This chapter is 2 in 1, ch 155.1/ ch 155.2 — I did this so I wouldn't lose track of the count ;)
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Chapter 155.1: Mrs. Shimizu, You Wouldn't Want Your Daughter...
Shimizu's mother looked at the two young people standing before her.
Seeing the sincerity in their eyes, her own eyes reddened again.
"But..."
"How about this," Tsushima Kagami said after a moment's thought.
"Consider this money a loan from me."
"When Nayotake is back on her feet someday, she can pay it back little by little."
"But..."
Shimizu's mother still hesitated, wanting to refuse.
Tsushima Kagami spoke again, just as earnestly.
"If you won't agree to this —"
"Then we won't be able to stay friends with Nayotake anymore."
"To stand by and do nothing for a friend in need, when it's well within our power to help —"
"That would mean we've lost the right to call ourselves her friends, wouldn't it?"
"Exactly, exactly! Young people these days are all about loyalty!" Tsukuyomi Komoe chimed in from the side, adding fuel to the fire.
"If you refuse like this, you're practically telling Kagami and the others to cut ties with Nayotake entirely!"
Shimizu's mother froze when she heard that.
She looked at Tsushima Kagami, then at Yukinoshita Shizuku and Tsukuyomi Komoe.
Her lips moved. In the end, she said nothing — only gripped the bankbook tighter in her hands and bowed deeply to all three of them.
"Thank you... truly, thank you all so much..."
After finally saying their goodbyes to Shimizu Nayotake's mother, the three of them walked out of the hospital wing.
By the time they stepped outside, the night had grown very late.
Only a few streetlamps lined the road, casting a dim, amber glow.
The emergency building in the distance still had its lights on, and the occasional wail of an ambulance drifted over.
Tsukuyomi Komoe walked in the middle, leading Tsushima Kagami and Yukinoshita Shizuku toward where she had parked her car.
After a few steps, Yukinoshita Shizuku suddenly spoke.
"Kagami."
"Mm?"
Tsushima Kagami and Tsukuyomi Komoe both stopped and looked at her.
Yukinoshita Shizuku thought for a moment, then finally said,
"Can we think of a way..."
"To help Nayotake and her mother?"
"I... I don't want Nayotake to die so young..."
Tsushima Kagami also recalled what the doctor had told him and Rei — privately, after the others had left — about Nayotake's condition: that without surgical intervention, she would likely only live into her forties or fifties.
And Nayotake had poured every yen she earned from years of part-time work into keeping her mother in hospital care.
She herself had gone without her own regular hospital stays for a long time now. In reality, she might not even outlive her mother.
That thought made him sigh.
Tsukuyomi Komoe, standing beside them, caught Yukinoshita Shizuku's words about Nayotake not living long.
She had known Nayotake had a heart condition, but had never imagined it was this serious.
She quickly asked the two of them for the full details.
In the end, Tsushima Kagami told her everything.
After hearing it all, Tsukuyomi Komoe said that if it would help, she could contribute a sum of money toward Nayotake's treatment.
Tsushima Kagami was quiet for a moment.
Then he said,
"Money, actually, is the smaller problem."
Yukinoshita Shizuku and Tsukuyomi Komoe both looked at him.
He continued,
"Between my various royalty streams right now, I could cover the surgery costs and hospital fees without too much trouble."
"And this kind of surgery is usually done in multiple stages spread over a long period of time, so it's not like it'd be one massive hit all at once."
He paused.
"The issue isn't whether we're willing to help."
"It's whether they're willing to accept our help."
"After all, we're not talking about a few days' worth of hospital fees anymore."
Yukinoshita Shizuku picked up where he left off.
"It would be an astronomical figure for them."
"Knowing Nayotake's personality, and seeing how Shimizu's mother reacted just now —"
"I doubt they'd accept that kind of money from us with no strings attached."
After saying that, Yukinoshita Shizuku furrowed her brow with worry.
"And besides..."
"If we just suddenly show up with that kind of money and say we want to help —"
"It feels a little disrespectful, doesn't it."
"I know a friend's life is on the line and we shouldn't be getting hung up on details like that —"
"But I still want to find a way that protects Nayotake's dignity and lets her accept the help at the same time."
