After knocking on the door, Hasegawa entered into one of the study rooms of the mansion where the younger Kanagawa siblings was waiting for him, and bowed.
"You called for me, Kanagawa-san?"

"Yes," the fox-eyed young man said, leaning against the mohagony desk, "I want you to watch over Sakuragi Hanamichi for me."


~~~~

"There he is, young master," Hasegawa said, pointing towards the redhead who was at that moment putting down a bulky bag onto the ground before him. The crowd paid no heed of the tall redheaded boy who was scrutinising them with a calculating look, but Hasegawa and Kaede could quickly see what Hanamichi was about to do.

"I think he's about to sell the clothes, Kanagawa-san," Hasegawa said in surprise.

Kaeda just remained silent.

"The clothes are still new, for you and Hisashi-sama only used it twice or thrice. The material is of high quality and with prime tailoring. But I doubt they will sell."

"Why is that?" the blue-eyed brunette asked.

"The cut from the size of your body and that of Hisashi-sama are rare compared to the the average Japanese young men. It would be difficult for Sakuragi-san to find anyone who are as tall and well-developed."

"Hm," Kaede nodded as he hooked his finger under his chin, "Let's just see how he does it."

Hanamichi took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. He would sell the clothes even if it killed him and then he and Haruko would be able to get the jewellery to sell in the Akagi shop and with his share of the profits he would be able to pay of his father's debts to the Kanagawas in no time.

Ok, here goes nothing, the redhead thought before he called out loud to a random person in the passing crowd, "Hey you! The one with the cool hat! Yeah you! The one beside the cute girl! Come over here a sec!"

"Who me?" the young man with a green hat blinked.

"Yeah," Hanamichi waved at him until the young man hesitantly walked towards him.
"Look at what I've got. Clothes! And not just ordinary clothes. They're Armani, Calvin Cline and Gianfranco Ferre! They don't normally sell at less than 200 thousand yen but here I can give them to you for 30 thousand yen a piece! "

"This is Armani?"

Hanamichi turned towards one of the people who heard his interesting announcement and grinned. From the redhead's observation, the blond-banged man looked as if he knew about the expensive brands by the clothes that he wore and the expression of pleasure on his face as he held up one of the grey coat from Hanamichi's collection.

"You seem to be a person who knows about this brand. Take a look at it and tell me what you think," the redhead said crossing his arms.

The man inspected the piece of clothing closely before a delighted smile appeared on his lips.
"This looks genuine."

"Ahahahah!" laughed the redhead, "Would a tensai lie?"

The man laughed along and to further entice him into buying, Hanamichi pulled the man closer and whispered to him in a secretive manner.
"Y'know, these clothes have only been used by the models at the CQ shoot."

"Yeah?"

"Hell, yeah!" Hanamichi nodded seriously, "Just take a look at the measurements. You know that a male model's measurements are different from ordinary people's, right? Their measurements follow the international standard... Hey! I see that you seem to have the same size as they do!"

"Yeah?" the blond-banged man smiled proudly.

"Yeah!" the redhead nodded once in determination, "You should buy this, sir, coz this suit can only be appreciated by a person who can wear it and know about its quality."

In less than a minute the blond-banged man was walking away, satisfied with his purchase while leaving Hanamichi to deal with more of his customers.

"Hey," the earlier young man with the green hat called to Hanamichi, "You said they were used by the models of CQ?"

"Aa," the redhead affirmed.

"But if they've been used, it should cost lower than 30 thousand yen."

Hanamichi put on his thoughtful face, purposefully not answering the suggestion, "You should try it first though. It might be too big for you. There're only two sizes for men - one for modelling and the other just for the ordinary folks. If it's too big for you it'll be such a waste for you to buy it."

Suddenly snatching the silk shirt away from the young man, Hanamichi held it up in front of another young man who had the same stature as the man with the hat.
"I think it'll look good on you sir!" Hanamichi told the surprised passerby merrily.

"Hey!" protested the man with the hat hotly, "The guy is the same size as me! How can you say it would fit him but not me?!"

He suddenly took out 30 thousand yen out of his pocket and gave it to the innocent-looking redhead.
"Here! I'll take it!"

"Now that's the spirit!" laughed the redhead, slapping the man with the hat on the back heartily.

Happy with his second sale, Hanamichi felt energised and turned his attention towards the remaining customers.

"Come one, come all! Buy these clothes only for the ideal sized guy! Those under 180cm cannot participate! For the rest of you, come buy these high-quality clothing at a special price!"

"Give me one of that!" called a man.

"I want to buy one for my boyfriend," said a young woman excitedly.

"I want to buy this vest!" a young man ordered.

The redhead rubbed his hands in glee.


~~~

Hasegawa and Kaede looked at the unexpected scene in surprise.

"He-He did it..." said Hasegawa in awe, "He made use of the men's ego to make the sales!"

"....."

"Do you think he can fulfill his father's debt before the two years end?" Hasegawa asked.

