Tokyo Wingman King

"You mean, Mr. Koyanagi and Mr. Okubo have been acting strangely lately, and you want me to investigate for you?"

After listening to Shinazugawa finish reading her two-page observation notes on the band members, Asama rubbed his temples and asked a question.

Rize Shinazugawa, a popular rock idol who took a break from filming in the shopping street under the pretext of "handling band affairs," is currently wearing a pair of black-rimmed non-prescription glasses just like Asama's.

She picked up another fry, this time one that was even longer than the size of her palm.

"Look~~~ Even standardized production fries can occasionally be longer than you can imagine."

After uttering these rambling words, Shinazugawa gently brushed off the fine salt from the fries with his fingers, then slurped the fries into his mouth little by little.

Judging from her appetite, the girl didn't seem to be in any serious trouble.

This was inconsistent with her past habit of occasionally frowning slightly when talking to him about family, ideals, and the future.

Asama once suspected that the so-called "something was wrong with the two companions" issue was just an excuse Shinazugawa made up to see him.

The white-haired boy with glasses shook his head, quickly ruling out that possibility.

If the beautiful girl in front of me really did that, then it couldn't possibly be Shinazugawa himself.

The possibility of a non-realistic setting, such as "[sent by the Five Regents, who drank the compound potion and impersonated the witch of Shinazugawa]", is actually greater.

"Wouldn't it be more appropriate to hire a professional detective for this kind of thing?"

“For me, Robert is the most suitable person,” the suspected witch said with a smile.

"As a fighter for materialism, can you at least provide some evidence for your statements?"

Hearing that Asama didn't directly refuse, Shinazugawa's smile widened even more.

She counted on her fingers.

"Of course there is~~~ First of all, Robert really enjoys collecting everyone's information, right? People are more motivated when they're interested in something, aren't they?"
Secondly, isn't Robert's reasoning ability superb? Finding the answers to mysteries on the cruise ship and deciphering codes in the haunted house—even a famous detective might not be able to solve those in a short time! So, Robert, with great power comes great responsibility!
Thirdly, of course, is efficiency. The other day in the shopping street, didn't Robert find the person who was smearing the barbecue restaurant owner in just a few minutes?

The girl's slender fingers were softer than velvet and whiter than marble.

The oil stains on her index fingertip, where she had just twirled the fries, were clearly visible, as if she had polished marble, and there was no sense of dirt at all.

With the will of a mere mortal, there is no way to resist those near-perfect hands.

Asama twisted his stiff neck to look out the window, but the lights in the McDonald's were too bright, and he could only see Asama Shizumi's reflection in the glass, and Shinazugawa Rize wearing a hood across from him.

Even with some disguise, the girl was still more dazzling than the [m] logo signs on the street at night.

"It was Komaba who helped find the bad stuff that day. If you need to investigate anything, just contact him directly. You can negotiate the payment yourselves; he should be able to give you a discount."

Asama indicated that he was merely a middleman.

"Although Komaba-kun is amazing, Robert-kun is even more trustworthy. [Go to Hachiman if you have any problems]~ I remember Robert-kun posted this kind of little ad on the forum before~"

Do you remember those small ads that had less than 100 views in May, Mr. F?
“Developing a habit of taking things out of context won’t do you any good. What I wrote at the time was, ‘[If you have difficulties in your love life, then seek help.]’”

"The business dealings of Togami-kun, Yukina's live streaming, and Ayano's friendships—these don't seem like [difficulties in love], do they?"
I heard from Daiki-kun today that you haven't asked him for any compensation for a long time. Instead, you invested 1000 times the initial consulting fee in Infinite Society as a sponsorship fee.

There were also matters concerning the welfare home and the band's charity work. Robert never asked me to pay any price; he only told me to follow my heart and continue to work hard. He said he was just an angel investor on a whim. He clearly provided guidance, connected resources, and solved difficulties, actively participating in all aspects, yet he rejected all rights that could potentially yield financial returns. What kind of foolish angel investor is he?
So, Robert, believe me, there's no one in this world more trustworthy than [Da-sensei]~~~”

Shinazugawa, holding a French fry, said with an air of seriousness.

"So you're saying trustworthy = free + stupid, right? F-san, you should know that free things in this world are actually more expensive."

