“Get Taira-san on a call right now!” Kana had her arms crossed as they zipped through the lanes on their way back home.
“I…”
“I don’t care about your crush. Get her on!”
“No. What? Wait!”
Jina clapped her hands and looked back at Kana. All the hatred and impatience in her vanished as soon as their eyes met, and the realization sank in. The way he had handled the question all the way back then had made it sound like the answer was pretty obvious. But now, wasn’t something a bit off? If he had a crush on her, then…
“Oi, Yamazaki!” Jina shouted, turning to him, “You dare have a crush on another woman while being married with a child? Huh!? You sleazy bastard! What will your wife think about that!?”
“I don’t have a child. Where are you getting all of this information from?” He snapped back, still weaving through the cars like a master. His handling was way beyond impressive. “Also, I don’t have a crush on Aiko Taira. What is wrong with you kids? I don’t love her, alright? Not…anymore.”
“Ahh! You used to have an affair with her despite being married with two kids?! And then you gave up on it because you grew a conscience and did not want to betray your marriage anymore? How dare you play with the feelings of two different women, and then leave Taira-san like that?! What will your wife think about that, huh!?”
“I don’t have a single child, Ohara-san! Why would I have two!?” He raised his voice, “And why would my wife be mad about me leaving Taira-san? No, wait. None of that even happened, so why would she need to think about it either way?”
“Ahh, Yamazaki, you’re no fun. You’re not supposed to be replying like that, or else you’ll ruin your stoic character. Now, just shut up and tell us what’s up with you and Aiko Taira already!”
“She’s my ex!” He ended up saying it out loud as he drifted a corner and entered the lane which led directly to Katsuhara Apartments.
As the car raced to the parking lot of the building and came to a halt, nobody spoke a word. Something about the two of them – one who still looked like she could be a model, and one who hadn’t had any sleep for the last week – just made sense to Kana. The part where they broke up, that was. That was what made sense.
“Yamazaki, it’s not good to lie, you know? Now, dial her up and give Kana the phone!”
“I’m not lying, Ohara-san.” He closed the door behind him, and all of them started heading into the elevator. Yamazaki pulled out his phone, “I will call her either way.”
They waited, and he dialed the number. Once it started ringing, he handed the phone to Kana. She took it with as much reluctance as she could. She didn’t really know what he expected her to do if she immediately started with some curses. If they had broken up, then there had to be some bad blood between them, right? His reaction to her name had been quite visceral that day.
The doors opened, and she picked up.
“Jun? What happened?”
“Ah, Taira-san! It is me, Kana Minami.”
“Minami-san? How? Oh…right. Yamazaki is your manager. What happened?”
“I want to know more about Ruby Passion, Taira-san. Would it be possible for you to come to our apartment as soon as possible?”
There was no reply. Kana waited for something, but Taira did not speak. The silence started to creep into her heart, wondering if she had asked something that was a bit too much. If she was not supposed to know that Aiko Taira used to be related to them once upon a time. In this industry, you never knew. Maybe Lilac Shower still had control over her. Maybe she still worked with them in some capacity.
“Network loss?” Emi looked at the lack of sound coming from her phone and asked.
Kana took it off her ear and looked at the screen. Sure enough. The network had gone away. Just the network. Because she was in an elevator. Obviously. Her thoughts came back to her, and she cracked a smile. A single announcement had rattled her more than it should have.
Once the doors opened again, Taira was back on the phone.
“Hello? Can you hear me, Minami-san?”
“Yes! I can hear you now!”
“I said that-”
“Taira-san?” Jina asked in a joyous tone.
Kana put the phone down as their apartment door came into focus. Aiko Taira was standing right there, beside Ryu Sakai. Both of them had a look of relief on their face the moment the three of them walked in. Kana cut the call and handed the phone back to Yamazaki.
“As I was saying…” Aiko smiled, “We have been standing here for the last five minutes, worried to death about what happened to all of you.”
“Yamazaki!” Sakai groaned, “If you’re gonna do something like this, then at least tell us!”
“Sorry, sir!” He bowed as an apology, “It was a very spontaneous decision, so it escaped my mind. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“It’s alright. Get up. At least take us inside for now, come on. You’re here, too, Emi Kitamura? Good. We’ll be able to deal with all of our agendas at once.”
Jina moved up and unlocked the door. Kana and Emi looked at each other to share a quiet, unstated look. Things had been going extremely well until an hour ago, so surely there wouldn’t be too much trouble. Maybe Sakai would even let Emi go back home and free her. She had clearly proven that she wasn’t going to betray them or leak any sensitive information.
They followed behind the rest of the group, and everyone took random spots around the apartment. Jina went straight to the kitchen to pour everyone some drinks, while Sakai sat on the couch. Aiko took one of the chairs to the place she had been sitting at on the very first day. Kana sat on the dining table itself, while Emi tried to hide from Sakai’s view by taking her place on the stairs. Yamazaki, for some reason, kept standing up.
“First of all, Kana and Jina, sign this contract that Taira will hand to you.” Sakai spoke up, “It is to confirm that the Coalition recognizes you as an official secondary group under Sakai Entertainment. Now, instead of being counted as Pink Beats, you will be counted as Velvet Choker.”
“How does that help? Won’t our points get divided?” Kana said, walking over to Aiko to grab the papers from her.
