This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame-Chapter 591 - 371: Longhouse (8000 Word Target Achieved)_2
Inside the CURE Café, the graceful Tsukishima Risa was sitting by the door, easy to spot at a glance.
As soon as she saw Beichuan Si and Qian Xia Chiyuki approaching, Tsukishima Risa also hurriedly stood up and deeply bowed, "Beichuan, Chiyuki, good afternoon."
It had to be said, university truly was a place that changed people. Tsukishima Risa’s face, which had carried a hint of childishness just months before, had been polished into an air of maturity, and her every action now held the essence of a modern Da He Fuzi.
"Mm." Beichuan Si nodded in response and took a seat opposite Tsukishima Risa.
On the other side, Qian Xia Chiyuki was much more casual. She sat down on the inside, leaving room for Tsukishima Risa and Beichuan Si to talk.
After both were fully seated, Tsukishima Risa lifted her gentle, watery gaze and looked earnestly at Beichuan Si, "It’s been a long time since we last met, Beichuan."
Since the last time Beichuan Si had taken the initiative to meet, two months had already passed.
During those two months, she had successfully been admitted to the university of her choice, fulfilling her dreams.
Therefore, Tsukishima Risa was extremely grateful to the young man before her.
If it hadn’t been for him pulling her out from the abyss of resentment, she guessed she might have been stuck trying hard in a ’repeat class’ for another year.
And what could have happened in that year?
Would she have failed again?
No one could say for certain.
Because of this, Tsukishima Risa had always had something special she wanted to say to Beichuan Si alone—
"Thank you very much, Beichuan."
Tsukishima Risa bowed deeply once more.
Beyond expressing gratitude, she didn’t know what else she could do to repay Beichuan Si.
The 100,000 yen that President Qian Xia had given Beichuan Si to ask for help with was actually not enough, but if she were to give Beichuan Si more money... would he think she was trying to insult him?
Upon thinking of this, Tsukishima Risa could not help but dismiss the idea.
However, the words that followed from Beichuan Si were somewhat unexpected to Tsukishima Risa.
All she saw was Beichuan Si rubbing the outer wall of the coffee cup, circling it as he said,
"You really don’t need to thank me. On the contrary, I should be the one to thank your father, Tsukishima Sen. If it weren’t for his help, I wouldn’t have been able to so easily meet the author of ’The Lost Miikawa.’"
"The Lost Miikawa"...
Tsukishima Risa clearly remembered that after her father introduced Seto Cheng to Beichuan Si, Seto Cheng had been exposed for crimes of murdering young children and was ultimately arrested and imprisoned.
Who exactly was behind that action...
While the police hadn’t made it public, Tsukishima Risa already had a hunch.
Beichuan Si was still Beichuan Si, always doing things beyond what ordinary people can understand... no, beyond what they can imagine.
This, Tsukishima Risa did not tell Qian Xia Chiyuki, as the speculation was too shocking for her to even begin to speak of.
But now, hearing what Beichuan Si had said...
Her previous guess seemed to now be confirmed.
"So, to get to the point,"
Beichuan Si’s finger came to a stop, looking at Tsukishima Risa, "What does Senior Tsukishima need from me this time? Your father, Tsukishima Sen, has helped me once. As long as your request isn’t too excessive, I should be able to agree."
Uh...
Tsukishima Risa’s expression held a hint of surprise.
Then she saw Qian Xia Chiyuki beside her displaying a sheepish smile, and she knew who had revealed her thoughts.
She couldn’t help but pinch Qian Xia Chiyuki’s thigh, feeling embarrassed as she looked towards Beichuan Si, "Just as you said, Beichuan, I do have a matter to discuss with you."
Tsukishima Risa rested her chin on her cupped hands, her significant bosom resting on the table in a manner too majestic for an ordinary high school student, her expression carrying a difficult-to–voice sentiment.
After a long while, she took a moment to collect her thoughts before finally speaking, "This time I want to ask for your help... no, I mean, I want to trouble you with something regarding a college friend..."
As Tsukishima Risa narrated, the issue she wished to trouble Beichuan Si with gradually took shape.
