Prologue: It’s This Kind of Story

Ojou is a person who has everything.

“Whoa. Look at that. Tendou-san got first place with a perfect score in every subject again.”

Outstanding grades.

“Wasn’t she scouted by the tennis club the other day? Something about beating a national tournament player in a practice match.”

An all-around athlete.

“I heard she was scouted by a talent agency. Apparently, she even got a commercial offer. You’d expect nothing less from someone with looks and a figure that would put an idol to shame.”

Exquisite beauty.

“And on top of that, her family is the world-famous Tendou Group, right? It’s hard to believe she’s just a high school student like us.”

It’s no exaggeration to say she truly has it all; a perfect human being.

That is Ojou—Tendou Hoshine-sama.

“Good morning, Ojou.”

“Good morning, Eito.”

Her long, golden hair, illuminated by the morning sun streaming through the window, sparkles like a jewel, and her eyes, as blue as the clear sea, are beautiful again today.

Her well-defined features, her ample chest, the curve of her waist—everything is maintained in a balance that seems perfectly calculated. Her mother… Ojou’s mother is herself a beautiful and youthful woman with a stunning figure, so she must have inherited those genes.

“The weather is lovely today. I’m sure it will be a pleasant day.”

“The forecast said it would rain this afternoon, but…”

“Oh? I don’t think so.”

Ojou’s intuition is mysteriously accurate. I have seen her casual predictions come true countless times, and conversely, I have never seen them miss. The same goes for the weather. There have been many times when the forecast called for rain, but if Ojou said it would be sunny, it really did turn out sunny, with a one-hundred-percent success rate. The rain probably won’t fall this afternoon either.

“Your intuition is uncannily accurate, after all.”

“It is. But having intuition that’s too accurate can be a problem, you know? It feels like nothing unexpected will happen, and it gets boring.”

“That’s a luxurious problem to have… Would you like more tea?”

“Please.”

I pour warm tea into her empty cup. Seeing this, Ojou smiles in satisfaction.

“As expected of you, Eito. When it comes to taking care of me, you really are the best.”

“It has been over ten years since you took me in, Ojou. This much is a given.”

“Fufu. You’re right. It’s been that long, hasn’t it?”

As Ojou takes a sip of tea, she chuckles softly, carefully savoring its aroma and taste.

“We’re both high school students now… Things have changed, haven’t they? In many ways.”

“They have. I’ve felt that strongly, especially recently.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“Actually, someone from another class confessed to me.”

CRASH.

I turn towards the sound to see the teacup slipping from Ojou’s hand, shattering on the floor with a deafening noise.

And yet, Ojou is frozen in the gesture of holding the cup. As if time itself has stopped.

“O-Ojou!? Are you all right? Did you burn…!”

“And then?”

“Huh?”

“I said, what happened after you were confessed to?”

Eh. What is this. Ojou’s face… she’s smiling, but it feels like she’s not smiling…

“I turned them down, but…”

“Really?”

“Yes…”

“You’re not lying, are you?”

“Of course not.”

“…………”

“…………”

“…………I see.”

Ojou’s shoulders suddenly relax. …Ah, thank goodness. She’s back to her usual self.

“Ojou, were you burned?”

“I’m fine. More importantly, would you mind getting me a new one?”

“Right away.”

For the time being, I ask a colleague to clean up the broken cup, then bring a fresh cup of tea to Ojou.

“So? How does being confessed to connect with things feeling different?”

“Well, I’ve never had a string of confessions like this before…”

CRASH.

“Hold on a second.”

“Ojou!? Did you get burn…!”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“I care very much about it!? And the broken shards of the cup…!”

“Just kick this stuff out of the way.”

“Please don’t do that, it’s dangerous. …Besides, that’s no way to treat a cup that costs several million, even if it’s broken…”

“Listen. There are things in this world more important than money. For example, the story about you getting a series of confessions.”

“I’m sorry. I’m hardly worth several million.”

“How could you not be? If I could buy you for several million, I would have already, you know? In fact, let me buy you! I don’t care if it’s several million, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, I’ll slap it down in cash!”

“P-Please calm down, Ojou. Your sense of money has gone haywire.”

