Chapter 320: Love is like a riddle
"No one in the Shinomiya family can resist my older brother's orders. Not even me, his little sister. Unless I escape from the Shinomiya family, if I enjoy the privileges of the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, then I have to bear the corresponding responsibilities."
Although Shinomiya Kaguya strongly opposed the arranged marriage, she couldn't deny — it was the fate of women born into powerful families.
Even if she solved the problem with Shinomiya Oko with the help of Sakurai's mother, then what about later? A few years later, she might just be used again for her beauty somewhere else. Compared to that, being with Sakurai Saki was still better.
At least Kaguya liked him.
A man who dared to cause trouble with her and help her break free from the Shinomiya family's chains was better than some stranger she had never met and didn't know the personality of. Even if arranged marriages might lead to a good person, Shinomiya Kaguya didn't believe her luck was that good.
The men that the Shinomiya family was willing to lower themselves to form marriage alliances with were usually not young anymore.
Was she supposed to marry a man old enough to be her father? And bear his children?
"Right now the Shinomiya family is confronting the Shijo family, so at least for the short term you don't have to worry," Hayasaka Ai comforted her.
After saying that, she got angry again: "The Shinomiya family is full of scumbags, none of them see you as a human being, Kaguya. How many times does that old man even meet you in a year? And your brothers, they call you their little sister, but what they actually do is completely different."
"They can all just die already!" Ai-chan muttered a curse.
"They're all beneficiaries of a patriarchal society, it's natural for them to look at me this way. Later, they might even force me to give birth to a son, and then maybe even my own child will become their tool." Shinomiya Kaguya said with a half-joking, half-serious tone.
A faint trace of sorrow flashed in her eyes, but she quickly hid it away.
Shinomiya Kaguya longed for family affection — something she had never once felt.
The more people lack something, the more they yearn for it.
"That won't happen. I won't let it." Hayasaka Ai muttered.
"Even if Ai-chan says so, right now we're just ordinary high school students. Even if a few years later we go to university, we'll still just be ordinary students. Going against the conglomerates? That's just daydreaming." Shinomiya Kaguya frowned as she spoke.
She patted Ai-chan on the shoulder: "I'm fine, don't worry about me."
"If something really happens, I'll take you and run abroad!"
Her serious words made Kaguya not know how to react for a moment.
"What about Sakurai-san then?"
"We'll run away together! We can even go on our honeymoon right then!"
Kaguya: "..."
Going on a honeymoon while dragging me along, just to feed me dogfood? Impressive!
In reality, things weren't that bad yet, they'd deal with it when the time came, and could still wait and see.
Neither of them said anything more, because in the short term, they couldn't come up with any way to resist the Shinomiya family.
"Oh right, didn't you say you were moving house today? You even hired a moving company."
Kaguya suddenly remembered.
Before, Hayasaka Ai had even discussed arranging the room with her, but today she suddenly followed her back to Kyoto instead.
"Umu, Sakurai-chan is probably on the way now. We set it for the afternoon."
As Hayasaka Ai spoke, she took out her phone.
Then she dialed his number.
"Beep——"
After a short signal, Sakurai Saki's voice came from the phone:
"Honey, what's up?"
"..."
The moment she heard that way of addressing, Shinomiya Kaguya got goosebumps all over.
'What on earth are these two doing behind my back?'
It's been almost a year, and they're still in the honeymoon phase? The shelf life is that long?
Didn't people say the peak of a relationship only lasts a maximum of three months?
Apparently, the "expert" standards don't apply to everyone.
"Dear boyfriend-kun~ has the moving started yet?" Hayasaka Ai immediately switched to girlfriend mode.
"Umu, I'm in the car, I've already arrived at the new place. We don't have much stuff, so it should be done quickly."
On the other end, sounds of moving could be heard, along with Sakurai Saki's voice talking to the movers —
"Yeah, that one goes in the kitchen."
A few simple instructions.
Sakurai Saki asked: "What about you two? Any problems?"
Hearing that, Hayasaka Ai glanced at Shinomiya Kaguya.
Shinomiya Kaguya shook her head, signaling her not to say anything.
A matter like this would only cause Sakurai Saki more trouble and accomplish nothing.
But Hayasaka Ai didn't listen to her.
"Kaguya's being pressured by her brother."
"Something about a marriage arrangement?"
"You already know?"
"That's how it always goes in drama — the heiress is forced to marry someone she doesn't love, then at the wedding the male lead rushes in and takes her away."
His words made Hayasaka Ai laugh, and she said while laughing: "That kind of story is from dramas over ten years ago."
"And nowadays? The heroine goes and steals the groom?"
"That must be super rare too." Ai-chan giggled adorably.
As Shinomiya Kaguya listened to the two of them talking, she felt like a piece of air.
"Kaguya-san!" Sakurai Saki suddenly called out.
"What's wrong?" Shinomiya Kaguya asked curiously.
"When you face difficulties, try asking the people around you for help, don't carry everything by yourself."
"Alright, you can go back to being busy, we'll return tomorrow." Hayasaka Ai didn't want to be the messenger.
Her finger slowly lowered—
"Honey, there's a runaway girl at your place, she said she wants to stay for a night..."
"Beep—" The busy tone rang on the phone. Hayasaka Ai recalled Sakurai Saki's last sentence.
A runaway girl?
Had her boyfriend gotten so starved that he had to meet those slutty girls who slipped by the roadside?
"Ara~ Ai-chan, I didn't expect there really are girls delivering themselves to his doorstep." Shinomiya Kaguya teased.
"Probably someone he knows."
As soon as she finished speaking, Sakurai Saki sent a message through Line with a photo attached.
Hayasaka Ai read it: "A student I teaching had a fight with her sisters, she's currently in a runaway state and won't listen even after being persuaded..."
The attached photo showed Nakano Nino helping move luggage.
Shinomiya Kaguya leaned close in front of Hayasaka Ai, then lowered her head to look at the phone.
"Oh oh, teacher and student, forbidden love. Feels like there's something fishy between these two."
"They're just in a normal teacher-student relationship."
She said that, but even Hayasaka Ai herself didn't really believe it.
But the other party was speaking so casually, without even trying to hide it, leaving Ai-chan with no opening to argue back.
At this moment, Hayasaka Ai felt like she wasn't in a relationship.
She was playing a detective game.
And the criminal suspect was her own boyfriend — what the hell.
'Just when I discovered clues of an affair between Kaguya and the suspect, now a new target appears?'
This is tiring, isn't there a way to just tie him up and lock him in the basement?