After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

"Don't be so nervous. You are... Timoris, right? Yuu-kun often mentions you to me."

After walking around behind Hachiman Kairin, Mori Minami gently pressed down on the girl's shoulder, making her sit back in the office chair.

"Mr. Youyu...did you mention me to you?"

Hearing Minami's words, Hachiman Kairin became a little nervous.

"Yes, he said you are very well-behaved, capable, and have solid skills. You are practically his right-hand man."

Mori Minami leaned close to Hachiman Kairin's ear and deliberately lowered her voice.

"Unfortunately, he was too impatient, which made him feel very insecure, and he was always thinking about taking precautions."

The whisper reached Hachiman Kairin's ear, making her heart skip a beat, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Please stop joking like that, Ms. Mori Minami. If Mr. Yuu didn't trust me, he wouldn't be telling you these things."

If you can't even trust me, then what are your and his identities that would make him trust you enough to say these things to you?

Seeing the doubt in Hachiman Kairin's eyes, Mori Minami's smile grew even sweeter.

She was all too familiar with that look in their eyes. They seemed to be questioning, but in their hearts they had already begun to believe. All it took was... a little push.

"Did he ever tell you that the blacklisting of Amoris was actually something he asked me to do, and that it was Timoris, whom he trusted?"

As expected, seeing Hachiman Kairin's somewhat frozen expression, Mori Minami wove a lie with facts.

"It seems not, but it's normal that you don't believe me. Even if you question Yu-Yu-Jun to his face, he probably won't admit it... After all, the dirty dealings between adults are really not suitable for children to know, it will cause trouble."

With a shifty gaze, Hachiman Kairin understood Mori Minami's unspoken meaning.

You're just an untrustworthy kid. Do you want to guess what kind of relationship I have with him, someone who's willing to conspire with you in such despicable ways?

"Alright, alright, don't look like you're in deep trouble. After all, this is only my side of the story. Don't worry too much. Youyu-jun isn't that petty. I won't tell anyone about what happened tonight."

"Why are you telling me this? We have no connection. You have no reason to do this, Ms. Mori Minami."

Struggling to maintain her composure, Hachiman Kairin also raised a question; she wasn't so easily swayed as to believe everything others told her.

"Hmm...the truth?"

Mori Minami paused for a moment, then her smile widened.

"I had some disagreements with Youyu-kun about Xiaomu's future plans, and we should be considered enemies now. So I'm trying to sow discord between you. As his deputy who can sit in his office chair, you are naturally one of my targets."

You just blurted it out?

Looking at the unusually composed Minami Mori, Kairin Hachiman was puzzled.

Is it really okay to say something like that so openly?

"Aren't you afraid I'll tell Mr. Youyu about what happened tonight? If you fail to sow discord, you'll probably be ridiculed in front of him."

“You won’t do that. You already know what he doesn’t want you to know. Knowing his personality, before he ridicules me, he’ll first think about whether you’ve been alienated and use this to blackmail him.”

After placing a business card in front of Hachiman Kairin, Mori Minami turned and left the office.

"If you've thought it through, you're welcome to switch jobs and join my team. The benefits are excellent, Timoris."

Everything that needed to be done has been done; there's no need to linger here any longer.

I only intended to offer a perfunctory congratulations to Yuu Toyokawa tonight, but I didn't expect to have such an unexpected reward.

After glancing at the business card on the table and then at the contact list beside her, Hachiman Kairin lowered her head and fell into deep thought.

Until she saw a box of bear-shaped drinks in the trash can at her feet.

The straw was inserted, and its surface was slightly deformed, indicating that it had been completely drunk.

Mr. Yu Yu... trust...

Something inside me seemed to be shaken, and the shadow that had been cast over me by Minami's words was torn open.

Mr. Youyu absolutely trusts me, so why should I believe the one-sided story of an outsider?

What I wanted from the beginning was never to betray others for better treatment.

All I want is trust.

Without even glancing at the number, Hachiman Kairin tore the business card in front of her into pieces and threw it into the trash can, then grabbed the landline phone on her desk.

However, instead of immediately making an appointment with the doctors she had already selected, she used this landline to dial that familiar number for the first time.

"Mr. Youyu..."

