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

Shima snatched the champagne and placed it steadily on the table.

"But no matter how expensive this bottle of champagne is, it's not a reason for you to cause trouble for others!"

"Okay, okay, I know I was wrong, Shima. Now let me taste the delicious champagne! I can already smell the intoxicating aroma of Bordeaux grapes!"

Hiroi Kikuri held the glass high, the rim of the glass almost touching Iwashita Shima's nose.

"..." Shima gritted her teeth, but this was a celebratory occasion after all. After a few seconds, she suppressed her anger, took Hiroi Kikuri's cup, and poured her half a cup.

"Huh? Is that all? Pour more, Shima."

"You've already drunk quite a bit of sake during your performance today, so you should drink less champagne, otherwise you'll have a headache when you wake up tomorrow morning."

"A headache or anything like that can be solved with just a couple more sips of wine."

A little drink can indeed relieve a hangover, and as a long-time drinker, Hiroi is naturally very familiar with this.

"You're finished."

Shima shook her head, but finally gave in and poured Hiroi Kikuri a full glass of wine.

Based on her understanding of Hiroi, she knew that if she didn't fill her bottle to the brim, Hiroi would definitely seize every opportunity to secretly drink from the bottle later, and in that case, she would definitely drink more than she had poured for her.

And since it's impossible to focus your attention on Hiroi every moment, this kind of thing is impossible to guard against.

Along with Sickhack, four members of SIDEROS were also at the celebration party. They were all minors, so they were drinking juice on the side.

"You must never grow up to be like this."

Shima Iwashita said to the female musicians of SIDEROS.

The girls gave a few perfunctory replies, since it would be too impolite to agree too readily.

Shima Iwashita poured herself and Eliza champagne, and everyone raised their glasses in celebration.

"Everyone has worked hard!"

"I hope there will be more and more shows like this where people can easily earn 100,000 yen just by acting crazy while drunk!"

"I hope that Sickhack and SIDEROS will become more and more popular, and then be noticed by the music animation production company and become the ending theme of a popular anime series!"

"By the way... I've always felt that Sickhack's music and the Monogatari series go well together, both having that fantastical and magnificent quality, and both expressing themselves in a very stream-of-consciousness style."

SIDEROS guitarist Aimi Hasegawa expressed her agreement with Eliza's beautiful vision.

Like Eliza, she's a long-time anime fan, and a native Japanese, so she's more familiar with the most popular anime series of recent years.

"Especially the new song performed by the sisters today, which is not only beautiful but also has a touch of passion. Even a masterpiece like Yu Yu Hakusho, whose plot and emotional expression are top-notch, might be able to handle it."

After Hasegawa Aimi finished speaking, Otsuki Yuuko, who had been quietly drinking her juice, suddenly interrupted.

"Speaking of which, the songs Sickhack played today were a bit different from the previous ones, and Eliza sang a lot more. Did Hiroi change her style or was she deliberately being lazy?"

Most of sickhack's original tracks were composed by Kikuri Hiroi, and Yuyuko believes that today's track is no exception.

Who would have thought that a band as established as Sickhack would dare to use a song written by an unknown new member as the main track of their performance in a formal show with a capacity of thousands of people?

This kind of behavior—completely unconcerned that fans might not accept the new style of music and that the performance might fail—is just too rock and roll!

So rock-and-roll that even a rock-and-roll-loving young female rock singer like Yuyuko couldn't believe that Hiroi and the others actually dared to be this rock-and-roll.

"...No matter what, I'm a full-time musician. To deliberately slack off would be a huge disrespect to my professional ethics, wouldn't it?"

"Where is your professionalism reflected? Is it reflected in smashing the microphone in front of the audience? If you don't want to be looked down upon by your juniors, you should at least tone it down a bit."

Iwashita Shima, of course, wouldn't miss this opportunity to lecture Hiroi.

"Ah wu..."

Hiroi lowered her head in grievance, but she quickly recovered from her "happy spiral" state and said to Yuyuko with a proud look, "You guessed wrong. I didn't write that song at all. But I can't say it has nothing to do with me. Although I can't be considered the 'mother' of that song, I can be called its 'grandmother'! Because its 'biological father,' Haksan, was someone I went through a lot of trouble to get into Sickhack. The process was like childbirth."