"Since Mr. Robert puts it that way, how about I become yours?"

Directly opposite at the table, his eyes, behind his non-prescription glasses, blinked like a camera flash.

'Can.'

Asama almost blurted it out, realizing that this was a characteristic of the "Moon Knight"—the chance of adopting or following a girl's advice increases by 60% at night.

He took off his spotless glasses and wiped them back and forth with a McDonald's tissue, quickly scratching several shallow marks on the non-prescription lenses.

After his heartbeat calmed down for a moment, he quoted out of context,
"Pay you to me? When did the F family get involved in human trafficking?"

Unfortunately, such insulting and outrageous remarks could not divert Shinazugawa's attention.

"What I mean is, a 100-year installment plan! Whatever you want—paying back money, personal time, emotional support—I can give you it all! Doesn't that feel like entrusting your life to someone romantic?"

"Let's see if you live that long."

"You agreed? Then I'll have to leave it to you, Master~"

"I haven't agreed yet."

With a whoosh, Shinazugawa stood up and leaned towards Asama.

Her hands, like a pair of chopsticks holding a SpaceX starship, looked light, yet they held Asama's shoulders firmly in place.

"Then I'll have to leave it to you~~~"

Her coat hood fell down, and her iridescent hair cascaded down. The commotion silenced the entire second floor of McDonald's.

"Hey? Look!!! Isn't that Rise?"

"What a beautiful girl, is she a celebrity?"

"It's RISE! The lead singer of the band Death Knights, the band that's on the cover of ROCKIN'ON JAPAN this month! Their albums are amazing!"

"I've seen this issue of the magazine too, and she's so much prettier in person! Was the photographer an intern?!"

The up-and-coming rock star, supported by the Konoe, Ichijo, Nijo, Shinazugawa, Hououin, Jinguji, and Shinomiya families, was quickly recognized by passersby.

Shinazugawa grinned, waved, didn't sign a single autograph, grabbed Asama who was pretending to be dead with his eyes closed, and ran out in a few strides.

The two discussed the investigation while walking briskly through five blocks.

At 8:20 p.m., Shinazugawa led Asama into a McDonald's with even fewer customers.

The reason for the low number of customers is probably that the chairs are too hard and there are no power outlets on the seats—which is tantamount to giving a red card to office workers who work remotely and street urchins who don't go home at night.

"Why are you so insistent on coming to McDonald's? Is Mr. F a follower of McDonald's?"

"Huh? Didn't I hear that Robert likes to meet at McDonald's? Well, it's a small matter, don't worry about it~ Also, Robert has to make up for the fries I didn't finish."

The problem you care about is a minor one!

Asama subconsciously opened the app on his phone and started collecting coupons and ordering.

"Besides fries, what else would you like to order?"

"I'd like a Filet-O-Fish, and a vegetable salad and a corn and green bean salad, too. I haven't had dinner yet because I'm meeting Robert."

Asama thought for a moment, canceled the mobile order, walked from the third floor to the first floor front desk, and reordered.

If you want to order bottled water at McDonald's, you have to ask the cashier, and F-san usually only drinks bottled water.

There were few people at the front desk, so there was no need to queue. After ordering the Shinazugawa burger, Asama also ordered a sukiyaki-style beef, bacon, and egg burger set meal for himself—mainly because the [Tsukimi] limited edition burger advertisement on the blue menu was too eye-catching.

The drink was changed to a Kyoho grape malt drink without cream.

The staff were incredibly fast; Asama only had to wait two minutes before all the food was ready.

The only downside is that the fries look a bit cold. Considering the 15-minute optimal eating period, this box of fries is already past its prime and will probably be in the trash in another 5 minutes.

Also, the amount of salt on the fries was the same as the previous place. They clearly said they wouldn't add salt anymore, but the staff seemed to have forgotten in their busy schedule.

Forget it.

Asama carried the tray upstairs, just as Shinazugawa hung up the phone.

She saw Asama's hamburger packaging and smiled.
"Oh? A limited-edition Little Moon brand burger~~~ Let me try it first~~~"

Before Asama could even break the hamburger, she had already taken a bite of a corner of it, like a tengu.

