Tokyo Psychic

Page 150

They simply wanted to send their daughter to their bed like a commodity... because in their minds, this was something that would be entirely beneficial to Wakaba Mutsu and the Wakaba family.

Akira Kurusu looked at Mutsuki Wakaba, who was holding her hand, with a strange expression. She finally understood why the little girl had looked like she was about to break down.

Not only were they ignored by their parents, but they were also treated like objects...

What despicable adults.

The phantom thief suddenly stopped in the corridor.

"Wakaba-kun."

"Mmm." Wakaba Mutsu obediently stopped as well, and then responded to his call.

"Does your family have many connections with the Toyokawa Group?"

“Mina has done a lot of advertising there, and Longwen’s program is also sponsored by them. People from there occasionally visit our home.”

"They really didn't hide anything from you at all... Can you remember exactly when they started having close contact with the Toyokawa Group?"

After thinking about it seriously for a while, Wakaba Mutsu replied, "Kindergarten."

"That far away? You and Toyokawa Shoko wouldn't happen to have known each other since kindergarten and grown up together, would you?"

"Ah."

Upon hearing Wakaba Mutsu's affirmative answer, Kurusu Akira suddenly felt an irresistible urge to beat the couple up.

He said, "Take me to the restroom."

The bathroom is always a good place—discreet, undisturbed, where you can have enough time to wander in your own space of impressions.

-----------

(My sleep schedule is completely messed up, that's all. I'll adjust my schedule tomorrow, so the update time is uncertain. I'll be back to my peak form the day after tomorrow.)

132. Toyokawa Shoko: Wakaba Mutsumi, what are you doing?! (Seven-in-one)

【PM. 11:52.】

After taking a shower, Akira Kurusu lay on the bed, gazing at the ceiling with its crystal chandelier. The familiar scent of Toyokawa Shoko's favorite shampoo wafted from her pillowcase.

How could such a strange thing happen?

He pondered with some frustration.

It's hard to believe that a married couple could have such a shadowy presence in the space of this house.

Clearly, subconsciously they didn't consider this place "home," and they didn't even see the shadow of Wakaba Mutsumi...

Akira Kurusu searched the entire Impression Space in the vicinity, but only found the shadow of the nanny in the Wakaba family's house, probably because this was her job to make a living.

What exactly is going on with this family? Based on her previous knowledge of psychology, Akira Kurusu analyzed that the father is a comedian who is suspected of suffering from depression, and the mother is a famous actress who is suspected of suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. Their daughter, who grew up in this loveless family and lived in the shadow of her parents, is almost growing into a girl who has completely lost her "self". Her mental illness is so severe that even Akira Kurusu cannot make a rough diagnosis in a short time.

While he was chatting with Ruoye Mu in the basement, he often sensed complex emotional changes in the girl, as if there was another "self" inside her talking to her.

However, as a seasoned mind thief, he had long been prepared for the "shadow not to be present" and had planned a backup plan in advance.

Since Takafumi Wakaba and Minami Mori want to hitch a ride on the coattails of a conglomerate, even at the cost of sending their own daughter away...

Akira Kurusu simply took out her phone and found Shoko Toyokawa's account on Line.

[The Thinker in the Attic: Is Xiangzi asleep?]

[The Attic Thinker: I need some advice regarding Wakaba Mutsumi.]

......

In the dimly lit bedroom, a cheap-looking plastic desk lamp on a folding desk illuminated a draft notebook filled with neat handwriting.

Shoko Toyokawa was lying on her open workbook, a pen with the cap unscrewed, when she was groggily awakened by a series of short chat notification sounds.

The pen tip traced messy lines on the paper, like the erratic path of a dying moth drifting aimlessly in the light.

She looked at the phone that was lying next to her knees, vibrating on the tatami mat. She tried to move her thighs, and only then did she feel a tingling, numbing sensation, like an electric current, after sitting in a kneeling position for so long.

She accidentally fell asleep. Toyokawa Shoko thought wearily, having barely slept these past few days because she was worried about Mutsu's situation.

The phone suddenly vibrated again, fluttering its wings like a dying moth.

[The Thinker in the Attic: I'm staying at Wakaba's house.]

When Toyokawa Shoko saw the message sent by Kurusu Akira on her phone screen, her eyes widened instantly, and all sleepiness vanished in an instant.

She hurriedly picked up her phone to unlock the screen, then stood up somewhat unsteadily.

......

Akira Kurusu plugged the charger she had just borrowed from Mutsu Wakaba into the socket on her bedside table. Just as she was about to charge her phone, a video call request suddenly appeared on the screen.

[Request a call (Toyokawa Shoko)]

Without hesitation, I answered the phone.

Soon, Toyokawa Shoko's pretty face, still somewhat childlike, appeared on the screen.

