"He said that?"
"Yes, that's what he said."
"I see—"
At that moment, Gin was kneeling before Senzaemon, reporting Hayashi's evaluation of Erina. Upon hearing Hayashi's "resistance" toward Erina, Senzaemon couldn't help but show a troubled expression.
Senzaemon's thoughts aligned perfectly with Gin's—he would never force Erina to curry favor with Hayashi or strive to become his wife just for the Nakiri family's greater benefit. But he would be more than happy to see the two naturally take a liking to each other!
'However, I never expected our past education of Erina would lead to this situation.' Senzaemon's expression was troubled—truth be told, if Hayashi hadn't appeared, Erina was destined to stand at the pinnacle of this world, meaning his elite education for her would have been flawless.
But then an "outsider" had jumped in, disrupting all of Senzaemon's plans.
"Old master, most of Hayashi's resistance toward the young lady stems from her current spoiled attitude," Gin suggested after some thought. "If she could let go of her pride, there shouldn't be much issue between them."
Based on Gin's understanding of Hayashi during this time, as long as the young lady dropped her haughty demeanor and stopped acting up, even if they couldn't become lovers, being ordinary friends wouldn't be a problem.
"Gin, I leave this matter to you." The old man patted Gin's shoulder solemnly. "It's too inappropriate for an old man like me to intervene. Better leave it to you youngsters."
'This is passing the buck, plain and simple!' Gin, already nearing forty, sighed silently and said, "Understood."
...
...
Hayashi knew full well that Erina wasn't inherently bad-natured and that her personality would gradually change. But as a lone wolf who had been single for over twenty years... no, scratch that—as a lone wolf, Hayashi believed he lacked both the ability and charm to "conquer" Erina and change the young lady's temperament through romance.
Besides, compared to the tsundere and spoiled Erina, isn't the virtuous and domestic Tadokoro Megumi much better? Naturally skilled at rural cuisine, with a gentle and healing personality!
Yes, absolutely perfect!
To be honest, if Hayashi could find a girlfriend like that, he'd probably be burning incense in gratitude to his ancestors, then cradling Megumi in his hands and spoiling her rotten—she deserves to be treated like that!
However, Megumi is also fifteen years old—thanks but no thanks, I don't want to end up in handcuffs!
While I'd charge headfirst into anime alchemy, when 2D becomes 3D, Hayashi has no choice but to abide by the law!
When Gin stepped out of the room, he saw Hayashi sprawled lifelessly on the couch and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's wrong? You look utterly despondent."
"Wuwuwu, a successful and handsome guy like you just wouldn't understand!" Hayashi glanced at Gin and instantly became even more emo. "Good-looking, a Tōtsuki Elite Ten graduate, and now the general manager of Tōtsuki Resort—you're basically the definition of a winner in life, aren't you? Damn it! Drop dead!"
"???"
A series of question marks popped up above Gin's head as he couldn't help but retort, "What nonsense are you spouting now? Did something set you off?"
"Well... maybe it's that time of the month?" Hayashi thought for a moment before sitting up from the couch. "A man always has those thirty-some days each month when he's not in the best mood, you know!"
"Thirty-some days every month... that means you're in a bad mood every single day!?"
"Pretty much, yeah?" Hayashi chuckled mischievously before sidling up to Gin and nudging his ribs with an elbow. "Hey Gin-san, I bet your life is just full of rosy pink happiness, isn't it?"
"I don't quite get what you mean..."
"Girls, I'm talking about girls!" Hayashi raised a finger and said, "A winner in life like you must have no shortage of girlfriends, right? Damn it, you probably switch one every month—twelve a year, easily hitting triple digits in no time!"
"No, no, no! I don't know what nonsense you're imagining, but you've got me all wrong!" Gin Doujima waved his hands with a dark expression. "I've been single my whole life, you know?"
"!" Hayashi's face twisted into a spectacular mix of shock, as if he'd just been saved by Batman only to discover the caped crusader was actually Wang Duoyu, the nation's heartthrob.
"What's with that look? Is it really that surprising I don't have a girlfriend?"
"Don't tell me… you've got a secret crush on Erina Nakiri, but because—"
"Can you please rein in that imagination of yours? It's almost as wild as Kennedy's assassination theories."
