Tokyo: Idol Girls have absolutely no bad intentions!

Ultimately, her craving for sweets and her complex emotions about Ito's abrupt action intertwined, leading her to reach out and accept the ice cream cone.

"Th-thank you..." Her voice was barely audible, tinged with awkwardness.

"You're welcome." Ito took her vanilla ice cream cone, walked to a bench on the street, sat down, and started eating by herself.

"After all, I don't want others to eat what I've eaten," he added casually.

Takikawa's face flushed instantly, and he wanted to refute it, but it was indeed the truth.

"I didn't..." she muttered softly, her voice so low it was almost inaudible, more like she was talking to herself.

She pursed her lips in a huff, walked to the other end of the bench and sat down far away from him, looking down at the ice cream cone in her hand, the three scoops of ice cream emitting a cool and sweet aroma.

I licked the strawberry-flavored ball, and the cool, sweet taste melted on my tongue, temporarily dispelling the gloom and embarrassment in my heart.

"...So sweet," she couldn't help but whisper.

"Mmm," Ito responded, focusing on eating her vanilla ice cream cone.

The two sat side by side on a bench by the street, an arm's length apart, each silently eating their ice cream cones.

The afterglow of the setting sun cast long shadows on them.

The atmosphere was still somewhat awkward, but it seemed to have eased a bit compared to before; at least it was no longer that suffocating silence.

Cherry blossom petals occasionally drifted down and landed at their feet.

Ito ate very quickly, seemingly just to complete the task.

Takikawa ate more slowly, as if savoring this unexpected "gift," or perhaps delaying the time, not wanting to return to the film set, the place that made her feel stressed, so soon.

Ito quickly finished her ice cream cone.

He checked the time, then glanced at Takikawa beside him, who was still munching on an ice cream scoop and seemed to have just finished it, before standing up.

"That's about enough. Let's eat as we go. If we go back too late, Director Hasegawa will become suspicious." He didn't want to waste any more time.

Takikawa looked up at Ito, who had stood up.

The ice cream cone in his hand was now just an empty piece.

The ice cream cone in her hand, though one strawberry scoop was already eaten, still had two whole scoops of chocolate and matcha left, piled high and gleaming enticingly in the sunset.

She looked at Ito, then down at the ice cream cone in her hand, and a thought suddenly popped into her head.

Just as Ito was about to take a step, Takikawa reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

Ito turned around in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Takikawa turned his head slightly, not looking at him, and simply handed him the ice cream cone, his voice a little awkward and forcedly calm, "I...I can't eat anymore, you finish it!"

Ito frowned immediately when he saw the ice cream cone that was handed to him, which clearly still had two scoops left, and his face showed an undisguised expression of disgust.

"You want me to eat your leftovers?" He asked as if he had heard something absurd. "I don't have that kind of peculiar fetish."

Takikawa's face flushed red again, a surge of embarrassment and anger rising within him.

"I don't have that kind of fetish!" She turned her head sharply, glaring at Ito, her voice rising several decibels, filled with offended anger. "What do you mean! If you don't eat, I'll... I'll tell her what you said behind Asada's back about her big appetite!"

She precisely grasped Ito's weakness, her tone carrying a threat.

Ito's expression froze instantly.

Asada?

In an instant, Ito's mind flashed to Asada's puffed-up face, her eyes burning with fury, and the various troublesome methods of "revenge" she might employ...

Thinking back to the scene last night when I made Asada angry, if she finds out that I also made up stories about her having a big appetite, the consequences will be even worse.

This wasn't out of fear of her, but rather a compromise that had to be made so that the team could move forward peacefully.

She glanced at the ice cream cone with two scoops left in Takikawa's hand, then at Takikawa's eyes, which held a hint of threat and a barely perceptible expectation.

After weighing the pros and cons, he took a deep breath, steeled himself, and with a look of resignation, reached out and carefully took the ice cream cone.

“You…” he sighed helplessly, “…you’re such a hassle.”

He held the ice cream cone, his eyes scanning the remaining two scoops of ice cream, searching for the safest place to eat it.

In the end, he chose the top matcha ball, the furthest from the strawberry ball that Takikawa had bitten, and quickly and perfunctorily took a small bite.

Then he immediately shoved the ice cream cone back into Takikawa's hand.

"Okay," he said expressionlessly, a bit of green matcha ice cream still stuck to the corner of his mouth.

Looking at his disgusted yet reluctant expression, and then at the tiny, almost negligible tear on the ice cream cone, Takikawa couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth curve up slightly before quickly smoothing them out.

She took the ice cream cone without saying anything more, turned around and continued walking forward, her steps seeming lighter.

"I forgive you." She said this without turning her head, her voice not loud, but clearly reaching Ito's ears.

