[Not a word was exchanged along the way.]
[But to examine the strange atmosphere inside the car more closely, rather than calling it quiet, it would be more accurate to say that Megumi Fushiguro was unilaterally, almost completely ignoring Naoya.]
[In a sense, the Kukuru Unit member sitting in front and secretly watching through the rearview mirror even had the absurd impression that the ages of the two people in the back seat had been completely reversed.]
[Compared with Megumi Fushiguro, who wore a little schoolbag and stared expressionlessly out the window the whole time, Naoya Zenin, dressed in an expensive kimono and chattering beside him in an attempt to pressure him verbally, seemed more like the impatient, childish brat.]
[No matter how Naoya spoke to Megumi Fushiguro in that arrogant, barbed tone, trying to see fear or reverence for the Three Great Families on the boy's face, Megumi's responses remained as still as stagnant water.]
[He merely propped his chin on one hand, watched the streets retreat outside the window, and answered with utterly perfunctory remarks of "Oh," "Ah," and "Really?"]
[What Megumi Fushiguro was actually working out in his head had nothing to do with the Zenin Clan head he was about to meet, but rather...]
["How do I turn that down as quickly as possible and leave, like Shunchen taught me? If I get back too late, I'll have to buy some discounted rice balls from a convenience store and make do with those for dinner. Tsumiki will definitely be angry."]
[As for Naoya beside him, he had not suddenly changed his ways and become some kindly elder concerned about a child living outside the family.]
[It was simply that the attitude he sensed from Megumi Fushiguro was far too strange.]
[Rather than the bad manners of