"Are you really okay?"
"Of course... I'm totally fine. Very healthy," Kaguya replied with a blushing but composed smile.
She couldn't let Shirogane know their bodies had switched.
"Alright, if everything's fine, come over. My dad had something he wanted to ask you."
"Huh? Uncle has a question for me?"
"You forgot? It's about the company stuff."
"Company... Oh, right! I remember!" Kaguya said, smiling.
She actually didn't know anything.
She was only pretending so her identity wouldn't be exposed.
"I'll head downstairs first. We'll wait for you at home."
"Okay, I'll be there soon."
Once Shirogane left, Kaguya rushed into the bathroom and dragged Hayasaka out.
"W-what was that?! I didn't understand a thing the president was saying!!"
"Please calm down."
Hayasaka gently soothed the panicked and sweaty Kaguya.
Seeing Rinji's face display so many expressions was amusing, but they had to deal with the issue first.
"First, because they live in the same building, Rinji often goes over to the president's place to hang out."
"Visiting someone's house... Damn it, I'm his girlfriend and I haven't even been to his house, but Rinii got there first?"
"Kaguya-sama, are you jealous of a man? Isn't it normal for friends to visit each other?"
Even though their relationship had been confirmed, Kaguya's gender-neutral jealousy hadn't changed one bit.
"Hayasaka, let me ask you something... What does Rinji usually do at the president's house?"
"Play, sometimes have dinner and occasionally cook a meal."
"Cook..."
Kaguya's eyes widened.
She could picture a warm scene of a happy family sitting together while Rinji, wearing an apron, served steaming hot dishes.
"Isn't that what a newlywed wife does!?"
"This isn't the first time, but I'll remind you again, Kaguya-sama—Rinji is a guy, and he has a girlfriend." Hayasaka said expressionlessly. "Please stop casting him in those kinds of roles. Even I'll get angry if you keep it up."
"Ah... sorry."
"Weren't you planning to take this chance to experience a different life? Then now's the time to see how Rinji usually lives."
"You're right. It's a rare opportunity."
It was indeed a good time for her to experience a different kind of life.
But...
"Right now, Rinji is in my body. I wonder if he can handle the identity of the Shinomiya family's powerless heiress."
Hayasaka said, "I suspect he'll use your identity to infiltrate the Main Shinomiya household."
"...Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"I have no idea."
---
"Um... Miss."
"What?"
"Are you sure... we're having this for dinner?"
"Why not?"
"Well, not exactly that it's wrong, but... the president of Murder Music Records, Ms. Togawa, is coming to visit..."
"If you've got something to say, spit it out!"
With Kaguya's face, Rinji snapped impatiently.
"Acting like you're constipated—if you are, shove a gun barrel up your ass and pull the trigger."
"..."
The person speaking with Rinji was the mansion's head chef.
Normally, Hayasaka managed everything, but after her resignation, the butler took over arranging his duties.
He was usually in charge of directing the chefs to prepare Kaguya's three meals a day, with meticulous attention to ingredients and combinations.
Kaguya's schedule wasn't all free time either; she occasionally received politicians' families or corporate chairpersons' relatives to build the Shinomiya family's social network.
Tonight, indeed, a major company president was coming for a visit, and Kaguya needed to represent the Shinomiya family properly.
"I think... it's not appropriate to serve something like this when an important guest is visiting."
The chef was clearly rattled by the sudden change in Kaguya's attitude and spoke cautiously.
"Red bean bread is inappropriate?"
"Well..."
"Then say what exactly is inappropriate."
"It's just that—"
"Come here."
"Ah, okay."
The head chef approached, and Rinji grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in front of him.
"The point isn't what that president wants to eat—it's what I want to eat. If I feel like eating instant noodles today, then even if the president shows up, that's what he'll get. Got it?"
"Y-yes, understood."
For some reason, today's 'Miss' felt especially terrifying. Her presence was far more oppressive than usual.
"Then go prepare it."
"Yes, right away—"
"Hold on."
"Do you have other instructions, Miss?"
"You got smokes?"
"Huh?"
"I asked if you have any cigarettes."
"Well... I don't usually smoke."
"Fine, then beat it. If I see anything else on that dinner table, watch out."
"..."
The chef scurried off. Today's 'Kaguya' gave him a firsthand experience of what it meant to be walking on a knife's edge.
Rinji stayed put, opened the phone he'd taken from the butler, and checked the stopwatch.
It had been exactly 1 hour and 5 minutes since they switched bodies.
By keeping track of the time, he could roughly calculate how long each swap lasted.
Not just that—Rinji had done plenty of prep to play the role of Kaguya well after the swap.
Like that earlier outburst at the chef—that was all to portray the arrogant and overbearing image of a prestigious family heir.
...Though maybe he overdid it a bit.
And that wasn't all. On the second day after the body swap, Rinji had obtained personal information about every servant in Kaguya's mansion through the intelligence department.
He had once asked Kaguya how she treated her servants, and she'd said she was always kind to them.
Got it.
Being kind to the staff meant blending in with them. Rinji knew exactly how to handle that.
He stepped out and found a patrolling bodyguard.
"You there, come here."
"What can I do for you, Miss?"
The bodyguard respectfully approached Rinji, still unaware that the Kaguya in front of him had already been replaced.
"Got any cigarettes?"
"Huh? Yeah, I do."
Though confused why the young lady was asking, the bodyguard still handed over a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
Rinji took one without hesitation, placed it in his mouth, and gestured.
"Got a light?"
"..."
This bodyguard, who had worked for the Shinomiya family for ten years, for the first time suspected that something was wrong with his lady.
Maybe she was suffering from a mental breakdown and turning into a delinquent girl?