(Note: Happiness Spiral is the name Hiroi Kikuri gave to herself "the wonderful state of forgetting pain and troubles when she's tipsy.")

"So Mr. Hack was the author of that song?" Yuyuko looked enlightened, but then seemed thoughtful. "But why didn't Mr. Hack, who was a key figure in this performance, attend our celebration party?"

"This……"

Iwashita Shima couldn't explain why either, since Aoyama had left without saying goodbye after the performance.

She tried calling the other party, but no one answered after two attempts, so she stopped saving money.

But at least I sent them the address of the hotel where the celebration banquet was held.

She was speechless, but Hiroi Kikuri started talking nonsense again.

"That's because... Mr. Hack is afraid that going out to eat and drink with a group of girls will cause Ijichi-senpai to misunderstand... Otsuki, you must have seen Mr. Hack's registered real name, 'Ijichi Yoshima,' from Gintoki. Why is his surname Ijichi? Because he married into the family..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door to the private room was flung open with a "whoosh".

A stern-faced man appeared at the door, followed by a burly police officer of considerable rank.

Besides the two, the restaurant manager followed behind, looking extremely anxious, with an expression that seemed to say, "I knew these strangely dressed women weren't good people. Now they've even attracted the Metropolitan Police Department's inspector. I hope they don't drag us into this."

As soon as Hiroi Kikuri saw the police, she sobered up considerably—this was the "prey instinct" of a perennial drunkard who often passed out drunk on the street and was repeatedly advised by the police.

The others in the private room also tensed up. The tall, cold-faced man exuded an oppressive aura; wherever he appeared, it felt as if they were in a courtroom, making everyone feel heavy-hearted.

Just as Hiroi and Shima were getting up, thinking "it's always right to apologize first," a familiar voice rang out from behind the burly police officer.

"You've gone to the wrong room, Yujian. Our private room is next door."

Mr. Huck, whom they had just been talking about, appeared and stood in front of them.

Make way for me: 043 Taking care of Mr. Toyokawa's daughter

"Mr. Hack? Is that you?"

Eliza, being British, was not intimidated by the presence of the two judicial officers. She simply felt that the voice and back of the last person to enter were familiar, so she asked him directly.

And blocking the two judicial officers

The person in front of us is none other than the current Governor of Tokyo, Mukashi Aoyama.

"Excuse me, Eliza, please wait a moment."

However, he did not turn around or turn back, but instead made a "please" gesture towards the "sword control" he mentioned.

The cold-faced man didn't say much, nor did he even glance into the private room again. He simply said "I'm very sorry" and turned to leave.

Shima noticed that as he turned around, he lightly patted the burly police officer's arm twice, and the latter immediately understood and said to the restaurant owner who followed him, "Put the bill for these customers on our tab as an apology for our rashness."

"Lord Aoyama, I'll be waiting for you in our room. Please take care of your personal matters as soon as possible. Inspector Itokori, let's go."

After the two left, the restaurant manager and Aoyama looked at each other with conflicted expressions.

This time, Aoyama didn't wear a mask, but instead wore sunglasses and a face mask, still completely covering his face.

A person dressed like this meeting with prosecutors and police officers looks exactly like an undercover agent on a dangerous mission. Generally speaking, wherever this kind of person appears, a fierce gunfight is bound to break out someday...

The store manager, fearing he might be dragged into some dangerous incident, could only look helplessly at Aoyama.

"Guest, shall I too?"

"Please help yourself."

Upon hearing this, the store manager felt as if he had been granted a pardon, immediately bowed deeply, and quickly retreated.

"Okay, if you need anything else, please feel free to let our staff know."

The first thing he did after returning to the front desk was to tell the staff to be extra attentive to the guests in this room.

After closing the room door, Aoyama turned around and looked at Shima, who was in shock, and Hiroi, who was grinning so hard you could see his back teeth. He then changed the subject.

"It looks like the celebration party is going well."

"..."

No one responded.

Aoyama didn't feel embarrassed at all. Whether it was a parliamentary debate or a street speech, awkward silences were perfectly normal. If he couldn't even handle that, he wouldn't be fit for politics.

