"Are you one of those alphas who think omegas are sex toys?"

"Not... as such?"

"Good job on escaping that place's brainwashing, then! I want to make that shit stop. That's all.

"...and also, you know, maybe make the place not be a den of vipers vying for status and prestige and maybe make it a place where people can have a normal fucking time but we'll see how that goes."

Dai hasn't managed to come up with something to say to that when the waitress shows back up with their order, and then after having some calming tea he finally has something to say. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing in particular. I mean, if you have strong objections to me having the school then you know by all means tell me them but right now I just kind of, I don't know, want to right some of this world's wrongs. I don't want you to be in constant anxiety about this or pressured by your parents or whatever.

"What, uh, I will need though is for you not to mention this to Father. He might want to take it from you to spite me if he learns that I like you."

"What?"

"My father is a bad person! If you want I can go into his psychology here for you and why he thinks this is an okay way to be but I've known him all my life and trust me, the way for you to get what you want is to make it seem like I don't want it."

Dai runs a nervous hand through his hair. "What do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to figure out what strings he's pulling to make this farcical case not have been dropped within five minutes of being brought up and then I'm going to use that to get him to name you heir and let you go to America and also to give me the school."

Dai's face has gone through some very interesting motions during that little speech. "I'm not sure I'm prepared for that much politicking. —you were implying blackmail there, right, I'm not imagining it?"

"Oh yes, I was." Tōkan lifts the tea to his lips now that it's finally cool enough to drink and makes a delighted noise when he sips it. "This is very good tea."

"Yes?"

"Meet me at the café right now, I wanna brag."

"The café."

"You know which one I mean." And he hangs up.

Are they subverting relationship tropes here, with Aoki whipping him?

Anyway.

Aoki has gotten them one of those individual booths for privacy and as soon as they have said privacy he says, "We got that cockroach."

"Wanna back a few steps up for me?"

"Kokonoe, keep up. Dad got some tasty dirt on him."

"—exciting. Can you share?"

"Not out loud in public. Loses a lot of its use if other people might catch wind of it. But if Tōkan is at all on the ball here Yamada should be out tomorrow. Maybe tonight, even, the seventy-two hour deadline is tomorrow morning."

"Very impressive. And very fast."

"It's best to be this fast. Best for the prosecutor's career, too, which my parents aren't exactly trying to help or anything but which means she'll be extra happy to drop the case and then if Kokonoe wants to try this again it'll be that much harder."

"Just how... did your father do it?"

"He has made many connections over the years, in many places, that's the best way I can put it. He can usually find decent proof of money going from place A to place B, at least for sufficiently large amounts of money, and for something like this that's pretty much exactly what we needed."