The knock on the door sounded while several people were arguing about the seats at Seibu Stadium.
The club member near the door stopped talking and stood up to pull the door open.
"Please come in."
The person outside the door was not a stranger.
Satsuki stood in the corridor, holding two economics textbooks tucked under her arm.
Today, she was wearing a light-coloured knitted top and a dark blue long skirt. Her long hair draped behind her shoulders, simply tied with a ribbon near the ends.
The club room fell quiet for a moment.
"Saionji-san..."
The club member who opened the door froze for half a beat and quickly stepped aside.
"Excuse me."
Satsuki nodded in greeting to him and walked into the club room.
Seeing that the person they had been discussing had stepped right out of the reports, the few people who had just been chattering around the flyer suddenly remembered whose company they were gossiping about and gradually quietened down.
The girl at the end of the long table was still pinching the flyer that had been folded several times.
She subconsciously wanted to tuck it back into her folder, but halfway through the motion, she felt that would look even stranger, so she could only stop there.
Satsuki saw it.
Her gaze paused on the flyer for a moment, then fell onto the girl's face.
"What is wrong?"
"N-Nothing."
The girl put the flyer back on the tabletop, trying to make her tone sound natural.
"We were just talking about Sakai Izumi's concert."
"So that was what you were talking about."
Satsuki walked over to the table and placed her textbooks on an empty spot.
"I heard someone in the corridor say that they would be willing to stand and watch."
A few suppressed chuckles instantly broke out in the club room.
The girl's face flushed slightly.
"Because the tickets are really hard to buy."
After she finished speaking, she quickly added:
"Uh, please do not misunderstand. I was not complaining to Saionji-san."
"It is fine."
Satsuki pulled out a chair and lowered her head to glance at the date on the flyer.
"There really were some issues with phone reservations."
Kojima immediately turned around.
"Saionji-san knows about it too?"
"I looked over a briefing yesterday."
Satsuki sat down by the table and nodded.
"At the beginning, this concert really was not prepared to open up this many seats."
The girl at the end of the long table immediately sat up a bit straighter.
"So will there be additional tickets sold?"
"The back of the stage is currently being adjusted. If more areas can be cleared out, another batch will be released."
"Really?"
Her voice suddenly brightened.
"When?"
"Once it is confirmed, it will be announced on S.A. Ticket Line first."
The smile that had just appeared on the girl's face instantly collapsed by half.
"We have to make phone calls again..."
"The lines could not get through at all a few days ago."
Another club member could not help complaining either.
"I called from ten o'clock until noon, and all I heard was a busy signal. When I finally got through, all the front seats were gone."
"President Itakura was also listening to these complaints yesterday."
Satsuki picked up the flyer and gently pressed down the curled corner.
"His secretary compiled over twenty pages of complaints, half of which were asking why the promotion was done on such a large scale, yet there were only so few reservation lines."
"How did he answer?"
Kojima asked.
"He said that artists getting famous too fast should not entirely be blamed on the company."
The table went quiet for a moment, followed by a burst of laughter.
"That is too sly."
"He is completely shirking responsibility."
"That sounds exactly like something President Itakura would say."
Takahashi looked at the person who spoke last with some surprise.
"You know President Itakura?"
"Yeah, I am super close with him..." As soon as he finished speaking, he realised that someone's superior was right here, and he immediately changed his tune, "Fine, fine, I have seen him in newspaper interviews."
That club member waved his hand with a smile.
"Every time a promotion succeeds, it is his merit; when problems arise, he says the young people's enthusiasm exceeded expectations."
Satsuki smiled too.
"Pretty much."
She put the flyer back in front of the girl.
"SIS is already adding lines. For the next round of additional tickets, besides phone reservations, you can also register at designated karaoke venues and Seibu station service counters."
"Can you really buy them at the station?"
"Register first, and pay after getting the reservation number. Seats that are not picked up overtime will be released again."
"Then we will not have to guard the phone anymore."
The girl breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly thought of another matter.
"But will not some people use multiple phones to register repeatedly? I heard scalpers use numbers from home, the company, and the dorm to call together."
"People are already doing that."
Satsuki looked at her.
"The person with the most registered forty-six tickets."
"Eh——"
Several sounds of astonishment rang out in the club room simultaneously.
"That is insane."
"Is one person going to take an entire company to see it?"
"Of course they are planning to resell them."
Kojima looked certain.
"That is why the tickets have already adopted a real-name system. Now names, addresses, and ticket pickup records will be verified."
Satsuki said.
"The same person can only keep one set of seats."
Kojima touched his chin.
"Then what about using different names?"
Satsuki turned her head to look at him.
"It seems senior Kojima has thought about it very carefully."
"I am just checking if there are any loopholes in the system on behalf of the Research Department."
Kojima said with a straight face.
"We are the Economics Research Department, after all."
"Just a moment ago you only wanted to buy tickets, and now you have already started studying how to bypass the rules."
The club president finally could not help speaking up.
"Do not use the Research Department's name in such places."
Another round of laughter rose around the table.
The topic slowly shifted from ticketing back to Campus Voice.
