Woof...what does that mean?
The red-haired Godfather, who thought he would receive some sarcastic remarks, hesitated for a moment and looked at the other party.
The red-haired young man turned red all over, and he covered his mouth as if he was surprised by such a strange sound. With his red hair and red eyes, he looked like a giant tomato.
Seeing him like this, Sawada Tsunayoshi silently picked up Yuya who was still lying on the ground, and took a step back with the child.
The silver-haired cub blinked confusedly.
"Big brother?" He still remembered the big brother with whom he had played for a while, or rather, the child appeared here because he saw Sawada Tsunayoshi here.
The Whiskey Group, which was half a step behind, also caught up and isolated the guy who made the strange noise without leaving a trace.
Murakami Ryota no longer had time to think about what they were saying and doing.
He didn't know what others thought, but when he came to his senses, the word "woof" kept echoing in his mind.
Woof woof woof woof… Woof what? Is he a dog?
He pinched the sides of his cheeks hard, unwilling to admit that posture just now. When he looked up at the cold and stern godfather, the "Woof" he said... was sincere.
When I came to my senses again, the other person had already gone far away.
The godfather, who was cold and inviolable, even picked up the silver-haired boy and seemed very close to him, with a slight smile on his face, like the warm sunshine in early spring, melting the first handful of snow on the branches.
Deep down in his heart, he secretly wished that the other person could smile at him in the same way.
Even being a dog is not a problem... Ahem, no, his goddess is Chris! Chris Wynyard! How could he be a dog for someone other than Chris? No, he is the future heir of the Murakami family, how could he be a dog for someone else!
Thinking of this, the young man couldn't help but cover his lips and look away.
But for no reason, a feeling of loneliness arose in my heart.
At the same time, feeling that the piercing gaze behind him had finally moved away, the Godfather couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and relax.
"So, Youya wanted to come to me just to give this to me?" He pinched the red gem that the cub was holding like a treasure and gave it to him, with a gentle expression.
The silver-haired boy was not very familiar with the embrace of the big brother he had just met. He curled up awkwardly in the arms of the godfather and nodded timidly when he heard the words.
"It's a gem that only brave children have," he whispered, "and it's a reward for the winning team in a baseball game."
"I see." Without asking the cub when he was going to participate in the baseball game, the Godfather smiled and touched his hair, "Youya-kun is really amazing."
The cub's cheeks turned red because of the godfather's praise.
"However, this gem is a symbol of a brave child. Wouldn't you be sad if you just give it to me like this?" asked Tsunayoshi Sawada.
Yuya blinked and shook his head.
"It's big brother." He whispered, "After playing with big brother, Yuya went to play with everyone...so I wanted to give it to big brother."
The boy paused, took out another red gem brooch from his bag and held it up to show his godfather.
"Besides, Yuu already has one."
As he spoke his heart beat violently.
The cub blinked in confusion, not knowing what was going on.
However, Tsunayoshi Sawada, who was holding the child and observing him closely, was particularly sensitive to this abnormality.
The moment Yuya took out the gem... he seemed to feel the beating of the flame of death.
The Godfather lowered his eyes and looked at the gem carefully.
According to Yuya, this is a jewel brooch that every child on board has.
The red gems were not large, and their quality was not top-notch, but they were not something you could find everywhere on the roadside. The fact that rubies of this quality were made into brooches on a large scale and given to the children of visiting guests was enough to show the Tozawa family's hospitality and financial resources.
He examined the gem brooch silently, deliberately showing hesitation.
"Hmm...but big brother seems to like Yuya's brooch more," he winked and asked the cub, "Can Yuya also exchange with big brother?"
Actually, the gem that Yuya gave him was even bigger. The silver-haired cub couldn't tell the difference, but since his favorite big brother said so, he obediently handed the brooch to Tsunayoshi and kept the gem safely.
When the cub's soft fingers pinched the jewel brooch and placed it in Gangji's palm, the Godfather felt the throbbing of the soul flame again.
Is this an illusion?
impossible.
Just as he was trying to dig deeper into this, the lights in the banquet hall suddenly went out.
The [Fire of Life] appreciation event has begun.
In the darkness, Scotland stepped forward and took Youya to his side. Bourbon, who was in charge of collecting intelligence, obviously did not change his career to become a male host. Seeing that his boss was interested in the brooch, he came over.
