Multi-Anime, Kira Yoshikage Craves a Peaceful Life

"Don't tell anyone about what happened today."

Hayasaka Ai was silent for two seconds, then asked hesitantly, "Not even Kashiwagi Nagisa?"

Shinomiya Kaguya closed the page of the roster, smoothed a strand of hair from her forehead, and acted as if nothing had happened. "There's no need for her to know."

Hayasaka Ai nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry, Young Miss. I won't tell anyone."

In her heart, Hayasaka Ai silently mourned for Kashiwagi Nagisa for a few seconds.

It's not that I won't help you—it's that the Young Miss won't allow it.

For the past week, Kashiwagi Nagisa had stood guard at the school gate every day, hoping to find Kira Yoshikage. But she never imagined that Kira Yoshikage had been climbing over the wall the whole time, never once passing through the main entrance.

After several days with no results, even Hayasaka Ai had begun to suspect that he wasn't a student at Shuchiin Academy at all—that he had just happened to pass by when he saved the Young Miss and the others.

But Hayasaka Ai put herself in his shoes—

If she were the one who had saved the Young Miss, and she noticed Kashiwagi Nagisa blocking the school gate every day, she definitely wouldn't go through it either. But she couldn't take leave, either, because that would likely draw extra attention.

Her only option would be to climb the wall.

The reason she could figure this out was because Hayasaka Ai had plenty of experience.

She often got stopped by the Disciplinary Committee for her outfit, so over time, she got used to climbing the wall to get to school.

And the fact that she managed to stake out the wall and find Kira Yoshikage wasn't pure coincidence—

Shuchiin Academy was huge, and its perimeter wall was long.

But to climb the wall without being seen, there had to be few pedestrians on the outside.

At the same time, climbing was a two-way street—few people outside the wall, and few students or teachers inside. That meant staying far from the classroom buildings. And the only spot along the wall that satisfied both conditions—few pedestrians and distance from the buildings—was that one place!

It was through meticulous reasoning and rich practical experience that Hayasaka Ai managed to successfully ambush Kira Yoshikage.

In contrast, Kashiwagi Nagisa might never figure this out...

Just as Hayasaka Ai was mourning for Kashiwagi Nagisa, Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly hesitated. "Hayasaka, if I wanted to get in touch with him without anyone else finding out, what should I do?"

Hayasaka Ai immediately understood. The Shinomiya family, the Kashiwagi family, and even Koyasu-senpai were probably all looking for Kira Yoshikage now. And when Kira Yoshikage realized Kashiwagi Nagisa might be searching for him, he chose to climb the wall instead—meaning he didn't want to attract too much attention.

The Young Miss must have noticed this too, and since she didn't really want others to find Kira Yoshikage either, that was why she asked...

Hayasaka Ai thought for a moment, then asked, "Young Miss, didn't the Young Master transfer all the Ministop shares to your name last week?"

Shinomiya Kaguya nodded, a little puzzled. "It's just a small company with an annual revenue of 50 billion yen. Is there a problem?"

"That's not just some small convenience store..." Hayasaka Ai muttered under her breath.

Ministop was a well-known chain of convenience stores, one of Japan's Big Four alongside 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson. Although Ministop had the smallest market share among them, it still had over 1,500 chain stores nationwide, with annual revenue exceeding 400 billion yen!

Of course, compared to the Shinomiya Group's total assets of 200 trillion yen, Ministop really was just a small company...

But unlike the franchise models of the other three, most Ministop branches were directly operated. That meant, as Ministop's largest shareholder, the Young Miss could directly control personnel appointments at all branches.

Hayasaka Ai grumbled inwardly for a bit, but quickly snapped back to attention. Meeting Shinomiya Kaguya's puzzled gaze, she explained, "Kira Yoshikage's file shows he seems to have a part-time job. As Ministop's largest shareholder, you could cooperate with the school under the guise of a Work-Study Program and financial aid for Mixed Academy students. Recruit some Mixed Academy students to work, easing their financial burden—after all, 1.5 million yen in tuition isn't something an average family can afford."

Shinomiya Kaguya hesitated, then asked quietly, "Is 1.5 million yen a lot? I remember your salary is 500,000 yen, right?"

"..."

Hayasaka Ai was silent for a few seconds. For a Young Miss raised in the Shinomiya family, ordinary people's lives really were hard to understand, weren't they? Even a maid like her earned 500,000 yen a month—and that was just the base salary...

Hayasaka Ai sighed helplessly. "Young Miss, many people in Japan only earn 200,000 to 300,000 yen a month. Shuchiin Academy's tuition is equivalent to half a year or more of their total salary. But that's not the point."

She paused. "In short, using the Work-Study Program as a pretext to attract Mixed Academy students to work here—no one will suspect your true intentions. They'll just think you're trying to win people over."

Kaguya nodded thoughtfully. That really would be effective.

Once Kira Yoshikage became her employee, she could then claim she wanted to 'train' him and become the store manager of the branch where he worked. That would give her a legitimate reason to interact with him...

Shinomiya Kaguya thought it over. "Since it's about creating work-study opportunities for Mixed Academy students, let's raise the minimum wage a bit. 907 yen is really too low... How about 2,000 yen? What do you think, Hayasaka?"

"..."

Hayasaka Ai didn't answer. She didn't think much of it.

Though she wasn't short on money, given that her job required her to be on call 24/7, 365 days a year...

An hourly wage of 2000 Yen was actually higher than her current salary!

"That's too high."

Hayasaka Ai shook her head and explained under Shinomiya Kaguya's puzzled gaze:

"The hourly wage can't be too high. Around 1200 Yen is fine, because an excessively high wage would make people suspicious of our true intentions. Of course, Young Miss can wait until he accepts the job, then privately raise his base pay."