Tsushima Kagami nodded.
Tsukuyomi Komoe tilted her head and looked at him.
"Is there any way to help them without hurting their pride?"
The three of them fell silent.
Tsushima Kagami thought for a moment, then suddenly said,
"We're not going to blackmail them against each other, that's for sure."
Tsukuyomi Komoe and Yukinoshita Shizuku looked at him curiously.
"What do you mean?"
Tsushima Kagami glanced between them and said, half-joking,
"'Nayotake, you wouldn't want your mother to...'"
"'And Mrs. Shimizu, you wouldn't want your daughter to...'"
"Something like that."
Yukinoshita Shizuku burst out laughing.
Tsukuyomi Komoe laughed too, speaking between giggles.
"Kagami, you're terrible!"
"And that wouldn't consider their feelings at all, would it?"
Tsushima Kagami laughed himself.
"I'm joking."
"But if we can't think of a good solution, are we just going to sit back and watch them wait for the worst?"
Yukinoshita Shizuku and Tsukuyomi Komoe both nodded at that.
"True. When it really comes down to it, we won't have the luxury of overthinking it."
"We should take our time and think this through carefully," Tsushima Kagami went on.
"For now, let's leave it here."
"It won't make a difference of a day or two. Let's go home and think on it some more."
Yukinoshita Shizuku and Tsukuyomi Komoe both nodded.
The three of them stood at the hospital entrance as the night breeze swept through — cool with the first hint of early autumn.
They got into Tsukuyomi Komoe's car, and the taillights gradually disappeared into the dark.
...
The morning sunlight the next day was just as bright and full of energy as ever, streaming through the windows of the Manga Research Club room.
From outside came the cheerful noise of the cultural festival.
Announcements from the student council over the PA, waves of shouting from the schoolyard, and the occasional song blasting from some class trying to draw in visitors.
Everything was as lively as it had been the day before.
But inside the Manga Research Club room, the atmosphere was completely at odds with the bustle outside.
Tsushima Kagami sat by the window, one hand propped under his chin, staring blankly outside.
Sayuri lay slumped over her desk with her face buried in her arms, only her eyes peeking out, staring into the middle distance.
Kosaka Akane sat beside her, holding a manga volume that she hadn't turned a single page of.
Machida Sonoko leaned back in her chair, eyes fixed on the ceiling, lost in thought.
"I wonder how Nayotake is doing..." Sayuri's muffled voice came from inside her arms.
Kosaka Akane closed the manga and sighed.
"The doctor said she needed to stay a few days for observation. She should be alright."
Sayuri sat up, her eyes red.
"But she's all alone in the hospital. She must be so lonely..."
"Her mother is with her," Machida Sonoko said.
"It's still lonely!"
Sayuri puffed out her cheeks.
"Can we go see her in a bit?"
Kosaka Akane checked the time.
"It's only nine in the morning. The festival just started."
Only then did Sayuri and Machida Sonoko nod in reluctant agreement.
Tsushima Kagami said nothing, just kept staring out the window.
He was thinking of the moment before Nayotake collapsed the day before.
She had been standing on the stage, pouring everything she had into the microphone, belting out the final note with everything in her.
When it ended, amid the roaring applause from below, she had turned to look back at him and Sayuri and the others — a smile on her face unlike any he had ever seen from her before.
And then she had simply crumpled.
That image played on loop in his mind.
He closed his eyes and pushed it down, for now.
Footsteps sounded in the corridor.
The classroom door swung open, and Yukinoshita Shizuku walked in.
Behind her, the entire Light Music Club had come along too.
Every face wore the same expression of worry.
The day before, everyone had heard the doctor say Nayotake had a moderate-to-severe congenital heart defect that required surgical treatment.
They could tell it was serious.
Just how serious — that part they weren't sure of.
Tsushima Kagami and Yukinoshita Shizuku hadn't told the others that Nayotake and her mother might not have much time left if the surgery didn't happen.
However, since it was Kosaka Akane who had used her hospital connections to fast-track Nayotake's admission, she had at least a vague sense that Shimizu Nayotake's situation was not looking good.
Because of that, she had quietly sought out Tsushima Kagami this morning to tell him that if money was needed, she also had quite a sizeable amount of "enormous" pocket money she had saved up.
