"Satsuki, have you really learned how to drive already?"
Inside the black Toyota Century driving towards Meguro Ward, Ayako spoke while using a silver fork to spear a piece of muskmelon from the small plate in front of her.
The vehicle arranged by Saionji today was a stretched limousine version of the Century.
Compared to the official sedan normally used, the space in the back row was excessively spacious.
Even after three people sat inside, it was still more than enough, and the small table in the middle held fruits and iced drinks that Seibu Department Store had just had people deliver over.
Ayako popped the muskmelon into her mouth, chewed twice, and glanced at Satsuki again.
"I am serious about actually knowing how to drive, not the kind who never touches the steering wheel again after getting a driver's licence."
"Well, of course."
Satsuki was also holding a piece of muskmelon on a fork in her hand. Hearing this, she raised her chin with great confidence and casually waved her fork.
Tiny water droplets still hung on the surface of the fruit flesh just taken out of the ice box.
"And I learn super fast. I basically master whatever the instructor says on the first try. Reversing, shifting gears, hill starts, and things like that are completely without difficulty."
After finishing, she opened her mouth and ate that piece of muskmelon, with a trace of smugness on her face.
This point really was not exaggerated by much.
After all, having driven for so many years in her past life, after sitting back in the driver's seat in this life, what she mainly needed to readapt to was just the right-hand drive, road habits, and the physical feel of this body.
As for the clutch and gear shifting...
Forgetting was simply impossible.
Even during her first practice, she had to hold back a bit to avoid appearing too proficient, lest the instructor next to her wonder why an eighteen-year-old girl who had never touched a car before could downshift so naturally.
Of course, there was no need to tell Ayako about this part.
"I passed my driver's licence test very smoothly."
Satsuki swallowed the muskmelon and added another sentence.
"The instructor even said I have a lot of driving talent."
Reiko, sitting on the other side, raised her eyes from behind her glass cup.
She was holding a cup of iced oolong tea in her hands, and the condensation formed on the cup wall was slowly sliding down along her fingers.
"I actually believe that."
"Right?"
Satsuki immediately showed her an expression of "as expected, you are the one who understands me best."
Reiko, however, turned her head to look at Ayako.
"Ayako, even if you do not know about Satsuki's business affairs, you should at least know about things at school, right?"
"What, what?"
Ayako speared another piece of muskmelon, looking full of curiosity.
"How many days in total did Satsuki go to school across her three years of high school?"
Reiko thought about it for a moment, as if even she felt that number was absurd.
"Anyway, it was not much. Later, near graduation, she went back to attend classes for a while, and then she got admitted into Gakushuin University."
"Huh?"
Ayako's action of holding the fork stopped mid-air.
Of course, she had known before that Satsuki frequently skipped school, and she also knew this fellow ended up getting into Gakushuin along with them.
But usually she had not put the two things together; now, being reminded by Reiko like this...
It indeed seemed a bit abnormal.
Ayako's expression gradually turned strange.
"So that was not a power-and-money transac—"
Before she finished speaking, a piece of muskmelon was accurately stuffed into her mouth.
Ayako widened her eyes.
Reiko withdrew her fork nonchalantly.
"Big mouth."
She picked up her oolong tea again.
"Just honestly eat your muskmelon."
"Mm-mm..."
Holding that suddenly appearing piece of muskmelon in her mouth, Ayako could not speak and could only express her protest with her eyes.
Sitting opposite, Satsuki looked at Reiko's expression as if nothing had just happened, and finally could not help laughing out loud.
"Pfft..."
She quickly raised her hand to block her mouth.
"Reiko, your reaction just now was way too fast."
"Considering Ayako's future."
Reiko answered very seriously.
"I do not want her to receive a lawyer's letter at eighteen for slandering the Saionji Family."
"When did I say I was going to sue her?"
"This morning."
"That was going to sue you, alright."
Satsuki smiled and reached out, spearing another piece of muskmelon from the plate.
Ayako finally finished eating what was in her mouth and immediately turned to Reiko with dissatisfaction.
"And I was not even finished!"
"That is why I saved you in time."
"..."
Ayako thought for a moment.
It seemed she did not know how to refute it again.