The girl at the end of the long table pointed to the event logo on the back of the flyer.
"Saionji-san, was this event prepared to let the winners go to Seibu Stadium from the very beginning?"
"No."
Satsuki shook her head.
"At first, it was just meant to let students from nearby universities visit karaoke venues more often during their free afternoon hours. Later, the number of registrations grew too fast, and records sold better than expected, so President Itakura turned the preliminary rounds into a public event."
"So the opening act qualification was added later?"
"Mhm."
"No wonder so many people suddenly signed up recently."
Kojima leaned back against his chair.
"The Light Music Club originally complained that the flyer looked like a karaoke discount coupon, but after hearing that they could go to Seibu Stadium, they took all the remaining registration cards that very day."
"No, Gakushuin's registration number is still not considered large."
Satsuki thought for a moment.
"In yesterday's statistics, Waseda is first, Keio is second, and Gakushuin ranks seventh."
"Seventh is not considered few, right?"
Kojima said.
"President Itakura thinks it is few."
"Does he think every college student should go sing at his karaoke place?"
"Pretty much."
Satsuki answered very naturally.
Laughter broke out in the club room once again.
The tense atmosphere that had previously arisen due to her sudden appearance also loosened up bit by bit amidst these words.
The first-year club member sitting by the window only then placed the notebook that had been neatly resting on his knees back onto the tabletop.
He had not joined the club for long and had only seen Satsuki from afar on the day of the public research meeting. When others directly addressed her as "Saionji-san" just now, he followed suit and called her that too, but he did not understand why everyone was so respectful toward this freshman who was not even a club member.
At this moment, Satsuki noticed that there were no materials in front of him, so she pushed an extra flyer from the edge of the table toward him.
"Where were we just now?"
The first-year club member was slightly startled and quickly flipped to the back of the flyer.
"We were talking about Gakushuin's registration numbers."
"Then that is perfect."
Satsuki glanced at the pencil in his hand.
"If the Research Department is planning to write this into the report, remember to argue a better-looking explanation for Gakushuin than seventh place."
Someone laughed around the table again. The first-year club member also relaxed his shoulders and carefully wrote down the four words "insufficient publicity" next to the flyer.
The club president waited until the topic paused slightly before pulling out the long-prepared application form from beneath the list of new members.
"Saionji-san."
He placed the application form in front of Satsuki.
"Ever since the last public research meeting ended, we have always wanted to officially invite you to join the Research Department."
The table quietened down again.
Kojima also put away his previous joke and leaned his body forward slightly.
"This year, the number of new students who left their contact info is nearly double that of last year. And several people said that after listening to the discussion between you and Senior Takahashi, they realised that economic research can also start from everyday things around us."
Satsuki lowered her head to glance at the application form, her finger gently tracing the blank space beside the name column.
"I can hold a nominal position."
Just as Kojima broke into a smile, Satsuki continued.
"However, I will rarely participate in activities. There are things on both sides of the group and the school, and you do not need to deliberately wait for me when the research department holds meetings."
Translated into plain words, this sentence meant—I did not have time to play house with you all.
The department head was obviously well-prepared and only nodded slightly.
"A nominal position is fine. The research department will not create a separate position because of your status, nor will you be included in the fixed attendance count."
"Then there is no problem."
Satsuki took the fountain pen and wrote her name on the application form.
Kojima leaned over from the side to take a look.
"Did you agree just like that?"
"Do you expect me to propose a few more conditions?"
"No, not at all."
Kojima immediately sat up straight.
"I just thought we would have to invite you a few more times."
"Even if you invited me a few more times, my answer would not change."
The girl in charge of recording flipped the roster to the last page and took out a personal profile form from the drawer.
"We already know your name, department, and grade. What should we write for your hobbies and areas of expertise?"
Satsuki glanced at those columns.
"Leave the hobbies blank for now."
"What about areas of expertise?"
She held the fountain pen and thought for a moment.
"Capital markets and corporate management."
Kojima leaned in to look at the form.
"Is not this scope a bit too broad?"
"You can also narrow it down for me."
"Then let us just write it as originally intended."
Kojima quickly sat back down.
The girl in charge of recording held back her smile and neatly wrote those words in the areas of expertise column before pushing the application form back in front of Satsuki.
After finishing writing, Satsuki put the fountain pen back on the desktop. The department head took the application form and pressed it on top of the new student documents, a hint of a smile already playing on his lips.
This "nominal member" should be the most direct connection between his family and Satsuki.
"Welcome to the Economics Research Department, Saionji-san."
"Please take care of me from now on."
Satsuki slightly bowed.
A burst of applause immediately erupted around the table. Kojima clapped especially hard and turned back to signal the members sitting by the window to follow suit.
"Should not a nominal member also have a welcome party?"
"Do not be in such a hurry to increase the activity budget."
The department head put away the application form.
"Besides, Saionji-san just said that she will hardly participate."
"Then the welcome party can be scheduled for the time she does participate."
"You really know how to save money."
The activity room laughed for a while longer.
When Satsuki turned back to the table, she noticed the unopened white envelope beside Takahashi's hand.
