
After their daughter, Fuyunagi Shizuku, left on her own, the inside of the high-class restaurant became a hellish scene of chaos and frantic apologies.
“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”
“No, no… please don’t trouble yourself so much.”
“No, please! How could we possibly make this right!? We’ve caused your son such terrible humiliation… truly… truly!! We are so deeply sorry! We are so, so sorry!!!”
The sheer force of Fuyunagi Mother’s desperate apologies left Kuzuryuu Souma’s father too overwhelmed to even feel angry.
“Shizuku! Shizuku, that girl… that giiirl!! How dare she— how dare she humiliate meee like that!! A mere child!! Talking back to her parent— defying me like thaaat!! Uu… uuuuuhhh.”
Kuzuryuu Souma’s father and mother were utterly taken aback.
They had met and interacted with her several times before.
But they had never seen her this shaken, this out of control.
The unnaturally beautiful face was terribly distorted, colored with a wrath that resembled a malevolent demon—or perhaps a Hannya mask—in that moment, her expression truly was that of an oni.
(Ghh… I’ll never forgive you for this, Kanemasa-kun… your wife is one hell of a landmine…)
Among the companies under Kuzuryuu Corporation, which earns massive profits through aircraft development, one of them is Takano.
Kuzuryuu and Takano had maintained a fairly strong connection for many years, and Kuzuryuu Souma’s father and Fuyunagi Kanemasa had a relationship that was part superior–subordinate, part brotherly friendship.
The two often consulted each other about the endless problems caused by their own children.
On the Kuzuryuu father’s side, he frequently sought Kanemasa’s advice about his son.
Having spoiled him too much, the boy had grown conceited, and his behavior was showing signs of delusional tendencies, but not quite enough to be clinical, but definitely painful to watch.
He wanted to discipline him strictly, but he couldn’t bring himself to suppress his own leniency, and he had long been concerned that, at this rate, his son would never grow into a proper adult.
Meanwhile, Kanemasa had also been consulting about his own daughter.
Because she had inherited her mother’s beauty, she had been exposed to the darker sides of people far too early in life, and as a result, she had grown into a somewhat twisted young woman.
The two fathers often discussed their shared worries about how their children were turning out.
They trusted each other enough to talk openly about their children’s flaws and struggles.
But then, an unexpected interference appeared.
Shizuku’s mother, Fuyunagi Reiko, and Kanemasa’s wife.
Her husband’s close friend had a child who was the same age as her daughter.
Her husband’s friend was extremely wealthy.
And the Fuyunagi family’s great ambition was to return to being wealthy again.
If I just match my husband’s rich friend’s son with my daughter, doesn’t that solve everything in one go?
Having held that little board meeting inside her head all by herself, Reiko then barreled forward on her own, setting up an engagement without permission and charging ahead in her usual self-centered manner.
When the two men later learned of the outcome of this action, which was practically reckless… no, entirely reckless, they naturally panicked.
What on earth is going on here!?
But it was here that Kanemasa began to think.
Actually… maybe we can use this.
“Use it, you say… what are you going to do?”
“My daughter already has someone she’s quite close with… and she’s quite stubborn, much like my wife, so I honestly believe she will certainly refuse the proposal.”
“Huh? I’m not following… are you saying she’s going to reject my son? Well, my idiot son probably deserves to be rejected, but even so, he’s rather handsome, and I hate to say it myself, but he is the son of a wealthy family, you know? Wouldn’t that be attractive to a girl at her age?”
“No, no, as I’ve said many times, my daughter has an incredibly stubborn and distorted sense of values… and she’s a little bit… well, she’s a little twisted, so general standards and values don’t apply to her. She’ll certainly reject him, without a doubt… and in a way that thoroughly negates his confidence, dignity, and very personality.”
“…I see where this is going. In other words, you want to deliberately let your daughter and my son become engaged, raise his hopes as high as possible, and then drop him into hell… is that it?”
“Yes. If you want to break that overinflated nose of his, my daughter is absolutely the right person for the job. Well? If you’re against it, you can say so.”
“No, I’ll go along with it. It’s harsh, but if he gets brutally rejected by an otherworldly beauty like your daughter, maybe that boy will finally wake up to reality…”
And that was the kind of conversation the two had.
Of course, this plan was a secret shared only between the two fathers, and secretly, Kuzuryuu’s mother as well.
The only ones who didn’t know were the daughter and the son who were at the center of the incident… and…
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorrrrrry! I’m soooo sorryyyyyy!!!!”
Fuyunagi Reiko, the only one who continued prostrating herself with intense force and a terrifying look on her face.
“Haa… I’m exhausted…”
“You did well, dear…”
After the dinner meeting finally ended, the Kuzuryuu couple returned home.
To think that the famously beautiful wife of Fuyunagi could be that much of a landmine…
Kanemasa, you bastard…
So that’s what you were plotting.
