After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

"Crimes... evidence?"

Saijo Mari struggled to smile, "What are you talking about, Mr. Kagura? How could my father possibly commit a crime? He is..."

"The chairman of a debt-ridden company who plans to abscond with funds and live a carefree life beyond the reach of law, a traitor?"

"..."

"Senior Saijo, you must have noticed something off about your father, at least to some extent, right?"

Kagura Hikaru opened the file folder.

He took out the financial reports of Mari Enterprise given to him a few days ago by Ayakoji Chiyoko, and the information obtained by the competent private investigator, arranging it all meticulously in front of Saijo Mari.

"Mari Enterprise has been running at a loss for three consecutive years. With most of its domestic physical stores closed, the chairman boldly borrowed three hundred million from banks and initiated a price war with drastically reduced prices to grab orders, miraculously reversing the company's downtrend... Such naïve fairy tales only happen in idol dramas."

Kagura Hikaru watched as Saijo Mari inspected the documents one by one, her expression growing increasingly frantic, feeling somewhat reluctant to distress her.

But as one of the victims, or rather the person in question, she had to know the truth.

"My client has investigated – the chairman of Mari Enterprise, which is your father, Senior Saijo, along with some top executives, have transferred most of their assets, including family members, to America, presumably planning to collectively flee overseas. Do you understand, Senior Saijo? What your father is doing constitutes fraud and deception, which is unforgivable by law."

"I, I... I had no idea at all." Saijo Mari let her head fall in despair, crumpling the papers in her hands.

How could she, just a high school girl, possibly be aware of these dirty financial dealings?
Find more to read on empire

She had been completely kept in the dark by her father.

"You told me before that your father wanted to take the family on a vacation to America."

"Are you saying that he..."

"Yes, I think this vacation was meant to be the kind with no return."

"How could this..."

Saijo Mari thought of the delayed delivery of school sports equipment and her father's untimely mentions of going to America on the phone, her complexion growing worse by the moment.

Behind the scenes, unbeknownst to her, Mari Enterprise might have already ground to a halt, with the factory unable to ship out any goods.

And her father, so greedy he even wanted to pocket the money allocated by the school.

It was despicable — this was her own high school!

"It's just conjecture, but your mother probably argued with your father over this matter because she didn't want to be complicit. If the situation were to be exposed, even you and your sisters would be implicated."

"Then you..."

"Don't worry, I'm not a 'Justice Messenger,' and I don't plan to report to anyone. There's only this one copy of the documents, and I'll leave them in your care." Kagura Hikaru pushed the files toward Saijo Mari, who visibly struggled with a conflicted expression.

Common sense dictates that one should denounce their father if he's committing crimes.

But such matters are not easily addressed in reality.

The exposure of her father's crimes would drag down the entire family; no one would escape the fallout. This left Saijo Mari too scared to make any rash moves, completely at a loss as to what to do with these "criminal evidences."

She was caught between a rock and a hard place, and that was the essence of her dilemma.

If only she had remained ignorant of everything from the beginning.

"..."

"The affair of Mari Enterprise is beyond the involvement of a mere student like me, or rather, even if I wanted to interfere it's already too late. So, Senior Saijo, let's focus on our own tasks for now. Preparing for the sports festival is already stressful enough." Kagura Hikaru said, "I heard that the new sports equipment hasn't arrived yet?"

"Yes." Saijo Mari mustered her energy, "Tomorrow is the opening ceremony of the sports festival, but we still can't gather all the necessary props. Many complaints have come my way, yet I can't meet their expectations... If the equipment doesn't arrive by the day of the sports festival, it's going to be a disaster."

"Has the payment for the order been completed?"

"Yes, it was paid in full."

"It doesn't look like we'll be able to recover it for the time being... I understand, Senior Saijo. The Discipline Committee will help you with this."

"Really?!" Saijo Mari stood up excitedly, "Does that mean the Discipline Committee still has some of the old equipment? If so, we might just be able to make it through!"

"No, those have all been sold, we did not anticipate this incident in advance."

"Ah... But how are we supposed to gather such a vast quantity of sports equipment now? If we go to buy them now, the cost issue..."

"Don't rush, Senior Saijo, first list out the equipment needed for tomorrow's sports day events, and I'll make a call to inquire."

"Yes, yes! I'll do it right now!"

Perhaps because there was more pressing work at hand, Saijo Mari temporarily put aside her father's issue and started to search for this year's Uka sports day events on her laptop.

Kagura Hikaru did not disturb her. He stepped out of the Sports Committee's room, took out his cellphone, and leaned against the wall outside to dial a number.

A few seconds later, the call connected.

"Hello, Kagura?"

The voice that came through was Ayakoji Chiyoko's.

"It's me," said Kagura Hikaru, "I have an opportunity right now to score a big favor from Saijo Mari."

"What opportunity?"

"The sports equipment for sports day has not been gathered at all, we can help the Sports Committee resolve this issue." Kagura Hikaru seemed to already have a plan in mind as he went straight to the point, "You've been to Tsukinomori before to see Sakata Asahi, right? Is she still the Student Council President?"

"Yes."

"Go and give her a heads-up, borrow their school's equipment."

"I see. She probably won't refuse if I go to her," replied Ayakoji Chiyoko crisply, "I'll handle the communication. You make sure to keep Saijo Mari steady and, most importantly, prevent Kiryu Hina from getting involved, understand?"

"Okay, Saijo Mari is still compiling the list. Once she's done, I'll send it to your phone."

"Got it."

They both hung up at the same time.

They were both aware that this was critical.

The key to securing Saijo Mari's unwavering loyalty.

If they could help her navigate through this current predicament, she would almost certainly agree to solicit votes for Ayakoji Chiyoko in the future. That was the nature of favors.

The only thing Kagura Hikaru was presently concerned about was Kiryu Hina's movements.

He could guess that the leverage Kiryu Hina held was mostly connected to Saijo Mari's father.

He just didn't know how she would play her hand.

What Kagura Hikaru didn't anticipate was that the situation would develop much faster than he had expected.

No, at times like this, it would be more accurate to say 'when it rains, it pours.'

While Saijo Mari was frantically finishing up the equipment list, and before she could catch her breath after handing it over to Kagura Hikaru for Ayakoji Chiyoko, she suddenly received a call from her mother.

"Mari, your dad has been caught by the National Tax Agency people. We might not come home tonight, so please go pick up Midori and Riko."

Kagura Hikaru overheard this much.

It was both unexpected and expected.

Saijo's father must have oversimplified his criminal activities, leaving a messy trail.

Even the Disciplinary Committee, a school organization, could uncover hints of misconduct, and hiring a private investigator meant that asset transfers could be dug up within days; it was implausible to think that they could elude the watch of national authorities.

Especially when dealing with the National Tax Agency, the most sensitive to monetary issues.

This was also why, even though he knew that Mari Enterprise was involved in criminal activities, he did not plan to report it; Kagura Hikaru was aware that others would take care of them.

However, this meant that the Saijo Family's hardships were inevitable.

He wondered whether Saijo Mari would be able to withstand it.