Tokyo's Most Affectionate - Chapter 151

Detective Mirai

In the evening at six, Akai Sayaka left to prepare dinner, leaving only two people in the study as the door opened and closed.

“Is that Croatian Rhapsody, a piece composed by you?” Shiromiya asked in a low voice as soon as she left, unable to contain her curiosity.

“What do you think?” Kurosawa nodded slightly and whispered.

Though the maid was no longer present, they were still within the surveillance range. 

Even if it wasn’t being recorded, their conversation felt somewhat clandestine, adding an inexplicable sense of excitement.

“It sounds great, but it’s different from classical music, more on the pop side, not quite orthodox.”

Seeing his satisfied expression, Shiromiya, with a gentle smile on her lips, offered her evaluation.

“Mirai is quite strict.”

Kurosawawasn’t surprised that she could distinguish between pop and classical music. 

After all, such a sophisticated young lady values being knowledgeable and versatile.

“To be honest, I have studied piano and attended many concerts, but your performance skills are excellent, impeccable.”

Shiromiya smiled slightly, her red eyes gazing at him, emitting a faint glow.

Honestly, she never expected Kurosawa’s piano skills to be at such an outstanding level. 

However, she didn’t feel defeated; instead, she took pride in having an increasingly excellent partner.

“By the way, how did you find out? Sneaking onto YouTube at night?”

Kurosawa was a bit surprised. According to his expectations, if Shiromiya hadn’t discovered it, he planned to show her the video on Sunday.

“My phone doesn’t allow the installation of such apps. I was at school and saw people discussing something about ‘Zero Hour,’ so I watched it with them. When I saw the beginning of the self-introduction, I felt it must be you.”

Shiromiya spread her hands, indicating helplessness, and added, “There are quite a few restrictions on me, and I can’t talk about them all in just a few sentences.”

“Your school is also discussing this?” Kurosawa was a bit surprised since she attended a private high school, the kind with outrageously high tuition fees.

“At our school, we naturally pay more attention to art-related matters. Yesterday, some people were talking about it, and today, even more joined in,” Shiromiya nodded slightly.

Because her school was a prestigious one, everyone was more concerned about news trends.

“How did everyone react?” Kurosawa became curious upon hearing this. He had never been to a prestigious school and wasn’t quite clear about the situation there.

“Half of them think it sounds great and idolize you, while the other half feels that your piano composition is average, not comparable to many famous piano pieces. They just acknowledge your excellent piano skills. And everyone is speculating about which well-known piano master you might be, using the process of elimination,” Shiromiya explained.

“They probably won’t figure it out in their lifetime,” Kurosawa chuckled.

“How many people know that you’re Zero?” Shiromiya felt a sense of exclusive achievement in knowing his secret and asked.

“Two, both of them are partners,” Kurosawa didn’t hide it from her.

“Are they both women?” Shiromiya’s beautiful eyes sparkled with interest.

“You can even figure that out?” Kurosawa was a bit amazed.

“With your strong piano skills, willingness to experience life as a masked artist, and even starting a business together, and you specifically mentioning both are partners, it’s obvious they’re both women,” Shiromiya analyzed and deduced.

“Smart women are truly terrifying, Detective Mirai!” Hearing her analysis and deductions, Kurosawa suddenly felt a bit uneasy. 

With this situation, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to hide anything from her in the future.

“What are you saying? It’s just that you didn’t try to hide it from me,” Shiromiya said, seeing his surprised reaction and bringing up the Detective title again, which amused her. She smiled charmingly, her eyes like silk, alluring and captivating.

Seeing her mesmerizing and enchanting smile, Kurosawa felt like his soul was being drawn into her eye sockets.

It had to be said that she was exceptionally beautiful and unique. She was intelligent and considerate, poised and generous, with subtle differences from modern girls, making her extremely charming.

“I didn’t go to the dojo on Sunday. What did Brother Shinichi say?” Kurosawa, feeling a bit uplifted by her praise, decided to change the topic as there were surveillance cameras in the study.

“Brother Shinichi?” Shiromiya was a bit surprised to hear that name.

“I forgot to tell you. He now calls me his younger brother, and I call him Brother Shinichi. We have a special friendship,” Hikarizawa Kō explained.

Although they had a tutoring session last week, the time was limited, so they didn’t discuss personal matters much.

“Is that so?” Shiromiya’s beautiful eyes widened, showing great astonishment.

Perhaps Kurosawa wasn’t fully aware of how impressive Master Sato was, but she certainly knew. 

He was a national treasure, invited to participate in annual grand events and ceremonies. Even the emperor would treat him with respect, addressing him as “sensei,” emphasizing his fame and status.

