Episode One Hundred and Five

“It’s a bit late now, but… have you ever thought I was actually from quite a good background?”

Suddenly, Aki-san turned to look around the shop.
The customer seating was empty again today.
Despite the tasteful interior and the menu that showed real attention to detail, the place was deserted because Aki-san did absolutely no advertising whatsoever.

“I’ve heard coffee has a good cost ratio, so cafés can turn a profit even with few customers. But still, there’s a limit to how quiet it can be, isn’t there? Didn’t you find it strange?”

“…I did.”

Truth be told, it had bothered me right from when I first started coming here. How on earth did this enigmatic beauty make ends meet?
By now, I’d grown so accustomed to it that I’d stopped wondering.

“I sort of wondered if you had a side job… or something else on the side.”

“In the sense of having supplementary income, you’d be right.”

Aki-san gave me a somewhat detached smile as I tilted my head.

“Believe it or not, I actually own a rental building. I cover my daily living expenses with the rent from that.”

“A rental building?”

I was taken aback by the unexpected revelation.

“When I had a falling out with my parents and left home, I got some property as a severance payment. The cash turned into this shop.”

Seeing me staring blankly, Aki-san gave a wry smile.

“Sorry, did I shock you?”

“I’m sorry, it’s all rather… overwhelming.”

The family home. A falling-out. Severance money. A rental building.
The first two were sensational enough, but the latter was beyond that.
Using severance money to build a shop, and then a building on top of that.

“So, Aki-san’s family home is…”

“Objectively speaking, they’re unbearably wealthy.”

“…I see.”

“But we’re a branch family. Not quite as high-flying as Ibara.”

This time, I was truly speechless.

“Ibara is the eldest daughter of the head of the main family. Of the Shirahodo owners, that is.”

†

Shirahodo.
More precisely, Shirahodo Holdings Co., Ltd.
　Founded, believe it or not, in the Meiji era. Beginning as a magazine advertising agency, it has dominated this country’s advertising industry for over 120 years – an unassailable giant.
Graphic design is a form of advertising. For designers like me working at small-to-medium production companies, the large advertising agencies are truly entities beyond our reach.
And then.
Ibara is the daughter of the owner family of that very Shirahodo?

“I”

Feeling my cheeks twitch, I waved my hands back and forth in front of my face.

“No, no, no, no. Uh, you’re joking, right?”

“It’s true.”

“But Shirahodo… eh, that Shirahodo? The one with the huge headquarters in Akasaka, the one that’s won the Cannes Lions twice?”

“That Shirahodo.”

“Eeeeeh…”

I looked down at Ibara, snoring peacefully on my lap. Oblivious to my state of mind, she was fast asleep.

“The owner family… that means the founder’s lineage, right?”

“That’s right. The current head of the Shinomori family, Ibara’s father, holds the majority of shares in Shirahodo and its affiliated companies. Well, he’s what you’d call a wealthy man.”

I hadn’t known.
The daughter of the owner of a major corporation representing the nation. That’s, she really is a princess.

“I didn’t know. Why…”

I swallowed the words: Why didn’t you tell me?
Truthfully, I’d suspected as much.
Ibara, while appearing almost frivolously cheerful on the surface, hides a serious and sensitive core within. In short, she’s the type to bottle things up. That’s why.

“I think she couldn’t bring herself to say it,”

Aki-san continued, as if reading my thoughts.

“She’s already got insomnia, she’s a former idol, and her life’s complicated enough as it is. On top of all that, she probably didn’t want to be seen as a woman with difficult family circumstances too.”

The weight shifting in my lap made my chest tighten painfully.
If she didn’t want to say it, she didn’t have to.
But, but what if she just couldn’t say it because she was afraid of being disliked?
It couldn’t be that now, could it?
…Actually.

“Um… I heard all of that just now.”

“Yes, I suppose you did.”

“Aki-san!”

“It’s fine now, isn’t it?”

Aki-san said it casually.

“After all, you’ve finally crossed that line.”

“Huh?”

“Hmmm?”

Seeing my bewildered expression, Aki-san tilted her head.

“Wait, you haven’t? Sorry, I just assumed — what with the trip on Ibara’s birthday…”

“Noooooo, no, it’s not that, it’s just that!”

I tried to deny it frantically, well, it wasn’t entirely wrong, but still, it was attempted, I almost went with the flow, but I didn’t actually touch her, and as I started to stand up, my lower body lost its balance.
　A muffled groan escaped me. Ibara, resting on my lap, squirmed. Blast. I woke her.

“…Huh?”

She moved her lips softly, lifting her still heavy eyelids.

“…Shigure-san and Aki-chan, were you two just talking about me…?”

With perfectly natural tone, Aki-san gave a wry smile.

“Nothing much. Just saying you and the customer are both cute.”

“Eh? Ah… hehe. Cute, aren’t we?”

Still half-asleep, she clung to me from the side. Then squeezed me tight, gyu-gyu.
Admittedly cute. Cute, but this girl is the daughter of Shirahodo’s owner.
The sudden revelation meant my mind hadn’t caught up yet.
　Why would she run away from a home far more privileged than average?
Why was this woman claiming to be her aunt only now trying to make contact?

Without understanding anything, a mist-like unease crept up at her feet.