Chapter 276: Exorcism ceremony? Then I must participate!

"Eh? Akina-chan is actually at home~" Naoki Nagayama felt a strange sense of déjà vu: "Akina-chan seems to have picked up the phone while leaving a message before."

Akina, who was holding the phone in the apartment, was a bit embarrassed. After returning to the apartment, she really didn't like answering the phone. Sometimes it was too tired, and sometimes it was just that she didn't want to talk to others on the phone, so many times she only listened to messages.

But this point can't let Naoki-san know!

"Coincidence! It must be a coincidence!" The voice on the other end of the receiver seemed very calm, and even carried the tone of a big sister coaxing a child. "After hearing the sound of the phone in the room, then putting down the things in hand, standing up and walking to the phone, and then it was late."

"Haha, is that so~"

Such a clumsy excuse, I'm afraid only Akina can think of it.

Naoki Nagayama didn't get to the bottom of it, but skipped it, and then started talking about the reason he called.

"Akina-chan, saw the rumors today, right?"

"Eto... Naoki-san's?"

"Right, that 'Playboy Naoki' scandal~" Naoki Nagayama mocked himself mercilessly. "Didn't expect the nickname to change directly from 'Wooden Naoki' to this one. The leap is not ordinary."

"Haha." Laughed twice, Akina Nakamori reacted that this was not the time to laugh. "Naoki-san, this shouldn't be a joke, right?"

"Hai, come to think of it, it is indeed so."

Naoki Nagayama nodded, sat up straight, the smile on the corner of his mouth converged, his face became serious, and even his tone became sincere. "The report also involved Akina-chan, very sorry! Honto ni sumimasen!"

"Ah re? Naoki-san, there is no need to be so formal. Nobuo-san also said that scandals and such are things that idol artists can't avoid. At this time, it can also bring more attention to the new single, and even asked the agency not to issue a statement or something..."

Akina Nakamori, hearing Naoki Nagayama's formal apology, was a bit at a loss, and hurriedly said a big push, and then realized after the fact: "Ah! This point seems to be unable to be said to the outside!"

And Naoki Nagayama on the other end of the phone only felt funny: "Akina-chan, I am also a party involved, it doesn't matter."

"That's true!" Akina Nakamori felt relieved, and then asked a bit worriedly, "Naoki-san, are you okay after encountering such malicious scandals?"

In one night, Naoki Nagayama received concern from many friends. At this time, plus Akina, he felt like a warm current flowing in his heart.

"Ah, it's fine, it's not the first time. By the way, Akina-chan, later I will have some public relations drafts here, which may also involve Akina's side, so I will tell you in advance~" Naoki Nagayama remembered his way of counterattacking and gave Akina Nakamori a preventive injection in advance.

"Eh? Is that so? I understand~"

After saying this, Akina Nakamori suddenly didn't know what to continue saying. The words of comfort were still in her mouth, but Naoki Nagayama was actually fine, and he even had a way of public relations. Then what should I do? Praise Naoki-san for being strong?

For a while, Akina hesitated, and there was a strange silence on both ends of the phone line.

Naoki Nagayama noticed it.

"Haha, let's not talk about unhappy things. Speaking of which, what is Akina-chan mainly busy with recently? Have you received any fun notices?"

"Ah, mainly still promoting *Second Love*. As expected of Naoki-san, the momentum of the song is very strong! Various programs and activities are revolving around this song."

Akina Nakamori relaxed and started talking about her arrangements. "However, if you want to say fun notices... By the way, Naoki-san, there is a live broadcast activity of Asakusa's 'Tori no Ichi' tomorrow night! At the Washinomiya Shrine."

"Tomorrow night? Is the Tori day this year actually tomorrow~"

Naoki Nagayama's mind flashed the situation of "Tori no Ichi", which originated from the Washinomiya Shrine in Asakusa, Tokyo, and was held in the Tori day of November every year. In fact, it was similar to a temple fair.

"Hai, tomorrow night!" Akina Nakamori repeated. "It is said that the 'Tori no Ichi' in Asakusa, Tokyo, is the Tori no Ichi with the most participants."

Akina used to participate in the Tori no Ichi in the small town of Chigasaki, and she really hadn't participated in the one at the origin in Tokyo.

"By the way, after the live broadcast activity ends, the agency also asked me to participate in the exorcism ceremony!"

Naoki Nagayama was confused. Isn't Tori no Ichi about buying fancy rakes (lucky rakes) to grab good luck?

"Is there an exorcism ceremony for 'Tori no Ichi'? Why haven't I heard of it?"

"It seems to be a special exorcism ceremony held by monks invited by the shrine. After exorcising, then use a rake to grab good luck, the effect should be better?" Akina Nakamori didn't understand very well either, but exorcising and praying for blessings, how to say it, it was all fine.

