69novels Chapter 62 Airi is my name, and my destiny.
Chapter 62 Airi is my name, and my destiny.
The ambulance sped through the streets of Shibuya, taking the injured to the designated hospital. The situation inside the ambulance was relatively peaceful. Rito lay flat on the bed, still conscious, only occasionally wincing and gasping for breath due to the pain.
Meiqing, who had come as a family member, felt a little distressed, but there was nothing she could do. She could only place her hand on the back of his hand and comfort him, saying, "We'll be there soon, just bear with it a little longer."
"Don't worry, Mr. Kubo, we have already notified the best surgeon in our hospital to ensure you receive the best service."
The nurse standing nearby quickly chimed in to offer words of comfort.
Li Ren glanced at the two of them, wanting to say, "Can't I even cry out in pain? You might as well just gag me with a towel instead of saying all this." She rolled her eyes, lay back, and the ambulance sped through the deserted streets of the New Year. Occasionally, other cars would give way, and in the blink of an eye, the outline of the hospital gradually became clear.
At the same time, inside a residence in Gunma Prefecture.
Mai Shiraishi awoke with a start, cold sweat trickling down her fair skin and disappearing into the cleavage of her chest. She had dreamt that she was standing on the Yoyogi stage, with tens of thousands of audience members cheering loudly and green glow sticks flying everywhere, as if trying to hold onto something. But when she turned around, the people standing behind her were not the companions she had expected, or rather, not entirely.
"Nanamin, what are you doing here?"
Mai-sama, looking much more mature but still instantly recognizable as a Hokkaido girl, grabbed her hand in shock and asked.
"Maisou, what are you talking about? Today is Nanamin's graduation concert!"
Hearing her words, Sakurai Reika seemed even more shocked than her. She turned off her microphone, nudged her, and whispered, "Are you alright? Didn't you sleep well? Hang in there a little longer, the concert is almost over."
Mai's mind was a complete mess at that moment. After hesitatingly saying "okay," she felt it was a bit inappropriate and subconsciously added "senpai" in a low voice, but many people still heard it.
The members standing in the back row turned to look at her at the same time. Kazumi Takayama opened her mouth slightly, as if to confirm whether she was joking; Yumi Wakatsuki frowned, her eyes full of confusion; even Minami, who was standing at the very edge, stopped adjusting her headset and tilted her head to look in this direction, as if to ask her if she was serious.
"Mai-sama, Nana-min is still giving her speech, so stop acting silly at a time like this." Takayama was the first to react, taking half a step forward and whispering a reminder to her.
"Huh? What are you guys talking about? I'm a second-generation member, is there a problem with calling me senpai?"
Mai-sama was even more confused, blinking her eyes with a blank expression. Erika Ikuta, who was standing next to her, couldn't stand it anymore. She coughed twice and said in a low voice with a sob in her voice, "That's enough, Mai-sama."
"Who are you?" Mai turned around when she heard the voice, only to be met with a completely unfamiliar face. She looked around again and saw even more people she didn't recognize.
"Who are you? Who are you all?" Her mind became even more confused, and she began to doubt that she was actually dreaming. So she reached out and pinched her thigh hard. The pain was clearly transmitted to her brain, and her consciousness became clearer. There was no sign of waking up.
"Mai-sama!" Everyone was confused about what had suddenly gone mad. They looked at each other, at a loss, and could only frantically try to signal with their eyes.
The unusual activity on stage gradually aroused the curiosity of the audience. The director saw all of this on the small screen and quickly ordered people to stop cutting the camera to that area. He then used a walkie-talkie to sternly call out to the members on stage, telling them to stand still and not move around.
"Who the hell are you?"
People are always bolder in their dreams than in reality. Already annoyed by the chaotic scene in front of her, Mai-sama heard a condescending reprimand coming from her earpiece. She made a snap decision, took off her earpiece, threw it on the ground, turned around abruptly, and ran off the stage.
A chorus of exclamations erupted from the stage behind her—"Mai-sama?" "Shiraishi-senpai!" "What's going on?!" "Wait a minute, it's still live—" Footsteps followed closely behind, someone was calling her name, someone was telling the staff to stop her, and the director was anxiously asking in his earpiece what had happened.
