Rebuilding Sakamichi in a chaotic worldline

Chapter 75 All for the Benefit of Others

Even after being pulled out of Flamme by Rihito Kubo, Kasumi Arimura was still in a daze. It was just an ordinary day, but the events seemed to have more information than the past twenty years, causing her brain to overload and crash, unable to restart.

"Hey, can you still hear me?"

Rito looked at her with amusement, recalling the dejected look on her face as she walked out of the office earlier. He casually teased, "I didn't expect you to have such deep feelings for your old employer. You should have just not agreed to my request earlier."

"You!" Provoked by his sarcastic remarks, Arimura's mind cleared instantly, and his intelligence once again prevailed. He gritted his teeth and glared at the new boss, saying with a hint of hatred that wasn't directed at him, "After all this, what's the point of me staying? Wasn't this all your doing?"

"That's true." Rito smiled and shrugged innocently, not kicking someone when they were down, but instead saying a good word for Inoue Yoshihisa: "But to be honest, 99% of agencies in Japan couldn't refuse the price I offered for a newcomer. Your president just made a choice that any normal person would make."

"There's a difference between being unable to refuse and being overjoyed, Rito Kubo."

Arimura rolled her eyes at him, shook her head, and, unwilling to discuss these unpleasant matters any further, glanced around the parking lot and asked, "Where to next, new president-san?"

"What the heck is 'new president-san'? Just call me Kubo-san." Seeing how quickly she adjusted her mindset, Rito's admiration deepened. He patted her shoulder and led her to his Cayenne. Glancing at the conspicuous Porsche emblem, Arimura's eyes flashed with a knowing look, and she got into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt.

"I'll make him regret it."

The girl's first words after getting on the bus made Rito burst out laughing. Unable to decipher his meaning, Arimura glared at him resentfully and whispered, "Are you mocking me?"

"Laughing? No, no, no, I'm happy." Rito raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on her lips. "That's the spirit you should have. Don't worry, I'll be there to support you."

Arimura's eyes flashed; these were the words she wanted from him. Having received his promise, she turned to look out the window. Leaving Minami Aoyama, the familiar street scenes gradually faded into the distance. The Tokyo she had longed for finally revealed its unfamiliar side. She tightened her coat and adjusted the air conditioner vent to the side.

Since they had nothing to do that day, Rito simply took her to her old dormitory, packed her luggage, and then moved to the Keyakizaka dormitory near Seed Flower. Since Hiragana was about to start recruiting, the dormitory was always ready to be occupied, which was perfect for her to stay temporarily.

When the two arrived, Zono was reading a book by the window upstairs. The roar of the car engine interrupted her thoughts. She frowned, turned her head to look, and was suddenly stunned when she saw what was going on.

"It's the company president, but who's that next to him?"

She muttered to herself that perhaps it was the confidence that came from being chosen as the center for Keyakizaka's singles and doubles that made her so confident. In just a few months, her aura had completely changed. When her former friends saw her again, they found it hard to believe that this Ozono Rei was the same species as the Kagoshima fox they remembered. Only her occasional sly smile, like a time stamp anchoring the past and the future, could prove that she had not been abducted and modified by aliens.

Squinting, Zono searched her mind for a moment for the face she saw. She felt a little familiar with it, but couldn't remember where she had seen it before. As a science student, she hated this uncertainty. Without thinking too much, she quickly changed into a sports jacket, checked her makeup, and rushed out the door.

In the lobby on the first floor of the dormitory building, Rito pulled Arimura's suitcase with one hand while introducing her to her future neighbors. When Arimura heard that the rising star Keyakizaka lived here instead of Nogizaka, she suddenly smiled, and a mischievous look appeared on her chubby face.

"What, you're afraid to put me with Nogizaka46?"

Rito paused upon hearing this, glanced back at her, and ignored her. In his opinion, the reason Nogizaka46 lost to this girl in the morning drama casting wasn't primarily because her acting was significantly better, but rather because of the character fit. For example, wasn't the lead role also cast as a newcomer from Gakki's agency? Does that mean her acting is the best in all of Japan for her age group? That doesn't make sense.

Arimura had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing his silence, she assumed she had hit the nail on the head and became even happier. She skipped over to him, flashing a V-sign, and said smugly, "Actually, your Nogizaka46 is pretty good too. Mai Shiraishi has the makings of an actress, and Miho Watanabe's acting is also quite good. Those newbies from the small agencies over there are no match for them. It's a pity they ran into—"

Just as the village beauty was about to boast about her hard-earned acting skills in front of the new president, Rito suddenly reached out and pulled her sharply towards him.

