Yuta was the star of the banquet, but there was one other person who found herself surrounded by admirers all evening.
That person was, without question, Aoi.
She came from the Fuji family, she was the president of Arcane, and she was beautiful on top of it all. Naturally, plenty of people wanted to chat her up.
Some rich heiresses acted cold and aloof in public, only showing their softer side around people they were close to.
Aoi wasn't like that at all. She kept a warm smile on her face the entire time she spoke with people.
But when Yuta came back from outside, she politely excused herself from the group around her and walked over to him.
"Miss Fuji."
Yuta headed toward her as well, giving her a quick once-over as he did.
Unlike Mei Shirayuki, who had gotten all dressed up in a gown earlier, Aoi was still wearing one of her signature blazers, even at a fancy event like this. The polite smile she had been wearing just moments ago was gone now.
That wasn't surprising. They had known each other long enough that there was no need to keep up a professional smile in front of one another.
Once they were close, Yuta said, "You look like you're in a good mood, Miss Fuji."
"This is a celebration party. Shouldn't I be in a good mood?" Aoi said matter-of-factly.
"That's true, but I get the feeling something else happened that's making you happy," Yuta said.
Aoi blinked, then looked at him with a hint of surprise. "Did you bribe someone at Arcane to spy for you?"
"I wish I had the money to bribe one of your people. To be honest, I still haven't finished paying off my debts," Yuta said with a slightly helpless tone.
Clannad was a massive hit, and by all rights Starfall should have been raking in money hand over fist. But since Arcane was the one who funded the anime, the bulk of the profits went to them. Starfall only got a smaller cut.
That smaller cut was still a decent amount, but the problem was that Starfall's share of the revenue hadn't hit their account yet.
Yuta had been paying off his debts with his personal earnings from working on Clannad, since he had served as director, scriptwriter, character designer, lyricist, composer, and even producer.
Each role came with its own paycheck, and they added up to a respectable sum. But it still wasn't enough to clear all his debt. He'd have to wait for the profit-sharing payout to take care of the rest.
Aoi had only been making conversation and obviously didn't actually think Yuta had bribed anyone at Arcane.
After thinking about it, she said, "Something good did happen recently. I finally kicked out the head of the investment department a few days ago. Now it's just a matter of seeing who gets sent in as the replacement. But I've already won over everyone in the department, so whoever they send won't matter. They'll have to fall in line."
Yuta didn't know much about Arcane's internal politics, so he couldn't help asking, "Miss Fuji, you're the president of Arcane. Can't you just remove anyone you want?"
"That's how it works at Starfall. Arcane is more complicated. At the end of the day, Arcane is just a subsidiary under the Fuji Group."
"Even my position as president was appointed by headquarters. The previous department head was sent from headquarters too, just like me. With someone backing him up there, I couldn't just remove him whenever I felt like it." Aoi explained.
Yuta frowned. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your relationship with Akira Fuji?"
"He's my father," Aoi said without hiding it.
"If he's your father, who could possibly protect someone you wanted gone?"
"The person backing him was my father."
"???"
Yuta was suddenly very confused.
Aoi didn't seem inclined to elaborate. She changed the subject. "About Clannad's second season, are you sure you want to do it? Honestly, I think the first season's story is already complete."
"A few extra OVA episodes at most would be enough. There's really no need for a full second season. One wrong move and you might actually destroy all the goodwill the first season built up."
That kind of concern was perfectly reasonable. This world didn't have a Clannad game.
Apart from Yuta, nobody knew what the second season's story would be about.
The first season had already moved audiences to tears countless times. Who could believe that a second season could top that?
If it were anyone else asking, Yuta wouldn't have bothered explaining. But Aoi was different. She was Arcane's president, and he was counting on her for continued investment. Not explaining anything wasn't an option.
After a moment's thought, he said, "Miss Fuji, do you remember what I said back then?"
"What did you say?" Aoi looked puzzled.
"When I first came to you for investment, I said my goal for Clannad was sales over ten thousand, and that I wanted to turn it into a classic. The kind of anime that could still move people to tears even if you watched it ten or fifteen years later," Yuta answered.
"But the first season is already a classic. It's already that moving," Aoi said, sounding like she couldn't understand why that wasn't enough.
"No, no, no."
Yuta shook his head.
"When I was first planning this anime, I always intended it to be two seasons. In my mind, the first season was just the setup. Season two is the real deal."
"The first season was just setup?" Aoi was taken aback.
"All I can say is that the second season will be even better and even more moving. I hope you can trust me on that, Miss Fuji."
"You're really that confident?"
"Absolutely."
"Fine then. Put together a project proposal and send it to me when you're back."
"You've decided to invest?"
"Of course. Arcane funded the first season. There's no reason not to continue with the second. And even if season two doesn't match up to season one, the sales should still be solid enough not to worry about..."
Aoi paused and sighed. "More importantly, even if Arcane doesn't invest, you're just going to find funding somewhere else anyway."
Yuta: ...
He hadn't expected her to see right through him.
But as long as she was willing to invest, that was what mattered.
It meant he wouldn't have to waste a ton of time chasing investment elsewhere.
He quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then said with a straight face, "When it comes to investment, Miss Fuji, you're the only one for me. Even if you turned me down, I'd just keep trying to convince you. I would never go looking elsewhere."
"Save it. I wasn't born yesterday," Aoi said, not buying a word of it.
Yuta smiled and didn't push back. Instead, he simply said, "I look forward to your continued support going forward."
"Likewise," Aoi replied.
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