Mai didn't turn around. Although she didn't know what had happened, she was certain this wasn't the world she knew. She ran through the curtain on the side of the stage, into the corridor, past the fire door leading to the dressing room, past rows of mobile clothes racks displaying her stage costumes, and pushed open the door with "Restroom" written on it. The lights in the dressing room were on, and the mirror on the dressing table reflected her current appearance—wearing a red and gold stage costume she had never seen before, her hair dyed a brown she had always wanted to try but hadn't yet. The person inside looked like her, but wasn't her.
The promotional posters on the wall hadn't been torn down yet. She walked closer to look at them; the posters displayed the schedule, member list, and promotional photos for Nogizaka46's 5th Anniversary Concert. She looked at them one by one—Rina Ikoma, Erika Ikuta, Nanami Hashimoto, Mai Shiraishi, Nanase Nishino, Kazumi Takayama, Manatsu Akimoto, Reika Sakurai, Yumi Wakatsuki… Some she recognized, some she didn't, and even those she did recognize were different from the ones she remembered.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor, and a woman in a staff uniform burst through the door.
"Mai-sama, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" the woman asked urgently, panting heavily.
Mai didn't recognize her, but guessed she might be a manager or something similar, so she pointed to the girl named Erika Ikuta on the poster and asked her:
"Which class was she in?"
"Mai-style?"
Answer me first.
The woman frowned and said irritably, "Of course Erika is a first-generation student. You've known each other for so many years."
"And what about me?" Bai Ma's eyes flickered, and then she asked again.
"Mai Shiraishi! Are you crazy?! Do you know what kind of occasion this is—Nogizaka46's 5th anniversary, Nana Min's graduation concert! If you're going to go crazy, wait until it's over! Leaving this mess for your teammates, do you know what the internet and the media will say about you tomorrow?!" The manager couldn't take it anymore and slammed her hand on the table. "You're a first-generation veteran of Nogizaka46, and one of the older members. Don't you feel ashamed for what you've done today?!"
"Please, buddy," Mai interrupted her, frowning. "So I'm a first-generation student?"
"Ugh!" The manager was almost driven mad with anger. He took out his phone from his pocket and yelled, "Are you never going to stop? You think no one can handle you? Just you wait, Konno-san is on his way."
"Yoshio Konno? He's here too. And where's President Kubo? I want to see him."
Mai-sama didn't show the slightest fear when she heard the old thief's name. Instead, she was even a little expectant. As the center position handpicked by the president, the old thief had always been very polite to her. If he was like that in real life, how much more so in her dream?
The agent opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but the incandescent lights in the dressing room suddenly began to flicker. Once, twice, and then with a bang, they all went out. Darkness surged in from all directions, engulfing the posters, the dressing table, the mirror, and her face, which was flushed red with anger.
Mai Shiraishi opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed in her dorm room, surrounded by familiar furnishings—a half-empty bag of gummy candies from the night before lay on her desk, photo booth pictures of her and the second-generation students were pasted on the wall, and her phone screen was lit up with a breaking news notification: a stabbing incident occurred in Shibuya on New Year's Eve, and the injured were being rushed to the hospital.
"I wonder which unlucky person it was. Luckily, I didn't go and join in the fun."
She instinctively reached for her phone on the bedside table to make a call, then suddenly froze. Under the covers, her other hand was in a place she never expected, her fingertips damp as if touched by morning dew.
She didn't know why she had that dream. She also didn't know why, after waking up, there was still a trace of emptiness left in her body. There was a very faint, sweet vanilla scent in the air, and her pajamas were slightly damp, trapping her fingers in a damp hell.
She closed her eyes and thought for two seconds. Then she pulled the blanket up and slowly stretched her arms out freely. The images from her dream flowed back frame by frame—Nanamin in her uniform, Nanase, who had become much more confident, the unfamiliar members, herself as a first-generation member, and...
Her breathing grew heavier, her fingers traversing the obstacles, moving freely between the curves of her body. As her fingertips broke through the darkness, she suddenly straightened up, gasping for breath, beads of sweat trickling down her groin in beautiful arcs. She closed her eyes again, searching for the blurry outline in the darkness, as if she could feel someone's fingers gliding across her lower abdomen, leaving a tingling, numbing sensation.
"Phew, Mai Shiraishi, you're really suppressing yourself. It's just a man, what's so great about him?"
After the storm had passed, she took a tissue and wiped her sticky fingers, but she didn't feel any more relieved. After pondering for a while with her mind full of lewd thoughts, Mai seemed to understand why she had such a bizarre dream.
"It's all Nanamin's fault!" She buried her face in the pillow, hiding her flushed cheeks. "We agreed to become idols together, but she abandoned me and ran off alone. How disloyal!"
