The Man Chasing His Dreams

Time passed slowly. As the midterm exams approached, Yeyue went to the cafeteria with Hirata, Matsushita, Karuizawa, and the others as usual.

Along the way, Karuizawa and the others each found an excuse to leave.

Leaving Matsushita room to be alone with him had already become routine.

After lunch, the two began chatting as well.

Matsushita asked curiously, "As expected, rich people like you, Yeyue, will choose something like an arranged marriage when you grow up, right?"

"For the most part, that's true." Yeyue nodded in reply.

"I see..." Matsushita Chiaki leaned sideways, her gaze on Yeyue somewhat casual as she asked, "Wouldn't you feel unwilling to accept a marriage arranged by your parents?"

"No. To people like us, marriage is just a tool for bringing two families closer together. Whether we marry or not isn't really important; it won't change our lives much." Yeyue shrugged indifferently.

Matsushita Chiaki frowned slightly, sounding somewhat dissatisfied. "That only applies to boys, doesn't it? Even after getting married, you boys can casually go out and have fun in places like Ginza, so of course you don't care. But for girls, marriage is one of the most important things in life. Can they really accept arranged marriages so calmly? Sakurajima is really unfair to girls."

"Chiaki might be misunderstanding something." Yeyue smiled. "I don't know much about others, but there are plenty of girls in the zaibatsu who know how to have fun too. Besides, the key to an arranged marriage is still the status of both families. The stronger side naturally has more power. It has nothing to do with gender."

"I see." Matsushita Chiaki nodded, then teased, "Then after Tenmyouin gets married, will you often go out and have fun too? After all, there doesn't seem to be any family in Sakurajima more formidable than the Tenmyouin Zaibatsu."

"Ultimately, it depends on who you marry. If I were really marrying someone I liked, I'd definitely be eager to go home every day."

Yeyue gave the most ordinary answer possible.

In Sakurajima, going out to places like Ginza and Kabukicho for fun was far too normal. Even in less well-off families, wives sometimes worked in such places.

Yeyue simply could not accept it. But with his wealth, he had no need to worry about such matters.

Besides, girls in Sakurajima had always been more reserved.

Matsushita Chiaki had already begun probing his intentions.

But she was merely someone of some value, not worth investing too much thought in. Money and power alone would be enough to settle her.

Dating someone at school would only add another shackle to restrain himself for no reason.

Yeyue had a headache.

It would be a pity to give up on Matsushita for nothing, but rashly agreeing would only leave him at a loss. It seemed he needed to think of a solution too.

On the final day of the midterm exams, when the alarm rang, Yeyue got up, washed up, and headed to the kitchen as usual.

Horikita Suzune was preparing breakfast as usual.

During this period, Horikita came to Yeyue's room every morning and evening to cook, but she apparently had no intention of providing a wake-up service.

Watching Horikita in her red school uniform, a white pleated skirt paired with a light-purple apron, Yeyue crossed his arms and leaned half his body against the doorway, sighing softly.

"Suzune, to other people, we might look like a model married couple."

"A worthless husband and a frugal homemaking wife, perhaps. That is exactly the kind of marriage partner I would never choose. And I've told you countless times, Tenmyouin, you're in the way standing there. Can you go outside and wait quietly?"

After pouring oil into the pan, she wiped its bottom with an oil-absorbing paper towel. Horikita Suzune had long since grown used to Yeyue's morning harassment and could handle it calmly.

"Got it~"

Yeyue yawned and drew out the words as he went to the living room, casually picking a book from the shelf to read.

The school's facilities were indeed comprehensive, but that was only for ordinary students. For Yeyue, aside from luxuries in daily life, books were practically his only major expense.

Very soon.

Horikita brought two servings of food into the living room, placing one portion and a lunchbox in front of Yeyue.

One was for his lunch, while the other was today's breakfast.

Tomatoes, toast, jam, eggs, bacon, lettuce, and sausage.

It looked fairly plentiful and appetizing.

But in reality, it highlighted only two words—cheap.

Toast, eggs, and sausage were all items that could be obtained for free at the ingredients center.

A breakfast for two probably cost only a few points, and it was the kind that could last for several days.

Still, Horikita's cooking skills were genuinely good, so it never made people think, This again?

In truth, as long as one was willing to learn, it was possible to live quite well at this school even without points. For example, learning skills like swimming could earn thousands of Private Points as rewards from teachers.

Horikita took small bites of her toast, glanced at Yeyue, and said with some surprise, "Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I really didn't expect you to read books like that."

"Being scum doesn't mean I'm an idiot. What's so surprising about it?"

Yeyue replied casually.

Though progress was slow, the relationship between the two was indeed steadily growing closer, and conversations like this had become common.

"True."

After pondering for a moment, Horikita nodded, agreeing with that reasoning. Then she frowned and said, "I'm just wondering whether you can really understand this book. Compared to works like The Old Man and the Sea, I prefer Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls."

At the age of a high school student, it really was difficult to understand this book—just like reading Lu Xun.

Once Horikita Suzune could understand this book, she would probably become a qualified leader. Her achievements had already been undermined by Kushida many times; she just hadn't perceived it.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Yeyue's tone carried a hint of amusement. "The Midterm Exam is tomorrow. Suzune, how many people do you think will fail?"

Fortunately, Horikita had none of the coddled delicacy one might expect from a girl, and she did not care in the slightest about Yeyue's attitude.

She set down her toast, her voice as cool as ever. "What kind of statement is that? As if D Class is bound to have someone fail. Are you an idiot? We got the answers half a month in advance. Even an idiot could memorize them all."

"It'd be nice if that were true~"

Yeyue shrugged.

In his previous life, he had merely been an ordinary person. In this life, he had grown to this point under the elite education of a financial conglomerate, so he understood the thoughts of Sudo and others extremely well.

Only after the two had finished breakfast did Horikita extend her snow-white palm.

"It'll be June soon. It's about time you transferred my salary."

"How much?"

"Eighteen thousand points for May. Including next month's living expenses, that comes to forty-eight thousand points. Or are you planning to make me cover it first again in June?"

"Why would I? Since Suzune covered all the expenses in May, there was no need for me to worry. After so many transactions, the two of us should have built up a certain degree of trust by now."

Yeyue readily transferred forty-five thousand private points, leaving him with fifty thousand points.

Horikita frowned as she checked the points. Only then did Yeyue tease, "The extra two thousand are a reward. If Suzune can wake me up every day, there might be even more rewards."

"I'll consider it once you learn to wear underwear to sleep."

Horikita calmly began clearing the dishes and walked into the kitchen. Her voice could still be heard from inside.

"You can go to school first."

"There's no benefit to getting there early anyway. It's not like I'll be late." Yeyue spoke indifferently, waiting for Suzune to finish washing the dishes so they could go to school together.

This was a conversation that happened every day, and Yeyue indeed had a habit of sleeping naked.

He also knew that Horikita had initially tried to wake him up.

But—

After seeing how he slept, Horikita did not let out the expected scream of a girl. Instead, she calmly flung the blanket over him and went into the kitchen to begin her work.

From then on, Horikita chose to turn a blind eye to Yeyue in the mornings, leisurely waiting in the kitchen for him to wake naturally or calling him on the phone.

Still, the fact that she hid in the kitchen and pretended to be an ostrich showed that she did care. It was simply that the distinction between men and women held too little weight in Horikita's heart.

After Horikita finished cleaning, the two went to school together. They only made small talk along the way when Yeyue suddenly said, "Suzune, I still have fifty thousand private points. If there's anything you need help with, you can come to me anytime."

Leaving behind those inexplicable words, Yeyue entered the school first.