When Akira noticed Hina and Seiji outside the kitchen, she finished searing the scallops and had her sous-chef take over. One of the servers gave her a bottle of cold water. She gulped it down as she stepped outside.
"You have worked hard," Hina said.
"It's a slow night," Akira said after downing the entire bottle of water.
"We t so troublemakers on the way in. Who knew that this cold-faced guy here is so popular with girls?" Hina looked at Seiji aningfully.
Akira lifted a brow. "Oh, is this the legendary scum man we hear about?"
"You should have heard that woman calling out Brother Seiji so coyly. It made want to throw up." Hina rolled her eyes.
Seiji listened to the two with exasperation. "I am not close with her. She is one of Hanae's friends."
The two of them looked at him with disbelief on their faces.
"Akira!" An enthusiastic voice shouted along with running footsteps.
The three people turned to see a boyish guy running towards her with outstretched arms. Usually, Rai called her Sister Boss, but in public, he called her by na to avoid questions. His face lit up as he flew to her.
Just as he was about to throw himself into Akira's arms, she lifted a leg, ready to kick him. Despite his young age and innocent appearance, Raiden had the heart of a pervy old man.
Seeing that foot about to kick him, Rai stopped short of getting into her personal space. He had experienced the power of Akira's kicks before. He would not be able to return to the valley if he was crippled.
His eyes turned to the next target.
"Sister Hina," He moved to hug her.
But he was destined not to succeed. He was about to achieve his goal when the unknown man beside her pulled Hina away. His arms were left awkwardly in the air, and he almost fell.
"What are you doing here?" Akira asked sternly.
"I ran away to co and see you. I could not bear it when I saw so bad people talking about you online. I ca to support you." Raiden said righteously.
Akira rolled her eyes. He probably ran off from the valley because of being forced to exercise. He was the only one in the Immortal Sword Valley who could not fight. But again, he also had a special status, unlike the rest of the agents.
"Hina, take care of this one. Don't allow him to run off." Akira told Hina. "The restaurant is probably about to get a little busy."
Hina laughed. "I know. A lot of strange people are bound to show up. Let Seiji take care of him. I will go change and join Benji."
"Aren't you a little tired?" Hina had already spent the day working at the hospital.
"This is our restaurant. How can I sit down on the grand opening?" Hina smiled with reassurance.
"Then, go get ready." Akira did not oppose the idea. "Seiji, this is my little brother. He is a bit naughty, so keep an eye on him. The rest of the family is in the sa place we dined last ti. Rai, if I hear you made any trouble, I will take you in hand. Understood?"
Rai nodded with pouted lips while looking pitiful. Seiji looked at the young man Akira called a little brother and felt wronged. How cos Akira had so many people around her? Moreover, none of them was ordinary.
He had read the investigative report on her life, but reality did not seem to support the details. How was his sister an ordinary girl living an ordinary life?
When Akira returned to the kitchen, the restaurant beca a little busier as predicted. The matter of Elents being boycotted had reached beyond Mountain Ridge, so a lot of people showed up to support her.
At the reception, Double M, also known as Manaka Morie, greeted Benji. The man and woman beside him looked low-key, but anyone who paid attention to the entertainnt industry would recognise them as two of the most popular actors in the country.
Behind the three, the mbers of the popular group Demon Impulse were following obediently. The pop group consisted of three boys and three girls. It was versatile and popular and managed to draw in fans beyond the local market.
Benji chose a room for them and assigned a server to lead them. As they went inside, Cherry Blossom, Chef Vikram and several other locals ca in. There was a hint of curiosity in so of their eyes because they had seen the previous group.
Benji did not comnt. He welcod them with a smile and called in a server to lead them to the room. As they walked away, they looked at the restaurant with curious eyes. Cherry Blossom and Chef Vikram were calm, but the others were a little curious.
Most of them only agreed to co along to see the new business in town. The group was a special social circle of people without strong ties to the aristocratic families of Mountain Ridge.
After they went in, more people ca as couples and in small groups until all the rooms were occupied. So of the latecors ended up sitting in the open restaurant.
Online, the netizens were still fired up because of the post sent by Mio. The fans and even passers-by were rebuking Elents for chasing away a person without reason. Even though they reserved the right of admission, it was displeasing to see such behaviour.
Within two hours, #Elents and #BoycottElents was trending. Mio, who had returned ho in a bad mood, refreshed the feed constantly and read almost every comnt supporting her. She liked a few posts which were scolding the restaurant for discrimination.
She smiled to herself. 'It feels good to have so much power.'
She thought the matter was concluded and went on to take a shower. When she was about to get into bed and sleep early for once, soone knocked on her door urgently. She opened it and found her sister, Omi.
"What's up?" She asked casually.
"Don't you know the ss you have created?" Omi asked in frustration.
Without waiting for a response, she showed her the new top posts with the #Elents tag. Her face beca pale and ashen as she looked at the posts. The tide had turned, and everyone was using #ElentsLove instead of #BoycottElents.
The worst part is that the top posts ca from celebrities she could not compare to with her agre level of fa. Double M, the movie king and queen, Devil Impulse mbers, a famous classical pianist and even a Nobel prize winner had all added photos and words of support.
"You are in deep trouble, sister," Omi said before turning away.
Mio closed her door and picked her phone with fear in her heart. She steeled her resolve and added a new post: Guess I am just not famous enough for #ElentsLove. Boohoo!
She took a deep breath, placed her phone on her bed and tried to relax. She had faced worse situations before. After a few minutes, her phone pinged. She picked it up quickly and checked the first response to her post.
A profile without a photo and only a string of numbers as the identity na had quoted her. They also added a video as well as an evil laughing emoji.
She clicked on the video with trembling fingers. It was a recording of her at Elents. Before she could finish watching, her phone started pinging with new notifications. Before long, her phone froze due to excessive activity.
She did not need to think to know the jig was up.
"What are you doing?" The Nanami twins leaned on either side of Rai.
He wanted to squirm away as he locked his chunky phone after doing a good deed. His face was red and uncomfortable with the girls flanking him. He always acted badly in the valley because everyone was older, and no one took him too seriously.
However, he could not handle girls his age.
"Nothing!"
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