"Why did you encourage Maki to pursue Tanuma?"
Hearing the question, Takashi immediately became alert.
'She's not planning to have someone deal with me, is she?'
It wasn't unreasonable for Takashi to think this way.
Putting himself in someone else's shoes—if he heard that someone was encouraging another person to pursue his girlfriend, he would absolutely react the same way.
With that possibility in mind, Takashi felt as if a giant red "DANGER" sign had appeared above his head!
He had previously heard Maki mention Nagisa's family background.
Her grandfather was the chairman of the Federation of Economic Organizations.
The Federation of Economic Organizations, officially known as the Japan Business Federation, was primarily composed of companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Alongside the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, it was one of Japan's "Big Three Economic Organizations."
For those who didn't grasp its significance, Takashi would put it this way:
In his past life, when the chairmen of these three major economic groups visited China, they were received by the Premier of the State Council.
Her grandfather wielded such immense power that crushing him would be as easy as stepping on an ant.
Not to mention, her father was also the president of a shipbuilding company.
If he offended her, Takashi felt like he might as well start writing his will right now.
You say he has a system?
Takashi didn't believe a system that sold skills like photo editing, cooking, and writing would be of any help.
Even if it could, he didn't have enough system points anyway.
"Miss Kashiwagi, after hearing my answer, you probably, maybe, hopefully won't do anything to me, right?" Takashi carefully picked his words, afraid of displeasing her.
Nagisa playfully winked at him.
"Depends on your answer."
Takashi's heart sank. "Is my answer really that important?"
"Your answer will determine my attitude," Nagisa said with a smile as she observed his nervous expression.
Even though their faces were somewhat similar, the different experiences they brought were truly fascinating.
No wonder Maki had made time to come see him.
If you don't share a good man with your best friend, wouldn't that strain your friendship?
During this silence, his brain was operating at full capacity, analyzing how he should respond to this question.
It might have been a few minutes, or maybe just a dozen seconds.
In Takashi's perception, it felt like a long time had passed before he slowly spoke: "Before I answer, I'd like to know why Miss Kashiwagi is asking this question."
Takashi wanted to understand her reasoning before giving his response.
Nagisa evaluated him this way in her mind, though she maintained a soft smile on her face.
"Kitahara-kun, I don't quite understand why you encourage and help others seek true love."
"Although this may be my own bias, from my perspective, if Maki secretly pined for Tanuma her entire life, your benefits would be maximized."
"With your abilities, I believe you could make that happen."
Takashi neither confirmed nor denied it.
From a purely profit-driven standpoint, if Maki never dared to confess to Tanuma Tsubasa, she would inevitably turn to Takashi to ease her lovesickness.
Like those women who got swindled out of their money by hosts, she would keep coming to him every day until she was drained of all value.
Maki was different from those "paupers" who got scammed by hosts.
With the financial power of the Shijo family, Takashi probably wouldn't be able to drain Maki dry even if he spent his entire life trying.
Nagisa had never heard of any family, truly deserving the title of "clan," being ruined by a host.
In other words, Maki was a lifelong meal ticket capable of supporting him indefinitely.
"But you didn't do that."
What puzzled Nagisa was that not only did Takashi refrain from manipulating Maki, but he actually encouraged her to pursue Tanuma Tsubasa.
"Kitahara-kun, you clearly love money and have expensive hobbies. Given that, why would you make such a decision? I don't understand."
According to the private investigators she hired, Takashi was someone who enjoyed money.
Not only did he like buying trendy clothes, but he also collected watches, antiques, cameras, fishing gear, beads, raised dogs, built his own computers, and had many other interests.
Every single one of those hobbies required money.
Takashi should have been eager to hold onto Maki, a money-spitting golden perch.
If he encouraged Maki to pursue Tanuma Tsubasa and she actually succeeded, wouldn't that mean he willingly let go of a financial backer?
There was no way Takashi didn't understand that.
Nagisa was extremely curious about his reasoning.
Takashi suddenly understood.
He finally grasped what Nagisa was fixated on.
After thinking it over, Takashi felt there was no need to lie, so he answered honestly: "Although what I do might seem similar to a host's job in your eyes..."
"At the end of the day, there is a fundamental difference between me and them."
While both made money off women, one relied on manipulation, while the other offered companionship and emotional value.
"I never deliberately act miserable to gain their sympathy."
Takashi was poor, but he never made a point of mentioning it.
He certainly wouldn't make up stories about a gambling-addicted father, a sick mother, a younger sister struggling to go to school, or a broken family to evoke pity.
"Nor do I attempt to form fake romantic relationships with them for profit."
Takashi never confessed to any of them or became their boyfriend.
He wasn't bragging, but if he wanted, he had plenty of ways to steal any one of them away and make her his girlfriend.
That would actually be much easier.
If he were even more despicable, he could take a page from certain questionable media—drugging, blackmailing with photos, and threats.
That way, he wouldn't even need to sweet-talk them; he could simply take their money outright.
But he never did that, nor did he ever badmouth Aki Tomoya in front of Utaha or Eriri.
"Dating them is just my job. To me, they are merely clients. Nothing more, nothing less."
He never considered developing any further relationships with them.
In Takashi's eyes, his relationships with the girls were more like actors co-starring in a film.
On camera, they could be a loving couple. Off camera, they were, at best, acquaintances who had met a few times.
"Just because I'm doing this job now doesn't mean I will keep doing it forever."
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: Anything For Money]