After the celebration, Yuta gave everyone at Starfall a nice long vacation.
Most bosses were heartless, but Yuta wasn't that kind of boss.
Everyone had been grinding for seven or eight months straight. Giving them a proper break to rest and recharge was the right thing to do.
Besides, people worked best when they were well-rested. They'd need to be in top form for Clannad's second season.
More importantly, season one was completely finished, and season two was still in the planning stage.
Even after the project was greenlit, someone still needed to write the scripts, draw the storyboards, and design the characters. Until all of that was done, there was nothing for anyone else to do.
Forcing people to sit around in the office would be pointless. Better to just give them time off.
Of course, everyone else could rest, but Yuta couldn't.
He still had all the same duties for season two, but as the president of Starfall, he also needed to start thinking long-term.
He had to start considering what kind of anime to make next.
On top of that, just the project proposal, scripts, storyboards, and character designs for season two alone required an enormous amount of time.
If he wanted everything ready so the team could hit the ground running the moment vacation was over, the workload was no joke. So even with the whole staff on holiday, Yuta was at the office every single day.
The project proposal was the easiest part. Since Aoi had already agreed to invest, he didn't need to go into painstaking detail like last time, and he didn't need to attach the first three episodes' scripts either. It only took him one morning to put together Clannad season two's project proposal.
But just as he was about to bring it to Arcane for Aoi to review, something unexpected happened.
The phone on his desk rang.
Yuta assumed it was Aoi calling, but when he picked up, a man's voice came through the receiver. "Hello, is this President Shido of Starfall?"
"It is."
"President Shido, sorry to bother you. I'm Ryouga Fuji, the new head of Arcane's investment department. Going forward, I'll be your primary point of contact for all matters related to Clannad season two's investment. If your project proposal is ready, just come to Arcane and ask for me directly," the man said.
Yuta frowned. Something felt off, so he decided to play it safe. "Sorry, it's not finished yet."
"No problem. Whenever you're ready," Ryouga Fuji said politely.
"Alright." Yuta agreed and hung up.
The moment the call ended, he dialed Aoi's number to find out what was going on.
Normally, she picked up almost immediately. But this time, he called several times and got no answer.
"Something happened."
A bad feeling crept into Yuta's gut.
If he hadn't had that conversation with Aoi at the celebration, he might have thought nothing of it. But now, he was almost certain she had run into trouble.
He took a deep breath. Part of him wanted to go straight to Arcane, but he thought better of it.
If she wasn't picking up her phone, she might not even be at the office. Going there could be pointless. Better to wait for her to call back.
A little past three in the afternoon, Yuta finally got a call from Aoi. But it wasn't from the president's office line at Arcane. It was from her personal phone.
The second the call connected, Yuta asked, "Miss Fuji, are you alright?"
At a time like this, you asked about the person first, not the situation.
Aoi seemed caught off guard. It took her a moment before she replied. "I'm fine... Ryouga Fuji. Did he contact you?"
Ryouga Fuji?
They shared the same family name, yet she used his full name when referring to him.
That suggested her relationship with this Ryouga probably wasn't great.
Thinking quickly, Yuta Shido answered.
"He did. Said he'd be handling all communication regarding Clannad season two's investment going forward. Told me to bring the proposal directly to him once it's done."
"I see."
Aoi said, "That's how things stand. Go ahead and deal with him from now on."
Her tone was perfectly flat, but Yuta had known her long enough to recognize that in this context, the flatter she sounded, the more wrong things were.
After a pause, he asked, "Miss Fuji, where are you right now? I'd like to meet up and talk things through properly."
"There's no need. There's nothing to talk about," Aoi said, refusing him.
"I think there is!" Yuta insisted.
"I said there's nothing to talk about!" Aoi said, and then hung up.
Yuta frowned and immediately called her back, but this time he got the automated message that the phone had been powered off.
She had turned her phone off.
That was a huge overreaction, nothing like Aoi's usual composure. Which meant one thing for certain: her emotions were in turmoil right now.
The more upset she was, the more she needed someone to talk to. As for her saying "there's no need," well, women always said the opposite of what they meant. Anyone dumb enough to take that at face value deserved what they got.
With her phone off, finding her was going to be a challenge.
Yuta thought for a moment, dug up the number for Aoi's assistant, and called.
"President Shido?"
"Sumire, are you with Miss Fuji?"
"No. She left this morning and hasn't come back."
"How was her mood?"
"Her mood? Probably not great. She finally managed to get rid of Issei Kagetsu, and then headquarters went and sent over a new headache."
"A new headache? ...I need to find her and talk to her, but her phone is off. Do you have any idea where she might be, or places she tends to go when she's upset?"
"There are a few spots, though I can't guarantee she's at any of them."
The assistant was quite friendly with Yuta and rattled off several locations.
Yuta memorized them all, thanked her, hung up, grabbed his things, left the office, and started checking each place one by one.
After searching for over two hours, he actually found her.
An unmarked underground bar.
The lighting was dim, and aside from Aoi, there wasn't a single customer in the place. Behind the bar stood a bartender, a strikingly beautiful young woman.
When she saw Yuta walk in, she raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, we're closed to the public today."
"I'm here for someone," Yuta said, looking toward Aoi.
Aoi heard him, turned around with glazed, half-drunk eyes, and then suddenly snapped to attention. "Shido, how did you find this place?"
"Oh?"
The young woman behind the bar let a playful grin spread across her face.
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