The autumn wind gradually set in, refreshing the entire atmosphere, dispelling the stifling heat of summer. The ginkgo trees on the roadside had turned a brilliant yellow, while the many cherry blossom trees stood bare and skeletal.
The golden splendor of the ginkgo leaves accompanied the stark, bony branches of the cherry trees, signaling the deep arrival of autumn.
However, Horikita Manabu had no interest in enjoying this autumnal scene. In a hurry, he boarded a bus and rushed to Takahashi's yukata workshop, heading straight to Takahashi's office.
He wanted to stay calm, but the more he thought about it, the more restless he became. The night before, after Takahashi said he would ask Yukio about the situation, there had been no follow-up. Takahashi didn't call Horikita Manabu back, leaving him waiting for results.
Horikita Manabu had waited for an hour before calling Takahashi, only to receive a polite but evasive response, claiming that Takahashi was at a bar with business partners and couldn't discuss the matter at that moment.
The excuse sounded reasonable enough. After such a big issue, it made sense that Takahashi would network and have a drink to ease tensions, so Horikita Manabu grudgingly understood.
But now, he couldn't wait any longer and decided to have a face-to-face conversation with Takahashi to figure out what exactly Yukio had done in this situation.
After knocking on the door and receiving permission to enter, Horikita Manabu strode into the office to find Takahashi busy with something. "Mr. Takahashi, regarding last night's investigation into Yukio's class and their sales tactics, have you found anything?"
"Oh, Horikita-kun," Takahashi's expression grew slightly more serious, without showing any cracks. Instead of answering directly, he countered with a question: "That's not the most important thing right now, so let's not focus on him."
"The real issue is the interference from our competitors. Have you thought of any good solutions to deal with that?"
Horikita Manabu frowned slightly. How could Yukio's involvement not be important? Even if he were to come up with a solution, he'd need to fully understand the situation first, right?
If he didn't know whether it was purely competitor trouble or if Yukio had stirred up the mess, how could he come up with a foolproof way to resolve it?
Horikita's silence was enough to give Takahashi his answer—he couldn't resolve the issue, at least not without knowing what Yukio had done.
But that was already enough. Beneath Takahashi's serious expression was a hint of regret. After all, he was a businessman who prioritized profit.
Although he admired Horikita Manabu, he couldn't deny that Yukio's strategy was more aligned with his own interests and had the potential to bring in even more profits—if he was willing to take the risk.
Takahashi had initially wanted to give Horikita a chance. If Horikita Manabu could come up with a viable solution, he would have considered continuing their partnership. Their previous month of cooperation had been quite smooth, and Horikita Manabu was indeed a remarkable student, with limitless future potential. It would have been a smart investment in building a future relationship.
However, for the sake of greater profits and the chance to reverse public opinion, even if it meant investing in new connections, Takahashi was now leaning toward joining Yukio. Compared to Horikita Manabu, Yukio's talents were far more exceptional and promising.
In his heart, Takahashi could only apologize to Horikita Manabu.
Of course, that apology stayed internal. Outwardly, he maintained his composure: "It's also my fault for being too hasty. But like you said last night, Horikita-kun, there's no need to rush. We need to take things slowly. If we don't calm down, it'll be difficult to come up with any solutions."
"..." Hearing this, Horikita Manabu felt a tinge of embarrassment. He had indeed said those exact words the previous night, but he hadn't expected Takahashi to turn them back on him like this.
Unaware of Horikita Manabu's discomfort, Takahashi continued, "Regarding Yukio's sales strategy, I spent some time last night carefully asking around. Turns out, there's no issue at all with what Yukio-kun is doing."
"Their sales approach is straightforward, just regular pitching. It's just that some of the students in Yukio's class have a natural gift for persuasion, so they managed to secure a few small orders."
"Haha, I was even thinking of asking for some sales tips, maybe hiring a few salespeople in the future. But it seems that's not going to happen."
"Ah, sorry, I got off track. But honestly, Horikita-kun, if you look at the size of those orders, you'll understand—they're just small test orders from businesses, to see how well the products sell."
"If there really was any illegal selling involved, why would Yukio's class bother securing such tiny orders? The more orders they bring in, the higher their commission, right? Don't you agree, Horikita-kun?"
"So this time, it's simply malicious slander from competitors. There's no conspiracy involved, Horikita-kun, so there's no need to suspect Yukio-kun anymore."
"?" Horikita Manabu felt like his brain couldn't process this information. Stop suspecting Yukio? It was just simple slander from competitors?
For the first time in his life, Horikita felt his mind short-circuit. From the negative comments left online, it seemed clear that Yukio was somehow involved. Just by looking at how determined the competitors were, arguing back and forth with the students defending the shop from Class 3-A for over a hundred comments, it didn't seem like they were lying.
But would Mr. Takahashi lie for Yukio? Even if Yukio had sweet-talked him, actual financial interests couldn't be faked, right? If Yukio's actions had really harmed Takahashi's business, there's no way Takahashi would side with him.
In other words, if Takahashi was certain, then he couldn't be lying for Yukio, meaning that what Takahashi said was true: it was just slander from competitors, and Yukio had nothing to do with it.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Horikita Manabu could only come to this one conclusion. Any other reasoning would be self-contradictory and wouldn't hold up.
"I understand," Horikita Manabu finally said, despite his headache from overthinking. "In that case, I'll work on clarifying to the public that this was all just malicious slander from competitors."
Unlike Horikita Manabu, who rushed to Takahashi's shop early in the morning, Yukio woke up late after his morning workout and went back to sleep, comfortably lounging until the sun was high in the sky.
Even after waking up, he spent a few minutes in a daze before grabbing his phone to assign various tasks in the class chatroom.
After a quick wash-up, Yukio casually combined his breakfast and lunch at the hotel. Since Ichinose was still supervising things at the food street, he spent some time chatting with Sakayanagi before finally deciding to leave the hotel in the late afternoon, intending to head to Takahashi's shop.
"Finally came out, huh, junior? You sure kept me waiting," said a voice that Yukio wasn't expecting. Blocking his path outside the hotel stood Fuuka Kiryuuin, wearing a playful, authoritative smile.
She tossed him a helmet and gestured behind her with a thumb, motioning towards her bike. "Get on."
...
200 power stones = 1 extra chapter