June 1995. Afternoon. Clear skies.
Spring's cherry blossoms were putting on their final burst of brilliance—maybe in a few more days, they'd start falling one after another.
A boy with dead-fish eyes, heavy dark circles, and pallid skin stood in the hallway of Kanjo Senior High, carrying two popsicles. Even in a bright, youthful school uniform, he somehow looked lifeless. He stared out the window at the scenery, lost in thought.
His name was Yuuki Asagami, the young master of the Asagami family.
"Heh. Still not used to it," Yuuki murmured to himself.
It had been a full twelve years since he'd transmigrated to Japan. As for his former self—especially anything from his student days—Yuuki could barely remember much anymore.
Only vague impressions remained. Back then, school campuses usually planted willows and elms; wealthier ones might plant plane trees.
So a campus drenched in cherry-pink like this was a rare experience. Even though he'd been enrolled for two months already, the gorgeous color still felt almost painfully dazzling.
Kanjo Senior High was a fairly well-known school within the limits of Mifune City. Yuuki had just started this year and was currently a first-year.
Long before that, Yuuki hadn't gone to school at all. He'd been working nonstop for the rise and fall of the family business—sleeping four hours a day, spending one hour chatting with his little sister to vent, and devoting the rest to paperwork, phone calls, and constant travel across the country to negotiate deals.
Ever since eight years ago—when he'd fully sidelined his own father—Yuuki had lived like this, working himself to death.
All because he'd been reborn into Japan in 1983—in Tokyo of all places—and his family ran a company called Asagami Construction.
Real estate.
To fight the coming collapse of the property bubble, Yuuki had struggled day after day, year after year, every waking moment—until he finally steered the family away from ruin. Not only that: now the Asagami family ranked among the top names in Japan's construction industry.
To be honest, Yuuki wasn't especially invested in those achievements. It was more responsibility than passion.
What stuck in his throat instead—what truly bothered him—was the estrangement that had grown between him and his father.
If he hadn't listened to Fujino's advice, maybe he would've missed the best years for school entirely—maybe he'd have stepped permanently into the adult world without ever looking back.
But still… now that he wasn't at the company, the Tokyo side of the business…
"Whatever… it's like this now. Who cares."
The crisis was over. He was sick of it. Faced with malice from those closest to him, he'd decided to go with the current and hand power back.
Now he was practically in exile, alone—leaving Tokyo for Mifune City.
Other than his bank accounts, he'd brought almost nothing.
At this point, why bother worrying about the company? He gave a self-mocking smile. Break time was always precious to students—especially since there was someone waiting for him in the classroom.
Yuuki left the hallway and returned to class at a brisk pace.
Back row. Window seat. A girl leaned against her chair, staring out the window in boredom—maybe she too was watching the last cherry blossoms of spring and drifting off.
The girl occupying the protagonist's seat was Shiki Ryougi.
Yuuki had known her for a short time in childhood because of business dealings. He never expected that after leaving Tokyo and coming to Mifune City, he'd run into her again.
And not just as classmates.
They were desk neighbors.
Shiki wasn't wearing the school uniform. Just like when she was little, she preferred kimono. Even now she wore a pale blue one. Her beautiful black hair was cut short, just long enough to brush over her ears. The style suited her face perfectly—too handsome to simply call "a girl," too pretty to call "a boy."
Paired with the kimono that stood out so much at school, she had that rare, traditional beauty that made men think she was a woman and women mistake her for a man.
She'd felt more like a boy when they were kids, Yuuki thought as he reached his seat and offered her a popsicle.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Shiki."
"You're late!"
Shiki looked annoyed, turning her head away like she was sulking, but she still accepted the popsicle honestly enough.
"Buying ice cream at the school's convenience store is harder than you'd think. Popsicles are basically the same, so I got these."
"They're not the same at all! And it's almost melted!"
"If it melts, the texture becomes more like ice cream, right? So it's fine. Ah—looks like time's almost up. Take this one too!"
"It's almost melted and you're stuffing two into my hands?!"
Ignoring her complaints, Yuuki hurriedly lowered his head and rummaged through his bag.
He'd spaced out too long. The last-period bell was about to ring; the teacher would be back any moment.
If he left after the teacher returned, the vibe would be awkward.
He packed at top speed, slung his bag over his shoulder, and turned back to Shiki.
"I'm counting on you again for the notes in the last period. I owe you one!"
With that, Yuuki bolted for the door.
Shiki sprang up, furious, yelling after him.
"You again—! Don't you have any other friends you can ask?!"
"Sorry for having a gloomy personality! I'll make it up to you this weekend—Haagen-Dazs!"
"…You damn sister-con."
Hearing his reply from the hallway, Shiki was speechless for a moment, then muttered her complaint under her breath.