"Lian, good evening~" The girl smiled sweetly.

Then, she looked around suspiciously at the surroundings behind Qi Xiao, "You really stayed overnight at Ruoye's house?"

“It’s your room.” Akira Kurusu held up the pillow behind her and gestured towards Shoko Toyokawa.

"I can tell..." Toyokawa Shoko brushed a strand of hair from her temple, as if she had thought of many things, and then looked away somewhat awkwardly, a faint blush rising on her cheeks.

Although this young lady of the Toyokawa family has undergone a remarkable transformation compared to when Akira Kurusu first met her, she is still a young girl just beginning to experience romantic feelings. Her understanding of love is limited to a few "fashionable items" from comics or movies.

She fought back the heat rising in her face, "You're talking about Mutual Affair..."

“Wakaba Mutsu is very ill,” Lai Xixiao said bluntly. “You should have sensed it, right? It seems that her parents came into contact with someone, which caused their desires to be distorted to a certain extent. And when this distorted desire is inflicted on their daughter, it makes her feel more pain than ever before.”

"Especially when you're not with her."

Upon hearing this, Toyokawa Shoko's smile vanished immediately. "Yes," she said, seemingly feeling guilty, or perhaps having made some kind of realization. "Thinking back on it, I was actually quite 'sick' before too."

It sounded like a fully loaded truck was driving by outside her bedroom, making a creepy metallic clanging sound. "Lian, I think I've told you before? I've known Mu for a long time."

"I just didn't expect that 'a long time' could be as long as kindergarten." Lai Qixiao laid her phone flat on the pillow.

“It wasn’t just childhood sweethearts, it was a relationship where we considered each other as ‘half of ourselves,’ sharing a common destiny.” Toyokawa Shoko’s expression was somewhat pained. “But looking back now, it was actually just a very despicable ‘mutual need,’ or even something as dirty as ‘exploitation.’”

"He emptied the huge void in Mu's heart without explanation, then exploited her trust in me, using her as a target for venting her stress. Thinking about it carefully, even if I did it unconsciously at the time, it was still despicable and dirty..."

Why do you think that way? Is it because you suddenly realized you've grown up?

“…Hmm.” The girl on the screen walked to the window, looked up at the gray night sky near the industrial area where there were no stars or moon, and said, “I suddenly feel like I owe Xiao Mu so much.”

The golden streetlights illuminated her profile, creating a hazy, ethereal beauty even through the camera lens.

“Since it’s a relationship as intimate as ‘half a body,’ Wakaba should be able to sense your dependence on her, since you should also be ‘necessary’ to her.” Akira Kurusu continued, following Toyokawa Shoko’s words. “So there’s no need to portray yourself as some kind of heinous villain.”

Toyokawa Shoko shook her head. "You haven't seen me before. If it were you... if it were you, you would immediately be able to tell just how... annoying I was back then."

Her expression was extremely dejected. "If I hadn't met you, perhaps that naive me would have completely betrayed Xiaomu's trust one day and hurt her terribly?"

“It sounds like a long time has passed, but we’ve only known each other for two months.” Akira Kurusu took off her non-prescription glasses and placed them on the bedside table. “No matter what experiences you have had to grow up, the shadow of the past always follows you... I don’t know what the past ‘self’ that you hate so much was like, but I know that the current Toyokawa Shoko is an excellent, confident, and responsible girl who takes responsibility for her mistakes.”

Toyokawa Shoko's blush deepened.

"Don't praise me like that."

She said shyly, but her mood had gradually calmed down.

Akira Kurusu lay in the bed where Shoko Toyokawa had rolled around the day before yesterday, saying, "Next up is the backup plan for saving Wakaba-san."

"First of all, it's clear that the shadow of her parents is somewhere like the office or a film set, definitely not in this house... So, we can only try to separate Ruoye from her parents, whose desires are twisted, as much as possible in reality. We need your help, Xiangzi, to implement this plan."

Shoko Toyokawa thought about it seriously for a while, "Shall we invite Mutsu out tomorrow and let her participate in the process of changing her mind about Mr. Wakaba and Ms. Mori?"

Akira Kurusu paused for a moment, "Shouldn't we have taken her to see a psychologist immediately?"

Shoko Toyokawa asked him somewhat dejectedly, "Do you even know any reliable psychologists? If the fact that the daughters of two big stars have mental illnesses were to be revealed to the public, it would be a terrible scandal! It might make it impossible for Mutsu to live a normal life in the future!"

“Young Miss, it’s time to use the power of the Toyokawa family to save your childhood sweetheart.”

Toyokawa Shoko's eyes suddenly turned resentful. "I understand. I'll go back and talk to those old men tomorrow, but you have to take Xiaomu outside... Wait, wouldn't that make it look like you two are on a date?"

