Tokyo: Idol Girls have absolutely no bad intentions!

Okay, the patient comes first.

“Then Grandma, I’ll go with you!” Asada raised her little hand and volunteered.

“No need,” Yuriko Minamoto declined with a smile. “But Sakura, is there something you need from Grandma’s visit so late?”

"You injured your leg? When did this happen?" She noticed the bandage on Asada's leg.

"It's alright, it's alright." Asada wanted to show Yuriko that she had run several kilometers after the fall, so this minor injury was nothing to worry about!

But just as she was about to lift her leg, a sharp pain shot through her. She forced herself not to cry out and silently pinched the soft flesh on Ito's lower back, signaling him to speak.

"I... Asada suddenly wanted to come see you." Ito also held back from crying out, saying a few words against his will before Asada let go of his hand.

What was bound to happen eventually happened. The popsicle melted and dripped onto the floor, where it was seen by a passing nurse. Asada was inevitably caught eating the popsicle.

"Gurgle~" Then came the protest from her stomach.

The scene became awkward for a moment, but it was Asada who blushed. She hadn't eaten anything all day, so it would be strange if she wasn't hungry.

"I have some fruit in my room. If you don't mind, please have some." Yuriko Gen stroked Asada's head. "Sakuri, you can't go hungry."

“Go ahead,” Ito said, believing it wasn’t a big deal.

Besides, by sending Asada away, he could also talk to Yuriko about his illness.

Under the eager gazes of the two, Asada followed closely into the ward. The moment the sliding door was closed by Ito, Yuriko's expression changed instantly.

She walked indifferently down the corridor, and Ito followed her.

The hospital was dark late at night. Apart from the emergency room, no other departments were open. Just as I stepped out of the inpatient department and escaped the pungent smell of disinfectant, an ambulance drove past me.

Yuriko stopped in her tracks and stared at the ambulance parked at the entrance of the emergency building. Several medical staff carried the stretcher off the ambulance and carried it into the hospital before she looked away.

"Things should get better," Yuriko Minamoto muttered to herself, then continued walking.

The hospital's landscaping was quite nice; a courtyard decorated with wisteria was practically standard. The cobblestone path was lined with dim streetlights, and Ito and his companion walked quietly along it.

From the garden, you can see Yuriko's hospital room. The lights are on, and there's a figure standing on the windowsill. It should be Asada. She's waving at Ito and the other person.

Ito waved back, a gesture that was witnessed by Yuriko Minamoto.

"So Sakura accepted that you were two-timing her." Yuriko suddenly spoke up, catching Ito off guard.

“When that girl named Chinatsu came here last time, I knew you were going to be exposed sooner or later.” Yuriko didn’t give Ito a chance to speak. “Although you didn’t listen to my advice to ‘two-timing without being discovered,’ the ending isn’t so bad.”

"At least Sakura and Chinatsu seem to have accepted the current situation."

Did this old woman's illness also damage her brain?

"I have never been two-timing! Not now, and not ever!" Ito emphasized. "My only girlfriend right now is Mori, and I don't have a similar relationship with Asada at the moment."

"Currently? Only? Right now?" Yuriko repeated these words. "Your statement is as credible as your father saying, 'I have no intention of dating right now; she and I are just friends.'"

“A girl is willing to come all this way to see a guy like me who’s halfway to his grave,” Yuriko Minamoto said, her gaze fixed on a moth fluttering its wings around a streetlamp. “Doesn’t that say something?”

"Yujin, think it over carefully. I don't object to you marrying either Chinatsu or Sakura, but marrying both of them... isn't out of the question."

What are you saying? What kind of talk is this?

“I have never thought about, nor could I possibly, marry either of them,” Ito said seriously.

“Old-fashioned,” Yuriko Minamoto remarked.

This isn't a matter of being old-fashioned or not. If Ito really did that, he could be in jail the next minute to reflect on his actions!

Getting a government job is just around the corner!

They chatted casually along the path, neither of them mentioning that Yuriko had been given three years to live.

It wasn't until the two of them saw a bald, middle-aged man secretly smoking in a corner of the garden that they realized smoking was prohibited in the garden, which is a no-smoking area. There are designated smoking areas, so it's impossible that the man didn't know that.

So Ito didn't say anything, and watched with Yuriko Minamoto finish his cigarette, watched him take out another one, watched him choke up silently, and watched him pound his fist against the wall.

The word "hospital" is a perfect way to describe tragedy.

"I hope that after I leave, you won't do this, or that this is the only way you can."

After saying this, Yuriko walked over to the middle-aged man, took out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to him, then walked back to Ito's side, saying, "Stop looking, go back."

“Okay.” Ito understood what Yuriko Minamoto meant.

Silence engulfed the two, just as the moon was covered by dark clouds, revealing only a sliver of dim light.

"Marriage..." Yuriko looked up at her hospital room, where Asada was still standing at the window. "Let's get married this holiday, Hisahito."

“Hmm…” Ito subconsciously agreed, then realized what strange thing Yuriko Minamoto had said, and his eyes widened.

"Eh~!!!"

"Is that hard to understand?" Yuriko looked at Ito strangely. "Yujin, you've been an adult for a long time, haven't you? Take Sakurari for example, if she's in the same grade as you, she must be an adult too, and according to the law, she can get married."

"Besides, even if we're not old enough, we can still get a marriage certificate as long as our families support us. I still have some savings, so I should be able to convince the Asada family."

Putting aside the question of whether it's too mercenary to say that support can be obtained with money, why can't we skip over the issue of marriage?

