Chapter 113: The Mastermind Calls

Fuji is surviving. He is working odd jobs for Hiroto's agency. He is paying for his own laundry.

He is actually pretty good at being poor. He budgets everything down to the last yen.

But the silence from the Palace is bothering him.

"He is planning something," Fuji says, organizing my comic book shelf (he could not help himself). "Takahito does not handle losing well."

My phone rings. Unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Bloody Twilight."

Lady Mariko.

I nearly drop the phone.

"Lady... Mariko? How did you get my number?"

"I have everyone's number. Tomorrow. 4 PM. Gilded Lily Tea House. Bring the exile."

Click.

The next day, we go to the fancy tea house.

Fuji is wearing his school uniform because it is the only nice thing he has left.

Mariko is waiting. She looks impeccable.

"You look remarkably well for someone living in a basement," she notes, eyeing Fuji.

"It is a very nice basement," Fuji says smoothly, sitting down. "Free of snakes. Unlike the Palace."

Mariko smirks. A tiny, dangerous smile.

"Indeed. I assume you know I helped your girlfriend crash the party."

"I guessed. Why?"

"Because your father is annoying me," Mariko says, sipping her tea. "He thinks he can just swap me out for another heiress now that you have defected. He treats people like assets."

She slides a folder across the table.

"I do not like being treated like an asset. I prefer to be the one doing the trading."

Fuji opens the folder. His eyes widen.

"These are... his private investment accounts."

"Some of them. The ones he does not want the public to know about. Use them."

"You want me to blackmail him?"

"No. That is crude. I want you to outsmart him. Use that money—which I may have accidentally-on-purpose rerouted to a secure offshore account in your name—to build something he cannot touch."

She stands up.

"He cut you off to make you crawl back. Show him you can run. Beat him at his own game, Kenji. I know you can."

She looks at me.

"Keep him distracted, Twilight. A focused Kenji is boring. A chaotic Kenji is dangerous. I like dangerous."

She leaves.

Fuji stares at the folder.

"She just gave me... a war chest," he whispers.

"She is terrifying," I say.

"She is magnificent," he grins. It is a sharp, 'Rank Number 1' grin. "Game on, Father."