Shinjo and Ri Shinjo

"Please, help yourself."

To show off his hospitality, Shinjo had actually brought out the tap water and butter cookies he usually couldn't bring himself to touch.

"Whoa... You're way too stingy!"

Tachibana Akane frowned at the disposable paper cup in front of her.

"You can't even bring yourself to fill it up with tap water?!"

"Since we're on different sides, I'd love to treat you properly, but what if someone saw us and accused me of bribing a high-ranking Student Council official?"

Shinjo sighed with an innocent look.

"Bribe me, my foot! You said you'd treat us to tea. Where's the tea?"

"Well... I didn't realize I'd run out of tea bags. So, when can I expect the new month's budget?"

Tachibana Akane felt like she could barely catch her breath. If Horikita Manabu hadn't remained completely unruffled the whole time, she would have turned around and left ages ago.

"You've got some nerve asking us for more money!"

"Tachibana."

"President, this guy is just too much!"

Horikita Manabu knew that as well as anyone.

But he'd learned long ago just how shameless the guy in front of him could be. Taking him seriously would only send his blood pressure through the roof, so the best way to deal with him was to ignore his comments.

"You've been running the Yorozuya for a month now, and you've completed all the jobs I assigned you on time. So, naturally, I'll approve the budget when it's due."

"Long live the president!"

"As for your Yorozuya, the commotion you caused last time was rather significant, so the school has been keeping an eye on you. You understand what I mean, right?"

Shinjo shrugged. He'd expected as much. After all, when he'd worked at the Yorozuya outside school, he'd often been called in for tea and a chat.

"So, before long, someone's going to summon me?"

"That's still up in the air. But even if it happens, it'll probably be a little later. Your Yorozuya has only just opened, and you haven't done anything particularly..."

There was no need to finish the sentence. Horikita Manabu believed Shinjo understood.

He hadn't planned to stay there anyway, so he gestured for Tachibana Akane to leave with him.

Tachibana Akane, however, seemed determined to get her revenge before leaving. She downed four cups of tap water, then walked off with an entire box of butter cookies. On her way out, she stuck her tongue out at Shinjo.

"You stingy junior! No wonder you'll never make a dime in your life!"

Almost right on Horikita Manabu's heels, Horikita Suzune arrived at the Yorozuya with Ayanokōji and knocked on the door.

"Have a seat, you two. Sorry, but all I have is tap water. That stingy Tachibana Akane-senpai ate all the butter cookies."

Horikita Suzune said nothing. She went straight to the chair Horikita Manabu had been sitting in, and Ayanokōji followed her example, sitting beside her.

The three of them stared at one another. Unable to read their visitors, Shinjo had no idea what to say.

About five minutes passed.

"Um..."

Their voices rang out almost simultaneously. When Shinjo and Horikita realized the other had something to say, they both swallowed their words.

"You..."

"Never mind. You're the guests, so go ahead. By the way, if you're going to say something like, 'I never expected you to be the one running the Yorozuya,' don't bother. I never tried to keep it a secret, and bringing it up now would be pointless."

Horikita Suzune didn't hesitate. She took the lead.

"Can I ask if your Yorozuya is really as amazing as the announcement made it sound? That you'll do anything for money?"

In a manner of speaking, there wasn't really anything wrong with putting it that way.

But "we'll do anything for money" was awfully broad, wasn't it?

"Um, let me clarify. Our Yorozuya has four basic principles. Apart from those, we'll do anything for money."

To avoid having to explain them to every customer, Shinjo had recently printed the four principles on a large sheet of paper and stuck it firmly to the blackboard behind him.

Ayanokōji followed Shinjo's gesture and looked over. What was written there made his mouth twitch.

So the Yorozuya is a pretty free place, huh? If you don't want to do something... you can just refuse?

"Then what did the Student Council President mean when he spoke to you privately that time? Does your Yorozuya already have a lead that could help Sudō?!"

Did she still have to pretend that she wasn't related to that Horikita-senpai?

Well, it wasn't his business. It took two to make a quarrel, and a sibling feud of this caliber could only mean both of them were stubborn to a fault.

"I'm sorry, but no. The only information I have is what I got from Kushida. Sakura, a girl in our class, might have witnessed what happened. That's all."

"I... I see... I suppose that makes sense. If you had a lead, we wouldn't need to come all the way here to ask you. After all, that guy considers you his partner."

Shinjo fell silent for a moment. He felt he ought to make things clear to her now; it might be even harder to explain later. A principle was a principle.

"Horikita, since we're classmates, I want to correct a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?"

Ayanokōji recalled what Chabashira had said earlier: Shinjo was Shinjo, and the Yorozuya was the Yorozuya.

"Ah, Sudō and I are friends. Everyone knows that. In fact, I don't mind having another friend who's all brawn and no brains. But that's as far as it goes."

"You... What do you mean?"

"It's simple. I think the most important thing for people is to take responsibility for themselves. If someone else chooses to take responsibility for you, that's their business. But as far as I'm concerned, Sudō hasn't earned that from me. In other words, I'll help him find the witness, but that's about it. I'll do about as much for him as I would for Ike or Yamauchi. Don't expect me to hold up a collapsing building."

Horikita seemed to understand now. She hurriedly asked him in a serious tone:

"You... You mean you don't care at all if Sudō gets suspended or our class loses points?!"

"That's not quite what I mean. But Sudō and I barely know each other, and he's not that important to me. So helping him is the same as doing something for the class. If that's the case, I'll only put in as much effort as an ordinary classmate. I absolutely won't go beyond that."

Ayanokōji thought, Just as I expected.