But Tsushima Kagami had told her about the three of them's concerns from the night before.
Kosaka Akane said she understood, and only asked that when the time came to help them, he not go it alone — he had to bring her along too.
"Why are you all here?" Tsushima Kagami asked, looking at the group that had come in.
"Everyone's worried about Nayotake. We wanted to ask what time you were planning to go see her today," Ijichi Seika said.
"We'll all go together later."
PA-san, standing nearby, nodded in agreement.
Then Hiroi Kikuri spoke up on her own.
"I have a relative who had the same kind of condition as Nayotake. That illness... it's supposed to be pretty rough."
The room was quiet for a few seconds.
Hiratsuka Shizuka quickly said,
"If there's anything you need help with, just say the word."
"Don't hold back!"
Tsushima Kagami looked at them all and gave a nod.
"Let's all head over together at noon to see Nayotake."
Just then, there was a knock at the classroom door.
"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt."
An unfamiliar voice came from the doorway.
"Is this where the Manga Research Club is?"
A man in a dark casual suit stood at the door.
He appeared to be in his mid-forties, with a pair of sunglasses perched on his head, his hair combed back neatly, and a slightly melancholy look in his eyes. He had the air of a stylish, artistic, and handsome older man.
"This is the Manga Research Club."
"Who are you looking for?"
Kosaka Akane, as club president, spoke up.
He swept the room with a glance, his gaze pausing briefly on each person's face.
He noticed that both bands from the stage on the schoolyard the day before were all gathered right here in this Manga Research Club room.
That made things even more convenient.
"Excuse me."
"Which one of you is Yukinoshita-san? The one who's a member here?"
"Which Yukinoshita-san do you mean?"
Tsushima Kagami asked as well.
Since Yukinoshita Shizuku was also present.
"I'm sorry — yesterday one of the students introduced the songs and mentioned they were all written by a Yukinoshita-san from the Manga Research Club."
"I'm looking for that Yukinoshita-san."
Tsushima Kagami heard that and stood up.
"That's me."
The man walked over to him with a look of excitement, and gave a slight bow.
"How do you do. My name is Nagato Tetsuya."
He reached into his pocket and produced a business card, presenting it with both hands to Tsushima Kagami.
"A&R Director at Sony Music."
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Chapter 155.2: Buyout Price, 60 Million!
He was also a student at this school before the merger — which would make him something of a senior to you.
Everyone looked at this uninvited Sony Music executive and had a pretty good idea it was probably related to yesterday's band performance.
Even so, after accepting the business card, Tsushima Kagami asked,
"Mr. Nagato, what brings you all the way to the Manga Research Club to find me?"
Nagato Tetsuya smiled.
"I came back to my alma mater yesterday to experience the cultural festival, and I watched your band's entire performance on the schoolyard from start to finish."
"I never expected the school to have such a talented band club."
He smiled and glanced toward Ijichi Seika and the others — clearly referring to the Light Music Club.
"Ah, and the Manga Research Club's performance was also quite impressive, of course."
"That was a band thrown together on fairly short notice, wasn't it?"
"So full of youth — it made me nostalgic for the time I spent with my club friends back when I was a student."
Nagato Tetsuya continued, then turned to look at Tsushima Kagami and the others, his expression shifting to one of concern.
"By the way — the girl who collapsed yesterday, how is she doing?"
"When we all saw her faint and you rushed her off to the hospital, everyone in the schoolyard — myself included — was very worried."
"A great many people were saying she was simply a born singer."
Hearing Nagato Tetsuya bring up Shimizu Nayotake, the mood in the room dimmed.
Tsushima Kagami replied,
"She's alright now. Thank you for your concern — and everyone else's."
"So, Mr. Nagato — why don't you tell us what specifically brings you here today?"
Tsushima Kagami gestured for him to go ahead.
Nagato Tetsuya dropped the pleasantries and settled into a convenient seat.
Once Tsushima Kagami sat down as well, the other girls quietly arranged themselves beside him.
Kosaka Akane and Yukinoshita Shizuku stepped aside to prepare tea.
"Here's the thing," Nagato Tetsuya said casually, settling in.
