Chapter 12: Chapter 12: House Hunting and the Bar

Akiwara Yuto knew nothing of Asano Aiko’s frustration; he was currently looking at houses, preparing to move to a new place.

Three days after signing the contract, the finance department of the Literature Force deposited his royalties into his account.

After receiving the funds, Akiwara Yuto withdrew 100,000 yen, first paying the rent, then buying a thank-you gift for the building manager.

During this period, his writing speed had also increased; it took him only five days to write stories like "Seven Rooms" and "SOFAR" from his serialized series, a speed that surprised even himself.

With enough of a buffer of manuscripts, he decided to give himself a few days to handle trivial matters. After all, while the rent for his current place was cheap, the environment was truly too poor, seriously affecting his sleep and work.

So, to write more effectively, he had been visiting the Literature Force’s office for writers quite often during this time, and even made an ordinary friend he could talk to.

But this was not a long-term solution, so he went directly to the real estate agency he had seen earlier.

After explaining his budget and requirements, the real estate agency sent out a young agent in a suit and tie, who took him to a detached house on a street in Bunkyo Ward.

Upon reaching the destination, the young agent pushed open the courtyard gate and said politely, "Mr. Akiwara, please come this way."

Akiwara Yuto nodded, stepped inside, and began to look around.

This detached house was a traditional Japanese "single-family home," consisting of a small courtyard, a parking space, and a three-story building.

The courtyard did not look very large, and the side facing the street was particularly narrow, only extending outward toward the back, appearing very long and thin. There were some flowers and plants inside, but they seemed a bit messy, as if no one had taken careful care of them.

On the left was a home garage, built of red bricks; it was not large, and he estimated it could fit one car and one motorcycle. But for Akiwara Yuto, it would currently just be used as a storage room.

He looked around at his surroundings and then looked up at the street, finding that there were no vehicles passing by, so it was relatively quiet.

The young agent standing to the side saw the expression on Akiwara’s face and breathed a slight sigh of relief. The economy was bad now, and housing prices were falling every day; not only was no one buying houses, but the number of people renting had also dropped significantly, putting a lot of pressure on their performance.

However, he still had to put in more effort. He hurriedly put on a smile, opened the front door of the house, and smiled, "Mr. Akiwara, please take a look at this layout as well."

Akiwara Yuto followed him, took off his shoes in the entryway, put on foot covers, walked inside, and began to listen to the introduction.

The actual area of this house was about 90 tsubo. The first floor had the entryway, hallway, bathroom, toilet, and stairs; the second floor had the living room and dining room; as for his bedroom, he would have to climb the stairs to the third floor.

It sounded quite nice, but thinking about it practically, it was a bit troublesome. If he wanted to use the toilet after waking up, he would have to walk from the third floor to the first floor, not to mention going up and down inside the house every day; he estimated that climbing the stairs would take up quite a bit of physical strength and time.

However, the environment here was relatively quiet, and the rent was acceptable.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto hesitate, the young agent couldn't help but feel nervous.

He thought for a moment and decided to bring out his trump card, so he persuaded, "Mr. Akiwara, if you decide to rent this house, we can step in and coordinate with the landlord to provide a reduction on the gift money."

Hearing this condition, Akiwara Yuto was indeed a bit tempted.

When renting a house in Japan, in addition to signing a new lease, one also had to pay the landlord the vaguely defined "gift money" and "security deposit."

"Gift money" was exactly what it sounded like: giving a sum of money to the landlord as a gift to obtain the qualification to move into the house, equivalent to 1-2 months' rent.

And "security deposit" was the deposit; the amount was not much different from the gift money. When moving out, if the landlord saw that the house had damage, they would deduct the repair portion from the security deposit before returning the rest.

After his previous expenses, Akiwara Yuto only had a total of 160,000 yen in savings left.

Although he would be able to get the subsequent royalties soon after the official serialization, as far as the present was concerned, saving what he could was better.

Akiwara Yuto indicated to the other party that he understood, then politely said he would consider it further. He planned to find a few more real estate agencies and look at a few more houses before making a decision.

Under the young agent’s regretful gaze, he politely said goodbye and walked toward the station, preparing to take the train home.

His writing quota for today had not been completed yet; he still needed to hurry.

……

"Mr. Akiwara, there is a phone call for you."

Just as Akiwara Yuto reached the downstairs of his building, he was stopped by the building manager. He didn't even go upstairs and followed the man toward the management office.

Who could it be this time? He couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.

Picking up the receiver, he heard some noisy music from the other side. He thought for a moment and asked politely, "Hello, this is Akiwara Yuto. May I ask who is..."

"Mr. Akiwara, I... I didn't manage to secure the promotion for you... I'm sorry."

A familiar female voice came from the other side; it was Asano Aiko, only her voice sounded a bit drunk.

What promotion? Akiwara Yuto looked puzzled, but knowing this wasn't the time to probe, he tested, "Ms. Asano, have you been drinking?"

