Kazumi and Vixon's Hostile Relationship from Classmates to Adversaries

Kazumi and Vixon’s relationship is defined by an old distrust that becomes an active struggle over what Yohan believes. Kazumi’s hostility begins in their school years, rooted in conduct she says she witnessed and experienced; as adults, Vixon’s claims about her and his deliberate distortions deepen the conflict. Their antagonism is therefore more than personal dislike: it places Kazumi’s firsthand judgment against Vixon’s calculated performance, with Yohan’s trust caught between them.

School-Era Distrust

Kazumi’s mistrust predates their adult workplace rivalry. She recalls catching Vixon peeping into the girls’ restroom and describes him as a school bully who had bullied multiple people and sometimes touched others without permission. These memories give her objection to his later presence a concrete history. When she wonders whether he has changed, her answer is skeptical: she sees no evidence of a meaningful transformation.

That past also shapes how Kazumi interprets Vixon’s appeal to Yohan. She regards Vixon’s good looks as the apparent reason Yohan is drawn to him, but considers that attraction a poor guide to his character. Her view is not presented as detached assessment; it is the perspective of someone who believes she has seen Vixon’s conduct at close range and remembers its effects. The gap between Yohan’s interest and Kazumi’s distrust becomes the central pressure in their adult relationship.

Rivalry Around Yohan

The conflict sharpens when Yohan hires Vixon as another assistant. Kazumi questions why Yohan needs an additional assistant when she is already helping him, and wonders whether Yohan is especially susceptible to Vixon. Her response links the workplace change to a personal fear: that Yohan’s attraction will make him overlook the behavior she associates with Vixon.

Vixon then tells Yohan that Kazumi tried to seduce him after his job interview. This is Vixon’s claim, not an independently established account of Kazumi’s actions. Its function in the conflict is clear: it recasts Kazumi, who distrusts Vixon, as a rival pursuing him, while allowing Vixon to present himself as the object of her attention. Kazumi’s suspicions are thus placed at a disadvantage if Yohan accepts Vixon’s version before hearing hers.

The tension becomes more direct when Kazumi confronts Vixon about speaking against her. Vixon mocks her for not understanding that Yohan is being misled, and describes Yohan as foolish for failing to see what is happening. Kazumi answers by accusing Vixon of deceiving Yohan and warns that she could report him. Their exchange exposes a sharp difference in what each claims to be protecting: Kazumi presents herself as trying to alert Yohan, while Vixon shows contempt for Yohan’s judgment and for Kazumi’s attempt to intervene.

Deception and Money

Vixon’s own account makes his relationship with Yohan explicitly transactional. He says that he wants Yohan’s money, believes Yohan has a crush on him, and intends to accept Yohan’s feelings and court him if Yohan confesses. That admission gives substance to Kazumi’s accusation that Vixon is leading Yohan on. It also clarifies why Vixon’s interest in Yohan is so threatening to Kazumi: she sees her closest ally being treated as a source of money rather than as a person whose feelings deserve honesty.

The book later shows Vixon describing other deceptions in his own point of view. He tells himself that he has persuaded Yohan they painted together with Zhara, when he says the painting was purchased and that he and Zhara actually had sex. He also says he sent Yohan a conversation between Kazumi and another person, allowing Yohan to believe that Kazumi and her friend were talking about him when they were discussing the friend. These disclosures do not by themselves prove every accusation Kazumi makes, but they confirm a recurring pattern: Vixon manipulates what Yohan sees and how he interprets it. The reader is given information that Yohan, at those moments, lacks.

A Conflict of Credibility

Kazumi’s position is weakened by the fact that she cannot control what reaches Yohan or how he reads it. Vixon’s distortions work by exploiting ambiguity: a conversation about someone else can be made to sound like a conversation about Yohan, and a fabricated account of Kazumi’s behavior can be used to redirect suspicion toward her. Kazumi’s anger is plain, but Vixon’s confident, self-congratulatory narration reveals a more deliberate method of undermining her.

The relationship’s defining contrast is therefore not simply that Kazumi dislikes Vixon and Vixon dislikes Kazumi. Kazumi’s distrust is grounded in her recollection of his school conduct and her concern for Yohan; Vixon, by contrast, openly describes his financial intentions and takes satisfaction in deceiving Yohan. The available scenes establish them as adversaries, with Yohan’s feelings and trust repeatedly serving as the point of leverage. They do not establish a reconciliation between Kazumi and Vixon; the conflict remains defined by Kazumi’s warning and Vixon’s demonstrated capacity to mislead.