"Is this enough for you? Since someone is paying today, why not order some dishes that you don't usually get to eat?"

Japanese people typically eat very little food when they drink, and this table was full of people who weren't exactly well-off.

"Ha! I've been waiting for you to say that!"

Hiroi Kikuri became interested and reached for the menu placed next to Shima, but Shima slapped her hand away.

Shima glared at Hiroi, then looked up at Aoyama.

“Mr. Yizhen, those two gentlemen just now, are they your friends? Please tell them to thank him for his kindness, but we will pay for the celebration banquet ourselves.”

"Wait a minute, Zhima! This kind of opportunity to be treated is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I just saw on the menu of this restaurant that there are a few dishes that the restaurant specially recommends to go with drinks. If we accept the kindness of Yizhen's friend, we... can have a great time tonight!"

Hiroi Kikuri knelt up, placed her hands on the table, and looked at Shima with a serious expression.

"I'm telling you... can't you show some responsibility as a senior in front of your juniors?!"

"I'd rather have some delicious snacks to go with my drinks than take on any responsibility... Besides, I'm already an incorrigible senior in front of the younger members of SIDEROS! There's no way I can salvage my image by sticking to my principles in a place like this."

As Hiroi Kikuri finished speaking, her face darkened, revealing a sense of despondency.

"Don't give up on yourself, Kikuri-chan!"

Eliza quickly helped her up, while casting a pleading look at the members of SIDEROS.

"Everyone in SIDEROS probably thinks Kikuri is a respectable senior, right?"

"..."

The members of SIDEROS all avoided eye contact, except for Otsuki Yuyuko, who kept her eyes fixed on Hiroi.

Eliza, as if grasping at a straw, said, "Kikuri-chan, you see, at least in Yuyuko's eyes, you're still a reliable senior..."

"As expected of Hiroi-nee, this 'what the hell' attitude is so rock and roll."

As a result, Otsuki immediately uttered this self-talk.

Eliza fell silent.

Hiroi Kikuri seemed to have been hit hard as well. Although she still had a silly, drunken smile on her face, tears involuntarily welled up from the corners of her eyes.

"Shima, I've never asked you for anything in my life, except today..."

"You even begged me to advance your performance fee last week..."

They even said that you would do anything as long as they were paid.

Shima added in her mind.

"Ugh... Well, I haven't asked you for anything this week, except this time..."

"What's the point of changing your tune here... it only makes you seem more like a scoundrel..."

Hiroi was determined to succeed, while Shima remained indifferent.

To prevent this from escalating further, Aoyama had no choice but to mediate.

“In any case, my friend was indeed rude just now, and it is only right that he apologizes. Miss Shima, there is no need to refuse so completely. How about this…” Aoyama picked up the champagne on the table and glanced at it, “Let’s use the price of this bottle of champagne as the limit. As long as the price of the dishes you order next does not exceed this amount, it will be on my friend’s bill.”

"...Okay, alright, please thank that friend for me."

After considering it for a moment, Shima reluctantly agreed.

"Then why don't we buy another bottle of this champagne? That way we can maximize our profits..."

Hiroi Kikuri muttered to herself, but under Shima's murderous gaze, she wisely chose to shut herself up with a wine glass.

Seeing that the matter was resolved and the atmosphere in the room had become lively again, Aoyama got down to business.

The reason he brought Reiji Mitsurugi and Inspector Itokozuke to this restaurant for a casual meal was that he still had some things to tell Hiroi in person.

"Hiroi, I have a favor to ask you."

"Huh? What? It's rare to see Kazuyoshi-san so serious... Does he want me to select the council members for Kitazawa? Haha..."

"If you want to be one, I can help you find a way."

"...I, I was just joking!" Hiroi instantly snapped back to reality and quickly sat up straight. "Please tell me what you need."

"So... do you know you have a neighbor whose surname is Toyokawa?"

"Toyokawa... I think I vaguely remember him. Are we father and daughter? Come to think of it, their daughter is quite pretty, but every time she sees me drunk, she looks at me like I'm trash..."

"Just like Shima now?"