"Yes, I'm in a bad mood... I had a little to drink at a bar."

"Do you have any friends with you right now?"

"No... only... I am alone."

Akiwara Yuto began to worry. A beautiful girl going to a bar to drink alone—although he could guess she was frustrated by work, this was still a bit concerning.

He immediately pressed, "Ms. Asano, where are you right now?"

The other side of the line was silent for a moment. "Mr. Akiwara, are you worried about me... I am very safe here..."

"That's not it. I have important work to coordinate with you right now, so I need to see you immediately." Akiwara Yuto interrupted her directly.

After saying this, he held the receiver and waited for a while. When he started to get a bit anxious, he finally heard a voice from the receiver.

"Sorry, Mr. Akiwara... I felt a bit dizzy just now. I am at a Winebar in Nishi-Shinjuku 5-chome, Shinjuku Ward... but it would be better to coordinate the work tomorrow. I'm afraid I can't handle it well right now."

"No, this work is more urgent right now."

After saying this, Akiwara Yuto hung up the phone and, after thanking the manager, headed out again. If she really got drunk in a place like a bar, there would be real trouble.

He walked to the nearest main road and hailed a taxi to rush to the destination Asano Aiko had mentioned—the Japanese taxi fare was so expensive it made his heart ache, but he couldn't worry about that money now.

After a ride of more than 20 minutes, he finally reached his destination.

As soon as he got out of the car, he saw a sign that said "Winebar," and under the sign was a passage leading underground.

Muttering to himself, he followed the passage down, pushed open the door, and walked into the interior of the bar.

This bar looked unremarkable from the outside, but the space inside was not small.

In addition to a long wooden bar and the green chairs in front of it, there were more than 20 tables and chairs placed throughout. Against the backdrop of the reddish-brown walls, it had a unique punk style.

Akiwara Yuto looked around and soon found Asano Aiko at a corner table; after all, it was 3:00 PM, and the entire bar was empty.

She was leaning against the table, drinking intermittently. She looked unsteady and appeared a bit hazy—the young bartender at the bar looked over at her from time to time, seemingly very worried that she would vomit on the table.

Seeing this scene, Akiwara Yuto felt relieved. No wonder she said she was safe; after all, there wasn't even another man in the whole bar besides him. He figured that if she got drunk, she would just lay on the table and sleep for a while.

Thinking about it, he walked over and sat down opposite Asano Aiko. Although she noticed he had arrived, she remained slumped on the table, slightly lifting her head to smile forcedly: "Mr. Akiwara... why are you here."

Akiwara Yuto was a bit speechless; he didn't expect her to have forgotten the reason he came over to discuss work.

He observed Asano Aiko again; not only was her makeup ruined, but her eyes were swollen from crying. He really didn't know what kind of situation she had encountered.

Linking this to the promotion she mentioned on the phone, he had a faint guess in his heart.

He didn't say anything, just took two tissues from the bar and took the initiative to help her wipe the makeup mixed with tears off her face. This gesture was a bit ambiguous, but she was drunk now and wouldn't mind.

Asano Aiko was indeed a bit drunk; she tilted her face up and let Akiwara Yuto wipe it for her.

After Akiwara Yuto put down the tissue, she sat up straight, swaying, and said in a still-dazed voice.

"Akiwara, the promotional plan I proposed was rejected... I am really, really sad. I really wanted to let more people see your work. But they said you are a newcomer, and they said what you write is too dark... The editor-in-chief also made the decision..."

At this point, Asano Aiko seemed to have let go of something and burst into tears, leaving Akiwara Yuto speechless and able only to continue comforting her.

He had originally thought of her as a female elite in the workplace; he didn't expect her to become like a little girl after drinking.

While comforting her, he had a faint guess in his heart: it was nothing more than the promotion for his work being rejected due to seniority, but he didn't really care.

After all, he was a newcomer, and it was normal to follow the rules of the publishing house.

Regarding the Japanese senior-junior system, he had heard of it in his past life; it seemed that whether in the workplace or at school, there was a tradition of seniors coming first. *Sound! Euphonium*, which was filmed by Kyoto Animation, had described a similar situation.

However, what the hell did "too dark" mean? This left him a bit confused. There were plenty of horror-style "henkaku-ha" works on the market, and he hadn't heard anyone say anything about them.

As far as he knew, even the slightly H-rated *Redo of Healer* could be sold openly in bookstores to all ages. Could it be that the national conditions of this parallel world were different?

While Akiwara Yuto was letting his imagination run wild, Asano Aiko stopped sobbing, as if she were tired from crying, and fell asleep directly on the table.

Akiwara Yuto was both annoyed and helpless. He secretly guessed that if she woke up and recalled her current performance, would she feel like she had suffered a social death?

Looking at the unconscious Asano Aiko, he couldn't help but think about another problem.

So, what should he do now?