A Grand Escape and a Shura Scene (Thanks to Dobi686 for the Golden Treasure Chest)

"You should always pay someone a fee for helping you, right?" Riki wiped the sweat from his forehead; he was indeed covered in sweat after running for a while in the Deer Head Mascot Costume.

Seeing this Yutenji Wakame quickly took a handkerchief and wiped Riki's face, then sighed deeply and said, "Riki-kun, actually, I have a lot of hidden secrets behind me."

What surprises me most right now is that you're actually a sissy.

"I've spent a lot of money on cosmetics and rent, but the biggest expense recently was the drum set, which has eaten up my rent for the next few months," sighed Yutenji Wakame. "So I desperately need a little income to make my life more comfortable."

"Drum stand?"

Yutenji Wakame is a future warrior, meaning he has a promising future.

Riki is now guiding her towards becoming a professional drummer. After she triumphantly joins Mujica, she suddenly realizes that it was all part of Riki's plan. However, by the time she finds out, it's too late; she's already been lured onto Sakiko.

"Where are we filming the video?" Riki asked.

"Do you want to help?!" Yutenji Wakame blinked her starry eyes, deeply moved. The veteran actress's acting skills amazed Zhang Yimou ten times over.

"Let's see first, lead the way!"

Riki and Yutenji Wakame entered a luxuriously decorated shop in Ginza, where a beautiful shop assistant greeted Yutenji Wakame had made an appointment in advance, with a smile.

"Please bring over the clothes that I want to show in the video, and then give this gentleman next to me an outfit that suits my appearance in the video," Yutenji Wakame said with a smile.

Please wait a moment.

"This shop is very popular. It's not only one of the top five most popular shops in Tokyo, but it's also a sponsor of tomorrow's 'Tokyo Lantern Festival.' They make the kimonos and Miko Outfit for you," Yutenji Wakame introduced to Riki.

"Tokyo Lantern Festival?"

"You didn't know?" Yutenji Wakame asked in surprise, "I thought you would definitely go with that blue-haired girl. There's a legend about the Tokyo Lantern Festival: if you can stroll through the Lantern Festival with someone you like, you'll be together forever."

"We at Haicheng University also have a saying: 'Those who get into Haicheng University are the most stable and honest people,'" Riki said.

"Isn't this great? Your school must be a school with an excellent academic atmosphere, right?"

No, everyone else except me is a beast.

I cannot retreat, because Haicheng University is right behind me.

If I become corrupt, the school's morale will decline.

Riki sighed and shook her head.

However, it's a bit strange that Sakiko, a local Kyogre, didn't tell me about this.

It's perfectly normal that Su Shi didn't tell Lu Yi, given the legend. She was worried that Sakiko might misunderstand and cause a nuclear deterrence failure, so she simply didn't tell Riki.

Could it be that... they didn't tell me because they thought it would cost money?

Sakiko-bao, you've gone a bit overboard this time.

How could we possibly miss such a wonderful day?

However, we'd have to bring Su Shi along, but it's a bit awkward to just call her over directly. Isn't there a smoother way?

As Riki was pondering, the shop assistant brought the clothes over and held them up in front of Riki, finding them to fit perfectly.

"Sir, this outfit would suit a handsome person very well," the sales assistant said with a smile.

Don't just look at my face; I have a beautiful heart too.

Riki changed her clothes in the dressing room and came out to see Yutenji Wakame wearing a stylish one-shoulder top and sunglasses, smiling slightly at Riki.

"The clothes suit you very well," said Yutenji Wakame.

"You look great too." Riki was good at giving compliments. "If you had a boyfriend, he would like you."

"I won't have a boyfriend. Love is like a sun that's too hot and too distant for me. Every time I try to get closer, it hurts more and more, so it's better not to fall in love with anyone," Yutenji Wakame said with a light laugh, tapping her lips.

I understand.

I have the same thought every time I can't reach Diamond rank.

Riki looked at Yutenji Wakame and felt that she was a little serious when she said that, but that was normal. In the world of Bang Bang, you wouldn't dare to say it without some psychological issues.

"Alright, let's start filming!"

Yutenji Wakame, having regained her composure, smiled and pulled Riki to change clothes and film a video. Since it was a video purely showcasing the clothes, it was even simpler than the last one.

After the photoshoot, Yutenji Wakame took a stack of vouchers from the shop assistant and handed them to Riki with both hands, saying humbly, "This is for you, sir. I really don't have any cash left. These can be used to eat and drink for free at the festival."

Riki thought this was a good idea. If it were cash, Sakiko would definitely be reluctant to part with it, but if it were vouchers, they would expire if not used, and Sakiko might be even more anxious than him.

"Then I'll accept it."

Riki nodded, then took out her phone and sent a message to Wakaba Mutsuki.

Riki: [Mutsuki-chan there? Calling Mutsuki-chan.]

Wakaba Mutsuki replied with an adorable cartoon dog emoji holding a cucumber.

Riki: [There's a 'Tokyo Lantern Festival' tomorrow, right? Why don't you invite Su Shi along? I'll take Sakiko with me.]

This is my escape route. Now it's your turn, Mutsuki-chan.

As long as Mu is there, it won't be too abrupt for Sakiko and Su Shi to appear together, and it can even relieve some of my stress.

Much later, Wakaba Mutsuki posted a meme of a tokusatsu cucumber character with the text "Thinking."

Wakaba Mutsuki: [Su Shi agreed.]

Riki: [Okay, what about you?]

In the Tsukinomori, Wakaba Mutsuki was taken aback. Was Riki specifically asking for her opinion?

A slight smile curved onto Wakaba Mutsuki's calm face.

Wakaba Mutsuki: [I'm going too.]

Riki: [Thanks, eggplant.]

