Futaba Rio, a second-year student at Minegahara High. Because of her introverted and taciturn personality, she had yet to make any friends.
Of course, she herself was already used to this. During her free time, she would basically stay alone in the school's laboratory, playing with equipment or reading advanced science books. In addition, she was also the president of the school's science club, although the club only had her as a member.
At the same time, her family was quite well-off. However, due to her parents being busy with work, her daily life was basically equivalent to living alone.
Except for her exaggerated figure, she could be said to be a science version of Yukinoshita Yukino.
And at this moment, Futaba Rio was facing an epic problem—what to eat for lunch.
She wasn't struggling with choices, but rather that she had no choice because there was nothing to eat.
Because she had arrived late, the food prepared in the cafeteria was already sold out. And to make matters worse, the bread in the vending machine was also sold out, even though there were usually plenty left over!
Although she knew very well that if she asked the cafeteria lady to give her a teacher's meal, she would most likely not refuse, due to her personality, she still didn't do it.
Just as Futaba was lowering her head, planning to go back to the lab to make a cup of coffee for lunch, a teacher's meal card appeared before her eyes.
"Go ahead and use it."
Hearing the voice, she looked up in astonishment. She had clearly not expected someone to proactively offer her help.
Looking at the handsome boy before her, the normally quiet Futaba's lips moved twice, wanting to refuse, but she couldn't say it.
Seeing this, Shinra simply took the meal card and got a bowl of ramen for her. Anyway, it wasn't his card. It would be a waste not to use it.
Seeing that it was a done deal, Futaba finally swallowed the refusal she had been hesitating on for so long and said in a low voice, "Thank you, sensei."
Although he looked very young, like a peer, he wasn't wearing a Minegahara uniform, and he was holding a teacher's meal card. So she deduced that he must be a new teacher at the school. Therefore, saying 'thank you, sensei' should be fine.
"I'm not a teacher," he said with a smile and a wave of his hand.
"Eh?" Futaba Rio was stunned.
Then she heard him explain, "My name is Mori Shinra. Like you, I'm a high school student, just not from Minegahara. I'm here on some business."
"I-I'm sorry. My name is Futaba Rio, a second-year student. Anyway, thank you very much for today. Um, let me give you the money..." Futaba reacted quickly, hurriedly introducing herself and thanking him, while also taking out her wallet to pay him.
In the end, she was just introverted and not good with words. She was still capable of normal communication.
"You're welcome. But you don't need to pay. It's not my card anyway. That's all, I'll be going now," he said, stopping her from taking out the money. He didn't give her a chance to be polite again and walked straight out of the cafeteria.
She stared blankly at his departing back, only snapping out of it when the cafeteria lady behind her called out to her.
For him, helping her was just a small interlude with no special purpose. She didn't have any Wish Request on her head. It was just a casual act of kindness.
But for Futaba Rio, who had been alone for a long time, this seemed a little unusual...
Mori Shinra arrived at the administration building and found Mai nibbling on a bun while looking at her upcoming schedule.
After noticing his arrival, Mai finished the bun in two or three bites, put down the schedule, and said with a pout, "You've been far too reckless."
"But you can't say it didn't work," he said, unconcerned.
She stared at him for a while, then turned her face away and muttered, "How am I supposed to repay you for this?"
His ears were very sharp. He immediately replied, "That's easy. You should learn from the wisdom of the ancients."
"The wisdom of the ancients?"
He cleared his throat and said in a perfect imitation, "This humble girl has no way to repay your kindness, except to offer myself in marriage..."
"Isn't there also the option of being a horse or dog for you in the next life?"
"Sorry, we don't accept credit here."
After some joking, Shinra asked for her mother's contact information.
"Why do you need that?" she asked, a little puzzled.
"To get on good terms with my auntie in advance, taking the upper-level route."
"Be serious."
"I want to acquire your auntie's company, then sign you to make money for me. If possible, it would be even better if I could use the opportunity to get you on the casting couch."
"Are you burning money for fun?"
"You can't put it that way. I believe your commercial value is very high."
