After being elected as the governor of Tokyo, he will debut as a band!

Enka Queen Hiroi Kiuri?

Hiroi Kikuri imagined herself wearing a yukata, with her hair in a low bun, singing enka in a long, drawn-out tone... Just imagining this scene made her feel mentally shaken.

Impossible! It must be because high school girls these days are too sentimental.

In short, I'm the only elder in this private room, so I should show some concern first.

"Um, Takamatsu-chan, are you feeling unwell?"

"...Ms. Hiroi sings so well, but I, but I... I'll never be able to sing like that..."

Takamatsu tried to wipe her tears with her sleeve, but it was too late, and tears still dripped onto her knees.

"That must be why Xiangzi left the troupe."

"Huh? I'm not..."

Upon hearing Gao Songdeng's words, Xiangzi instinctively wanted to explain, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she hesitated for a moment. It was this moment of hesitation that caused the last string in Gao Songdeng's heart to snap. She suddenly stood up and ran out without looking back.

"Little lamp?"

Although Chihaya Aine had no idea what the two riddle-solving people were up to, she immediately grabbed her and Takamatsu Akari's bags and chased after them.

Toyokawa Shoko sat on the sofa without moving, but her small face turned deathly pale.

Aren't you going to chase after them?

Hiroi Kikuri, who was usually so adorable when drunk, suddenly had a sharp look in her eyes.

"I..." Xiangzi wanted to say something, but in the end, the words stuck in his throat only formed a long sigh. "Even if I catch up, what can I do? I have already hurt Xiaodeng. If the current situation cannot be changed, my intervention in her life will only deepen her pain."

“Xiangzi, I don’t know what happened between you two, but if you think you have a responsibility in this matter, you have to find a way to resolve it.”

"But... I'm just a student. It's impossible for me to take responsibility for other people's lives right now."

Xiangzi's eyes were somewhat unfocused, and the events surrounding the disbandment of her first band, Crychic, a year ago, flashed before her eyes.

phase

Compared to today, when the economy is already showing signs of improvement, that was the darkest moment of her life. It was during that time that she realized how powerless people are in the face of circumstances.

“Well, that’s true… Even among adults, only a small percentage are able to take responsibility for other people’s lives… Ha, that’s refreshing!” Hiroi Kikuri took a sip of beer and continued, “If the problems between you two are unsolvable no matter what, then running away naturally becomes an option.”

"Xiao Xiang, if you weren't a minor, I would definitely buy you a drink. After all, a good drink can wash away all your troubles. Of course, it's okay if you can't drink; there's more than one way to avoid trouble..."

Hiroi pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from somewhere and wrote down the address of Shinjuku Folt on it. "Sho, go and invite that Takamatsu classmate to listen to a Sickhack live performance. Rock music can sometimes become a haven for many people who feel helpless in the face of reality."

"Problems that can't be solved right now should be sealed away deep in your memory. Mental anguish can be relieved with mental anesthetics to make you forget its existence temporarily. A stronger emptiness may follow after the brief illusion ends, but it's still much better than doing nothing."

Hiroi Kikuri tilted her head back and downed a bottle of wine, then got up, grabbed Shoko's arm and pulled her up, while stuffing the note she had just written into her uniform pocket.

"Come on, let's go together."

……

Chihaya Aine truly lives up to her reputation as a long-distance running champion who can run from England back to Japan overnight; Takamatsu Akari simply can't outrun her.

In front of a building with a sign that read "Livehouse RinG", Chihaya Aine grabbed Takamatsu Akari.

"Little Light, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let Ms. Hiroi sing that song."

"...No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. Ms. Hiroi sang so well, but I was just lost in my own world. It's so kind of you to invite both me and Sho to karaoke, and it ended up like this. I'm so sorry..."

"lamp……"

Just then, a black figure suddenly rushed between the two.

"Light? Are you alright?"