I sent the wrong message; I should have sent "Thank you, cucumber."

Wakaba Mutsuki hadn't felt this excited in a long time; after school, she sat in the car, her eyes sparkling as she looked out the window at the scenery.

The last time I felt this excited was when I played with everyone in Crychic.

There must be lots of delicious food at the festival, like cucumber-flavored shaved ice and stir-fried noodles with cucumber.

The car stopped in front of the house. Wakaba Mutsuki went into the bedroom, lay on the bed, and stared at the ceiling. Thinking about playing with Lu Riki and Su Sakiko tomorrow, her heart beat a little faster.

I'm so happy.

But all this happiness is because Riki is here.

Wakaba Mutsuki sat up in bed, took out her wallet from her bag, pulled out a 1000 yen bill, and whispered, "This is for Riki a smoothie. Boys seem to like this kind of thing."

She saw it on a TV program.

Then he took out a 1000 yen bill and said, "This is for Su Shi to catch goldfish together at the festival."

Wakaba Mutsuki thought for a moment, then took out a cucumber keychain from her schoolbag and said softly, "This is for Sakiko."

If you give him money or treat him to food directly, Sakiko will get angry.

So give her what she likes best.

Wakaba Mutsuki placed the three items on the bed, lay down on the bed and looked at them quietly. After a long time, a faint smile appeared on her face.

"... I can't wait!"

Wakaba Mutsuki's mind flashed back to Riki's face. After thinking for a moment, she took out a 10,000 yen bill from her wallet. "This is for Riki, to thank him for hanging out with me."

She hesitated for a moment. Was it really appropriate to just give Riki the money?

Wakaba Mutsuki put the 10,000 yen bill back, looked at herself in the mirror, pressed her finger to the corner of her mouth and pulled it up, trying her best to show a cute smile.

Because Riki said... a friend's fee is a smile.

Is this how you laugh?

Wakaba Mutsuki smiled awkwardly at herself in the mirror, but she no longer really knew what a natural smile looked like.

Wakaba Mutsuki tried out different smiles in her bedroom, hoping that her smile would make Riki happy during the festival the next day.

She tried from 4 pm to 8 pm, anxiously and expectantly waiting for tomorrow's festival. She heard the door downstairs open and knew that her father had come home.

Wakaba Mutsuki patted her skirt and walked down the stairs with a slightly hurried pace, unlike usual. Seeing her father who had just returned home, she said, "Dad, I want to go out with Sakiko tomorrow to attend the Tokyo Lantern Festival."

"Tomorrow?" Ruoye's father looked at Wakaba Mutsuki.

"Yes, tomorrow."

Ruoye's father glanced back at his phone and texted the upper-class person he was communicating with, casually saying, "No way."

Wakaba Mutsuki was taken aback, then quickly said, "Sakiko will go too."

Normally, if you say you're going to see Sakiko, your father will agree to it, but why not this time?

Without looking up, Ruoye's father said, "That festival, right? It's fine on ordinary days, but in recent years there have been rumors about romances. If you go and get photographed by reporters and people mistakenly think you have a boyfriend, that would be terrible. It would really affect my and your mother's relationships in the industry, understand?"

Wakaba Mutsuki stood there blankly, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

After a long while, she nodded slightly and quietly walked back to her room as usual.

She sat quietly on the bed in the room, and quietly put the 1,000 yen she had been looking forward to that afternoon—the 1,000 yen she had bought for Riki, the 1,000 yen she had bought for Su Shi, and the cucumber keychain she had bought for Sakiko —back into her wallet.

"Thud."

Hot tears fell onto the back of her fair hand.

Wakaba Mutsuki wiped away her tears and quietly took out her phone to send a message to Riki.

Wakaba Mutsuki: [I'm sorry, I can't go tomorrow.]

Riki had just returned to her room, frowned slightly when she saw the message sent by Wakaba Mutsuki.

Wakaba Mutsuki isn't someone who goes back on her word, then what prevents her from attending the festival?

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Grand Escape and the Shura Field (Thanks to Doubi686 for the Golden Treasure Chest)

"Greetings, sir/madam."

Nagasaki Sose greeted her classmates with a gentle smile. As a popular and beautiful girl in the class, she was always well-liked by her classmates. Surrounded by them, she sat in her seat and chatted.

"Su Shi, isn't there a festival tonight? It seems like Aoyama from next door is planning to go with his childhood friend. I'm so envious."

"Will Su Shi be going? I don't know any boys who will go; it'll just be eating dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), so I'm not going."

Nagasaki Sose clasped her hands together shyly and said, "Don't tease me! I don't have a boy I like. And please don't bother Aoyama-san."

"That's right, Su Shi, the gentlest girl in our class, won't be taken away by a boy!"

The girls in the Tsukinomori laughed and played together, while Nagasaki Sose watched with a smile, her eyes sparkling.

Yes, this way we can be sure that none of our classmates went back.

Next, I went with Mutsuki-chan.

Nagasaki Sose looked at Wakaba Mutsuki sitting by the window, walked over and found that she seemed more dazed than usual. She called her a few times before she came back to her senses.

"What's wrong, Mutsuki-chan? Are you feeling unwell?" Nagasaki Sose asked with concern.

Wakaba Mutsuki shook her head slightly.

"I'm really looking forward to the festival tonight. It'll be so much fun going with Sakiko and Riki."

At this point Wakaba Mutsuki said softly, "I'm sorry, Su Shi, I can't go. My father doesn't agree."

"Eh, but Sakiko-chan will be going too."

Nagasaki Sose paused for a moment, as she was also aware of the rules of the Wakaba Mutsuki family.

Wakaba Mutsuki shook her head slightly, said nothing, and sat quietly in her seat. She turned to look at Nagasaki Sose, "You guys can go."