After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Page 161

"Hatsune, do me a favor... kill me."

He still had that stubborn streak—he wouldn't let Nagasaki Sosei succeed even if it meant death.

Chapter 148 Hailing: There's still hope!

She left the small house that once belonged to Toyokawa Yuu, but after Toyokawa Hatsune's identity was exposed, she was asked by Toyokawa Shoko to maintain it herself.

Nagasaki Sase stood in the sunlight, recalling her brief and straightforward exchange with Toyokawa Yuu. She gently placed her hand on her high chest, feeling her heartbeat gradually slowing down, and couldn't help but feel that her hands and feet were a little cold in the sunlight.

Over the course of ten years, she completed high school and university, learned business from her mother, and was no longer as naive as she had been... yet she remained stubborn.

Nagasaki Sase is well aware that her personality is actually the kind that's rather annoying—if someone takes a liking to her.

At least, Yuu Toyokawa was extremely annoyed with herself, while Aine Chihaya...

Although saying this might dampen her enthusiasm, she knew that if it weren't for needing her help with Toyokawa Yuu's matter, Chihaya Aine probably wouldn't have come looking for her until she left Tokyo again.

Therefore, I cannot let this opportunity slip by no matter what.

I might be able to wait another ten or even twenty years, but who can guarantee that Chihaya Aine will come back in ten years?

Moreover, as time goes by, will others still really care about those two bands that are objectively just student clubs?

To keep thinking about one... no, two student club bands for ten years at a time, would probably seem crazy to other people.

But for Nagasaki Sase, it wasn't something that could be simply summarized by the term "student club." It was a place of belonging that he had found only to have his family fall apart again and again after his own family was destroyed in his childhood.

Even if we really have to fall apart and go our separate ways, at least... let's give each other a dignified ending and a solemn farewell.

He just left with a single sentence, then turned and left, never to be seen again... Don't... Don't do the same thing as that man named Ichinose!

Now that Xiao Xiang is gone, there is absolutely no possibility of a dignified ending for CRYCHIC.

MyGO!!!!! Meanwhile, Chihaya Aine returned to the city at this crucial moment.

This may be the last chance. It may not be a very dignified one, but at least it should give the band, which I still think about so much, an ending.

As his heartbeat gradually returned to normal, Nagasaki Sase released his hand from his chest, his eyes hardening.

I... I can't afford to fail again. Even if it's just deception, I have to...

However, since I just confronted Mr. Yuu, I can't let Aine see him now, or... I should make sure Aine can't see him from now on. At least I need to get Aine to agree to go to [RING] with me.

However, it wouldn't be right for me to just leave like this, leaving Mr. Yuu and Hatsune Toyokawa here.

The two people's cell phones had already been damaged by the high temperature when they left the fire, but they were not completely incapacitated.

If they leave while I'm away to find Xiao Mu and Mortis, or to find Ai Yin, all my efforts will be in vain.

As for secretly handing them over to the Toyokawa family... I must say, Mr. Yuu's words that just tried to seduce me were really tempting...

But never mind. It's not like I don't care what happens after the band has an ending. I still want to be friends with everyone and don't want to become the second Hachiman Kairin.

Nagasaki Sase has witnessed firsthand how much people who knew Hachiman Kairin have disliked her in recent years.

so......

Taking his phone out of his bag, Nagasaki Sase dialed a number he hadn't contacted much in recent years.

"Hailin, it's been a long time since we last contacted each other. I'd like to make a deal with you."

............................................................

Win-Wing Production – formerly the agency to which Ave Mujica belonged, and formerly the office of Ave Mujica.

Sitting in her office chair, Hachiman Kairin downed the wine in her glass in one gulp, then slammed the base of the glass heavily onto her desk, her face flushed with a hint of intoxication.

This office, which she once cherished so much and even preserved well after Ave Mujica disbanded, serving as a haven for her soul when she was occasionally overcome with longing or when she was down on her luck in business, has now been turned into a complete mess by her own hands.

The deadline had long passed, and the date on it had been frozen ten years ago. It was just a document used for show, and it was scattered into pieces by Hachiman Kairin with a wave of her hand, covering the ground like snowflakes.

The computer monitor, which was at least ten years old and could barely be considered an antique, was leaning to one side. It was only thanks to the small edge of the desk that it didn't fall to the ground, but the mouse was already dangling in mid-air, swaying back and forth.

The employees outside who heard the commotion were trembling with fear, and even Yawata Kairin's secretary did not dare to come forward.