"It might be possible," Kaede replied, "He's got more clothes other than what he got right there."

"Aa," Hasegawa nodded, "Shall we reformulate our plan, then, young master?"

"Yes, we shall."

A few metres away, the redhead was on a roll, oblivious to the two who were watching him since he arrived at that spot.

"Clothes for the tough and strong! They are one of a kind and cannot be found anywhere else in the world! Come buy them before they're all sold out!"


~~~~

A few minutes later all of the clothes were sold and the redhead made his way to a nearby park to count his money. All together he managed to acquire 360 thousand yen in just half an hour.

This is great! thought Hanamichi gleefully, This is enough to order the jewellery for the Haku store and when we get them we're all set!

"Well, well, well. What have we got here?"

Hanamichi immedietly turned around and was faced by five very ugly mugs, looking leeringly at the money he has in his hand.

"What do you want?" growled the redhead, pocketing the money in his jeans.

"We just want your money, man," smirked one of the hooligans as his friend around him snickered, "For protection money."

"Ch!" spat the redhead, "I don't need any protection. I can get rid of any trouble myself."

"Oh yeah? Let's just see then-"

Kaede watched the fight seemingly in dispassion but his eyes followed every moves made by the fighters very keenly. Hanamichi looked able to defend himself but the brunette knew that the redhead would not be aware of the knife coming at him from behind until it was too late.

So far Hanamichi was faring well with his attackers when suddenly an enraged yell came from behind. When he turned he was presented with a surprising scene where one of the thugs was crounching before him, clutching at a bleeding arm.

"Do'aho."

Hanamichi looked up to see Kaede stepping from behind a tree, throwing a sharp looking stone in the air before catching it back into his palm.

"Kitsune!" panted Hanamichi, exerted by his fight, "What're you doing here?!"

"To help you," the fox-eyed man said in a condescending tone.

"I don't need your help," the redhead growled, "I can do fine on my own."

Kaede walked up to the hurt attacker and kicked away the knife away far from him, "Aa."

Again that condescending tone, and Hanamichi couldn't help but vent his anger onto one of the thugs nearest to him.
"See?! I. Don't. Need. Your. Help!" he grunted beating up the gangster to a pulp before turning towards the next one.

Kaede rolled his eyes and with perfect aim threw the stone from his hand onto the knee of another thug. That thug fell down like his friend, his knee torn and bleeding. When the last of his ammo was gone, the brunette joined the redhead in a no-holds-bar fist fight and with the strength of the two young men in the end they managed to leave the area with minor bruises but in victory.

After a while of catching his breath, Hanamichi peered at the fox-eyed man in curiosity. Bluntly, he asked, "You're following me, aren't you?"

The brunette didn't reply, making the redhead feel very annoyed.

"Oi! You're makin' sure that I wasn't meeting Akira, aren't you?!" the redhead demanded heatedly, "I may be bought for 100 million yen to masquerade as your boyfriend but that doesn't mean you have the right to tell me who I should and I shouldn't see!"

"...."

"Well, listen here, Kanagawa Kaede," Hanamichi continued, "I'm gonna collect that 100 million yen and shove it in your face before our 2 year period is over!"

The sly look wasn't what the redhead has expected nor was the statement that came out of the brunette's mouth which shocked him to the core.
"You want to pay with money? Alright, then. I assume that you want to pay the bank by increments, so by the end of this month I expect to have 4 million 500 thousand yen handed over to us."

"Nani?!" sputtered Hanamichi, "4 million 500 thousand yen?!"

"Hai," Kaede replied, lowering his head that his blue eyes were covered by his midnight bangs, "The payment to the loan includes the 8% interest. Therefore to pay it every month you have to pay us 4 million 500 thousand yen. You should know that the 2 year period in which you have to pretend to be my boyfriend was calculated based on that amount."

The redhead's shocked expression made Kaede want to smile for its adorableness. And for that time alone with the redhead he allowed himself to. He tilted his face into the sunlight and allowed the curve of his lips to break the cold mask on his face.

Hanamichi, who was flabbergasted at the amount that Kaede quoted, was surprised to see the brunette smile. It wasn't such a big smile like that baka Akira's, but it was a smile nevertheless - a sincere one that threatened to awe the redhead in its simplistic beauty. With a furious shake of the head, Hanamichi glared at Kaede angrily.

"Bakayaro," growled the redhead, "You find what I've gone through as funny. Is this what you rich people do for sport? Make us common people suffer? Well, stuff that! I don't think much of you or your kind, anyway."

And with a huff he turned away and was about to walk back home with the empty bag in his hand when he heard the soft timbre of Kaede's voice cut through the breeze, "You're wrong."

Hanamichi turned his head around, frowning at the young man who has just spoken.
"What?"

"Soon, you'll understand," Kaede replied before he turned and walked away.

Hanamichi pondered for a moment before he shook his head and went on his own way back home. For a moment there he thought he could hear a small measure of hurt in the kitsune's tone.


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