Arc 3 Ep-09

The day after the music festival was a complete day off.

Thanks to my youth, the exhaustion from yesterday had completely vanished, but I spent the day quietly at home nonetheless. By the time I finished the last of my summer homework, the day had simply flown by.

Then came Tuesday.

With summer vacation nearing its end and the second semester starting the day after tomorrow, I was at the production office from the morning.

However, today’s main event was not practice.

I had been informed that the fate of Kae Higashiyama, the one who had caused the disturbance after the Reitaisai, had finally been decided. The guardians had already been briefed by phone, but the parties directly involved were summoned for an in-person explanation.

Well, since there were only a few days of summer vacation left, I had planned to come to the office anyway, so this did not disrupt my schedule.

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"Ah! Mikuri-chan!"

"Good morning. You’re here too, Nozomi-chan."

"Mm, good morning... Sunday was off, and Monday I was busy with family stuff."

Heading to the reception room I had been told about, I found Nozomi-chan already waiting inside. It wasn’t strange for her to be involved as well, but the two 4th-generation members were absent.

"I wanted to go watch the festival on Saturday, but I was stuck with final preparations and couldn’t."

"Even the audience seats were impossible, and backstage looked too hectic too."

"Yeah. Sunday made that very clear."

"Sunday was brutal heat, right? Were you okay?"

"Just barely. Apparently Saturday was milder because of the weather."

"Yes. It was cloudy, and the temperature was lower than Sunday."

As expected, the conversation turned to the weekend music festival.

We had wanted to go see each other perform, but after experiencing it ourselves, we understood how unrealistic that was. With so many artist changes, the backstage staff had been on edge the entire time.

"Outdoor festivals really are tough."

"If it were spring or autumn, the weather would be nicer."

Knock knock knock

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"We kept you waiting."

"Excuse us."

"Sorry about this."

After the knock, four people entered.

Fujiyama-san was at the front and Niikura-san at the back, but the other two were unfamiliar faces.

No, the second person looked vaguely familiar.

I was pretty sure I had seen him somewhere in this building, so he must be connected to Fortissimo.

"Kayanuma-san, Nanazawa-san. First, let me introduce these two."

"I’m Kasai from the Fortissimo Legal Department. And this is..."

"I’m Morishita, an attorney from Tazaki Morishita Law Office, which handles corporate legal affairs for Fortissimo."

"Ah, yes. Kayonuma Mikuri."

"Nanazawa Nozomi. Pleased to meet you."

The first introduced, a man in his early forties, was Kasai-san; the fifty-something with slightly thinning hair was Morishita-san.

It made sense that an entertainment agency would have a legal advisor.

"Today we are here to inform you of the decisions regarding the incident following the Reitaisai. Your guardians have already been briefed by phone, but we will arrange an in-person meeting as soon as possible, depending on their schedules."

"Yes, understood."

"Thank you."

My father is just a regular salaryman, so finding time might be difficult. My mother would probably be free, but I could already picture her refusing to come to something like this alone.

The most I could do was relay what I heard today.

"First, the two 4th-generation members involved were informed yesterday. They didn’t have the day off."

The two senpais were in the mini-live unit. Compared to those of us in the internal group who performed at the festival, their workload was lighter, so they hadn’t gotten the day off. Thinking back to my mini-live days, it made sense.

"Now... let’s start with Kae Higashiyama’s outcome. She will graduate from Sistema Solare, retire from the entertainment industry, and, of course, leave Fortissimo."

It seemed it hadn’t come to outright dismissal or firing. If that kept her quiet, I had no complaints.

"Normally, dismissal would not have been out of the question. In a regular company outside show business, that would have been the outcome."

"Yes. I think so too."

"Same here."

"...Some guardians did insist on dismissal, but we managed to reach an understanding and settle things peacefully."

From Kasai-san’s words, it sounded like the agency considered this a satisfactory resolution.

I didn’t know how the guardian who demanded dismissal felt about it. I had already told my parents my stance, so it must have been one of the others.

"As for Kae Higashiyama afterward, she will be under house discipline at her family home for the time being, then sent overseas to study abroad at the appropriate time."

"...Study abroad?"

"Yes, Kayanuma-san. That is a proposal from Higashiyama-san’s parents. It seems they have become genuinely afraid of her behavior..."

"Afraid...?"

At Attorney Morishita’s words, Nozomi-chan let out a puzzled sound.

Was she mentally unstable? From what I had seen, she didn’t seem the type to go that far.

"We have a written pledge prohibiting various actions, but the parents fear she might ignore it. If that happens, we would have no choice but to take legal action."

"I heard she will be entrusted to relatives in New Zealand. Her passport and phone will be confiscated... Oh, and the relatives will also monitor her finances."

"......"

"They’re being extremely cautious."

"That’s how deeply her parents fear their daughter’s behavior."

Even after leaving Schus-Sola, she remained a problem child. Turning from a proud idol daughter into someone one step away from criminal must be giving her family endless headaches.

"If they’re going that far, I suppose it’s safe?"

She gave the impression of someone who might hold a grudge, so I was grateful her surroundings were taking precautions.

"Yes. We will also periodically check on the situation."

"Understood."

"Thank you."

"...Now, regarding the apology for this incident—"

I didn’t particularly care about that part. As long as Kae Higashiyama was gone from Schus-Sola and didn’t cause any more unnecessary trouble, that was enough for me.