No one knew why this young and capable woman in a suit suddenly got angry, but at a time like this, no one dared to go in casually. This office, which largely served only as decoration and for nostalgia, was completely different from the office in the Starlight Plaza shopping mall. This was a true "no employee allowed" zone, and even the cleaning was done by Yawata Kairin herself.

It is said that even Ms. Shiina, who runs a LiveHouse and has been a close friend of Yawata Kairin for ten years, was not invited.

Aside from Yahata Kairin herself, and the unnamed man who was supposedly personally led into her office yesterday and stayed there for nearly an hour, the only other people who could enter this office are...

"What are you all doing gathered here? Don't you have work to do? Where are the Hailing employees?"

A slightly stern questioning voice rang out behind them, but instead of being angry, the group breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the tone.

Aside from Yawata Kairin, the only person allowed into the office finally arrived.

“Ms. Yutenji, the president just took two bottles of wine inside and started smashing things. Although the door wasn't locked, you know we're not allowed in this place…”

The secretary carefully explained that although Yutenji Wakana was not her boss, and could not even be considered an artist signed with this agency, her relationship with Hachiman Kairin was obvious to all.

“I know the situation. You guys go ahead and do your work. I’ll handle this guy.”

Waving to the few people in front of him, Yutenji Wakana dispersed the small group and turned to enter the office that once belonged to Ave Mujica.

As soon as he entered, Yutenji Wakana smelled a strong odor of alcohol.

With a sullen wave to dispel the lingering smell of alcohol, Yutenji Wakame slammed the office door shut, looking at her best friend who was flushed and seemed to have lost all will to live.

"Feeling dejected?"

Yutenji Wakana grabbed another unopened bottle of wine from Hachiman Kairin's hand with some force and then tossed it onto the sofa behind her.

Of course she knew why Hachiman Kairin was disappointed; it was because of this that she had rushed back shortly after leaving home.

In fact, besides what Hachiman Kairin knew, she also knew some other things.

For example... Toyokawa Yuu is not actually dead yet.

However, looking at her friend who seemed to have lost all hope, Yutenji Wakana, who originally wanted to tell her the news, opened her mouth but hesitated.

Although Hachiman Kairin is heartbroken, she hasn't reached the point of contemplating suicide yet. If I give her that hope again, she'll just have to watch Toyokawa Yuu die...

Let's keep it a secret, after all, we've known each other for ten years.

Although hesitant and sorrowful in his heart, Yutenji Wakana's expression remained nonchalant and flippant, as if she didn't care at all about the news of someone's suicide in the funeral hall.

"If you're really down, just let me know so I can find a new employer, or you can transfer your assets to me as soon as possible."

"Ruomai..."

Instead of getting angry at Yutenji Wakana's words, which sounded like taking advantage of someone's misfortune, Hachiman Kairin simply shook another bottle that had been opened long ago. After confirming that the liquid in the bottle was empty, she dejectedly pushed it aside.

Slumped in her office chair, Hachiman Kairin looked up at the ceiling, her emerald eyes filled with confusion.

"Tell me, am I really that much worse than Xiangzi?"

On the day his deceased wife was to be buried, taking advantage of the opportunity to bid her a final farewell alone, he set himself on fire in the mourning hall in a suicide pact...

It sounds like a love story that transcends life and death, a tale of a couple willing to walk together to the ends of the earth.

However, for some, it is no less than the most vicious curse.

She had clearly said that she would help him no matter what, even if it meant giving up everything she had now.

In any case, everything I have now is either left to me by him, or something I obtained by any means necessary in order to get closer to him.

I believe that Wakaba Mutsu and Mortis must have said something similar to Toyokawa Yuu.

After all, according to Minami Mori, Yuu Toyokawa and Mutsumi Wakaba spent the night at her house last night, and the two even shared a bed in the same room.

It seems that the two of them had already said all the sweet nothings they could say to each other last night.

Furthermore, if we broaden our thinking, their relationship may have already progressed to the next level.

They were both in their mid-twenties. One was heartbroken after the death of his first wife, while the other had waited for him for ten years without ever being absent. They were deeply in love, and even if it was somewhat immoral, the chances of something happening between them were really high.

When Hachiman Kairin learned of this news, she questioned, felt jealous, and even dreamed that the person sharing a bed with Toyokawa Yuu was actually herself.

But that fire reduced all these irrelevant things to ashes.

A dream is just a dream, and my doubts and speculations are just fantasies. My worries about what happened between Toyokawa Yuu and Mortis never happened.

Otherwise, given Toyokawa Yuu's responsible personality, why would she choose to leave that beautiful woman who was so devoted to her outside the door, while she herself left in the flames?

