"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier Hikigaya?" Fujiwara pouted and pointed at me in an accusatory manner. She aggressively munched on the gourmet sandwich she'd bought from the cafeteria. Kaguya ate her custom bento delicately next to me, any goodwill between us was now forgotten.

"Sorry, I just didn't want a big deal to be made out of it." I apologized, trying to keep a straight face. The real reason had been more along the lines of shock value than actual humility or desire to be normal.

I'd tried to act normal with Orimoto, I'd let her make me feel like everyone else, and that had been my mistake. Why should I bother hiding who I was and what I could do, when instead I could just as easily be revered for what my gifts?

"That's fair, but still…" Fujiwara pouted and I laughed. Her reactions were amusing, and her intonation made deciphering her sincerity an interesting challenge.

I offered her a twice-cooked egg from my lunch as consolation. First I soft-boiled the egg before frying it in a pan along with seasoning. Most people loved it and I was glad that I'd attended that dinner with a client. The chef had been extremely helpful with advice and I learned a lot about Egyptian cooking from him.

She moaned when she bit into it. Enjoying the explosion of umami flavors that the morsel provided.

Kaguya observed me, like an enemy in your home. I glanced at her - hey, it's not like I want to be there anyway, goddamn. I didn't ask Fujiwara to drag both of us together to hang out.

"Fujiwara, could you please give us some privacy?" Kaguya gave her 'friend' a thin smile and I swallowed. The conflict was inevitable but that didn't mean that I wanted to deal with it right now.

Fujiwara took the hint and made herself scarce only after plucking the second egg from my bento. I turned to face Kaguya who glared at me.

"We need to clear the air. I don't believe that you are a spy, but I still want to know why you are here?" She stated firmly, but without malice.

I grinned, Kaguya wasn't my friend, far from it. But she was the only person who didn't have any reason to want something from me. If she inherited the company (which I believed that she would) her net worth would easily be double mine, even with the exorbitant money that flew in from my current position. I was an external contractor for Itami & Otori, they would receive eight percent of what I earned, and the attorney presenting my arguments in each case would earn two percent.

Which didn't seem like a lot but most of the senior partners as well, were willing to do almost anything to convince me to work with them. One had even hired me a prostitute, which I had chosen not to partake in. The reason that two percent was so coveted was that when I was leading a lawsuit against the US department of defense on behalf of tens of thousands of Iraqi people, for almost half a trillion USD. Two percent of twenty-five percent seemed like a great deal. We had only settled for half that but still the raw cash that I received from that had made me unbelievably wealthy.

With the kind of money I was now in possession of, everyone wanted a piece. Except for Kaguya who had no real reason to, and any special utility that I offered to her could be countered by a team of lawyers with a lot of time.

I didn't want us to be enemies so I happily agreed. "The reason I'm here is that at my old school, I got rejected by a girl and bullying followed." I confessed kind of embarrassed at how banal the reason was. "Also, there's nothing really to motivate me to be a spy. I have more money than I could ever reasonably spend."

I sat back confident that her concerns had been assuaged. Maybe things were looking up.

~/~

What an absolute bold-faced-lie. I almost trembled in rage as the boy who I thought to be my friend sat there lying with a smile.

Regardless of ego, Hikigaya was smart. Not just smart but an absolute genius. So for him to have misjudged someone's character so badly that they would make fun of him after he confessed was almost certainly nonsense. Along with the fact that he had rumored ties with multiple international crime families.

No one would dare try to mock him if they knew what he could do.

My smile was sincere because I was happy. Now that I had identified my father's agent I could alter his perception of me to fit my needs.

Time to make conversation, his backstory will almost certainly be airtight but it never hurts to see how practiced of a liar he was. "So why did my father agree to sponsor you?" He hadn't even sponsored me or Oko when we attended.

Hikigaya blinked, but seemed content. Well, I guess that he's relieved to be asked such an easy question. This is probably one that he had memorized forward or backward. "He was impressed by the work that I did for him on venture capitalism: risk/reward profit/liabilities distribution system. At the time he offered to sponsor me for Shuuchin in exchange for me working on another case. I tabled the offer and later decided to take it."

"What's the new case that you're working on?" I turned to him, maybe I can push and get him to slip up.

"Now that would be telling. Discretion is key after all." He replied, eating a serving of rice from her chopsticks. Hikigaya nodded to Fujiwara who skipped back over and I grit my teeth. Did he really think he was the one who got to decide when the conversation was over?

