Chapter 389: Twenty Years |
After returning to his room and taking a shower, Hoshino Gen had just stepped out of the bathroom in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts when his mobile phone, charging on the bedside table, began to ring again.
He walked over, picked it up, and glanced at the screen. The caller ID surprised him a little, yet at the same time, it made perfect sense.
After a brief moment of consideration, he answered the call.
"You are back?"
His father, Hoshino Sosuke, spoke in a flat, emotionless tone. Hoshino Gen replied with equal indifference, "Yes."
"I will not ask for the specific details," Hoshino Sosuke said, questioning his son with eerie calmness. "I just need to know how much time you have left."
Hoshino Gen did not mind the overly blunt inquiry. He answered nonchalantly, "As of right now, twenty years should not be a problem."
"Twenty?" Hoshino Sosuke sounded slightly surprised, though it was impossible to tell whether that timeframe was longer or shorter than he had anticipated...
But he quickly regained his detached composure. "Then, what are your plans for these twenty years?"
"Where you will attend university, when you will get married, and when you will take over the family business."
"..."
Hoshino Gen fell silent for a moment. These seemingly natural milestones his father mentioned were things he had genuinely never considered before. Perhaps, subconsciously, he had always felt they were too far removed from his reality...
"You have no plans?" Hoshino Sosuke easily read between the lines of his son's silence. Without waiting for a response, he continued, "Then, would you like to hear the family's arrangements?"
"..." After a brief pause, Hoshino Gen replied, "It could serve as a reference. Let us hear it."
"Heh." Catching the underlying meaning in those words, Hoshino Sosuke let out a hollow chuckle devoid of any real emotion. He asked, "Do you know the reason why your mother and I reconciled?"
"No, and I have no interest in finding out."
"It is you," Hoshino Sosuke stated plainly. "The biggest reason your mother chose to reconcile with me was because of you."
"Right. And how does that relate to the family's arrangements for me?"
"Of course it relates. The Isabelle Family's influence is no less than that of the Hoshino Conglomerate. You and your sister are the greatest bond connecting the Hoshino family to the Isabelle Family. Only when you take over the Fanxing Group, and eventually the Hoshino Conglomerate, can the power of our two families be perfectly merged."
"So, taking this connection into account, the family believes you should attend university in London."
"I will consider it."
"The family also expects you to marry immediately after graduating high school and produce descendants."
"And then?"
"Go to the Fanxing Building tomorrow. I will arrange for someone to receive you. It is time for you to start getting involved with the family business."
"..."
...
After the call ended, the room lapsed into silence. Hoshino Gen read his book for about another half hour before slipping the bookmark back between the pages, tossing it onto the bedside table, and lying down to sleep.
However, the moment his head hit the pillow, his bedroom door was pushed open.
An adorable little head peeked inside. "A-Gen, are you asleep?"
Before Tamamo-no-Mae even finished her sentence, her eyes locked with Hoshino Gen's from the bed.
Her small mouth broke into a wide grin, and she giggled as she slipped into the room.
She did not say anything else. Moving with complete familiarity, she climbed onto the bed, snuggled under the quilt right beside Hoshino Gen, wrapped her little arms around his waist, and laid down. Only then did she murmur, "Good night, A-Gen~"
"..."
...
Hoshino Gen slept for a very long time. His dreams were a constant barrage of flashing memories from his past life. The days spent at the orphanage played on a loop—images of him all alone alternated with visions of him accompanied by a transparent girl named Ayaha. The overlapping scenes left him so disoriented in his slumber that he could barely distinguish reality from illusion...
"A-Gen..."
"A-Gen...?"
"A-Gen...!"
The calling voice seemed to drift in from a great distance, yet each cry grew progressively closer.
Hoshino Gen abruptly snapped his eyes open, only to find Tamamo-no-Mae staring down at him, her small face etched with deep concern.
"Did you have a nightmare, A-Gen? Yin energy is leaking out of you..."
Hoshino Gen was still in a daze, his mind heavily anchored in the lingering visions of his past life. It took him a long moment to fully regain his bearings. Shaking his head, he propped himself up with one hand and grabbed his mobile phone to check the time.
Sunday, 8:20 AM.
He had gone to the abandoned school on Friday night and returned around two in the afternoon on Saturday. That meant he had been sleeping since about three o'clock yesterday afternoon. He really had slept for quite a while...
Giving his groggy head another shake, Hoshino Gen rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom to wash up.
Meanwhile, Tamamo-no-Mae, sitting on the bed with her legs folded beneath her, watched him walk away. She puffed out her cheeks. She could not shake the feeling that ever since he returned this time, A-Gen had become completely different...
...
Sometime after breakfast, Hoshino Rin took Tamamo-no-Mae to the agency, leaving Hoshino Gen alone at home to play video games.
However, the games he used to find incredibly entertaining somehow failed to hold his attention today. His mind kept wandering. Even during the most thrilling boss fights, a momentary lapse in concentration caused his health bar to hit zero, resulting in an instant death screen.
After half-heartedly mashing buttons all morning, Hoshino Gen finally turned off the game console and the television at around eleven o'clock and headed out.
His excursion was not entirely aimless. Although he had initially planned to let Hoshino Sosuke's phone call go in one ear and out the other, right now, he felt an urgent need to find something—anything—to fully immerse himself in.
Ever since he returned yesterday afternoon, he had felt off. It was disturbingly similar to when he had first experienced reincarnation. The memories and emotions of his past life were eclipsing his current life, creating a violent sense of incongruity and tearing him apart from the inside, leaving him utterly irritable and restless...
This was actually Hoshino Gen's first time visiting the Fanxing Building.
After all, this magnificent skyscraper, a true landmark building, had only been constructed in the last two years. Back when he occasionally visited the Fanxing Group as a child, the headquarters had been located elsewhere.
The moment he stepped through the grand, imposing entrance, the sheer spectacle before him made him freeze. Two rows of beautiful female employees, all dressed in professional tailored skirts, bowed in perfect unison. With impeccable etiquette, they chimed together, "Welcome home, Young Master—"
Hoshino Gen's eyelid twitched violently. He barely suppressed the urge to turn around and walk right back out the door. Fortunately, before he could act on that impulse, a middle-aged man wearing a grin so wide he looked completely overjoyed strode over.
The man was dressed in a high-end tailored suit, his hair slicked back without a single strand out of place. A diamond-encrusted Rolex gleamed on his wrist. It was obvious at a glance that he was usually an imposing figure of authority. Yet, while facing Hoshino Gen—a mere high school student—his smile was pure, unadulterated fawning, and his tone overflowed with overwhelming enthusiasm. "Young Master Gen, you have finally arrived!"