"Is it like one of those high-society arranged marriages you see on TV?" Reiko chimed in, her large, curious eyes sparkling with an unbridled passion for gossip.
"Something like that," Suzuki Shiro replied, a trace of bitterness flickering in his smile.
He gazed toward Tomoko's retreating figure in the distance, his eyes clouded with a complex, unreadable emotion.
"So, you're only pursuing that young lady because your family told you to?" Mouri Kogoro curled his lip, his voice dripping with disdain. "I knew it. Who could actually fall for a spoiled, headstrong heiress like her?"
Suzuki Shiro remained silent, his eyes downcast behind the sheen of his glasses.
That silence was the most honest answer he could give.
Hayashi Shuichi watched Suzuki Shiro with a hint of surprise. In his memory, Sonoko's parents—who eventually went on to have two daughters—always seemed to have a very stable and loving relationship.
If things are this strained now, Shuichi thought, it's either a massive misunderstanding or they've only just met and don't understand each other at all yet.
After spending an hour on the observation deck, the tour guide blew a whistle, signaling it was time to re-board.
As the group filed back onto the bus, Reiko wasted no time. She bounced over to Hayashi Shuichi's side, grabbing his arm and shaking it eagerly. "Onii-chan, what about the ending to that story from earlier? Did Yukine actually die?"
Noticing that the eyes of everyone on the bus were now fixed on him, Hayashi Shuichi didn't draw it out any longer. He gave them the blunt truth.
"She died. Anyone whose name ends up on the Reaper's list must die. You cannot cheat the God of Death."
"Haha, see!" The blonde youth laughed triumphantly. "I told you the ending had to be everyone kicking the bucket!"
"What a boring story," the wealthy heir remarked with a lazy yawn. He reached up to fiddle with the silver crucifix hanging around his neck. "I thought there'd be some kind of original twist, but I guess not."
"Hmph!" Reiko stood in the aisle, hands on her hips like a bristling kitten. "If you think Onii-chan's story was so bad, why don't one of you tell a better one?"
"Yeah, Taisuke," a long-haired girl sitting next to Tomoko teased. "Since you think it was so uninteresting, why don't you grace us with a story of your own?"
"I…" The blonde youth, Taisuke, stammered, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "I don't have any stories to tell."
"Hmph, can't even keep up with a high schooler," the twin girl with the ponytail, sitting next to the wealthy heir, muttered with a look of pure contempt.
"Fine! I'll tell one!"
Provoked by her jab, Taisuke stood up abruptly, running a hand through his hair in annoyance.
His gaze inadvertently swept over the other twin—the one wearing a jade Buddha pendant—and a sudden thought seemed to strike him. A smug, knowing smirk spread across his face.
"I'll tell you all a little story about 'campus romance,'" Taisuke said, intentionally clearing his throat to project his voice.
"In a certain university, there was a badminton club. Among the members were a pair of sisters… One day, the older sister, Kana, saw the person she liked together with her younger sister, Reina. Heartbroken, she went out to drink until she was completely wasted."
Taisuke drawled out the words, a suggestive glint in his eyes.
"Just then, another club member—who had always carried a secret torch for her—appeared. He took the drunken Kana home. And just like that, things happened between them. The next morning—"
"Whoa, wait. Why are we skipping straight to the next morning?"
Satoshi, the wealthy heir, slapped the armrest of his seat with a loud thwack, looking dissatisfied.
"Your storytelling is already trash, but you're skipping the best parts? What's the point?"
The twin girl wearing the Buddha pendant gripped her necklace tightly. Her face was icy as she hissed, "Who would want to hear about something so disgusting?"
"Shizuka? Are you okay?"
Tomoko looked at the ponytail-wearing twin sitting next to the wealthy heir with concern.
"You look incredibly pale."
"I-I'm fine," the girl named Shizuka stammered, forcing a strained smile. "I think… I'm just a little carsick."
Only then did Satoshi notice his girlfriend's condition. He quickly reached out to steady her shoulder. "Shizuka, are you alright? Do you need to go to a hospital?"
"I'm okay," she whispered, shaking her head gently. "I just need to rest for a bit."
Carsick?
Hayashi Shuichi glanced at her skeptically. He keenly noted that her discomfort had only manifested the moment the blonde youth began his story.
His gaze shifted back and forth between the twin sisters and Taisuke, his mind beginning to piece together the unspoken tension.
Taisuke himself seemed stunned. He looked at the twin with the jade Buddha, who was glaring at him with pure hatred, and then at the pale-faced Shizuka. He looked genuinely dazed, as if he hadn't expected this reaction.
Suddenly, his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. His expression turned peculiar, shadowed by a sudden realization.
"Hey, what are you spacing out for?" Taisuke's friend nudged him. "What's the ending?"
"I… I haven't thought of the ending yet. Let's just leave it at that," Taisuke let out a hollow laugh and scrambled back into his seat, his fingers tapping nervously against his knees.
"Tch, what a garbage story!" Reiko declared, hands on her hips, her face full of pride. "And you're supposed to be a student at Todai? You're nowhere near as good as Onii-chan."
The members of the tennis club exchanged awkward glances but said nothing. After all, Reiko wasn't wrong.
Seeing the atmosphere turn heavy, Suzuki Shiro spoke up after a moment of thought. "How about I tell a story, then? In Japan, there was once a powerful Zaibatsu…"
His story was fairly standard—the usual drama regarding inheritance and power struggles within a massive conglomerate.
Though the plot was somewhat cliché, Shiro's deep, steady voice and well-timed pauses made the narrative surprisingly captivating.
The others listened as if they were hearing juicy industry gossip. After all, Suzuki Shiro was the young master of one of Japan's top-tier families.
The "fictional" family feuds he described likely had more than a grain of truth to them.
As Shiro spoke, the bus soon arrived at their second destination: Enoshima Shrine.
As the vehicle slowed to a halt, Suzuki Shiro let out a visible sigh of relief. "I didn't realize how difficult storytelling actually was."
"Psh, that story was boring too," Satoshi said, stretching his arms and teasing him with a grin. "Shiro, that wasn't actually about your family, was it? I heard that after the first head of the Suzuki Corporation passed away, your father was supposed to inherit everything, but the power was snatched away by your cousin."
He raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of a probe.
"How could that be possible?"
Suzuki Shiro burst into a loud laugh, though the sound was noticeably forced.
"Those are just baseless rumors made up by outsiders. The members of my family get along perfectly well."
Satoshi cocked his head, seemingly wanting to press further.
But before he could, Tomoko let out a sudden, wistful sigh. "Must be nice for you, Satoshi. You're an only child; all you have to do is wait to inherit the fortune. You don't have to deal with power struggles, and you aren't forced into an arranged marriage by your parents."
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