At noon, Naga went to the ramen shop he and Miku often frequented. He ate lunch alone. After lunch, he went to their new house again, where only the same few construction workers were there.
He had to put his afternoon work aside. Without news from Miku, he couldn't muster any motivation for anything. It felt like a part of him had been ripped out, leaving him suspended in a vacuum with no support, making him feel utterly weak.
He took a nap in the car, but the weather started to get hot and humid. He didn't dare to close the windows or turn on the air conditioning, so he couldn't really fall asleep. He was half-asleep when he was woken up by a phone call from an unknown number around 1:30 a.m.
"Hello, is this Yumeno-kun? It's me, Akiko Shingo. If it's convenient, please come to the top floor of the XX Group Building before 2:30. He wants to see you."
"The parent company," Naga thought with a wry smile as he hung up the phone. He had been there a few times, but only to give performance reports on the third floor. As for the top floor, he had never imagined he would ever go there.
Come on, no matter what, he couldn't adjust his mood until these things were resolved. After taking a few deep breaths, Naga closed the car window, started the car, and drove towards the skyscraper in the prime location.
Perhaps due to the most primitive fertility worship, towering buildings in the city often become symbols of a certain area. Those solid and huge buildings always remind Naga of giant phalluses loaded with human arrogance, stretching towards the all-encompassing sky, laboriously displaying their insignificant grandeur.
If these towering buildings symbolize phalluses, then the people walking among them must be sperm swimming around waiting to be ejaculated. With this absurd idea in mind, Naga walked into the concrete city totem reflecting the blinding sunlight.
To his surprise, sitting on the sofa in the lobby waiting to greet him was Sayaka Tsukamoto, who had only recently been transferred back.
The moment Sayaka saw him, her eyes welled up with tears, a look of thirsty anticipation for his conquest. With that look in her eyes, Sayaka led him toward the elevator, her full hips, encased in a tight skirt, swaying seductively with each step in her high heels, stretching the silver-gray fabric into alluring curves.
Earlier, Naga would have been tempted to take a sip in the elevator. But he wasn't in the mood now. His busy mind was preoccupied with worrying about Miku, and the rest was focused on the nervousness of meeting Miku's father.
No matter what, Miku will never leave me. With this certainty, Naga finally calmed down before the elevator reached the top floor.
Outside the open elevator doors, standing beside the red carpet was Akiko Shingo. She nodded to Saeka and took over the responsibility of leading the way, guiding him to the largest door at the end of the room.
After knocking, a beautiful girl who looked like a high school student emerged, her face flushed and with the languid expression typical of someone who had just had sex. She was wrapped in a large bathrobe, boldly glanced at Naga, chuckled, then hurriedly wiped away a trace of white liquid from the corner of her mouth and quickly walked towards the elevator in her slippers.
What an energetic, lecherous old man! For no reason, Naga felt a little more relaxed. The feeling that he was about to meet someone like himself lessened his inferiority complex.
After the door opened, Akiko did not follow him in, but simply nodded to him from outside the door, gesturing for him to come in.
This private meeting was exactly what Naga wanted. He gave Akiko a smile and strode inside.
The furnishings inside were much simpler than he had imagined. A huge landscape painting hung on the wall facing the entrance; having no knowledge of classical ink painting, Naga could only guess that it was likely the work of a very expensive master. Divided by the open door, the room was strangely divided into two completely different styles of decor: Western and Japanese.
One side of the Japanese-style room has a raised floor covered with simple tatami mats made with traditional craftsmanship, resembling a specially set-out four-and-a-half-tatami tea room. In the center are antique tea utensils, a low table, and brocade blue cushions.
On the other side was a simple terrazzo floor, with a bookshelf by the corner leading to the inner room, next to a somewhat old-fashioned sofa and coffee table. It seemed that Mr. Fujikawa did not work here, as there were no office supplies in the room, and the bookshelves were filled with books and ancient scrolls unrelated to business.
The person should be in the inner room. Naga cleared her throat and said, "Excuse me, I am Yumeno Naga."
A deep reply came from inside: "Come in."
Reaching the small door, Naga took off her shoes and stepped onto the tatami mat. The inner room was a classic Japanese-style room that gave one a sense of stepping back in time. Apart from a portable computer on a low table, there was almost nothing modern in sight. Even the lewd prop placed awkwardly next to the cushion was an old-fashioned phallus made of jade.
