Tokyo Psychic

Page 173

It was clearly Akira Kurusu speaking, but the voice of Shoko Toyokawa echoed in Mutsuka Wakaba's ears.

She looked up abruptly, but the image of the girl who had initially reached out to her lonely self was now completely obscured by the phantom thief before her.

Wakaba Mutsu hugged the scissors to her chest, then buried her face in Kurusu Akira's arms.

"Okay," she agreed.

As Akira embraced the girl in his arms, feeling her delicate softness, he suddenly felt something hard pressing against his abdomen.

The girl spoke resolutely in a calm and gentle voice, "If you dare to abandon me... abandon us, I will use these scissors to..."

She moved the scissors a short distance down Akira's abdomen, which immediately made Akira feel a chill run down her spine.

But then Akira thought about it again. She had acted uprightly and honestly, and she was not the kind of person who would start something and then abandon it. So she reached out and grabbed the scissors, and said righteously, "You can't say such dangerous things. Are you questioning the feelings between us?"

Now it was Wakaba Mutsu's turn to panic.

After looking around, Wakaba Mutsu noticed Toyokawa Shoko walking towards him from the tram stop, and as if he had found someone to rely on, he ran towards her.

Akira Kurusu shook her head and quickly approached them. "Let's go. The Shinkansen departs in an hour. We can go to a nearby convenience store to buy some snacks before we set off."

Toyokawa Shoko looked at the scissors in Wakaba Mutsu's hand, with their blue and gold color scheme and familiar inscriptions, and couldn't help but sigh. Her best friend had been trapped by this scumbag in front of her. She felt relieved but also a little puzzled.

“A study tour…” Toyokawa Shoko asked Kurusu Akira, “Where’s Nina? I didn’t see her with you.”

"Rin is packing her luggage at home. She was working on her homework until late last night, and after finishing, she didn't have time to pack her suitcase."

"And what about Anhe?"

“This is a very dangerous topic—Subaru slept with me last night and is now rushing back to the apartment to pack his clothes.”

"You actually said it out loud?! You're getting more and more shameless!!" Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but scold her philandering boyfriend.

Lai Xixiao looked at her strangely, "Everyone knows this kind of thing, so why bother to cover it up?"

"Can't you even consider a girl's feelings a little?!"

"You're unhappy if I lie, and you're still unhappy if I tell the truth. Tch, this young lady is so hard to please."

Shoko Toyokawa was so angry that she gritted her teeth and clenched her little fists, wanting to put on the brass knuckles she always carried and smash them into his face, but she held back in the end. "Tonight, when we get to the training camp, you're not allowed to sleep with Anwa!"

"Why?"

Toyokawa Shoko pushed Wakaba Mutsu back into Kurusu Akira's arms, "Because Mutsu wants to sleep with you."

Wakaba Mutsu nodded. "Yes."

Toyokawa Shoko was dumbfounded when she saw Wakaba Mutsu's nonchalant, even secretly pleased expression.

Fortunately, Wakaba Mutsu still remembered that she was his best friend as the "half-body," and reached out to grab Toyokawa Shoko's wrist, putting her hand into Kurusu Akira's, saying, "Shoko, you want to come too."

With the way out offered by Wakaba Mutsu, Toyokawa Shoko breathed a sigh of relief, her cheeks flushing red. Then, seemingly reluctantly, she said, "I'm only doing this ridiculous thing for Mutsu's sake, so don't get too cocky."

And so, once again, a scene unfolded near the station in Aoyama Ichome, a scene that made countless men pound their chests in envy—

Akira Kurusu was held on both arms by cute girls, and she swayed as she walked into the station, seemingly carrying a heavy burden, yet her face was full of ease and comfort.

Once on the tram, Wakaba Mutsu looked at the pretty face reflected in the blurry image through the window, then suddenly looked up at Kurusu Akira and said, "I just remembered, I also have a gift for you."

What gift?

"Lower your head, lower your head," Ruoye Muku said, patting Lai Qixiao's thigh with her small hand.

Lai Qixiao obediently lowered his face slightly towards her, and saw the girl wrap her arms around his neck, straighten up slightly, and then lightly kiss his lips.

A blush quickly spread across her pale cheeks. Ruoye Mu sat back down, staring at Lai Qixiao with her wet eyes, without saying a word.

"I thought it was a gift that could only be given at night." Akira Kurusu deliberately showed a somewhat disappointed expression.

Ruo Yemu's blush deepened. She lowered her eyes, hummed in agreement for a while, and then hesitantly pleaded with Lai Qixiao, "As long as it doesn't disturb others, then..."

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to say them; it was incredibly difficult.

