Makuhari Baytown, in Chiba's Mihama Ward, Takase, was an area packed with European-style residential blocks.
One high-end apartment building in Takase 1-chome, near Kaihin-Makuhari Park, was where Yukinoshita Yukino currently lived.
Her family had bought the unit there long ago. Now it happened to serve perfectly as a place for her to live alone, making her future commute to school extremely convenient.
Yukinoshita Yukino sat quietly in the living room with a cup of black tea she had made for herself, deep in thought.
Thinking was painful. Dissecting oneself was sharper still—like slowly cutting into one's own flesh with a blade, bloody and agonizing straight to the heart.
Suppressing the hesitation in her heart, Yukinoshita Yukino compared herself against the clearly more mature-minded Hanadasaki Ame and seriously began reexamining some of the ideas she had once held.
It was not as though she had never met mature people before. Her parents and teachers were all people weathered by life, people who had seen the world in full.
And yet she had always felt that she did not want to become that kind of adult.
Japanese society was so repressive that everyone was forced to wear at least one mask in order to deal with others. No matter how much jealousy or disgust they hid underneath, on the surface they still had to put on a friendly face.
She hated that.
Whether it was her shoes being stolen, her recorder taken away, or people scribbling all over her desk—it was all infuriating.
She wanted people to interact more honestly, more sincerely, without lies to cover things up, without hypocritical smiles. If someone hated her, then they should show it openly, and she could slap them back properly for it!
But while Hanadasaki Ame had been talking to her about virtual worlds, a thought had suddenly occurred to her.
Normally, it was only natural that people could not truly understand one another.
But if one created a virtual world in which no thought could be concealed—one in which people were forced to be honest—then what would happen?
Until now, she had only longed for sincere and genuine communication, for people to understand one another as much as possible. Her mind had not yet been mature enough to extrapolate such a future.
But in a virtual world, such an experimental world could actually exist.
If Hanadasaki Ame truly had the ability to develop those technologies, then she would support him with everything she had.
She wanted to see that kind of future with her own eyes.
After a long period of thought, Yukinoshita Yukino picked up her phone, opened her contact list, and dialed one number.
The call connected quickly, and from the other end came the warm yet cool voice of a mature woman.
"Yukino, good evening. Are you getting used to living over there by yourself? Calling so suddenly… don't tell me you missed your mother?"
Before Yukinoshita Yukino could even speak, she was already overwhelmed by that string of words and could only respond with a few muffled sounds.
Still, after a brief exchange of greetings and updates, she quickly brought up the real matter.
"Mother, I met someone today. I spoke with him for quite a while. He mentioned that he is preparing to establish a private research institute to study areas such as electromagnetism. I believe he may have considerable value as an investment or cooperation target, but I still don't know enough about his background. So I wanted to ask what you might know. If necessary, we could even have a private investigator look into him."
On the other end of the line, Mrs. Yukinoshita fell silent, apparently thinking.
A few seconds later, her snowy-cool voice spoke again.
"What is his name?"
"Hanadasaki Ame."
Yukinoshita Yukino answered.
"Hanadasaki Ame… I've heard of him. A young, low-profile genius—and a wealthy one."
"…Wealthy?"
"Yes. He is extremely good at stock trading and investment, and has already accumulated a considerable fortune through that. I've heard rumors about him at a few gatherings. Conservatively speaking, his total assets should exceed three billion yen. And with that adorable appearance of his, many wealthy married women have become very interested in him. Even without many chances to approach him, they still secretly collect information about him."
Mrs. Yukinoshita explained.
People naturally paid attention to a genius who stood out that much.
But Hanadasaki Ame had one particular problem—
he was too much of a genius.
Aside from physical athletics, he was almost a complete all-rounder.
He was the sort of person destined to be remembered in history.
Standing in front of someone like him, it became far too easy to feel one's own stupidity and pettiness, like an insect exposed under sunlight, unable to hide, capable only of struggling and wailing.
And so, very few people dared to approach him casually.
"If it's him, then cooperating with him would be a very reasonable investment… Yukino, if I remember correctly, he's about your age, isn't he?"
"Yes. Barring anything unusual, we should be in the same class."
Yukinoshita Yukino answered softly.
They were both enrolled at Inaba High and both academically strong. Ending up in the same class would be entirely normal.
"Then it would be most appropriate to leave contact with him to you. But as for what sort of cooperation it would be, that will need to be discussed face-to-face. When the opportunity is right, Mother will make a trip over as well. I'll use it as a chance to see you too."
Mrs. Yukinoshita's voice remained as warm and cool as ever, yet it gave Yukinoshita Yukino a faint sense of discomfort.
Pressing her lips together slightly, she nodded and replied,
"Alright, Mother."
"Oh, right. I've heard that his personality is quite forceful, and that he is nothing like as fragile as he looks. Dealing with him may be difficult for you. So, Yukino, remember one obvious weakness of his."
She paused.
"His physical stamina… is extremely poor."
"…Poor stamina?"
Yukinoshita Yukino tilted her head, a little puzzled.
That sounded…
somewhat like her as well.
Her own stamina was terrible too. Her endurance was awful.
"Yes. Perhaps all his gifts went into his intellect. He has no particular talent on the physical side. If you want to contend with him—if you want to get the better of him—you'll have to begin there."
Mrs. Yukinoshita seriously passed on her experience, teaching her daughter how to deal with this type of person.
Only after speaking for quite some time did the call finally end.
Yukinoshita Yukino sat there holding her phone, lost in thought.
Her mother was also an extremely strong-willed person. Her father had married into the Yukinoshita family, and his standing within the household was a little lower. In many matters, it was always her mother who made the final decisions.
To be honest, living with such a forceful and strict mother was quite stressful for her.
Yet strangely enough, she had not really felt that same kind of forcefulness from Hanadasaki Ame.
Perhaps that was simply because they were not familiar enough yet.
Also…
his stamina was poor…
She suspected her mother had been implying something else, but out of a daughter's respect for her parent, she chose not to interpret it maliciously.
Her own stamina was poor. Hanadasaki Ame's stamina was poor too…
So then…
did that mean there existed some sort of mutual-destruction strategy?
Yukinoshita Yukino's face flushed at once, and she hurriedly drove those ridiculous thoughts from her mind.
Crooked methods like that were not something she would ever do!
She picked up the tea that had already gone cold and took a sip, then let out a long breath and decided to do something else to redirect her attention.
Her eyes swept across the living room, passing over the thick paperback on the desk, the large flat-screen television opposite the sofa, and finally coming to rest on the piano by the side.
Then she rose, sat down at the bench, and lightly struck the black and white keys.
Usually, her ways of relaxing were limited to reading, watching films, and occasionally playing the piano.
Her piano skill could not be called professional, but it was at least outstanding.
According to her mother, Hanadasaki Ame also played an instrument—the violin—and had even bought a Stradivarius violin from an Italian collector at an astonishingly high price.
Perhaps, in the future, they might try playing together…
Join here to read ahead.
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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
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Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
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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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