After Toyokawa Sakiko finished laying out the rest of what she could offer, Shinomiya Kaguya pinched her small chin between thumb and forefinger and tilted her head slightly. A few strands of black hair slid over her shoulder as her crimson eyes fixed on empty air, thoughts surging beneath their surface.
According to Toyokawa-san… besides Kotodama—commanding unconditional obedience—and an effectively unlimited money supply, there are several other supports.
Kaguya organized Sakiko's "chips" in her mind, counting and evaluating them like pieces on a board.
First: the clone ability. An exceptional concealment tool. My real body can remain safely at Shuchiin, maintaining the public façade of "Shinomiya heir" and "student council vice president," while my clone operates in the open—isolating any danger from the true me.
Second: enhanced cognition. Instantly integrating my knowledge base, locking onto the key node, producing optimal decisions… This is a relic every high-level decision maker dreams of. Its value speaks for itself.
Her thoughts then brushed past the auxiliary tools.
Glasses that boost willpower, passive danger sense, randomized intelligence… These are useful, but largely "nice to have."
And then she returned to the subgroup itself.
Perfectly secure communication. Instant item transfer between members. Instant relocation to another member's position… Those functions alone can be leveraged across countless operational fronts.
After fully sorting the resources, one razor-sharp question surfaced—inevitable.
Kaguya lifted her eyes, ruby pupils refocusing on Sakiko's face. She smoothed away the tiny tells that had leaked during her contemplation and resumed an immaculate, elegant posture. With just the right amount of polite curiosity, she asked:
"Toyokawa-san."
"With the kind of help you're offering—borderline miraculous—you shouldn't have trouble finding a suitable 'white glove,' should you?"
Her voice was gentle, but the blade went straight for the heart.
"Anyone with even one or two of these abilities could stir up a storm on the mundane chessboard and crush the Toyokawa family."
"Let alone someone who holds all of them. At that point, achieving your goal should be as easy as flicking a finger."
"So why me? Why go out of your way to find me specifically?"
Kaguya needed to confirm it.
Behind any gift that could drive ordinary people mad, there was always the possibility of a trap—or a price she hadn't yet seen.
Sakiko didn't show even a sliver of panic under Kaguya's scrutiny.
She adjusted her posture, met that probing gaze head-on, and let her lips curve into a smile that carried quiet meaning.
"Shinomiya-senpai. I told you earlier—this 'inner world' is a place where cognition decides everything."
"That cognition isn't just how the outside world perceives you and defines you."
"What matters more is your own understanding—deep inside—of who you are, and what you intend to do."
Sakiko's eyes turned profound.
"You thought I was weak for not using Kotodama to control you?"
She didn't wait for Kaguya to answer.
"But hear this."
"If I let my desires run free and use these powers to do whatever I want—controlling people at will—then my desires would inflate without limit."
"I'd be swallowed and twisted by them. I'd lose myself and become a monster I wouldn't recognize."
"In the inner world, knowing your own heart, and holding to it without being corrupted by power—this is more important than power itself."
"And far harder."
"Only those who can restrain themselves can keep their identity in that chaos."
For a moment, the expression on Kaguya's face froze—just a hair.
Her posture remained perfect, but a ripple stirred in the depths of her red eyes.
She drew a careful breath, then leaned forward into a small bow—subtle in motion, heavy with sincerity.
"…I've learned something."
Three words—clear, solemn, and genuinely heartfelt.
That warning was priceless.
Sakiko's eyes softened with satisfaction. She nodded, praising her with honest warmth.
"As expected of Shinomiya-senpai. You understand immediately."
On the surface, Sakiko was explaining her own principle.
In practice, she was also warning Kaguya: don't let the intoxication of control devour you.
If Kaguya sank into domination and discarded her bottom line, she would no longer be the Kaguya Shinomiya who loved Shirogane Miyuki—she would become something else.
Kaguya straightened, lips lifting into the faintest smile. She didn't respond to the praise.
"This is why I chose you, Shinomiya-senpai."
Sakiko smoothly returned to the original question, voice steady again.
"First, we share the same goal. That's the foundation."
"In a world where cognition is power, there's an essential difference between doing something driven by your own desire and will… and doing it because you were forced."