"It is said that the gemstone on this brooch is a replica made by the Tozawa family based on the Fire of Life gemstone. It is inferior to the Fire of Life in purity and size, but it has restored the characteristics of the Fire of Life."
Although he didn't know what the characteristics were, he would probably have to wait until this tasting session was over before he could find out.
Sawada Tsunayoshi played with the jewel brooch in his hand and nodded without showing any expression in the darkness.
Toru Amuro hesitated for a moment and moved closer to his boss.
"I heard some information about the [Fire of Life] from a lady," he recalled. "It is said that the real [Fire of Life] can be seen in the shape of a flame inside the gem under the moonlight."
Almost at the same time as he spoke, the ceiling of the banquet hall slowly opened to both sides, revealing the empty sky.
The bright moonlight quietly and gently filtered in, illuminating the protruding lift platform in the center of the banquet hall.
The young and energetic Eiji Tomisawa stood on the stage, showing the cabinet covered with red silk to the guests with a smile on his face.
After saying the polite words, he raised his finger to his lips seriously.
"Three, two, one."
With a swish, the red silk covering the glass cabinet was peeled off, revealing the [Fire of Life] placed inside.
High up, the LED screen plays in real time the appearance of [Fire of Life] under the moonlight.
Compared to those large gemstones that can cause vibrations, the [Fire of Life] is not that big, and it looks just right to be a small brooch or a ring that takes up the entire surface.
The drone circled around the [Fire of Life] again and again. Although people who had seen too many good things were a little surprised at the quality of the ruby, this alone did not arouse their interest.
It's just a ruby of higher quality.
However, these people did not come to the so-called tasting meeting for the so-called "Fire of Life". This banquet, which invited many important people from home and abroad, was much more important than the tasting meeting.
Just as the guests were planning how to show off this gem that the Tozawa family had specially brought out for appreciation, someone let out a low cry of surprise.
The cry was not quiet, so it quickly attracted the attention of many people.
All the guests who were preparing to continue their social activities turned their attention back to the [Fire of Life].
Shouts rang out one after another, and Tozawa Eiji, who was standing in front of the gem, smiled with satisfaction.
"As you know, the [Flame of Life] that our Tozawa family recently acquired is a mysterious gem that is said to be able to make people immortal." He smiled to liven up the atmosphere, "But in this technological age, we all know that the so-called immortality is just a human wish. But——"
After a deliberate pause to attract everyone's attention, the second son of the Tozawa family continued speaking.
“But we have discovered a secret of the [Fire of Life], which is why we invite everyone to come and taste it.”
He lifted the glass case, took out the gem with his gloved hands, placed it in the simple ring holder that had been prepared, and then put it on his fingertips.
The young man closed his eyes, and there was an unusual piety in his expression.
The drone buzzed in front of the gem and adjusted its angle. The shadow that originally covered part of the gem moved away, allowing all the moonlight to fall on the gem.
For some reason, everyone present couldn't help but feel a little bit of anticipation.
Something seemed to awaken inside the red gem. From the first second that the moonlight shone on it, something began to change.
Under the watchful eyes of the camera carried by the drone, these changes are magnified in front of everyone.
Then they saw tiny spots of light lighting up inside the gem. These spots, which were almost red but flashing with light, gathered together, gradually gathered and expanded, and finally condensed into the shape of flames.
"This is the magic of the Fire of Life." A male voice came from the loudspeaker. It was not Tozawa Eiji who closed his eyes, but his brother Taichi.
"Eiji thought of the honor of his family, and the [Fire of Life] responded to him, as evidenced by the flames burning in the moonlight!"
Even the guests who had witnessed great storms had never seen such a scene - if this was not an animation synthesized by the Tozawa family using some new technology, they would have immediately started whispering to each other.
No one knew who started it, but the applause gradually grew louder, filling the entire banquet hall.
Tozawa Eiji opened his eyes, and the flames gradually faded away. However, the eyes of the people looking at the [Fire of Life] were no longer as calm as before, but became burning.
The elevator descended, and the bodyguard took Baoshi and Tozawa Eiji to the back of the platform. The person in charge, Tozawa Taichi, came out from the other side to socialize with everyone.
"I believe you have all received the small gifts we prepared for you," he said. "Among the gifts we prepared for you, for families that brought their sons or daughters, we prepared a brooch for the children. This brooch is an artificial gem that our Tozawa family developed in imitation of the [Fire of Life]. Although it is not as bright as the [Fire of Life], it may be able to summon flames under the gaze of the moonlight."
