Japanese Entertainment: A Comeback Beginning from Bankrupt President

meet again.

If this plot were made into a TV series, the girl named Tachibana Misaki would at least be the second female lead, or even the first female lead, since the two strangers met three times in one afternoon.

Three times! According to the psychology of love, that's enough time to ask for their contact information and preferences.

I'm sorry, but this isn't a TV drama shoot.

"Tachibana-kun, there's something really important I need to ask you to do," Kazuya Sawashiro said earnestly, explaining all the details to Misaki Tachibana. "...Whether Amano can make it to the summer music festival depends on how much buzz we generate during the single's release. I'll do my best, but I need more people's help."

When Misaki Tachibana first arrived, she was a little at a loss. But after hearing Kazuya Sawashiro's request, she and the atmosphere around her became unusually serious.

This is no small matter; she could refuse.

But when she thought about how her efforts could help her idol reach even greater heights, only one answer remained in Tachibana Misaki's mind.

If she wants to do something, then go with her to do it.

"I understand," Misaki Tachibana nodded emphatically, agreeing to Kazuya Sawashiro's request. "I will tell the other club members about this and ask them to help me find schools willing to help. I will definitely find a hundred schools for Amano-san."

"Let's cheer each other on!" The instructor, standing between the two, grabbed one of them with each hand and said excitedly, "I'll be supporting you both, so don't be shy with me!"

"Can I borrow money?" Kazuya Sawashiro blurted out.

"Hehe...No way!"

...

The laughter and chatter from the square carried far, but it couldn't reach Kazama Yumi's recording studio. At that moment, she stood by the window with her phone in hand, coldly watching the bustling world outside with its flashing neon lights.

The voice on the phone made her unhappy.

"Kazama, this morning, Kazuya Sawashiro went to his alma mater, and this afternoon he brought a lot of people to Shibuya to meet with Aki Amano. You two chatted there for so long, you should know what he's up to, right?"

Kazama Yumi genuinely wanted to know if this person had some serious illness.

It's obvious they hired a detective to track Kazuya Sawashiro, otherwise how would they know so much? Perhaps that detective is right here in the crowd, recording everything about Kazuya Sawashiro.

But yesterday he said he didn't mind these actions and wanted to kick people back to the bottom when they were about to succeed.

What? You found Sakura's Clow Cards under the bed?

Transform today?

"He said he was worried Amano would be nervous during the promotional event, so he specially went to the school to find a dozen or so fans," Kazama Yumi said calmly, as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself. "As for what tricks he's playing... are you scared? Scared that your group, which you invested so much in, will lose to those two?"

"..."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a burst of unrestrained laughter: "Hahaha... You mean I, the youngest executive director and future youngest president of Watanabe Entertainment, would be afraid of someone like Kazuya Sawashiro who can't even afford rent and has to live in a cheap internet cafe?"

"Isn't this all thanks to you?"

"No! It's all that guy's fault!" The man's voice rose several octaves as he roared into the phone, "He stole what was rightfully mine, so I'll destroy everything he has. What's wrong with that?"

"Heh~" Kazama Yumi sneered, exposing his hypocritical nature. "If she really belonged to you, why would she leave you at all costs? Are you still deceiving yourself now, Executive Director Watanabe Souta?"

"How annoying! How dare you, a traitor, say such things to me? With just a little effort, I can turn you into a homeless vagrant, mingling with those stinking street urchins..."

Amidst her frantic roars and the sounds of objects shattering on the ground, Kazama Yumi moved her phone further away and waited quietly for Watanabe Souta to finish venting his emotions.

She is indeed a traitor, but what right does that coward Watanabe Sōta have to criticize her?

After a long silence, when only the clearly audible breathing could be heard from the other end of the phone, Kazama Yumi finally spoke:

"Kazuya has a high school classmate named 'Ayase,' who promised to write a song for him. If you want to know if you can beat him, go find him."

"Ayase?" Watanabe Souta frowned, biting his index finger as he muttered to himself, "A name I've never heard of before? Is this person male or female? Is she registered with the Music Copyright Society? No famous songwriter in Japan would authorize Sawashiro Kazuya, and is this person really his high school classmate...?"

"I don't know," Kazama Yumi interrupted Watanabe Souta impatiently. "I don't know any of the answers to your questions. If you want to know, go find the answers yourself."

"You..." Watanabe Sōta suppressed his anger and said coldly, "How do I know you didn't just make up a non-existent person to waste my time and energy here?"

You got it right, but it was an open conspiracy.

When Kazuya Sawashiro spoke to her, Yumi Kazama knew that "Ayase" was a non-existent person, because she had never heard of someone who had been exposed to music since the age of four and was now in his twenties and could create music independently.

Who is Kazama Yumi?

She's a music producer with her own recording studio, and she's known Kazuya Sawashiro for a long time. She's certain she's never heard of this classmate before.

However, Kazuya Sawashiro still told her, leading Yumi Kazama to conclude that Kazuya Sawashiro was hiding something from her. So she told Sōta Watanabe this important but non-existent information.

It's better to spend time and energy looking for someone who doesn't exist than to keep focusing on Kazuya Sawashiro. That way, Kazuya might be less constrained when he does things.

This is Kazama Yumi's open scheme.

As for whether Watanabe Sōta believed it or not… she didn’t give him time to doubt, mimicking Sōta Sōta’s tone as she repeated what he had said yesterday:

"A classmate of mine from high school named Ayase started learning music at the age of 4 and was a natural at songwriting... That's what He told me too."

Kazama Yumi's voice reached Watanabe Sōta's ears on the other end of the phone. She continued, "When Kazuya said that, he looked very confident. Do you need me to explain what 'confident' means?"

"...You don't need to interfere," Watanabe Sōta's attitude remained icy. "I'll have someone find this person. Do you know anything else?"

"Well... I don't know." Kazama Yumi's lips curled up.

The smile doesn't disappear; it just appears randomly on someone's face. Before, it was Watanabe Souta, and now it's Kazama Yumi.

Watanabe Sōta was somewhat helpless in the face of her seemingly unreasonable answer.

If she really does end it all, then I won't be able to threaten her.

Watanabe Sōta was much more cautious in his wording, lacking the previous blatant threats, but he still subtly reminded Kazama Yumi not to do anything underhanded, as he had plenty of money to hire a private investigator to monitor her every move.

Kazama Yumi simply laughed it off.

"You should find 'Ayase' first. I'll keep in touch with you. After all, everything I have is hard-earned, and I don't want to lose it."