CHAPTER 16: CHAPTER 16: SAKURAKO CHIBA: A SNEAKY GRANDFATHER

June 8th, Saturday - 8:35 AM.

Tsukasa: [Don’t forget you’re going with me to the charity auction, got it~?]

Tsukasa: [Sticker of a little girl with her hands on her hips.]

Zayden was still in his suite when he received her message.

Zayden: [Yeah, see you later?]

Tsukasa: [Yes, I’ll wait for you to pick me up at 7:00 PM at my place]

Zayden: [Sticker of a bear popping out of a hole and giving a thumbs-up]

With the rest of the day free, he decided to go out a bit after breakfast.

After eating and showering, he got ready.

He was wearing a white t-shirt with the top button undone and the sleeves rolled up once, moss green pants with a double-sided belt with a Gancini buckle, and black sneakers.

...

In the underground garage, Zayden took his car and left.

Avoiding congested areas, Zayden drove to the mall.

He hadn’t made plans with anyone; he just wanted to go out and wander around the mall.

...

"So, even though my granddaughter is a bit of a tomboy, she’s a good girl. I know you’re a good guy, so I trust you. Anyway, it’s time for me to go. It was nice talking to you. See you next time."

"Yeah, see you, old man."

At the mall, sitting on a bench, the roughly 70-year-old man with gray hair gave Zayden an elder’s smile and walked away with one hand behind his back and the other holding a cane.

Looking at the old man, Zayden found himself wondering: *’Who was he, anyway? Do I know his granddaughter?’*

Shaking his head, he decided not to think too deeply about it.

Strange things happen every day. Maybe the old man mistook him for someone else and sat down to talk with a lot of familiarity.

"Grandpa!"

With quick steps, Zayden saw a girl with healthy tanned skin.

She had black hair in a Chanel cut, wearing a pure white dress that showed a bit of her cleavage with tan lines and a bare arm that looked well-trained.

Not just her arm—her legs, in black stockings, had a beautiful shape. Not too thin, but not too thick either, and even more trained than her arms. And, even though she was wearing a dress, because of a bow just below her large breasts, you could see the outline of her abs.

"Ohh, Sakurako. You arrived at a good time." The old man from before, who had been talking to Zayden, smiled and said: "I just ran into your fiancé. Don’t you want to go say ’hi’ to him?"

"My fiancé? What are you talking about, Grandpa?" She looked visibly confused.

Meanwhile, Zayden, who saw Sakurako, recognized her immediately.

Her full name was Sakurako Chiba. From the Chiba Group.

In the game, she’s one of the conquerable heroines and part of the track and field club. She was a first-year student in class 1-B.

In the HHHS game, she was portrayed as a genius destined to become the ace of the track club.

Standing at 1.75 m tall, she had long, well-trained legs. Her speed surpassed even third-year veterans.

*’I didn’t expect to run into one of the heroines here, especially Sakurako in a dress.’* Zayden felt like he’d seen something rare.

With her tomboyish demeanor, it was rare for her to wear something so feminine. Even her clothing style leaned more toward a masculine vibe.

"What fiancé, Grandpa? Have you gone completely senile?" Sakurako put her hands on her hips: "Something like a fiancé has never existed as far as I know."

"That’s strange... Did I remember it wrong?" The old man looked toward Zayden and pointed with his cane: "Look, isn’t that your fiancé?"

"Who, who..." Sakurako looked in the direction he pointed.

When she saw Zayden, she seemed surprised. He greeted her with a nod.

"V-Valtrex-san?" She recognized him and, for some reason, stammered as she said his last name respectfully.

Standing up, Zayden approached.

Until then, none of this had anything to do with him, but now that he’d been recognized and some people started looking at them, it was better to move somewhere else.

"Hello, I’m Zayden Valtrex." Zayden smiled as he extended his hand: "You must be Sakurako Chiba, right?"

"You know me?" She was visibly surprised as she extended her hand and shook his.

"Of course." Zayden laughed a little: "How could I not recognize the future ace of the track club?"