“You and Sakura are living together now, right? You’ve been living together for so long, there shouldn’t be too many problems even if you get married.” Yuriko looked at the girl eating fruit on the windowsill. “Sakura is a very good girl, and I think marrying her would be a great choice.”

“No, this is too sudden.” Ito immediately shook his head in refusal.

"I'm curious why you have such a strong opinion? Don't you like girls who aren't very smart? Besides, didn't you release music together and do things like street performances?"

"How did you know about my relationship with Asada?" Ito asked, puzzled.

"Connections..." Yuriko didn't elaborate on this point. "Do you want to marry Chinatsu? If you mind that being with Chinatsu would basically cut off any possibility of dating Sakura."

"After all, as your wife, Sakura will feel like she's the winner, and she'll relax her guard over you, which is exactly what you want, isn't it?"

"Am I really that worthless in your eyes?" Ito asked incredulously.

“That’s true.” Yuriko Minamoto and Ito stepped into the elevator. “There’s another reason: Chinatsu looks somewhat like your mother.”

The main reason is probably the latter sentence... Although she acted as if she didn't reject either of them, she was actually treating them differently.

The awkward Yuriko.

The two walked slowly, the smell of disinfectant filling their nostrils again. When they passed the front desk, Ito suddenly spoke up: "I still hope you can get proper treatment. It's not like there aren't precedents for successful cures."

Although the chances are extremely slim.

"You didn't mention any of the aftereffects: losing all your hair, having a lisp, and having difficulty walking." Yuriko Minamoto glared at Ito. "Besides, nothing is easy."

"There's no need to go into the details of this problem that most elderly people have," Ito said helplessly, looking at the old lady who had been concerned about saving face her whole life.

Just when Ito thought Yuriko was going to refuse with silence, she looked at Asada, who was squatting on the ground cleaning up the melted popsicles, and suddenly spoke:

"I'll agree to your request if you can do one thing that satisfies me."

Chapter 223 Leaflets, Chance Encounters, and Arrests

Wednesday, the last day of free time, was the day Nagano Sae thoughtfully sent a notification, fearing that Ito might skip class under the pretext of forgetting.

For the past few days, Ito has been staying in Yuriko Minamoto's hospital room. Despite being chased away and constantly harassed by Yuriko, it hasn't deterred Ito from moving a folding bed there.

Even Asada didn't know he was in Yuriko Minamoto's hospital room, and Ito made up an excuse that he was going on a long trip.

He needs time to think about the engagement.

I've never thought 50 million yen would come so easily, although Ito didn't even get a chance to get it.

The bank card Asada gave him was placed in the other man's pillow by Ito, who had no intention of using it.

Having already made up her mind, Ito would rather take on high-interest loans than sell her body for 50 million yen.

It was definitely not because he thought of Naoto Shinno's status as a wealthy man and could ask him for a loan; absolutely not.

These past few days, all the preparations for Saturday's music festival have been completed, and we've also coordinated with the staff there many times.

The location was indeed terrible, but it wasn't the worst place.

In the corner, and because the team next door was quite famous and had participated in this kind of music festival more than once, their stage was about twice the size of Ito's.

This means that if Asada doesn't have enough talent, the few fans who are willing to come might be attracted away by her.

Currently, the tracks released on Twitter and YouTube include "Want to Be Cute", "God's Drift", "So Annoying", "Sound Rain Love Sky", and "Bustling, Our City".

These few songs alone attracted a lot of traffic and attention to their account, and some professional musicians even praised them as leading figures of the new generation in Japan.

But Ito understood the reality: although Asada's singing and instrumental skills were improving every day, there was still a significant gap between her and those who had been playing music since childhood.

The reason why the released single became a hit is because the single itself is of high quality, and the store manager, Saionji, put a lot of effort into adjusting it.

Asada was slow to master things like vocal transitions, the blending of falsetto and natural voice in shouts, and key changes.

In this situation, it would be easy to damage one's voice, but fortunately, Asada was lucky and had a particularly strong ability to recover.

As Yoshida Nai said, "Sakura, did you secretly go to see Nurse Joey?"

That's right, after Yoshida Nai learned what Itō called Asada Snorlax, she accepted this setting.

Although she thinks Asada is more like a cuter Pokémon like Blissey or Jigglypuff.

"Hello, would you be interested in learning more?"

Standing on the streets of Shibuya, handing out flyers to passersby—that's what Ito is doing today.

I spent 6000 yen to print about 300 color copies, which wasn't as easy as I'd imagined.

Even though Ito had been asked by convenience store managers to do promotions, it was because the flyers could be exchanged for free small gifts.

Logically speaking, Ito's appearance did attract many young women or Shibuya gyaru, but they were interested in Ito as a person, not the music festival, let alone the Asada music festival.

"If I go, what benefits will I get, buddy?" The blonde, undressed woman flirted with Ito.

"It gives me the motivation to live, and it also gives me more time to see you," Ito said without batting an eye.

Ito prepared himself mentally from the beginning, and even went online to look at the daily lives of several male hosts in Edo Ward.

This was also one of the reasons Ito didn't want Asada to come; he didn't want her to see this scene, nor did he want her to experience this kind of thing.

He couldn't even imagine him dressing up as a maid to attract customers; he had no intention of making Asada an underground idol, so the idea of ​​her dressing provocatively to attract customers was impossible.

After handing the flyer to the giggling, hot girl, Ito then distributed flyers to the passersby.

It's been an hour, and only 68 flyers have been handed out. The efficiency is very slow.

But there was nothing that could be done. Although Ito had promoted it on social media in advance, most of the comments were regrets that they could not attend in person, with only a very few saying they could.