Kasumi Arimura bumped headfirst into his chest, her forehead hitting a shirt button, causing her to gasp in pain. Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed his arm to steady herself, looking up as if to ask, "What are you doing?" only to realize how close they were, her ears turning visibly red.

"That's strange, actors get shy too?"

Just as Arimura was feeling anxious yet somewhat excited, a sentence coming from above her head instantly dampened her spirits.

Seriously... the epitome of a straight man.

She looked up at Rito and couldn't help but think to herself, "He's not bad-looking, and he's got such good qualities. If he knew even a little bit about picking up girls—oh, no, with his qualities, he really doesn't need to."

Having figured this out, Arimura thought he had grasped one of Rito's little-known weaknesses. Little did he know that Rito was genuinely curious when he asked the question. After all, his knowledge was concentrated in the idol industry, and he really knew very little about actors.

"Of course actors get shy too. Do you think actors can act out scenes out of thin air? It all comes down to their daily accumulation of experience, okay? You know what I mean?"

After giving him a lecture, Arimura suddenly noticed that his hand was still around her waist. Just as she was about to tell him to let go, the elevator door behind her opened, and a wild Kagoshima fox, at just the right moment, cut between the two of them.

Seeing the president, whose expression had suddenly separated from the girl who looked familiar, with a strange expression, Zono stopped in her tracks, her expression unreadable. She simply tilted her head slightly, then walked forward naturally and gave a slight bow.

"Good afternoon, President."

Rito cursed inwardly, but upon seeing it was Zono, he silently breathed a sigh of relief. Smart girls are great; they know what to say and what not to say. Without further explanation, he casually pointed to the village beauty beside him:

"This is Kasumi Arimura, a newly signed actress. She'll be temporarily staying at the Keyakizaka dormitory for a while."

Rei Ozono turned her gaze to Kasumi Arimura, nodded politely, and felt an even stronger sense of familiarity in her heart: "Nice to meet you, I'm Rei Ozono from Keyakizaka46, please take care of me."

Kasumi Arimura quickly returned the greeting. Her earlier embarrassment hadn't completely subsided; as she bowed, her bangs fell down, covering half her face and perfectly concealing the flaw of her large face. Her voice remained relatively calm: "I'm actress Kasumi Arimura. I might be bothering you for a while now, please take care of me."

"Not at all."

Ozono Rei straightened up, her gaze subtly sweeping back and forth between the two of them before naturally turning to Rito: "President, are you taking Mura-san to see an apartment? The one next to mine is currently vacant, how about it?"

Kasumi Arimura instinctively wanted to decline, as she was very clear about her own position—she was just a pure actress who happened to be in the same company as her idol. However, Rito had already agreed before her, saying, "Then I'll trouble you," and pushed her into the elevator.

What? I haven't even said I agreed yet.

Outraged, Arimura secretly kicked Rito in the heel.

I'm just looking, why are you in such a hurry?

Rito glared at her sideways.

The three stood still, and Oozono Rei pressed the button for the fifth floor. The elevator began to slowly ascend. The small space was quiet for a few seconds before Oozono Rei, standing in front of the remaining two, suddenly let out a soft "Ah" and looked at Arimura Kasumi.

"I remember now."

She slapped her forehead, but her tone remained calm.

"These past few days, there's been a lot of talk in the company saying that you, President, originally helped Nogizaka46 secure a supporting role in their morning drama, but a new actress snatched the role from you at the final audition. That actress's name is Arimura Kasumi, right?"

Seeing that the other party recognized him, Arimura remained calm and readily admitted it. After all, they would be colleagues from now on, and it was impossible to keep such a thing a secret forever.

"It's me, Kasumi Arimura." As she spoke, she made a rock and roll gesture, which made Zono chuckle. He clapped lightly and said with a smile, "Well done, don't let Nogizaka get too arrogant."

"Ahem, Zono, I'm still here." Rito stood to the side, shaking his head helplessly. Of course, he knew that Zono was just joking, but the relationship between Nogizaka and Keyakizaka had always been somewhat sensitive, so even if it was just a casual chat in private, he had to take it seriously.

"Understood, President." Zono stuck out his tongue, exchanged a glance with Arimura, and they both laughed.

The elevator dinged as it arrived at the fifth floor. The three of them stepped out one by one. Rito walked to the empty door of 502, entered the default password, and the door opened.

After several moves, Arimura finally chose apartment 502 as her temporary residence. Zono seemed quite satisfied with her new neighbor, and the two had already made plans to have dinner together that evening. Rito was naturally delighted with this arrangement, and after telling Arimura to call him if she needed anything, and that he would come to see her again the next day, he drove away and returned home.