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

"Yes, I understand. Thank you for your hard work, Hachiman... no, Kairin."

Standing under the streetlights opposite the Akabane Police Station, Toyokawa Yuu listened to the voice coming from the phone, nodding to comfort her, but a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes.

[Mr. Youyu, what did you just call me?]

A slightly surprised voice came from the phone. The person on the other end of the line seemed to have never expected that he, who had been awkwardly called Timoris not long ago, would suddenly receive such treatment.

In her memory, the only woman whom Toyokawa Yuu could call by her first name so intimately was his fiancée, Toyokawa Shoko.

"Hailing... alright, don't get too excited. It was indeed inconsiderate of me to call you that before."

“I originally thought that you were all just students without work experience. Compared to this intimate way of addressing me, a more businesslike attitude would allow you to maintain a minimum distance and feel safe when you are with me, and it would also make it easier for you to get used to the rhythm of a commercial band.”

He casually made up some unsubstantiated reason, but it was enough to please Hachiman Kairin, and Toyokawa Yuu could even hear the surprised breathing on the other end of the phone.

"But now it seems I was wrong. You... no, right now you are the one I need to worry about the least, Hailing. From now on, just call me Youyu."

I understand, Youyu.

Hearing the increasingly intimate yet respectful tone of the voice on the other end of the phone, Toyokawa Yuu breathed a sigh of relief; at least she had managed to fool this side.

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, Toyokawa Yuu hung up the phone, but her eyes did not reflect the gentleness in her tone.

That old woman, Minami, is really losing all sense of boundaries.

Does she really think that because she's a senior figure in the industry, she's someone I can't do anything about?

Or perhaps they thought that after colluding with me for a while, they could control me.

It's important to know that at the very beginning of their meeting, she had already revealed her greatest weakness and obsession—her daughter.

Compared to the other members of the band who are practically the epitome of emotional beings and unpredictable, Senmina Nami's thoughts are incredibly easy to guess, and it wouldn't be difficult for her to set a trap for them.

Just from the fact that she planned to use workplace hierarchy to coerce and entice Hachiman Kairin to defect, Toyokawa Yuu knew that the woman would never be able to get her hands on this band.

Minami had no idea what these people in the band, which seemed to be made up entirely of high school students, actually wanted... except for Yutenji Wakana, though she was already bound by a contract of servitude.

However... since she enjoys playing so much, I'll find her a rival who was once her equal.

Taking out Toyokawa Shoko's My Number card, Toyokawa Yuu smiled kindly and walked towards the police officer inside the Akabane Police Station.

"Hello, officer. My name is Toyokawa Yuu. I'm here to take Toyokawa Seikao back home."

Chapter 65 You Can Only Use Me (1 words)

Inside the protected room of the Akabane Police Station, Kiyotaka Toyokawa sat listlessly on a cold, hard bench, staring blankly ahead.

Since being defrauded and losing 168 billion yen to the Toyokawa family, and subsequently expelled from the family, his gaze has rarely been clear.

The once impeccably dressed family executive has vanished, replaced by a disheveled, drunkard.

He knew very well that his life had been a failure, and even if he still had some savings, there was absolutely no possibility of him returning to that circle.

Self-righteous efforts, self-righteous help, self-righteous responsibility... in the end, all of it amounted to nothing, like a fool falling into someone else's trap.

Having experienced too many failures, he lost the courage to start over.

The only thing I can do is obediently find a place to rot and stink, escape reality, and stop being so self-righteous as to drag my daughter down with me.

Kiyoko Toyokawa didn't find such an outcome unacceptable.

At least after alcohol numbs his senses, the hallucinations that appear in his mind will allow him to see his deceased wife's smiling face again.

The only person I'm sorry for doing this is my daughter who insisted on leaving the family with me.

For Xiangzi, it must have been unbearable to see his father, who should have been a role model, become so incompetent and destitute.

But it doesn't matter anymore... He can't keep trying.

"This is it. He's passed out drunk in the alley again. But Miss Xiangzi isn't here this time...?"

"Xiangzi is very tired today and is resting now, so I, her fiancé, will come in her place... Thank you for leading the way, officer..."

"My fiancé, the relationships between young people these days are really hard to fathom..."

