Tokyo Psychic

Page 154

"We can begin."

Lai Xixiao sat upright behind the table, his expression indifferent. With a wave of his hand, he displayed the demeanor of a great general.

134. The Visible Hand of the Toyokawa Family (Two-in-One)

Before arriving at the autograph session, Akira Kurusu was first taken to a clothing store by Mutsumi Wakaba.

Ruoye Mutsu said that this was a place her parents frequented, where many trendy new items were sold only to socialites, so she wanted to choose a suitable dress for Kurusu Akira that would make her look presentable on any occasion.

Akira Kurusu noticed the price tag next to the clothes rack and quickly declined the girl's offer...

He had inquired about Wakaba Mutsumi's wallet beforehand. Although the girl had been exposed to various rare entertainment industry resources through the Toyokawa family's connections since childhood, arranged by her parents, almost all of her earnings were taken away by her guardian under the guise of safekeeping...

All the cash that Ruoye Mu currently has at her disposal is saved from the very generous "pocket money" given to her by her parents on a daily basis.

If you were to buy this men's suit, which is said to be made by a world-renowned tailor, it would probably empty the girl's savings that she has accumulated over many years.

Unable to help Akira, Wakaba Mutsu felt very frustrated.

She always felt that she should give something in return for truly becoming friends.

So, at Akira Kurusu's suggestion to settle for second best, Mutsuka Wakaba still took him to a very popular brand store and picked out a few casual clothes.

After changing out of Xiujin's school uniform into the casual clothes that Wakaba Mutsu had chosen for her, Akira Kurusu hailed a taxi and headed to the autograph session.

......

Let's go back to the present.

The "Ring" café is occupied by a band rehearsal room.

The drummer, named "Shiina Tatsuki," tapped away irritably on his phone screen.

Soon, the pink-haired guitarist curiously approached, "'Tanuki'~ what's bothering you?"

Shiina Tatsuki's eye twitched slightly. He gave her a very cold look, but was quickly defeated by the girl's bright smile. He said helplessly, "I'm urging Rakuna to come over for training... We're going to perform at Seibu Dome on the 27th. That's no joke. Everyone has to quickly finalize their performance style."

"Hmm, especially Renai's overly willful nature..." Shiina Riki hadn't finished speaking when the rehearsal room door was pushed open forcefully from the outside.

Nagasaki Motoyo, panting, leaned against the wall. "Have you seen Rakuna?"

Shiina Riki looked down at her phone screen; the message she had sent was an hour ago.

Although Rakuna often doesn't check her phone, making it especially troublesome for the band's girls to contact her... this time, Shiina Tatsuki has a vague sense of foreboding.

Nagasaki Motoyo looked around.

The band's lead singer sat in the corner of the rehearsal room, scribbling in his notebook, while the seemingly unreliable rhythm guitarist lay on the sofa, idly scrolling through Twitter.

The answer is already clear.

Nagasaki Motoyo closed the door with a sigh, "Rakuna has disappeared."

Shiina Riki looked up abruptly, the terrible premonition in her heart finally becoming a reality, "Disappeared?"

"I searched everywhere Lena might be..."

"Wait a minute! I know where Ryuna is!" Chihaya Aine suddenly raised her hand, interrupting their conversation.

“You say it,” Shiina Tatsuki said, quickly approaching Chihaya Aine.

Chihaya Aine held up her phone, the screen displaying a tweet...

[Mori Minami: @ATLUS Agency, @Kurasu Akira: Congratulations on the successful first signing event for Volume 1 of "No Game No Life". I'm very busy, so I asked Mutsu to come and support us.]

Below the post was a set of carefully taken photos, showing Mutsumi Wakaba holding a copy of "No Game No Life" while queuing in line for a book signing event.

There's also the profile of Wakaba Mutsumi as she flips through the pages and asks the author to sign the book.

These photos were clearly taken by staff members after they were paid.

But the girls' focus at this moment wasn't on how Mori Minami would continue to market her daughter—except for Nagasaki Motoyo, who was quite knowledgeable about the gossip in the entertainment industry.

In short, they saw a photo of Wakaba Mutsumi with two other girls in the dessert shop.

The lead singer of the newly formed group "End Band", Serina Ii, and... their own lost guitarist, Rakuna Kaname.

The band's guitarist went missing, and unsurprisingly, the girls were all in agreement:

Let's go and bring Yao Le Nai back together.

After all, there probably isn't a case in the world where a guitarist suddenly disappears for a long time and no one pays any attention to her band, right?