Kaguya nodded, attentive.
"And second…"
Sakiko's gaze rested on Kaguya's face, her tone warming by a degree.
"…is your love for President Shirogane."
"That pure, intense feeling is the brightest light in your soul, and the strongest anchor that pins you to your true self."
"I believe that with President Shirogane as the most important coordinate in your heart, you'll remain lucid."
"You'll be able to tell what you truly want to protect."
"And you won't be swallowed by the temptation of easy power."
"For his sake—and for the sake of the you who loves him—you won't allow yourself to become a monster."
Those words pierced straight through Kaguya's psychological armor.
A sweetness burst up from the bottom of her heart.
For an instant, Shinomiya's composure, the vice president's calm—everything looked fragile and far away.
The decorative, "proper" smile cracked, replaced by a genuine smile blooming from within. The distance in her crimson eyes softened, curving into crescent moons.
She looked unmistakably happy.
A few seconds later, Kaguya realized she'd shown too much. Her cheeks warmed.
She forced herself to suppress the joy, lifted the coffee that had long since gone cold, and used the motion to steady an overly fast heartbeat.
When she raised her eyes again, the warmth hadn't completely faded—but her aura had reassembled.
She set the cup down with a crisp clink, voice returning to its usual cool steadiness.
"Then besides that… are there other risks or rules I should be particularly aware of?"
Sakiko's warmth receded. She sat straighter, expression turning even more serious than before.
"With your temperament and ability, I believe you can handle most things."
"But as partners, honesty is necessary."
"I must tell you in advance: some of the abilities I mentioned aren't free."
"They come with… side effects."
"Side effects?" Kaguya's eyes sharpened.
Sakiko dropped the first bomb.
"First: Kotodama."
"It's powerful, but it has a… not huge, though potentially awkward side effect."
She paused, then said it plainly:
"People close to you—especially those who subconsciously feel dependence, trust, or strong affection—may develop an impulse they can't easily suppress."
"They'll want to call you…"
Sakiko inhaled once.
"Mom."
Kaguya's face remained perfectly composed.
The curve of her smile didn't move by a hair.
But her pupils dilated for the briefest instant, and an earthquake went off behind her eyes.
Mom…?
People close to me…?
Her thoughts threatened to spiral. She clenched down on them with sheer will, forcing her expression to remain dignified.
Sakiko, unaware of the internal catastrophe she'd just triggered, continued.
"However, Kotodama has its benefits too. Its medium is… special."
"A pair of purple pantyhose."
"Pantyhose?" Kaguya repeated, her voice steady—barely.
"Yes." Sakiko explained. "Once worn, it can transform according to your intent—or the intent of someone you designate—into any style, material, color, or pattern you want."
"Daily wear. Formal dresses. In theory, anything."
"And it keeps the wearer perfectly clean and dry—no stains, no sweat, and it never wears out."
Kaguya's lashes lowered slightly.
She didn't speak, but her imagination—dangerously vivid—tried to run ahead of her again. She cut it off with force, before it could drag her expression out of control.
Sakiko pressed on, still in "duty to disclose" mode.
"Clone ability: as usage increases, you'll start to appear—at least in other people's eyes—as someone they can't help wanting to pick on."
Kaguya's cheeks warmed another shade.
She didn't allow the blush to spread—she simply tightened her grip on the handkerchief inside her pocket and swallowed the reaction.
Sakiko moved to the next items, as if reading from a list.
"And the danger-sense and cognition-integration abilities—these two require special attention. They can change your body shape."
"Specifically: they increase chest and hip measurements."
"As they're used, they grow until they reach the visually 'optimal' proportion for your current physique—then stop."
"After that, any further increase is stored, and you can adjust within a certain range above that 'optimal baseline.' You can't shrink below it."
At that final line, Kaguya's body betrayed her.
A warm drop landed on the back of her hand.
She blinked down and saw bright red.
A nosebleed.
For one stunned heartbeat, her mind went white.
Then the Shinomiya training snapped into place.
No panic. No flailing.
She drew out a pristine silk handkerchief with grace, turned her head slightly, and pressed it to her nose in a flawlessly controlled motion—like an etiquette demonstration.
