Chapter 44: HoYoMix Gets on Track!
When Yukino and Megumi returned, they happened to walk in right as Saku was teaching Michiru the dance.
The moment they opened the door, both girls wondered whether they'd entered the wrong room.
If they remembered correctly, HoYoMix was supposed to make games.
So why were people suddenly dancing?
"What... are you doing?"
It wasn't that they'd never seen dancing before.
They'd simply never seen a boy perform such an intentionally cute and feminine routine.
The choreography itself looked good, and Saku was handsome enough to pull off almost anything.
Yet combining the two produced an indescribably strange effect.
Naturally, that was because the routine had been choreographed for girls.
The playful wink, the bright smile, the peace signs, the raised leg...
On a girl, those movements looked energetic and charming.
On Saku...
It was difficult to describe.
Yukino increasingly felt that anyone spending time around Saku needed a very strong heart.
Otherwise, he'd occasionally do something so absurd that a normal person simply couldn't process it.
Right now, her eyes hurt almost as much as her head.
"Oh, you're back?"
Saku stopped dancing as though nothing unusual had happened.
"How's Kato's shoulder?"
Seeing that he showed absolutely no embarrassment, Yukino swallowed the criticism she'd been about to make.
"...Nothing serious. Just a little bruising."
"Bruising?"
Michiru immediately looked annoyed.
"Tomoya really went too far. How could he be that rough with a girl?"
She silently decided she'd have to find an opportunity to teach her cousin a lesson.
"He was furious at the time, so he probably didn't realize how much force he was using."
Saku looked toward Megumi.
"That doesn't excuse what he did, but Kato, you should protect yourself too. If someone starts looking unstable, put some distance between you first."
"Oh?"
Utaha folded her arms and gave him a mocking look.
"As expected of a boy. You're already making excuses for another boy."
Now that her rose-colored view of Tomoya had completely shattered, Utaha had very little patience left for him.
If anything, their relationship was beginning to resemble open hostility.
So hearing Saku apparently defend him immediately irritated her.
"Who's defending him?"
Saku looked at her strangely.
"I'm saying she should protect herself next time."
"I'd recommend carrying something like pepper spray. If someone tries that again, use it and get away."
"..."
Utaha paused.
All right.
She admitted she'd spoken too soon.
She'd misunderstood him.
"Thank you."
Megumi smiled faintly.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Then she tilted her head.
"But President... were you dancing just now?"
"I'll explain!"
Michiru eagerly raised her hand.
"Saku wrote a song for my band, remember? We've basically finished rehearsing it, but the performance still feels like it's missing something."
"So Saku said we needed choreography."
She pointed at him.
"He was demonstrating it for me."
Yukino gave Saku a long look before entering the room with Megumi and closing the door behind them.
"I didn't realize you could choreograph too."
Her tone was calm.
"You really are unusually versatile."
"It's nothing."
Saku planted his hands on his hips with ridiculous confidence.
"No need to worship me. I'm just a legend."
For several seconds, he looked extremely pleased with himself.
Then he finally turned back toward Michiru.
"I'll teach you properly when we get home. This isn't the best place for it."
He clapped his hands once.
"Everyone's here, so let's start club activities."
The others returned to their respective places and got to work.
Utaha began writing background lore for the game.
Michiru resumed arranging the music.
Yukino couldn't directly contribute to development yet, so she started teaching herself relevant technical skills.
Megumi handled miscellaneous work and began organizing the team's existing documents and materials.
The previously lively clubroom quickly fell quiet.
Soon, only the sounds of everyone working remained.
...
"[Genius Society]?"
Utaha stared at the character settings for a while before looking increasingly suspicious.
"How exactly did you come up with this?"
She glanced toward Saku.
"You didn't use yourself as the model for these people, did you?"
The geniuses described in the setting were simply unreasonable.
Their abilities operated on an entirely different level from ordinary people.
"Of course not."