"I wanted to ask — you're Yukinoshita, correct?"
"That's what I've been told."
Although Kagami had reverted to his original surname, he had never brought it up proactively. Outside of contract signings — where he used the name Tsushima Kagami — it hadn't really mattered in everyday situations, so he'd never bothered to correct anyone, nor had he ever mentioned it.
Only a handful of editors knew about that detail.
"That's right. Since you're a senior, Mr. Nagato, you're welcome to just call me by my given name, Kagami."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
Nagato Tetsuya addressed Tsushima Kagami by his given name with easy familiarity.
"Kagami, I wanted to ask you something."
"The four songs from yesterday's concert — did you write all of them?"
"He did! The lyrics, the music, and the arrangements — Kagami did every single part himself!"
Sayuri suddenly cut in from the side, bursting with pride.
Everyone turned to look at her.
Only then did Sayuri realize she'd overstepped — Kagami was in the middle of a business discussion, and she shouldn't be interrupting.
She covered her mouth with a look of apology, signalling that she wouldn't interfere with their conversation anymore.
Tsushima Kagami nodded at that.
"Yes, I wrote all of them specifically for this year's cultural festival performance."
Hearing that, Nagato Tetsuya smiled with satisfaction.
"I knew it. The moment I heard them, I was almost certain they were originals."
"The thing is, we have a project in the works at our division right now, and your songs would be a perfect fit."
"That's why I came here today — I'd like to discuss purchasing the rights to the songs outright."
As he spoke, Nagato Tetsuya opened his briefcase, produced a contract, and slid it across the table toward Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami picked it up curiously, wondering just how much this Sony Music senior executive intended to pay for a full buyout of his songs.
The girls standing behind him all craned their necks forward in unison, equally curious.
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands..."
Sayuri kept counting the string of zeroes at the end.
"Ten million... "
"Sixty million yen for four songs?"
Ijichi Seika and the others blinked in surprise. The Manga Research Club members all knew that Tsushima Kagami's royalty income — from both manga and novels — was already extraordinarily high.
But the Light Music Club girls — Ijichi Seika and the rest — only knew vaguely that Kagami seemed to be well-off; just how well-off, they'd never known and never asked.
Today was the first time they realized that these four songs — written as if he'd just been messing around — had fetched a total buyout fee of 60 million yen.
And as a band that frequented livehouses, they had a rough sense of what buyout deals in the industry looked like. They even knew people in bands whose songs had been bought out before.
For an unknown musician or a new creator, a decent commercial track might sell for anywhere between three hundred thousand and one million yen — and that was the optimistic scenario. Plenty went for a few tens of thousands in practice.
That was the most common story among bands they knew.
For a songwriter-performer who'd built some recognition, or a composer with a modest reputation, the buyout figure from a label would settle into more substantial territory — generally somewhere between three million and ten million yen.
That range typically needed to cover the opportunity cost of giving up the work.
Above that sat the top-tier, in-demand composers — whose prices generally started at thirty million and ran upward of a hundred million yen.
Their music typically went toward major advertising campaigns, video game theme songs, or film scores. Works at that level had stable royalty income registered with JASRAC, and the buyout price had to compensate for thirty to fifty years of expected future earnings.
So a buyout of 60 million yen for four songs — 15 million per track — placed Nagato Tetsuya's offer well above the mid-tier composer bracket, just below the rates commanded by the hottest active composers and top independent artists.
It was clear he hadn't tried to lowball Tsushima Kagami. There was genuine goodwill in the offer.
With that in mind, after Ijichi Seika and the others finished reading the contract, they quietly leaned over and gave Kagami a quick rundown of the rough industry pricing for buyouts — worried he might not be aware.
Tsushima Kagami listened and nodded.
Nagato Tetsuya, meanwhile, wore a thoroughly confident air. Though the price was one he'd deliberated carefully the previous night — believing it to be the most appropriate figure — he'd also prepared a backup plan.
If Kagami turned out to know his way around the industry, Nagato could always table an additional one to three percent in songwriting royalties.
He was fairly confident that the band girls standing nearby, clearly experienced in the scene, would understand that he wasn't trying to cheat this junior.
After all, a talent like this — so obviously gifted — would surely have many more opportunities ahead for song commissions and collaborations.