Even the act of dealing with the blood looked… ceremonial.
She lifted her gaze again. Her cheeks were still faintly flushed, but her eyes had returned to cool, distant clarity.
"Apologies. How unsightly."
Sakiko froze for a fraction of a second, then—still misunderstanding—thought:
These descriptions really were too stimulating for someone raised under that kind of strict, old-fashioned elite conditioning…
Beside Sakiko, Shinobu sat with a gentle smile that never broke, but inside her mind screamed itself hoarse at the bluntness of the "side effect" explanation.
Sakiko cleared her throat and accelerated through the rest.
"Next: the willpower glasses. Side effect: they increase the wearer's 'attractiveness'—their ability to draw others in."
"And the randomized intelligence ability. Side effect: it increases other people's urge to protect you."
Silence fell in the student council room.
And then Sakiko noticed something subtle: Kaguya's expression—still composed—looked… brighter.
Too bright.
Her lips, her eyes—tiny details suggested Kaguya's internal mood wasn't "mortified" so much as… strangely energized.
Sakiko's brow twitched.
What is it? Why does Shinomiya-senpai look… excited?
She had no idea that in Kaguya's private logic, none of this registered as "bad news."
"Easier to bully" sounded suspiciously like "the president will pay more attention."
Adjustable body proportions sounded like "an advantage."
"More attractive" and "more protective" sounded like… leverage.
Kaguya, meanwhile, was fighting a war inside her skull to keep her face neutral.
Stop. Stop. Do not imagine anything. Do not—
She forced herself to straighten her collar and used a calm, empty tone to bring the conversation back onto safe ground.
"I understand. Are there any other requirements?"
Sakiko latched onto the opening, relieved to move on.
She had no interest in improvising business strategy herself. Even with a cognition booster, building an empire and crushing two conglomerates required expertise, infrastructure, and specialists—things she didn't have at hand.
That was precisely why she needed Kaguya as the public "white glove."
But when Sakiko's eyes flicked toward Shinobu—who had sat quietly the entire time with a serene smile—an idea surfaced.
Sakiko turned back to Kaguya.
"You can start with the medical sector."
"Physical and psychological angles together."
"I need you to acquire a medical research institute with basic R&D capacity as soon as possible, and recruit truly top-tier experts."
It sounded harsh.
But with money and Kotodama on the table, Sakiko understood it was well within reach.
Then she introduced Shinobu formally.
"This is Kocho Shinobu. She's a medical specialist."
"With the cognition-integration tool, as long as you collect and provide the latest medical research and relevant materials, she can learn quickly, integrate it all, and build on it."
"In time, she may be able to develop drugs capable of overturning the current market—creating leverage against both the Shinomiya and Toyokawa families."
Kaguya's crimson eyes moved to Shinobu.
She assessed the purple-eyed girl in silence—calm, polite, composed—then offered a single nod.
"Understood."
If Sakiko had chosen her, she would grant provisional trust.
The initial exchange was complete.
Sakiko folded her hands in her lap—the posture of someone preparing to end the meeting—yet she still offered her partner the courtesy of a question.
"Shinomiya-senpai. As collaborators, do you have any requests?"
Kaguya's last trace of blush faded. The Shinomiya heir returned fully—cool, sharp, and pragmatic.
"I need manpower."
"Routine execution staff can be managed with Kotodama. That isn't the problem."
"But for core roles—strategy, key decisions, special operations—I can't and shouldn't rely on Kotodama for long-term control. The risk is too high, and it wastes the subgroup's true advantages."
She raised her eyes, gaze unwavering, and stated her condition.
"I want two additional seats in the subgroup, to bring in my most trusted aides."
Sakiko answered without hesitation.
"Agreed."
This request was entirely expected.
The subgroup's value wasn't only "crush two families"—it was personal capability growth, access to tools, and a structure that could outpace mundane systems.
And after a week of observing Kaguya's behavior patterns, Sakiko was almost certain one of those seats would go to the student council president, Shirogane Miyuki.
The second person didn't matter—so long as it didn't disrupt the overall plan.
With that, the core framework was set.
Sakiko stood and offered her farewell.