"It’s not that big a deal, it’s not that big a deal." She got embarrassed, waving her hands in front of her.

"Hohoho, I knew it. My eyes weren’t mistaken, you two make a great pair~" Sakurako’s grandfather, who had been silent, started laughing like a grandpa while scratching his chin.

"You tricked me, didn’t you, Grandpa?!" Sakurako understood immediately.

There was no such thing as an engagement. It just so happened that her grandfather felt Zayden was pleasant to the eye and tried to set up a meeting between the two.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyway, Sakurako. Since you know this fine young man, go have some fun with him." Her grandfather said, still scratching his chin.

When he opened his eyes, a cunning glint passed through them before they closed again.

"Honestly..." Sakurako sighed and turned to Zayden, bowing: "Sorry for my grandfather’s bad joke. I don’t even know what to say..."

"It’s all good. It’s not like I’d lose anything if people thought I had an adorable fiancée like you." Zayden winked playfully.

"A-Adorable, he says..." She blushed deeply, putting both hands on her cheeks.

Since she joined the track club and started loving to run, she was often called ’cool’ and ’awesome,’ but the times she was called beautiful or cute by anyone outside her family were almost zero. Especially by someone of the opposite sex.

And being called that by someone she admired made it hard not to feel happy.

"Well then, I’ll leave my granddaughter with you. Take good care of her, hoho." Without hesitation, Sakurako’s grandfather started to walk away.

"Grandpa?!" Sakurako called after him, in a panic, but he didn’t even bother to turn around.

Sighing, resigned, Sakurako turned to Zayden: "Valtrex-san, sorry about my grandfather, he..."

"You can call me your fiancé if you want, or if you’re too shy, you can just call me Zayden." He replied with a teasing smile.

"Shut up!" She shouted but immediately regretted it, saying: "I mean, uh... maybe not?"

"Really? That’s a shame. I kinda wanted to be called fiancé by a cute girl like you." Zayden sighed dramatically.

"That..." Sakurako grew even shyer.

She barely interacted with boys, and the few times she did, she was never teased like this. Because of that, she was finding it hard to know how to react.

Taking a deep breath and sighing, she calmed her nerves. With focused and serious eyes, she looked into his: "Sorry about my grandfather. He likes to pull these kinds of pranks. Please don’t take it too seriously."

Seeing her bow, Zayden laughed: "It’s fine. I know your grandfather has a good eye, so he came to me to try and set us up. But isn’t he being a bit careless? What if I were a villain and tried something with you?"

"Oh? If that’s the case, I’d crush what you’ve got between your legs." She swung one leg in the air. Though lightly, without lifting her dress, just imagining being hit by her foot was enough to picture how painful it would be.

"I see... Seems like you’re not as defenseless as you look." Zayden smiled, extending his hand: "Once again, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Zayden Valtrex from Class 1-A. And, unlike the earlier joke, I’d like to invite you to hang out with me for a bit."

Sakurako hesitated.

’Is this for real? Is this actually happening? That Zayden Valtrex, the Basketball Star I admired, is asking me to hang out with him?’ She thought: ’W-Well, he probably just wants to kill time and maybe wanted some company. It didn’t have to be me specifically...’

As if guessing what she was thinking, Zayden said: "I really would like to get to know you better. I’m not so whimsical as to invite someone to hang out with me without having at least some interest in them."

"Fuehh...?" More than just surprised, even with her healthy tanned skin, it was clear she was blushing.

’How adorable.’ Zayden thought.

She had a charm different from the other girls he’d met so far. From her appearance to her personality.

When talking about herself, she used ’ore,’ ’boku,’ and sometimes ’watashi,’ which is a more neutral form.

The fact that she spoke in a way typical of boys was actually pretty cute. Especially since she was dressed so femininely.

By the way, her affection index was 50.

Initially, it was 49 and went up by 1 after she interacted with him.

With her index fingers hooked behind her back, Sakurako walked beside him. She seemed shy, and it was clear she wasn’t used to this kind of closeness with a boy.

Because of the high heels she was clearly not accustomed to wearing, she walked slower than her usual pace, but Zayden made a point to match her rhythm.