Indeed, in Mai's opinion, there is only one reason why she would have this dream: deep-seated jealousy towards Nanamin.
Although the relationship between the two seemed to have returned to normal thanks to the Hokkaido woman's initiative, and Mai would often call to ask for advice on work or life, deep down she knew that she still couldn't let go—and as time went on, the already unclear feelings became even more bitter.
"If I had been a little bolder back then, would Hori have dared to talk to me like that?"
She grumbled, shifted her position, reached for her phone, opened Line, and sent the president a text message wishing him a Happy New Year.
One minute, five minutes, ten minutes. Looking at the empty chat box, Mai sighed. Although she was imposing and acted like a strong woman who dared to love and hate in front of Houri, she was still the timid Mai Shiraishi in front of the person she liked. Just thinking that this was her best friend's man made her build a high wall around her heart, let alone take the initiative to make a move.
She glanced at the message that remained unread, but ultimately lacked the courage to call. In a fit of despair, she slammed the phone down, and suppressed groans echoed once more in the deep, dark room.
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"What? The company president is injured?"
Hearing the voice on the other end of the phone, Airi Suzuki was suddenly startled, all sleepiness gone. With a hoarse voice from being woken up and a sudden surge of tension, she held the phone between her ear and shoulder with one hand, and with the other hand she had already thrown off the covers, her bare feet stepping on the cold floor, and began to grope for her clothes in the dark.
"Yes, Suzuki-san, Rito asked me to come and help him with something. You should still be in Tokyo, right?" Mikoto hadn't had much contact with this former senior colleague, now Rito's assistant, but she was aware of her existence. After receiving Rito's request, she immediately dialed the number on her phone.
"I see, is it the hospital the president always goes to?"
Airi held the phone between her ear and shoulder, quickly slipped on a sweater and jeans, and calmly asked, "I'll be right there," before hanging up after receiving an affirmative answer. She grabbed the small motorcycle keys from the shoe cabinet in the entryway and rushed out the door. The streets of Tokyo were almost deserted on New Year's Day, and she floored the accelerator much harder than usual, the engine emitting a low rumble in the quiet night.
Meanwhile, backstage at the NHK studio, which had just finished broadcasting the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle), the members of Nogizaka46 were removing their makeup and changing clothes. Sumire still had stage makeup on her face, hairspray still on her hair, and was wearing a down jacket. She was sitting in the corner of the dressing room scrolling through her phone with a strange expression.
She had only wanted to see what Rito's reply was to her New Year's greetings, but strangely, more than half an hour had passed since the message was sent and it was still showing as "unread," which was very abnormal—even if he was with another woman now, he shouldn't have taken this long to reply, Nagahama Naru was confident of that.
Anxious, she sent another message urging him to hurry up. Unable to bear the feeling of waiting, she switched to another app and opened Twitter. The first trending topic was the Shibuya assault incident. Among the highly-rated replies, a line of text caught her attention.
Breaking news: The person who stabbed Inoue Sayuri of Nogizaka46 was a fan of the group. The victim is suspected to be Nogizaka46's president, Kubo Rihito. It's said that she saw him with another girl and did this to avenge her idol.
Someone replied: Really? The thought process of idol otaku is really unique. Regardless of whether the two have a relationship or not, this cut has ended Inoue's idol career, right?
"Mind your own business. Go worry about when your own life will end!"
Cursing under her breath, Shui Shui couldn't sit still any longer and quickly called Li Ren.
The phone rang three times before being hung up. She frowned, then dialed again, only to be hung up again. After seven or eight attempts, the other end finally gave in and the call was successful, but what she heard was a completely unfamiliar voice.
"Riri is busy, please call back during the day." The voice on the other end was quite pleasant, but unfortunately, what she said made her very unhappy.
"Whoever you are, tell me where he is." Shui Shui's fingers gripped her phone tightly, her voice icy cold, and the passing members couldn't help but look at her.
"He's fine, please don't worry, Mr. Nagahama." After a moment of silence, the other party still maintained an evasive attitude, refusing to reveal anything.
"Don't test my patience!" Sleepy stood up, knocking over her makeup bag on the chair next to her. Powder and brushes scattered all over the floor, but she didn't even glance at them, striding quickly into the hallway outside the lounge. "Where's Kubo Rito? I'm asking you one last time!"
Wow, this senior colleague has quite a temper.