Watching her look of holding it in for a long time and finally having no choice but to go back to eating muskmelon, Satsuki felt inexplicably in an even better mood.
After leaving Ikebukuro, she discovered that today seemed much more interesting than she had originally imagined.
When leaving home in the morning, she was just chased out by her father to spend money.
Later, buying clothes, buying shoes, buying a bunch of small items she would normally never pick out herself, and now preparing to run off to buy a car.
One billion yen had not had much spent yet by now, but at least this Saturday had not been wasted.
She was just about to eat another piece when the vehicle slowly decelerated at this moment.
Soon it came to a complete stop.
The fork in Satsuki's hand paused for a second.
At first, she thought they had encountered a red light and casually glanced out the window, only to find that on the other side of the road, the large glass display windows of the car showroom could already be seen.
"Have we arrived?"
Satsuki subconsciously leaned her body forward.
The car had already stopped in the vehicle lane in front of the showroom, and the security vehicle in front likewise did not continue moving.
Normally, Fujita and the others should have already gone inside first to confirm the boarding and alighting positions.
Yet right now, no one came over to open the door for a long time.
"Chizuru?"
Satsuki turned to Chizuru, who was sitting in the front.
"Why are not we moving?"
Chizuru had just finished a call through her headset and turned back upon hearing this.
"Eldest Miss, it seems there is some trouble ahead."
"Trouble?"
Satsuki looked over following her gaze.
Inside the showroom, a staff member wearing a suit was already walking out briskly.
As soon as the person reached the front car, they first bowed deeply to Fujita Tsuyoshi, then stood there explaining something.
The distance was a bit far, and the car windows were closed, so Satsuki could not hear what they were saying; she could only see the staff member continuously bowing several times during the process.
"Could it be that they have no cars?"
Ayako also curiously leaned close to the window.
"Then would not we have made a wasted trip?"
"It should not be to that extent."
Satsuki was still staring at those cars behind the glass.
"There are clearly some inside."
Her interest had just come up right now.
If they really ran all the way here only to find out that all the cars had already been sold, that would be a bit too disappointing.
Fortunately, not long after, Fujita Tsuyoshi walked over towards this side.
Chizuru pressed the switch.
The dark car window slowly rolled down.
"Eldest Miss."
Fujita Tsuyoshi slightly bent over outside the car.
"It seems they are not open to the public for reception today."
"Huh?"
Satsuki was slightly stunned.
This answer was clearly more unexpected to her than "no cars".
"Why?"
Fujita Tsuyoshi seemed not to know how to explain it simply.
"The showroom side says that a guest has already arranged a private reception for this afternoon."
"Private reception?"
Satsuki glanced into the showroom again.
No wonder outside of the staff at the entrance, almost no other guests could be seen.
She had originally thought it was just coincidentally few people at this time.
"What did their people say?"
"This..."
Fujita Tsuyoshi slightly turned his body sideways, looking at the staff member who was still standing near the front car.
Satsuki also looked over following him.
"Have him come over."
"Yes."
Fujita Tsuyoshi beckoned to the other person.
That staff member obviously had been waiting for a long time; seeing this, he quickly hurried over.
When he was still two steps away from the car side, he had already started lowering his head, and after truly standing still, he bent his waist directly.
"I am truly very sorry, Miss Saionji."
A fairly standard professional smile hung on his face, but if one looked closely, a bit of sweat could already be vaguely seen on his temples.
"This afternoon, a long-term client has arranged their schedule in advance, and the showroom is currently conducting a private reception, so it is truly inconvenient to continue receiving other guests."
"This time our arrangements were improper, later we will specially—"
"Stop, stop, stop."
Satsuki quickly waved her hand.
Continuing according to his opening, it would probably turn into a whole set of apologies, gifts, and home-visit apologies in a moment.
She only had a whim to come buy a car today, and did not even have a formal reservation.
Since they already had a guest inside, it would not do to make someone pack up and leave just because she arrived at the door.
"I did not make an advance reservation today either."
Satsuki rested her hand on the edge of the car window, her tone not carrying any dissatisfaction.
"Since there are already guests, then it cannot be helped. We can just check another place."
The staff member visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much for your understanding."