Ito stood there, watching Takikawa's back, then raised her hand to wipe the ice cream from the corner of her mouth, her brows furrowing even more.

"Forgive me? Forgive me for what?" Ito looked completely bewildered, utterly unable to understand this woman's thought process.

"What did I do wrong?" He felt completely bewildered, even a little wronged. He had paid for Takikawa's ice cream cone, only to be forced to eat what she left over...

“You’ve done everything wrong.” Takikawa didn’t turn around. “The biggest mistake was provoking me.”

Chapter 207 "Street Performance Part 1"

Director Hasegawa was very satisfied with the recorded song, and the speed at which he transferred the money was also top-notch.

After giving the song to the other party, I received the payment on the train back to Tokyo.

Looking at the account balance sent by the bank on her phone, Ito felt much better.

The previous five million yen was the bank card that Asada handed to Ito. Although it had a bit of a "sacrifice the pawn to save the king" feel to it, it did significantly increase his wealth.

All the odds and ends added up, the total assets should be 820 million yen, not including the debts owed by Takikawa and Iketani Rin.

820 million yen seems like a lot at first glance, but in reality, it might not last long.

Just enrolling Asada Sakura in that talent training program would cost at least 600 million yen.

This was a "friendship price" that Ito got through his connection with Shinno.

Of course, one can choose not to pay this money, in which case the person will be bound to the Shinno family's company.

His subsequent actions would be beyond his control, which is not the outcome Ito wants to see.

Just like Takikawa now, even though he has considerable strength, he still can't withstand the suppression.

In short, Xinye is just too useless. If he were more ambitious and had better parental love and filial piety, the situation would be very different.

Their group, "Sakura Bento," is now nominally affiliated with the studio established by Ito.

In the section for the person in charge, Ito filled in Asada Sakura's name without hesitation. This was purely because Asada was more important to the group, and definitely not for convenience in case she ran away in the future.

Cash out stocks, achieve financial freedom, travel the world, and be surrounded by beautiful blonde, blue-eyed secretaries...

These images flashed through Ito's mind, instantly injecting a powerful boost into his weary spirit.

Even the weariness I felt towards Asada Sakura, the "foolish idol lady" who always seemed to be out of her mind and prone to making mistakes, temporarily vanished.

That damned Asada didn't send a single message today...

The last message was sent by him in the morning, informing her that he would arrive home around 7 p.m. and asking if she had prepared dinner.

The message shows as "read," but there's nothing below it; not a single reply has been sent.

This guy has clearly developed his own ideas, completely contradicting Ito's original intention in "contracting" her.

Ito had already sent her the song list for the open-air music festival to be held in the park next Wednesday.

And the result? Read but no reply!

This is clearly a tactic that Ito often uses, but now Asada has learned it.

The train smoothly pulled into Tobita Station. Ito followed the flow of people off the platform, looked up at the digital clock on the platform, and saw it was 6:50 PM.

It's about a half-hour walk from his rented apartment.

Ito's phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw a message from Takikawa on the screen:

Takikawa: "Have we arrived?"

It turns out this guy had already blacklisted me.

Ito expressionlessly set Takikawa's messages to Do Not Disturb mode, then put his phone back in his pocket.

The thought of her previous threats made Ito lose all interest in replying.

Who knows what terrible things she might say that would force him to do something against his conscience?

The evening breeze carried a slight chill. Ito pulled his coat tighter and headed towards his apartment. He paused as he passed a familiar 24-hour convenience store.

The key question is, did that guy see it? Or rather, even if she did see it, would she remember to do it? Given her forgetful nature and her tendency to be easily swayed by Yoshida Nai...

Ito felt that he shouldn't have too high hopes.

Just to be on the safe side, I'll go to the convenience store and buy a sandwich. Even if Asada really did leave some food, the sandwich can be my breakfast tomorrow, so nothing goes to waste.

He stopped in front of the refrigerated display case, his gaze sweeping over the rows of packaged rice balls and sandwiches.

In the end, he reached out and grabbed a very ordinary egg salad sandwich, and a small box of vegetable salad.

Pay, bag it, and walk out of the convenience store.

Continue walking towards the apartment.

Just as I turned a corner, a chorus of music, not exactly pleasant to listen to and even a bit noisy, drifted over.

Near the entrance to the small park not far ahead, there seemed to be a small group of people gathered.

Street performances? That's all too common in Tokyo. Ito had no interest in it and continued walking, intending to simply walk past.

"The remaining heartbeats covered the night"

wrong!

When a few familiar notes entered his ears, he involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

That melody... is it "The Bustling City"?

The song he had previously recorded at the Saionji store manager's place and uploaded to YouTube. He paused, looking towards the center of the crowd with a hint of interest.