Breaking the silence that had formed, Zayden said: "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you."

"Yes?" She looked at him.

He asked: "Is there anywhere you’d like to go? Or rather, did you come to the mall to buy something?"

"I just came to pick up my smartphone that had an issue, and my grandfather came with me, forcing me to dress like this..." She scratched her face: "Anyway, other than that, I didn’t have any other reason to be here. Now that I got my smartphone back, I was planning to go home with my grandfather. But, well... you know the rest."

"I see." Zayden seemed to recall something as he asked: "By the way, kinda late to ask, but do you have a boyfriend?"

"Kinda late indeed." She laughed a little, adding: "Do you think if I had a boyfriend, I would’ve agreed to hang out with you now, even as friends?"

Seeing her intrigued smile, Zayden smiled apologetically, saying: "Yeah, my mistake."

"No need to apologize." She said: "And for starters, I’ve never been in love before, let alone had a boyfriend. Not to mention I’m pretty tall, right? Because I’m like this, I’ve noticed that boys feel intimidated by me."

"I get it, but I don’t get it." Zayden replied: "Maybe because I’m taller than you, I just can’t see how you could be intimidating."

"Well, maybe because I’m not cute and I’m kinda masculine? I mean, look, I even have more muscle than a lot of boys." She showed him her arm, and Zayden touched her bicep.

This kind of physical contact, strangely, didn’t make her feel embarrassed.

Maybe she doesn’t think it’s a big deal, since it seems she finds her arm unattractive?

"I think it depends on the person. Speaking for myself, I find your arm and well-trained body attractive." Zayden looked into her brown eyes as they stopped near the metal railing in front of a glass-fronted clothing store: "This is the body you achieved through the fruit of your hard work, and I admire you for that."

Hearing his sincere compliment, she became shy and embarrassed. Lowering her head, she scratched her face with her left index finger.

"Thanks..." She murmured softly.

Raising her eyelids, looking at him shyly, she said: "Actually, I was kind of influenced to take care of my body from a young age by my parents."

"If I’m not mistaken, the Chiba Group focuses on the health sector, right?" Zayden asked.

"Yes, that’s right." She nodded, brightening up as she said: "My dad is a chemist, entrepreneur, digital influencer, and bodybuilder, but mainly a personal trainer. My mom works with nutrition. Both are really good at what they do. Most of the clients they personally train are famous or very wealthy people."

"That’s amazing." Zayden said with admiration.

"Isn’t it~?" She seemed proud of her parents as she smiled.

In HHHS, it mentioned a bit about her parents. It mainly emphasized how impressive her father’s gym chain was, as well as the podcast her parents run, which has millions of subscribers.

Her parents are very famous in the fitness world.

It makes sense that the daughter of those two would develop an interest in something related to athletics.

Even the eldest son of the Chiba couple, Arashi Chiba, had a physique far superior to boys his age. No wonder he became the current captain of the basketball team.

Inviting her to sit on the bench just ahead, Zayden led her there.

When they sat down, she turned to look at him.

Her eyes blinked, sparkling with curiosity and innocence.

Looking away from her, staring straight ahead, where not far off he could see the stairs to the lower floor with people climbing up, Zayden said slowly: "Sakurako, besides athletics, do you have any other interests or hobbies?"

"Huh..." She thought for a moment before looking toward the stairs as well: "Actually, I like cooking. I started because my mom encouraged me and taught me several healthy dishes. Also, it’s a bit embarrassing to admit... but I also like playing the guitar and singing."

She looked away, her cheeks and even the tips of her ears turning red.

"Those are wonderful hobbies." Zayden said: "No need to feel embarrassed about that. I actually like singing too... Speaking of which, how about we plan to go to karaoke one of these days?"

Looking at him, she smiled beautifully: "I’d love that~!"

Taking out his smartphone, he opened the QR code icon.

"Add me, it’ll be easier to invite you." Zayden said casually.

"Oh, yeah, sure." She fumbled a bit, taking her smartphone out of her crossbody bag.

After scanning, she added him.