The next day at noon, having just finished contacting the person in charge of the exhibition hall, Nagasaki Soyo came to Chihaya Tetsuya's house at the earliest opportunity and relayed many of the arrangements for the upcoming joint exhibition.
There was a lot of information Soyo shared, but for Tetsuya, two things were the most important.
First, at this exhibition, his booth would be placed right next to Mr. Jean's, in the center of the entire hall.
Second, the organizers of the [TGC] had also been invited to participate in this joint exhibition.
"By the way, because the organizers just released the announcement this morning, news about this joint exhibition is now all over social media."
As she spoke, Soyo showed Tetsuya the news on her phone.
"[TGC Warm-up], [TGC Selection], [Top French Designer Joins TGC], [NozAK! Invited to Exhibition]... ah, and this one, [Mysterious Indie Brand "Starry Sky" Makes Its Debut]."
Seeing this headline, Soyo clicked her tongue in amazement.
"The organizers actually put our information in such a prominent spot."
"That was probably at Mr. Jean's request... After all, according to Ms. Yamabuki, the whole reason he's holding this joint exhibition is basically because of me."
A helpless, wry smile appeared on Tetsuya's face.
"For an indie brand's debut exhibition, this lineup is a little too extravagant."
"Thanks to this Mr. Jean, my mother is over the moon right now."
Soyo sighed as well.
"Distributors are already starting to approach my mother to talk about collaborations. Seriously, they were all just waiting and watching before, but the moment the news of this joint exhibition came out, they all swarmed us. I guess this is the power of the [TGC]..."
"..."
If the influence of the [TGC] alone was enough for his personal brand to receive this much attention before it had even officially launched, then... just what level of influence did Jean-Pierre Stanley, a man who could sway the decisions of the [TGC] with a single thought, possess?
Will I ever have the chance... to become a designer as amazing as him?
"Whatever, thinking about this won't help. I'd be better off using this time to draw a few more designs!"
Tetsuya shook his head, preparing to focus on his work once more.
But just then, Soyo spoke again.
"Wait a moment, Tetsuya. Before you get to work, I have one more thing to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Anon's band account received an email from a record company last night. According to them, it seems they want to sign us..."
In other words...
"It looks like we might actually be making our major debut."
...
"Isn't this amazing?! We actually have a chance to make our major debut!"
At the RiNG café, Chihaya Anon, having just made the same announcement, spoke excitedly to the other members.
"And according to them, if we just write eight more original songs, we can start working on our first album!"
"...Are you for real?"
Shiina Taki still couldn't believe Anon's sudden announcement.
"Are you sure you weren't scammed? Which record company contacted you?"
"Relax, of course I checked it out. The one who contacted us is the same company that's producing the live disc for [Summer Zodiac]'s recent concert! Let me think, the name is..."
"Parader."
Suddenly, Takamatsu Tomori spoke the name, and Anon immediately nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, that's it, Parader... eh?"
Anon paused in surprise.
"Why, how did you know, Tomori?"
"Ai told me before."
Tomori lowered her head, a little embarrassed.
"When they were producing the disc for this live... she specifically recommended our band to the record company. Not only that, she also said... [Summer Zodiac] will continue to invite us to perform with them at their lives in the future..."
"Ai?!"
Hearing that name, Taki's expression immediately became incredibly wary.
"Tomori? Since when did you get so friendly with that dangerous person?!"
"It was a little while ago... Also, Ai isn't a dangerous person anymore."
Tomori quickly defended Hoshino Ai.
"She was only acting so extreme before because of some special circumstances. Now she's so nervous she can't even speak properly to Chihaya-san!"
"..."
Chihaya Anon, who knew the whole story, silently averted her gaze upon hearing this.
Taki, however, frowned with a bit of hesitation.
Since she hadn't had much contact with Hoshino Ai herself, her impression of her was still stuck on that day at [RiNG] when Ai locked Tetsuya in the recording studio.
But... considering that Ai did promote [MyGO!!!!!] to the record company, and that she hadn't heard Anon complain about her recently, Taki reluctantly gave a small nod, accepting Tomori's explanation.
"But I really never expected we'd make our major debut before Sakiko..."
Taki, who had always seen Sakiko as the goal she was chasing, couldn't help but marvel.
"I thought we'd be at least a year or two behind them."
"Well, Sakiko-san's band hasn't even gathered all its members yet."
Anon shook her head.
"Just the other day, Mutsumi and I finally came to an agreement with Nyamu-chan... ah, I mean their drummer. They don't even have a candidate for the remaining bassist."
"...A bassist?"
Hearing this, Taki was lost in thought.
"For a band on Sakiko's level, that person's skill... mhm, should be fine, but..."
"What's wrong, Taki?"
Anon looked curiously at Taki's suddenly conflicted expression.
"Is something bothering you?"
"...It's nothing, just a small idea."
Taki shook her head.
"I'll talk to her and Uika at school later. Besides asking us to keep making new songs, does the record company have any other requirements?"
"Nope. They know we're just high school students, so they haven't put too many restrictions on us... Well, actually, I, or rather my brother, has a new job he'd like to commission from everyone."
"?" x3.
Everyone present turned their curious gazes to Anon, who didn't beat around the bush and stated her idea directly:
"I want everyone to wear outfits designed by my brother... and hold a small live concert in August!"