In the course of her studies at Tohoku University, Tsukishima Risa had made quite a few friends.
After all, she had been the president of the student council at Kyubei, so she did possess a certain level of social skills.
But it was those very friends who were planning to use the free days of "School Open Day" to head to a haunted location in Tokyo called "Inagaki’s Longhouse" for an adventure.
The so-called longhouse was actually a standard Japanese-style building, featuring a courtyard and a miniature natural landscape.
It was said that a former tenant had committed suicide in "Inagaki’s Longhouse," and because of this, the whole complex fell into desolation and decay, gradually becoming home to spirits that could be seen by the living.
Rumors even spread in the city that "basically, no one who entered Inagaki’s Longhouse has ever come out alive, all killed by vengeful spirits."
And Tsukishima Risa’s friends were determined to venture to such a place, despite her efforts to dissuade them.
Even when Tsukishima Risa mentioned her past experience of being haunted by a malevolent spirit to dissuade these vivacious young people, it didn’t work at all.
Even those friends were eager to meet Beichuan Si, who had once helped Tsukishima Risa.
These university students, filled with a strong desire for knowledge, were also very curious about the young man Tsukishima Risa constantly thought about.
Under such circumstances, where persuasion was futile, Tsukishima Risa had no choice but to ask Beichuan Si for help.
"The situation is roughly as follows. They are planning to go to ’Inagaki’s Longhouse’ tomorrow night..." Tsukishima Risa sighed.
To be honest, her trip back to Tokyo this time was just to see her parents, Qian Xia Chiyuki, and the others at Beichuan Si; she didn’t want to trouble Beichuan Si with this kind of request.
But the thought of her university classmates going off to meet their doom...
She couldn’t quite bring herself to be that heartless.
"Inagaki’s Longhouse...?" Beichuan Si put down his coffee cup, then pulled out his mobile phone, fiddled with it, and showed the screen to both of them, "Is it this building?"
On Beichuan Si’s phone screen was a two-story building, extended in a rectangular fashion.
The structure featured a small courtyard where flowers and plants were grown...
However, due to long neglect, these flowers and plants had died, and the once white walls had become grimy, bearing the color of being scorched by charcoal fire.
The wooden roof was even more damaged. Due to the frequent earthquakes in Japan, the sloped roof structures were under strain and appeared twisted and torn.
Words like "desolate," "rundown," and "foreboding" were not an exaggeration when describing Inagaki’s Longhouse.
"How does Beichuan have a photo of Inagaki’s Longhouse?" Tsukishima Risa couldn’t resist asking after seeing it.
"This is my web page. When you were engulfed by the malevolent spirits before, President Qian Xia contacted me here to set up a meeting."
Beichuan Si took back his phone and continued to explain, "I received this message about a week ago... But I was busy with other things at the time, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. Now that Senior Tsukishima mentioned it today, it reminded me of this issue."
A week ago, Beichuan Si was preoccupied with handling the Happiness Truth Sect; where would he have had time for these minor matters?
As for the message about Inagaki’s Longhouse, he had simply saved it as special and hadn’t given it much thought.
If it weren’t for Tsukishima Risa bringing it up today, Beichuan Si might have kept that message buried in his inbox for a long time.
"In any case, that’s what I need Beichuan’s help with. If Beichuan decides to refuse, it’s fine; I’ll try my best to persuade them again."
Tsukishima Risa nodded.
Regardless of what Beichuan Si chose to do, she wouldn’t hold any resentment.
Instead, she felt a faint sense of shame.
Beichuan Si had helped her before, and now she was troubling him again.
It didn’t seem quite right.
Therefore, Tsukishima Risa genuinely respected Beichuan Si’s choice.
Perhaps sensing Tsukishima Risa’s gaze, Beichuan Si couldn’t help shaking his head.
He always had been a soft touch, but not when pressured.
And Tsukishima Sen had helped him in the past...
So, the answer here was pretty clear.
"Hmm... It’s not a problem to go check it out."
Beichuan Si spoke, weighing his words.
