Convenient transportation, a comfortable environment, and a lively shopping street just outside the door.... what reason could Sonoko possibly have to refuse renting this place?
The apartment she and Mari were renting now was only appealing because of its large size and full amenities. But this new house was even more spacious, in a much better area, and for a lower price. Moving here was an obvious choice.
"100,000 yen a month?"
"Mm. 100,000 per person. That's not expensive, right?"
Of course, it wasn't. Between the two of them, their combined monthly income was around 500,000 yen. Their current rent took up most of that. Living here would save a considerable amount.
But Sonoko narrowed her eyes, glanced at Mari, then at Haruto. She slowly walked over and sat down beside him, leaning gently against his shoulder.
"Hey, Miyamizu-kun… my expenses have been kind of high lately, and I don't have much left to spend. Could you maybe make it a little cheaper?"
There was no strong perfume on her only a faint, pleasant scent. Haruto, who was no longer a virgin, didn't let her closeness shake him. Watching her look at him with expectant eyes, he smiled lightly and spread his hands.
"Keep the place clean and tidy, and I'll knock off a thousand yen. Ninety-nine thousand a month."
"...Huh? Well, that's not so bad. Fine, deal! Ninety-nine thousand yen per month! We're renting this place!"
Seeing that Haruto didn't take the bait, Sonoko wasn't particularly disappointed. The 100,000 yen rent was already generous; pushing further would just seem greedy. That extra one-thousand-yen discount was more like a small joke between them.
"You still have about a month left on your current lease, right? Planning to move in after that?"
Mari and Sonoko exchanged looks. From each other's eyes, they both knew what the other was thinking.
"No need to wait. We can end the lease early and move in the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow? All right. I'll prepare a rental contract then."
"A contract? You're being that formal?"
Mari blinked in surprise. She'd thought it would just be a casual verbal agreement, but apparently Haruto was being serious.
"It's better to avoid future trouble and it'll make you both feel more secure," he explained.
A handshake agreement might seem easy now, but it could turn messy later. If he ever needed to change tenants or situations shifted, Mari and Sonoko could end up in a difficult position. A written contract was simply a matter of respect and reassurance.
After discussing the moving details and the contract, they agreed to sign everything the next day. The two would move in with their belongings the day after.
"So, we'll talk about the rest later?"
"Yeah, we'll also need to contact our current landlord. There's about ten days left in this month... we can let that go. Once we get next month's rent back, we'll move in."
"I'll have the contract ready as soon as possible."
After chatting a bit longer and confirming the details, Mari left with Sonoko .
At the subway station, Sonoko eyed Mari curiously, her gaze carrying a teasing sharpness. Mari, feeling her stare, sighed helplessly and gave her a sideways glance.
"There's nothing going on between us. He just brought it up out of nowhere, and I thought it was worth considering, so I called you."
"I didn't even say anything."
"That's why I explained it first."
"Really nothing?"
"Nothing at all."
Sonoko tilted her head. Haruto didn't seem like Mari's type, but something about their dynamic felt… interesting. Her gossip instincts were starting to stir.
"So he's not into you either?"
"If only."
"Huh?"
"Come on, let's just focus on contacting our landlord first."
Sonoko could tell Mari was hiding something, and her curiosity only deepened. Narrowing her eyes like a sly fox, she grinned playfully.
While the two women left to make arrangements, Haruto stayed behind in the house, lost in thought.
"Buying a large apartment building and renting it out… that might not be a bad idea. But the cost…"
He'd spent roughly 170 million yen so far... about 160 million on the house, furnishings, and essentials, another 10 million split between Bitcoin investments and family remittances. With 200 million yen still in reserve, that left him with around 600 million total.
With 600 million yen, I could probably build an apartment complex from scratch.
"Buy a piece of land and construct an apartment... preferably somewhere central."
But when he checked listings online, the reality wasn't encouraging. In Bunkyo's Sendagi area, a 366-square-meter lot was listed at 358 million yen.
The location wasn't bad, but not ideal either... fine for a private home, less so for a profitable apartment complex.
Another 293-square-meter plot looked perfect for building, but it cost 438 million yen... well beyond what he could afford.
"It'd be a loss."
Running the numbers, comparing land prices, construction costs, and projected profits, he realized he didn't understand how real estate developers ever made money.
"Half rental, half for sale?"
He stared at the figures again, calculating the space per unit. Even then, the math didn't work. He still felt that he was loosing money.
"Four hundred million for land, plus construction costs of at least…" He trailed off, sighing. "Better check other listings."
Good land was outrageously priced; bad land had a thousand strange problems.... awkward locations, zoning issues, potential neighborhood disputes.
"Maybe I should look at existing apartments instead."
After browsing a while longer, Haruto leaned back in his chair with a wry smile. It was clear he didn't have the means or the knowledge to dive into real estate. At best, he could buy a used house, renovate it, and either sell or rent it out.
"Renovating a second-hand house is an option, but too much hassle. Too much time, too many headaches… forget it."
All the best properties had already been snapped up by big agencies. The idea of finding a hidden gem on the open market was a fantasy.
Renting to Mari had sparked his interest in becoming a landlord but seeing the numbers, he realized how unrealistic it was. He didn't have the money, and he didn't have the expertise.
"Step by step, then," he muttered, returning to his apartment.
Sitting down at his desk, he checked Bitcoin prices again. Seeing them rise slightly, he bought two more coins.
Days passed in a quiet rhythm... school during the day, reflection and planning at night.
Ironically, the moment he'd gained one billion yen, Haruto found his life had become more complicated.
