While sitting down on the sofa in front of us, Mr. Okazaki bowed.
"I can't thank you enough for this opportunity, Kaito. Thanks to you hiring Sanae and Risa, everything unfolded as it did. I would like to know the story."
"It isn't that interesting," I giggled. "In short, I needed to create a business for my final project to graduate university. One day, I was walking past Sanae's and Risa's house when I stepped on chewing gum. I sat on the stairs to take it off and they saw me. They thought I was there to apply for the manager job they were hiring for. Stuff happened and we ended up with the idea of making a galactical idol group. Then we ran auditions to find the rest of the girls and the rest is history."
"I'd say that's quite interesting," he smiled. "Then how did you end up being threatened?"
Destroyed, we walked out of the courtroom. The lawyer immediately bowed and apologized for not being able to do better, but we were happy that he stayed despite knowing there wasn't much to do; despite knowing it was going to taint his resume as much as mine. There was a sea of reporters already waiting for us outside the court. The lawyer walked away and Sanae, Risa, and I took a taxi back to the studio. Since the taxi didn't want to go into the Trading District, we had to walk for five minutes with the annoying reporters following us. We spent the next four hours together. I told everyone what happened at the court; we were all sad, but we knew it was the best outcome. Then Sanae and Risa told us what happened at the president's home. We decided what to do about the performance that was scheduled for the next day and we chatted about many things. Miraculous
I settled the fine of two-hundred-thousand terras over the following week, leaving eight-hundred-thousand more for whatever I wanted. As easy as it could've been to spend everything at once, exponential growth would've only added difficulty to an already hard challenge. Instead, I planned a bit more than I used to plan. After the undesired break, I called every employee of GIMA—Galactical Idols Management Agency—to the dance studio, including the members of Blostars. As usual, we met at noon. They stared at me as we stood on the dance floor. Everyone had a slight smile on their face, including me. After glancing back at them, I took a deep breath to begin my speech. "I think it goes without saying that this vacation was unexpected, to say the least. Aya and Tomokazu had just been hired; having this happen didn't help the already steep learning curve. But I'm
I approached the door and opened it. "Aki? Weren't you having dinner out?" "I never said that," she answered. "May I come in?" "Sure," I stuttered. "Sorry for the mess, you didn't tell me you were coming." "Because I wanted to see the real you. This is nothing compared to my apartment." "True." She slapped my shoulder. "Don't get too cocky. I might find your secret stash." "I don't have one." "Sure. I'll believe you." I shook my head with a smile. "Do you have plans for tonight?" "I do, act
"Hey-hey! Ceruty speaking," she answered on the glasses. "Put her on speakers," Aki asked, sitting in front of me. The glasses read my command instantly and did as Aki said, then I replied, "Hello, Ceruty. I'm Kaito Miyahara, Blostars' manager." "I know who you are." I said it out of formality…. "I still can't believe you watched my video and that you're interested in being interviewed by me. You know what you're getting into, right?" "Yes. I saw you telling your viewers that you have no brakes and that you'll ask any question you can think of." "You know it, then. When do you wanna do the interview?"
The girls, Aya, and Tomokazu arranged the studio's chairs around me and remained dead silent, staring at me. I took multiple deep breaths before Ceruty spoke. "Thirty seconds. You'll hear me talking to my Watchers once it starts, but they won't hear you. The signal for your entrance will be when I introduce you; pretty obvious." "Got it," I replied. I needed more and more deep breaths the more I waited. Aya rested her hand on my shoulder, sitting on my left to be able to give me instructions quickly if needed. Aki sat on my right and, although her head wasn't bowed, she stared at the floor. I can't comfort her now. I hope she's fine. Who am I kidding? She'll be fine. "Ten. Nine," Ceruty started counting.
"Two-hundred thousand?!" I yelled. I looked at Aya and asked her, "Why didn't you tell me?" "You might've gotten nervous." "You know me well enough to know I wouldn't have." "Still, it went pretty well. Even I didn't expect such a reception. I don't know if it'll be a blessing or a curse." "Probably both," Tomokazu added. "There's no point in worrying about it, we'll dodge all punches thrown at us. Isn't that right, dear friend?" "Yeah," I responded. And to think all of this began because I needed something for my final project…. "Anyway," I continued. "Let's keep doing what we do best: music. Umi, you'll dance with the
"Now?" I asked. "I just got into bed.""The sooner the better," Aya replied.Breathing deeply, I sat up on the edge of the bed. The dim blue moonlight hit my feet through the window."What should we do?" I wondered."Well, I've had similar experiences in my previous jobs but not about individual people, obviously. They were controversies about the entire company.""And how did you handle them?""Pretty well, if I may say. If there was a chance, I gathered as much information as possible before the situation became public to build a public statement with that. If not, I'd take longer to do it. Late, but better than nothing.""Then why d
The following week was far from peaceful. We took advantage of the impunity window to host job interviews before leaving; the furniture I had ordered for the new office arrived—though there was no reason to arrange it; and the owner came by every day to remind us about the fees, only making the mood heavier. At least the girls didn't stop practicing and Umi had almost finished the last song before the bonus one. Aya, Tomokazu, and I discussed the few options we had the possibility to move into. We ruled out the buildings that didn't allow their space to be used as a business, leaving only four places, most of which were insanely expensive. There was no real option until an unexpected suggestion arose. Astra, Umi, Aya, and Tomokazu had left the studio for the day. Aki showered, while Sanae, Risa, and I sat on the chairs on the dance floor. Distracted by lookin