Shinomiya Kaguya's eyes lit up:

"Hayasaka, your idea is excellent. Let's do it that way!"

Chapter 29: If You Don't Mind, Want to Eat Together?

Noon.

Kira Yoshikage walked straight to the cafeteria counter and swiped his card at two adjacent windows:

"Two Grilled Meat Set Meals, one Udon."

"Got it."

"No problem."

The cafeteria aunties at both windows had grown used to this. They deftly placed two grilled meat sets and a bowl of udon on a tray and handed it to Kira Yoshikage.

One grilled meat set cost 400 Yen, one bowl of udon cost 250 Yen, totaling 1050 Yen.

"Thank you."

Kira Yoshikage thanked them politely, paid, and carried his tray away.

One of the cafeteria aunties murmured softly:

"Even though he looks like a total delinquent, he's unexpectedly more polite than most students."

"Yeah." The auntie at the next window chimed in agreement.

Kira Yoshikage calmly walked past the students who watched him with fearful eyes, heading toward a corner seat in the cafeteria.

Though these students had never met Kira Yoshikage, and not a single one dared to approach him, perhaps it was the overwhelming pressure of the tall, "blonde delinquent" that had kept any student from daring to sit at a table he had used since the very first day of school—

Even when the cafeteria was packed and only that corner seat remained empty.

Afraid that the delinquent-looking Kira Yoshikage might cause trouble, they would rather stand than sit at that table.

For Kira Yoshikage, however, this was a welcome peace.

He couldn't control what others thought, but it didn't disturb his tranquil life. Not having to compete for seats with other students meant no conflicts, which added a layer of security to his peaceful existence.

Slap!

Kira Yoshikage had just set his tray down on the table when, almost at the same moment, a girl searching for a seat placed her tray down too, colliding with his.

Kira Yoshikage looked down at the girl with long red hair and star-shaped hair ornaments on both sides of her head.

She wore a black top and a white pleated skirt sailor uniform, clearly different from Shuchiin Academy's black uniform. She looked like a transfer student from another school.

So she didn't know whose seat this was?

Kira Yoshikage's eyes turned dangerous. He could already foresee things getting troublesome.

"I..."

When she realized she had chosen the same table as someone else, Nakano Mayu instinctively looked up. But when she saw that the person she was competing for the seat with was a menacing delinquent over 180 cm tall, her heart almost instinctively trembled with fear.

She wanted to apologize immediately and wisely take her tray and leave to avoid conflict, but her legs wouldn't obey.

"How troublesome."

The brief silence made Kira Yoshikage realize the girl had no intention of leaving. The girl before him seemed to have heard his mutter, her body trembling slightly, yet she still made no move to leave.

It wasn't that she didn't want to leave—it was that her legs had gone weak and she couldn't move...

Kira Yoshikage glanced around. The students who had been watching the scene quickly lowered their heads in fear.

But Kira Yoshikage was just looking for an empty seat. Unfortunately, everywhere was packed.

"I'm..."

Nakano Mayu finally pulled herself together, her voice trembling as she tried to apologize. But the moment she spoke, she saw Kira Yoshikage had already picked up his tray and walked away.

It wasn't until Kira Yoshikage was far away that Nakano Mayu finally snapped back to reality. She suddenly realized that she might have misjudged him.

Nakano Mayu lowered her head in shame. She hadn't said a single word to him—why had she judged him as a delinquent based solely on his appearance?

She instinctively looked up to search for Kira Yoshikage in the crowd and finally spotted him near the cafeteria counter—

He was back at the counter, asking the auntie to pack his meal to go.

As Kira Yoshikage walked past her carrying his packed lunch, Nakano Mayu couldn't help but speak up:

"Um, if you don't mind, want to eat together?"

Kira Yoshikage walked straight past Nakano Mayu, acting as if he hadn't heard a word she said.

Nothing else—

This would be troublesome.

If he were discovered eating lunch with another girl, the people around him would surely start gossiping, for example:

"Eh! No way? That delinquent is actually eating lunch with a girl?"

"She's a really pretty girl, wearing a uniform from another school. Looks like a new transfer student."

"She must be getting threatened by that delinquent, right? Should we tell the teacher?"

To avoid this kind of situation, and to preserve his own peaceful life, Kira Yoshikage left the cafeteria directly, carrying his packed lunch back to the classroom.

Kira Yoshikage's appearance plunged the previously lively classroom into silence. Everyone watched him with some nervousness. But Kira Yoshikage was unaffected; he simply returned to his seat, opened his packed lunch, and ate alone.

After a good while, the sounds of other students talking finally resumed in the classroom, but even then, it was all hushed whispers. As if they were afraid of disturbing Kira Yoshikage—and then getting their heads grabbed by this delinquent for a heavy blow.

The latter part was the main point.

Ring, ring, ring!

Soon, the lunch break ended, and the students had all returned to the classroom one after another.

As the bell for class rang, Hiratsuka Shizuka walked up to the podium with a textbook tucked under her arm:

"Before class starts, let me first introduce a new student. Nakano-san, please come in."

Hearing Hiratsuka Shizuka's voice, a girl with long red hair, like an elegant young miss, stepped onto the podium and gave a slight bow:

"My name is Nakano Mayu. Please take care of me."

The moment they saw an unfamiliar beautiful girl, the classroom instantly erupted in bursts of hushed exclamations:

"A transfer student? She's a beauty! Hell yeah!"

"That uniform is from Black Rose Girls' School, right?"

"That's a famous private school too. Only those young misses get the chance to enroll."