The newcomer blocked Takamatsu Akari's path and glared at Aine with a sharp, nitpicking look.

"Who are you? What do you want with the lamp?"

"You're asking me? Are you someone she knows?"

Answer my question first!

As the two were locked in a stalemate, Hiroi Kikuri and Toyokawa Shoko finally caught up from the direction Aine and Akari had come from.

"Hey, Chihaya, don't let Takamatsu get away yet."

Hiroi called out from afar.

The group looked in the direction of the sound, and then both the lamp and the black-haired girl with a bitter and resentful expression standing in front of her were stunned.

Thanks to Chihaya Aine's height of 1.6 meters and the three's unusual positioning, the black-haired girl's figure was completely blocked by her, so Shoko did not see the black-haired girl's appearance.

Only when she got closer did Chihaya Aine turn to the side, and she and the black-haired girl engaged in a fiery eye contact.

It was like the unbridled, tense standoff between Soviet Russia and Germany, without Poland in between.

"...It's you. Since you've already done that, why are you still looking for the lamp?!"

"..."

Xiangzi gritted his teeth, no longer caring about inviting Gao Songdeng, and turned to leave.

But the black-haired girl grabbed her arm. "Trying to run away again? Stay and make things clear."

"...I have nothing to explain."

"You guy!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Ai said, seeing that the two were about to fight, she quickly took the blame. "It was me who wanted to invite Toyokawa and Kodama to form a band. They only met because of my matchmaking. It wasn't Toyokawa who approached Kodama first."

"What..." The black-haired girl looked at her in disbelief, but immediately shifted her gaze to Xiangzi. "Is this another new trick you've come up with? You can't do it yourself, so you try to get others to help you?"

"Do you want to lie to her again?!"

Make way for me: 080 Watching Aoyama's live performance with the light.

Do you want to lie to her again?

The black-haired girl stared fiercely at Xiangzi, as if she were about to pounce on her and start a fight.

"You've got the wrong person to yell at."

Xiangzi slapped the black-haired girl's hand away, then went around to Takamatsu Akari's side and stuffed the note with Shinjuku Folt's address into her hand.

"Come on over if you're interested."

After saying that, she turned to leave.

"Xiao Xiang!"

Just then, another girl appeared.

A brown-haired girl who appears elegant and intellectual.

"long time no see!"

"Tch... Here comes the troublesome guy."

Xiangzi gritted his teeth, turned to Hiroi Kikuri who was still clueless, and said, "Ms. Hiroi, I'll go first. See you later."

After saying that, she walked away without looking back.

"Wait, Xiaoxiang! Where have you been all this time? I was so worried. Are you studying at Yuchuan Academy now? Wait a minute, why are you walking so fast? I have so many questions to ask you..."

The brown-haired girl chased after Xiangzi and disappeared into the crowd.

"Su Shi..."

Takamatsu Akari stared blankly in the direction where the two had disappeared.

"Ignore that person."

After Xiangzi left, the black-haired girl's tone softened, "Deng, would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?"

"No, no need."

"Wait a minute!" Chihaya Aine, enduring the black-haired girl's angry glare, suddenly stepped between the two. "Toyokawa-san just gave Akari a note, right? Shouldn't the most important thing now be to see what's written on the note?"

"That's a note for the lamp, what does it have to do with you?"

"It's okay, Lixi, let's watch it together."

After the three of them formed a circle, Gao Songdeng opened the note.

"Shinjuku Folt, right? Is that its address? What does that mean?"

"I think I've heard this name before. It seems to be an exhibition hall..."

"Before Xiaoxiang left, she told me, 'Come if you're interested,' as if she wanted us to go there to watch her new band perform..."

"What? Is this guy provoking us?! Deng, ignore him, there's no need to give face to such a weirdo."

"..."

"Cough cough..."

Hiroi Kikuri, who had been left out for a while, coughed several times before the three of them remembered her.

"Sorry, Hiroi-nee, I forgot about you."