"Pfft—cough! Damn it, you bastard! You just cost me ten years of good karma!"
"Pretty sure that's on you for laughing."
"Pretty sure it's your fault for making the joke!"
...
...
"So… you're lonely and craving female company?" Gin mimicked Hayashi's posture, slouching on the couch like a lazy otaku before turning his head to smirk at him.
"Don't make it sound so crude! 'Craving female company'? Pfft!" Hayashi waved a hand dismissively. "I just… well, I feel a bit lonely in life and want someone to share it with, that's all!"
"So… you're craving female company?"
"Shut up!" Hayashi shoved Gin irritably, sending the older man into a fit of laughter—because men's sense of humor is just that weird.
Once he'd laughed himself out, Gin rubbed his abs and gave Hayashi a meaningful look. "Want me to introduce you to a few?"
"Nah, the women you know are all in their thirties or forties, right? Total cougars~" Hayashi snorted. "I prefer them younger—or at least looking younger than me."
"That's so rude! I know plenty of wealthy heiresses!"
"Damn, so you are a regular in those ladies' bedrooms! And here you were claiming to be a virgin!"
"I am not! What kind of image do you even have of me?!"
"Using your cooking to seduce their stomachs, your muscles to conquer their bodies…" Hayashi pondered for a moment. "The number one homewrecker of Tōtsuki?"
"You're really asking for a beating in the weirdest ways—"
"If you're gonna hit me, I'll apologize! But if you're not, then pretend I never said that—"
Gin massaged his temples. "You know, once people get to know you, you're surprisingly… uh…"
How to put it? A walking meme factory.
Hearing Gin's complaint, Hayashi propped his chin on his hand and muttered, "That's normal for young people these days!"
Don't believe him? Just check your chat logs with your bros versus the ones with girls. You'll find that with the boys, the banter flows like a never-ending meme dumpster fire—but with girls, you'll struggle to squeeze out a single decent line.
It was all too normal, so normal that Hayashi couldn't help but shed tears.
"Enough joking around," Gin waved his hand and glanced at Hayashi. "By the way, the old man is planning to host a banquet in a couple of days, inviting past and current Elite Ten graduates."
Hayashi looked at Gin with a blank expression. "Why are you telling me this?"
Gin fell silent for a moment before sighing. "The old man wants you to attend the banquet. He plans to introduce you to those graduates."
"Ohhh!" Hayashi nodded in realization, straightening up from the sofa. "I can do that, but several current Elite Ten members are traitors, you know?"
"Traitors?"
"Yeah! Because that little bastard Azami Nakiri secretly recruited six Elite Ten members to impeach old man Senzaemon." Hayashi picked at his ear. "I think it happened around the Moon Banquet Festival."
"W-wait a minute!" Gin facepalmed in exasperation. "Hold on, is it really okay for you to just casually spoil future events like that!?"
Hayashi scratched his head. "Should be fine? I don't feel any backlash from revealing heavenly secrets or anything. Guess this story doesn't care about that stuff."
"Uh..." Gin rubbed his temples—that wasn't exactly what he meant. "I'm saying, aren't you worried about causing butterfly effects by casually revealing the future?"
"Don't you think the moment you all met me, the original fate trajectory already veered off like an out-of-control truck heading who-knows-where?"
"That... makes sense?" Gin considered it and looked at Hayashi. "Then would you mind sharing some more about the future?"
"Keh keh! Future intel isn't something you can get for free—" Hayashi put on an exaggerated evil expression, laughing maniacally. "Pay the price, Gin-san! Tomorrow morning I want hot dry noodles made by your own hands!"
"That's it?"
"Shut up! As an authentic Hubei native, I won't go easy if it doesn't taste good! I might just reveal that Azami Nakiri married into the Tōtsuki family just to get close to you!"
For some reason, Gin's fist clenched involuntarily.
...
...
Next morning.
"Uh, so..." Hayashi looked around nervously at the living room where, besides him and Gin, Jōichirō Saiba, Senzaemon Nakiri, Mana Nakiri, and Erina Nakiri were all seated.
He turned to Gin and whispered, "Why are they all here?"
Hayashi specifically said "they," so Gin immediately understood the subtext—he wasn't questioning the old man or Jōichirō's presence, but why Erina and her nervous secretary were there.