"No way!"
Takashi had tried everything—he had practically talked himself hoarse—but he still couldn't get Maki to give him Nagisa's phone number.
It was driving him crazy.
Didn't Nagisa say that Maki already considered her a friend?
What kind of friend wouldn't even share a phone number?
Takashi slammed the table. "Alright, that's it for today. I have things to do."
Not giving him the number?
Fine!
He'd just go back to fishing.
Frustrated, Takashi decided to call off the date.
Anyway, he had already accumulated enough points, so he could forcibly cancel this one.
It wasn't like he couldn't afford to spend a measly ten thousand points!
Who didn't have points anyway?
He. Did. Not. Care. At. All.
A man must have dignity!
He couldn't let a woman have her way all the time.
Even though Takashi wasn't sure if this childish act—something like Hmph!
I'm not playing with you anymore!—would have any effect on Maki, it was the only form of resistance he could come up with.
'Wait, was that table slam a bit too loud? What if I upset the young lady? What should I do then?'
Takashi had barely taken a few steps before regret started creeping in.
He had let his emotions get the better of him and almost forgot who was sitting across from him—an actual, bona fide rich young lady.
Someone whose family power might even surpass Nagisa's.
How could he show her attitude like that?
He had been too reckless.
'Come on, stop me! If you call me back, I'll definitely stop walking.' Takashi was already preparing an excuse for himself.
All he needed was an opportunity.
He would show her what it meant to go back on his word.
"Wait, Takashi, where are you going?"
Maki panicked when she saw Takashi get up to leave.
Sure, she was a tsundere, but her type of tsundere was fundamentally different from Eriri's.
For Maki, the "tsun" part made up at most ten to twenty percent, while the "dere" part was much stronger.
As for Eriri... well, how should one put it?
Her "tsun" barely contained any "dere" at all, or at best, just a tiny, negligible amount.
Compared to her, Maki was definitely cuter.
"Going home."
The moment he heard Maki call him, Takashi immediately stopped and turned around, though he still put on a tough act.
Do you know what part of Takashi was the hardest?
His mouth!
"Don't go! Fine, I'll give it to you, alright?"
Maki grabbed her purse and was about to chase after him, leaving a five-thousand-yen bill on the table.
Takashi's expression changed instantly. He rushed back and sternly told the waiter, "Give us change!"
This wasteful woman.
Just for one cup of coffee and one Frappuccino, she handed over five thousand yen?
Was she insane?
No wonder businesses loved making money off women.
It was just too easy!
Maki stared in a daze as Takashi, who had just walked away, suddenly returned, took the change from the waiter, and stuffed it into her hand.
"You can't just throw money around like that. You need to break this bad habit." Takashi lectured her earnestly.
When it came to spending, Takashi had always been sensible—saving when necessary and spending when appropriate.
He was the kind of guy who would ride a bicycle to a bar.
Even when shopping at the supermarket, he always brought his own reusable bag.
Maki glanced at the money in her hand, then at Takashi, who was lecturing her like an old father.
She found herself struggling to keep up with his pace. It was both amusing and exasperating.
"What can you even do with this little money?"
She usually tipped more than that.
"This little money?"
Takashi's face darkened.
Back in high school, his weekly allowance was barely over a hundred yen.
"Let's go!" Takashi grabbed Maki's hand and walked toward the exit.
"Today, I'm going to show you exactly what 4,200 yen can do."
Takashi had made up his mind. He was going to make this rich young lady experience what it was like to live an ordinary life.
Maki didn't resist.
At that moment, she was staring absentmindedly at their interlocked hands.
'So this is what a boy's hand feels like? It's so big.'
She had always known that boys' hands were bigger, but she had never actually compared them palm to palm before—let alone held one.
Just looking at them visually, they didn't seem that much larger.
It was just like how people knew that girls' bodies were soft and fragrant, but without ever hugging one or experiencing it firsthand, they could only rely on imagination.
Naturally, they couldn't truly grasp how soft it actually was.
Einstein once said, "Experimentation is the only standard for verifying truth."
Now, at sixteen, Maki had finally held hands with a boy for the first time and realized just how big a boy's hand could be.
At that moment, she stepped into a whole new world.
…
"So this is a train? There are so many people."
Sitting in a seat that Takashi had won from an older man, Maki looked around like a country girl visiting the city for the first time, her eyes filled with curiosity.
The surrounding passengers were all staring at this wealthy-looking young lady with puzzled expressions.
Even though Maki never paid much attention to her outfits, every piece of clothing she owned was expensive.
And even if she wore the same clothes as an ordinary person, the refined aura she had cultivated from growing up in a wealthy family would still set her apart.
Money really could shape a person.
Rich kids, unless they were born with severely asymmetrical facial features, were almost never ugly.
"You've never ridden a train before?"
Takashi had only secured a seat for Maki—he didn't take one himself.
He stood in front of her, carefully shielding her.
If this young lady got bumped or hurt, he might have to start thinking about where he'd be buried.
"I've never used public transportation in my life." Maki's words were infuriating, but Takashi knew she was telling the truth.
With her background, she was undoubtedly chauffeured everywhere. It was impossible for her to squeeze into a train with regular commuters.
It just showed how different people's lives could be.
Even while living in the same world, in the same city.
Takashi believed her, but a few nearby passengers didn't.
"What do you think?" Takashi was genuinely curious about how a young lady like Maki felt riding a train for the first time.
"There are a lot of people, it smells like sweat, and… it's kind of interesting."
Maki tilted her head, thought for a moment, and answered honestly.
"This is what an ordinary life looks like."
Takashi smiled but didn't say much more.
He took Maki to Tabata Ginza Shopping Street in Tokyo's Kita Ward.
The old streets and shops retained a strong Showa-era style.
Walking through them, Maki felt as if she had traveled back in time.
What amazed her the most wasn't just the retro environment but the prices.
It was as if the cost of living had regressed to the past.
When Takashi took her to a small oden shop called Tsukuda Chuu and she saw the prices, Maki's eyes widened in disbelief.
It wasn't that the store was expensive—quite the opposite.
Believe it or not, in Tokyo, you could buy a serving of oden for just twenty-five yen.
And for less than eighty yen, you could get fried tofu.
The prices were so low that she found it hard to believe she was still standing in Tokyo, one of the most expensive cities in the world.
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: Anything For Money]
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