Saku didn't even look up.
"If I were that kind of genius, why would I still be sitting here going to school?"
"...Fair point."
Utaha returned to the document.
"It's just that reading these descriptions somehow keeps making me think of you."
She muttered the words before resuming her work.
The sheer amount of writing required for this game was enormous.
Its worldbuilding was even larger.
The setting was still incomplete, yet the amount of early-stage writing alone was already considerable.
But that was exactly what Utaha enjoyed.
The more detail she added, the more real the world became.
There was something almost addictive about personally helping create an entire universe from nothing.
Utaha had only just settled back into her work when Michiru called Saku over next.
She showed him a section of sheet music, then played a short demo track so he could hear the arrangement.
And so HoYoMix's first real club activity came to a peaceful end amid constant work.
...
The following week passed without any major incidents.
Club activities proceeded smoothly.
During that time, Saku found enough free time to shoot Icy Tail's first music video.
It was currently in post-production.
His first light novel, Your Lie in April, had also officially been submitted for publication.
Originally, Saku had intended to send it to one of the major publishers.
Utaha, however, relentlessly wore him down until he finally gave in and let her handle it.
Having connections made things easier.
If Utaha was willing to recommend the manuscript personally, that was obviously better than throwing it into an open submission pile.
More importantly, Saku wouldn't need to handle the process himself.
Lately, he had been so busy that he wished he could learn a cloning technique.
Any opportunity to dump work onto someone else was something he welcomed with both hands and feet.
Mai had also begun doing livestream shopping.
More and more products were hiring her as an endorser.
None were major brands yet, but her face was becoming increasingly common in advertisements and promotional material.
Whatever else could be said, her fame was growing.
And so was her income.
More importantly, the profits from this strategy had increased Mai's influence inside her talent agency, giving her considerably more freedom over her own career.
She was also preparing to establish a personal studio.
Her plan was to make Your Name. its first film project, and she had already started searching for a production team.
Mai wanted Saku to act opposite her.
As the investor, she had enough authority to personally choose the male lead.
Unfortunately, Saku genuinely had no time.
He also didn't know how to act.
So for now, he hadn't agreed.
Seeing that she couldn't persuade him immediately, Mai temporarily set aside her work and returned to school.
Truthfully, ever since developing Adolescence Syndrome, she hadn't been back to Minegahara High School in quite some time.
Graduation was approaching, but she still needed to return and collect the necessary graduation paperwork.
Mai didn't want to cause a commotion.
So before the car reached Minegahara, she asked to be dropped off early and planned to walk the rest of the way.
She had barely stepped out when the woman in the driver's seat leaned toward the open window.
"Mai, I don't object to you going back to school, but be careful."
Then she added, "Have you decided which university you're going to attend?"
Mai paused.
She genuinely hadn't thought much about it.
Perhaps it was time she did.
"Not yet."
She adjusted her bag.
"But you don't need to worry about that."
"Fine."
The woman smiled.
"But we agreed on something else. Next time, bring that little boyfriend of yours with you."
"I want to evaluate him myself."
"Mom."
Mai immediately frowned.
"Please don't interfere with my relationship. I know what I'm doing."
The woman inside the car was Sakurajima Mai's biological mother, Sakurajima Kaede.
She was also Mai's original manager and her boss.
The talent agency Mai was signed with had been founded by Kaede herself.
Recently, she'd made a substantial amount of money thanks to the marketing strategy Mai brought her.
Naturally, that made her increasingly curious about the boy who might someday become her son-in-law.
"I'm not only your manager."
Kaede looked at her daughter matter-of-factly.
"I'm also your mother. Either identity gives me the right to ask."
"So it's settled."
Then, before Mai could object again, she added the bargaining chip.
"In exchange, I'll take care of setting up your personal studio."
Having unilaterally declared the matter decided, Sakurajima Kaede drove away.
Mai could only remain there, watching the car disappear with a helpless expression.
…