"Then we'll be going, Shinomiya-senpai. We'll keep contact through the subgroup."
Kaguya rose with the same impeccable grace, the flawless social smile returning to her face as she dipped her head.
"Understood."
Sakiko and Shinobu moved toward the heavy door.
The instant it closed behind them, the oppressive black-red filter that had blanketed the world receded like a tide.
Light returned to normal brightness. Shadows stopped writhing. The other student council members—who had appeared oddly "washed out" during the phenomenon—became fully solid and clear again.
Kaguya didn't leave.
She sat back down on the sofa, sinking into the leather, closed her eyes, took one deep breath—then opened them sharply.
No wasted time.
She bought the subgroup item Cognitive Singularity and activated it immediately.
Her consciousness accelerated.
Her mind became a supercomputer running at unsafe overclock, assembling a highest-efficiency plan to dismantle both the Shinomiya and Toyokawa families.
Information erupted, collided, recombined.
In seconds, an actionable blueprint formed—four steps.
Step 1: Process the "dirty" hundred-billion-yen funding Sakiko provided.Kaguya targeted tax havens like the Cayman Islands. With Kotodama, she would control key regulatory personnel and legalize the funds in the shortest time possible, building a massive capital pool.
Step 2: Strike the R&D divisions and financial cores of both conglomerates.Using clones, she would meet engineers holding key patents, senior managers familiar with financial systems, and sales executives controlling client pipelines—then, without raising suspicion, force a collective "defection" to a shell company under her control.
Step 3: Use the cleaned capital pool to launch no-cost-too-high hostile acquisitions against major listed subsidiaries—bleeding their liquidity until they collapse into bankruptcy and liquidation.
Step 4 (parallel to 2 and 3): Destroy their political and banking lifelines.Kaguya would use Kotodama to seize key figures in government, banking decision layers, and regulatory agencies. Special policy privileges would vanish. Loans would be cut off. The harshest audits would be triggered—tax, compliance, everything—scraped to the bone.
She coolly estimated:
If Kotodama forced every participant into maximum efficiency… she could topple and replace both conglomerates in under a month.
Medical progress could move even faster.
With Shinomiya channels, Kotodama, and capital, building a research institute with base R&D in three days was not fantasy.
And if Shinobu truly could produce a market-shattering drug…
What did Japan's most powerful elders fear most?
Not political turnover.
Not wealth loss.
Death.
Nothing would make them kneel faster than a drug that extended healthy lifespan—or reversed decline.
This wasn't only harvesting money.
When the elders begged to join her for "life," the time to crush both families could shrink even further.
Under Cognitive Singularity, Kaguya suddenly dredged up a stray piece of information about Sakiko:
Wasn't she… in some band? An idol project?
Entertainment industry…
Maybe she should pre-position there as well.
"Kaguya?"
A familiar voice—gentle, concerned—cut through her mental simulation like a blade.
Kaguya rose from the sea of calculations in a snap.
She lifted her head and saw Shirogane Miyuki standing beside the sofa, slightly bent forward, brows knit with worry.
"You've been sitting here the whole time. Are you feeling unwell?"
In the instant Kaguya's eyes met his, every ounce of cold calculation and steel-hard edge melted away as if touched by spring sunlight.
Her smile turned sweet—genuinely sweet.
"President," she said softly, with the faintest lift of excitement.
"I'm fine."
"It's just… I think I've found a way to fight back against the Shinomiya family."
Shirogane froze.
The handkerchief at Kaguya's nose caught the light for an instant, perfectly folded, perfectly controlled—hiding every trace of how violently her heart was shaking.
And behind that pristine composure, something new had taken root.
Hope—sharp, dangerous, and unbearably bright.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 155)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter200)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter110)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter230)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 200
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 180
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 230
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 220
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 120
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 135
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 110
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 100
My Harem Is Indescribable 90
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 95
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 80
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 70
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 75
Checking In in Demon Slayer 80
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 85
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 70
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 65
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 70
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 70
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 65
Why did they assign me to Uma 65
MYGO Beauties 65
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 55
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 65
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 45
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 45
The Uma Musume Who Became 40
I'm Definitely Not the King of 45
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
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