I have Ojou calm down for a moment and once again ask a colleague to handle the broken cup.

“…So. What do you mean, you were confessed to one after another?”

“Eh? It’s just as it sounds… There was a period when I received confessions for several days in a row. It made me realize that being a high school student brings different experiences than before…”

“When was this?”

“It was the other day, when you went on a trip with the Master and Mistress, just the family.”

“Tch…! To think it happened then… I let my guard down, thinking it would only be for two nights and three days…!”

Wow. It’s rare to see Ojou looking so regretful.

“…Say, Eito. Why didn’t you come with us on that trip in the first place?”

“I was directly entrusted with watching over the house by the Master.”

“………………I’ll send Father a message later telling him ‘I hate you’.”

“Please don’t do that. Are you trying to crush the Tendou Group?”

The Master deeply dotes on Ojou, after all.

If he were to receive such words, it wouldn’t be surprising if he never recovered.

“…Did you turn down all the confessions?”

“I did. It pained my heart to do so, but…”

“…The reason?”

“I have sworn to dedicate my life to you, Ojou. I told them I do not have the luxury of making another woman happy.”

“You always say things like that so smoothly, that’s why other thieving cats keep flocking around you, isn’t it? Not that I’m unhappy about it, but…”

“Why are you angry…?”

And what’s with that. Thieving cats.

“Just out of curiosity.”

“Y-Yes…”

“…If I weren’t in the picture, would you have accepted one of those confessions?”

“I wonder… I can’t really imagine a life without you, Ojou, so it’s a difficult question.”

“Fufu. Is that so?”

“However… they were all women so charming that they were wasted on me, so perhaps a future like that might have existed.”

“I’m never, ever going to disappear.”

“I-Is that so…”

What is this. Ojou is supposed to be smiling, but I feel an incredible pressure…

“Honestly… I really can’t let my guard down for a moment, can I…”

“…This is rare. For you to have such a desperate look on your face, Ojou.”

“Of course. When there’s something you want no matter what, anyone would get desperate, right?”

“For you, Ojou, who has everything, to want something that badly, what kind of treasure could it be?”

“What kind, you ask… Why don’t you go look in a mirror?”

“You want a mirror?”

“Honestly… In that respect, you haven’t changed a bit, even after becoming a high school student.”

Ojou’s face looked partly sullen, and partly exasperated.

“…I don’t have everything, you know. Because the one thing I want most is the one thing I can’t have.”

☆

My Eito is a very capable servant.

“My test scores went up thanks to you teaching me, Eito-kun! Thanks a bunch!”

“Not at all. Your scores went up because of your own hard work. I just helped a little.”

He studies in his spare time between jobs and always maintains high grades. What’s more, he’s a good teacher.

“Eito-kun! That soccer game you played in the ball sports tournament was so cool! You were the star player, even though the other team was the actual soccer club!”

“I was just supported by my teammates. Besides, the other team was strong, it was a paper-thin match.”

He can even play sports. I hear he was rigorously trained by Father, so his physical prowess is such that even a group of regular soldiers or mercenaries would be no match for him.

“Eito-kun, if you’re interested, would you consider joining the drama club? I’m sure you could become a star! You have a lot of loyal fans, too… oops, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. But anyway, what do you think?”

“That is a great honor, but I must respectfully decline this time. I am sure there are as many stars in the drama club as there are in the sky who are more suitable than I.”

Is it what you’d call handsome and elegant? His features are well-defined, and his night-colored eyes are beautiful. He’s tall, too. And his demeanor is so gentlemanly. I can understand why the other girls are crazy about him.

In fact, I know. I know that Eito has a ton of fans within the academy.

Every last one of them is looking for a chance to get their hands on Eito. For now, since he serves me, they don’t make any obvious moves, but the moment I’m not around, it’s just as you’d expect.

On top of that, even the daughters of my acquaintances try to scout him at every opportunity.

Really… these thieving cats are such a nuisance.

I’ve loved Eito for much, much, much, loooo~oonger than them, and yet these newcomers have the nerve to brazenly approach him.

…………That’s right. I’ve been in love with Eito for a very long time.

Since I was a child, I could do almost anything. Things went well. I could do as I pleased.