"The envelope from S.A. Entertainment has not been opened yet?"
"I was just about to open it."
Takahashi picked up the envelope from beside the revised manuscript.
Kojima immediately moved his chair forward a bit.
"We have already guessed, it must be related to Sakai Izumi."
Satsuki glanced at the concert flyer spread out on the table.
"That can only be considered partially correct."
"There is something else?"
The girl at the end of the long table also sat up straight, her gaze already falling on the envelope's opening.
"You will know once you open it."
Satsuki sat down in the vacant seat and stacked two textbooks in front of her.
Takahashi opened the seal along the edge of the envelope, and a dark blue card slid out.
Printed on the front of the card was a photo of Sakai Izumi standing on stage. White light fell from the side, illuminating the hand holding the microphone and half of her profile, while the audience seating behind her remained hidden in darkness.
Printed below the photo was the name and date of the first large-scale public performance at Seibu Stadium.
"It really is Izumi."
The girl at the end of the long table had already left the back of her chair, her body leaning almost flat onto the table surface.
"But it is so thick, surely it is not just a single card, right?"
Takahashi flipped the card over.
Several hard tickets were neatly tucked into the card slot on the back.
When the first one was pulled out, Kojima was still identifying the seating area on the ticket. As the second and third ones successively landed on the table, several people nearby also gathered around one after another.
Takahashi put down the last one.
A total of eight.
On the right side of the topmost ticket, the four characters "VIP seating" were clearly printed.
The activity room fell silent for two seconds.
The girl who had just been complaining about telephone reservations stared at that stack of tickets, her lips moving, but her voice came out two beats slow.
"Eight tickets... all of them are VIP seating?"
Kojima had already reached out to pick up the top one.
"And they are consecutive seats!"
After checking the area, he immediately went to count the tickets on the table.
"There really are eight."
This sentence seemed to finally lift some sort of restriction, and both sides of the long table instantly became lively.
"Let me see the seats."
"Do not pinch the stubs!"
"Senior, you actually kept it under your book this whole time?"
"Show me one first—"
As soon as Kojima raised the ticket a little higher, people on both left and right leaned over simultaneously. He had no choice but to lower the ticket again, protecting the stub with one hand while blocking the club members who were still reaching out with the other.
"Wait a minute, look at them one by one. Who is going to take responsibility if they get creased?"
"Clearly you were the first one who snatched it just now."
"I was confirming the quantity for everyone."
The activity room quickly descended into chaos.
The girl at the end of the long table also joined in, and several people gathered around the stack of tickets, taking turns checking the seats and entrances. Protecting the stubs, Kojima kept reminding them not to bend them, yet he himself kept tightly grasping the topmost ticket and refused to let go.
After finally waiting for everyone to look through them once, he tidied up the eight tickets again and neatly spread them out on the desktop.
"The department head has one too, right?"
Kojima separated the tickets again.
"There happen to be eight people present today."
"What about Saionji-san?"
Someone asked.
"These are tickets for the research department."
Satsuki raised her finger to point at the desktop.
"My seat is arranged separately by the company and does not count towards the quantity here."
The department head flipped the ticket in his hand back to the front and placed it on the table.
"Thank you, Saionji-san."
He straightened his posture, and his tone was more solemn than before.
"Such seating is very hard to come by. The research department will make good use of it and will not let this kindness go to waste."
It was not until then that the few people who had previously been solely focused on looking at the seats seemed to react, successively thanking Satsuki. Kojima's voice remained the loudest, while the girl at the end of the long table supported the edges of the tickets with both hands and very earnestly added:
"Thank you very much. I had already prepared to give up on this concert."
"It is good that you are willing to go."
Satsuki glanced at the eight tickets on the table.
"President Itakura heard that the research department has been discussing Seibu Stadium recently, so he had someone set aside a few tickets from the company's complimentary seating. After the concert, if you have any feedback, you can also compile a report and hand it to him."
"Then that is not just going to a concert."
Kojima immediately placed the tickets a bit more properly.
"We also have to inspect the work of S.A. Entertainment along the way."
"Are you planning to pick faults just as you have gotten the tickets?"
"This is the rigor the Economics Research Department should have."
Laughter rang out around the table once more. The atmosphere that had briefly grown formal during the expressions of gratitude loosened up again accordingly.
Some began looking at the entrances on the ticket faces, while others brought over flyers to check the direction of the stands. The girl who had just been complaining about failed reservations had already taken out a train timetable from her bag, discussing with the person next to her whether they could still catch the last train after the show ended.
Takahashi sat to the side and watched; the young girl surrounded by everyone seemed to have once again become that elegant and poised first-year freshman.
Of course, he had not forgotten that it was also this young girl who, merely by sitting on the side, could intimidate executives in charge of projects worth billions of yen.
Which one of them was her true self?
Thinking this, Takahashi flattened the empty envelope and placed it back beside the revised manuscript.
This time, he did not pull back the smile on his lips.
However, saving the letter to open after arriving at the activity room was indeed much more interesting than opening it alone in Marunouchi.