"Hmm~ It's good that it's sweet, but not the kind of sweetness that Xiaoyue has. Replacing the beef patty with cod, adding orange slices, basil, and sauerkraut, using orange pancakes on the bun, and spreading orange sauce on top might be more suitable for the name [Moon Viewing Burger]." Others have a Moon Viewing limited edition, not an orange-flavored second-time limited edition!

Of course, the reason why Asama-Den burgers are so popular is probably because their names are somewhat related to Futami.

Asahi took the hamburger with a missing corner and, right under Shinazugawa's nose, tore off the whole piece around the missing corner.

The girl pretended to bite the air in front of her fiercely, then picked up the torn corner from the wrapper and put it in her mouth.

"Wasting food is wrong! There are still so many people in the world who are hungry."

"This waste is less than one ten-thousandth of the amount of food McDonald's throws away every day. Instead of criticizing me, F-san should probably criticize those people who bought 5-6 collaboration meals in one go to collect Pokémon cards and toys and then threw the food into the trash."

Asama took a bite of the remaining two-thirds of the hamburger.

It wasn't as delicious as I had imagined.

"It's more important to point out the misbehavior of real people nearby than to criticize abstract groups. As punishment for wasting food, Robert has lost the right to share a salad with me."

"Please use it slowly."

Asama pushed two boxes of salad in front of Shinazugawa, watching her swallow the Tsukimi Burger and then devour the Filet-O-Fish.

"I've never seen you eat like this when I went to Europe. Do you really think that McDonald's, a pre-made chain store, is better than those high-end restaurants?"

"Robert, your statement just now is a meter away from the people's interests! McDonald's is less a place for capital to dump pre-made food and more a blessing brought about by industrialization or productivity progress! I appreciate it not because it tastes good, but because it is a restaurant for the people. I have heard some people say that they spend the Chinese New Year at McDonald's and that McDonald's tastes better than their family's New Year's Eve dinner."

"."

How bad are the average cooks in families whose New Year's Eve dinner is worse than McDonald's?
After finishing their dinner, Shinazugawa ordered another serving of fries.

She had only eaten a small portion of the fries before, and then stuffed the fries, which had completely absorbed the salt and were now utterly unpalatable, into Asama's mouth.

When Asama brought the freshly baked, still steaming fries to the table, Shinazugawa was staring blankly at himself in front of the glass.

"Snap out of it, your fries are here."

"Huh? Why did you order small fries?"

Asama shrugged and explained that small fries offer the best value for money, usually only about 10 fewer fries than medium fries, and sometimes large fries even have a few fewer fries than medium fries.

"Robert's meticulousness might mean he was British in his past life. Marx once used the example of Robinson Crusoe keeping accounts even when he was alone on a desert island to describe him as a 'true Englishman'~~~"

You're more like a true Brit today if you eat fish and chips!
"After eating so much junk food, you should take better care of your health."

"It's food for the people, and besides, it's autumn when people have a good appetite, so isn't it only natural to eat more?"

"Are you a bear? Do you need to fatten up for hibernation?"

Shinazugawa smiled and offered a French fry to Asama's mouth, but seeing that Asama didn't eat it, he stuffed it into his own mouth.

"Robert, haven't you heard that to be a good leader, you also need a good appetite? If you die from eating too much lamprey or tempura, no matter how talented you are, it's useless."

"In fact, Henry I and Tokugawa Ieyasu were among the longest-reigning rulers."

The idol girl deliberately licked her fingers and winked at Asama, her cuteness and charm on par with her cunning.

"Well, if Robert-kun were willing to cook for me again, I might outlive the old tortoise!"

The girl stretched out her palms and gestured to indicate roughly how long an old tortoise would be.

"Being fatter than a raccoon dog might be a more plausible description."

Trying to break the hearts of innocent girls will make you lose your appeal to women!

"It would be best to throw that kind of thing away."

"Hey~~~ So you mean we're enough, right~~~"

"Weren't we here to discuss band issues?"

"I ordered these fries to discuss band issues."

Shinazugawa moved a stool next to Asama, arranged the fries neatly on the paper plate from shortest to longest, and then took out a pen from his bag, writing down several frameworks for discussion, including health issues, relationship issues, financial issues, career issues, and team issues.

