“Ahem, ahem, ahem…”
The gaze of the suddenly-silent Minami Yuji was simply too piercing — even Saito Miyako, who had been clawing and rolling her way through the industry for ages, couldn’t help but let out a few light coughs to cover the awkwardness.
It really was quite awkward.
After all, [Ichigo Pro]’s current strength genuinely couldn’t be put on display.
Tossed into Japan’s industry — a sea so vast it teemed with talent agencies — it was probably among the lowest of the low.
“B-but Yuji-kun, don’t go by what [Ichigo Pro] looks like now — back in the day we actually counted as a pretty famous small-scale agency in the industry.”
Saito Miyako felt she had to offer some kind of explanation at least.
[Ichigo Pro] had been wealthy once upon a time, had collaborated with no shortage of titan-class agencies, and was on a roll going from strength to strength.
She and her husband Saito Ichigo had been positively rubbing their palms together with excitement, planning to expand departments — fully intent on tearing the ‘small-scale agency’ label clean off [Ichigo Pro]’s head.
Only…
As she got toward the latter part of all this, Saito Miyako’s expression visibly clouded over.
Because what came after — everyone knew that story.
Ai Hoshino, the flagship idol of [Ichigo Pro], had bloomed like a comet and then in an instant departed this world.
[Ichigo Pro] had crashed and never recovered, and only today, two years on, had it begun to show even the slightest sign of bouncing back…
She couldn’t help but imagine.
If only Ai Hoshino hadn’t died.
If only they could return to that era that had once belonged to [Ichigo Pro]…
how wonderful that would be…
“It’ll come back — that era.”
A steady voice suddenly rang out beside her ear, pulling her back out of her recollections.
Saito Miyako lifted her head in surprise.
Only then did she realize that Minami Yuji was looking at her with an utterly serious expression.
As if drawing something out of that sincere look on his face…
Saito Miyako, who had only just been steeped in sad memories, couldn’t help but break into a wry, soundless laugh.
With a teasing tone, she spoke up: “Honestly…
sometimes I really can’t figure out where Yuji-kun gets all that self-confidence…
but…
no, I suppose that’s only natural — Yuji-kun, you’ve already proven what you’re capable of.”
That’s right!
Saito Miyako rallied her spirits anew.
Although she had lost Ai Hoshino forever, she had now found a koyaku just as outstanding — perhaps even more outstanding than Ai!
Powered by Minami Yuji’s superhuman charm and acting skill, [Ichigo Pro] was sure to return to that flourishing era of years past!
“I believe you can do it.” So Saito Miyako said.
And in response to her speaking these very words, even Aqua Hoshino — whose ‘this-life’s-ultimate-oshi-is-Ai-Hoshino’ stance was practically a known fact — sitting over on the other side, didn’t show any particular reaction at all, as if this was simply a matter of course.
But what neither of them had anticipated was— New chapters come out on g.com first.
The ever-confident Minami Yuji, contrary to his usual self, actually shook his head at this remark.
“It’s not just a matter of you believing in me — I’ve been believing in you all along too, Auntie Kyoko.”
Indeed, his acting skill was genuinely top-notch — LV8 acting; not just among koyaku, but even among adults, only renowned veteran actors could just barely go toe-to-toe with him head-on, never mind the fact that he also had the ‘Born Star’ trait as a trump card.
But—
“Auntie Kyoko, do you think an agency can be propped up on the strength of just a single artist alone?”
Minami Yuji had tossed out another question.
“…”
The sudden question made Saito Miyako furrow her brow slightly.
Based on her two years’ experience as an agency president, a single artist — and an artist as evidently possessed of ‘star’ potential as Minami Yuji at that — could absolutely prop up the rise of a small-scale agency.
Ai Hoshino was a textbook precedent right there.
Just have a top-tier headliner, and the agency could naturally enough orient all its activities around that headliner, and in this way piece together, bit by bit, a web of connections within the industry.