The door to the protection room creaked open, and the sound of a young man talking to a police officer reached the ears of the dazed Toyokawa Kiyoshi.

Originally, Toyokawa Kiyoko did not intend to pay attention to it. For him, thinking about such things was a kind of pain in itself, so he might as well continue to immerse himself in the nerve numbness brought about by alcohol.

Until a word that he couldn't help but pay attention to reached his ears.

Xiangzi's...fiancé...

He didn't recall Xiangzi mentioning that she was in a relationship, let alone agreeing to any marriage proposal. What was going on...?

A name he hadn't paid attention to since his wife's death flashed through Toyokawa Kiyotaka's mind, slightly clearing his alcohol-numbed nerves.

Toyokawa Kiyoko slowly raised his head, and through his still somewhat blurred vision due to drunkenness, he saw the figure of a young boy.

"How leisurely you are, Qinggao."

Toyokawa Yuu looked at the dejected man in front of her, her tone showing no respect for her elders whatsoever, not even the feigned politeness she displayed when facing Mori Minami, only cold sarcasm.

"My daughter and son-in-law are out earning money to support the family, while I'm lying at home drinking and ending up in jail. Is it because my early retirement has left me with excess energy that I have nowhere to channel?"

Wow, this new Mr. Toyokawa doesn't seem as gentle as Ms. Shoko.

Yuu Toyokawa made no attempt to conceal her voice, and the police officer waiting outside to lead them out heard it clearly, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

They were actually quite familiar with the drunkard named Toyokawa Kiyoshi.

Over the past year, he has been a regular at the Akabane Police Station, reporting to the station every few days, more frequently than some people clock in for work.

Every time, she has to rely on her daughter, who seems to still be in school, to take her out, and then she'll do it again a few days later.

Over time, even the police officers at the police station got to know the drunkard and didn't have a good impression of him. Instead, they felt sorry for and regretful for Miss Xiangzi, who had gone to great lengths to take him home.

Girls this age shouldn't have to endure this kind of thing.

"You are... Youyu?"

His unfocused gaze gradually sharpened as Toyokawa Kiyoshi looked at the well-dressed young man in front of him. At sixteen or seventeen years old, he was wearing clothes that were clearly for business work, yet he didn't seem out of place at all.

He knew the boy, but that was all.

Even though, in terms of status, the other party should be considered his adopted son.

"Long time no see, Qinggao. I thought you would be so heartbroken after being kicked out that you would jump into Tokyo Bay and follow in Mizuho's footsteps. It seems that, in terms of the outcome, you are indeed stronger and more cowardly than I thought."

Are these two really father-in-law and son-in-law?

If Toyokawa Yuu's sarcastic remarks just now only made the police officer waiting outside feel somewhat relieved, then now the officer began to hesitate about whether to lock up the boy who came in to pick him up as well.

She clearly remembered that when Toyokawa Yuu signed the document, the section about her relationship with the suspect stated "son-in-law".

She had never met a son-in-law who urged his father-in-law to die upon meeting him. In all her years as a police officer, this was the first time she had ever encountered such a person.

"Where's Xiangzi?"

Faced with Toyokawa Yuu's sarcastic remarks, Toyokawa Kiyoko seemed to have no intention of arguing with him, and simply uttered his question silently.

He kept his head down again, showing no intention of getting up from the bench in the protection room, looking like a completely demoralized man with no motivation whatsoever.

"I must be tired after a long night out, I guess I'm doing my homework now."

As she walked step by step to Toyokawa Kiyoshi, Toyokawa Yuu looked at the dejected man in front of her and couldn't help but wonder if trying to use this guy was a mistake.

Although he appeared to have no injuries other than reeking of alcohol, in Toyokawa Yuu's eyes, the man's bones were all broken.

Even if you want to use this kind of person, you have to worry that they will do more harm than good.

"Come back with me, and stop embarrassing Xiangzi in public."

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

In a small park in Akabane Ward, a disheveled drunkard sat on a bench by the roadside, his reeking of alcohol causing passersby to keep their distance.

"So you can actually stay put, huh? I thought you'd end up back in jail again while I was out buying some things."

A can of beer was tossed into Toyokawa Kiyotaka's hand. It was his favorite brand, fresh from the refrigerator, and was now slowly releasing its cool dew.