In Tokyo: They are heavily dependent on me

Chapter 58. Not 20,000, but 20,000

The coffee, which had been sitting for more than ten minutes, had stopped steaming. Hoshino Kaoru finished the rest of her coffee in one gulp and her gaze fell on the flyer that read "Hiring Staff".

"Asuka saw a phone on it... it looked familiar, so she dialed it."

The other cup was still full of coffee, and Aozora Asuka had absolutely no desire to drink it.

At this moment, she seemed like a student being lectured by a teacher, who immediately lowered his face and stared at the floor beneath his feet after saying a few words.

Now, Kaoru has to admit that things have indeed developed beyond his expectations.

If the guy in front of her doesn't intend to take revenge on the two who betrayed her, then if he wants to become famous, he'll have to find another target, which will take a lot of time... and be very troublesome.

He's been incredibly busy lately. He's going to meet the young lady at a high-society dinner party this weekend, and when he gets back, he'll be working with Rin on the ramen shop. Kobayashi's tasks are also scheduled to be completed this week... He won't have any free time until at least next month.

Indeed, someone as outstanding as him never stops.

Kaoru begins to choose between "winning over another well-known teenage idol" and "helping Aozora Asuka regain her confidence to step onto the stage."

With his outstanding talent and handsome appearance, winning over his idol would not be difficult, and he would need to spend significantly less time and effort than the latter.

He could have made a better choice; there was no need for him to take on the trouble, nor was there any obligation for him to help a girl who lacked confidence regain it.

Since the other party has already given up on themselves, let's leave it at that.

"You're looking for a job, right?"

Xun focused her attention on this issue.

Since the ramen shop was renovated, the number of customers has been increasing every day, and Rin is simply not able to handle it all by herself.

At the same time, he was also worried about Rin interacting with unfamiliar men, so on the promotional leaflet... he specifically noted the requirement of "only considering women".

Looking back now, the explanation of "only considering women" was easy to misunderstand.

Others might think the ramen shop manager is a pervert who would molest female employees.

It should be corrected—however, he didn't have time to go back to Shibuya to hand out flyers again in the short term.

"Um... Asuka's out of money. Starting next month, she won't even be able to pay the rent... She'll be evicted."

Aozora Asuka spoke very softly, trying to cover something up.

"Aren't you an idol? How come you don't have money?"

"The money... I sent it home, and gave it all to my father."

"Oh... does your father have a gambling problem? You have a younger sister who is still in school, and your mother is seriously ill and needs a lot of money."

"Hmm... Asuka doesn't have a younger sister, but the rest are all correct."

As she spoke, as if observing the other person's reaction, Qingkong raised her face and stole a glance at him.

Hearing her sincere tone, which didn't sound like she was lying, Kaoru, who had just started considering paying for her to work, decided to postpone doing so.

He wanted to make Rin's job easier, so hiring a shop assistant was necessary.

The guy in front of me perfectly fits the requirements.

"The hourly wage is 1,000 yen, and you have two days off a week. If you think this is acceptable... I can take you to a ramen shop tonight. If you think it's suitable, you can start working tomorrow. You'll have a senior colleague to guide you."

The term "senior" is actually not quite accurate.

After all, the guy in front of her is an adult, while Rin won't turn 18 until next month. Calling someone younger than herself "senpai" is strange no matter how you look at it.

Xun felt it was time for him to improve his rigor in language.

He will become the "God of Tokyo," striving for perfection in every aspect and every detail!

"One thousand yen... how much money could that make in a month?"

Qingkong seemed to have lost her mind and couldn't understand what he meant. A confused look appeared on her face, and she had a somewhat dazed expression.

Although most of her face was covered by a mask, her childlike reactions were still adorable.

"At least... 200,000 yen, that's about it."

"Two hundred thousand!"

In that instant, her eyes lit up, and she unconsciously raised her voice.

Several customers around her frowned, and the female waitress next to her gave her an expression that said she was about to ask her to leave if she didn't behave herself.

Ah, that's true.

Seeing her reaction, Kaoru realized that she shouldn't have any expectations that "a teenage idol would be willing to become an ordinary ramen shop employee."

Having experienced glory, how could she possibly be...

Will it affect...

wrong!

Sitting opposite her, Aozora Asuka was looking at Kaoru's face with the same gratitude one would show a benefactor who had saved her life.

That look in his eyes... no matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like he thinks his salary is too low...

It is indeed 200,000, not 2 million or 20 million.

Kaoru was quite certain that she hadn't said anything wrong.

"It's two hundred thousand... Do you think two hundred thousand is a good deal?"

To avoid any misunderstanding, he still planned to verify it.

The girl, who looked like a middle school student, nodded vigorously, seemingly worried that he would refuse her at any moment.

Things took an unexpected turn once again.

If he hadn't witnessed her performing on stage with his own eyes, he would definitely have questioned the fact that this girl in front of him was a 'teen idol'.

There is one thing he is now certain of.

—She is a genuine teenage idol, not an underground idol whose tickets cost only a few hundred yen and who sells some of her personal clothing.

Would 200,000 yen be enough to satisfy her?

After calming down, Kaoru took out her phone and was about to send a message to Rin on LINE to discuss it with her when she immediately saw a bunch of messages pop up.

[Brother! Why haven't you come back yet! What are you doing!]

[It's already past dinner time! If you don't come back soon... I'll be angry.]

[You idiot! The dinner you made is completely cold! I'm never talking to you again!]

Does my idiot brother even see me as his sister?!

Oops!

Kaoru admitted that his role as the "Kami of Tokyo" was not perfect; he would come home later than usual at night, and he had forgotten to tell his sister about such an important thing!

Could it be that Rin is really going to ignore him?

As the loving older brother who dotes on his younger sister the most, Kaoru would never allow such a thing to happen!

[Sorry, I forgot to tell Rin. I'll make it up to you when we get back.]

[I won't listen. No matter what compensation you offer, I will never forgive my brother.]

Rin replied to the message much faster than expected.

Kaoru glanced at Minami-chan sitting opposite her and quickly came up with a solution.

[What if I said I could bring your favorite idol back?]