"Although the schedule for rehearsals, recordings, and tour promotions has become increasingly tight recently, Koyanagi and Okubo are adapting quite well. On the contrary, Mai and Emi seem to be struggling with relationship issues. Okubo seems to have given up on blind dates. Koyanagi is currently obsessed with Issei Takahashi, who starred in 'Fireflies on the Beach.' Neither of them seems to have any reason to be depressed."

"Wasn't the live show a while ago a great success? Since it didn't affect the band, I think as adults, they can handle their personal emotional ups and downs."

Asama and Shinazugawa had chatted on the way, and the leader of the Death Samurai Band was probably worried that Koyanagi and Okubo would leave the band because of her.

For example, the various public welfare activities that arose because of her, the less-than-democratic attempts to expand the band, the arbitrary formation of another band, and the fact that as one of Japan's leading zaibatsu heiresses, Shinazugawa's window of opportunity to play in a band might only be a few years.
But for adults who truly dream of music, they wouldn't give up the opportunity with the Death Warriors band.

Riding the wave of the Five Photographers' encouragement, this band is moving from the underground to the forefront, appearing in magazines, receiving advertisements, and performing. Their fame and status are now incomparable to what they used to be. Since the band renegotiated their contract with the Shinazugawa management company and increased their revenue sharing, their income has also improved dramatically. Take, for example, the LIVEHOUSE video clip on the band's official YouTube account last week. This video, which has over 1000 million views and includes two embedded advertisements, is estimated to earn each member of the band at least 60 yen.

As for the team atmosphere, with the popular Shinazugawa acting as a glue, there has never been any infighting. Shinazugawa has always been in charge of the creative aspects, and if there were any differences in ideas, the team would have broken up long ago.

Without a doubt, Death Samurai is a typical single-core band, with Rize Shinazugawa as the soul and the one who bears the burden and pressure for the band.

The "fame and fortune" and "loyalty" represented by the Death Samurai band would be extremely difficult for Koyanagi and Okubo to find in their alternative lives, such as accountant or construction worker.

Of course, many choices adults make are beyond their control.
“Robert, I’ve also reflected on this. I’m not worried about the band because I’m afraid they’ll break up, but because I’m worried about them as a friend.”

Shinazugawa's expression hardened, and he continued,
"I want to help my friends solve their problems."

"If it's a matter of feelings, can you really arrange a boyfriend like Issei Takahashi for Mr. Koyanagi?"

"That's why we need our God of Love, Teacher Da, to step in!"

How did we start this reverse authentication process of shooting the arrow first and then drawing the target?
"What if they want to quit because they think you're too good and they're afraid of holding you back?"

“I’ve kept a close record of many things from the past! I will tell them that, whether it’s talent or personality, they are all indispensable to the Death Samurai. Even if Robert were to be the drummer, he couldn’t replicate Koyanagi’s subtlety.”

Shinazugawa, like a well-prepared debater, delivered a high-scoring answer.

Asama nodded, pointing out a more realistic possibility.

"What if it's the boss of Nakaoka, or your family's idea, that they want you to form an all-female band? What if they've talked to Okubo Koyanagi privately? After all, among your fans, their individual fans combined make up less than two-thousandths, so even if you change the members, it won't have a big impact."

Shinazugawa shook his head, then said confidently,

"I have the reins, and I won't let that happen."

Asama never doubted Shinazugawa's determination. She said she wanted to be in a band for life, so as long as they were still alive, they would work hard to stay together and continue releasing albums.

"Since you've already found a solution for the most troublesome possibility, what else do you want me to investigate?"

"Investigate their individual relationship problems!"

"You're going to meddle in this too?"

"You should comfort someone who's heartbroken."

"If you've already concluded they've broken up, why do you need me to investigate?"

Shinazugawa smiled at Asama with a radiant smile that obscured the secrets in her eyes.

"Because I care."

Asama sighed, "F-san, the vanity of the selfless is boundless."

"Who said that just now?"

"A dock philosopher."

"It sounds like a seagull."

Shinazugawa picked up a completely cold French fry and slowly slurped it into his mouth like he was eating noodles.

The seagull looks just like you! (End of Chapter)