"It's nothing, it's nothing. I just think you might have misunderstood something... Xiangzi isn't in any band right now. As for Shinjuku Folt, that's my regular spot. Aine, since you're a fan of mine, you should know that, right?"

"Ha, ha, right, Shinjuku Folt is a regular haunt of Sickhack. With so many things happening just now, I completely forgot about it."

"Why did Xiao Xiang invite me?"

Gao Songdeng felt puzzled, then lowered his voice as if he had figured something out.

Although she didn't continue speaking, the three people present could all guess what she meant.

What are you thinking?

Xiao Xiang probably wanted me to see a real band performance so that I could realize my own level and give up the idea of ​​reforming the band.

But I've already given up...

"In my opinion, Gao Song shouldn't overthink it. Maybe Xiangzi just wants you to truly enjoy music?"

Although she wasn't very familiar with Takamatsu Akari, emboldened by the alcohol, Hiroi Kikuri couldn't help but reach out and pat Akari on the back.

"Music is a good thing; it would be a shame to let it become a burden."

……

To facilitate changing clothes and concealing his identity, Aoyama arranged for Suzumiya Hyakubi to rent a shop next to the Yagami Detective Agency in Kamurocho, mainly selling antiques and handicrafts.

Various masks were among the main products sold.

In this way, when Aoyama comes out of the store wearing a mask, he won't attract too much attention, and the risk of his identity being exposed will be relatively small.

After changing into Hack's vest, Aoyama would walk to Shinjuku Folt. When he passed by the Yagami Detective Agency and saw the closed door, he casually asked a question.

"Ah Bai, what has Detective Yagami been doing these days?"

"Young Master, didn't you ask me to investigate the Star Dragon Society in Yokohama before? During the investigation, I discovered that there seemed to be some shady dealings with a high-end nursing home run by a Star Dragon Society executive. So I brought Detective Yagami along, and we went in disguise to investigate. As a result, we found that the nursing home had business dealings with a medical research center in Tokyo. And a case that Detective Yagami took on three years ago was committed at this research center. So now he should be following this new clue to continue investigating the truth of that case."

"Oh, the medical research center, what's its name?"

"Hmm, it's called... Advanced Pharmaceuticals & New Drug Development Center, right..."

"Oh? Where is it?"

Aoyama has always been interested.

The new drug development center was primarily funded by two entities: the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Shinomiya Foundation.

The support from the Shinomiya Foundation is particularly strong.

It is said that this is because the head of the Shinomiya Foundation, Shinomiya Kan'an, is getting old and his risk of developing Alzheimer's disease is increasing year by year, while the Advanced Pharmaceuticals & New Drug Development Center has been dedicated to the research and development of Alzheimer's disease treatment methods in recent years.

Whether it was the senior executives of the Shinomiya Foundation who hoped that Shinomiya Kan'an would continue to hold power, or the bureaucrats who hoped to seize political resources by achieving brilliant medical results like Aoyama Mukashi, they all placed great hopes on the research projects of the new drug development center.

But Aoyama knew that the research on treating Alzheimer's disease at the new drug development center would never succeed...

Because in his previous life, he personally witnessed the "foundational paper on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease suspected of being fabricated" incident (2022), which shocked the entire scientific community. The occurrence of this incident rendered a large amount of research on Alzheimer's disease conducted in the 16 years prior to that incident meaningless.

Aoyama had been advising the party leader and whip at internal meetings of the Shigure Party for years to give up their positions in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, also for this reason.

When the academic paper fraud scandal breaks out in this world, he can seize the opportunity to deliver a heavy blow to his political enemies and the Shinomiya Group. At that time, his position as governor will be more secure, and the "Suzuki-Higashiyama" alliance may even be able to sit at the same table with the four major conglomerates.

"Ah Bai, please keep an eye on the progress of Detective Yagami's side as well. If he makes any progress, please let me know as well."