Publicly, the goal was to “correct” their son and daughter—but in truth, the biggest objective had been to fix that beautiful wife of his.
If he had anticipated her borderline reckless behavior as well, then it was downright terrifying.
That guy always acts carefree, but he’s got a cunning side to him.
When he suggested using his own daughter to help straighten out his friend’s son, I figured, Ah, here he goes again with his nonsense. But to think the real target was his wife…
“I’m really exhausted today…”
“Haa… but she was an incredible woman, wasn’t she… she didn’t even try to hide her desires…”
“If it were me, I’d be completely overwhelmed by her. Only that man can handle a woman like that… Haa…”
As the couple continued talking about how tired they were, the bedroom door suddenly
slammed open.
“Father! Mother!!”
“Wah!? What is it?!”
“Oh my, Shiori, what’s wrong?”
The one who barged in so suddenly was their beloved genius daughter, Kuzuryuu Shiori.
And she simply said.
“I want to be friends with Shizuku-san!!”
Just that.
Character Summary (non-official)
- Majima Takuma / Taku (真島 拓真 / タク) — Taku is an utterly average high school boy in both appearance and ability. His hair and uniform are always neat but unremarkable, giving him the classic “background character” characteristic.
- Fuyunagi Shizuku (冬柳 雫) — Fuyunagi Shizuku is a stunning black-haired high school beauty with a mature, graceful aura. Her long, silky hair, elegant posture, pure and innocent atmosphere, and impressive figure—including her large chest—give her an appearance so gentle and comforting that a tired working adult might instinctively want to cling to her and call her “Mama.” Her looks alone make her feel like a UR-rarity heroine. At school, she’s admired as a pure, wholesome, and almost ideal girl—popular among girls, constantly confessed to by boys, and always at the center of her class. In private, however, Shizuku reveals a selfish, bratty, and emotionally unstable side. She’s clingy, easily upset, mentally fragile, and relies heavily on her boyfriend for emotional support while demanding secrecy and setting controlling conditions in their relationship.
- Sakurada Nagisa (桜田 凪咲) — Sakurada Nagisa is a gyaru and one of the central members of Fuyunagi-san’s friend group. With light-brown hair, piercings, and perfectly applied bold eye makeup, she has a flashy style but is undeniably beautiful—cute enough to stand out even among the popular girls. Sado Kengo’s current girlfriend.
- Natsume Kano (夏芽 華乃) — The class president. A dignified, serious beauty whose pure appearance gives her a charm distinct from Fuyunagi-san. She prioritizes efficiency, logic, and rationality above all else, resulting in a rigid, no-nonsense personality that makes her unpopular with most classmates.
Sado Kengo (佐渡 健吾) — A high-spec soccer club member who once acted as Shizuku’s fake public boyfriend. He is now Sakurada Nagisa’s actual boyfriend.
- Katou Susumu (加藤 進) — The textbook “protagonist’s best friend” character. He’s a founding member of the self-proclaimed “Unpopular Men’s Club”. Although he’s extremely jealous of Takuma for landing a girlfriend like Fuyunagi—thus “betraying” the Unpopular Men’s Club (a group Takuma never actually agreed to join)—Kato remains loyal to him despite both his jealousy and the negative public opinion surrounding Takuma.
- Fuyunagi Reiko (冬柳 澪子) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s mother. A stunningly beautiful woman whose refined looks make it obvious where Shizuku inherited her charm. Beneath that elegance, however, lies a strict and controlling parent with deeply traditional values. Reiko is determined to restore the Fuyunagi family’s former prestige, and she sees arranging Shizuku’s marriage as a necessary step toward reclaiming their past glory.
- Fuyunagi Kanemasa (冬柳 兼政) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s father. A highly capable and successful man who even took the Fuyunagi family name in order to marry Reiko. Despite the family’s rigid traditions, Kanemasa is the one person who genuinely supports Shizuku, encouraging her to live freely and choose her own path—including whom she loves. The only reason Shizuku’s mother and grandfather don’t openly oppose his stance is because his success and value to the family make him too important to antagonize.
- Kuzuryuu Shiori (久豆流 詩織) — Souma’s younger sister—a beautiful, sharp-tongued genius with strikingly foreign features. Despite her Japanese-sounding name, she is a natural blonde with radiant golden hair, inherited from their great-grandmother, and possesses elegant looks that stand out strongly against Souma’s more traditionally Japanese appearance. Cold, dismissive, and brutally honest toward her brother, she seems to harbor open disdain for him, even though she once adored him as a child. Academically, she is a prodigy who skipped grades at fifteen, now attending university with multiple acclaimed research papers to her name. Her intelligence creates a stark contrast to Souma, fueling his inferiority complex and twisted sister-obsessed longing.
- Kuzuryuu Souma (久豆流 創真) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s arranged marriage partner.