......

The two-hour autograph session ended quickly.

When it was the last "fan's" turn in line, Lai Xixiao looked at the sprightly old man in front of her and fell into a subtle silence.

He remembered the other person. They had met briefly once at a high-end restaurant in Chengdu.

The old man looked at the boy in front of him with admiration and sighs. This time, Toyokawa Shoko was not by his side. "We meet again, Amamiya-kun."

"Hello, Mr. Toyokawa."

Although we don't know his real name, calling him by his surname, Toyokawa, is definitely the right thing to do.

Lai Qixiao put down the pen in her hand, stood up without hesitation, reached out and grasped the old man's right hand, and then shook it vigorously.

The old man smiled kindly and said, "You are very smart."

Just as Akira was wondering if his next words would be, "Come be my son..."

The old man withdrew his hand and handed a copy of "Game of Life" to Akira Kurusu. "Although I don't understand what you young people are talking about in your books these days, I do know a little about their commercial value."

He nodded approvingly, "At your age, it's truly remarkable that you've found such a way to quickly get out of a predicament."

Akira Kurusu had already figured out why "No Game No Life" had achieved results far exceeding the response to the trial reading event. She immediately put away all her businesslike smiles, straightened her face, and gave the old man in front of her a serious and earnest half-bow, "Thank you for your care!"

At this point, the entrances and exits of the venue had been blocked off with warning tape, and the latecomers were asked to leave the venue with regretful expressions.

The staff from the firm and DB Library were directed by their respective supervisors to leave the venue and begin arranging for the next book signing event—two more authors from the library were scheduled to hold book signings there today.

ATLUS Studio has already finished its work in Ginza today, but the studio's biggest sponsor is inside. Yoshizawa Kazuhiko, who stayed behind, is speculating about the purpose of this elderly patron's personal presence.

......

The old man opened the light novel's cover, turned it around, and placed it on the table. He also thoughtfully unscrewed the cap of the pen for Akira Kurusu and handed it to him. "Sign your name, and write 'To Toyokawa Shoko' as well... Hmm, it would be best to add a date as well."

Lai Xixiao felt like she was signing a marriage certificate. "You must have already learned about me through various means, but you still took the time out of your busy schedule to meet me. I'm so sorry to trouble you."

Upon hearing Lai Xixiao's words, the old man simply nodded in agreement, then said with a sigh, "This is the first time I've gone to such lengths for a young person's fledgling business. It's already at the final stage, and if I didn't come and see for myself, I would inevitably feel a little regretful... This meeting has truly satisfied me. Hmm, Xiangzi is indeed more discerning in judging people than her mother."

The old man spoke his true feelings in front of Lai Xixiao with great familiarity.

This attitude made Akira Kurusu, who was signing her name on the book pages with her head down, feel much more relaxed.

He never expected that Toyokawa Shoko's family would be so understanding... After he finished signing, he screwed on the pen cap and handed the brand-new copy of "Life is a Game" to the old man in front of him.

At the same time, Lai Qixiao also inquired with concern, "Has Xiangzi already gone home?"

"Xiangzi went home early this morning." The old man smiled happily. "I have to thank you for that."

This time, Akira didn't even bother to feign humility; she simply accepted the old man's gratitude calmly. "After all, Shoko is a very intelligent girl... she's just a little stubborn at times."

The old man gave him a deep look, not at all surprised by his "thousand faces" of behavior. "Xiangzi is just like his mother in this respect."

"It's a pity I didn't have the chance to meet her."

"I'm also very sorry," the old man sighed, then patted Lai Qixiao on the shoulder. "Now that you're done with your work, come with me for a walk over there."

He pointed to a window on one side of the venue, and looking out the window, every street within sight was part of the TGW Group's property.

Lai Xixiao asked the old man beside her, "I probably can't accept marrying into the family."

“I know,” the old man said without any surprise. “A proud… well, arrogant boy like you would definitely not accept a marriage into another family.”

The old man looked down at the street below, recalling many years ago, in a Ginza alley after the collapse of the bubble economy, the neon lights of the pachinko parlors crackled. Once, a man in a cheap suit knelt beside a trash can, rummaging through expired bento boxes; his stainless steel pocket watch chain dragged on the ground, tracing an arc more flamboyant than the stock price curve of Mitsukoshi Department Store… That man struggled against fate for about two weeks, then jumped from the rooftop of the very mall where he stood.