No matter how sensible she was, she had grown up in an all-girls school and was more reserved and shy than other girls her age.

But after a while, she seemed to get used to the overly ambiguous atmosphere. The blush on her face gradually faded, and she naturally sat on Akira's lap.

She said in a seductive, sweet voice, "Lian can do whatever she wants to me, but there's one condition... you have to do the same thing to Xiangzi."

Toyokawa Shoko, who was standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded. "Xiao Mu, what's wrong with you?" She had been betrayed by her best friend without saying a word.

Unexpectedly, "Ruoye Mutsu" immediately cast a look of disappointment at him, "Xiangzi, don't interrupt." The voice was even a little stern.

Toyokawa Shoko bit her lip, wanting to retort, but not knowing how to speak on such an embarrassing topic, so she could only remain silent.

Just then, the tram arrived at the station, and the few office workers who were blocking the way in front of the young men and women quickly left the carriage as if they were fleeing.

Damn it, the stench of love!

A middle-aged man in his forties escaped from the train carriage. Looking at his increasingly thinning hairline reflected in the trash can, he was overcome with grief and almost shed tears of sorrow and anger.

He wanted nothing more than to rush back, grab those young men by the neck, and shake them violently.

While shaking the tram, he angrily shouted, "A bunch of rude bastards! Can't you watch your manners in public?! Is the tram a place for you to flaunt your extravagant teenage love stories?!"

Thinking of the beautiful girls' clothes and then comparing them to the boy's sloppy appearance, the middle-aged office worker felt his knees buckle and almost fell to the ground when he was bumped by a passenger who was also getting off the train.

"Excuse me!" The passenger behind him quickly helped the middle-aged office worker to her feet, a gesture that seemed to give her heart a shot of adrenaline.

"Thank you so much!" The office worker hurriedly turned around, only to see the disheveled but still recognizable handsome boy, and two beautiful girls following closely behind him. In an instant, sadness welled up in his heart.

He abruptly shook off Lai Qixiao's support and rushed out of the station.

Ugh! What bad luck!

He flicked his sleeves and strode away, disappearing from Akira Kurusu's sight.

"Do we need to change trains next?" Toyokawa Shoko asked Kurusu Akira.

The phantom thief stared at the man's back for a while longer. "We agreed to meet in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda."

Wakaba Mutsu held Kurusu Akira's wrist tightly.

To her shame, this was actually her first time riding a tram.

Facing the dense crowd, she could only huddle close to Akira Kurusu for a sense of security.

As the three of them wandered through the underpass following the signs, Toyokawa Shoko asked him again, "Have you booked the tickets?"

"I booked it a long time ago. It's a 'reserved seat' in the same carriage... In short, I have the whole carriage to myself. And the hotel for the group stay was booked at noon so I can check in immediately upon arrival."

Akira Kurusu said, "UMINE Atami Onsen. I remember the name was translated as something like 'Sea Peak Tower'."

How much for one night?

"After all, it's a relatively high-end seaside guesthouse with only 8 rooms. Considering the needs of study tours, we had to opt for a 'group booking of the entire house' plan..."

"Just state the price!"

"Uh... 1.5 million yen."

"In total?"

“One day,” Akira Kurusu coughed twice, “including all the services included in the packages…it’s a total of 6.3 million yen.”

"You actually made so much money writing novels?!" Toyokawa Shoko looked at Kurusu Akira in great surprise, and then felt a pang of heartache.

"That's such a waste," the girl muttered, kicking his heel as if she really saw huge wads of cash vanish into thin air.

Akira felt the bank card in her pocket, which was supposedly "savings for Toyokawa Shoko's pocket money," getting hot, so she timidly dared not utter a sound. This time, she was truly guilty.

He had already used all the royalties from the first volume of "No Game No Life" to pay off his debts, and the remaining royalties were just over seven figures. How could he possibly afford to squander them like this?

Now all I can say is... I can never repay my grandfather's kindness.

As they reached the waiting hall, Toyokawa Shoko asked Kurusu Akira, "Does everyone sleep on tatami mats tonight?"

"How could a guesthouse at this price point possibly have this kind of situation..."

Akira complained, "They really value privacy there. They're divided into double rooms, bedrooms for two or three people, and rooms for four people."

"But you're the only guy in this training camp, right?"

Shoko Toyokawa finally realized what was happening.

“My girlfriend and I can just share a room,” Akira Kurusu said. “Do you expect me to go around visiting other people’s homes and sleep in a different place every day?”

"It sounds like an emperor choosing concubines in his harem." Thinking this, Toyokawa Shoko sullenly thought, "So you wasted all that money just to experience the thrill of choosing concubines late at night, you scumbag!"

