Senpai, do you think a favor is a one-time thing or a permanent one?
Ren posed this question about the favor, the most critical issue, without caring much about Utaha Kasumigaoka's little schemes.
The bigger the intelligence, the bigger the grace. You can expand a favor to repay a relatively large kindness, but you cannot keep repaying it forever.
Some people might feel they don't deserve such kindness and instead continue to befriend you, making the relationship between the two families better and better.
But more people are greedy. They will believe all of this is what they deserve.
From that moment on, the "shilling of kindness leads to a bucket of resentment" begins.
One day, when you feel you have repaid the favor and stop being kind to the other party, they will instead scold you, saying your favor has not been repaid at all.
Unsatisfied, they still want to crawl on you and suck your blood until you are drained dry.
"One-time," Utaha answered quickly.
"Yeah, one-time. So, Senpai, is your repayment to Tomoya Aki a one-time thing?"
Utaha's thoughts turned quickly. Ren didn't need to break down the logic and feed it to her like he did with Eriri.
He only needed to provide a few lines of thought and let Utaha think for herself, deciding which path she should take.
"Then, Senpai, how much help have you provided for the other party?"
"Joining the club to write scripts for Tomoya Aki's so-called game, being exhausted by club matters, and just now begging me like that to let him off the hook?"
"How heavy is the favor of Tomoya Aki promoting your Metronome in Love? Is it heavier than you are?"
Ren placed one hand on Utaha's right cheek, his fingers touching the beautiful hair behind her. He tilted her head toward him with a smile on his face.
"I'm curious. If I had pretended to agree to let Tomoya Aki go just now, what price would you have paid?"
"Understand that having me block the Sawamura Family for Tomoya Aki is not something that can be paid for with a simple petting."
"Perhaps... the price would be you truly becoming my cat."
"Senpai, I think you know what I mean."
"As she listened to Ren's words, Utaha's pupils contracted slightly."
She understood what he meant.
Truly becoming Ren's cat...
What is a cat? It is a pet.
Utaha was a living human being. If she became a pet according to the price Ren mentioned... that was equivalent to becoming his slave.
Using Utaha's own future to trade for Tomoya Aki's life.
As for the possibility of her turning her back and refusing to recognize the deal after Ren finished the job, such a thought didn't even exist in Utaha's heart.
In the face of true power, Utaha's usual calmness and sharp tongue had completely vanished.
"Senpai, just how far is that favor of Tomoya Aki worth you going?"
His thumb brushed the corner of Utaha's beautiful eyes. Ren stared at her, who shared the same hair and eye color as him, and spoke softly. "Want to try? Senpai, I've already told you the price."
If Utaha really agreed, Ren wouldn't mind raising a fourth cat.
As for the final part about blocking the Sawamura family and letting Tomoya Aki go, that was certainly no problem.
He could block the Sawamura family, but the Sawamura family could also hire him.
After all, the condition Ren stated just now was merely to block the Sawamura Family, not the Yukinoshita family, the Fujiwara family, or even the Katsuragi family.
"Also, Senpai, you seem to have gotten the direction wrong."
"The main reason your Metronome in Love became a hit is that you wrote it very well. Gold shines because it is gold to begin with."
"And Tomoya Aki's promotion was just a small push for the book."
"The greatest hero is you, Senpai, not Tomoya Aki. Yet you pile all your credit onto him."
"As if without his promotion, your Metronome in Love would be trash."
Could Metronome in Love really have become a hit without Tomoya's promotion? Ren wasn't sure.
But that didn't stop him from stripping away the filter Utaha had for Tomoya Aki.
Under Ren's layer-by-layer reduction, that favor which seemed so heavy to Utaha began to become as thin as paper.
He had said enough; now it was time to see Utaha's reaction.
Ren looked forward to her outburst. How would the outburst of this top student be different from Eriri's?
"My Metronome in Love is not trash."
As if her "reverse scale" had been touched, Utaha gripped Ren's wrist tightly with one hand. The fear in her eyes was replaced by determination.
Metronome in Love was Utaha's debut work, her life's blood, and also her child.
And now, her child was being called trash by Ren.
This black-hearted fox, usually cynical and cunning, would also begin to resist the giant dragon for the sake of her treasure.
"But everything you do for Tomoya Aki is telling your Metronome in Love with your own mouth..."
"That she is trash."
Ren was very satisfied with Utaha's current gaze. This was her finding herself.
Utaha, who had been dominating the first rank in her grade and had written the best-selling light novel Metronome in Love before even graduating university...
Ren wanted to see how spirited she was at that time, rather than being willing to discard her dignity for Tomoya Aki as she had just now.
A genius should be high-spirited, rebellious, and... stand at the top of the mountain looking down at ordinary people.
Yukino Yukinoshita should be so, Eriri Spencer Sawamura should be so, and Utaha Kasumigaoka should also be so.
Yukino shouldn't choose to escape because of her classmates' "jealousy." Eriri shouldn't feel guilty because of Tomoya's "are you going to abandon me again." And Utaha shouldn't be extremely humble because of Tomoya's "favor."
They should all be radiant.
"The more you value this favor to Tomoya Aki, the more it shows you think Metronome in Love is trash."
"It is also telling yourself, Senpai..."
"That you are also trash."
Feeling the hand on his wrist tightening, Ren stated this cruel reality without any mercy.
He spoke until the little girl before him, who had shown nothing but humility, was covered in wounds.
But... what he said was the truth.
That was the most tragic part.
The heavier the favor, the lighter the weight of the light novel Metronome in Love.
In Utaha's heart, Tomoya Aki's promotion was a far greater contribution than her own writing. This in itself was the funniest joke.
"My Metronome in Love is not trash, and I am not trash either."
"I am the honors student who has maintained the first rank in the grade since enrollment. My Metronome in Love is also a best-selling light novel in Japan. I am a true genius."
Utaha fell into a self-justification trap. She didn't choose to refute Ren directly.
Instead, she used her grades and the success of Metronome in Love to prove to Ren that she wasn't trash and that her book wasn't trash.
"Yes, Senpai is a genius, and Metronome in Love is also a high-quality light novel."
"So, where did that high-spiritedness belonging to a genius go?"
"Was it..."
"All thrown onto Tomoya Aki by you?"