"Is this really the time for that?"
Beside her, another girl who looked almost identical to the two sighed in exasperation.
Unlike the bright, food-loving Itsuki and the fashionable, Tsundere Nino, this girl had a slightly gloomier demeanor. Her thick bangs covered most of her face, giving her the air of a shut-in.
Nakano Miku.
Among the five sisters, she and Nino were most prone to bickering.
Seeing Nino criticize Itsuki while staring blankly at Makoto, Miku found it hard to watch.
'You're one to talk about Itsuki!'
Her thoughts exposed, Nino's pride was wounded. She crossed her arms and huffed, "I'm just observing the strongest person in the world. Miku, do you have to be so crude?"
Miku nearly laughed out loud, 'Who are you trying to fool?'
They came from the same womb… she knew her sister inside out.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. People are looking."
A sister with short hair stepped forward, trying to mediate.
Nakano Ichika.
Despite their nearly identical faces and figures, when standing together, everyone instinctively saw Ichika as the eldest.
Her ingrained maturity and composure set her apart from the other four.
Having just calmed Nino and Miku down, Ichika suddenly paused.
"Huh? Where's Yotsuba?"
The other three blinked and started looking around.
Their gazes quickly fixed on the direction of the banquet's center. Nakano Yotsuba was energetically heading straight towards the area where Makoto and the heads of the major conglomerates were gathered.
"What does she think she's doing?!"
The four sisters were dumbfounded.
Yotsuba was usually the liveliest and most outgoing of the five, but this was hardly the occasion!
'Could her social butterfly tendencies choose a better time?'
Not far away, Maruo was also terrified, his soul nearly leaving his body.
He spent most of his time at the hospital, where his medical skills were considered top-tier in the Tokyo area. Countless wealthy and powerful people queued up for consultations, so he rarely went home and wasn't good at interacting with his five adopted daughters.
He could only support them unconditionally financially.
But he truly cared for his five daughters.
When Ichika wanted to enter the entertainment industry, he quietly pulled strings.
When Nino's impulsive nature caused trouble, he discreetly intervened.
When all five sisters' grades were abysmal, and their previous school, Kurobara Girls High School, wouldn't take them back, he was considering sending gifts to the board of Shuchi'in Academy to get them in.
But this scene before him...
Maruo screamed internally:
'What the hell do you think you're doing, Yotsuba?!'
Under the terrified gazes of her adoptive father and four sisters, Nakano Yotsuba, fearless, charged up to Makoto, raised her hand high, and waved with a cheerful, energetic smile.
"Wow! Long time no see!"
Her words instantly quieted the surroundings.
The heads of Japan's top family clans who had been crowding around Makoto… Fujiwara Daichi, Suzuki Shiro, Tokugawa Mitsunari, and others… all turned to look at her.
They frowned slightly, looking at this girl with ribbons tied like rabbit ears on her head, cute but seeming a bit rash.
'Where did this young lady come from? Couldn't she see we're talking with Nishikawa-sama?'
Makoto stared at Yotsuba for a few seconds, then a look of realization crossed his face. He nodded lightly. "Oh, yeah. It has been a while."
Hearing Makoto's words, Daichi and the others, who had shown slight displeasure, instantly changed their expressions. Any annoyance vanished, replaced by extremely fawning smiles.
"Oh, a friend of Nishikawa-sama's?!"
"We used to do sports together a lot!" Yotsuba said with innocent cheerfulness, looking at Makoto. "Makoto-san is so strong. He always pins me down so comfortably!"
Instantly,
The vast banquet hall fell into absolute silence.
Not far away, the four sisters and Maruo stood frozen, their minds blank.
'N-no way... Did Yotsuba go that far?'
'When did this happen? How did we have no idea?!'
Even the Aizono sisters, Utaha, and the others, who were used to Makoto having many girls around, were stunned.
They thought they knew Makoto's social circle inside out, but this rabbit-eared girl was new to them.
'Where did she come from?'
The faces of the surrounding representatives of the financial cliques went pale.
'Whoa!'
'Is this something we're supposed to hear?'
'Are we going to be silenced?!'
Many started secretly sizing up Yotsuba.
The girl had fair skin, naturally rosy cheeks, and eyes as clear as a child's. She radiated sunny, cheerful energy, making her stand out among the refined beauties present.
Makoto looked exasperated, breaking the bizarre silence. "I was just helping her with stretching. Could you not phrase it so weirdly?"
"Huh?"
Yotsuba blinked blankly. It took a few seconds for the implication of her words to sink in.
Her naturally pink cheeks flushed bright red. She scratched her head sheepishly, giggling foolishly.
She looked like a Gengar.
Before being drawn into the Reincarnation Game, Makoto had maintained a habit of morning exercise.
In his past life, he had developed chronic health issues from writing constantly. After crossing over, he placed great importance on his physical health.
Yotsuba, being the athletic one among the five sisters, also had a habit of morning runs.
During middle school, they had encountered each other more than once on their morning runs. Over time, they got to know each other's names.
But back then, Makoto was focused on making money and achieving financial freedom. He spent all his time writing.
To paraphrase a classic quote: "I don't have time for some damn romantic love story. I want to get rich. What's the use of envying others? We need to act ourselves, become richer than them!"
And then... he joined the Reincarnation Games.
The big misunderstanding cleared up, Maruo quietly sighed in relief.
'Thank goodness. The cabbage I had painstakingly raised hadn't been rooted up by a pig.'
But the next second, a faint, strange sense of regret crept into his heart.
'If it had been... would that have been so bad?'
Of course, he was different from those powerful figures trying to push their daughters, sisters, and relatives onto Makoto. He didn't want to use his daughter for social climbing.
But news of the crab-man had already spread.
In the future, there would only be more superhumans. Some would be relatively normal like Makoto and the Aizono sisters, but others could be as crazy and dangerous as the crab-man.
If his daughter could find a partner capable of protecting her, that would be more valuable than anything else.
'Wait...'
'Did Nishikawa Makoto count as 'normal'?'
Recalling Makoto's past rampages and his habit of killing at the slightest provocation, Maruo fell silent.
Putting aside his aura of lethal decisiveness, just looking at his entourage...
A girl in black stockings with beautiful legs, sisters who looked identical, a quiet, introverted, almost transparent girl, a straight-haired girl whose temperament inexplicably carries a hint of masculinity, a gyaru-looking girl who always seemed a bit airheaded...
Yeah, he'd think about this later.
After a few more casual exchanges, Yotsuba, urged by frantic signals from her four sisters, obediently returned to them.
Seeing the interlude over, Fujiwara Daichi quickly stepped forward and asked cautiously, "N-Nishikawa-sama, why did you choose Chika as the new Prime Minister?"
Chika was his second daughter.
When he received the news, Daichi, a veteran politician, was completely dumbfounded.
This wasn't just a pie falling from the sky… it was a massive gold brick landing on his head!
Makoto simply uttered one word, leaving the room stunned again.
"Interesting."