Can 500 million yen help his father... now the mayor of Hida win a seat as a member of parliament, so that he can leave Gifu and move to Tokyo, to open up a new world of opportunities… and perhaps, in the process, allow Haruto himself to seize a better future?
Impossible.
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Haruto rejected it outright.
His father had once been a university professor. If he'd joined a political party back then, there might've been a chance. But after so many years as the mayor of Hida City, he was already tied down to that place.
All his connections, his influence everything was confined to that small, remote region.Even getting elected as a prefectural assemblyman would be difficult, let alone aiming for a seat in the parliament.
"If I remember right, Hida only has one seat in Gifu's prefectural assembly. It's too remote... there's no real chance to rise. Even if you start building connections now, by the time it pays off, you'll already be too old to enjoy it."
Abandoning the idea of supporting his father's career, Haruto frowned and began to consider whether he should pursue politics instead.
"Getting into Keio or Todai would be the safest route. But once you enter politics… conflicts are inevitable."
He was mild-mannered by nature, not one for confrontation. If he entered that chaotic world, he'd probably be swallowed up by it, maybe even end up as another casualty on the news.
"There are too many cracks in my armor. I'd be torn apart before I even got started."
Haruto frowned deeper, giving up on the idea of politics. Maybe his original plan becoming a professor at Waseda, spending peaceful days teaching, chatting with students over coffee suited him much better…
_ _ _
"Alright then, all signed. Took long enough, didn't it?"
Meeting Machida Sonoko and Fukaoka Mari again at the "coffee house," Haruto handed them the rental contract. Mari didn't think too much about it and quickly signed her name, while Sonoko carefully read it over before signing.
"The old landlord gave us some trouble," Sonoko explained as she capped her pen. "When Mari and I said we were moving out, he tried to bargain by lowering the rent but only by ten thousand yen. Five thousand each. Totally not worth it. We argued for a week before finally getting out."
"You argued for a week?" Haruto asked, a little surprised.
"Probably just trying to stall us long enough to charge another month's rent," Sonoko said, rolling her eyes. "So I asked a friend from our publisher's legal department to step in. The moment she called, the landlord agreed."
"A friend from legal department?"
"Yeah," Mari added with a small laugh.
"She's a woman, I guess she just turned 27 this year. Her parents keep nagging her to get married. Are you Interested?"
Sonoko grinned and leaned closer, teasingly tapping the tip of Haruto's pen as she handed the papers back.
"Maybe a little," Haruto said with a faint smile. "Got her business card? Could be useful to have if I need help with something in the future."
Sonoko chuckled mischievously.
As the two women continued talking about legal matters, Haruto suddenly remembered he hadn't spoken to his tax consultant in a while.
With his new income, it might be wise to get some advice from someone like Ashley ONO... she was a skilled professional, the kind who understood all the finer points of tax avoidance and fund management. It wouldn't hurt to get her opinion.
He mentally noted the idea for later, then gathered the contracts signed by Mari and Sonoko.
"Well then, congratulations on your new place. When will you be moving in?"
"Tomorrow," Sonoko said with a grin. "And hey let's celebrate on the rooftop! We'll have a barbecue!"
Haruto didn't mind the idea. Sonoko had been eyeing that rooftop since the first day she'd seen it. He nodded and pulled out the 200,000 yen he had just obtained.
They'd originally agreed on 99,000 yen each, but Sonoko had rounded it up to 100,000 — joking that the extra was her 'support fee for the young landlord.'
A thousand yen. Heh.
Haruto handed the money to Mari, who looked a bit startled.
"Consider it a little celebration fund," he said. "I won't have time to prepare anything myself, so I'll leave the shopping to you. Whatever's left, just leave it in my room.... the door's unlocked."
Mari hesitated, unsure whether to refuse. Between the waived deposit, no agency fees, and no key money, Haruto had already saved them at least 500,000 thousand yen. And now, another 200,000 yen on top of that?
Before she could protest, Sonoko cheerfully snatched the cash from Mari's hands.
"Don't worry, leave it to me," she said with a wink. "You'll have a great time tomorrow night."
The teasing smile and mysterious glint in her eyes made Haruto feel a twinge of unease but nothing serious enough to worry about. He let it slide and left everything to them.
_ _ _
The next evening, he arrived at the building and climbed to the rooftop... only to find the barbecue already set up, with beer and wine scattered everywhere.
He was about to excuse himself, but Sonoko hooked her arm around his neck with a tipsy grin and started pouring beer into his mouth.
"Wait....!"
Looking at the beer being poured towards him, Haruto wanted to drink it himself, but Sonoko thought that he wanted to hide so before he could react, Sonoko leaned in, cupped his face in both hands, and laughing breathlessly pressed her lips against his, passing the beer mouth-to-mouth.
From there, the night blurred away into fragments.
When Haruto woke up the next morning, dazed and groggy, he found himself lying in bed with Mari on one side and Sonoko on the other.
He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.
What a mess.
A pity he couldn't remember how it happened.
As he sat there trying to recall, both women stirred awake. Seeing his conflicted expression, they assumed he was just embarrassed.
Sonoko leaned over, planted a teasing kiss on his cheek, picked up her clothes with a smile and slipped out of bed with a laugh, heading for her room.
Mari met his eyes for a moment, pressed her hands together in an apologetic gesture, and quietly left as well.
_ _ _
Time passed quickly.
The new school term began in mid-January, and by March, they were already on spring break again.
A month and a half of school life had gone by almost without notice. The only thing he truly felt was the air growing warmer spring returning once more.
As Haruto thought back to the year before, to when he'd first arrived in Tokyo, a faint, nostalgic smile appeared on his face.