Meeting with Chairman Sakayanagi / Sakayanagi Feels Wronged

Aoyama was completely bewildered. "How can you say it's my fault?"

I'm pretty sure it's your fault.

Although she couldn't tell whether she liked Ichinose more or Aoyama more, Shiranami was certain that she had fallen for this slightly mischievous boy who always teased her.

Using her identity as a heartbroken person who had failed in her confession, she easily rediscovered the comforting feeling she had on the Uninhabited Island.

Although the physical intimacy made her extremely shy, she was reluctant to leave the embrace of the Aoyama.

"Then consider it my fault. What kind of compensation do you want?"

"I'll treat you to a fancy meal or give you any gift you like."

Unaware of Shiraho's expression as she Shiranami on his shoulder, and wanting to comfort the little guy whose confession had failed, Aoyama accepted the blame and promised to make amends.

In any case, money is just an external thing, and given Shiranami's personality, he wouldn't offer compensation that would cost him a fortune.

"I don't want to go back to my room tonight. I'm not ready to see Xiao Fanbo again."

"Is there any way to help me change rooms, or find a place for me to hide?"

The embarrassment of a failed confession, the guilt of realizing he didn't like Ichinose as much as he thought, made it difficult for Shiranami to immediately return to his room and see Ichinose shared the room with him.

If you don't want to see Ichinose right away, that's easy.

"Buzzing"

As Aoyama was thinking of giving his room to Shiranami and making do with Hashimoto and the others in his original room, his phone rang.

"Wait a minute, I need to take this call."

Aoyama lowered his hand from stroking Shiranami's short hair and took out his phone. The screen showed that the caller was Ichinose.

"It's Ichinose, she's probably looking for you. Should we tell her you're with me?"

"Ichinose call me looking for you? Did you tell her you were coming to see me?" Before Shiranami could answer, Aoyama voiced the question that had been bothering him.

If we're looking for Shiranami, we shouldn't be able to find him.

"Please tell Xiao Fanbo not to worry, I'll be back tomorrow."

When asked about Aoyama's second question, Shiranami pretended not to hear it, feeling a sense of guilt for being caught red-handed.

It's not certain yet that Xiao Fanbo likes Aoyama, but that's fine.

Thinking to himself with a sense of comfort, Shiranami began to strain his ears, hoping to overhear Ichinose and Aoyama's conversation.

However, since the phone wasn't on speakerphone, no matter how intently she tried to eavesdrop, she could only hear Aoyama's magnetic and gentle voice.

"No problem, she seems quite stable. She should be back to normal by tomorrow."

"Leave the accommodation problem to me. I'll just go back to my old room and sleep there. It'll also help me get to know my classmates better."

"Okay, goodnight to you too."

After replying to Ichinose's " Get some rest and goodnight" greeting, Aoyama hung up the phone and looked at Shiraha, who was already sitting up Shiranami with her hands on his chest.

Aside from her eyes still looking a little red, Shiranami's expression no longer showed the sadness she had when they first met.

Chapter 174 Meeting with Chairman Sakayanagi

Morning.

After handing his luggage to the bald-headed younger brother to take back to school, Aoyama left the room and headed towards the restaurant.

After talking to Ichinose on the phone last night, Shiranami didn't cause any more trouble and obediently slept in his homeroom teacher's room for the night.

"Buzzing"

Just as he stepped out of the elevator, before he could meet up with Kamuro and the other two, Aoyama's phone rang again. He thought it would be Ichinose, but the screen showed a call from Sakayanagi.

That's quite rare.

"Moshi moshi, just say what's on your mind." Thinking about what Sakayanagi might want from him, Aoyama answered the phone.

"I'm currently outside Hoshinomiya-sensei's room. I was originally planning to ambush Aoyama- kun, but I ended up ambushing the wrong person."

The corridor of the teachers' accommodation area on the cruise ship.

Seeing the girl, who was about the same size as herself, run out of her sight in a panic, Sakayanagi smiled like a little fox.

Just as she said on the phone, she came to ambush Aoyama and also to inform him of something, but she unexpectedly encountered a very interesting scene.

Shiranami Chihiro, a girl from Class 1-B, whose face looked even younger than hers, came out of Aoyama's room early in the morning and saw her looking flustered.

"I thought Aoyama -kun only liked mature girls, like Kushida."

"I like anything that looks good."

"That's quite a unique statement," Sakayanagi chuckled softly. "Your father wants to see you. After you disembark from the cruise ship, you won't need to take the bus back to school."

Before the cruise ship docks, a private car arranged by her father will arrive at the pier, heading directly to her home.

Although it violated the school rule that students were not allowed to leave the school grounds, no one cared about such a small matter because her father was the Chairman of the school board.

"Good."

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Sakayanagi asked with some disappointment, not hearing Aoyama's flustered voice.

She really wanted to turn the tables, but Aoyama's voice after answering the phone was as calm as ever.

"No need to invite me."

In the self-service restaurant, Aoyama answered calmly and then hung up the phone.

He wasn't too surprised by the invitation to meet with Chairman Sakayanagi, after all, the information he had given Sakayanagi involved Ayanokoji Atsuomi, a scumbag with enormous ambition.

But didn't you know I wasn't in the room?

Has Kito Hayato stopped providing information to Sakayanagi? Or is it a smokescreen, deliberately designed to mislead him?

Clever kids are always a problem.

Lost in thought, Aoyama sat down next to Yamamura after getting breakfast.

Before he could finish his breakfast, the cruise ship's announcement came over the loudspeaker that the ship would be docking in half an hour.

