[134] The Koenji Zaibatsu and Koenji Rokusuke

Chapter 134: The Koenji Zaibatsu and Koenji Rokusuke

"Sayaka, please head to the side hall."

Kirari, holding Shunsuke's arm, led him forward with grace and confidence. Ririka followed behind as an attendant. Since she was attending the banquet in this capacity, she didn't need to bring her own male companion.

Sayaka bowed and then walked in the other direction.

Meanwhile, at the main entrance of the hall, the current head of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu, Shinomiya Gan'an, was already waiting. With his wife having passed away, his companion for the evening was his daughter, Shinomiya Kaguya.

Shunsuke glanced at Kaguya with some surprise. In the original story, her relationship with her father was far from good.

In Kaguya's eyes, her father hardly cared about her, and their interactions were minimal.

But upon reflection, having Kaguya as his companion didn't necessarily mean they had to engage in conversation.

Kaguya, still in her "Ice Kaguya" state, looked at Shunsuke with a cold, indifferent gaze.

She didn't recognize him as the boy who had tried to confront her on the first day of school.

After all, she had only seen his back for a few seconds in the rearview mirror. Expecting her to remember him would be asking too much.

"Momobami-sama, welcome," Shinomiya Gan'an extended his hand, exuding the commanding presence of someone who held power over life and death. "And who might this be...?"

Kirari, unfazed and smiling as if a gentle breeze had brushed past her, extended her hand in return. "Shinomiya-sama, it's been a while. This is my new boyfriend, Fujii Shunsuke."

"Fujii..." Shinomiya Gan'an observed the young man standing beside Kirari, who appeared confident and composed, treating him as an equal. After a moment of thought, he also extended his hand. "May I ask which Fujii family you hail from? To raise such an outstanding young man is truly impressive."

"I'm just an ordinary person. The title of 'young master' doesn't apply to me."

Shunsuke calmly shook Shinomiya Gan'an's hand, his demeanor steady and unflinching.

"Is that so? Truly remarkable for someone so young."

Shinomiya Gan'an's expression remained unchanged, offering a lukewarm compliment, though his demeanor noticeably cooled.

He wasn't incapable of tolerating confident—or even arrogant—young talents.

In his eyes, such individuals were merely frogs at the bottom of a well, ignorant of the vastness of the world.

Their confidence was false, born of ignorance, giving them the illusion that "one day, I'll stand on equal footing with you."

But this Shunsuke... his confidence was genuine.

He was fully aware of the Shinomiya family's prestige, yet he remained confident—no, arrogant—believing he could stand as my equal... How dare a commoner like you act this way? Show some humility!

Shunsuke naturally sensed the shift in Shinomiya Gan'an's attitude, but he didn't care.

---Others might be intimidated by the aura of power and authority you wield, but I know exactly what you are—a clueless fool, a sucker who's been taken advantage of, a man whose will isn't even taken seriously by those beneath him... *Ahem*, well, he is Kaguya's father after all. Maybe I should tone down the harsh language.

"Momobami-sama, the heads of the other three families will be arriving shortly. Why don't we wait here together to greet them?" Shinomiya Gan'an suggested, withdrawing his hand and addressing Kirari.

At such banquets, the more influential the person, the later they arrived. While Kirari's status was no lower than that of the heads of the other three major zaibatsu, her lack of seniority meant she had to arrive earlier.

Shinomiya Gan'an, of course, hadn't been standing at the entrance from the start. Earlier, his eldest son, Shinomiya Oko, and his wife had been responsible for receiving guests. Only a select few warranted Shinomiya Gan'an's personal presence at the door.

Kirari naturally had no reason to refuse.

And so, Shunsuke accompanied Kirari as she greeted the heads and heirs of the remaining three zaibatsu. It was then that he spotted someone he never expected to see—Koenji Rokusuke.

It seemed that in this world, the Koenji Zaibatsu from Classroom of the Elite had replaced one of the unnamed zaibatsu from Kaguya-sama: Love is War.

But for him to appear so openly like this—were the rules of the nationally recognized elite training high school just being treated as scraps of paper?

Well, it seemed they were.

On second thought, even Japanese laws were nothing more than scraps of paper to the destined heir of the Koenji Zaibatsu. What were the rules of some high school compared to that?

After the heads of the families exchanged pleasantries, they took their seats together.

Following a round of empty remarks from Shinomiya Gan'an, the banquet officially began.

Once the banquet was underway, old-timers like Shinomiya Gan'an quickly made their exit.

These elders weren't here to dance—that was something for the younger generation to do.

They had merely used the event as an excuse to meet face-to-face, strengthen their bonds, and perhaps discuss a few matters in passing.

For those who already stood at the pinnacle of Japanese society, there was little left for them to do.

What mattered most was fostering communication and trust among themselves.

As long as the zaibatsu avoided large-scale internal conflicts, their positions would remain as stable as Mount Fujii.

For them, maintaining the status quo and ensuring everything continued unchanged was the most important thing in the world.

Kirari, as the head of the Momobami clan, was still young, but no one was foolish enough to treat her the same as the other heirs who hadn't yet inherited their family's legacy.

Naturally, she left with the elders, leaving Ririka and Shunsuke behind.

Most of those still in the room naturally turned their attention to Shunsuke.

After all, Kirari's status was extraordinary, and as her first publicly acknowledged boyfriend, Shunsuke naturally drew significant interest.

However, for various reasons, no one approached him just yet, creating a vacuum around him.

At the same time, many of the men in the room regarded him with hostility.

Kirari had been the "prey" of many of them, and the sudden appearance of this unknown man who had "stolen" her away left them deeply resentful.

Students from Hyakkaou Private Academy like Kaede Manyuda, who had the qualifications to attend such an event, looked at those men as if they were fools, silently distancing themselves.

---To be this stupid—do they even know how to write the character for "death"?

Better to stay far away from such people to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Shunsuke had initially been eager, ready to engage in some dramatic confrontations. But when no one came over to either greet or provoke him, his enthusiasm for showing off and putting others in their place quickly cooled.

---This high society is way too cold!

With his stomach growling, Shunsuke decided to grab some food first. At a banquet of this caliber, the chefs had to be former Elite Ten from Totsuki Culinary Institute, right? He'd been looking forward to this for a long time.

But then, Shunsuke spotted someone buried among the various dishes—the bow-wearing, chubby... no, Fujiwara Chika. As usual, she was completely off in her own world.

Shunsuke began walking toward Fujiwara Chika, and in the midst of her busy eating, she noticed him out of the corner of her eye.

She immediately shot him a look: You! Get away from here! If you, the ultimate spotlight magnet, come over, how am I supposed to eat to my heart's content?!

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