Being short-sighted enough to lowball someone and exploit their inexperience at a moment like this would just be foolish.
At that point, Yukinoshita Shizuku and Kosaka Akane brought over freshly brewed hot tea for both Tsushima Kagami and Nagato Tetsuya.
"Thank you."
Nagato Tetsuya offered his thanks, lifted the cup, blew on it gently, and sipped with the leisurely ease of a man who had already won.
"So, Kagami?"
"I'm sure your friends have already given you a sense of the going rates for buyouts in this industry."
"If there's anything else you're not satisfied with, we can always negotiate."
Tsushima Kagami smiled, set the contract down on the table, picked up his tea, took a sip, and looked at Nagato Tetsuya.
"Mr. Nagato, I can see that you've come here with a great deal of sincerity."
Hearing that, Nagato Tetsuya smiled back.
"However."
Tsushima Kagami's tone shifted.
"I refuse."
The air in the classroom seemed to freeze solid.
Nagato Tetsuya's smile locked in place, and he sat there completely stunned.
Had he heard that wrong? Kagami himself had just acknowledged the sincerity of the offer.
If I came in this sincerely, how are you still saying no?
If there are other conditions, can't we just keep talking?
Aren't contracts meant to be negotiated?
How do you just flatly refuse?
Ijichi Seika, Hiroi Kikuri, and PA-san all went blank as well.
Sixty million yen — to the three of them, all from ordinary families, that was an astronomical figure.
None of them had expected Tsushima Kagami to turn it down so cleanly and without hesitation.
The moment reminded them of something Kosaka Akane had mentioned at a gathering once — that Kagami came from considerable means.
That thought now led them to another: if even 60 million wasn't worth a second glance, just how much was Kagami pulling in from manga and novel royalties?
Hiratsuka Shizuka, standing nearby, gave a dismissive curl of her lip. Sixty million yen was nothing to her.
The car her family had bought for her birthday cost more than that — and she still didn't even have her license. It had been gathering dust at the family home in Chiba ever since.
Besides, in her opinion, if she were the one buying these four songs from Kagami, she'd have started the bidding at six hundred million yen at the very least.
As for the Manga Research Club — Kosaka Akane, Machida Sonoko, and Sayuri — they all understood. Kagami's royalty income was certainly high, but he hadn't reached the level where 60 million yen was pocket change. Which meant there was really only one explanation: he intended to manage these songs himself in the future.
After all, there was already a company registered under his mother's name that was, in practice, his — currently housing the rights to his novels.
Once that company grew, it would naturally expand its scope. Music rights would eventually be part of that business, which made Tsushima Kagami's swift refusal entirely understandable.
Nagato Tetsuya stared at the contract that had been pushed back across the table to him.
The expression on his face had shifted from initial supreme confidence to something resembling a man who'd just swallowed something that went down the wrong way.
In all his years at Sony Music, having handled far more contracts than he could count, he'd negotiated with every kind of musician imaginable — unknown newcomers, veteran heavyweight producers, temperamental artists, calculating businesspeople.
But never once, in all that time, had anyone done to him what Tsushima Kagami had just done.
Said with their own mouth that they recognized the sincerity — and then flipped it around and said, I refuse.
"Kagami,"
He took a deep breath and worked to keep his voice steady.
"Sixty million yen is enough to buy yourself a very nice tower apartment in Tokyo."
Tsushima Kagami nodded.
"Yes, I know."
Nagato Tetsuya looked at him.
That young face held no excitement whatsoever.
No flattered surprise. No wavering indecision.
Not even the kind of studied calm someone puts on to look unbothered.
Just stillness. Complete, unaffected stillness.
Nagato Tetsuya felt strangely disoriented for a moment.
Is this really a high schooler?
"Kagami,"
Nagato Tetsuya pressed on.
"Do you perhaps not have a full picture of how this industry works?"
"I understand — you're still a student. I'd be happy to explain..."
"I understand perfectly."
Tsushima Kagami cut him off.
"Mr. Nagato, I know this is a very generous offer."
"I also know that for a newcomer, landing a contract with Sony Music is an exceptionally rare opportunity."
He paused.
"But these songs — I'm not planning to sell them."
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