As soon as these words were spoken, the cubs who were originally left alone felt a chill on their backs. They turned around and found that their parents were staring at them.
Suddenly, it became scary!
The rich man, who had just said that his cub liked the gift very much, walked to the cub, stroked his non-existent beard, bent down, and smiled as if he was coaxing the child to hand over the New Year's money at the end of the year.
"Junta, show your brooch to daddy."
Unlike many adults who were eager to coax the cubs to hand over their brooches, Tsunayoshi Sawada already had a brooch in his hand.
Although he didn't know what to be proud of, he felt quite happy when a group of people noticed that he already had a brooch in his hand (crossed out).
But Sawada Tsunayoshi was not happy.
He frowned and turned the gem over and over. None of the children around him succeeded in making the gem emit fire, but there were a few adults who saw a tiny flame in the moonlight.
However, most people are proud of their status and do not compete with children.
Sawada Tsunayoshi leaned over and asked Yuya if he wanted to take the brooch back. Yuya stared at him with big wet eyes and shook his head.
"I would rather give it to my big brother than...
How adorable.
The Godfather covered his heart and tried to show Bourbon what real sweetness was.
However, he turned his head and almost didn't see anyone until Lei stood next to him. Then he realized that the banquet hall was not lit yet and Amuro was too dark, so he didn't see anyone:D
Although no one knew about this, when the little black-faced Siamese cat walked out of the darkness into the moonlight and looked at him sincerely, the Godfather couldn't help but look away with guilt.
Let's be nicer to Bourbon tomorrow...cough.
But before he could think for long, the lights of the banquet were turned on again, some guests left one after another, and others were invited to another room.
Obviously, Tsunayoshi Sawada, who had a good conversation with Taichi Tomisawa through their baseball exchanges, was also among them.
But the Whiskey trio who didn't have an invitation were left outside and could only wait there, and were given provocative looks by Novan who arrived a step later.
"Who told me that I am the boss's most trusted subordinate?" he said provocatively without any concealment.
Whiskey Trio: ...
Lei Yi had silently touched the bulge behind his waist.
Although she was not familiar with him, Scotland, who was now on a united front with him, reached out her hand to hold him down and persuaded him to calm down. But when she turned around, she found that she seemed to have lost a friend.
He looked around and found that his little friend had put on glasses and changed into a waiter's uniform and walked in behind a group of people.
...Wait, Zero, when did you change your clothes? Are you the ever-changing Zero?
Because of the excessive shock, the usually calm Scots gradually became Johnny-ized and started to complain in their hearts.
On the other hand, Sawada Tsunayoshi naturally had no idea that a new struggle had begun somewhere unknown to him.
He followed the waiter into the hall and found that some guests had already arrived.
There was a familiar-looking red-haired guy in the crowd, sitting next to Tozawa Eiji with droopy brows. When he looked over, the other person happened to look over at him. After their eyes met, the other person turned his head away in surprise and embarrassment.
It seems that he still remembers that "Woof".
The Godfather had gone through ten years of trials and tribulations, and had long since become an invulnerable adult under the supervision of a tutor. Seeing this scene... of course he silently walked to the other side.
cough.
He also greeted Taichi Tozawa and Vermouth who came later. Although many people in the venue were paying attention to him, for various reasons, no one disturbed Mr. Godfather.
After a lot of commotion, someone finally coughed and came over after careful consideration.
Although he was not prepared to socialize, the Godfather recognized at a glance that this was the family's partner in Japan and someone he needed to greet.
He sighed silently in his heart. After all, the Godfather had passed the strict training of a tutor, so he stopped acting pretentious and displayed proper social demeanor.
He seemed to hear Bermode chuckle not far away.
What are you laughing at? Haven't you seen people being caught while slacking off?
But when the Godfather tried to communicate with others, the other party would often feel very happy. After a while, both sides started talking and laughing.
Until the other party got stuck.
He turned his head as if he had noticed something, and saw Novan standing not far away. He smiled and walked towards him.
The black-haired young man who is the focus of attention wherever he goes is always like this. In the crowd, only his boss can be seen, who walks over in three or two steps and slightly lowers his proud head.
"Boss."
He whispered.
