Nagato Tetsuya was caught off guard again. He mulled it over for a long moment before slowly speaking.
"May I ask why?"
"Is it the price? We can negotiate."
"It's not about the price," Tsushima Kagami said.
He walked to the window and looked out at the lively schoolyard below.
"These songs," he said.
"I wrote them for this cultural festival."
He paused.
"I wrote them so we could perform together on that stage — with my friends."
His gaze drifted to the spot in the schoolyard where the stage had stood yesterday. Then he turned around, his eyes moving quietly from one girl to the next.
"Those songs, that performance, the feeling of standing on that stage together with everyone —"
"They're precious memories. Ours."
"So I don't want to sell them."
Hearing Tsushima Kagami say that, the girls behind him glanced at one another — and in the end, every one of them turned to look at him, their smiles impossible to hide.
"Besides, I'm not really short on money."
"So I'm sorry, Nagato-senpai."
Nagato Tetsuya grew visibly anxious at that.
"Kagami."
"I understand how you feel, I really do."
"But have you considered — if these songs just stay in your hands, how many people will ever hear them?"
He paused.
"If you hand them to Sony Music, let professional artists sing them, get them on television, on the radio, at events all over the country —"
"Thousands and thousands of people would hear them."
"Your songs could move a lot of people."
"And furthermore..."
Nagato Tetsuya continued.
"Mr. Nagato."
Tsushima Kagami interrupted him again.
"Please, hear me out first."
Nagato Tetsuya looked at him.
"I said these four songs aren't for sale."
"But —"
Tsushima Kagami continued.
"I have other songs."
Nagato Tetsuya's brow furrowed slightly at that.
What he had his eye on were specifically these four songs — anything else might not suit his needs at all.
"But there's no time for me to wait around while you slowly write something new."
"And even if you did write something, there's no guarantee it would meet my requirements."
Tsushima Kagami caught the look on Nagato Tetsuya's face and smiled.
"No need to wait."
"Sayuri."
He suddenly called out to Sayuri behind him.
"Could you grab our full scores from before?"
"Sure!"
Sayuri hurried over to the cabinet and dug through the cardboard box of notebooks until she found the full orchestral scores they'd printed multiple copies of for practice.
She came back and handed them to Tsushima Kagami, who took them and passed them straight to Nagato Tetsuya.
Nagato Tetsuya took them and skimmed through.
Beyond the four songs whose performance he had already seen yesterday, there were four more songs that hadn't been performed.
These four were also popular tracks from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and K-On! — songs with no small following.
Originally, Tsushima Kagami had planned to perform three songs from each side. But because of differences in skill level and scheduling, it had ended up as two from each.
Nagato Tetsuya studied the melodies, the instrumental arrangements, the voicing and harmonics, and ran them through his head — before he knew it, he was humming softly to himself.
The style felt like a natural continuation of yesterday's four songs. They gave him the same feeling.
Sure, they weren't quite at the level of yesterday's God Knows... and Don't Say "Lazy". But each had its own character, and none of them were slouches.
At least for now, this particular feeling he was after — only Kagami could write it.
The indie musicians he knew could try to imitate Kagami's current style first and then write something, but leaving aside whether there'd even be time for that, there was no guarantee the result would satisfy him as much as these tracks already did.
After turning it over and over in his head, Nagato Tetsuya spoke through gritted teeth, looking pained.
"Fine. I'll take these four then!"
"Kagami, do you have any other requirements for the contract?"
He asked quickly.
Tsushima Kagami once again adopted an apologetic expression.
"Sorry about this, Mr. Nagato."
"I'm not planning to sell these four either."
Nagato Tetsuya's face instantly flushed red.
This... was this kid messing with him?
Tsushima Kagami quickly pressed on.
"Mr. Nagato, don't get upset."
"Let me finish."
"I'm only saying I don't want to sign a buyout contract."
As Tsushima Kagami spoke, Kosaka Akane hurried over to refill Nagato Tetsuya's cup with fresh hot tea, swapping out the one that had already gone cold.
Nagato Tetsuya's expression eased slightly at that.
So Tsushima Kagami wanted a royalty split.
He picked up the fresh tea, took a sip, and spoke.
"So you're looking for a royalty-sharing arrangement?"
Tsushima Kagami smiled and nodded — then shook his head.
"What I want to sign is a licensing and distribution deal."
"The copyright stays with me. You handle distribution and promotion, and take a cut of the distribution royalties."
Nagato Tetsuya blinked — then couldn't help but laugh.
This kid, he's got some nerve.
"Kagami."
He shook his head.
"What you're proposing is basically asking Sony Music to do free labor for a newcomer."
"We put in the resources, the distribution channels, the promotional push — and the copyright stays with you."
"Taking only a distribution split like that — the company would never agree to it."
Tsushima Kagami nodded and didn't argue.
He knew perfectly well it was impossible.
He just wanted to see where the other man's floor was.
Nagato Tetsuya looked at his expression and felt a faint unease creep in.
He could sense it — this kid genuinely didn't seem to care whether a deal got made or not.
And yet he himself needed these songs badly.
This kid was tougher to deal with than he'd imagined.
He thought it over, then put forward another proposal through clenched teeth.
"All right — let's try a different approach. A co-publishing deal."
Nagato Tetsuya said seriously.
