AOKI

Mai coughed lightly and distanced herself from Shuya.

Maeda Saori clearly showed disappointment.

Ugh, I can't get any more couple moments!

She felt a pang of heartache.

Maeda Saori saying, "Let's get in the car, we should get going."

"Good."

"OK."

Shuya and the other person got into the back seat.

Next Maeda Saori focused on driving to her destination.

This is a minivan with a spacious back seat, but Shuya and the other person didn't separate; they sat together.

"Hmm..."

Mai tapped her chin with her index finger, sizing up Shuya, and said, "I just don't think your hairstyle looks very good, and your clothes are just so-so."

Shuya was incredulous. "I'm shocked! I even spent time fixing this before I left."

"Hmm... well, your level has always been like this. Although you're good-looking, your styling skills aren't exactly top-notch."

Mai revealed the cruel truth.

Shuya was completely bewildered, despite his usual high opinion of himself.

He said heavily, "Is that so... In other words, besides being very handsome... I'm completely useless?"

"No, I wouldn't go that far."

Mai was taken aback.

However, Shuya quickly came to a conclusion and laughed heartily, "Haha, being handsome is enough! Who cares!"

Mai has admired his mindset since she was a child.

She ignored his boasting and reached out to play with his hair. "Let me see, does this comb it better?"

Mai's warm and soft hands stroked his head, Shuya felt a little itchy.

He turned his head away. "It's not that complicated, it's not like we're officially filming today. Someone will take care of it later."

"That won't do. Today is the first time you've met people from the industry in a long time, so you can't afford to look anything less than presentable."

Mai's tone was threatening. "What, are you saying you don't want me to help you?"

Not really. Whatever makes you happy.

Seeing that her serious and earnest face was cute, Shuya gave up resisting and let her play with him.

Maeda Saori saw them sticking their fingers together again and gave them a mysterious smile.

Shuya felt that things weren't as wonderful as she thought. Mai was genuinely helping him with his hair at first, but she quickly started playing around and even used her own rabbit hair clip to demonstrate on his head.

He looked at her silently with accusatory eyes, but she ignored him completely.

He couldn't hold back any longer. "Hey, get serious!"

"I'm playing very seriously."

Mai spoke with absolute certainty, casually brushing his hair to one side and clipping it with a rabbit hair clip. "It's quite cute, a bit like Shushu-chan."

What the hell?

Shuya helpless.

"Come on, let me take a picture."

"Don't want."

"Hurry up, strike a cute pose."

Mai took photos with her phone without a care, while Shuya reluctantly made a peace sign.

"Okay, it's my turn."

Shuya reached his hand towards her head.

Mai reluctantly replied, "Well, fine then. After all, I went first."

Her hair was very smooth and felt wonderful to the touch.

Without hesitation, Shuya tied her hair into pigtails.

Mai asked, puzzled, "Why are they in twin tails?"

Shuya said with satisfaction, "Yukino- chan sometimes wears this hairstyle, and I thought it would suit you quite well, and I was right."

Mai took out a mirror and looked at herself, then hesitated, "Does this seem a little too cute?"

How about trying a single ponytail?

Shuya helped her change her hairstyle.

Mai muttered to herself, "It seems pretty good?"

Maeda Saori noticed the two of them leaning against each other while looking in the mirror, and her smile became even more distorted.

Shuya and Mai discussed whether she suited a single ponytail or twin ponytails, and ultimately decided that long, straight black hair suited her better.

Mai restored her original hairstyle, and then she carefully styled Shuya's hair.

After the finished product came out, Shuya felt that it actually looked better.

The conversation ended, Shuya glanced unintentionally at the scenery outside the car.

"Huh? This isn't the way to the TV station, is it?"

He asked in surprise.

Mai looked outside upon hearing this. "It seems not. Are we meeting somewhere else?"

"Huh? You guys don't know?"

Maeda Saori looked surprised.

"What do you know?"

Shuya asked.

Maeda Saori explained, "Mr. Aoki left the television station two years ago and started his own production company. We met at his new company."

Section 583 543 AOKI

Shuya surprise, "Is that so?"

"Weren't you two on good terms? How come you didn't know about something this big?"

Mai said.

Shuya replied, "I have no interest in middle-aged men."

"Well, I don't know either, so it's hard to say for sure."

Mai shrugged.

Maeda Saori, however, was intrigued by the gossip and began to speak:

"Mr. Aoki left MHK two years ago. He poached some acquaintances from within the company and recruited many elites through his strong connections in the industry. His production company is quite powerful."

"Furthermore, he has a deep relationship with MHK, and connections with other core agencies such as BTS, Tokyo, and Asahi, not to mention the numerous artists he has worked with. His company was in the spotlight from the very beginning. Many people have extremely high expectations for his production company."

"I've never heard of it before."

Same as above.

Shuya and Mai nodded at the same time.

"That's true, you weren't working back then--ah, back to the point. Mr. Aoki's company lived up to expectations, producing several high-quality dramas and variety shows, but... how should I put it, it was a period of what's commonly known as a slump?"

Maeda Saori didn't seem to do very well, so Mr. Aoki must be getting a little anxious, right? That's why he came knocking on your door as soon as he heard about Mai- chan's comeback, and he's been so eager to invite you Shu-chan."

She concluded, "I think if the male and female leads hadn't already signed their contracts, he would definitely have approached you guys."

"That's hard to say. Even though we've been retired for two years, many outstanding new talents have still emerged."

Mai gave a modest reply.

"That's different. They're just good, but our Shu-chan and Mai- chan are special!"

Maeda Saori spoke with conviction, and it seemed that even if Shuya himself came to refute her, he wouldn't be able to convince her.

You're exaggerating.

Shuya chuckled and said, "Well, it's rare to see a girl as pretty as Mai- chan, even in the entertainment industry!"

Mai smiled and said, "So you're saying that I'm no good at anything except for my looks?"

"... Your understanding is simply..."

Shuya was stunned.

A few seconds later he replied sincerely, "You have a good figure too."

"Shut up. This is sexual harassment, I can sue you."

"Waaaah, this is terrifying!"

Shuya patted his chest, feigning panic.

He clearly saw that Mai was a little happy to hear him say that, but she said that instead... tsk, that's kind of cute.

"By the way, I watched your live broadcast with Hyakka yesterday."

Mai suddenly brought up a new topic.

"So what?"

Shuya asked.

Did you run into your teacher after it ended?

Shuya a little puzzled as to why she asked that question. Was this what they called a woman's intuition?

Wait a minute, could this be the legendary "catching someone in the act"?

The thought crossed his mind, but he didn't try to hide it. "After it ended yesterday, I went shopping with Hyakka -chan for a while, and then her mom invited me to her house. I played games with Hyakka -chan until quite late."

Mai hesitated, then asked, "Oh? You... you didn't do anything strange to Miss Sonou, did you?"

"No way!"

Shuya has become so Buddhist-like, his focus is actually on this? Is he the kind of person who would lay a hand on a married woman?

"That's good. Just don't do anything troublesome, or it would damage the firm's image."

Mai breathed a sigh of relief, Shuya didn't bother to reply to her.

"You two, we're almost there."

Maeda Saori then spoke up.

"Oh."

"OK."

Neither of them spoke again.

A few minutes later, Maeda Saori parked her car in the underground parking lot of a building.

After the two got out of the car, they followed her up to the ground floor lobby.

This is an ordinary commercial building, with only a few companies related to the entertainment industry, and most of the other businesses are ordinary companies.

Most of the people coming and going around were office workers in suits. They were in a hurry and no one gave Shuya and his group a second glance.