"You mean, I'd secretly date a sixteen-year-old high school girl who has family issues and is suspected of suffering from aphasia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, somatization anxiety, and insomnia?"

Akira Kurusu was now swearing that she had absolutely no romantic interest in Mutsuka Wakaba.

Toyokawa Shoko's face instantly filled with resentment. "Do you think I'm worried about you? Have you forgotten about what happened with those two Yoshizawa girls?"

She selectively forgot about An and Subaru's existence.

"Oh." Akira Kurusu looked away somewhat guiltily from his girlfriend's gaze.

But then he thought about it again, and his expression turned somewhat angry. "That despicable Toyokawa Shoko, why didn't she warn her childhood sweetheart not to lay a hand on me?"

Shoko Toyokawa hung up the video call without any expression.

She gazed at the bright moon, its white light emanating from the gaps in the sea of ​​clouds, and couldn't help but feel worried.

After CRYCHIC disbanded, she cut off contact with her former friends for a whole month, including Mutsumi Wakaba...

During this month, Toyokawa Shoko had no idea what Wakaba Mutsu had gone through, or whether he still considered her his only "other half" to rely on. She only realized in their brief contact that the disease that had been vaguely visible since childhood had now deteriorated to the point where it could be revealed at any time... Toyokawa Shoko felt that she was not mature enough to bear this blind and hopeless trust, but she was also worried that Wakaba Mutsu might go to extremes because of his psychological problems.

If only I had stayed at Wakaba's house a little longer, I could have spent more time with her... Toyokawa Shoko thought with great regret. Even if it caused Ms. Mori and Mr. Wakaba to have some wrong judgments about the Toyokawa family's arrangements, it would have been far better than leaving Wakaba Mutsu there alone.

But it seems like someone is already there with her now.

Toyokawa Shoko paced back and forth, a sense of unease growing within her.

What if, under the immense pressure from her parents, Momoya mistakenly comes to see Akira Kurusu as a new person to fill the void in her heart...?

Toyokawa Shoko felt a little uneasy. She couldn't tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, and deep down she inexplicably hoped it would happen.

She sighed for a while, forcing herself not to think about the problem.

So I closed the window, sat back down at the folding table, and continued working on the homework I'd accumulated during exam week.

*

at the same time.

In the bedroom next to Akira's.

The girl sat alone on the pristine white bed, her long, lavish hair cascading down her back, her skin as pale as the sheets.

She hugged her knees, her pale, thin feet pressed against the guitar, then immediately moved them away uneasily, lying down on her side and trying to curl up into a small ball.

"Xiang is getting further and further away."

As Ye Mu murmured to herself, her light golden eyes were misty with tears.

The girl in my memory is fading into the distance, while she remains in the same place, waiting for her to turn around and take her hand.

But they were too far apart. Even though the girl turned around many times, his outstretched hand could only stop in mid-air, and he could never touch her.

A devilish voice seemed to be tempting her, "Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu, don't pay any more attention to that girl who abandoned us. She not only left the band, but she hasn't spoken to you for a whole month."

Ruoye Mu slowly shook her head, "Xiangzi has her own reasons... She has already apologized to me."

"There's no real hardship she's facing. She's just being a spoiled rich girl who's putting on a show. Don't be too lenient with her."

"No, you mustn't say anything bad about her." Ruoye Mutsu's voice trembled slightly.

"You were almost suspended from school by those two guys a while ago! Where was your most reliable support? Su Shi rejected the cucumbers you painstakingly grew and went to form a band on his own. You don't have anyone in the class you can talk to... Where was your most reliable support at a time like this?!"

The voice in Ruoye Mu's heart suddenly became indignant, "They clearly promised that they would be each other's other half, but she ran away by herself and secretly formed a new band just like Su Shi. When she grew up and found happiness, she came back hypocritically and said things like 'I'm sorry, please forgive me' and 'I will save you'... I hate Toyokawa Shoko the most!"

Ruoye Mu's voice grew softer and softer, "It's my fault that CRYCHIC disbanded, not Xiangzi's..."

The voice inside her said helplessly, "Xiao Mu, you're hopeless."

Then its tone instantly turned icy, "Is it your fault that those two guys who can't help but wag their tails at the sight of the Toyokawa surname pressured and ignored you...?"

“It’s different,” Wakaba Mutsu weakly retorted, “If it were Shoko, she would definitely…”

"What? Come back to play in the band with you right away? She has new friends and bandmates now, there's no place for you there."

Ruoye Mu remained silent.

Another voice continued muttering, "I think that guy named Amamiya is much more reliable than Shoko!"

"Hmph, he even invited you to participate in club activities..."

"..."