"For now, we are not doing anything."
This answer clearly surprised Tsutsumi Yoshiaki a bit.
He turned his head to look at Satsuki.
However, the expression on Satsuki's face was very calm.
"Saionji indeed has quite a few friends in America, as well as plenty of assets and businesses."
"Yet the more that is true, the less we can afford to casually fall out with them right now."
She raised her hand and tucked a lock of hair that had fallen beside her cheek behind her ear.
"At the very least, we need to figure out first who the ones really wanting to kill me are."
"We cannot just treat the entire America as an enemy simply because a few people inside America want me dead, right?"
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki watched her take a few steps.
"I thought you would go straight for revenge."
"I would like to, too."
"I wanted to the moment I woke up."
She even gave a soft laugh.
"Wanting to is one thing, but we have to find the people first."
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki understood.
This little girl was not planning to let the matter drop.
It was simply not yet time for her to make her move.
After figuring this out, he instead slowly let out a breath.
"Alright."
"Since you have your own ideas about this, I will not get involved."
He paused, then added:
"As long as you are safe and sound, that is what matters."
Satsuki's steps slowed down slightly.
Then she continued forward as if nothing had happened.
"Is Uncle Tsutsumi caring about me here?"
"Stop flattering yourself."
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki did not even look at her.
"Saionji is tied to so many projects with Seibu right now. If you were to actually die, I would have to renegotiate everything with Shuichi all over again."
"Oh—"
Satsuki deliberately drew out her voice.
"So it turns out you were just worried about business."
"It is just business."
"I thought Uncle Tsutsumi was finally starting to like me."
"Can you just shut up?"
Satsuki burst into laughter.
This time, Tsutsumi Yoshiaki did not retort further.
As the two of them chatted along the way, they unconsciously walked to the other side of the exhibition hall.
The area previously lined with luxury sedans was gradually left behind, and the types of cars appearing before their eyes noticeably changed.
Low-slung bodies.
Exaggerated air intakes.
And the red, yellow, and black paint finishes that stood out exceptionally under the lights.
Only then did Tsutsumi Yoshiaki realize that Satsuki had somehow led him to the area specifically designated for sports cars.
He looked at the cars in front of him, then turned back to Satsuki.
"Did you really come to buy sports cars today?"
"That is right."
Satsuki had just been talking about America and the attack, but upon hearing this, the expression on her face instantly relaxed.
"The cars at home are all so boring."
"So I am getting ready to stock up on some merchandise."
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki suspected he had misheard.
"Stock... up?"
"Uh-huh."
Satsuki answered as a matter of course.
Just as Tsutsumi Yoshiaki was about to ask how exactly she planned to buy them, footsteps came from behind.
Ayako and Reiko finally caught up.
They had stayed a little further back just now.
When Satsuki and Tsutsumi Yoshiaki were talking about the incident, the two of them tacitly kept their distance, and now seeing that the topic had ended, they walked over again.
Hearing the footsteps, Satsuki turned around.
"Oh, right."
She waved at the two of them.
"Let me introduce you."
Once Ayako and Reiko reached her side, Satsuki first pointed at Isokawa Reiko.
"Isokawa Reiko."
Then she pointed to the other side.
"This is Yoshino Ayako."
"They are both my college classmates."
The two of them bowed toward Tsutsumi Yoshiaki at the same time.
"Hello, Chairman Tsutsumi."
"Hello."
Their voices were noticeably much more formal than when they usually spoke with Satsuki.
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki nodded at them with a lukewarm attitude.
"Mhm, hello."
His gaze paused on Reiko's face for a moment before looking at Ayako.
"The Isokawa Family... and also Yoshinoya."
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki looked back at Satsuki.
"They are all people from your side."
"What do you mean by people from my side?"
Satsuki sounded somewhat dissatisfied.
"They are my good friends, after all."
Saying this, the smile on her face became even more obvious.
"We have known each other for a long time."
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki gave a light hum.
"No wonder."
He did not continue asking.
For people in their position, certain relationships did not need much explanation at all.
With Seiichiro Isokawa's current position in Nagatacho and Yoshinoya already holding significant power in Mitsui Bank,
the investment vision of these two families was truly impressive...
Satsuki was already talking to Tsutsumi Yoshiaki about the cars in front of them again.
Ayako and Reiko followed behind. At first, they could understand a few sentences, but later they found that when the two of them talked, they did not leave any room for anyone else to interject, so they gradually fell half a step behind.
