In the kitchen.
Ryunosuke was busy cooking lunch.
Peanut butter mixed with tomatoes, topped with honey squid.
Stroking his chin, he felt it wasn't quite extreme enough, so he casually modified the recipe: stir-fried unskinned toad with five-kernel mooncakes, added to squid-ink scrambled eggs, and a fish that had been dead for two years in the back of the refrigerator.
These four dishes were then served in front of Kaori.
The hand Kaori used to hold her chopsticks trembled slightly.
(Is this thing actually edible?)
(It won't give me a stomach ache, will it?)
However, seeing Ryunosuke eating with a flat expression, Kaori summoned her courage. She used her chopsticks to put a piece of the two-year-dead fish into her mouth.
The next second, Kaori collapsed straight onto the floor while clutching her stomach.
Meanwhile, Ryunosuke immediately spat out the tomato peanut butter honey squid he had just put in his mouth.
This scene was clearly visible to Kaori.
Ryunosuke spoke in an incredibly fake tone. "Oh dear~ Kaori-chan, it looks like you have food poisoning. Big Brother will take you to the hospital."
Without further ado, he immediately carried Kaori on his back and left the house.
In a very weak voice, Kaori whispered: "Big Brother... I suspect you did this on purpose."
{Don't just suspect it, I definitely did it on purpose.} Ryunosuke thought bluntly while bringing her to Maruo's hospital.
Even though the diagnosis was only food poisoning, Ryunosuke requested a comprehensive physical examination under the pretext that "since we're already here, we might as well do a full-body SPA." As a result, Kaori was diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia (Spinocerebellar Degeneration), and the family was immediately notified.
Because it was detected so early, the disease was still manageable. Kaori's parents were extremely grateful to Ryunosuke, even though he was the cause of their child's stomach ache.
The problem was, the treatment costs were quite high and they seemed unable to afford them, so they could only choose the cheapest care option.
Ryunosuke's mind whirred, and he offered a devious suggestion: he claimed to be writing a novel where the main character resembled their daughter. If they allowed the use of their daughter's image rights as inspiration, he was willing to give 30% of the novel's profits to fund Kaori's treatment.
Just like that, the problem with his novel was solved, wasn't it?
Since the rights to the heroine were already in his hands, he could peacefully write the ending.
So, he wrote that Kaori died in the novel... and had already sent it to the publisher to be printed.
Although Kaori's parents felt it was a bit strange to see a character with the name and likeness of their daughter being killed off (as if she were being cursed), they remained patient because Ryunosuke was the one helping to pay their daughter's medical bills.
Kaori lay in the hospital bed, putting down the final volume of the book Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso with an annoyed look.
"Big Brother, did you really have to make Kaori die in this book?"
Ryunosuke's movements as he peeled an apple paused for a moment, then he continued peeling while answering.
"The ending was decided from the start. Weren't the hints in the previous chapters clear enough? I'm only writing down the destiny that has already been set."
"Even so... it feels weird seeing someone with the same name as me being killed off by you."
Ryunosuke gave a slice of apple to Kaori. "Big Brother has to go back to school now, so I can't keep you company anymore. Be good to Big Sister Yuki."
Kaori accepted the apple. "I understand..."
In order for Yuki to have a friend, Ryunosuke intentionally arranged for Kaori to be in the same room. Yuki herself really liked this little child. At least besides her mother, older sister, and Mizuhara, there was now a little sister to keep her company.
Kaori split her apple in two and gave it to Yuki.
"Big Sister Yuki, try some."
"Oh! Thank you," Yuki accepted it happily.
Seeing the two getting along, Ryunosuke could leave in peace. His wounds were almost completely healed, and it was time to return to school.
Ryunosuke removed the bandages from his body. His wounds had closed perfectly. Wounds that should have taken 10 days to recover only took him 7 days.
To be precise, for an ordinary person, "severed meridian" wounds like those would certainly have resulted in permanent disability. How could they possibly heal?
Facing this super-fast regeneration ability, Ryunosuke didn't overthink it; he dismissed it as a "starter pack" for a transmigrator. He didn't suspect at all that there might be a problem with his identity.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Let's turn back time to Ryunosuke's first day away from school.
Advanced Nurturing High School.
Ayanokouji received a phone call from his father.
Although he was very reluctant to answer it, he had no choice. If he didn't pick up, his father might come directly to the school.
Ayanokouji answered the phone grudgingly.
"Hello, what is it, Old Man?"
Atsuomi's finger, which had been tapping the armrest of his chair, stopped. "Who taught you to speak like that?"
Ayanokouji: "Akasaka Ryunosuke."
Atsuomi: "😐"
Atsuomi rubbed his aching temples, deciding not to pursue the matter further, and then commanded:
"Find a way to have Akasaka Ryunosuke expelled from school."
*Tut... tut... tut...*
The sound of the phone being cut off unilaterally by Ayanokouji followed.
Atsuomi's face instantly darkened. This son of his had truly grown bold enough to defy him to the point of hanging up on his own father.
On the other hand, Ayanokouji was not stupid. Why would he make an enemy of Ryunosuke for no reason? What was the benefit for himself?
Atsuomi's thinking was actually simple. He held an old grudge against Yujiro. Yujiro had once insulted the White Room as a gathering place for trash who had no real talent.
At that time, Ayanokouji had already escaped, Eiichiro had already been finished off, and Yuki had already gone mad.
So, those sent to face Yujiro were the immature fifth-generation students, namely Yagami Takuya and Amasawa Ichika. Yujiro's assessment of them was merely "decent," or at least better than trash. Because of that, they were left alive. Otherwise, with Yujiro's temperament, the people in the White Room would surely have been slaughtered.
Yujiro had only visited out of curiosity after hearing that the place was a center for geniuses, but he ended up disappointed because not a single person caught his eye. Even Yagami and Ichika were considered "standard" in his eyes.
Because of that, Atsuomi could not accept it!
He wanted to prove to the world that the White Room was the birthplace of geniuses above geniuses. Therefore, he wanted Ayanokouji to get Ryunosuke expelled.
The reason was simple: because Ryunosuke had managed to injure Yujiro. If his son could get Ryunosuke kicked out, it would prove his son was greater than Ryunosuke.
Atsuomi understood his son's nature very well, so he made an offer that could not be refused.
[The return of the son's freedom.]
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