I got whatever I wanted, and there was nothing I couldn’t get.

Talent, status, fame, looks—they were all in my hands, even without my asking.

It was then that I met Eito.

He was abandoned by his family. Apparently, his parents disappeared, leaving only Eito behind.

It was by chance that I found him, and the reason I took him in was because of his eyes, which looked as if he had lost everything.

And Father, it seems, had his own thoughts about Eito’s circumstances. He smiled, saying he had a similar experience, and accepted my ‘selfish wish’.

Taking him in was something like a whim. It felt like I had just obtained something I wanted at that moment.

…But Eito didn’t become mine to command any more than that.

“Ojou, please eat your green peppers properly. …Should I eat them for you? No. This is for your own good, Ojou.”

There are times he won’t listen to my selfish requests.

“Ojou. Please try to be a little more considerate. If you keep acting so selfishly, everyone will start to hate you.”

He even lectures me.

“Ojou, if you’re lonely, you should just say so. …To think that the Master and Mistress hate you? That’s not true. They did have work today, so they couldn’t come… but they both love you very much, Ojou. …It’s a shame about today, isn’t it? If you’ll have me, please allow me to celebrate your birthday with you.”

He notices when I’m lonely, and stays by my side.

“So this is where you were hiding… How did I know? When it’s about you, Ojou, I just know. Come on, let’s go back. Everyone is looking for you.”

Even when I’m hiding and crying, he finds me.

“It’s true that you can do anything, Ojou, but that’s not to say you do nothing, right? You work so hard, you put in so much effort. It’s okay. That person didn’t know that when they said those awful things… but I know. I know just how much of a hard worker you are, Ojou.”

He truly sees me.

…There are so many other reasons besides those. So many I can’t even count them.

I have obtained many things in my life.

But I have not been able to obtain Eito’s heart.

The one thing I’ve wanted most in my life. The one thing I wanted to obtain, even if I had to risk my life for it.

The one thing I thought if I had, I wouldn’t need anything else.

Yes. That’s why I won’t hand him over to some other thieving cat.

…………Well. I’ve tried all sorts of approaches so far, but Eito just doesn’t seem to notice at all.

The other day, I even went as far as to mobilize the house staff to create a situation… I wonder if the problem is that we’re too close? It might be better to proceed with cornering and capturing him first. I need to settle this before some newcomer thieving cat starts meddling, but this is proving to be quite a challenge.

…But I won’t give up.

I don’t need everything. It’s fine if I don’t have it all.

Still.

“The one thing I want most, I won’t give to anyone.”

“? Is something the matter, Ojou?”

“It means you should prepare yourself.”

Now then. What kind of trick should I use to make my move today?

☆

…This is a problem. Ojou is plotting something again.

On that rainy day the other week, she suddenly snapped all the umbrellas in the mansion, then punctured all the tires of the chauffeured car, and finally, holding out a slightly smaller umbrella that had somehow survived the carnage, she said, “Let’s go to school sharing an umbrella today.” She’s making that same face now.

That sort of tomboyishness (though whether it can be dismissed as such is uncertain) is one of Ojou’s charms, which are more numerous than the stars, but when she acts like this, there’s a high probability that I’ll be the one getting dragged around. Well, that in itself is fine. Being dragged around by Ojou is an honor. It wouldn’t be a problem to rephrase it as a matter of prestige.

However, I am also a boy of a certain age. A healthy high school boy.

Sharing an umbrella is not a particular problem, but the series of close-contact incidents that follow, like her occasionally slipping into my bed seeking warmth, is somewhat problematic.

…………Should I call it fortunate?

I properly understand my own status and position.

A filthy child abandoned by his parents. A child who was lucky enough to be picked up by the Tendou family and meet Ojou. That’s who I am.

Ojou has been good to someone like me, but that’s because she is the kindest person in this entire planet, universe, and galaxy combined.

No matter how close we get, I must not misunderstand.

Something like that could never happen.

I constantly tell myself this, and as a guardian of the Tendou family, I have undergone mental training. So, although I am a healthy high school boy, I will not misunderstand.

Anyone else would have easily fallen in love by now.

_I have to make sure to tell Ojou later.

That she should refrain from actions that could cause a man to misunderstand.