"President, it's Asake. I have brought our guests."
"Oh, just a moment."
Hardly had the reply come when the door opened, and a genuinely pleasant-looking elderly gentleman peeked out. It seemed the president had gone out of his way to open the door himself to welcome his party.
"Please, come in, come in. Have a seat. I'll have some drinks prepared immediately."
Kagekiyo Kura, President of Kura Agency, used the intercom to contact someone. Moments later, a woman with a gentle demeanor—likely his secretary—appeared with tea. After dismissing her, Kagekiyo began to speak with a beaming smile.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Kagekiyo Kura. Thank you for taking the trouble to come all this way today."
"I am Haruno Yukinoshita, President of Soleil Corporation. It is an honor to meet you, President Kura."
"I am Hachiman Hikigaya. While I am not an employee of RECTO, I am here today at the request of President Yuuki to act as a proxy for the company. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"And I am Yumeno Yukinoshita, manager of the IT division at Soleil Corporation. Pleased to meet you."
Hachiman nearly toppled over upon hearing the obvious pseudonym, but assuming there was a reason for it, he managed to keep his composure. Kagekiyo then grasped Hachiman's hand firmly, as if overcome with emotion, and began to express his gratitude.
"Hikigaya-kun, I have been wanting to meet you to thank you in person. My wish has finally come true. Thank you, truly, for saving my son's life. Kagetoki should be arriving soon, so please, do stay and meet him."
Hearing those words, Hachiman felt an indescribable mix of emotions, but he let none of it show on his face. Instead, he replied exactly as he had planned beforehand.
"I merely did what I could."
Kagekiyo seemed about to say more, but Haruno casually interjected.
"Now then, President, allow me to briefly explain our proposal. While I do that, I'd like to set up a few things. May I use that monitor over there?"
"Oh, of course. Please, feel free to use it as you like."
"Thank you. Yumeno, if you would?"
As Haruno began to speak with Kagekiyo face-to-face, Hachiman quietly whispered to Argo, who was attaching a device to the monitor.
"Hey, Yumeno, what's with the name?"
"It feels gross when you call me that, Ha-bou... Look, I've got a bit of a checkered past, right? So in places like this, I claim to be a distant relative of the Boss and go by Yumeno. Incidentally, it's got the stamp of approval from Boss Kikuoka."
"I see. That makes sense, Yumeno."
"I told you, it's gross."
Hachiman then casually took a seat next to Haruno and joined the conversation.
"...And that is why we brought this proposal to Asake-san, whom we have known for some time."
"I see. However, to be honest, even with that explanation, I don't quite understand why you chose our agency. The Yuuki family has deep ties with RECTO; surely they have partnerships with much larger productions. No, don't get me wrong—this is a dream come true for us, but..."
"There is actually one specific reason for that."
At Haruno's signal, Asake made a call. Immediately, there was a knock at the door. When Asake opened it, Elsa Kanzaki was standing there.
"Elsa? What brings you here today?"
"She is the reason, President."
"Hmm?"
"Elsa-chan, for now, please sit next to Hachiman-kun."
"Yes."
Following Asake's prompting, Elsa sat down beside Hachiman. Determined not to let this chance slip away, she pressed herself against him more than necessary. Hachiman thought about punishing her later, but realizing that pulling away would be counterproductive to their ruse, he resigned himself to letting her do as she pleased.
"So, how is she involved in this?"
This time, Hachiman began to explain in response to the question.
"I will take it from here. I have known Elsa Kanzaki for quite some time. Among the many things she consulted me about, there was this: if possible, she wanted to become independent and test her own strength. However, she felt she couldn't betray the President to whom she owes a great debt, so she refused to voice this desire to anyone but me."
Hachiman continued smoothly.
"So, I made a proposal to Elsa. I told her that I would cooperate within my means to present a profit to the President that would exceed what he would lose by her independence. With that as a backdrop, I suggested she at least try discussing it with you. Of course, on the condition that if you said no, she would gracefully give up. And so, having gained this opportunity for discussion, here we are."