Meiqing clicked her tongue, a little frightened by her. The impression of her as a high-and-mighty actress from her previous life was too strong. Even knowing that she was only 18 years old at this time, Meiqing still felt a lot of pressure talking to her.
Just then, a series of crisp footsteps echoed down the hospital corridor. The sound belonged to Airi Suzuki, who had just arrived at the hospital. She was wearing sneakers and walking on the corridor floor, her footsteps drawing ever closer. She took the phone from Mio's hand without exchanging a single word of greeting.
"Neru, this is Airi Suzuki. The president suffered a minor injury, but he's taken care of it and is asleep now. I'll tell him about your call when he wakes up tomorrow." Her tone was calm, neither intimate nor distant, maintaining just the right balance of distance. "You've worked hard tonight, get some rest. I'm here at the hospital, don't worry."
Then she hung up the phone, smiled at Meiqing, and Meiqing grinned back, somewhat awkwardly returning the smile. Whether it was her imagination or not, she seemed to sense a hint of tension in the conversation.
The person who had been hung up on took off their earphones in disbelief, stared at the disconnected call screen, and remained silent for about three seconds. Instead of calling back, they turned and walked through the corridor, leaving the NHK building. They hailed a taxi and gave the driver their company address.
On New Year's Eve, only the lobby of the building where Nogizaka worked was lit. The security guard recognized her and was a little surprised to see her come in, but still pressed the elevator button for her. She went straight into Rito's office, opened the bottom drawer of his desk, flipped through several folders, and found the medical report she needed. The cover had the name and address of the medical institution printed on it. She entered it into her phone's navigation and quickly got a new route.
At 2:30 a.m., in the corridor outside the operating room, Airi and Mio sat side by side on a bench. Airi crossed her arms and closed her eyes, as if feigning sleep; Mio was on the phone with the other third-generation students, reassuring them that Airi was alright and telling them to get some sleep, but it didn't sound like things were going well. Just then, the elevator doors opened.
Shuishui walked out wrapped in a coat, still carrying the chill of the New Year's Eve wind. Her hair was unwashed, and her stage makeup was a little smudged, but there was no sign of fatigue in her eyes. She strode over, her eyes fixed on Airi and Meiqing.
Airi narrowed her eyes, seemingly surprised by her decisiveness. She glanced at her before speaking slowly, "Neru, you should understand that the president doesn't want to see you here."
"That's your opinion. Don't forget, I'm the one who's known him the longest," Shui Shui retorted, her tone unyielding.
"If time equates to understanding, then there would be no family conflicts in the world."
"If every assistant could make decisions for their boss, there would be no such thing as an assistant in the world."
The two sentences, each carrying a clear meaning, left the air in the corridor frozen in an instant. Airi and Shui Shui locked eyes. Both were academic high-achievers; one had given up her studies to become the most dazzling center of a newly popular national girl group and the company's most prized daughter, while the other had successfully entered Japan's top university. Her career starting point was the end point for many, and she was a key figure in the company who best represented the president. Neither of them was prepared to accept failure.
Just then, the operating room door opened, and the doctor, exhausted from striving for perfection, came out. He couldn't immediately recall who had brought Kubo Rito, so he casually asked, "Who is Kubo-san's relative?"
"Me." X3
The three girls spoke in unison, which startled the doctor. He awkwardly rubbed his hands, unsure of their identities. Not daring to offend any of them, he simply looked up, avoiding all of them, and said a few words about how successful the surgery was and that they could contact him anytime if needed. Then he quickly fled the scene.
When Rito was wheeled out, he was awake, pale, with cracked lips, and his right rib wound was wrapped in thick gauze. A pulse oximeter clip was attached to his finger. The moment he saw Shui Shui, he let out a long sigh, didn't speak to her, and let the nurse push him to a private room.
The nurse wheeled Rito into the ward, and Airi bent down to help him tidy up the IV lines. Rito patted the back of her hand to express his gratitude, and then whispered in her ear, "Thank you for your hard work."
Airi returned his smile with a bright smile: "Of course, President."
"Do me one more thing. I don't want to see any reports about today in the media. As for the prisoner, please shut him up and prevent him from saying anything out of line. Can you do that?"
Rito smiled, but his tone carried a hint of coldness. Airi met his gaze, her eyes showing no sign of backing down.
"Received, my master." She moved closer, her fiery red lips as intense as autumn leaves, making Rito suddenly feel a little flustered.