"Must be nice… skipping the last period…"
"I heard Yuuki's going to pick up his sick little sister from school. Their maid who usually handles it is hospitalized."
"Class privilege, that's what it is. Disgusting class privilege. He even has a maid! I'm so jealous…"
"Yeah. So jealous…"
Listening to the whispers, Shiki sighed softly at this ill-fated bond, tore open the wrapper, and started licking the popsicle. At least it still had a shape. It would be a waste not to eat it…
Ding-dong!
The bell for the last period rang.
Shiki froze for a second, then let out a deep, heavy sigh.
"Haa…"
...
Yuuki had a younger sister named Fujino Asagami.
Not his biological sister. Their blood was faintly related, but tracing it properly went too far back to matter.
Fujino's original line had once been more prestigious than Yuuki's—the former main house of the Asagami clan: the Asakami family.
During the worst years of economic turbulence, while Yuuki fought desperately to keep the Asagami business afloat, the main Asakami house went bankrupt—quietly, without fanfare.
By the time Yuuki noticed, the former lady of the Asakami house had already remarried Yuuki's father.
Yuuki's birth mother had died early. And he'd heard Yuuki's father and that woman had been childhood friends once, so Yuuki hadn't opposed it.
The problem was—whether out of resentment toward Yuuki or something else—his father hadn't told him beforehand.
He simply took his new wife and moved out.
As for Fujino, he just texted Yuuki an address and left it at that.
When Yuuki arrived—bringing his personal maid—with the intention of checking on them at the Asakami residence in Mifune City…
Fujino had been left alone in the empty courtyard for nearly a full day.
Back then, Yuuki hardly had time to care for a girl two years younger than him, especially one with an illness.
Fujino suffered from congenital analgesia—she didn't feel pain properly. If someone bullied her at school, she might not even notice. That wasn't what you'd call "being cared for."
In the end, Yuuki entrusted the person he trusted most—the maid who had stayed by his side for years—to Fujino, asking her to take care of her.
The reason Yuuki moved from Tokyo to Mifune City to attend school was also because Fujino and that maid were here.
The three of them lived together now in what used to be the Asakami residence, but was now property of the Asagami family.
About a week ago, the maid injured her leg and needed at least three months of hospitalization. Yuuki didn't feel safe hiring strangers to protect Fujino—especially since his fifteen-year-old sister had grown strikingly beautiful.
So Yuuki used the Asagami family's influence and began personally picking Fujino up from school and bringing her home, while the school chose to look the other way.
Fujino attended Reien Girls' Academy. Being a church school, it was in a relatively remote area. Kanjo Senior High was the closest high school, and even so it was still about half an hour away.
However, Yuuki had found a shortcut three days ago, so he made the trip with ease today.
The shortcut was through a narrow alley. After walking two to three hundred meters, a low wall blocked the way.
Yuuki hopped over it easily. On the other side was the back of a fish-processing factory.
Waste piled up in near-broken trash cans, reeking of fish. The stench of blood from rotting fish seeped from cracks at the edges, flowing down to the ground and mixing with other filth, forming a small, dark red puddle. Flies swarmed over it.
The alley was almost completely shaded; even in daylight, it looked dim and unclear.
"Ugh…"
Yuuki pinched his nose. One careless step into that puddle and he'd be scrubbing his shoes all night.
A few hundred meters ahead, there was another wall. Hop over it and the alley ended—he'd be near Fujino's school.
Thinking that, Yuuki sped up.
Suddenly, a jolt ran through his body like electricity. His muscles tightened.
On the far side of the stinking puddle, a thin stream trickled along.
A liquid—scarlet, heavy with a strong iron smell—different from what he usually smelled passing through here.
Thump. Thump.
His heart began hammering in an abnormal rhythm.
Breathing became difficult.
Yuuki followed the blood trail—one step at a time—deeper into the alley.
Even knowing it was dangerous, his body wouldn't obey him. It was as if he were being controlled by invisible strings.
Drawn in.
Tap.
Tap.
In the empty alley, his footsteps sounded unnaturally clear.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Following the blood, he went deeper.
And then he saw something entirely not ordinary.
"Hiss… hah… hiss… hah… kkk…"
A figure squatted at the end of the blood trail, making strange noises as it gnawed on what looked like a human arm.
Was it really a person?
Or something else?
A wild dog—yes, a wild dog! Besides the fish factory, there was also a meat-processing plant nearby. Big cats and dogs being drawn here wouldn't be strange at all…
Yuuki tried desperately to reassure himself.
But the red liquid beneath his feet splashed like waves, soaking his shoes.
As if sensing him, the figure tilted its head and locked onto Yuuki with a dry, blood-smeared face.
This is bad—
-------
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