I stared at Aya and she stared back at me with a creepily-wide smile. In the background, the girls and Satō played around the green room, observing the installations and joking with each other. Meanwhile, Aya still stared at me. I had no other choice but to reply.
"Yes?" I stammered.
"Did you lie about the cost of the rent for this venue?"
"No, I didn't. Are you asking because of the premium treatment we're receiving?"
"Yes. It's also a very nice place. All of this feels like it should be more than fifty thousand terras."
"Maybe because we're used to places that don't specialize in hosting events. This venue was made for concerts and the service is professional. Also, could you lower your voice? I don't want to stress th
We all stepped out of the green room and walked down the hallway. The girls wouldn't stop chit-chatting in excitement until we reached the intersection between the entrance and the stage. We turned right and they became completely silent. The light gradually dimmed as we continued our walk towards the backstage area. I glanced back over my shoulder to see their eyes move around frantically in all directions. We arrived backstage and climbed the stairs onto the platform, which had been almost cleared of all the boxes and tools. The girls ran past me—except for Umi—and their jaws dropped when they saw the empty court. The rest of us stood aside to let them enjoy the moment. Risa swept tears from her eyes and Sanae squeezed her as soon as she noticed it. Astra joined the hug a second later. Umi stood next to them an
The concert continued without issues until the second to last song: Starry Sunrise. Umi's microphone suddenly stopped working during her section of the song. Fortunately, Aki quickly realized what was happening and sang for her since they both had a similar vocal range. I approached Miki again. "What happened?" "I'm not sure, her microphone just stopped working. She probably doesn't hear us either." "There are more microphones, right?" "Yes, in that box," he answered and pointed at a box on the desk. I opened it and grabbed one of the three microphones. "The song will finish in two minutes, then the girls are going to give a short speech to introduce the last song. We'll swap at that moment." As always, the lecture room was empty when I stepped in. Only Professor Fuku sat at her desk in front of the whiteboard. She stared down at the hologram projecting out of the desk, yet her eyes stayed still. I stood next to her and called her, "Professor Fuku?" She jumped on her chair. "Miyahara! You shouldn't do that, you could've given me a heart attack." It had been a while since I had seen her eyes open that wide. "I'm sorry," I smiled. "Don't worry," she chuckled and stared at me. "You seem happier than usual." "Well, it's finally presentation day after almost four years." "Yeah…," she sighed and looked down at the desk, yet her smile remained. I Became the Manager of the First Galactical Idols Sound Changes III
I sat up in a jump and stammered, "Good evening. No, it's no problem at all." "I'm glad to hear that," the man replied. "I was in the Business Administration project presentation of Saitama University a couple of days ago, the reason being that I was already interested in your company. I wanted to make sure you had a proper vision for it before recommending it to the CEO. It took me these last few days to convince him, that's why I'm calling at this time." No words came to my mind. I didn't even know what to think. I hadn't heard about Archilands Records before. What if it was a scam? Or maybe they just wanted to use us to get more popular. Maybe it was a mistake. The man laughed nervously, "I apologize, I always talk too much before asking: are you interested in this proposal?" I was in the middle of taking a shower when my glasses rang with a call. I walked out of the bathroom only wearing a towel and put my glasses on to see that the lawyer was calling. He had already worked extra without asking for more money, so I didn't want to make him wait. I answered the call and a hologram of him projected out of my glasses onto the floor. Luckily, he wasn't able to see me. "Good evening, Mr. Miyahara," he greeted me. "I just reviewed the contract, so everything's fresh in my head." "Great. What do you think?" "There's nothing wrong with it. Some of the terms might be a little harsh or ambiguous, but everything makes sense from the point of view of a company." "That's what I thought." "Why did you ask I Became the Manager of the First Galactical Idols Sound Changes V
Destroyed, I walked back to Aki's apartment. Thirty minutes remained before we needed to go to work, so I wanted to be alone with her until then. However, I stopped when I raised my hand to ring the bell. I wanted to be comforted, but not in the way Aki did. Instead, I walked to the neighboring apartment and rang the bell. Haru opened the door a few seconds later. "Kaito? I'm glad to see you, but what are you doing here? Don't you have work in half an hour?" she smiled. Her smile disappeared as soon as I said, "Can I come in for a bit?" She turned around to look inside her apartment before looking at me again and nodding. She held the door open for me to enter and closed it behind me. Her apartment was a little messy wit
Everyone sat in silence until the door opened and Haru appeared behind it. She waved and smiled. Aki stood up in a jump and shouted, "Aunt?!" "Hi, Aki," Haru giggled. "Why do you seem so shocked?" "I just… didn't expect it." Haru chuckled. I signaled her with my head to step in and so did she. She stood next to me in the middle of the studio. "She's your aunt?" Risa wondered. "I see the resemblance, now that I know it," Astra added. "I didn't see her face properly that time in the car," Umi said. "I'm sure I've seen her at Saitama University before." Haru replied, "Yes, I am… was a
As I talked with Jun in his apartment, my glasses started ringing and a name appeared on the screen. Talents Of The Old Tomorrow? Another company. Should I answer? "A call?" Jun wondered as he drank more of his beer. I nodded and sighed. "Looks like it's another company. I should answer, but it's late and I'm tired of dealing with this—" "Just answer." The glasses kept ringing as I sat in silence. Why am I even thinking of avoiding it? My glasses recognized my command and the call started. "Hello?" I said. "Good evening, Mr. Miyahara," a woman replied. "I'm very sorry to bother you this late, but we haven't found the time to call you until now." She sounded truly embarrassed. "Don't worry, I'm used to it," I joked, but I realized it didn't sound as I had expected it to sound; it even sounded cocky. I cleared my throat and asked, "What do you need?" "Yes. I'm calling on behalf of Talents Of The Old Tomorrow. We are a company with the goal of bringing classical music to the prese