Before she knew it, it was late at night. After diligently feeding the headmaster and coaxing her to sleep, Rito finally had a moment to enter the space.

"Hey, hey, hey, you're taking way too long! Did you not satisfy Guan Sang and get kept after school?"

The moment his feet touched the ground, a critical hit from the bullied little dog, Masayuki Tsuyoko, landed squarely on his forehead. Rito's lips twitched, and he grabbed her ankle, dragged her off the sofa, and flicked her round head across the forehead.

"What are you talking about, you minor? Besides, her name is now Yumiko Kubo. Don't you have any common sense?"

"Okay, okay, none of that matters, let's get started."

Yangzi clamored to skip over this sensitive topic and insisted on starting. As for what they would start, that's another heartbreaking story:

Two days ago, also in the space, Meiqing suddenly mentioned that the selection of hiragana was about to begin, and asked her if she wanted to know who her teammates were. Yangzi of course said yes, and then she took out the list and was stunned.

"Huh? Who are these people?"

Seeing a list full of names that even longtime Sakamichi Series fans might not recognize, the puppy's face immediately fell. Unlike other industries where there might be cases of overrated or overlooked talents, in the idol industry, fame and ability are basically equal. Even if you're not good at singing, dancing, or variety shows, as long as you're pretty, you still have a good chance of making a name for yourself. And the implication of names that even she, an insider, had never heard of is self-evident.

"It's alright. Look, isn't there Yoshida-senpai and Iguchi-senpai? Who's this again? Oh, Yoshimoto-senpai?"

Meiqing, carrying a cup of coffee, walked over with a smile and offered a word of comfort. However, to the little dog, this was nothing short of rubbing salt into her wounds. She kicked Meiqing angrily and roared, "Get out! Do you even know who this person is? You call yourself a senior? Why can you team up with White Three while I have to team up with these strangers? I refuse to accept this! I want to team up with Blue Four too!"

Meiqing, unperturbed by the kick, chuckled and returned to the sofa, sipping her coffee as she nonchalantly remarked:

"Okay, I support you. But with the gacha system changed and there's no event pool, if you can still pull it like this, then I'll really be impressed."

"Fine, I'll smoke then, just to annoy you!"

Yoko knew she was telling the truth, but the more she said it, the more aggrieved she felt. She was determined to pick a teammate to make the other person angry. After much pleading, Rito finally relented and decided to use Keyakizaka's achievement of breaking 500,000 sales as a reward for the next general pool.

"Speaking of which, I haven't pulled anything since the regular pool was revamped. It seems that some members can only be pulled from the regular pool and are not available in the limited pool."

Rito had barely received the 300 tokens from the system when Yoko snatched them away. Watching her angrily stuff them in one by one, he stroked his chin thoughtfully and said...

"I think it's quite right. The center position doesn't represent everything. What makes my cousin any worse than the others? Why shouldn't she be in the center?"

Yoko muttered a complaint, and her words reminded Rito of her mission with the Sakamichi Sisters. In the blink of an eye, it was already October, but she still had no clue whatsoever. This couldn't go on.

"It's out! Oh, it's Miho-nee."

Suddenly, Yoko shouted and excitedly twisted open the blue gashapon that represented Hinata-zaka, only to find a ball jumping out, much to her disappointment.

"There's nothing we can do about it, that's just how it is now."

Rito smiled and took the card, intending to use it as enhancement material for Qiuqiu, but Yoko disagreed, snatching it back and muttering:

"Miho-nee is already perfect enough, let's recycle her. Ten cards can be exchanged for one draw, maybe she'll get it in the next draw."

Tsk, getting hooked on gacha pulls is terrifying.

Rito shook his head, too lazy to say anything to her. Anyway, he was already prepared to waste those 300 draws. He walked to the special bond screen and began to study which one was easier to achieve.

"Changing Ball, unlocking two bonds by one person, not bad, not bad."

"Life Star, the remaining two are both C, pass."

"The new starter Pokémon, Haruka + Meowth? What era are we living in? Don't make your Meowth sister laugh. Your Meowth sister just wants to retire."

"Huh? There are actually three Risas: Hayashi Risa, Riki Risa, and the short-haired sisters Kazuyuki and Yumiko?"

"Out—out!"

Just as Rito was diligently working on the combination on the screen, a high-pitched voice suddenly came from Yoko's side, piercing the world and attracting his attention. Strangely, although the content of her words should have been cheerful, her tone carried a hint of sadness. Rito was puzzled and hurried over, just in time to see an official photo floating in the air, shining brightly.