"Shinomiya Kaguya, it's not that you envy ordinary life. You envy the fantasy version you made up."
Her idea of a "normal life" ≠ the reality of normal life.
That's why Takashi had said she was fake.
"How do you know I wouldn't be able to adapt to a normal person's life?"
Kaguya opened her mouth several times to retort but stopped short each time. She wanted to argue back—desperately—but she didn't know how.
Because in truth, she had never experienced the life of an ordinary person.
In the end, cornered by Takashi's logic, she stiffly said, "That's just your one-sided speculation."
"What if I could adapt to an ordinary life?"
Just as Takashi was about to reply, a ding! echoed in his mind.
[Task: A Harsh Lesson from Society]
Objective: Let this pampered, out-of-touch heiress experience true commoner life. Prove her wrong.
Reward: 100,000 points, Character Wish Card
Time Limit: Three months
Accept?
Holy crap.
The system actually issued a task.
As the system's host, Takashi knew how rare and difficult it was to trigger a mission.
The system often went completely silent; sometimes, he even forgot he had one—he'd always felt like everything he achieved came from hard work alone.
From now on, just call him Mr. Hard Work.
Accept!
Takashi responded silently in his heart while continuing to mock aloud: "You've got a mouth, so of course you can say whatever you want."
"Try living an actual normal life before arguing with me, alright?"
"You haven't even experienced one day of it and you're already saying you can adapt."
"I'm calling you Miss Adaptation from now on."
Insolent scum.
Kaguya was shaking with anger.
She had never been so blatantly insulted before.
"And if I do adapt to normal life, then what?"
"Then I'll admit—you're impressive."
Takashi offered her the highest praise a man could give another.
"If I succeed, then from now on, not only can you not go near Hayasaka, but you also have to be my dog—do whatever I tell you, no questions asked. How's that?"
Takashi was stunned.
Wait, there's such a good deal?
"What? Scared now?" Kaguya said with a sneer.
"Then it's settled."
Takashi still didn't understand why she was offering him a reward, but he accepted the wager nonetheless.
"What do I get if I win?" Takashi asked, thrilled inside but still aiming to maximize profit.
"What do you want?" Kaguya replied with the air of someone born to give commands.
"I want…" Takashi grinned mysteriously, leaned close, and whispered in her ear.
"You… you pervert!" Kaguya gasped, visibly horrified.
She had expected him to ask for a luxury car, a designer watch, maybe even a house. All of those, she was prepared to give.
But his request…
It was something far beyond what a normal pervert would ask.
It called for drastic measures!
"Afraid?" Takashi grinned like the Nike logo.
"Who's afraid? It's just that your request is…" Kaguya trailed off.
It wasn't impossible—but it was way too twisted.
"How about a different one? I'll give you an entire building."
An entire building—just like that.
Miss Kaguya really was rich beyond reason.
"No." Takashi shook his head and raised a brow. "Do I look like someone who's strapped for cash?"
If it had been the old him, he would've accepted.
But Takashi now was no longer who he used to be—he was Niohkooru Takashi.
"You—" Kaguya had just opened her mouth when a cold voice shouted from outside the room:
"What are you two doing?!"
Both Kaguya and Takashi froze on the spot.
Hayasaka Ai was standing in the doorway, her expression blank and unreadable.
But her eyes gleamed with a murderous red light as she stared at the tousled pair—clearly in a disheveled, suggestive state—like she might snap into hunter mode at any moment.
"Hayasaka, I can explain! It's not what it looks like!" Kaguya kicked Takashi away in panic and tried to explain, flustered and embarrassed.
"Then what is it?" Hayasaka asked, face still emotionless.
Obviously, it was exactly what she thought—it did look like the two had been fooling around on the couch.
Hayasaka Ai finally understood why Kaguya always spoke so harshly about Takashi.
She used to think Kaguya genuinely disliked him.
But no—she was talking trash while secretly seducing him.
Shameless fox.
"I—" Takashi started to explain, trying to save face, but was cut off by both girls at once.
"Shut up!"
This is all your fault.
That was what Kaguya was thinking.
If not for Takashi, this never would've happened.
One slap from Kaguya, two slaps for Takashi, Hayasaka Ai thought coldly as she glared at him.
Sure, Kaguya was no angel—but Takashi wasn't any better.
She tries to seduce you, and you just go along with it?
You spineless dog.
"Get out."
When Takashi didn't move, Hayasaka barked the order.
Fine.
Takashi turned to leave. Just before stepping out, he instinctively lifted his hand and sniffed the lingering scent of the girl's foot.
No stench at all—in fact, it smelled sweet.
Yep, beautiful girls really do smell soft and sweet.
Are you kidding me?!
He hadn't even fully stepped out yet. Both girls saw the entire scene.
Kaguya's flawless cheeks visibly flushed pink.
Her lashes trembled twice uncontrollably.
You're still sniffing?! Hayasaka lost all patience. She lifted her leg and landed a fierce kick to Takashi's butt.
Out you go!
Takashi was sent flying forward—
Bang!
The door slammed shut behind him.
"Was that really necessary?" he muttered as he got up from the floor, adjusted his suit, and made his way back to the banquet hall.
Inside the room, only Hayasaka and Kaguya remained.
One looked at the other—but the other didn't dare meet her eyes.
Pop quiz: who's who?
"Kaguya-sama, you two…" Hayasaka began.
But Kaguya cut her off. "There's nothing between us. I swear on my family name."
"Really?"
Hayasaka saw that Kaguya didn't seem to be joking.
And she swore on her family—that was basically the same as having chat logs. She had to believe her.
"Really." Kaguya answered with total conviction.
Hayasaka finally relaxed. Her frosty expression thawed just a bit into a faint smile. "Then what were you two talking about?"
"That's… not important!" Kaguya blushed as she recalled Takashi's request.
Hayasaka's face returned to a blank slate.
I just decided to trust you—and now you won't even answer a simple question?
Fine then.
___
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