Even Today, the Genius High School Programmer Cashes In on Day Trades, Completely Flustered by Beautiful Girls' Growing Affection. - Chapter 16: Ryuusenji Group.

Ryuusenji Group.

The following week, midterms wrapped up, and the answer sheets came flooding back one after another.

As usual, I scored near-perfect across every subject.

I’d probably hold onto the top spot again.

Not that I particularly cared about being number one.

What mattered was the tuition waiver that came with it.

The ones raising triumphant cheers were Shingo and the top-three beauties.

Sakuraba and Ryuusenji, especially, had made huge leaps in their rankings.

They used to hover somewhere between 100th and 150th, but now both had climbed into the 70s or 80s.

With seven classes and roughly 250 second-years in total, that put them solidly in the upper third.

“The practice problem set you made for us was spot-on, Ooyama-kun! In chemistry, one question was literally identical. And the other subjects had so many similar or related problems—I actually studied the ones you flagged, and my scores are way better than usual!”

“Same here! Thanks to this, my parents back home won’t have anything to complain about. Seriously, Ooyama-kun—thank you so much.”

At lunch, the five of us pushed our desks together.

Both Sakuraba and Ryuusenji thanked me politely, heads bowed a little.

I should be the one thanking them—the week’s worth of bentos and drinks had been a godsend.

Except for the durian cider. That one I could’ve lived without.

“Nah, I just helped a little. You two were already smart. This is your real ability showing.”

“Hina got saved too～! For the first time since I started high school, zero failing marks! A historic achievement! Ooyama-kun, you’re seriously a god!”

“I still think you could stand to put in a bit more effort, Yamano.”

“No way, this is huge progress for Hina! I’ve gotta thank you properly… How about I let you touch my boobs a little, just a little?”

“Hina!”

Sakuraba snapped at her, dead serious.

“Jeez, obviously kidding! Yukina gets so worked up～”

Yamano grinned, not a trace of remorse on her face.

“Cut that kind of joke, seriously.”

The stares from everyone else were physically painful.

“I was really saved this time too～. I actually beat the average in three subjects. All thanks to Kousuke!”

“You could learn a thing or two from Ryuusenji, you know.”

She’s your girlfriend and she’s smart—why not ask her for help on a regular basis?

We kept up the noisy chatter while digging into lunch.

What is this normie energy? I’m not used to it at all…

***

“Hey, tests are over—how about we all go here?”

Ryuusenji pulled something out onto the desk—tickets, five of them.

“Ah! These are for Water Paradise! I’ve been wanting to go there～”

Water Paradise was the massive all-weather indoor pool complex that opened last year in the neighboring town.

It had hot springs, restaurants, an arcade—everything. Basically the biggest theme-park-style spot in the prefecture.

The main draw was the three water slides.

The star was the “Giant Swing”—a monster ride that seats up to six people, swings you wildly side to side, and then hurls you into the water at insane speed.

“Um… so we’d have to wear swimsuits, right?”

Sakuraba asked in a tiny voice.

“Of course. If we’re going all the way there, it’d be a waste not to swim.”

“Come on, Yukina! Let’s go buy new swimsuits together—this is the perfect excuse!”

Yamano was already fired up.

“But Ryuusenji, where’d these tickets come from? They’re not exactly cheap…”

I couldn’t help asking.

“Oh, these? My family sent them. Water Paradise is part of the Ryuusenji Group.”

I’d been wondering for a while.

“Ryuusenji… you’re related to that Ryuusenji Group from Kyoto?”

“Huh? Ooyama-kun, you know about the Ryuusenji Group?”

“Know about it? It’s impossible not to.”

The Ryuusenji Group started as a historic traditional inn in Kyoto.

From there it exploded into a sprawling conglomerate: hotels and resorts, general real estate, restaurants, construction, trading, shipping—you name it.

The holding company, Ryuusenji Holdings, is listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with a market cap well over 2 trillion yen.

I trade its stock pretty regularly myself.

“Ryuusenji Shoichi, the president—he’s the legendary figure who took an old inn and turned it into this massive empire almost overnight. He’s in the media all the time. I’d say more people know him than don’t.”

“Yeah… that’s my dad.”

“…Huh?”

Ryuusenji Aoi is the daughter of Ryuusenji Shoichi…?

She explained that she lived with her family in Kyoto until middle school.

The house rules were insanely strict.

On weekdays, curfew was 6 p.m. unless there was a legitimate reason.

Even on weekends, she had to report exactly who she was meeting and where, or she wasn’t allowed out at all.

Classic sheltered rich girl… but 6 p.m. curfew is brutal.

She hated it so much that for high school she begged to move out—even if it meant boarding school or living alone.

Her parents refused.

But she kept pushing, refusing to back down.

In the end, they compromised: she could live with her maternal grandparents in this city, and only then.

So now she commutes from her grandparents’ house.

They apparently dote on her endlessly, and she says it’s comfortable there.

“Still… I never would’ve guessed you’re Shoichi’s daughter.”

“Well, I’ve got an older brother and sister, so I’m basically the spare. There’s already an heir, so I’m kind of an extra.”

“An extra…?”

Her brother’s a second-year working adult at one of the group companies, and her sister’s in university—both still living at home.

If Aoi had been an only child, there’s no way they would’ve let her leave.

Anyway, the five tickets were apparently complimentary.

And when I looked closer, they even came with lunch coupons.

“These are super cheap! Let’s all go～ Hina didn’t even make it to the beach over summer vacation, so I need this!”

With that one sentence, the decision was basically made.

“Am I… included in this?”

I hesitated.

Going to a pool with this pack of normies? I couldn’t even picture it.

“Of course you are～ We’ve got exactly five tickets.”

All four of them stared at me intently.

No way I could say no now.

And I didn’t have any other plans anyway.

“…Fine. I’ll go. Just… go easy on me.”

“That’s the spirit!” Shingo laughed.

Sakuraba, meanwhile, was quietly muttering to herself, “…What am I going to do about a swimsuit…?”