"—what?"

"I do not want to be his heir, I've never wanted to be his heir, and I know what it looks like from your perspective, but just—you'd be a much better pick. Stanford Business and Yale Management? Seriously? And Father is still even remotely considering me? This is extremely stupid, I've done nothing to deserve this except being a result of his not so happy accident, you deserve it more."

"I, I mean, you're his son—"

"Fuck that."

Dai winces at the outburst and looks away.

"No, look, Dai, this is shitty. My father is doing a shitty thing to you, because he is a shitty person—"

Dai actually gasps and looks around to make sure no one's heard this. They're in a booth behind closed doors so of course no one did, but still.

"No, look, he really is. He goes, 'hey, you can be my heir if my unruly son doesn't shape up but if he does then bye bye I guess, by the way put your plans to go to the States on hold while I play this game'. That's shitty. That's a shitty thing to do. I think you should go to Yale, or Stanford, or wherever you want to go to, and then come back and be his heir instead of me."

Wow uh Dai was not prepared to get a faceful of Kokonoe Tōkan like this and he's not sure what to... do... or say. "H-have you, um. Told him. You feel this way?"

"Only my entire life."

"Isn't it a bit early to, uh. I mean, you. You're young, are you sure this wouldn't be a mistake, you can't really reown someone you disowned..."

"Legally he can do whatever he wants, but yeah I'm very sure. There is one thing I want, and it's the school, but...

"...Dai, I presume you know about my boyfriend."

"...the demon," he says, and then covers his mouth with both hands, widening his eyes in belated realisation of what he just said. To a man who does in fact control his future, right here.

...he actually cracks up. "Yes, the Shikiri Demon," he says, grinning.

Uh. Uh. Uh? Okay, Tōkan is... not mad.

He's not, no.

"Well, my father is hoping my reputation will go down the toilet with these legal proceedings against him—and they're bullshit, by the way, and I have Ōta & Ōta in my corner—"

Dai gasps again. Apparently that had not yet made its way to the public grapevine.

"—or that I will shape up, leave Inori, and become a proper heir. Or something. Well, fuck that. I'm gonna stick with Inori."

"Why, uh, did you even want to talk, then?"

"I wanted to figure out what exactly was going on here between you two and clearly what's going on is that my father has the price of your soul and is loudly and conspicuously debating whether he'll buy it while giving me furtive glances to see if I'll stop him. Have I mentioned that's a shitty thing to do to someone? You're not a thing, Dai, and your soul shouldn't be for sale, and he shouldn't be the one with the power to buy it.

"So here's the deal. I want him to make you his heir, but I want the school—"

"Ah, there's the catch."

"—do you want the school?"

"...uh... not... specifically..."

"I want the school. He's doing a shit job with the school, and I want to make it not shit, and also, you know, shape the next generation of elite alphas who'll rule the country and all that shit."

"Well that's not concerning or anything."