At the same time, expand the functions of the other departments, then leverage the relationship network they’d built to feed back into the agency’s newer artists — bundled deals, putting in a good word ahead of time with familiar producers, that kind of thing.
This ‘old-hands-pulling-up-the-newcomers’ model was an extremely common operational tactic within agencies.
Yet, for some reason, Saito Miyako found herself hesitating.
Because she just couldn’t shake the feeling that this answer wasn’t the one Minami Yuji was looking for.
After all, even she had vaguely picked up on it.
The Minami Yuji in front of her might look 8 years old, but he seemed to look at issues in a far more far-reaching way than your average adult.
Probably sensing the hesitation in Saito Miyako’s heart, Minami Yuji offered his own take.
“Yes — but also not entirely.
Both are the answer.”
Was a top-tier headliner important?
Of course it was!
And unquestionably so at that!
But what about beyond the top-tier headliner?
Of equal importance was also…
“The quality of the agency itself.”
Minami Yuji held up a finger.
That’s right — the quality of the agency itself was equally the single biggest factor in whether an artist could go far.
Although [Ichigo Pro] had endured a full two-year dry spell, the overall quality hadn’t actually dropped a notch — staff were scarce, yes, but every single one of them was taking this work seriously, no half-hearted slacking.
This much could be inferred from the original work too.
[Ichigo Pro] had not only succeeded in surviving in the industry — they had also seized the ‘influencer’ wave at exactly the right moment and turned a profit year on year.
And all of this had to be credited to the Saito Miyako standing right in front of him.
Not only had she — as a single mother — smoothly raised Aqua Hoshino and Ruby Hoshino, she had also juggled the development and operation of [Ichigo Pro] at the same time.
After all, inside the Japanese workplace, the unwritten rules of seniority-by-tenure and favoring men over women had long since been etched right into the bone. Read the latest chapters at g.com.
Sometimes, a collaboration on the verge of being finalized would just get scrapped on the spot because the senior person in charge was a woman — the client side would conclude that this company was completely unreliable, would actually pick a female employee to negotiate the deal — and this was no exaggeration whatsoever.
So, to put it without any exaggeration at all.
Saito Miyako, who had single-handedly carved a blood-soaked path through the industry with [Ichigo Pro] and lived to tell the tale — she was practically a superhuman.
And therefore…
“It’s not just that I believe in myself — I also believe in you, Auntie Kyoko.
We are definitely going to succeed.”
As he said this, a pale, fair palm extended forward.
“…” Saito Miyako.
Staring at the pale palm in front of her, her expression visibly froze.
Over these two years, being a woman, she had kept [Ichigo Pro] alive up to today — no one could possibly know just how much pain and hardship she had eaten through to do it — but even so, she had still kept on struggling, struggling away in the can’t-get-any-rottener black sludge of this industry.
She had never once craved validation from anyone other than her husband Saito Ichigo.
But the moment someone really did stand in front of her, and speak words to the effect of ‘I trust in your abilities’—
She still felt her heart give an inexplicable tremor.
She raised her head, sweeping her gaze all around.
What came into view inside [Ichigo Pro] was nothing but the scars left from two years ago — without so much as a sliver of vitality.
Only a sparse handful of employees were heads-down at their work.
But when she pulled her gaze back into focus, what entered her sight was Minami Yuji with his hand extended.
He was looking right at her, and in his eyes a star-like brilliance seemed to twinkle.
“Mm!”
Without the slightest hesitation, she lowered her body and gripped the palm he had extended.
“We are definitely going to succeed!”
Yes…
We have to succeed!
We absolutely have to succeed!
Right here, in this can’t-get-any-rottener industry…
she would make her and Minami Yuji’s dream come true!
The goal was admittedly quite a lofty one.
But unbelievable as it was — gripping Minami Yuji’s palm—
She just couldn’t shake the feeling that this goal absolutely could be achieved!
____
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