Tokyo Psychic

Page 158

And then...

If Ye Longwen suddenly looked around with a stiff expression, it was as if he could hear faint laughter and sarcasm from the crowd, and the occasional glow of a mobile phone screen was like the flash of a camera.

It seems as if one can sense this glamorous world falling, falling into a dark abyss.

He is being assimilated by the group of people around him who are down on their luck at the bottom of society...

Takafumi Wakaba began to panic.

He frantically tried to escape, and his body did indeed begin to move, frantically pushing aside the pedestrians around him, his pale face filled with panic.

"Hey, you bastard..." came the angry curses from a passerby behind him.

"Wait, he looks like Wakaba!" Suddenly someone recognized Wakaba Takafumi and shouted in the crowd.

By this time, Wakaba Takafumi had already escaped far away.

He didn't stop until he reached a newspaper stand in Shinjuku that had its doors closed.

He leaned against the wall, panting, his blurry vision passing through the window to see the old newspapers and posters on the bookshelf directly opposite...

She was a silent and exquisite girl, dressed in a white princess dress, sitting under a Christmas tree adorned with lights, her small hands, clasped in lace gloves, crossed in front of her lower abdomen. Her delicate, expressionless face was slightly raised, facing the photographer's camera, her eyes vacant and lifeless, yet breathtakingly beautiful... like the world's most expensive doll, waiting to be auctioned off by wealthy men waving their banknotes.

"Mori Nami's Daughter! A Shining Star of the Future!"

When Takafumi Wakaba was in junior high school, he was taken by Minami Mori to shoot a fashion magazine cover as a "child star," which suddenly caught his eye.

Twisted desires wove a murky thought from his alcohol-corrupted brain.

If we take advantage of Mu's face and her age... we might actually be able to save the show.

Are you going to force those vulgar and obscene jokes onto Wakaba Mutsumi in front of the live stream audience?

That's your daughter, she's only 16 years old...

If she is indeed labeled with all sorts of messy tags in the public eye because of this, what will she do in the future?

Wakaba Takafumi's remaining sanity was struggling.

But soon, the thought of the show's "failure" came to mind—

Humans, as social beings, are more afraid of falling the higher they stand.

The enormous drop is enough to destroy the mind of anyone who has ever climbed to a high point.

As if he had made up his mind, Ruoye Longwen swayed and steadied himself by leaning against the wall, his filthy eyes reflecting the sins of the entire city.

It was as if invisible threads descended from the sky and pierced his limbs, controlling this body dominated by desire, making him move like a walking corpse towards his studio in Shinjuku 1-chome.

......

"Ah, this is the Toyokawa family."

Akira Kurusu was led by Mutsu Wakaba towards the Toyokawa family mansion.

A handsome servant respectfully opened the door on both sides.

"Welcome home, Master Amamiya, Miss Wakaba!"

The waiters in suits stood by the door and greeted him in unison, their words carrying a deeper meaning.

Facing the magnificent mansion, Akira Kurusu remained remarkably calm, but Mutsumi Wakaba beside him seemed somewhat reserved.

She probably wasn't uncomfortable because of the excessively extravagant, even "grand," scene.

"The young lady isn't here." A maid who had once taken care of Wakaba Mutsu suddenly leaned closer and whispered to her as she was leaving.

Despite feeling guilty and remorseful, Ruo Yemu couldn't help but feel relaxed.

Then, realizing what the maid meant, Wakaba Mutsu turned back to look at her in shock.

The maid winked playfully at Wakaba Mutsu, then left the mansion with the maid troupe.

An elderly man in a kimono descended the stairs and said respectfully, "Mr. Maruki has been waiting for quite some time. However, before you meet with the psychiatrist, as instructed by the master, I need to show you around the place."

Akira Kurusu looked at Mutsu Wakaba beside him, and Mutsu Wakaba shook his head at him.

Akira Kurusu said, "Okay."

The old man glanced at Ruoye Mu without leaving a trace, quite satisfied with the obedient and sensible nature of his young mistress's childhood sweetheart. "Then please follow me."