"Copyright split fifty-fifty."
"Our company handles the full promotional push. Revenue split fifty-fifty."
He looked Tsushima Kagami in the eye.
"That's the best terms I can offer."
The room went quiet for a few seconds.
Everyone was watching Tsushima Kagami.
Half the copyright.
Sony Music's full promotional weight behind it.
A fifty-fifty revenue split.
These terms... someone who didn't know better would think they were negotiating with some top-tier music producer.
But Tsushima Kagami still shook his head.
"Mr. Nagato."
"What's the difference between giving up half the copyright and just selling it outright?"
Nagato Tetsuya's brow tightened slightly.
"From my perspective," Tsushima Kagami continued, "I can't judge right now whether that half a copyright is worth trading for your promotional resources."
He paused.
"But if these songs blow up down the line, that half is gone forever."
He looked at Nagato Tetsuya.
"I'd rather let them collect dust in my drawer than do that."
"And when I eventually have the means, I can develop them myself, at my own pace."
Kosaka Akane and Hiratsuka Shizuka quietly nodded in agreement.
Once Kagami had built up enough capital, even setting up a small music studio — these songs would absolutely be the breakout hits to put it on the map.
Whether in terms of name recognition or revenue, that outcome would be far better than splitting the copyright fifty-fifty with Sony.
Nagato Tetsuya fell silent for a long time after hearing that.
He looked at the boy sitting across from him, and a feeling suddenly came over him.
This kid doesn't feel like a high schooler at all.
He felt like a seasoned veteran who'd spent years navigating the business world.
And he wasn't thinking small, either.
Private Ousai High School did have a fair number of heirs and heiresses from major conglomerates enrolled. If this person was one of those well-connected young scions — and given the musical talent he'd already shown — holding onto the copyrights really would be the play that maximized long-term value.
"Kagami."
He smiled ruefully and shook his head.
"You're making this very difficult for me."
Tsushima Kagami smiled in return.
"Mr. Nagato."
Nagato Tetsuya looked at him.
"I have one more proposal."
Nagato Tetsuya raised an eyebrow.
"Go ahead."
Tsushima Kagami stood up and walked over to face him.
"The copyright stays entirely with me — that condition doesn't change."
"The royalty split can be seventy-thirty."
"I only take thirty percent."
"If that's still not acceptable, then let's just leave it."
A music distributor could operate profitably even without owning the original copyright — simply by licensing the work and taking a service fee from the royalty split. And on top of that, the seventy percent he was offering was already far above the standard fifty-fifty arrangement.
Sony Music actually did have licensing-based revenue models like this for certain works.
He walked back to his seat, sat down, and spoke in an even tone.
Tsushima Kagami genuinely did have his eye on Sony Music's promotional and distribution muscle.
He could tell — this Mr. Nagato who had introduced himself as a senior from the same school was urgently in need of exactly these songs.
Something like this usually meant the label had an important project already in motion, and all they were missing was the right music. Typically, that meant a debut single specifically picked to launch one of their signed artists.
In practice, after an artist broke through, the real money didn't start rolling in until the second or even third album. By then, Sony would already have a whole library of fully bought-out songs lined up — the scraps from the debut deal wouldn't put a dent in their long-term earnings.
Because what mattered was the artist, not any single song. Once an artist was popular, fans would rush to buy their music even if it was terrible.
As for his own company — it hadn't officially launched yet, was still just a shell — but if this deal went through, that thirty percent royalty cut would stack up some solid seed capital.
And in another few years, once he was fully an adult and ready to take on proper company operations — if he launched an animation division, say...
Sure, animation was a brutal, labor-intensive industry — but he didn't have to do the grinding himself. He could put the Japanese industry to work for him.
The Tokyo Governor and the Prime Minister would probably thank him for contributing to employment!
By then, if he put out something like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or K-On!, and some of the music had already been made popular by Sony's promotional machine — he could bring it straight back into the anime, and it would instantly drive buzz around the show and fast-track the company's reputation.
Of course, if they didn't agree, that was fine too.
Worst case, he'd release everything himself down the line. Give it a few more years, and the age of online digital media would be in full swing.
Physical record distribution in Japan would still hold on — it was remarkably persistent — but it wouldn't have the absolute stranglehold over the industry it did right now.
Nagato Tetsuya was quiet for a moment. In the end, he let out a long breath.
"Alright then."
He looked at Tsushima Kagami.
"The terms you've laid out are beyond the scope of what I'm authorized to agree to on my own."
"I'll need to take this back to the company and report to the president — see what they say from the top."
Tsushima Kagami nodded.
"That's fine."
Nagato Tetsuya looked at him, and suddenly laughed again.
"Kagami."
"I genuinely want to know — where did you pick up all these negotiation tactics?"
Tsushima Kagami thought about it.
"TV, probably."
Nagato Tetsuya stared at him for a beat — then burst out laughing.
When the laughter subsided, he looked at Tsushima Kagami with a serious expression.
"I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
The two exchanged contact information and said their goodbyes.
Nagato Tetsuya turned and headed for the door. The sound of his footsteps faded into the distance.
Tsushima Kagami glanced at his watch.
"It's about time."
"Let's go check on Nayotake."
____
Danmachi: Summoning Ruri Gokou, And oth
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