Sakai waved her off, “Nobody’s insane enough to do that. It’s just that, based on whatever position Sakai Entertainment gets, both groups will now receive separate stages for performances. Earlier, you would have had to share a stage with Pink Beats. This solves that problem.”
She headed back to the table with a pen as she read the specific details. At the same time, Jina appeared from the kitchen with a bunch of glasses and two bottles of wine. Handing one glass to everyone, she poured some for herself and then started passing the bottle around. Kana smiled as she took it from her and filled herself a glass. The view on Sakai’s face was enough to keep her fulfilled.
“That’s the first big thing done.” He took a breath, “Now, before we get to the main event, let us discuss Emi Kitamura. We have talked to your mother and confirmed that you’ve gotten a job with us. We played around with the idea that you ran away from home, but your good behavior changed the Coalition’s opinion. I had to push hard for that, you know? I can’t have my new duo launching without their choreographer, can I?”
“Huh?” Emi looked shocked, but still took the wine bottle and filled her glass. On the other side, Aiko passed it to Yamazaki with grace, as if nothing had ever transpired between them in the past.
“We do our research, Kitamura. You’ve got videos from your previous dance class on their YouTube channel. I noticed the similarities between the movements there and what these girls were doing. You did a good job, though, so I’ve got no complaints. It is necessary to have some variety in the industry once in a while. When we need to replace you, we will. That time hasn’t come yet, though.”
“T-thank you?”
Kana shot her a quick glare and shook her head. There was no need to say that. But it had already left her mouth, and Sakai had already told her not to bother. His ego had already been boosted. She hated it, but it hadn’t been Emi’s fault. She was just doing what anyone else would do. She was following what she had been taught as a child. Unfortunately, it didn’t work like that here. You needed to think twice about who you were bowing to.
“We’ll get a contract ready for you, and you can move out of that cramped apartment eventually. The security will still be there, though, so you can only leave once the Coalition is done approving the contract. Stick tight, and we’ll try to get it done as soon as possible.”
“Don’t worry, Kitamura-san. The most you will have to wait is two weeks. I know it sounds long, but that is a very short period as far as the Coalition is concerned.” Taira added.
The bottle passed to Sakai, but he did not take it. Kana knew he was thirsting to have some of that wine, but the fact that his ego did not let him take it was pure nectar to her. It fueled her happiness so much more than Ruby Passion Jr. had pulled it down by existing. She crossed her legs and cleared her throat.
“Ruby Passion Jr.”
“Yes.” Sakai pointed at her, “Those bastards over at Lilac Shower think they’re being smart. Someone clearly leaked our contract to them so that they could do it before us. Now, we just look like we’re riding on their coattails by announcing Velvet Choker. There’s no option, though. We need to announce you both eventually, and it will have to be soon. Wait too long, and we will actually end up being a cheap ripoff.”
“That’s not possible.” Jina sighed, now on one of the barstools. Sakai looked back at her, and she smiled, “After all, I don’t think they could make a song better than Jenga. Not for their debut, at least. Ruby Passion consistently has some of the most safely viral tunes ever, and if Jr. maintains the same rhythm, then we’ll win. Familiarity might sell, but innovation gets more attention.”
“True. Good point, Jina.” The president gave a single loud clap, “So, work on getting that song perfected. Kitamura, you can get the steps down at home, and we’ll send someone who learns from you and teaches Kana and Jina. When you get here on the weekends, you continue from where you left off. Got that?”
“Y-yes…”
This time, her response was much more subdued and disinterested. Probably because of Kana’s earlier reaction. Maybe not the most naturally appropriate way of answering, but better than the happiness she had shown before. Kana gave her a smile and a nod to approve.
“What about the competition?” Yamazaki brought it up.
“What about it?” Sakai asked.
“We’re gonna win, Yamazaki-san.” Kana answered, “If Ruby Passion Jr. is working under Lilac, then it will take them only three weeks to get to the same level as Ruby Passion. Then, there will be six monsters roaming around the battlefield. We can’t do anything about that, though. So, we will do the next best thing. Climb as high as possible, and as soon as possible.”
“We have gotten fifth place once, Kana.” The president did not seem to share the enthusiasm, “It is a difficult competition, and none of the Pink Beats members are talking to each other right now. You will climb the ranks all alone, will you? You and Jina will beat the veterans of Pink Beats?”
“Yes.”
The quick response and its confidence filled the room with silence. Even Kana was surprised. Because that answer hadn’t come from her. It had come from Jina instead. The girl who had been so adamant about maintaining her happy, kind, and understanding personality till now. She was the one who had made a declaration of victory against Ruby Passion Jr. right away.
Sakai laughed, “You will? Alright, then. How about this? If you can put your money where your mouth is, I will…uh…”
He nodded.
“I will, um…raise your monthly salary to a million yen. Both of you. In return, as you said, you will get a minimum of fifth place.”
Kana laughed, unrestrained. She could have done whatever she wanted right there, but something told her that talking to Sakai right now would be the wrong move. He had just given her even more motivation to destroy Nobuko Ohara and her group. Motivation that she didn’t even need, but definitely appreciated. So, well, she was going to use that extra motivation the right way.
By proving to him that she didn’t even need to think hard about the chances. Because she didn’t. She knew she was going to win. There was no other outcome that she would accept.
“Taira-san.” She spoke up.
“Yes, Minami-san?”
“You can ask that interior designer to delay their work for some time. We might add a thing or two to the order.”