Past nine in the evening.
Yuta walked Aoi home, one arm steadying her.
Not to his home, of course. To hers. Or more precisely, to her apartment.
It was a unit in an upscale residential complex. Whether she was renting or had bought the place outright, Yuta had no idea.
Aoi had drunk a lot and could barely walk straight, but she was still conscious.
Yuta helped her into the bedroom. He was about to guide her onto the bed, but she shook her head. Instead of lying down, she leaned her back against the bed frame and sat on the floor.
"Miss Fuji, let me get you some hot water."
"Thanks. And from now on, just call me Aoi."
"..."
Yuta paused, not sure if Aoi was rejecting the Fuji name or if she was accepting him as a close friend. Either way, it was a good thing. No point overthinking it.
He went out, poured her a cup of hot water, came back, and handed it to her.
Aoi took a few small sips, then gently patted the floor beside her, gesturing for him to sit down.
Yuta understood and took a seat next to her.
He was about to say something when Aoi spoke first. "Shido, what's your dream?"
"My dream?"
Yuta thought for a moment. "I guess it's to keep making anime, to make great anime, to lead Starfall to the top and become a legend in the industry."
Then he couldn't help asking, "Do you have a dream too, Aoi?"
Aoi didn't answer directly. Instead, she said, "The Fuji family has very strict rules about education. Since I was little, I was forced into one lesson after another. Back then, I used to wonder all the time what the point of being alive even was."
Yuta didn't interrupt. He just listened quietly.
Aoi went on.
"In sixth grade, I watched anime for the first time at a friend's house. I didn't even know the title back then. I just knew the main character was a lot like me. It was about a rich girl who had a dream of becoming a musician. She clashed with her family over it, ran away from home in a fit of anger, and all kinds of things happened after that."
"Of course, I didn't have a dream of my own back then, and I definitely didn't have the courage to run away. But that anime became my emotional lifeline. I would sneak over to my friend's house once a week to watch it."
"Then somehow, my family found out I'd been secretly watching anime. After that, I was never allowed to go to my friend's house again."
"The next time I heard anything about that show, I was already in middle school. But the news I heard was that it had lost funding partway through production. The quality dropped so badly that most of the audience couldn't accept it anymore. Eventually, the studio that made it went bankrupt."
"After that, I gradually started learning about how the anime industry worked. I realized that a single studio on its own could rarely make a truly great anime. What they really needed was a well-funded investor to back them and support them."
...
Yuta had only been in this world for less than a year, so he had never seen the anime Aoi was talking about. But somewhere in his inherited memories, there was indeed a show like that. The title was something like Kotone, if he recalled correctly.
"Kotone" was the alias the heroine used after running away from home. She was also a keyboard player.
Beyond those two details, Yuta knew practically nothing about the show. He never would have guessed it had been young Aoi's emotional lifeline.
It probably explained why she'd eventually gone on to become Arcane's president too.
Sure enough, Aoi continued.
"When I went to college, I studied abroad. My family's grip loosened a bit, and I finally got to watch all kinds of anime again."
"The more I watched, the more I started thinking about becoming an anime investor. But I knew that kind of dream wouldn't be easy for someone in my position to achieve."
"When I came back from abroad last year, my family's plan for me wasn't to put me in a position at headquarters or one of the subsidiaries. They wanted to use me as a bargaining chip for a political marriage. They wanted me to marry into the Sanjo family."
"Maybe it was all those anime I'd watched that gave me the courage. I refused. I stopped eating and drinking. I even threatened to end my life. After months of that standoff, I finally earned the chance to negotiate with my father."
"In the end, my father agreed to let me become Arcane's president. But with one condition: the moment I proved unable to handle the job, I had to go back and do as he said."
When she finished, Aoi let out a long exhale. She seemed lighter somehow, like a weight had been lifted.
Yuta, on the other hand, felt the weight settle onto him.
Aoi's situation was far more complicated than he had imagined.
He might be a transmigrator, but when it came down to it, he was just an ordinary person.
Was it really a good idea to get involved in the Fuji family's affairs?
What if Akira Fuji sent people to grab him and dump him in Tokyo Bay someday?
Maybe he could still back out now?
No.
Absolutely not.
He had just told Aoi he would be her most unwavering supporter. Backing out now would be devastating to her, and even if she somehow got over it, Yuta's own conscience never would.
"Shido."
Aoi spoke up again. "Before tonight, you knew nothing about me or my family's situation. It's not too late to change your mind."
"What kind of person do you think I am, Aoi?" Yuta shook his head.
Aoi turned and studied his face for a long moment, then said with absolute seriousness, "If you tie yourself too closely to me, you might end up dead someday."
"Then so be it."
Yuta dusted off his hands and stood up from the floor. "Aoi, have you ever heard a saying?"
"What saying?" Aoi looked confused.
"You only die once. Might as well go down swinging."
Aoi stared at him in surprise.
"Instead of worrying about all that, let's figure out what to do about Clannad season two." Yuta got back on track and asked, "Can you go over your brother's head and invest directly as president?"
"No."
Aoi answered, "The first time I invested in Clannad, the circumstances were unusual. Now that my brother is the investment department head, all of the company's funds are under his control. I can't allocate money for a direct investment. The only resource I still have is distribution."
"So what do we do?" Yuta frowned.
Aoi thought about it for a moment, then said, "Go home for now. Keep working on the proposal. I'll figure out the funding situation."
"Alright." Yuta nodded.
He gave Aoi one last look, then turned and walked toward the bedroom door.
He had barely reached the doorway when her voice came from behind him. "Shido."
His steps paused. Then he heard her say, "Thank you."
_______________________
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