Ten Million Dollar Night View

I’m so glad we brought Sakujiro-san’s special medicine with us. It looks like your fever’s down, Kafka.

I just wanted to enjoy the trip…but I had to go and get a fever. I didn’t even move around that much. This body does nothing but piss me off…

It’s so pathetic. I hate it.

Kafka…

Don’t be like that! We still have lots of time to go on other trips. We promised that we’d spend the rest of our lives playing together, right?

…!

Chief… You need to stop saying those things without knowing how I feel…

…I’ll start getting the wrong idea.

Huh?

I’m going to sleep. I’m going to Mount Rokko tomorrow no matter what.

Okay. Good night, Kafka.

Good night… Chie…

……

(I hope he gets better by tomorrow.)

Chief, was Kafka doing alright?

Oh, I didn’t know you were outside waiting, Yuki-nii. Yeah, the medicine seems to be working. He’s sleeping well. You can go do your own thing now, if you want.

I see. That’s good to hear. I’ll be going for a run around the area.

Have fun. I’m gonna take a walk around too.

Phew. The harbor’s so pretty at night…

(Since Kafka’s feeling better, he should be good for tomorrow. But I’m more worried about…)

(Renga-kun. He didn’t seem all that excited to go to Mount Rokko when I mentioned it during the Ferris wheel ride… I don’t feel like he’s getting closer to anyone…)

(Yuki-nii tried his best to help by giving him matching glasses with Liguang-san, but meeting Kotonojo-san kind of threw a wrench into things.)

(Ah…! It’s the Royal Princess! They’re doing bay cruises here… I wanna go on one!)

Excuse me, do you still have room for one adult?

Hm? Are you planning on getting on too?

…! Liguang-san!

Wow… The breeze feels so nice. Why’d you decide to take the cruise, Liguang-san?

My ward offers cruises too. This could make a good reference.

It looks like KOBE was able to use its power to furnish this ship pretty well. We could use something like this in HAMA.

(Liguang-san is so polite and diligent when Renga-kun isn’t involved… He takes the tourism industry really seriously.)

Hey, I bought these from over there. Do you drink?

Oh, huh? You got one for me?

Heh… It’s not much. Just a beer.

(Wow, I almost never see him smile. He’s easier to talk to than usual… Maybe it’s because we’re on this cruise.)

I’ll take it, thank you so much. Ah, should we do the Oath of the Peach Garden thing?¹ Haha, just kidding…

……

(Guess he didn’t like that one… Tough crowd.)

It’s a beautiful night…but HAMA won’t lose to this view.

I agree. I’d love to see HAMA cruises grow even more!

……

What’s wrong? You look like you have something on your mind.

Well, it’s just…

Um, I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but I wanted to ask you about Renga-kun…

……

I-I heard the two of you used to be close through your families.

……

So I was wondering why… Uh…

……

*sigh*

(D-Did I make him mad…? But this is the only chance I’ll have to ask him…!)

So this is about that moron… I suppose we’ve gotten the rest of you involved in our arguments a decent amount.

My family has been close to the Nishizonos for a while. But I don’t think he deserves to be their head.

He doesn’t seem to realize that himself, and that aggravates me.

Hm… Is there a reason why you think that way…?

*sigh*

The previous Ward 3 mayor was his grandmother, Nishizono Reika. She was a great help to the previous Ward 4 mayor, my mother.

Renga-kun’s grandmother…?

Yeah. She had a wonderful personality—strict where it counted while still being loving. She did a lot for me when I was young.

Although that imbecile is idiotic at his core, he was doing well while he was taking Reika-sama’s advice. But it didn’t last for long.

He started to ignore her at some point… In addition to that, he was unable to pull his own weight as a student, so he became her greatest shame.

…He was only able to attend our high school as a substitute. Someone that pathetic only humiliates himself further by fighting with me.

Reika-sama passed while shouldering his reputation, but he still had the nerve to act depressed at her funeral… Just looking at him embarrassed me.

The funeral…

(That must’ve been that one rainy day. So Liguang-san attended it too…)

She was never able to repair her relationship with him. It must have been a great disappointment to the entirety of Ward 3.

…What happened for their relationship to get so bad?

He was just childish. He insisted on living without considering Reika-sama’s feelings.

…But Renga-kun’s still taking care of his grandmother’s rose garden. He’s trying really hard…

Hah, it’s too late for him to atone. Besides, those roses will all die under his care.

Um, could you tell me more about Renga-kun and his grandmother? Please!

……

I didn’t know his grandmother felt that way…

Um, could I tell Renga-kun about this?

For what reason?

He has a short fuse, but I think something might be bothering him… If I tell him what his grandmother thinks, he might change.

You can’t teach that dog any new tricks. And there’s no need to. He’s already sunk to rock bottom.

(I wonder… If Renga-kun changes, would Liguang-san finally see him as an equal?)

(I couldn’t possibly ask him that, but I want it to happen someday. Especially since there was a time when they could’ve been friends.)