Presumably, that thing was still inside that beautiful girl's body not long ago, its uneven, hard surface covered with a layer of transparent fluid, glistening.
There is only one small window inside. Although it is an antique-style wooden structure with upper and lower sections, it is located on a high floor, so an extra layer of tempered glass can still be seen from the outside.
Just as robust and advanced modern technology is struggling to protect traditions that are on the verge of disappearing.
Kengo Fujikawa sat under that window, his kimono open, revealing his muscular brown chest. His skin wasn't very loose, and his muscles looked powerful. Contrary to Naga's expectations of obesity, he was only slightly overweight, and even sitting there, he looked exceptionally robust.
Unlike the serious, even somewhat gloomy, expression he displayed in the magazine, when Fujikawa looked at Naga, he resembled an ordinary middle-aged man facing the guy who was about to marry his daughter.
Some resentment, some relief, and what remains is rigorous scrutiny.
"Sit down." Fujikawa stretched out his hand, stood up, walked back to the low table, straightened his clothes, and sat down.
Naga nodded, then knelt down in the same upright posture, respectfully looking at the man opposite her, Miku's father.
Miku's features still faintly resemble her father's. Even though Fujikawa is nearing old age, traces of his handsome youth can still be seen. Similar eyebrows and eyes look beautiful and energetic on Miku's soft face inherited from her mother, but on Fujikawa's masculine square face, they create a completely different meaning.
"Have some tea." Fujikawa picked up the purple clay teapot on the table and poured Naga a full cup.
Naga held the cup with both hands and drank it sip by sip. He wasn't an expert on tea, but he could still taste the delicate, lingering fragrance in his throat. "Thank you."
Neither of the two men seemed quite comfortable with starting a conversation. After Naga thanked them, a brief silence fell over the room.
On his way here, Naga had already considered all sorts of possible questions and how to answer them. But he never expected that the first question the other party would ask him, as Miku's father, would be like this.
"Miku doesn't know about you and Asami, does she?"
Upon hearing this question, Naga suddenly felt his mouth go dry, and all the answers he had prepared became a jumbled mess. He looked nervously at Fujikawa, only to find that the other man's expression remained perfectly calm, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.
Naga gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, Miku... she may have guessed something else, but she probably doesn't know about Ami yet." The other party was an old fox, and without specifying what it was, he only used a vague pronoun to answer.
"It's not a big deal to know. I know that girl." Fujikawa leaned back on his knees, his eyes half-closed as he stared at Naga's face. "She's willing to go this far for you. Even if it's just because of her stubbornness, she will persevere, no matter how hard it is."
"I'm sorry for her, I... I'll definitely treat her well from now on." Her palms were sweating, and although the other person's gaze was calm, Naga still felt an invisible pressure.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of or sorry for." Fujikawa smiled slightly, the wrinkles on his face seeming to twist with a hint of mockery. "It's normal for men to like women. As long as you have the ability, you can naturally enjoy more happiness than those who are incompetent. Laws and the like are just tools used to restrain mediocre people in accordance with the changing times."
He tapped the edge of the table lightly and said in a deep voice, "Those fancy toys are nothing to worry about, and I doubt Miku would care. The only one who's special is Ami. They're sisters who are a year apart, as you probably already know."
Naga didn't know how to respond, so she just nodded.
"Ashi is different from ordinary girls," Fujikawa said slowly. "She hates men with all her heart. Sometimes I think how wonderful it would be if she were a son. That way, even if her bloodline is not pure, I would be happy to let her inherit more than half of my family business. Apart from her gender, I am very satisfied with her in every way."
"I originally intended to find husbands for my two daughters. I need an heir with the surname Fujikawa. I am already fifty-three years old, and my cousins in the countryside are all eyeing the huge cake I have built in Tokyo. As long as I do not have a suitable heir, those hungry wolves will immediately rush here, devour all the flesh and blood, leaving only the bone scraps for Miku and Asami."
He spoke quietly, his gaze fixed on Naga's face, "I only have these two daughters. I probably won't have any more sons, but I have a feeling that these two daughters will give me a grandson, a grandson with Fujikawa blood who can inherit my legacy."
Was this a promise? Or a temptation? Naga wasn't sure. His tension eased slightly, and he quickly calculated in his mind, trying to guess the man's intentions like a business negotiation. Before he was sure, he felt it was best to remain silent.
"Yumeno Naga." After a few dozen seconds of silence, Fujikawa's deep voice rang out again, "Would you be willing to become the father of my heir?"