Different from the noisy banquet hall, almost all the people who could come here were the smartest of the smart. The questions that had not been asked turned around in their throats and rolled back. It seemed that there was no room for speculation about the identity of this brown-haired young man of unknown origin.
——After all, the vicious dog from Italy has lowered its head.
Knowing that it was Novak who was building momentum for him, Tsunayoshi Sawada sighed helplessly in his heart and raised his hand to rub the other person.
However, before he raised his hand, it was grabbed by the guy with quick eyes and hands.
Under the gazes of countless people, both openly and covertly, the black-haired young man held the leader's right hand, lowered his head respectfully, and kissed the base of the godfather's thumb.
Some people took a breath of cool air, some made secret calculations in their hearts, some frowned and made a new assessment of the relationship between the two, and some watched eagerly, wishing they could take his place.
Ahem...what he meant was to kiss the godfather's thumb and ask him to forgive his recent offense.
However, the reason why these smart people are smart is that even if such an unexpected thing happened, it did not cause any commotion.
However, there were many more people who looked at him secretly and came forward to greet him.
But at least they all remembered that this was an internal tasting event specially organized by Taichi Tomisawa for them, so as not to let the two people from Italy steal the show.
The taken away [Fire of Life] was placed in the center of the banquet hall. Compared to its dim appearance under the moonlight, its purity and beauty could be more clearly seen under artificial lighting.
After the useless socializing, Sawada Tsunayoshi sat in a comfortable chair, supporting his head with one hand, playing with a brooch in his hand, thinking with an indifferent expression.
A number of children were let in through the small door in the corner, and without exception, they all held brooches in their hands.
He raised his eyes and scanned, and at a glance he saw the child he had just seen, with flames emerging from the gem.
What does this mean?
He pinched his eyebrows subconsciously, having a bad feeling in his heart.
After all, this is too much like a screening process.
Select some children through brooches... and then what? They don't really think they can live forever with a gem, do they?
A lot of thoughts were surging in his mind. When he noticed someone approaching, he immediately opened his eyes.
It's a familiar red-haired one.
The other person was standing not far away, and after being stared at by him, he seemed to be frozen, unable to move forward or backward.
From the other person's somewhat frightened expression, Tsunayoshi Sawada realized that the way he was thinking was a bit scary. He rubbed his face imperceptibly as if he was yawning, and looked at the other person with a gentle expression.
"Is this Mr. Murakami from before?" he asked. "What do you want to talk to me about?"
This makes the other party even more uneasy.
Ryota Murakami accepted the advice of his friend, Eiji, the second son of the Tozawa family, to apologize and save his future. But before he even got close, the cold and handsome look of the man who was blocked by the Italian vicious dog struck his heart.
Compared to the other person's gentle expression, Ryota Murakami felt that this slightly bored, indifferent and frightening expression was the other person's true appearance.
How cool is that...
Murakami, still a middle school boy, touched his red hair and resisted the urge to bark again.
He came to apologize, not to make enemies.
Although the gentleman seems to have a good temper, he is still the legendary gentleman after all...
My mood was a mess, but at least what I said was somewhat logical.
Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't expect that the young man came here in a panic just to apologize. To be honest, he didn't take what happened just now to heart. After all, this kind of thing was Belmode's fault (?), and there were more important things to do now, so he easily let it go.
The red-haired young man obviously didn't expect it to be so easy - after all, he had already arranged a suicide note and a future of being buried in a concrete pillar in Tokyo Bay - he didn't know what to say for a moment, and just stared with his eyes wide open.
A waiter who was walking among the guests serving tea and water passed behind him and slipped, splashing water over him.
"Sorry, sorry," the blond waiter wiped it hurriedly and offered to take him to change his clothes apologetically.
Murakami Ryota: "Oh, it's okay... Wait, have we met somewhere before?"
The blond-haired, purple-eyed waiter raised his head and denied it with a smile.
"Really? Maybe I saw it when I was working."
Sawada Tsunayoshi: …
Wait, Bourbon, when did you get in?
He looked at the other person speechlessly and received a wink from Bourbon.
"What are you doing?" At the same time, Novan's voice sounded from behind. The black-haired young man stood behind him with a wine glass, and his red eyes fell on the two guys in front of him.
"Who are these two?" Novant Dutch said slowly, "It turns out to be Amuro-kun and..."
He lowered his eyes, his red pupils flashing, which made the Godfather feel guilty for no reason.
"With a wild dog barking at you?"
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