"And also."
Satsuki saw that he looked ready to bow again and quickly added,
"There is no need to specially send anything to my house because of this either."
The staff member's movements froze for a second.
Clearly, he had indeed started considering this matter just now.
"Uh…"
"Really, there is no need."
Satsuki smiled.
"I just did not have an appointment, I was not driven out by you guys."
"Yes."
The other party lowered his head again.
"Thank you very much, Miss Saionji."
The matter should have ended here.
Satsuki was also prepared to have Fujita look for another place.
But just as she looked back into the showroom, a spark of curiosity suddenly arose in her heart.
To be able to make Cornes directly suspend external receptions for the afternoon—
and looking at the nervous expression of this staff member just now, it was clearly not an ordinary customer either.
Buying a car and needing to clear out the entire showroom?
Satsuki gently tapped the edge of the plate with her fork.
"Oh, right."
The staff member who was already preparing to back away immediately stopped.
"Miss Saionji?"
"Would it be convenient to ask…"
Satsuki just asked casually,
"Who is the guest inside?"
"…"
The smile on the other party's face instantly became somewhat forced.
Satsuki understood as soon as she saw his expression.
"If it is inconvenient, never mind."
"No, no."
The staff member hurriedly denied it.
The real problem was precisely that—he had no idea whether this matter counted as convenient or not.
Logically speaking, a private customer's itinerary should not be casually disclosed, of course.
But sitting right before him was Saionji Satsuki.
And the person inside…
The staff member quickly ran through various financial news he had heard recently in his mind.
The two sides were now in an open, deeply cooperative relationship.
It was said that the top leadership of both sides also had quite good personal relations.
What is more, Miss Saionji was already standing at the entrance.
If he stubbornly refused to say anything for the sake of confidentiality now, when the two of them met and chatted in the future, it would instead make it look like he was guarding against something in the middle.
Thinking of this, he finally made up his mind.
"It is Mr. Tsutsumi."
His voice was noticeably lower than before.
"Mr. Tsutsumi?"
Satsuki blinked.
This surname certainly was not the only one in Tokyo.
But someone who would run over here to rent out the showroom and make the staff member so nervous…
A name quickly popped up in her mind.
"It could not be Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, could it?"
The staff member's mouth twitched slightly.
There were probably very few people in all of Japan who could sit in a car and directly call that name in such a casual tone.
"It is indeed Mr. Tsutsumi Yoshiaki."
The expression on Satsuki's face paused for a moment.
Afterward, the corners of her mouth curled up bit by bit.
What a coincidence.
She had spent half the day wandering around Seibu Department Store in the morning, and now running over to Meguro to buy a car, she could actually run into that old fellow.
And…
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki would actually specially rent out a car showroom to look at cars?
"Ara…"
Satsuki smiled and reached out to push open the car door.
"I really have not heard that Uncle Tsutsumi had this kind of hobby."
The staff member was stunned.
Fujita Tsuyoshi had already subconsciously stepped forward to hold the car door.
Satsuki bent down and got out of the lengthened Century, stood firm, and smoothed down her jacket out of habit.
"Miss Saionji…"
Seeing that she was really getting ready to go in, the staff member instantly grew nervous again.
"Um, right now inside—"
"Do not worry."
Satsuki smiled and waved her hand.
"Uncle Tsutsumi will not mind me going in."
The staff member opened his mouth, completely at a loss for what to reply.
According to the rules, he obviously should go inside to ask Tsutsumi Yoshiaki.
But the person in front of him had already gotten out of the car.
What was even more troublesome was that she did not look like she was planning to wait at all.
Satsuki paid no attention to his inner struggle and had already turned her head to look at Fujita Tsuyoshi.
"Fujita."
"Yes."
"Have the car find a place nearby to park."
After finishing, she glanced toward those escort cars in front.
"Do not all block the entrance."
Just as Fujita was about to acknowledge the order, he heard Satsuki add another sentence:
"Also, try not to let the people on Uncle Tsutsumi's side see."
Fujita Tsuyoshi looked at her.
The smile on Satsuki's face was becoming more and more obvious.
"If someone runs in first to tell him I am here, it will not be fun."
