Animania: Everyone Loves Me

The afternoon sunlight dyed the clouds at the edge of the sky a warm orange, with a texture as soft as cotton candy.

Togawa Sakiko bit her lip tightly, looked toward the elderly man in the car, and only after a long time did she speak in a low voice.

"You really are everywhere."

"...Grandfather."

Togawa Sadaharu. The current leader of the Togawa Group, and also the nominal current head of the Togawa family.

Although he had already aged, this old man did not look the least bit decrepit. His head full of silver hair was neatly combed, and he had a stern square face. His official-like seriousness was as if carved, and one could imagine he was a dashing, handsome man in his youth.

"Sakiko," His tone was light, but it carried a firmness that allowed no doubt, as he repeated once again, "You should go home."

'Again, like this, always like this.'

In Togawa Sakiko's memory, her grandfather had always been this way. Whenever he spoke with her, he always carried an imposing and unquestionable air, as if in his eyes, the girl named "Togawa Sakiko" was just a puppet that could be manipulated at will.

Puppets did not need to have emotions, just needed to follow orders. Regardless of whether the order conflicted with your wishes, you were powerless to resist, and the only choice was to accept.

'But, Grandfather, times have already changed.'

She was no longer that weak, naive, and innocent eldest daughter of the Togawa family.

The current Togawa Sakiko was merely a diligent and conscientious little secretary beside the company president.

"I will go home," The girl lifted her face and tightly grasped the president's hand beside her, drawing strength from courage.

Those brilliant golden eyes shimmered. With her actions, she launched a rebellion against her graceful grandfather.

"But not now, and even less should it be by your coercion. It must come from my own will."

Even though his usually obedient granddaughter defied him, Togawa Sadaharu did not get angry because of this.

He merely fixed his gaze on their tightly intertwined fingers, and those iron-gray pupils did not look away for a long time.

Togawa Sakiko felt a bit nervous under the stare, yet she never let go of the president's hand. She only pressed her lips together, her eyes stubborn and unyielding.

"I see," After a long silence, Togawa Sadaharu finally said lightly, "Sakiko, you've become strong."

This ought to have been a compliment, like a gratified grandfather patting his granddaughter's head saying, "My girl has finally grown up."

But this old man's tone carried not a trace of warmth. Instead, it was cold and hard like a rock.

His gaze shifted slightly to the right and fell on Kaito's face. There was a momentary distraction, but he quickly regained his composure.

As the current nominal head of the Togawa family, Togawa Sadaharu never fought unprepared battles.

Since he personally came today, before coming, he had already collected all the recent information on Sakiko. Of course, he was not unfamiliar with the name "Kaito."

A once-in-a-thousand-years peerless beautiful boy like Hikaru Genji, an international student from the neighboring country Celestial Empire. Though young, he possessed the ability to easily purify evil spirits, and was suspected to come from an exorcist family across the sea.

The profile collected by his subordinates was very simple. Only the most basic information, not even enough to fill a single sheet of paper.

This was normal. After all, facing a mysterious transcendent being, investigating too thoroughly would only alert the target and might even arouse their resentment, inviting unnecessary trouble.

Though the Togawa Group did not fear trouble, there was no need to make enemies everywhere.

But this time was different.

As Sakiko's grandfather, this was a family matter of the Togawa family, with no room for outsiders to interfere.

As for Sakiko's opinion?

A child who didn't understand the world only needed to obey the arrangements of adults.

So he spoke for the fourth time. This time, with just two short words, "Get in."

The tone was even colder, like a final ultimatum.

This stance made the girl's chest rise and fall violently, and even her delicate face faintly flushed red.

It was out of anger at this stubborn old man who wouldn't listen, but also partly from fear.

After all, she grew up under her grandfather's sternness. Like a circus lion cub, taught with a whip from the trainer since youth. So even after it grows up and has the strength to tear a wild ox apart, it still reflexively fears the whip when raised.

In the midst of unease, someone gently tightened their grip on her hand.

As a boss who cared about his secretary, Kaito originally had no intention of speaking casually.

He only needed to be the source of strength for little Sakiko to face her grandfather, only stepping in at the critical moment to back her up.

If possible, he preferred to fulfill little Sakiko's desire to confront her grandfather on her own, relying solely on her own courage.

Unfortunately, this old fossil was getting more and more excessive, abusing his age.

Already that old, bullying a little girl was one thing, but even playing cold violence, it was just too ugly.

Seeing that the little secretary was having trouble holding on, he placed the girl protectively behind him and calmly glanced at the elderly man in the car.

Togawa Sadaharu, who had remained calm all along, finally couldn't suppress a moment of loss of composure. On that face as stern as an iron mask, cracks spread like a collapsing iceberg.

Normally, Kaito was always easygoing, lazy yet gentle, making people think of a lion cat elegantly napping on a windowsill. Because of his excessive beauty, he instead invoked people's protective instincts, adding a sense of fragility.

But now, he coldly glanced down. Those eyes that ought to have been chestnut-brown now seemed as if molten gold flowed in them, like a burning sun. Not only were they not fragile, mortals couldn't even look directly at his might.

———

"So this counts as... resolved?", Walking down a deserted path, Togawa Sakiko's expression was still a bit dazed. She had not completely returned to her senses.

That grandfather of hers, normally immune to reason, had just now, for some unknown reason, suddenly turned pale, lips blue, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Huge beads of sweat poured down as if a river, quickly soaking his neatly pressed suit. He looked as disheveled as if he had just run a forty-kilometer marathon.

But he was clearly just sitting in the car the whole time, he hadn't even changed his sitting posture.

'Could it be he suddenly got some acute illness?'

The little secretary couldn't make sense of it, and couldn't help but glance toward Kaito beside her.

'If we're talking about the only person present capable of something so unscientific... it can only be the president, right?'

Facing the blue-haired girl's worried gaze, Kaito casually ruffled her little head, "Don't worry, he's fine."

Within those words, it was undoubtedly an admission of everything.

After all, he was the little secretary's grandfather. Although quite annoying, he could only be considered a rather rigid and stubborn traditional patriarch, not deserving of death. Just scaring him a bit would be enough.

He really hadn't used any excessive means, just employed a divine ability called "Candle Dragon Spirit Eyes" to give a light punishment as a warning. He even specially reduced the power so an ordinary person could endure it. It would cause Togawa Sadaharu to have nightmares for a few days, but wouldn't have much physical impact.

Surely, with this experience, the other party should behave for a while...

Kaito suddenly frowned.

Behind them, the familiar black Maybach once again caught up head-on and slowly stopped by the roadside. The door opened.

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