"Oho, that was fast… and generous too. Looks like he really does think of you as his own daughter."
Kobayashi Mika squinted through her reading glasses at her phone. The deposit notification had come in. After counting the zeroes, she made that remark.
Then she pulled out a bank card from her wallet and held it out to Shiginomiya Shion.
"Well then, Shion-chan, your father's already transferred the money. It's all on this card, and the PIN is—"
But before she could even finish, Shion shook her head firmly, refusing to take the card.
"No need, Kobayashi-obaasan. I don't want to touch that money."
"Oh?"
"I've already made a promise to Akira-kun. I'm going to become a professional voice actress. So I'll support myself. That way, Dad will truly be able to rest easy."
Right, Akira-kun? Let's start from zero and build our future from scratch together!
Shion looked at Kuroba Akira with eyes shining like stars.
Akira, meanwhile, wanted to collapse on the floor and cry.
She just turned down a massive cash injection! A golden windfall, flat-out refused!
Oh, come on, my dear ojou-sama—why do you have to be so noble?!
You think you can become a voice actress without spending a single yen?!
Even self-study costs money, you know…
He'd been planning to use that cash to cover her initial training and development expenses. Now he was back to square one, scrambling for funds again.
But with Shion making such a firm declaration, there was no way Akira could shamelessly go after that money now.
Otherwise, her resolve would become nothing but a joke.
He had to help her build up her self-confidence, her sense of independence.
So thanks to [Soulful Performance S], Akira's expression didn't waver in the slightest. He gave her a big thumbs-up, looking for all the world like he fully supported her passion and resolve.
Shion was overjoyed. He wasn't lying to me. He really does plan to stick with me for the long haul! (In a professional partnership sense).
"Well, I suppose that's not a bad thing," Mika said, watching the exchange with a smirk. "Young people should have fire in their bellies. Though I'll admit, I'm surprised this lazy brat is actually fired up—for you, no less. Hmph. Maybe you're rubbing off on him."
She gave Akira a teasing look, as if to say: What changed you? Love?
Akira rolled his eyes.
Love, my ass. She's my walking investment portfolio.
"But since the money's already been sent to me, it'd be a hassle to return it. I'll hold onto it for now. Whether you want to use it or not is up to you. You can come ask for it anytime."
"Kobayashi-obaasan, please just treat it as payment for my room and board."
"That'd be a bit much. This kind of money could buy several houses… And besides, housing and food are separate matters. You're staying here because he brought you in. That's not my business. I won't charge you rent or meal costs… But that brat still owes me, and I'll be doubling his rent."
"What the hell?! Kobayashi-obaasan, do you even have a conscience?!"
Akira let out a strangled cry.
This is totally unfair! She's all nice and sweet to Shion, but when it comes to me she turns into a miser! You're just like Blacktail—totally two-faced!
Mika, unfazed, held out her hand toward him.
"Hand it over."
"Huh? Hand what over?"
Akira played dumb.
"Cut the act. That ten thousand yen I gave you—give it back."
"Wait, what? But you gave that to me!"
"That was back when you and the girl were both broke. But now that her father's sent money, you can clearly afford things. Including, say… abortion fees. Heck, even raising a kid wouldn't be an issue. And judging by how much he dotes on her, he'd probably be obsessed with grandkids. You two could just make one and leave the raising to him. So—"
"So?"
"So you don't need condoms anymore. If there's an accident, just keep it."
"..."
"Which means I'm taking back the 'safety fee.'"
Akira nearly coughed up blood. Shion lowered her head in silent mortification.
We're not gonna do that, okay?!
"I'm not giving it back! Money that reaches my hands—over my dead body!"
"Fine. Then from tomorrow, it's curry every day."
"Urgh…!"
Mika knew just how sick of curry Akira was. Normally she rotated it with hotpot, but when she said "curry every day," that could mean a week… maybe even a month of nothing but curry.
That was true curry hell. Enough to kill a man.
Mika was using food as a weapon, threatening him into submission.
But! Akira smirked. You didn't see this coming, did you, Kobayashi-obaasan?!
Starting tomorrow, I'll be eating the class rep's bento! Mwahaha!
"Still not giving it back!"
As for Shion… sorry, but you're just gonna have to endure the Mika Curry-Hotpot Rotation Hell too.
Mika didn't press the matter further. She had only been teasing them anyway.
Who said old ladies didn't like gossip? She just hated fake, shallow displays of emotion.
Akira might've been a calculating little punk, but Shion… that girl clearly cared about him.
And caring about a boy—that's where love often begins.
Ah, young love… Watching a girl's tender feelings unfold really does lift the spirit. Makes me feel young again…
"Well, that's that. Go clean up, then take a bath. Shiroko, you go first. You stink of sweat… seriously, try bathing every day, would you? Don't be so gross."
"Yes, yes. I sweated a ton today, I will wash, okay?"
Mika wasn't just nagging. Akira actually did forget to shower on a daily basis.
In his past life, he'd been from northern China, where daily baths weren't really a thing.
Everyone knew the Japanese loved their baths. One skipped day and they'd feel grimy.
Akira had lived and worked in Guangdong for a year—he knew what oppressive humidity felt like. Skip a single shower, and you'd feel disgusting all day. Locals called it "miasma" and chugged herbal tea to flush out the damp-heat.
Tokyo was more temperate, like Shandong—humid but with clearer seasons. Daily baths weren't essential, but… well, culture is culture.
What Shion was focused on, though, was Mika's bizarre nickname for Akira.
"Shiroko?"
"Oh, that's my pet name for the brat. Cute, right?"
Mika had known since the beginning that Akira's real name had been Shiroba Akira—so the nickname made sense.
It basically meant "that kid named Shiroba"—shortened to Shiroko.
But said in Japanese, Shiroko sounded exactly like a girl's name.
That was the real joke—a bit of Mika's private amusement, only understandable by those who knew Akira's transmigrator identity.
"His surname is Kuroba… but the nickname is Shiroko?"
"Yup! Fun, right? One of my better works, if I do say so myself."
"I'm more curious about why you call him that."
"Well…"
Mika gave Akira a look—half teasing, half meaningful—then said to Shion with a cryptic smile:
"That depends on when he decides to open up to you. Once he does, you'll understand what that nickname really means. Fufufu…"
"Ugh… don't go running your mouth, you old bat. And don't call me Shiroko in front of other people! It's disgusting."
Akira winced, brow twitching. His identity as a transmigrator was his biggest secret.
Mika was one of the few who knew, and that was already enough. No way was he telling anyone else. Not even a business partner—not yet.
So he made it clear to Shion:
"Don't ever call me that. Seriously. I'll puke."
"…Okay."
But of course, Shion quietly stored the name away in her heart.
Shiroko…
She had thought she was being bold by just calling him "Akira."
But clearly, Kobayashi-obaasan was on another level entirely.