"Speaking of which, Naoki-san's evil energy is very heavy recently, and it is very necessary to have such a ceremony!"

A single sentence weighed on Naoki Nagayama's mind: his film being suppressed, being stalked by paparazzi, and being subjected to malicious reports. Could it be that he had truly been tainted by bad luck during this period, which was why he kept encountering petty people causing trouble?

After pondering for a while, Naoki Nagayama also thought that it was best for him to remove the evil energy: "Well, it seems very reasonable. Akina-chan, where is the exorcism ceremony held tomorrow, and about what time?"

"Eh, does Naoki-san also want to come?" Akina Nakamori was happy after hearing it. "But I don't know the specific time and place... Only the agent-san knows. The live broadcast is at 20:00, and we will participate in the exorcism ceremony after the live broadcast."

"So ka." Naoki Nagayama didn't want to go directly to Akina's agent and say "Can you take me to the exorcism ceremony?"

"Then I will wait for Akina's live broadcast to end in the Tori no Ichi, and then secretly follow Akina to go together!"

"Haha, does Naoki-san want to be a stalker?" Akina Nakamori laughed. "But in the Tori no Ichi, how can Naoki-san find the live broadcast location?"

"Just find a shop's TV to watch it, right?"

Next, Naoki Nagayama chatted about how to meet with Akina Nakamori tomorrow night, and the two sides set the specific method of meeting, and even the backup measures they didn't find were said.

By the time he hung up the phone, it was already dawn...

The sky turned gray, but it hadn't rained.

Unlike the sudden rain in Tokyo in summer, the rain in Tokyo in winter needs to accumulate for a period of time, and then suddenly descend in a short time. Sometimes when it hits a cold wave, it will become a sudden heavy snow.

In this somewhat oppressive weather, Naoki Nagayama didn't choose to run in the morning, but walked slowly with Eitaro, and by the way, bought some other entertainment tabloids at the newsstand.

Yesterday's scandal about Naoki Nagayama fermented, and it could even be seen in other newspapers, but some reports focused on Yuko Tanaka and Kenji Sawada, which was normal, after all, those two could be considered top flow.

The scandal was raging, and even when passing by the small shop in Aoyama, Old Man Aoyama also inquired about the scandal:

"Naoki kid, is the scandal true?" Old Man Aoyama's tone was full of teasing.

"How is it possible, just friends meeting for a meal, can the news in the newspaper be believed?" Naoki Nagayama looked at this old man helplessly.

"However, the nickname 'Playboy Naoki' is not bad!" Old Man Aoyama actually didn't mind this nickname, and even had a bit of envy. "This is the name of romance!"

"Old man, why do I feel that your attitude towards 'romance' has a problem"

"What are you talking about, romance for a writer, isn't it very normal?" Old Man Aoyama said with full breath, and it seemed that he really didn't have much disgust for the romantic style of writers.

Naoki Nagayama only then remembered that he still had a dual identity, he was a bestselling novelist!

And in Japan, people's tolerance for literati is very high!

"Hahaha, it seems that the old man must have been a very romantic person when he was young~"

"That is. When I was young..."

Old Man Aoyama was about to talk about his romantic affairs when he was young with eyebrows dancing, when suddenly Chikako Aoyama walked over from behind,

"Ojisan, what happened when you were young? Ah, Naoki-san, you're here!"

Old Man Aoyama was like suddenly being strangled by fate, hurriedly pretending to cough: "Cough cough, nothing... I was very healthy when I was young!"

"Puhuhuhu." Naoki Nagayama turned his head and almost laughed out loud. He finally endured it and greeted Chikako Aoyama, "Chikako-chan, good morning~"

But the little girl was hesitant at this time: "Naoki-san, ano... that"

"Chikako-chan wants to ask about the scandal, right?"

". Hai."

"Those are all unfounded things!" Naoki Nagayama answered positively. "Just ordinary friends having a meal."

"So ka, that's good." The little girl in a sweater breathed a sigh of relief, her big eyes looking at Naoki Nagayama, "Thought Naoki-san and Yuko-san were really in love."

Old Man Aoyama saw his granddaughter like this and couldn't help it: "Chikako, this is not certain, Naoki kid is a writer, writers are all very romantic!"

Full of disgust!

Che? Clearly he just agreed with the writer's romance!

Holding the newspaper, chatting with the grandfather and granddaughter for a while, Naoki Nagayama led Eitaro back to Shanyingyuan.

Opening many newspapers to look, sure enough, in some newspapers, he had already released the guiding reports he asked Otomo Yoshimura and Masataka Komori to contact yesterday: doubts about the scandal event, this time point, other scandal events, unspoken rules in the industry...

