Rich Girl Caretaker Vol. 10 Bonus Chapter

The Playboy, Itsuki Tomonari

The morning of a negative campaign expert starts early.

Rintaro Asahi also woke up early today, arriving at Kiou Academy an hour before homeroom. To win the election and, most importantly, to light a fire under Ren Joutou, Rintaro had been spreading negative campaigns for some time. Feeling he was making progress, Rintaro roamed the academy looking for more inspiration.

(My judgment was right.)

Rintaro praised his own insight.

He hadn't known how well scandals would be received by the innocent and pure students of Kiou Academy, but they were being accepted and spread faster than he'd imagined. Upper class or not, people were still people. Rintaro sensed that an interest in scandal existed even in the students here—a hidden, "common" side to them. Rintaro became even more convinced that the upper, middle, and lower classes were all the same when you looked up close.

Now, what kind of negative campaign should I spread next?

As he was thinking, he passed the cafe. He'd spoken to Itsuki Tomonari here once.

He'd heard rumors of a "noble tea party." Shockingly, its members included his own older sister, Karen.

In reality, this tea party was the highest-caste gathering at Kiou Academy right now. How could it not be, with the daughter of the Konohana Group and the daughter of the Tennouji Family? On top of that, there was Narika Miyakojima, who came from a different field entirely. This meeting attracted attention not just from first-years, but from third-years as well. If they wanted to, they could change the future of Kiou Academy at will. Rintaro had never told anyone, because it was too embarrassing, but he'd once been asked by an ambitious classmate to "put in a good word" with his sister. It seemed the guy wanted to get close to Hinako Konohana through Karen. Of course, Rintaro refused; he didn't want to talk to his sister. His sister knew nothing about this, and Rintaro had no plans to tell her. Given Karen's behavior, they probably all just thought of it as a normal group of friends. They could do whatever they wanted and live in blissful peace.

The names he heard most often from this group were Hinako Konohana, Mirei Tennouji, Narika Miyakojima, and Itsuki Tomonari. His sister Karen's name, and Katsuya Taisho's, had come up a few times during the Management Tournament, but it was basically those first four he heard about most. Itsuki Tomonari, a young man whose name was spoken alongside those three conglomerate daughters, was clearly in a different league.

(Actually, if those three conglomerate daughters were fighting over Tomonari-senpai, that would make for an interesting rumor.)

Rintaro thought it was impossible, but then a thought struck him.

Isn't that guy... surrounded by a lot of women?

It hadn't even been a year since he transferred here. Maybe it was just because the group he first joined happened to have a lot of women, but still... it felt like something was up. Itsuki Tomonari had a great personality, so Rintaro could understand it, but...

(...I'll give it a shot. It probably won't work, but...)

Rintaro, the negative campaign expert, had a new inspiration.

Itsuki Tomonari is a playboy.

He began to spread that rumor.

◆

"Eh, have you heard? About that rumor."

"Yeah, it's such an interesting story..."

The next day, while walking down the hall, Rintaro overheard the girls talking and realized his negative campaign had spread throughout the academy. The new gossip Rintaro had started was being received by the girls of Kiou Academy. In an unexpected way.

"I wonder who his real target is!?"

The negative campaign he'd spread to take down the opposition was being digested by the students as a romance topic. This rumor was especially popular with the girls.

"Obviously, it has to be Konohana-san."

"But I heard he danced with Tennouji-san..."

"And don't you just feel that unique distance between him and Miyakojima-san?"

Everyone must have been curious about their movements for a while now. Their excitement didn't just appear because of the rumor; it seemed to have exploded as a result of it.

"Speaking of distance, there's a rumor he's close with Suminoe-san..."

"There's also a rumor that President Minato is after him..."

The gossip just kept coming.

(...This isn't just my fault.)

Rintaro, the negative campaign expert, understood. If the rumor was baseless, it would have disappeared on its own. In other words, this rumor was not baseless at all.

Just how many women does that guy have around him?

Rintaro's guilt faded a little.

"I also heard he's been looking really close with Asahi-san lately."

Rintaro almost snapped his head around when he heard his own last name. He should have been able to stay calm and realize it referred to his sister, Karen. But seeing the rumor spread in such a weird direction shook him.

"Wait a minute. Then what about Taisho-kun...?"

The rumor started to spread in an even weirder direction.

"Ehhh... No way!? Is that even possible!?"

"Well, that can also be considered a form of diversity."

Shouldn't this academy be normalized for commoners already?

His plan seemed to be working, but Rintaro decided to just go home and take a nap.

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