Chapter 31: 031, Oh, look! Two young girls have come calling!

Chapter 31: 031, Oho~ Two youthful girls have come knocking!

The loan process went smoothly.

Having had a similar experience before, Nakai Gentaro helped Nagayama Naoki apply directly for a 100 million yen credit limit.

The house purchase also went smoothly.

He bought a 25-tsubo (over 80 square meters) apartment in Bunkyo Ward for only 16 million yen.

Roppongi was still out of reach, but this time the commercial property was in Shibuya—a mere 15-tsubo (50 square meters) ground-floor shop that cost over 106 million yen. It was indeed a rip-off!

*If I don't sell this for 600 million during the bubble era, I'll be letting myself down!*

Time flew by, and it was almost April. Some early cherry blossoms in Tokyo had already bloomed, but most were still in bud, waiting for their most brilliant days in a week.

The music of "Sakura ~Anata ni Deaete Yokatta~" (Cherry Blossoms ~I'm Glad I Met You~) could still be heard on the streets; it had held the number one spot on the Oricon charts for two consecutive weeks.

With the help of the April cherry blossom season, it was believed the song could stay popular for at least two more weeks, making the top spot on the monthly chart no mere dream.

As a songwriter and producer, Nagayama Naoki had gained a certain level of fame in some music journals, being dubbed "The Creator of Cherry Blossom Songs."

After all, both of his songs related to cherry blossoms had become massive hits.

Nagayama Tsuruko had started clamoring to visit Tokyo a few days ago, and they finally decided to take the train to Tokyo on the last day of March.

Joining her was her best friend, Tsubakiya Kona. Both had entered high school this year and decided to make the most of their spring break with a trip.

It was a weekend. Nagayama Naoki spent the morning tidying up the house before heading to Waseda Station.

In an era without mobile phones, one could only coordinate times in advance and wait.

Waseda Station was bustling with people. The two had agreed to meet near the convenience store in the waiting hall.

Nagayama Naoki flipped through magazines on the shelves out of boredom while waiting for Tsuruko's arrival.

He actually spotted news about Higuchi Konako in a magazine, mentioning she had recently joined a new drama.

As expected, once fame grows, production crews come knocking.

After waiting for about half an hour, he saw two young girls in small dresses walking out of the exit.

"Tsuruko, Kona-chan, over here!" Nagayama Naoki waved to signal them; the pickup was complete.

"Onii-chan!" "Naoki-niichan~"

Oho~ such youthful voices~

Two youthful girls have come knocking!

"Tsuruko, Kona-chan, let's head back first. Mother specifically instructed me to call as soon as you arrived~"

"ε=(ο｀*))) Sigh, I wanted to go shopping~"

"It won't be too late to shop after we eat~"

Tsubakiya Kona chimed in, asking

"Naoki-niichan, where do you live?"

"About a ten-minute walk ahead~"

"Can the house fit me and Kona-chan? We can stay in a hotel~" Tsuruko asked.

"There's an empty room, so it's fine~"

"Niichan, have the cherry blossoms bloomed in Tokyo yet?"

"Not until early April. The ones at Meguro River probably need another two days."

"Then where are you taking us to play these few days?"

"Huh? Don't you two have a plan?"

As the three chatted, they arrived at Nagayama Naoki's apartment. He took out his keys and opened the door, and the two girls began looking around everywhere like little animals.

Nagayama Naoki placed their small bags on the tatami in the second bedroom: "You'll sleep here tonight. The bedding is in the closet, it's brand new, and the toiletries are in the storage cabinet."

"Niichan, do you live in such a big house all by yourself? How big is it? How much is the rent~"

Nagayama Tsuruko felt that, aside from not having two floors, this place seemed larger than their old home in Shizuoka.

"About 20 tsubo. I haven't rented it out, so I don't know how much it would go for," Nagayama Naoki replied dismissively while busy calling home to report their safe arrival.

"You haven't rented it out? Is the landlord letting you live here for free?"

"Don't talk nonsense. This is my house."

"Eh???!!!" X2

"Onii-chan bought the house himself?!" Nagayama Tsuruko was astonished.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you before?" The call finally connected. "Mother, I've picked up Tsuruko."

"Yes, Kona-chan is here too. Both are fine and arrived safely. Tsuruko is right next to me, you can talk to her~"

He then handed the phone to Tsuruko: "Okasan! Niichan bought a house in Tokyo!!!"

On the other end, Nagayama Nanako: "?"

After a bout of chatter, the situation was finally explained. Then it was Kona-chan's turn to call home to report their safety, which naturally involved a fair amount of rambling as well.

It was certain that the next time Nagayama Naoki returned to his hometown, he would hear things like, "Other people's children have already bought houses in Tokyo!"

If these two knew that he actually had a disco nearly finished with renovations and two more properties in the process of being transferred, rumors like "The Nagayama family has produced a tycoon" would likely spread through the hometown.

Afterward, Tsuruko and Kona-chan wandered all over the rooms, even visiting the bathroom several times.

"That's enough, you two!"

Seeing them open the bathroom door for the fourth time, Nagayama finally couldn't help but stop them. "Come here and sit down!"

The two girls' faces were flushed with excitement: "How can Naoki-niichan be so rich?" "Is filming commercials that profitable?"

Nagayama Naoki said helplessly, "It's not that profitable... Didn't I tell you before? I wrote a song for Matsuda Seiko-san, and then that song became a huge hit..."

"And then you bought this apartment?"

Since Kona-chan was there, there was no need to go into too much detail: "Something like that~"

Tsuruko said with full confidence: "Is writing songs really that profitable? I definitely want to compose songs in the future! If even the songs Niichan writes can become hits, a straight-A student like me will definitely have no problem!"

"Calm down first..." Nagayama Naoki prepared to go to the fridge for drinks. "Do you want a drink, Kona-chan?"

"Yes! Is it the one from the commercial Niichan filmed?"

"There should be. I drank too much of it while filming and didn't restock." As expected, there were a few bottles left, which he handed to them.

Tsubakiya Kona turned gossipy: "Naoki-niichan, is what the magazine said true?"

"What did it say?"

"About Higuchi Konako-san's romance~"

"Kona, didn't I tell you, it's fake, fake!" Nagayama Tsuruko interjected from the side. "You don't believe me!"

"I can't help it! They were first photographed shopping together, and they played the couple in the MV so convincingly... things like falling in love on set happen all the time~" Tsubakiya Kona was clearly a fan of the "ship."

"Naoki-niichan is so handsome..." Kona's face turned red. "He and Konako-san are such a perfect match~"

"Ah, that really is just the magazine talking. Don't you know what the tone of entertainment magazines is?"

Nagayama Naoki was somewhat helpless. "If we're talking about real time, I've only met Konako-san three times~"

"Sigh~~~" X2. *Tsuruko, why are you so disappointed?*

"Alright, alright, pack up. I'll take you out to eat!"

To prevent the topic from continuing, Nagayama Naoki changed the subject. "And then we'll go stroll through the Pedestrian Paradise in the afternoon~"

"Yes~" X2