"In short, muddy the water first!"

And at this time, Toshitaka Yamamura, the Minister of the Film Business Planning and Sales Department of Toei, was also looking at the morning newspaper. Toei was naturally one of the black hands suppressing *Hachiko Monogatari*, but yesterday's report was really not his handwriting.

"Nakano, did you see it? The reports in today's newspaper are flying all over the sky."

His confidant Toru Nakano brought coffee and looked at the newspaper spread on the table:

"Yes, Tree Friend Films' reaction is very fast, muddying the water all at once, the influence of the scandal will soon decrease."

Toshitaka Yamamura took the coffee, sniffed the pure aroma, and then took a small sip, tasting the sour and astringent taste:

"Yes, scandals are just scratching an itch. If they continue to report deeply on the so-called 'sexually harassing female stars', then the unspoken rules of the entire film and television industry might be exposed to the public's sight, which is not allowed by the industry."

"Tree Friend Films is really good at bundling!" Toru Nakano sighed. When they countered Toei's smear of *Gas Station Robbery Incident* before, they also bundled their own movies with other movies on the market,

Burning jade and stone together, this made Minister Toshitaka Yamamura have to give up smearing and turn to peace, and even compensated some resources.

Toshitaka Yamamura's tone carried three points of disdain: "This is just the helplessness of the weak to protect themselves"

"However, it is still very effective, isn't it?" Toru Nakano expressed appreciation for this kind of 'barefoot not afraid of wearing shoes' mentality. "Recognized their own weaknesses and turned weaknesses into strengths."

Toshitaka Yamamura hummed: "Can't keep using it forever."

Then he told Toru Nakano the story behind it: "The judges in the industry have reached a consensus on Tree Friend Films' movie projects, and at most there are only some painless nominations."

"Already known?!"

"Knew it when chatting with Minister Narita of Toho yesterday."

"This Shuyou Film is truly unfortunate."

After finishing breakfast, Naoki Nagayama drove to the studio.

Sure enough, Otomo Yoshimura and Masataka Komori were both there, having been on the phone incessantly since the morning.

"Otomo-san, Masataka-kun." Naoki Nagayama nodded in greeting and took out the entertainment newspaper he had tucked under his arm. "We've seen the report we requested yesterday. Are there still many people calling today?"

"Still many," Masataka Komori said. "They've been calling since this morning."

"How does it compare to yesterday? What's the frequency like?"

"... About the same."

If it was holding steady, that was fine. If it had fermented properly, the calls should have been increasing continuously.

"This shows that our newspaper is still effective. Keep publishing for the next few days! Masataka-kun, it doesn't matter if we spend a little money."

Naoki Nagayama encouraged Masataka Komori, then said to Otomo Yoshimura, "Otomo-san, let's proceed step-by-step from here. We'll start the next wave after the television program airs."

"Hai. As for the television program, we've already made contact, but recently we'll need to wait until the night after tomorrow. Simple interview programs need at least two days of advance notice..."

"Daijoubu, no rush. In any case, the print media has already provided a counter-report." Naoki Nagayama suddenly recalled a line from a film in the future: "Let the bullets fly for a while."

"Nani?"

Otomo Yoshimura looked puzzled, while Naoki Nagayama sighed; no one else could catch the references he made.

"It's nothing. By the way, Otomo-san, didn't we say earlier that Yuki Saito was going to record a new song? How is the contact with the recording studio going?"

"Recording a new song?" Otomo Yoshimura was a bit bewildered by the question. "Naoki-san, do you still have the heart to care about this?"

Naoki Nagayama shrugged. What else could he do? Worry anxiously every day? The counter-strategy had already been set, and he didn't need to worry too much about the subsequent operations. Was he supposed to keep this matter on his mind forever?

Life still had to go on!

"That's right, these two things don't interfere with each other."

Otomo Yoshimura looked at the calm Naoki Nagayama and began to understand what was meant by "having a calm spirit in the face of major events."

"Uh, Masami Inada is in charge of the recording studio booking, but there shouldn't be any problems. It should be tomorrow or the day after."

"That's fine, I'll go ask Inada-kun later." Naoki Nagayama said as he prepared to walk into the office.

"By the way, Otomo-san, I heard there's an exorcism ritual at the Asakusa 'Tori-no-Ichi' tonight. Would you like to participate?"

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes, it seems we've been a bit unlucky lately. Do you want to go together and clear out the bad luck? Come to think of it, Shuichi-san has also been quite unlucky, so I'll go ask him if he wants to join..."

Naoki Nagayama seemed to be turning this exorcism ritual into a company team-building event.