"I see. So you two have known each other for a long time."
"Yes."
Kagekiyo folded his arms, deep in thought.
"Hmm... For my part, I am half saddened and half wanting to cheer her on. Elsa, don't worry about me. Tell me with your own mouth—what do you want to do?"
"I... I..."
Elsa looked straight at Kagekiyo and spoke clearly.
"President, I am truly grateful to you. But no matter what, I want to test how far my own strength will take me without anyone's help!"
"Mm-hm, I understand. It is certainly a shame, but in exchange, these two have brought a proposal that will bring even greater profit to our company. In a way, this could be called a result of your power as well. So don't worry. Go independent and give it your best shot."
"Thank you very much, President!"
"Asake, you are fine with this too?"
"Yes."
"Then all that remains is Kagetoki..."
Just then, a call came from the front desk stating that Kagetoki—Kuradeel—had arrived at the company. Soon, there was a knock at the door, and Kuradeel entered.
"Father, what is this meeting about today?"
Kuradeel looked at Haruno first, a lecherous expression floating onto his face. Haruno nodded with a smile, but muttered under her breath so only Hachiman could hear:
"What a creepy man..."
Next, Kuradeel looked at Elsa, spreading his arms as he approached her.
"Elsa! So you were here. I hadn't been able to contact you lately, so I was worried."
Seeing Kuradeel approaching while saying this, Elsa clung to Hachiman's arm and whispered into his ear.
"Ugh, Hachiman, he's disgusting..."
Due to Elsa's movement, Kuradeel finally took notice of the man sitting between Haruno and Elsa. The moment he realized who it was, he froze completely.
"N-No way... It can't be..."
Misinterpreting his words as emotion, Kagekiyo smiled and spoke to Kuradeel.
"Kagetoki, this is Hachiman Hikigaya-san, the one who saved you from SAO. Perhaps you two were already acquaintances?"
"Ah... Er..."
"Yes, President. We've known each other for a long time. Right? Kuradeel."
"Ah... Y-Yes."
"Well then, President, let's ask for his opinion on Elsa's matter right away."
Hachiman spoke quickly to give him no time to think. Following his lead, Kagekiyo explained the situation to Kuradeel.
"Kagetoki, this is Haruno Yukinoshita-san, President of Soleil Corporation, and working over there is the department manager, Yumeno Yukinoshita-san. And, of course, Hachiman Hikigaya-san, whom you know well. They are here today representing RECTO."
"RECTO!? I-Is that so..."
"Now, regarding today's agenda: it concerns a business alliance between our agency, RECTO, and Soleil. Accompanying this is a discussion regarding Kanzaki Elsa's independence."
"I-Independence? I will absolutely not allo—"
Kuradeel showed a flash of anger and tried to express his opposition.
In that instant, Hachiman unleashed a terrifying wave of bloodlust.
Kagekiyo and Asake, having no martial training, didn't notice the killing intent at all. However, Haruno, who possessed a mastery of Aikido, flinched slightly. Argo, who was working, glanced back for a split second before immediately returning to her task. Elsa was just excited to be near Hachiman, and fortunately, her expression was hidden behind him, unnoticed by anyone.
Kuradeel, taking the full brunt of that bloodlust, twitched violently. However, perhaps having developed some resistance from surviving the carnage of the past, he recovered quickly. Yet, staring down the barrel of Hachiman's glare, he couldn't bring himself to voice his opposition.
"I... I think it's fine."
"Is that so? Then, with everyone in agreement, let us proceed along those lines. Do your best, Elsa. I will be cheering for you from the shadows."
"Yes!"
"Thank you, President."
Hachiman spoke and immediately signaled Asake with his eyes. Catching the signal, Asake addressed Kuradeel.
"Come to think of it, Brother, I had Hikigaya-san bring the documents you asked for."
"Huh?"
