Shizuo frowned as the man rambled, seemingly unaware of how insulting half of what he said was. He grit his teeth, and slowed his breathing while he listened. When the man was finally done, Shizuo thought about how to reply.
"I don't understand everything you just said. Apparently you think I am a tree, but I'm not the one being shady. I appreciate you taking me in, but I'm not offering you my body to pay for the room. If I have a soul, I'm not trading it for a place to sleep. I don't know what information you might want from me, but I will try to answer any reasonable questions." Shizuo said.
Talking about equal exchange is easy when you have a lot to trade, and saying you don't care about money is easy when you are wealthy. This guy fit his idea of the wealthy nearly perfected. Arrogant, self-important, and assuming. Full of shit. He didn't pick this room for any reason other than that it was the very last one available in the whole city. Shizuo didn't see any purpose in continuing down that line of thinking, though. The man could say whatever he wanted, the words he spoke weren't as important as the actions he took.
"You can spend your money however you like, and keep whatever company you like. I didn't mean to imply you couldn't. I just want you to know I cannot afford to pay an equal share. I'm not going to kiss your ass, but I'll be grateful. I'm not really interested in your money, or your looks. I'm just interested in keeping out from the cold." Shizuo said.
If I every really needed money, Kasuka would loan it to me. Shizuo thought.
"When it comes to equal exchange, how does someone decide what's equal? Your money is worth less to you, yen per yen, than my money is to me, yen per yen. You're much more willing to part with it. I can tell just by looking at you that you are willing to pay more for things than I am, because you can afford it. You probably paid more for one or two of your outfits than I paid for all of my clothes combined... So 1,000 yen isn't worth the same to two people." Shizuo said.
"But 'the company of another who will not kiss my ass' seems valuable to me, and I don't value it much at all. You have plenty of money, and I have plenty of people to spend time with that won't kiss my ass. So, how much is your money worth, and how much is my company worth?" Shizuo said.
Shizuo's frown deepened, as the blonde man tried to figure that out himself. "I know a guy. I don't like him much. But he charges 50,000 yen per hour to just talk to you, plus you have to pay for any food or drink. I'm sure he's a lot more charming than me, but he'd also be kissing your ass a lot. But if that's the price of company, then that's the price of company. This room costs 40,000 yen per day, I know because I was trying to figure out how I was going to pay it."
Shizuo smiled at the man and shrugged. "I guess, though, I have less experience and I'm probably a lower quality product than he is, though he would have qualities you would hate. I suppose if I charged 10% of what he would, that would mean..."
Shizuo furrowed his brow and did math.
"Eight hours per day would be equal." Shizuo concluded.
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