"Kaguya, Kaguya. We should go check out the courtyard. Apparently, they have an engineering exhibition this week." Fujiwara pulled on my hand and I reluctantly left my bento behind. An attendant would clear it and have it sent back to my family however I was still a touch peckish.

She turned back to Hikigaya who was smiling curiously but he waved her off citing that he wanted to get a better feel for the campus. Which was most definitely a lie, his mind was great at mapping things out which is why chess against him was so much fun.

I let myself be dragged away leaving him to eat alone.

~/~

Kaguya was taken by the nice girl, leaving me to think. I was glad that Kaguya believed me, she seemed sincerely happy after I explained my innocence. While with Fujiwara I didn't know what to believe was her behavior based on a gamble, that I had a utility, that paid off. Hard to tell.

I got up mimicking the other students by not bothering to clean up after myself. It was an odd experience, one which I was not used to, however, I was eager to avoid any faux pas and tried to fly under people's radar as an outsider.

Though by the stares I was getting and the way students stepped out of my way, I had a feeling that they wouldn't treat me like an outsider but wouldn't welcome me either. Having Gan'aan Shinomiya's sponsorship was a much bigger deal here than I initially expected.

I rounded through various hallways acquainting myself with the inner geometry of the buildings. Though I stilled when I walked into a deserted hallway and saw her. Pale as a ghost with hair to match, and eyes so bright and blue that they shine like sapphires. She sat alone back leaning against a wall as she ate.

Her expression was slightly dejected. This should be more interesting than walking around aimlessly. Almost every student ate socially in the plethora of common areas or worked in the library and munched on a bar.

I made a conscious effort to increase the sound of my footsteps so as not to startle her. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at me - the way a cat might defend her territory.

The best way to extract information will be to play the part of a concerned student. "Are you okay? I can help you to the doctor's office if it's not." Our School was too 'good' (read: snobby) to have just a nurse instead they had a highly acclaimed doctor waiting around to give kids ice or aspirin.

I wonder how that guy spends his time, might be worth checking out later. She forced a strained smile "No, that's okay I'm just eating here alone." She emphasized.

I smiled, no need for me to be pushy. "Alright, by the way, if you want to sit alone there's a much better spot in the south courtyard. It's under a huge oak tree and has lots of shade." I turned and walked away, relatively indifferent to the whole affair.

Though to see someone isolated like that eked some empathy out of me. After I had confessed to Orimoto, many a lunch had been spent in a toilet stall working on my laptop.

I wasn't bullied for the most part but cold social condemnation could hurt equally.

I walked down the hallway and pushed open a set of double doors, leading into (what I discovered to be) an auditorium.

I filed in, the entire room dimly lit and a single girl dancing on the illuminated stage. Her ballet was delicate and elegant, the movements almost ethereal to the eye. I watched the almost inhumanly graceful performance. Her blonde hair was tight in a bun and her eyes danced more than she did.

Until she stopped, dripping sweat and panting; the performance utterly and absolutely enraptured me.

I figured such beauty was worth applauding and did just that. She turned sharply and saw me sitting in the row. "Hikigaya, how shocking?" Her voice was deadpan flat.

"You don't sound that surprised." I teased. "I'd have bought some roses to toss but I forgot my wallet at home."

"I am surprised; quite so." I sensed a but coming. "But, I'm also tired and sweaty; so pardon my lack of reaction." She gave me a curtsy and I laughed.

Both at the joke and the fact that I was correct.

The awkwardness set in, as we were more casual acquaintances that knew each other through Kaguya than people with any real relationship. "So Hikigaya, what are you doing here really?" Hayasaka wiped her forehead with a towel that had been placed nearby. She then found a similarly located water bottle and drank from that.

I repeated the humiliating story and she giggled. "Were you that afraid of a little awkwardness Hikigaya? Besides if you called the Ryujuugami or another one of the families that you work with they definitely could've made that go away?"

I'm not like that, goddamn; I was annoyed by the teasing and isolation but not enough to sick actual mobsters on middle schoolers. I didn't narrate my inner monologue to her and instead elected to hum in acknowledgment. "I could've."

Any further conversation was furloughed by Hayasaka, "Well, I apologize but I need to use the showers before class resumes." She hardly waited for a response and instead turned and began to exit. I did the same though in another direction.

(A/N): Kei is less composed because she was only 12-13 years old at the time. She's also less likely to be rude to a stranger than to her own brother.