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Chapter 43: The Nature of Suyan's Power
"Um... Suyan... what that woman just said about you being kept by Miss Marikawa... is that true?"
Only after Rika's motorcycle had disappeared far into the distance did Saya take a deep breath, lifting her head from Suyan's back.
She had finally gathered enough courage to ask the question that had been burning in her mind since she heard it.
"What if it is?" Suyan replied without looking back.
"I can keep you too!"
Saya's brain short-circuited. The impulsive thought completely bypassed her filter and exploded out of her mouth.
The moment she realized what she had just offered, it was entirely too late.
Unlike a text message, you can't unsend spoken words within a two-minute window.
Screeeech!
The speeding motorcycle violently slammed to a halt.
Momentum carried Saya violently forward.
As everyone knows, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Under the sudden, intense force of deceleration...
Suyan felt two incredibly massive, soft objects violently compress against his spine.
Even Suyan had to mentally applaud the girl's sheer genetic superiority.
She had skipped a grade; she was chronologically younger than both Saeko and Rei.
Yet she possessed a truly absurd chest size that far surpassed both of them—the kind of ridiculously exaggerated proportions that would make any self-respecting, late-blooming anime heroine curse the heavens in jealousy.
Talk about massive potential.
This was massive potential.
"Do you have any idea what you just said?"
Having stabilized the bike, Suyan turned around, staring deadpan at the pink-haired girl who had just boldly offered to be his sugar mama.
Meeting his intense gaze, Saya's throat went entirely dry. Her immediate instinct was to look away, to hide from his eyes.
But that urge lasted less than half a second before her innate, stubborn pride crushed it.
For some reason, she was just incredibly frustrated.
Suyan was constantly flirting with Rei, then he slept with Saeko right in front of her, and now she found out he was living with Shizuka?
If they could have him, why couldn't she?!
I, Saya Takagi, am second to no one!
With that thought fortifying her resolve, Saya gritted her teeth, jerked her head up, and met Suyan's gaze head-on.
But her defiance barely lasted a second before she cracked under the pressure.
She broke eye contact, stammering out a weak defense. "D-Don't misunderstand! I just think you're really strong. You have that Nen stuff... it's basically a superpower. The Takagi family needs strong people like you right now."
"If you join the Takagi family, we can give you anything. Wealth, resources ordinary people could never dream of... whatever you want, you'll be at the front of the line."
"Right! You like swords, don't you? I can personally guarantee that every single famous blade and treasured sword in my father's collection will be yours."
"And... and if we get along well enough... maybe... I wouldn't be entirely opposed to... to..."
Saya's attempt at negotiation devolved into a disjointed, stuttering mess. Her face burned so hot she felt like her brain was melting.
Suyan couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Wow. You want to buy me out and keep the merchandise too?
It was a good thing it was him. If she had tried this line on a more hot-headed, aggressive transmigrator...
With the Takagi family's extreme right-wing background, most transmigrators would have slaughtered her entire bloodline, let alone safely escorted her home in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
She'd be lucky if they didn't just kick her off the bike right now.
Or worse, escort her home just to personally execute her father.
"Takagi, are you delusional?"
Suyan lightly rapped his knuckles against her forehead. "I think you're fundamentally misunderstanding the situation here. I don't care about your family's swords. I'm only taking it as payment for the taxi ride."
"Furthermore, the Takagi family might be a big deal here in Tokonosu City, but outside of this little pond? To be blunt, the Takagi family is nothing."
"Now, if you were offering me King Arthur's Excalibur or Caliburn, or the legendary Dojigiri Yasutsuna that slew the demon Shuten-doji... then I'd be interested. But can your family provide those?"
Suyan wasn't exaggerating.
He genuinely had zero interest in Japanese katanas.
He was only giving her a ride home because he happened to be in a good mood.
However...
Suyan was a firm believer in the principle of equivalent exchange.
For example, on the school roof, he had traded his extra bento box for Rei's secret.
And during class today, when he noticed the first signs of the outbreak, he had given his classmates a subtle warning.
To him, that was a fair trade: they had provided a peaceful, quiet environment for him to slack off in class, and he repaid them with a chance at survival.
At least, that was how Suyan rationalized it.
Sometimes, he genuinely wondered if his obsessive fixation on fair trades was the reason his Nen affinity had manifested as Specialization.
And why his specific Hatsu was literally named 'Equivalent Exchange.'
Even his derivative ability, 'Contract,' operated on similar principles.
He suspected it might have been subconsciously influenced by his favorite quote from Fullmetal Alchemist, the one Edward Elric used to propose to Winry:
Equivalent Exchange! I'll give you half of my life, so give me half of yours!
It all came back to the core concept of a fair trade.
Which was exactly why he demanded Saeko's canon sword from the Takagi estate as payment for his services.
"T-That... I... But..."
Saya's face cycled through several different shades of red. She stammered for a good minute, completely unable to form a coherent sentence.
Watching her face turn red, then more red, was actually quite fascinating.
Even though it was technically the same color, Suyan could clearly read the entirely different emotions driving the flush.
It was quite the phenomenon.
"Takagi... are you in love with me?"
Observing her flustered panic, Suyan suddenly placed both hands firmly on her shoulders, his voice calm and probing.
"Huh?!"
A massive cloud of metaphorical steam erupted from the pink-haired girl's head. She panicked, completely losing her cool. "W-What are you talking about?! W-Why would I ever like you?!"
"So what if you have slightly better grades, and you're slightly better looking than everyone else, and y-you happen to have superpowers?! S-So what?!"
"I... I would never... ever... l-like you..."
By the end of her denial, Saya's voice had shrunk to an almost inaudible squeak.
The Three Great Illusions of Life: My phone is vibrating, I can clutch this, and...
She likes me?!
But looking at the absolute state of the girl in front of him, it wasn't an illusion. It was a verifiable fact.
Suyan analyzed the pink-haired girl carefully.
Rich heiress!
Tsundere personality!
Twin-tail hairstyle!
Wears glasses!
Self-proclaimed genius!
Childhood friend (she went to kindergarten with Takashi)!
Losing heroine (compared to Saeko and Rei, she had absolutely zero chance in the romance department and was destined to end up alone)!
He ran the checklist through his head one more time.
Suyan stared at Saya Takagi, a sudden look of profound realization crossing his face.
Is that you? Eriri Spencer Sawamura, the ultimate blonde losing heroine?
Aside from lacking the blonde hair, not drawing doujinshi, and possessing a chest that Eriri couldn't even dream of in her wildest fantasies... they were practically identical.
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