Two days later.
Luo Shu, Mai Sakurajima and Ai Hoshino appeared almost simultaneously on the rooftop of the Wilton Hotel.
The moment the trio materialised, a beam of light descended from above. Clad in pure white spiritual equipment resembling a wedding dress, Origami Tobiichi stepped forward and immediately threw herself into Luo Shu's arms.
The sudden scene left both Mai Sakurajima and Ai Hoshino dumbfounded, their minds struggling to process what had just happened.
Finding someone suddenly in his arms, Luo Shu paused momentarily before helplessly embracing Origami Tobiichi and said softly:
"You've worked hard, Origami."
Hearing this, Origami Tobiichi lifted her head from Luo Shu's chest and stared at him expressionlessly:
"Reward."
"Eh?" Luo Shu blinked, as if he hadn't heard properly.
Seeing this, Origami Tobiichi repeated, "Reward."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and pointed at her own lips.
Finally understanding the girl's meaning, Luo Shu found himself in an awkward position. He glanced sideways at Ai Hoshino and Mai Sakurajima, only to see them watching with amused expressions, making him sigh in exasperation.
"While I admit asking you to say it outright is a bit much, couldn't you at least pretend to give us some privacy?"
"Privacy for what?"
Mai Sakurajima played dumb, even going so far as to tug at Ai Hoshino's sleeve:
"Miss Hoshino, should we give them some space?"
Ai Hoshino cheerfully waved at Luo Shu:
"No need, no need! Luo Shu, feel free to kiss her properly without worrying about us."
Hearing this, Origami Tobiichi turned her head to glance at Ai Hoshino and Mai Sakurajima before seeming to understand something. She immediately turned back to Luo Shu and declared:
"I'm first."
These words made Ai Hoshino freeze in shock.
Meanwhile, Mai Sakurajima seized the opportunity to add, "In that case, Miss Hoshino can be second. As for me..."
Mai Sakurajima looked at Origami Tobiichi as she continued:
"Senior, might I exchange this opportunity for this guy's entire morning?"
Origami Tobiichi immediately turned to stare at Mai Sakurajima, her gaze full of suspicion:
"Greedy?"
"No, there's someone who needs Luo Shu's help to deal with."
Mai Sakurajima's expression turned somewhat uncomfortable as she pulled out her phone to check the time.
The display showed exactly 11:30 am.
Calculating the time difference, though they'd spent seven days in the Abyss world, barely any time had passed in the real world.
But more troubling than the time were the 31 unread text messages.
The sender's name - marked simply as "Mother" - made Mai Sakurajima's head throb with pain:
"Basically, this is the person we need to deal with."
Mai Sakurajima turned her phone screen towards Origami Tobiichi.
Origami Tobiichi glanced at the sender's name on the screen, then looked at Mai Sakurajima before stating emotionlessly:
"What a tragedy."
"Yes, an inevitable tragedy." Mai Sakurajima also sighed, her face full of resignation.
At that moment, Ai Hoshino peeked at Mai Sakurajima's phone and remarked with deep emotion:
"Suddenly, I think being an orphan isn't so bad after all."
As soon as Ai Hoshino said this, both Mai Sakurajima and Origami Tobiichi glanced at her simultaneously.
"Ah, did I say something wrong?" Ai stuck out her tongue playfully, trying to brush it off.
Mai didn't comment, merely turning to stare at Luo Shu instead:
"Though it might be a bit late to bring this up now, but Luo Shu-kun, you can help with this, right?"
"I'm personally willing to assist." Luo Shu replied politely while giving Mai a curious look. "But how exactly do you plan to introduce me to your mother?"
Origami answered without hesitation: "The father of my child."
Ai pressed a hand to her forehead, her expression troubled: "My charity case?"
Mai declared with shameless confidence: "My obsessive fan."
All three spoke simultaneously, then exchanged bewildered looks.
"Why 'father of my child'?" Ai stared at Origami in shock, then suddenly found the title rather amusing. "Huh! That actually sounds pretty good, too."
"Right?" Origami nodded calmly in agreement.
"You two, there should be limits to your nonsense." Mai was visibly struggling to maintain composure.
'The 'father of my child' was shocking enough, but what the hell was Ai's 'my charity case'?'
'As if I can't tell that's code for 'sugar daddy'?!'
Just as Mai was about to lose it, Luo Shu's voice drifted in languidly:
"Seems I was only asking Mai."
"Though I can understand both Origami and Ai's labels, what exactly is this 'obsessive fan' nonsense?"
Luo Shu stared unblinkingly at the increasingly flustered Mai before chuckling dryly:
"Would Miss Sakurajima care to explain exactly how you conceived such terminology over these past two days?"
Under Luo Shu's questioning, Mai's gaze grew evasive:
"I am... somewhat of a famous actress, no?"
"And?" Luo Shu pressed.
Mai was now thoroughly guilty: "Well then, isn't it perfectly reasonable for a wealthy fan to... want certain things from me?"
"Reasonable. Very reasonable!" Luo Shu clapped slowly. "And what does this have to do with me?"
"You could be involved." Mai's eyes screamed implication.
Seeing her expression, Luo Shu nearly burst out laughing before managing to ask with feigned innocence:
"But as far as I recall, I've done absolutely nothing to you, Mai?"
Ai immediately nodded beside them: "Exactly! He only did things with me."
Mai shot Ai a glare before turning back to Luo Shu with an awkward expression:
"I know nothing actually happened between us, but do you really think my mother would believe that?!"
After the Shinomiya Group's forceful demand for 'pillow business', staying out all night without contact until noon, then Mai returned to claim that nothing had occurred?
No sane person would buy that.
Seeing Mai nearing her breaking point, Luo Shu countered:
"So you want me to confess to something I didn't do?"
"That's essentially the situation...I can compensate you..."
Mai Sakurajima's tone was somewhat subdued, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right, although she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.
At that moment, Luo Shu asked with grave sincerity:
"Do you think my reputation, Luo Shu's reputation, is some tradable commodity that can be compensated?"
"I know this is excessive, but... given the current situation, this is the only way to minimise the negative impact."
Mai Sakurajima's face was also full of bitterness at this point.
If she claimed nothing had happened, her mother would never believe it.
But if she admitted something had occurred, she feared her mother wouldn't be able to handle it.
Given these circumstances, she had no choice but to repackage the situation slightly.
To disguise forced business dealings as the obsessive pursuit of an overzealous fan, having Luo Shu appear in the role of 'admirer', while Mai would use 'agreeing to date' as an excuse to convince her mother that she'd merely consented to a relationship with Luo Shu rather than... that sort of thing.
This might not convince her domineering mother, but at least it left some room for manoeuvre for both parties.
"It seems you've misunderstood my meaning." Luo Shu said meaningfully to Mai Sakurajima.
"Your meaning?" Mai blinked in surprise before asking curiously, "Could you explain?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu silently extended his right hand towards Mai, with only the thumb and forefinger extended, while the others curled. Then, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, he smiled and said:
"What I mean is... the price needs to go up!"