"1.44 million… how long would I have to work part-time to earn that much?"
The troubled voice of a girl sounded out.
Hanadasaki Ame turned his head and saw a slender figure hurrying past in the distance.
He knew this was not a sound his ears had picked up.
It was an inner voice.
Another one with about the same level of mental activity as that cold girl with twin tails from before.
Mark this one down.
1.44 million—that number was familiar to him. It was the scholarship amount.
The last time he visited Inaba High, the principal had spoken with him about it personally. He had even said that the scholarship could be paid to him in advance, as long as he simply did not skip the relevant exams.
Hanadasaki Ame did not lack for money, of course, so he had not accepted.
Anyone who kept thinking about that number and specifically mentioned it was, most likely, an outstanding student who also had a shot at earning the scholarship.
And at this point in time, the chances were very high that she was a new first-year.
A new student, with excellent grades—
in that case, they would probably be placed in the same advanced class later on. There would be plenty of chances to meet.
Hanadasaki Ame narrowed his eyes slightly as he thought it over, but did not dwell on it much. Very soon, he returned to discussing the concrete renovation plans with the technicians from the remodeling company.
Yet less than a minute later, he abruptly turned around again and looked toward the road from before!
The inner voice that had only come once a moment ago was now pouring in one after another!
So tiring. Would it really kill them to have the school gate face the station exit!?
Ugh! That cat is so ugly!
My phone screen is cracked. It looks awful… but even if I get it fixed, it'll probably just get dropped and broken again in a couple of days, right?
…
The inner voice of the same girl rang out again and again, as though she were muttering nonstop right beside his ear!
Very soon, he saw a cute girl with short pinkish-purple hair walking by while staring down at her phone.
She wore a purple jacket draped loosely over herself on purpose, with a white shirt underneath stretched into a striking curve by her lush chest, pushing out between the half-zipped opening. Below that was an extremely short black pleated skirt, paired with gloomy gray-black stockings that perfectly traced the long, straight, slightly plush curves of her legs.
Outwardly she said nothing at all, simply walking with her head lowered and scrolling on her phone.
Inside her head, however, there was an outrageous amount going on.
Shinjou Akane!
Hanadasaki Ame recognized her immediately. After all, they had already been in contact and even had a video call before.
She did not seem to be at the school for anything serious like that earlier girl had been. She was just wandering around, killing time.
Of course, once she actually came outside, she discovered that her phone was still more interesting.
Her level of mental activity was absurd!
What exactly was going on here!?
Hanadasaki Ame found it difficult to suppress his curiosity. He almost wanted to go straight over to her at once.
But Shinjou Akane had already clearly agreed to join his research team. Even if he did nothing now, she would be showing up in front of him every day from now on. There was really no need to rush over for this single moment.
Besides, they already had each other's contact information.
Why should he physically go find her?
Wouldn't it be easier to just send her a message and have her come over?
The instant the thought occurred to him, Hanadasaki Ame took out his phone, opened Line, found his chat with Shinjou Akane, and quickly sent her a message.
After sending it, he resumed his discussion with the technicians about the villa's renovation as though nothing had happened.
The technicians were tactful enough not to comment on his sudden messaging.
Very soon, Shinjou Akane—who had only just disappeared from view—turned back, came to the entrance of the tree-lined path, swept her gaze around once, spotted Hanadasaki Ame, and started walking toward him.
The tree-lined path faced the villa's side gate, which was closest to the garage and therefore more convenient for entering, exiting, and parking. The front entrance, by contrast, roughly faced away from Inaba High and toward Tokyo Bay.
In the future, if one were coming from school, the front entrance would definitely be more convenient.
"Good afternoon, Hanada!"
Shinjou Akane lifted a hand with a smile and greeted him. Because of the way she wore her clothes a little carelessly, the sleeve of her jacket covered half of her pale little hand. Perhaps she simply liked the feeling of dressing that way.
"Good afternoon. You came at just the right time. I just bought this place and plan to convert it into a research institute. As the first member of the institute, you might as well take a look around. If you have any thoughts at all, feel free to tell me."
Hanadasaki Ame spoke with calm courtesy on the surface.
Privately, however, he was hearing just about all of Shinjou Akane's current thoughts.
Though she kept smiling and obediently nodded as she followed him, inside her head she had already begun complaining.
What a pain. There are way too many people here. Why can't these guys have some self-awareness and disappear already!?
Hanadasaki Ame is even cuter in person than he looked on my phone. I really want to go over and squish his face. He probably wouldn't refuse, right?
"..."
Outwardly she did not say a single word, but inwardly she had probably already rambled over ten sentences.
Hanadasaki Ame felt a bit speechless. Hearing too many inner thoughts was not a good thing either, because so much of the information was utterly meaningless. It had no value!
He would have to figure out some way to filter it. Otherwise, once the research really started, if Shinjou Akane spent the entire day chattering nonstop inside his head, how was he supposed to research Magnetic Field Rotation!?
While pondering that, Hanadasaki Ame continued discussing the renovation plans with the technicians as usual, though more and more of his attention shifted toward Shinjou Akane as he tried to identify what exactly made her mental activity so intense.
Shinjou Akane was certainly a very beautiful girl, but there was always an air of laziness about her, a casualness with a faint hint of drift—like a butterfly that did not know where it would land. That unique quality had its own peculiar charm.
Beyond that, however, Hanadasaki Ame could not see anything yet.
After standing on the tree-lined path for a while, Hanadasaki Ame led the technicians through the courtyard and into the building.
Shinjou Akane listened in from the side without interrupting.
They were discussing perfectly serious building-renovation issues, which did not interest her in the slightest.
Once Hanadasaki Ame indicated that she was free to wander around the villa on her own, she immediately began strolling all over the place, mentally making comments here and there about the villa's décor.
It took Hanadasaki Ame quite a while to settle on a general renovation plan with the technicians from the construction company. He even drew up a rough sketch, listing the parts to be remodeled in detail and marking down the dimensions.
Originally, Hanadasaki Ame had only planned to live in the villa by himself. His material needs were not especially high, so he could devote most of the space to the institute. But after deciding that Nagasaki Soyo would live there as well, the necessary residential space had to be expanded somewhat.
He had already considered that possibility in advance, so it caused him no trouble.
At the end of the day, the villa was large enough that housing several more people would be effortless.
One thing that did need attention, however, was that the living area and research area had to be kept strictly separate. Their contents could not be casually mixed together.
Hanadasaki Ame had no desire to see some important experimental material end up in the trash after a routine cleaning.
Once the broad plan was settled, the discussion moved on to more concrete matters—materials, construction schedule, costs, and so on.
Hanadasaki Ame did not lack money, so he straightforwardly chose the option that offered the best results in the shortest amount of time!
…
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 119)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter79)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter125)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 73
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 66
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 63
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 55
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 31
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 31
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 31
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