Now, Hachiman Kairin actually hopes that Toyokawa Yuu really did have something happen with Mortis last night. At least that way, he would consider Mortis's feelings more and not commit suicide so easily.

But the cold and cruel truth is that even if he and Mortis were combined, they would be far less important than Toyokawa Shoko in his heart.

Before the Toyokawa family could even plot against him, he had already taken the lead and left after Toyokawa Shoko.

"Are you crazy? You betrayed Chu Zi and ruined him so badly back then, how can you compare to Xiang Zi, with whom you had a ten-year marriage?"

Listening to Hachiman Kairin's whispers, which sounded like self-denial and self-loathing, Yutenji Wakame did not choose to comfort her. Instead, he reopened the wound between them that they had tacitly avoided mentioning for a long time and that could never be healed.

In Yutenji Wakanagi's view, Hachiman Kairin's expression gradually darkened, followed by self-mockery, until the light in her eyes was completely extinguished.

That incident was her betrayal of Toyokawa Yuu.

No, it wasn't just Toyokawa Yuu. Almost everyone who once belonged to Ave Mujica was betrayed by her in that incident. Apart from Yutenji Wakanagi, the others stopped contacting her for a long time.

She truly doesn't deserve to appear in front of the band members anymore, nor does she have any right to care for or help them.

"Alright, don't think about it so much. This is actually a good thing for everyone, isn't it? In your memory, Toyokawa Yuu will always be that perfect image. What you can't have is the most precious."

Reaching out and patting Hachiman Kairin on the shoulder, Yutenji Wakana ultimately chose to conceal the information he knew.

Anyway, it won't be long before the rumor of Toyokawa Yuu's suicide pact is completely turned into reality by those people, and it's actually a good thing that Hachiman Kairin has given up on him.

"I......"

Hachiman Kairin opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't know what to say, and just stared blankly at the ceiling above her head.

Seeing his friend like this, Yutenji Wakame breathed a sigh of relief.

It's better to be down than to get emotional and overthink things.

However, before she could relax for long, a phone call came into Yawata Kairin's cell phone.

The phone screen on my desk lit up; it was Nagasaki Sase calling.

Upon seeing this name, Yutenji Wakana's heart tightened, and she quickly tried to grab the phone to hang up for Hachiman Kairin.

The fact that Toyokawa Yuu is now being taken in by Nagasaki Sōse in the house where he used to live must not be known to Hachiman Kairin.

Instead, she was always a step too slow.

Yawata Kairin had already answered the phone first. Her voice, slightly tinged with alcohol, was not polite and didn't sound like she was treating a business partner at all.

[Hailin, it's been a long time since we last contacted each other. I'd like to make a deal with you.]

"So, I don't have time right now..."

Yu-Yu is not dead; he's with me now.

Silence spread through Ave Mujica's office.

Yutenji Wakanagi's face was ashen, but fortunately, Hachiman Kairin, whose attention was completely focused on the phone, did not notice her abnormality.

After a long silence, the woman in the suit finally spoke again.

His voice was completely devoid of alcohol and drunkenness, leaving only calmness... and a hidden fervor beneath that calmness, as if he had finally grasped a turning point.

Logically speaking, questioning Nagasaki Saseya is the right choice now, at least to force her to provide evidence.

The seemingly gentle and elegant brown-haired beauty, who actually lies without batting an eye, was quite familiar with herself and knew that she was probably in a bad mood right now, so it wasn't impossible for her to come and swindle her out of money.

but……

"Since you're telling me this, I believe you. So... what are the details of the deal?"

Chapter 149 How could my daughter...

"...Okay, I'll do it your way. Now tell me where Youyu is."

As Hachiman Kairin hung up the phone, a look of relief, or perhaps a sense of ease at having regained something lost, appeared in her emerald eyes.

Yuu Toyokawa did not die. Hatsune Miku brought him out of the fire, and now the two of them are placed in the small room where Yuu Toyokawa lived ten years ago.

Although Nagasaki Sase's request was somewhat difficult, it was not something that Yawata Kairin needed to hesitate before agreeing to.

As long as Yuu Toyokawa is still alive, that's all that matters. As long as he's alive, I still have a chance.

No, even if I really don't have a chance, at least... I can't let him die.

Toyokawa Yuu's current predicament is largely due to his own actions.

If I hadn't betrayed Toyokawa Hatsune back then, at least the old man of the Toyokawa family wouldn't have stepped down so quickly, the transfer of power as the head of the family would have been smooth, and there wouldn't have been such intense internal conflicts within the Toyokawa family.