"…"
Fujita Tsuyoshi was silent for a split second.
He probably already understood what the eldest miss wanted to do.
"Yes."
As a subordinate, he very wisely raised no objections.
Chizuru also got out of the car from the other side.
After coming to Satsuki's side, she glanced at the showroom, then glanced at her own eldest miss's expression, which was obviously starting to scheme something mischievous, and likewise said nothing.
After all…
Chairman Tsutsumi should already be quite used to it.
The rear car door opened once more.
Ayako crawled out first.
She stood by the sidewalk, tidied up her messenger bag, and then looked at Satsuki with a face full of amazement.
"It really is Chairman Tsutsumi."
Reiko also got out of the car following them.
Compared to Ayako, she was noticeably much quieter.
Only, after those eyes shifted from the showroom to Satsuki's face, a hint of something that made Satsuki feel ominous quickly appeared in them.
Satsuki had just taken a step out.
Then she stopped.
She slowly turned her head.
Reiko was indeed still looking at her.
"…"
Satsuki narrowed her eyes.
"What kind of expression is that?"
"Nothing."
Reiko answered very quickly.
"I just think it is a coincidence."
"It is a coincidence."
Satsuki emphasized once.
Ayako, however, acted as if she had suddenly reacted.
She looked at the showroom, then looked at Satsuki.
"Wait."
"Satsuki…"
The surprise on her face gradually deepened.
"Could you possibly have known in advance that Chairman Tsutsumi would be here today?"
Satsuki's footsteps paused.
"Huh?"
Reiko's gaze also changed slightly.
"Indeed."
She nodded thoughtfully.
"In the morning, we originally planned to come to Seibu, but Satsuki suddenly proposed going to PARCO first."
"Later, we returned to Seibu again."
"And after that, Satsuki suddenly said she wanted to buy a car."
Ayako immediately chimed in.
"And it was even Seibu's people who actively told us we could look at cars here!"
The more she talked, the more she felt something was wrong.
"So even the location was something they brought up themselves…"
Reiko looked at Satsuki.
Ayako also looked at Satsuki.
Satsuki stood in front of the two of them, the smile on her face freezing bit by bit.
Here we go again.
She had just explained it once in the morning.
She really was just out shopping.
And right now she really just suddenly wanted to buy a car.
Who would have known why Tsutsumi Yoshiaki happened to be right here?
"No."
Satsuki attempted to explain.
"I had no idea he was here beforehand."
Reiko looked at her quietly.
Ayako also looked at her quietly.
Satsuki's lips moved.
For some reason, facing the expressions of these two people at this moment, she suddenly felt that no matter what she said next, it would probably be automatically understood as some kind of explanation deliberately concealing her true purpose.
She simply gave up.
"Forget it, forget it."
Satsuki waved her hand.
"Just think of it that way."
She turned around and walked toward the showroom first.
It was rare to run into Tsutsumi Yoshiaki.
And furthermore in a place like this.
Satsuki was already starting to look forward to the expression on that old fellow's face when he saw her later.
After walking out a few steps, she suddenly turned her head back again.
"However, I am telling you guys."
Ayako and Reiko stopped at the same time.
Satsuki walked backward two steps, the amusement on her face completely unable to be hidden anymore.
"Uncle Tsutsumi is quite a fun person."
After finishing, she turned back around, her footsteps becoming much lighter.
"It looks like buying a car today should not be boring~"
Ayako stood in place.
Reiko did not follow immediately either.
The two of them looked at each other.
"…"
"…"
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki.
One of the wealthiest and most powerful entrepreneurs in Japan.
The highest authority in the true sense of the Seibu Group.
Ordinarily, just seeing his name in the newspaper was often placed alongside hundreds of billions of yen in land, railways, and large-scale development projects.
Fun?
They simply could not imagine how this word could possibly be connected to that person.
But Satsuki ahead had already walked quite a few steps out.
"You two hurry up."
"Coming."
Ayako hurriedly chased after her.
Reiko took one last look at the black motorcade parked not far away, which was slowly driving away from the entrance.
For some reason, she always felt that what happened next today probably would not be as simple as just buying a few sports cars.
Afterward, she also followed the two of them into the showroom.