"What do you mean?" Naga asked cautiously.
"You are the only man who can impregnate those two sisters. What I need are sons with their bloodline, and I want them to bear the Fujikawa surname. To become my successors." Fujikawa shifted his gaze to the teapot and added, "Of course, if your younger brother is not prepared to leave a lineage for the Yumeno family, you can keep one son's surname, but only if you have more than two sons."
"Two...sisters?" This didn't seem like something a father should say, but for some reason, he felt it was perfectly normal for Fujikawa to have such thoughts.
"That's right, it's the two sisters." Fujikawa picked up his teacup, took a sip, and met Naga's gaze through the steam. "I had a fight with Miku on the phone last time, and that's when I hurriedly started to find out about you. Although I was a little late, it's not too late. To be honest, you're not an ideal candidate to be a son-in-law of the Fujikawa family. However, Miku is determined to marry you, and you're the only man that Asami doesn't object to. I don't have much time to waste on changing my daughters' minds, so I choose to accept the facts. I don't mind that my two daughters share a man, as long as that man is willing to be given to me as the heir of the Fujikawa family."
It seemed that today's conversation was more like a transaction. Naga felt a little more at ease, and a smile appeared on her lips. "Miku and Ami both seem to dislike you. Aren't you afraid they will oppose my decision?"
"Ami isn't that stubborn. She knows what a son with the surname Fujikawa means. As for Miku, I believe you can persuade her. She has compromised a lot for you. You don't need to rush. Wait until you have a son before talking to her. At that time, she will definitely compromise even more for you." Fujikawa straightened his back and looked at Naga with a slightly expectant gaze.
Naga could sense that the look wasn't expecting his agreement; the old fox was waiting for him to do something else to meet his expectations.
"What can I get in return?" he asked bluntly. He knew Fujikawa was waiting for him to say that. If he gave a hypocritical and direct answer, the other party would probably be disappointed. "You don't mean to say that you'll allow me to maintain my current relationship with him, do you? That's not a very satisfying condition."
Fujikawa smiled, pulled a sheet of paper covered in printed words from under his laptop on the low table, and handed it to Naga. "Any verbal agreement has no real binding force. There's no relationship between us that's trustworthy enough to maintain a transaction. So, a written agreement is the most suitable." He took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "I admire your mindset of treating this as a purely transactional one. That's exactly what I want."
After quickly skimming through the information, Naga needed to provide the surnames of his eldest son and all other sons (unless there were special circumstances), as well as the rights to raise and educate them. In return, he would receive a huge fortune that would make him feel unreal. The fortune also included a clause that if Fujikawa Kengo was unable to maintain the group's operations prematurely, Naga could act as the group's president until the heir came of age, provided that he provided at least one future heir.
Given Fujikawa's age, this was an almost unbearable temptation for Naga.
He has an outstanding younger brother who is capable of inheriting the Yumeno family lineage, and his bloodline could very well become the master of the Fujikawa family.
He tried to keep himself from being overwhelmed by excitement, maintaining a calm expression as he looked up at Fujikawa and said, "This is truly an agreement that's hard to refuse. But if you think about it carefully, if I'm willing to marry into the family and can convince Miku, I can get all of this before the baby is born, can't I?"
"That's right." Fujikawa placed his hands on the table, smiling at him. "If you can convince your future wife to change her surname to Fujikawa with you, all of this can be yours in advance. But I believe you can weigh the pros and cons: which is easier, convincing a mother who has just given birth or convincing a woman who hasn't married you yet?"
"Alright, you win." Naga shrugged, admitting that the other party had indeed grasped the crux of the matter. For Fujikawa, the cost wouldn't change, and what he wanted was still an heir. But for him, the difficulty was entirely different.
Fujikawa pulled a seal from his sleeve and smiled. "No, the real winner is you. You've gained my daughter, many beauties, and in the future, you'll gain everything from the Fujikawa family. Believe me, your luck is something I envy."
"It's just that you're incredibly unlucky." Naga stood up, looked at Fujikawa in front of him, and flicked the agreement in his hand with his finger. "If you have another son in the future, I still won't get anything."
He smiled, then added in a slightly provocative tone, "Of course, besides your two daughters, which I already have."
Fujikawa looked up at him, his smile deepening.
"I'm starting to feel sorry for you, Naga, that you can't marry into my family and become my son."
"After September, I will still call you Father." Suppressing his overwhelming joy, Naga replied calmly.