Addressed so suddenly, Kuradeel let out a foolish sound. Before he could think, Hachiman thrust an envelope at him.
"Here you go. The documents for studying abroad and the enrollment guide for that business school you asked for. I see, I heard it was for an 'older brother,' but it was for you, Kuradeel."
"Studying abroad, you say?"
Kagekiyo sounded surprised at Hachiman's words. Hachiman turned to Kagekiyo with a beaming smile.
"Ah, so you hadn't heard anything from him yet? Actually, he said that even if he were to inherit the presidency as is, he lacks the confidence to manage well due to the blank of over two years. So, he wants to leave the president's seat to Asake-san while he goes overseas to relearn management from scratch. When he returns, he intends to support Asake-san. Hearing this, I rushed to gather the materials. He really has been an upstanding man since the old days."
"Yeah, sorry, Father. It ended up being like an after-the-fact report. But Brother's resolve seemed so firm, I was caught in the middle..."
"Wha... I never..."
"These are the documents."
As Kuradeel showed signs of trying to argue, Hachiman revealed the contents of the envelope to him.
Inside, separate from the brochures, was a paper with the Laughing Coffin mark drawn large, and a copy of the log showing Kuradeel's final days in the prison cell.
Seeing this, Kuradeel trembled with rage, but he couldn't say a word. He fell silent.
"Kagetoki, is this true?"
Asked for confirmation by Kagekiyo, Kuradeel made a face full of bitterness. However, he evidently wanted to avoid arguing here and risking his parents finding out about his hideous past.
"Y-Yeah... That's right, Father."
"I see... You've become a fine man, Kagetoki."
"Th-Thanks..."
Though Kuradeel answered, inside, his guts were boiling.
Having confirmed the answer, Hachiman returned to his seat. But the sight of Elsa clinging happily to Hachiman's arm rubbed Kuradeel's nerves raw.
(That bitch. She loved me, yet she easily sways toward another man... Just like Asuna, who loved me but betrayed me. More importantly, Hachiman... I have to do something about him, or I'm in trouble...)
Kuradeel began to think, in his own way, about how to reverse this situation.
In fact, at this moment, Kuradeel had a survival knife hidden in his pocket. Ever since the day the Laughing Coffin mark had been placed on his desk, he had been carrying it for "self-defense."
(There's no way the brilliant me can't break through this situation. Think... If I can just eliminate Hachiman and Asake, I can easily flip this situation. And in my hand, I have this knife... This floor has a landing just up the stairs, and the room next to it is a blind spot for the surveillance cameras. I'll kill them there, drag them into the side room, and once it's night, carry them out and dump them somewhere. That's it. This is the only plan. With this magnificent plan, I will eliminate them. To do that...)
To execute what he considered a supremely magnificent plan, Kuradeel plastered a fake smile on his face and spoke to Hachiman and Asake.
"Hikigaya-san, Asake. Why don't the three of us discuss future matters in the conference room downstairs? So, excuse us for a moment, Father."
"I see. Very well. Talk to your heart's content."
"Then let's go, you two."
"Yeah."
"Understood."
Watching the three of them out of the corner of her eye, Argo spoke to Kagekiyo.
"Well then, in the meantime, I will use this monitor to explain the equipment we've tentatively installed."
"Please do."
Kuradeel began walking toward the door. Hachiman and Asake stood up and followed him.
By opening the door and waiting for them to exit, Kuradeel successfully made the two go ahead of him, and he followed quietly behind.
In the hallway, no one spoke a word. A strange tension filled the air.
As they reached the landing in question, Kuradeel quietly drew his survival knife. He swung it down toward the head of Hachiman, the first one he needed to eliminate.
In that instant, Hachiman's figure vanished.
"Wha..."
Then, with a loud zap, intense pain shot through Kuradeel's right hand. Unable to withstand the pain, Kuradeel dropped the knife he was holding.
"I figured it would come to this... It's a shame, Kuradeel."
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