Ayako secretly watched for a while.
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, walking ahead, said something unknown, after which Satsuki burst out laughing and even raised her hand to gesture at him.
Before long, the corners of Tsutsumi Yoshiaki's own mouth twitched slightly as well.
The more Ayako watched, the stranger she felt.
She moved a bit closer to Reiko.
"Reiko."
"Hm?"
"Do you not think..."
Ayako lowered her voice very much.
"Is Chairman Tsutsumi completely like two different people when dealing with us versus when dealing with Satsuki?"
Upon hearing this, Reiko was not surprised at all.
"What else?"
She spread her hands.
"What status do we have, and what status does Satsuki have?"
"But..."
Ayako looked forward again.
"Just now when Chairman Tsutsumi said 'Hello' to us, I did not even know if I should continue speaking afterward."
"Is that not completely normal?"
Reiko's tone was a matter-of-course.
"Just because the two of them can talk like that does not mean we can too."
Ayako thought about it.
It indeed seemed to have no problem.
What kind of person was Tsutsumi Yoshiaki?
Let alone the two of them, even if her own father were to sit right in front of him, it would be utterly impossible to call him "Uncle Tsutsumi" left and right like Satsuki did, let alone dare to crack jokes at his expense face-to-face.
"Well..."
Ayako looked at the two people chatting more and more naturally ahead.
"No wonder Satsuki said Chairman Tsutsumi is a lot of fun earlier."
She could not help smiling a little.
"For her, it really is like that, huh."
Reiko fell silent and did not reply.
They both came from prominent families, so naturally they were not outsiders who knew nothing.
After truly standing in front of Tsutsumi Yoshiaki just now, that gap in social status was far more obvious than what they usually saw in newspapers and on television.
Of course, their respective families were far from ordinary.
But that also depended on who they were standing in front of.
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki only needed to stand there; that alone was enough to make the vast majority of Japanese entrepreneurs and political figures treat him with utmost seriousness.
His attitude towards the two of them just now was not rude, but it was also clearly just an elder facing two somewhat privileged young people.
But when it came to Satsuki, it was completely different.
The person they could barely even converse with casually was, in Satsuki's mouth, merely an acquaintance whom she could casually call "Uncle Tsutsumi" and tease a few times to his face.
Ayako could also see this gap.
Therefore, when Satsuki and Tsutsumi Yoshiaki continued walking forward just now, she and Reiko both very naturally slowed down.
Certain words were not meant for others to casually tag along and listen to just because they were close.
In certain occasions, standing closer was not always better either.
This was something they had understood since childhood.
It is just that after realizing this, there was still some indescribable feeling in their hearts to a certain extent.
Right at this moment, Satsuki ahead suddenly stopped walking.
"Ayako? Reiko?"
The two of them raised their heads simultaneously.
Satsuki had already turned around, looking at them somewhat strangely.
"Why are you two walking so far behind?"
She said it completely naturally.
As if she had not realized at all why the two of them had actively fallen behind.
But Reiko just glanced at her and knew that Satsuki could not possibly not understand.
With Satsuki's personality, she would not miss even who should sit where in a formal banquet, so how could she possibly fail to notice that two people had suddenly disappeared from her side?
Yet Satsuki did not say anything.
She just stood there and waited.
Even Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, who had originally walked forward a few steps, stopped following her halt.
"Come over here quickly."
Satsuki waved at them.
After the two approached, she very naturally shifted the topic to the side.
"Look."
An entire row of sports cars was lined up along the exhibition hall.
The lights fell on the red, black, and yellow car paint, extending all the way to the other end of the exhibition hall.
Satsuki raised both hands, gesturing a very large range.
"So— many sports cars!"
Her eyes noticeably lit up.
"They are all so cool!"
Ayako looked at her, and that faint hint of strangeness in her heart just now suddenly dissipated a lot.
She of course knew what Satsuki's gesture just now meant.
There was no need to specifically say things like "You do not need to avoid us", nor was there any need to deliberately explain what kind of relationship they had.
Satsuki simply stopped and waited for them for a few seconds.
But starting from this moment, they were once again standing right beside Satsuki and Tsutsumi Yoshiaki.
Reiko had already walked up with a smile.
Passing by Ayako's side, Reiko turned her face slightly, her voice lowered very much.
"However..."
Ayako looked at her.
Reiko's gaze fell on Satsuki, who was enthusiastically looking at those sports cars ahead, and the corners of her mouth curved up gently.
"At least for us, Satsuki is truly the best friend."