The 3rd Color : Money-In-Happiness

The chilly night of 10PM, no one should be out at this time, even more so a teenager. Yet, there was a silhouette of a famous son of a successful businessman carefully making his way inside. If the neighbors were to see him, it'd cause a huge misunderstanding. But this isn't his first time sneaking in on his house. Right as he pull out a hidden stair from the bushes, he put it leaning against the wall, leading to his bedroom's window. He then climbed the stairs and successfully got inside. But, as he turned on the light, his father was there, sitting on his son's bed. 

Izuki : "Father?"

Izuki's dad : "Where were you, Izuki? Why were you outside at this time?"

Izuki : "I was just by a friend's hou-"

Izuki's dad : "Those four again? I've told you they are all bad influences. Mostly the blonde boy and pink girl. They'll drag you down to their stupidity.

"Father, they aren't that kind of person!" Izuki said with harsher tone. Izuki, believed that friendship is just as important as success. His father, however believe that without friends, one can be happy but without money, one can't be happy. To have the correct amount of money at the correct time, that is his happiness. Just like how the currency symbol in Japan ( ¥ ) is included in kanji for happiness ( 幸 ). To him, there's no way a term about " rich but sad " and " poor but happy ". Only " rich and happy " or " poor and sad " exist. His father who grows up from a poor family knows that the most. The harassment he received when he was poor, and the look of anguish from his peers when he succeed. Those led him to believe, friendships are merely a tool of insult from the jealous unsuccessful people. To him, the proverb "Money can't buy happiness" were stated by a poor people to drag the rich down to their ( the poor ) level. Even his marriage wasn't of genuine love. He married the first daughter of the Kuroryuu family for his current position, and successfully inherit the company. Of course, his plans didn't end there. He also wanted his own blood lineage to continue his legacy. That is, Kuroryuu Izuki. But it seems that Izuki acts more like his late mother, even though the first time he met her was at her funeral. 

"If the fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise. You'll be inheriting this company of mine in the future, so I expect you to be capable on keeping track of time. It's already this late, so I'll scold you later in the morning. Goodnight, son."

Izuki's father left the bedroom, slowly closing the door and heads back to the room. Izuki still could feel the pressure in his father's words. The comfortable life he lived are of no doubt all thanks to his parents. His future was determined before he was even a zygote. Hands down, he would definitely be successful in the future, as if he's playing Minecraft on creative mode. Even so, for his entire move to be controlled, he's like a chess piece getting controlled by the player. Or perhaps a marionette would be more fitting to describe Kuroryuu Izuki, the successor of an upcoming biggest sportswear brand.

Izuki knows, he isn't anyone special. Just a normal boy that is a little advance in his study thanks to his father's guide. Of course, he had never felt the genuine warmth of his family, unlike a certain radiant pink haired girl. He wonders, if his parents are like Julia's parents, would he be as cheerful? He can't help, but keep on thinking of that as he lay down on his bed. He'd later blank out and fall asleep, even though it's Friday night. Well, it's not as if his routine is any different on any other night.

Izuki wakes up, took a shower and head downstairs to have breakfast. It was served by the maid of the house, who was hired by his father. At this time, she'd probably be at the backyard, tending to the plant's needs. As for Izuki's father, he'd probably be at the HQ right now. This is the usual morning for Izuki, just him alone on the eating table. There are some occasions where he eat with them together, but it rarely happens. Izuki then munched on the egg benedict on the fancy dining table.

Meanwhile at the Mikatana's household :

Kazune wakes up and head downstair, his bed hair left unfixed. Unlike Izuki, Kazune eats breakfast and then shower. Now I have to clarify that there's nothing wrong with that, but to me it feels like putting milk before cereal. Or hair conditioner before shampoo. Or hoes before bros. You get the point.

Kazune then sits down at the dining table. He put his head on the table, still sleepy unlike the other three of his family. His sister, who is sitting beside him had her eyes set on her handphone. His father, who is sitting infront of him is reading newspaper of today's date. The mother is cooking breakfast for the family. She truly had almost no rest as a housewife. With only one glance, Kazune could tell that his mother is cooking pancakes, due to the ingredients. 

Minutes passed, the dish served and they had a calming breakfast together. They are a pretty casual family, nothing too special or too weird. As they finish breakfast, Kazune proceeds to prepare to go jogging around the neighborhood, as this is part of his daily routine to maintain a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, his father sits on a sofa, watching the TV as today is his off-day. While his sister, Kaguya is sitting upside down on the same sofa while looking at her phone. She doesn't have much friends, but they are definitely close friends since kindergarten. 

As he jogs, he kept on remembering what Izuki said yesterday. It was probably due to how Kazune noticed the distant look inside of Izuki's eyes. If Sohee were to hear of this, she'd definitely be in awe and pass out from excitement. Despite her looks, Sohee is a hardcore BL fans. Like, way too hardcore. Most of her BL collections are Yandere, CBT, NTR, Slave, Hypnosis and many more non-family friendly tags that would get this webnovel cancelled. Thank god, unlike Kazune, the said devil is not a productive person. Even so, I'm afraid of her making the Kazuki ship canon. She's so scary that even the ghost and demon doesn't approach her. 

Anyway, some time passes and he head back home. If all is fine, their plans should go without a problem. Well, suppose nothing happens. As he got back home, a devil with human appearance were seen to be sitting on the couch adjacent to his sister. It seems like they are having a conversation. Sohee, who was the said devil caught a glance of Kazune, who tried to sneak upstairs.

"Oh, welcome back. You kept me waiting, you know?" Sohee said.

"You were never invited anyway, how long have you been here?" Kazune replied.

"Almost an hour I think. But hey I was invited by your cute little sister here" Sohee replied while hugging Kaguya as if they're the siblings instead. Though, Kaguya do looks like she's about to die due to short of breath from being hugged too close.

"I didn't, you insisted on coming here filthy woman" Kaguya interrupts

"What?" Sohee pinch Kaguya's cheeks and pulls it, trying to rip it apart. But it was impossible because like I said, she's not productive and she have spaghetti biceps. She couldn't even lift her mom's grocery.

"Oh also Kazune, you reek of sweat. Go take your bath." The devil said.

"I was about to, you devil incarnate." Kazune replied.

Sohee then kicks Kazune's legs, but she missed as Kazune barely avoided it, and flick her forehead. It was a total defeat for Sohee. Kazune walk upstairs nonchalantly. He showered, dressed perfectly and is ready to head out. But now he is hungry as he already ate all of his breakfast and burned all the calory already. That is precisely why I had breakfast for last. 

"Ready?" Sohee asked.

"Ready." Kazune replied.

They both then head out together to the copyrighted version of a certain big shopping mall, also known as ZEON, as planned. Before that, they had planned to meet up infront of the train station as it is close to the mall, so they can all go together. As both of them are almost halfway there, they got a notification that the three of them are already there. They didn't pick up a faster pace though, since they know that the three of them will even wait for an hour. 

Kazune and Sohee are reminiscing about the past as they walked. They didn't spend as much time together in school. It was probably because the both of them are from different class. Yet it seems like they both are as close as Tate brothers, except Kazune and Sohee aren't siblings. They'd have beef with each other, but if one were in trouble, they'd definitely lend a hand.

"Sohee, I have something I have to say"

"Huh? What is it? Have you fallen for me and about to confess? Well, I'm sorry but my heart only belong to Satoru Goj-"

"Hah? No. You delusional weeb."

"Then what is it?"

"...about yesterday evening after school. What did you mean when you told me not to forget you?"