“It’s innate… Just looking at his face infuriates me… Makes me want to whack him with the back of my slippers…”
“Oh, so, I disgust you at a deep gut level? Such an honor,” Saito replied sarcastically. He glared back at her, humiliated once again as Akane talked about him the same way one would talk about a cockroach.
“Are you guys fighting again, Ani-kun3?” Houjou “Shise” Shisei chimed in, as she approached the three.
Shisei was Saito’s cousin, but they grew up together as if they were brother and sister. She stood there, looking just like a dainty doll. Her waist-long hair made her petite frame look even smaller. Her skin had an almost alien, porcelain color, and her white tights complemented her complexion.
“It’s not really a fight since I’m the only one taking abuse,” Saito replied.
“Oh, poor Saito. I’m sorry, Ani-kun.” Shisei stroked Saito’s hair. Saito was touched.
“You’re the only one who understands me, Shise…”
“That’s right, I do. I totally understand your heart,” Shisei responded frankly.
It wasn’t just her facial structure. Shisei’s mannerisms were somewhat doll-like too—her expressions and the words she spoke. Many students around her regarded her as an “extraterrestrial” because they just couldn’t understand her way of thinking. Himari placed a finger on her lip and turned to Akane.
“But—the way you engage with Saito, it makes me wonder—you don’t actually have a crush on him, do you, Akane?”
“What?! Oh my god, heck no! Even if he was the last guy on Earth, I still wouldn’t go out with him!” Akane shouted back, infuriated.
That was too harsh. Saito was duly offended.
“Took the words right out of my mouth! Even if the world turned upside down, I wouldn’t ever go out with you!”
Akane and Saito pouted at each other, giving each other the cold shoulder.
As Saito was walking home along the bus route after school, his smartphone rang. Grandpa (Houjou) flashed on his phone screen. Saito answered.
“Saito, do you have a couple of minutes? Actually, it doesn’t matter—come by for a cup of tea,” his grandfather’s cheerful voice boomed from the speaker.
“No thank you, Grandpa, I don’t feel like hanging out with you today. I have a book I want to read.”
“You can read the book anytime. You’d better pay me some respect since I’m eventually going to hand down the business I built to you, right?” Grandpa sounds a little threatening, thought Saito. Maybe this called for a different tactic.
“Hooray for Grandpa, hooray.” Saito tried catering to his ego but did so in a flat monotone.
“My dear grandchild, you are breaking my heart.”
“Grandpa, I know you well—your heart won’t break that easily.”
“Smart kid. If you know me that well, you must also know that I won’t take no for an answer. I have arranged a car to pick you up,” his voice boomed once again.
Saito heard a car honk behind him. A black stretch limousine coasted along a wee distance behind him. The limousine driver looked familiar—he was one of his grandfather’s employees at his mansion. Saito could tell that the driver was smiling since his white teeth were showing, but his eyes were hidden behind rugged sunglasses. Saito picked up the pace of his gait to create more distance from the limo that was tailing him.
“What if I ran?” Saito challenged his grandfather on the phone.
“You’d make a scene. A car chase,” his grandfather replied.
“Human versus car?” Nightmare mode, no handicap, Saito thought.
“That’s right. And when you are captured, you’d be in for some physical punishment, to boot. It’s in your best interest that you just be obedient and get in the limo,” his grandfather stated.
“I can’t believe there’s a grandfather out there who threatens his grandchild like an evil villain…”
“Sure is. Get in the limo.” No sooner than his grandfather finished speaking, he hung up the phone before Saito was able to respond.
Just like that, Grandpa gets what he wants once again. Saito wondered if every business tycoon was the same way. He puts so much passion into having his way, Saito thought. His simple urge to read a book may not justify the amount of effort he’d have to make to evade the limousine. Even if Saito got away, his grandfather would just charter a helicopter to hunt him down. Saito shrugged. Resigned, he decided to hop in the limousine that had just pulled over for him. The driver greeted Saito politely.
“I appreciate your hesitancy, Saito-san. As always, on behalf of my employer, I sincerely apologize.”
“Not your fault. It’s my grandfather’s,” Saito replied, throwing his school bag into the back seat of the limo.
“Please don’t hate him. He’s not a bad person… He’s just…not a good person either,” said the driver apologetically.
“Well, you’re half right, at least,” replied Saito.
The car door locked automatically, and the limousine glided down the street. Boundless freedom waited just outside the tinted windows. Inside the limousine, he was trapped with the ostentatious scent of leather seats. The driver tried to appease Saito as he expertly helmed the ten-seat vehicle.
“Please know that it is you whom Houjou-san chooses to love deeply—not your father.”
“If kidnapping his beloved grandchild is supposed to be proof of his affection, Grandpa really is way out there,” quipped Saito.
“He is out there, for sure. But geniuses are usually crazy,” agreed the driver.
Saito couldn’t deny it. It was, in fact, his grandfather Houjou Tenryu who had saved and revived the Houjou Group after the business’s struggles in the great recession forty years ago. Despite public criticism, Houjou Tenryu achieved a revolutionary success by carrying out a brutal reorganization of personnel—employees who were let go included longtime company executives who Tenryu thought were not innovative enough. Under Tenryu’s leadership, the renewed Houjou Group became one of the greatest IT enterprises in Japan. Even at over sixty years of age, Tenryu was still brilliantly pushing the company’s AI business forward. He was a genius tycoon, indeed.
“So…where are you taking me?” Saito was curious.
“It’s a surprise,” said the driver.
“Huh?” Saito was confused.
“That’s what I was told to tell you by your grandfather. I apologize again for his selfish strong-arm method,” the driver apologized.
“That’s okay—I’m used to it by now.” Saito leaned against the backrest of his car seat.
Saito was let out of the limousine and found himself standing in front of an upscale, traditional Japanese restaurant halfway up a mountain. The restaurant was surrounded by a tranquil Japanese garden and paper lanterns graced the entrance. The traditional Japanese umbrellas serving as eaves were vibrant in color. Long benches covered with red cloth had been placed underneath the umbrellas and added to the serenity of the scene.
Saito’s father was Tenryu’s oldest son, but despite his lineage, he was excluded from being considered as heir and even from getting involved in the business of the Houjou Group as an executive. Saito’s father ended up being an ordinary businessman working for someone else. Naturally, growing up as his father’s son, Saito was not used to dining at such an exclusive, luxurious restaurant.
His grandfather had not yet arrived, so Saito decided to wait for him outside. If he went in alone, it would have been a rather awkward experience. Saito took a seat on the bench and started reading his book, taking in the crisp and fresh mountain air. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.
“Wh-why are you here?”
It was Akane.
“Uh-oh.” Saito could not believe his eyes.
It was her, Saito’s nemesis. She must have just gotten out of a taxi—she was holding her school bag and her wallet and wearing a distinct frown. Like Saito, she was still in her school uniform.
“I was invited by my grandfather… You?”
“I was invited by my grandmother. Wait, that’s none of your business!” Akane exclaimed.
“True, it’s nothing to do with me—but you asked first,” Saito nonchalantly responded to Akane, who seethed and tightened her fists.