"Writing songs?"
"Signed a contract with a record label?"
"And you're busy recording a single?!"
Upon hearing the news brought back by Hisashi for the first time, Kazuhiko thought he hadn't woken up yet and was having a bizarre dream.
However, after repeatedly confirming that he was indeed not dreaming and that Hisashi was not joking with him, Kazuhiko fell into a long silence once again.
"..."
Wait a minute.
Why does this scene seem familiar, as if it just happened last week?
Right.
It was also because of the issue with Akira writing light novels last week.
"—Bang!"
Kazuhiko slammed his right hand heavily onto the desk, startling Hisashi.
"Recording a single?"
He said in a deep, angry voice:
"That little brat, does he still have any self-awareness as a serialized Manga Artist—!?"
Is he actually angry?
Seeing this, Hisashi cautiously spoke up:
"Then, should I call Mochizuki-sensei over to talk to him in person?"
"...That won't be necessary."
"?"
At this point, Kazuhiko's tone was also a bit frustrated:
"Since it has already happened, there is no point in saying anything now."
The reason they intervened in Kara no Kyoukai last week was because Kara no Kyoukai had a subtle and complex relationship with FSN and was tied to the interests of Shonen Jump, so they couldn't ignore it.
As one of the three giants in the publishing industry, Shueisha also had business in light novels, which is why they were finally able to reach this mutually beneficial cooperation.
But music was a completely unfamiliar field that Shonen Jump, and even Shueisha, had no way to get involved in.
Strictly speaking, this was his personal business and did not fall within the scope of what they could interfere with.
If they really had to say something, they could only question him on the grounds that it 'might affect the manga serialization.'
But at least looking at the current situation, this reason wouldn't hold up either.
So, what else could he do?
Of course, forgive him.
No, it should be lying low.
"Let's leave it at that for now; don't worry about him for the time being."
Kazuhiko regained his composure and said:
"Shonen Jump is, at its core, centered on manga. As long as what he does doesn't affect the manga serialization, it's fine."
Conversely, if the performance of Fate/stay night declines later, then he would really need to have a serious talk with him.
"Anyway, regarding Mochizuki-sensei, I'll have to keep troubling you to handle him."
"I understand."
Hisashi understood what he meant, but what else could he say?
He could only smile bitterly and nod.
Sigh.
Encountering such a genius who is good at causing trouble is truly helpless.
---
Hisashi's expression when he finally left didn't seem very good, and Akira felt a bit embarrassed about this.
In any case, I hope this news doesn't affect his mood too much.
Regardless, having settled things here for now, Akira returned to the recording studio to continue recording the single with Rin.
Actually, Marigold had been successfully recorded this week, and they should be rushing to produce the CDs by now.
Their representative, Miss Tanigawa Haruka, said that the initial production of the Marigold CD was planned for 5,000 copies.
Considering the various initial costs, they needed to sell 3,000 copies after the CD's release to break even, which was also the hard line between life and death.
For a newcomer, if the total sales of a single could reach 10,000 copies, that would already be a decent result.
And producing 5,000 copies for the first edition showed that the company had some confidence in the quality of the song Marigold.
The release date had also been set for August 20th, after Obon.
During this time, Miss Tanigawa Haruka also began to get busy, mainly handling matters related to pre-release promotion.
As for the various promotional activities that required the singers to participate in person, they would only officially begin after the CD was released.
And now, they were recording their next single, snow flower.
Unlike Marigold, which had its arrangement completed before arriving at the recording studio, the arrangement for snow flower needed to be done on-site, so the recording progress was slightly slower.
Of course, Being adopted the same strategy for the release of snow flower, which was to release it in line with the season, so there was plenty of time.
And during the production of snow flower this time, the recording studio staff saw for the first time how Akira's arrangement work was conducted.
"The rhythm here needs to be a bit slower... Right..."
"Okay, stop. Adjust it back a little bit more."
"The strings here should be..."
Under Akira's direction, the arrangement was constantly refined.
Occasionally, when encountering parts he didn't know how to express, Akira would communicate with Rin, and Rin would accurately express his vague ideas.
But this also let the other staff members in the recording studio know that Akira was actually a complete newcomer who didn't have much understanding of music theory.
A complete newcomer, yet able to create songs like Marigold and snow flower...
Is this what a musical genius is?
However, after quickly confirming another detail, Murata Ryuta, who was serving as the recording engineer, finally couldn't help but ask Akira:
"Mochizuki-sensei, is it really okay like this?"
"Of course."
Akira nodded with a smile, but his tone revealed an unquestionable sense of confidence.
"This is enough."
Rin didn't speak on the side, but she looked completely supportive of him unconditionally.
Is this really just a musical duo and not a couple?
Murata Ryuta couldn't help but complain in his heart, and at the same time, he was a little worried.
You have to know that in their line of work, band members and members of musical groups dating is a major taboo among taboos.
However, returning to the work itself, seeing this, Murata Ryuta didn't say anything more, just burying his surprise and hesitation in his heart.
"Alright, I understand."
What surprised him was that during arrangement, most musicians would go through a process of trial and error, modification, and polishing, and only after repeated comparisons could they finally decide on the approach.
But this situation almost didn't exist with Akira.
It was more like he had determined the arrangement in his mind early on, and then used language to direct people to reproduce it in reality.
Regarding this, Akira thought:
Well, that's not wrong.
Time spent working seriously always passes quickly. When the work time ended, Akira and Rin said goodbye to the staff and then went home together.
"By the way,"
Walking on the road, Rin suddenly remembered something and said to Akira:
"Yesterday, Miss Tanigawa told me that at midnight the day after tomorrow, Tokyo FM's late-night program Hello World will play a promotional clip of Marigold."
"Is the promotion starting so soon?"
Akira was a bit surprised.
Although that A&R manager Shingo said at the beginning that they wanted to release it before the end of summer, he didn't expect the action to be so fast.
But the radio...
It seems he has to go buy a radio.