“It’s just so unexpected. I don’t know why he’s so enthusiastic about me,” Kurosawa nodded slightly, feeling a bit puzzled about Sato’s unusual behavior.

“I probably know why he’s so enthusiastic. He probably sees you as the future leader of Kyudo in the 21st century, someone who will leave a mark in history. By building a good relationship with you now and helping you a bit more, when you talk about this period in the future, it might be recorded in history,” Shiromiya speculated and came up with a reason.

Her sensei was strict, even though he favored her, he treated other students very strictly, emphasizing the teacher-student hierarchy. 

His abnormal behavior towards Kurosawa, forming a special friendship… Besides this reason, she couldn’t think of any other.

At his age, the teacher cared more about his reputation than material wealth. He had already transcended the concerns of money.

“Can’t he be recorded in history with his current rank?” Kurosawa asked.

“He can definitely leave a mark in the history of Kyudo, but stories between notable individuals are more likely to be passed down through generations,” Shiromiya explained.

Realizing Sato’s intentions, Kurosawa felt relieved. To be honest, he wasn’t used to people being unusually nice to him for no apparent reason, and he couldn’t figure out their motives.

“It seems like sensei really values you… By the way, sensei specifically asked me that day if you were coming. I told him you had something else to do,” Shiromiya shared, realizing the situation and then answered the initial question.

“Did you mention what it was about?” Kurosawa planned to align their stories first to avoid saying the wrong thing.

“How could I say that? Was I supposed to tell him that you were going to see other women?” Shiromiya rolled her eyes at him, her tone slightly reproachful.

She was actually a bit concerned about this matter because her actions outside the monitoring range were only known to Sato.

“I went to record a video and play the piano that day,” Kurosawa said with a slightly guilty smile after being scolded.

“Alright, let’s not talk about that. What time do you plan to come on Sunday?” Seeing him feeling guilty rather than being straightforward, Shiromiya gently smirked and asked.

If he felt guilty, it meant that he had his own feelings and cared about her emotions. Having this kind of concern was enough. 

It was better to avoid discussing topics related to other women, which wouldn’t be good for both of them.

“Same as last time, in the afternoon.”

“Why not come earlier?”

“You still need to learn Kyudo, right? If I come earlier, will you be able to focus on studying?”

“Fair enough. After the private lesson in the morning, the afternoon is relatively free.”

Although Shiromiya hoped to spend more time with him, she thought it made sense when she considered his explanation.

If Kurosawa had arrived early in the morning, she probably wouldn’t have the heart to focus on Kyudo. 

Although she loved Kyudo, having immersed herself in it for many years, the novelty had faded.

In contrast, being with Kurosawa brought a sense of freshness to everything, making her excited and opening up endless possibilities.

“That’s right.” Kurosawa saw that she didn’t insist on him coming early in the morning and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. 

Because on Sunday morning, he also had to meet with Ichinose and spend some time with her.

“By the way, why do you wear such a strange mask? Clearly, there are more choices.” Shiromiya didn’t want to raise too many suspicions and avoided steering the conversation toward women, returning to the initial topic of the piano.

“This is my design; it has to be a bit strange to make people remember it at a glance.” Kurosawa didn’t deny that it was strange and explained.

“I see, you’re quite good at shaping a brand image.” After learning about the fundamental purpose of his design, Shiromiya thought it was a good idea. 

Brand images can be divided into two types: graphic impressions and positioning impressions. 

The number 0 is commonly seen in daily life, and associating it with the pianist Zero Hour, along with the unique mask, would make people remember it continuously. 

Moreover, a person’s appearance changes over time, but the pattern on the mask doesn’t. It would maintain its original appearance regardless of how many years passed.

“Your praise is too much.”

Kurosawa did indeed consider this aspect, and he used a similar approach to persuade Itsuragi.

“Good luck with your entrepreneurship,” Shiromiya felt that his venture had great potential.

“Is verbal encouragement all you have?”

“What else do you want?”

“Maybe a kiss or something.” Kurosawa was quite bold.

Every girl had a different personality, and the way to get along varied. It was necessary to adapt to each individual.

“We’re at home, let’s talk about it on Sunday,” Shiromiya remained calm.

“Can we kiss then?”

“It depends on your performance.”

Hearing this, Shiromiya glanced at his lips, her heartbeat accelerating, and whispered.

She was quite into this, and since they kissed on the face last time, taking it a step further wasn’t out of the question.

Before establishing an engagement relationship, aside from not giving herself physically, she had to preserve her purity. However, many other things were acceptable.

In fact, she knew quite a lot about this area. 

Besides cultivating various hobbies, she also had a course that taught her how to firmly capture a man’s heart.