To fall from a state of blissful happiness into an abyss of utter destitution, and then rise again, relying on one's talent and hard work to gradually readjust the course of one's life—this is an unrepeatable miracle.

The boy standing next to him not only did this, but did it far better than he had imagined—

At the age of high school, he lost his parents, was burdened with huge debts, was bullied and ostracized, left his hometown, and drifted alone in Tokyo... He not only applied to a private high school, but also achieved a perfect balance between his studies, career, and interests, and solved all the difficulties he faced in an orderly manner. He even managed to squeeze out some leisure time for entertainment in the process.

More importantly, he had no so-called "relatives" and was also a handsome man... In all of Tokyo, could there be a more suitable choice as "family" than him?

Toyokawa Sadaharu smiled with satisfaction, "From now on, just treat the Toyokawa family as your own home."

Surprisingly, Akira Kurusu refused decisively, "No way."

"Do you prefer to work hard on your own rather than rely on others?"

Lai Xixiao shook his head. "There are deeper reasons. I will tell you when I am ready." Before completely killing those evil gods hidden deep in the hall of twisted desires, he did not intend to get entangled in too complicated relationships with himself.

Especially when it comes to a huge topic like "family"... there are too many loopholes for those evil gods to plot and scheme.

Moreover... he needs to observe the Toyokawa family further to confirm whether this behemoth entrenched in Tokyo is qualified to become the new "phantom thief sponsor".

After all, when Akira Kurusu was working as a phantom thief in her previous life, she had a large amount of manpower and resources secretly provided by several conglomerates.

......

Seeing that he didn't want to talk about it, Toyokawa Sadaharu didn't press him further.

The old man, full of anticipation, instructed Lai Xixiao, "Then... when you're ready, bring Xiangzi to my house to see me."

Lai Xixiao nodded solemnly, "That day will come."

Toyokawa Sadaharu did not ask "why Toyokawa Shoko suddenly returned home" or "why she needed to rely on her family to find a so-called 'reliable psychologist'." He seemed to completely trust and hand over the power of decision-making to these young people.

At that moment, it suddenly became noisy outside the venue.

It appeared to be a group of girls chattering and asking questions to the security guards at the entrance.

"Please let us in!"

"Our friends are in the rest area!"

That's what they said.

Toyokawa Sadaharu saw the commotion over there, but his eyes lingered on Kurusu Akira's face with an ambiguous look. "Young man, you should at least be more mindful of your self-control."

"I will." Akira Kurusu felt inexplicably guilty when she said this.

The old man calmly handed him a bank card, saying, "This is the pocket money I haven't given Xiangzi for a while... From now on, her monthly pocket money will be deposited into this card as usual, so I'm entrusting it to you for safekeeping."

Akira Lai accepted the bank card without batting an eye, saying, "Understood."

"Then I won't interfere with your social interactions."

The old man left satisfied.

Upon receiving the order through their wireless earpieces, the security personnel blocking the entrance immediately changed their attitude and allowed the "MyGO" band girls into the venue.

----------

(Tomorrow is a "five-in-one" day.)

135. A Date with Wakaba Mutsumi (7-in-1)

"Su Shishi~ What's wrong?"

Chihaya Aine looked strangely at Nagasaki Motoyo, who had suddenly stopped moving.

Nagasaki Motoyo looked at Kurusu Akira standing in front of her, her face showing a distinct sense of embarrassment, even bewilderment.

When Shiina Ritsuki saw Nagasaki Motoyo's expression, he immediately realized that this was the incident that Toyokawa Shoko had mentioned not long ago after apologizing, about "Nagasaki Motoyo following Toyokawa's boyfriend."

She turned to Nagasaki Motoyo with some surprise and asked, "Motoyo, you haven't apologized to him yet?"

"He hasn't replied to me," Nagasaki Motoyo said softly.

"What about Xiangzi?"

"Xiangzi... I didn't dare to speak to her."

Shiina Tatsuki instinctively wanted to say, "Did Toyokawa Shoko take a bullet for you in a past life? How can you be so cowardly? Don't break the light strip..."

But seeing the frustrated and ashamed expression on his bassist's face, Shiina Tatsuki's lips twitched twice, and he swallowed back his sarcastic words, remaining silent.

Walking at the back of the group, Takamatsu Akari keenly sensed the sudden change in the atmosphere around her. Seeing her friends in front of her suddenly fall silent, the already introverted girl lowered her head and dared not observe the staff who kept pouring into the venue.

When the members of "MyGO" meet a newly graduated light novel author who has finished his job.