"You can sit with Yamamura this time." As soon as the broadcast ended, Kamuro announced that Aoyama wouldn't be needed this time, and that he would sit with Sakayanagi again.

"Since the Chairman invited us, neither Sakayanagi nor I will be taking the bus back this time."

Seeing the girl beside him lower her head shyly, Aoyama smiled apologetically and declined Kamuro's offer.

Yamamura's face immediately showed worry. "Is everything alright, Aoyama?"

"Not only is it no problem, it's actually a good thing. I just had something I wanted to ask the Chairman for help with."

"I'm already hoping we don't sink into Tokyo Bay. There's still something I need to trouble the Chairman with." Kamuro pursed his lips, secretly relieved.

Seeing that Aoyama was still thinking of asking the Chairman for help, she guessed that this trip was probably not to question him.

"If it really sinks in Tokyo Bay, I'll have to trouble you, Kamuro, to offer incense for me."

Kamuro raised his fist. "I can offer you incense right now, do you want some?"

"I was just joking around," Aoyama readily admitted defeat.

The cruise ship docked half an hour later.

After watching the four buses depart from the dock, a low-key yet luxurious black sedan pulled up beside Aoyama and Sakayanagi.

"I thought I'd see Aoyama -kun looking restless."

After getting on the bus, Sakayanagi regretfully looked away from Aoyama's face. According to the information he had obtained from his conversation with his father, Aoyama's life before coming to Kouiku was not wealthy at all.

She believed that with Aoyama's intelligence, he could tell that her father's status was not low in the entire country.

Perhaps the highest-ranking official Aoyama ever met in private was his father.

Aoyama glanced at the girl in casual clothes, "Even Koenji wouldn't say something like that."

Despite his outwardly polite demeanor and occasional use of respectful terms when addressing his classmates, Sakayanagi was, in his eyes, far more arrogant than Koenji.

"Koenji- kun, I've heard he's also an extraordinary genius." Sakayanagi knew she'd been rebuffed by Aoyama again, but she could only swallow her anger.

While Koenji enjoys a reputation as a genius, he is also criticized for being too arrogant.

"Much stronger than you."

"My body"

"She's much smarter than you, and her personality is too."

In front of the Sakayanagi Family's driver, Aoyama dismissively criticized Sakayanagi Arisu, saying he was not as good as the son of the Koenji family, who were on good terms with their family.

He figured these words might reach Chairman Sakayanagi's ears.

Sakayanagi forced a smile to save face, "It seems that Aoyama -san thinks Koenji- san."

"It's alright, anyway, I'm better than you."

"..."

Suppressing her dissatisfaction, Sakayanagi bit her lip and looked out the window with a dark expression.

She had never seen anyone chat like that before, even though she had already humbled herself and acted subservient.

"Welcome home, Ms. Arisu."

"Welcome, Miss's classmate and guest."

After less than an hour's drive, the car, which had been traveling smoothly, stopped at a mansion. As soon as Aoyama got out of the car, he saw a butler and quickly walked up to them.

Following the butler, who had some white hair and looked very much like a housekeeper, they walked through a small garden and arrived at an antique-style reception room filled with wood.

Chairman Sakayanagi, still dressed in a suit, looked somewhat out of place in the meeting room.

Of course, the same goes for both of them.

One wore a white shirt and shorts, the other a white dress with white suspenders and stockings.

"Please sit down, Aoyama- kun."

"You're too kind, Chairman Sakayanagi."

Chairman Sakayanagi personally brewed him a cup of tea, Aoyama feigned surprise and then sat down.

"Arisu is a bit willful, please forgive him for causing you trouble."

Chairman Sakayanagi smiled gently, ignoring the slight displeasure on his daughter Sakayanagi Arisu's face as she pursed her lips.

Before inviting Aoyama, he had learned through his own channels about Sakayanagi Arisu's behavior since enrolling in school and in the past few days. Aoyama, who was invited, naturally also had some understanding of this.

He knew his daughter, but this boy in front of him had taught her a good lesson, or rather, bullied her severely.

However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing; he understands the saying "a loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise."

"No trouble at all. As the class leader, it's my responsibility to guide my classmates forward." Aoyama smiled shrewdly. "However, if Chairman Sakayanagi insists on compensating me, I'll accept it."

"Using your name, Arisu -kun has been doing all sorts of reckless things."

Chapter 175 The Wronged Sakayanagi

Without the support of Chairman Sakayanagi, it Sakayanagi Arisu been impossible for him to gain so much support from Class A after Katsuragi stepped down and become the leader of Class A in one fell swoop.

According to Hashimoto's subsequent report, her actions went far beyond simply using a name; they could be classified as cheating.

"What kind of compensation does Aoyama -kun want?"

He showed no anger, no shame or embarrassment; Sakayanagi Narimori was as approachable as when they first met, his expression perfectly calm.

Putting aside his gentle tone, just looking at his kind demeanor gave Aoyama the illusion that he would agree to any compensation offered.

But how could that be?

Aoyama abandoned his plan to make an exorbitant demand first. "Before the summer vacation ends, I need a one-day trip outside the school. This won't interfere with the performance of the first-year classes."

"If you're worried, the Chairman can send a teacher to accompany you."

To gain an inch, one must first gain a foot.

Making an outrageous demand first, and then making a reasonable, realistic request after being rejected, generally increases the other party's willingness to agree; this is a negotiation technique.

Facing Chairman Sakayanagi, who was undoubtedly a cunning old fox, he decided to treat him with 'sincerity' for fear of making things worse.