He indicated that she shouldn't be so self-deprecating.
"Why not just register your own agency?" she asked seriously.
She wasn't against signing with him. In fact, if doing so could help him recover some of his losses, she would be more than happy to do it.
After all, he had spent so much money for her and solved her big problem. In return, signing with him was only right.
In fact, she had already decided to give him all the money she had earned from acting over the years. Although it might not be enough, she had to show her attitude.
After her comeback, she would also use a portion of her income to compensate for his losses until the debt was fully paid off.
This was not to say that she wanted to draw a clear line between them, but that she didn't want their relationship to be tainted by money, nor did she want his family to think that she was with him for his money.
After all, according to what she had learned, the money donated to the school and for the subsequent activities had all come from his family, not his own.
Although she didn't know what kind of behemoth the family behind him was, she figured that for him to make his family spend such a large sum of money for her, he must have also been under a lot of pressure. To this, she couldn't just turn a blind eye and enjoy everything he had given her with a clear conscience.
"That would be too slow and troublesome. And the overall cost might not be as cost-effective as directly investing in your mother's agency," he explained.
This was not a decision he had made on a whim. Now that Mai had left, the valuation of her mother's agency was already much lower than before; it wouldn't cost too much.
Moreover, her mother's agency had been in operation for so long, and its operating model was already very mature. Plus, Mai had been signed with this company before, so they were very familiar with each other. Just saving a lot of time was enough for him to choose acquisition over starting a new one.
Not to mention, if he invested at this time, when Mai announced her comeback later, the price difference would be enough for him to make a big profit.
As for whether the middle school incident would happen again, in his view, there was no need to worry.
First, Mai was an adult and had her own decision-making ability.
Second, her mother was not a fool. After that incident, she definitely knew what to do and what not to do.
Lastly, as long as he could hold the power in the agency, no one could go over his head and force Mai to do anything.
And doing so could also ease the relationship between them. Although Mai didn't say it, he could see that she actually cared a lot about her mother.
But all of this still depended on Mai's wishes. If she really didn't want her mother to be her manager again, he would also ask Uncle Li to help find a reliable one.
After hearing his words, Mai pondered for a moment. "You have a point. Take me with you then."
"Take you with me?"
"Even if we're really going to acquire that person's company shares, I believe that with 'Sakurajima Mai's comeback' as a condition, we should be able to negotiate more favorable terms."
She made no effort to hide the fact that she was siding with an outsider, even using herself as a bargaining chip, just so that he could get her mother's company shares at a lower cost.
This was truly a case of a kind mother and a filial daughter.
"This..." Shinra felt that if they really did this, Mai's mother would probably want to kill him.
As if seeing his concern, she said seriously, "You don't need to consider that person's opinion. From now on, I'm the only one who decides my future."
The implication was: I'm dating you, my mom can't do anything about it.
Emmm...
What else could he do? He could only accept.
"Also, I have some savings here. Although it might not be enough, you can take it first to acquire that person's company," Mai added.
"That won't be necessary. I've already prepared the money," he refused.
"That's your family's money, right?" she frowned.
"I'll find a way to solve that later. Since the resources have already been requested, I might as well use a little more. So you should keep your money."
Seeing his firm attitude, she didn't insist further. Anyway, she didn't plan to touch this money. If he needed it later, she would just give it to him then.
It had to be said, Mai was indeed a rare and good girl. Of course, whether she was a good daughter to her mother was still debatable.
The matter with Mai was considered settled for now. What he needed to do now was wait for the settlement to be completed and think about how to explain this expense to his great-uncle.
Through this battle, he also figured out who his supporter in the family was. It was none other than his grandfather's own brother, and also the actual controller of Mori International—Mori Kunitō.
It was precisely because the other party was his great-uncle that he was troubled about how to explain this matter.
After all, his great-uncle didn't know he had a system. From his perspective, his actions were no different from those rich playboys who threw away a fortune to chase after female celebrities.
If he wanted to borrow the family's power again in the future, he had to give an explanation for this matter.
As for how to give that explanation, he actually already had a draft in mind...