He led Akira Kurusu and Mutsu Wakaba deeper into the mansion.

Throughout the journey, he introduced each floor and room to Lai Qixiao.

The old man would occasionally push the door open to let Lai Qixiao in for a visit.

for example......

"This is where the young lady usually receives her private tutoring."

Pushing open the door reveals a study room whose collection of books and area far exceed those of the Xiujin Academy Library.

"This is the young lady's bedroom. If young master Amamiya is planning to stay overnight, he may stay here."

Pushing open the door again, one enters a huge, extravagant room that resembles a palace, with a doll placed on a large bed.

The doll was left here by Toyokawa Shoko when she went home today.

Akira Lai had heard her say that this was a memento left by her mother.

The old man looked at the beautiful doll, his words of introduction abruptly stopped, and suddenly felt his eyes sting. He stood there for a while before leading Lai Qixiao to the door on the left side of the bedroom.

"This is the young lady's usual bathroom. If you wish to stay overnight, the maid will prepare a change of clothes for you at night. If you require any service, you can also ask the maid who will be with you at night."

......

Doors opened one by one, and the old man led the young boy and girl all the way to the top floor of the mansion, and then began to descend.

"Finally, this is where the young lady usually practices the piano."

Pushing open the deep red wooden door, a bright and spacious room was revealed, with a piano that looked very expensive placed in the center.

The thin curtains, like trembling cicada wings, fluttered in the night breeze.

The faint sound of piano playing could be heard, but the piano in front of me was completely covered up.

As Akira approached the piano, she could almost see a lovely girl sitting on the bench suddenly turn around and give her a sweet smile.

She opened her arms, jumped off the chair, and lunged at him, but vanished the instant they touched.

It turns out she wasn't trying to hug herself...

As if sensing a warm gaze, Akira Kurusu suddenly turned her head and looked behind her, following the direction of the girl's embrace.

A gentle and elegant woman stood by the open door, nodding slightly. She opened her mouth and spoke in a barely audible voice...

"Xiangzi, I'm entrusting this to you."

Then, this young lady, who was of Chinese descent and had never bowed to anyone in her life, bowed her proud back to an outsider for the first time.

Despite never having met him in person, Akira Kurusu had gotten to know this former Toyokawa family heir more than once through photos and videos circulating online.

In the next instant, the woman's figure vanished without a trace.

Akira Kurusu placed her hands on the piano, and a warm feeling emanated from its cold texture.

Seeing that Lai Xixiao had a thoughtful expression, the old man turned and left without hesitation.

Only Wakaba Mutsu remained standing at the doorway, in the spot where the woman's figure had just disappeared.

She stared quietly at the boy in front of her, her small hands clasped together as if she dared not face him. She lowered her head and spoke after a long while, her faint voice being drowned out by the warm night breeze.

"Did I...did I do something wrong?"

Just as Akira was about to answer Mutsuka Wakaba, she clearly saw her use a completely different voice and tone to mutter to herself, "Mutsuka is not wrong."

As if to reaffirm this idea, "Wakaba Mutsumi" calmly repeated what she had just said, "Mutsumi is not wrong."

Lai Xixiao lifted her hands from the piano, looking at the girl in front of her with a hint of heartache, her eyes filled with struggle and uncertainty. "You really did nothing wrong."

It seemed that Wakaba Mutsu, who was having a heated internal argument with someone else, suddenly fell silent.

She stood there stunned for a while, then stared blankly at Akira Kurusu in front of her.

"...It's so quiet."

"The sound disappeared all at once..." The girl stared at the boy opposite her, her eyes unblinking, as if she were about to break.

Akira Kurusu quickly approached, cupped Mutsu Wakaba's face, and lifted it up.

Her light golden eyes were filled with Akira's eyes, and the girl said with a hint of grievance, "I...I want to talk to Shoko."

"As for your feelings for me? Xiangzi must already know... Don't forget, we appeared in several places where the Toyokawa family has influence today. Even the maids in the mansion know about us."

