Chapter 26: Kuzuo Kuzuhara’s Holiday

2 DAYS AGO 6 COMMENTS

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

That was a rollercoaster lol

It was early Saturday morning. As I was getting ready for my part-time job’s morning shift, the chime rung.

“Who could it be this early in the morning…?”

“I’ll get it, so you can keep prepping for the shift.”

“Thanks, that’s helpful.”

Returning to my room, I took off my pajamas. While I kept getting ready, I could hear a conversation coming from the doorway.

“U-Um… Is this Kuzuhara-kun’s house?”

“Yeah, this is… Oh, are you Sakura-san by any chance!?”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Yeah, of course! You’ve been great to him —Oi, big bro! Sakura-san is here!”

“—Yeah, I’m coming!”

I finished dressing quickly and walked to the front door. Hinako Sakura stood right there.

“Ah, Kuzuhara-kun, good morning.”

“Morning. Though, how do you know where I live?”

“Um, my uncle’s a detective, so I asked him to look into it for me.”

“We’ve had princesses, treasure hunters, priestesses, and now detectives…”

Honestly, her family’s one hell of a family.

“I’m leaving for my part-time job in a bit, so what can I do for you?”

“I see, well, I’ll make it quick,” she took out a white envelope from her shoulder bag. “Take it, come on! It’s my gift for you!”

“… What’s this?”

“There’s a very big shrine near my house called Soshogu. I asked the head priest over there to give me his best amulet, and this is what I got.”

“Got it.”

“I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s probably the most powerful good luck charm ever! It must be a great blessing! With this amulet, the impeachment trial on Monday will be a piece of cake for you!” She gave a thumbs up and smiled brightly.

“Well, thanks for coming all the way out here.”

“Ehehe~ You’re welcome! Well then, see you tomorrow at school. Good luck with your part-time job!” She ran off with small pat-pats.

Soshogu shrine, huh…

Opening the white envelope, I found a very nice talisman. Its front was stamped with the words ‘Soshogu amulet’, and a nice red seal embroidered it. Turning it over, the print read ‘Prayer for safe delivery’.

…Yup, I knew it.

The Soshogu shrine was best known for prayers of safe delivery… Of a baby. Well, it was no surprise this one came up when she asked for ‘the best’ amulet they had.

Honestly, it’s the feeling that counts with these kinds of things, so I’m just grateful to receive it, and I’ll just interpret is as a good luck charm for safely winning.

“Sakura-san, you’re so nice… Wait a sec, is she a new candidate for sister-in-law?”

“No, you idiot. Never gonna happen.”

After that, I went to my part-time and worked all day long.

The next day.

It was 10 PM, and I toddled back home after working morning, noon, and night.

“Whew, I’m beat…”

Passing through Taifuku street, my battered house came into view.

“… Hm?”

A black luxury car drove straight towards me from ahead and stopped right at the side of the road.

… Eh, what’s this? Oh God please no!

I thought I’d be kidnapped right then and there. However, an elderly man got out of the driver’s seat, walked to the back, and opened the door for a beautiful snowy girl—Tohka Shirayuki walked out of the car.

“Good evening, Kuzuhara-kun.”

“E-Evening… What are you doing here so late?”

“I had something I really wanted to give you, but I don’t have your contact, so I brought it in person!”

“Ah… That’s true,” I don’t remember exchanging mail addresses, phone numbers, or LINE IDs with her. “So, what is it you want to give me?”

“Eh~ Here you go,” she pulled out a thick stack of papers from the back seat.

“… What’s this?”

“This is the personal information of the initiator of the trial, Sou Abashiri. It was compiled in secrecy using my family’s investigative agency.”

“Um, that’s great…”

I flipped through the cover and skimmed the material at hand.

Sou Abashiri, 16 years old.
Height: 173cm (TL: Around 5’7”-ish).
Weight: 75kg.
Blood Type: O.
His family consists of his father, mother, and sister.
He was a member of the track and field club at elementary, junior, and high school, where he executed brilliant records (See Appendix 1 for details).
He’s also achieved excellent results in the national Suntetsu mock exams and has basically maintained his rank among the top 100 (See Appendix 2 for changes in the seating chart).

The investigative prowess to get all this in only one day… As expected of the Shirayuki family.

His hobby is running.
Early in the morning on weekdays, he chooses one of four courses at random and sweats it out for an hour.
On his days off, he does strength training at a membership sports club in Shibuya, followed up by cram school until 10 PM
※ The best way to take him is on his way back from cram school, since students are often alone, and there are fewer pedestrians walking around.

…Hm? What was that I just read on the side?

I kept flipping through the pages.

Father: Togoro Abashiri.
Works for the Ueno branch of the Shirayuki conglomerate.
Mother: Saeko Abashiri.
Works for the Akabane branch of the Shirayuki conglomerate.
※ Both can be transferred to remote areas.

No, no, no, that’s scary!

The company’s personal information, which was obviously not obtained through legal means; that phrase ‘take him’, which suggests kidnapping or worse; power harassment such as transferring his parents to remote regions—All of these things are usually carried out with impunity, and are all strategies used by the Shirayuki conglomerate.

The Shirayuki (TL: Snow white) conglomerate? More like Kuroyuki (TL: Snow black) conglomerate.

“In all battles, including these impeachment trials, information is the key to winning the war. If it’s you with your photographic memory, Kuzuhara-kun, it’ll be easy, right?”

“More or less…”

I can memorize 100 printouts in under 3 minutes.

However, this document…

The word choice and sentence structure are all Shirayuki-like. Looking closely at her, even if she tried to hide it with a concealer, you could see faint dark circles around her eyes.

“… Did you compile this, Shirayuki?”

“Glad you found it out. I didn’t have much time to spare, so I asked the research organization to gather the info as I put it all together.”

“I see, that’s how you did it.”

No matter how good she was, it’d take an enormous amount of time to compile all this information in an easy-to-read format while organizing the text. I’m sure she worked all night Friday, Saturday, and all day today for this.

“Thank you, Shirayuki.”

“I-I just wanted to do it, so please don’t mind it…” She turned away cutely.

I’ve learned one thing recently—Tohka Shirayuki is weak against praise, or to be more precise, she’s not used to being praised.

Her family’s education is extremely spartan and crammed, so I’m sure the amount of times she’s been praised was low if she’s been praised at all.

“Um, Kuzuhara-kun…”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Make sure you win the impeachment trial tomorrow… I don’t want any vice president other than you…”

As soon as she said that, Shirayuki hurried back to her car and it drove off to her mansion. She didn’t even wait for a reply.

“Make sure you win, huh… Sorry Shirayuki, that’s a tall order.”