"At most, I'd just go to Anhe Mao's place to spend the night. It's not as exaggerated as you're making it out to be."

"Who knows..." Toyokawa Shoko looked at Kurusu Akira with a somewhat disdainful gaze. "You specifically chose to book such a luxurious guesthouse, and the club is full of beautiful girls. Thinking about it carefully, you really have ulterior motives."

The tram arrived at the station, and Wakaba Mutsumi, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly grabbed them. "Get on the tram."

Shoko Toyokawa then fell silent. Actually, compared to "not being able to control her boyfriend's love life," she was more concerned about "her boyfriend's extravagant spending."

In her opinion, this was money her boyfriend had worked so hard to earn, and it was a real shame to waste it like this.

The six months she spent away from the Toyokawa family had gradually made her begin to value the concept of money.

In fact, Toyokawa Shoko also knew that Kurusu Akira was just a womanizer, not promiscuous, and would never make a move on those "unrelated" girls.

Even if he had the chance, he would never step into those girls' rooms.

He was just looking for an excuse to vent his dissatisfaction with Akira Kurusu for wasting his hard work.

Lai Xixiao noticed the young lady's conflicted emotions, so she took out the bank card and told the truth, "Actually, it's all your money that's being used. Your grandfather gave me this card that day, saying it was the bank card you've used to save your pocket money since you were a child."

“This card…” Toyokawa Shoko looked at him strangely, “What are you talking about? Isn’t this Grandpa’s own bank card?”

"Ok?"

“I have never had any ‘pocket money’.”

Shoko Toyokawa said in a serious tone, "Before I left the Toyokawa family, I could just tell my maid or bodyguard what I wanted, and I didn't need to pay for it myself."

"Would you be angry if I recognized your maternal grandfather as my 'godfather'?"

Toyokawa Shoko stepped on Kurusu Akira's instep and whispered, "You want to hear me call you 'Dad'?!"

Akira Kurusu looked away. "Ah, then never mind."

Because she was standing very close, Wakaba Mutsu heard Toyokawa Shoko's words clearly. As someone from an entertainer's family, she was more likely to accept and understand this kind of topic. As a result, her face turned completely red. No matter which personality she called out, it was no use. Imagining Toyokawa Shoko calling Kurusu Akira that at night... that kind of scene made her feel like her brain was about to crash.

Toyokawa Shoko noticed Wakaba Mutsu's expression and, quite belatedly, realized how bold and even absurd her words had been. Her thoughts went blank for a moment, unable to connect.

The tram started moving, and after a jolt, it shattered the wine-like light and heat, and roared along the tracks.

......

【PM. 7:12】

"Liang, you were almost late!"

Jing Qinrencai, carrying her suitcase, grumbled and sighed beside the entrance gate.

Yamada Ryo arrived late, carrying a backpack with a change of clothes and a violin case in his hand. He gave Izaya Nina a "Yeah" sign.

Ichiji Nijika glanced at the time above her head. "It's getting late! Let's hurry up and set off!"

She was clearly very excited because she had already heard about the itinerary of the study tour in the chat room.

This was her first time spending the night in such a high-end guesthouse.

As the only adult in the group, Momoka Kawahara naturally walked at the front, displaying an adult demeanor as she directed the girls to check their tickets, pass through the turnstiles, and prepare to board the train.

It wasn't until everyone was seated in their assigned carriages that Momoka Kawahara realized what was happening—

Wait, why is Ren Amamiya the only boy here?

......

Toyokawa Shoko and Wakaba Mutsu sat in a row.

Akira Kurusu sat down next to Niina Iori, and her conversation with An and Subaru easily drifted into erotic topics.

Chatting with Toyokawa Shoko and Wakaba Mutsu is enough to make these two shy and easily embarrassed girls speechless.

In the end, it turns out that teasing children is still the most fun.

They chatted casually about things like grades or relationships, and within a few words, she would become flustered and blush, stammering as she tried to refute them, but she couldn't win against Qi Xiao. In the end, she would turn her face to look out the window and start to sulk.

Yamada Ryo and Ijichi Nikka sat in a row. Ijichi Nikka took out a chess set she had prepared in advance, placed it on the table, and started playing chess with her out of boredom.

An and Subaru took a picture of Yamada Ryo's cold and cool face with their phones and posted it in the "Red Ginger" band chat room, even tagging Kita Ikuyo.

As a big fan of Yamada Ryo, Kita Ikuyo was so envious and jealous when she heard that her bandmate's drummer had gone on a study trip with him, including a seaside hot spring retreat. She was so jealous that her eyes turned red with envy, and she simply spammed the group chat with all sorts of tantrum-like emojis.