"When I was touring Xiangzi's bedroom just now, the butler quietly told me that Xiangzi was on his way."

"..." For the first time, Ruoye Mu had the thought of running away, but she was firmly held in place by Kurusu Akira, and could only look at the boy in front of her with tearful eyes, at a loss.

"What should I do?" the girl asked Lai Xixiao almost pleadingly.

She was afraid that she might lose the only "self" she had in the world.

“If Xiangzi were really angry, she would have come back long ago, or at the very least she would have called us.”

Akira Kurusu released her hands and watched as Mutsu Wakaba retreated step by step in fear until she reached the corner of the wall.

He said, "You are her only 'half of body'."

Ruoye Mu shook her head and said with great difficulty, "Xiangzi... Xiangzi's world already has many people."

"So, is she the only friend you have left in your world?" Akira Kurusu stared intently into Mutsu Wakaba's eyes.

"Do you really only have Toyokawa Shoko as a friend? Or did you once think that Toyokawa Shoko couldn't live without you? Being each other's 'half-body' probably means this, that we need each other."

"So, you actually feel that you haven't helped Xiangzi, so you've completely lost your value and been abandoned by her as her 'other half,' so you're not qualified to ask her for help, right?"

As Ruoye Mutsu watched Kurusu Akira relentlessly closing in, tears streamed down her face.

"Xiangzi..."

“She didn’t abandon you.” Lai Qixiao wiped away her tears. “She just felt too guilty and didn’t know how to face you.”

“During the time when you needed help the most, Xiangzi himself was also lost in the darkest corner of Tokyo and couldn’t hear your voice at all.”

"Some misunderstandings could be cleared up if we could ask her directly—you are Xiangzi’s irreplaceable best friend who grew up with him."

"...We've already apologized to each other," Wakaba Mutsumi said timidly.

"That's an apology for past mistakes; you still have a 'present' and a 'future'."

After Akira Kurusu finished speaking, she suddenly sensed a fluctuation in her mental power.

He blinked. "Ah, Xiangzi has arrived."

Lai Xixiao walked to the door. "Butler, where is Xiangzi?"

Toyokawa Shoko brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, strode up the steps, and glared at Kurusu Akira with a hint of resentment. "You know perfectly well why I'm asking this."

She stepped over Qi Xiao, entered her music room, and hugged her "half-body" without saying a word.

If Ye Mu's face, which was almost devoid of emotion, clearly crumbled at this moment, that icy indifference crumbled.

She hugged her "half-body" tightly, tears streaming down her face.

“Xiao Mu…” Toyokawa Shoko said softly, “I told you, Ren Amamiya and I would save you.”

Wakaba Mutsu kept saying "I'm sorry".

Toyokawa Shoko gently patted her trembling shoulders and back, "Even though you're about to break down, you still think about me... That's not taking care of yourself."

“Shoko, this kind of thing can’t be shared…” Wakaba Mutsu shook her head desperately, not wanting her own actions to cause a rift in the relationship between Kurusu Akira and Toyokawa Shoko.

Toyokawa Shoko turned around and glared at Kurusu Akira with a fierce look in her eyes. Kurusu Akira waved his hand helplessly, "I told you, you should warn your 'half-body' not to lay a hand on me."

"It was clearly you who took advantage of the situation!"

"She's so heartbroken, and you don't dare to take on the responsibility of carrying her life again, so I'll have to step in."

"A greedy and insatiable scumbag."

"Isn't this the result you wanted to see..." Lai Qixiao also felt wronged. "Otherwise, if one day Xiao Mu is pushed outside by her bastard parents and kidnapped by some strange man, and suffers all kinds of harm, you will regret it again."

Toyokawa Shoko ignored him and continued to comfort her best friend, "Don't cry, Mutsu, let's go downstairs to see the doctor."

Even though Ye Mu was crying, her eyes suddenly turned to doubt, anger, and even grievance. "She clearly promised to take me to form a band."

After Toyokawa Shoko witnessed the establishment of "MyGO" and performed "Kasuga Kage" on stage.