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“Wait, so let me get this straight,” Yamato said by way of beginning his summary. His piercing stare was fixed on Iori. “You want us to cover a Zero song?”
Iori nodded without hesitation, his own gaze travelling across his family’s living room and landing on every member of Nana (plus one). “Nii-san and I discussed it, and we thought it could be a way to…surpass our limits. There have been a lot of people asking for it, too.”
Shooting a smile at his brother first, Mitsuki turned to face the others. “I admit, it was mostly Iori’s idea, but people have been wanting to hear Riku cover a Zero song.” He sighed and leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms. “I refused at first, but the amount of comments Tamaki and I had in our last livestream about it was enough to get me to reconsider.”
“I still don’t get what the big deal is, but it will get us more on TV, right?” Tamaki asked.
“Of course,” Iori agreed. “It’ll be the first time one of Zero’s songs will be covered at all. Not even Re:vale has touched his songs yet.”
Next to him, Riku was frowning. “Hm…I don’t know if this is a good idea or not, but I do trust Iori.”
None of the members missed how Iori’s eyes widened and his cheeks reddened, clearly flustered by this show of faith. “Nanase-san…” he muttered, touched.
“But,” Riku continued.
“Ah, there it is,” Iori sighed, moment brutally ruined for him.
Riku cut himself short to scowl at Iori, leaning back a little to properly get his glare across. “Hey? What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Just that you probably most certainly have some audacious request.” His reply was cool enough that it wasn’t any surprise when Riku’s scowl deepened in protest. “But,” Iori continued with the tone of one resigned to nonsense, “let’s hear it.”
Sighing, Riku shook his head. “You’re really not cute, you know?”
Nevertheless, he faced the group again, face transformed with the smile that Iori had once described—in the most offensive way possible—as “the reason it’s a good thing Nanase-san doesn’t show his face online.”
“I was going to say I trust Iori, but,” Riku began, a determined expression set on his face, “if we cover a Zero song, then I want to sing it with you all.”
It wasn’t what Iori was expecting, through the audaciousness of the request was about the size he’d expected it. This was Riku, after all. The man was a pro at unreasonable requests, and he wasn’t done, either.
“I know we haven’t sung all that much together,” Riku admitted, edging closer off the couch, “but I…kind of was hoping that rather than being a solo singer, we could live up to the channel’s name and…all do things together.” He scratched his head awkwardly but pressed on. “I mean, it would give you more exposure, Tamaki, as you’d probably be one of the few members here that wouldn’t mind more facial exposure, right? Tsumugi-chan also said you’re really good at dancing, and our audience also thought so when you and Sogo-san did that duet together when I was sick. And you guys have also been training your voices, so I thought it would be nice to show off a little. But I also understand if everyone’s schedules are too busy or if you just don’t want to…”
Then, he was done, leaving behind a stunned silence in the room.
Riku audibly swallowed. “I-I really do understand if that’s too big of a condition—”
“No, let’s do it!” Tamaki interrupted, leaping off the couch and pumping his fist. “I also want to try to sing together as seven!”
“Yes!” Nagi exclaimed, joining Tamaki standing, his eyes shining. “Let’s sing as friends together and sing one of Haruki’s songs! Wherever he is, I’m sure he will be happy to hear someone give life to his music again after all these years…”
“Well,” Yamato sighed, throwing his head back and laughing, “I guess I don’t mind much if that’s what Riku wants. I don’t even know what I’m doing here, anyway.”
Sogo had a dark expression on his face, looking down at his lap. “Covering a Zero song? I think I’m getting stomach cramps just thinking about it…” But when he felt everyone’s gazes on him, he choked out, “I-I mean. L-let’s do it!”
“Sou-chan, do you not want to sing with us?” Tamaki mumbled.
Sogo’s eyes widened, the conflict in his eyes swirling with more agitation. “No! That’s not it at all, Tamaki-kun! I’m just nervous that there will be backlash! Will we be able to give justice to Zero’s songs, I mean?!”
The Izumi brothers exchanged a glance and nodded their agreement. “True,” Iori said. “But it might be worth the risk.”
Mitsuki smirked at his brother. “You sure want to surpass Zero, don’t you, Iori?”
Flushing at the reminder of his producer-dreams, Iori looked away. “Well, that would be nice. But I know Nanase-san will be able to lead us to do it.”
“Iori…you can be cute after all…” Riku laughed, smiling at the high-schooler.
“Sh-shut up!”
It was then when Tsumugi, who had been quiet through this whole exchange, spoke up. “I also think it would be nice to hear you all sing together. I’ve always thought you guys would make a great idol unit, after all,” she mused, inputting her own thoughts. She caught herself and sputtered, “Ah! Not that you need my thoughts! I’m not—”
“No, thank you, Tsumugi-chan!” Riku exclaimed, reaching across Iori—who yelped in surprise—to grasp his old friend’s hands. “If you believe in us, then I know we can do it!”
“Well…depending on how it turns out…” Tsumugi muttered, then gave Iori and Riku a mysterious smile.
Iori narrowed his eyes at her, instantly suspicious. “What is it, Takanashi-san?”
Almost immediately, Tsumugi’s eyes widened. “Uh, nothing,” she said, quickly looking away. “I just think it would be really nice to see you guys sing a song together. I think if you harmonized your voices together, you’d pull in a lot more people than you think…more than if you sang one of Zero’s songs by yourselves.”
“Well…you heard it from the professional idol manager,” Mitsuki laughed, raising himself and his fist into the air. “If she believes in us, then let’s give it a go! What do you say, everyone?!”
“I’m still learning, though—”
Unfortunately for her, Tsumugi’s attempts to protest were cut off by everyone jumping up, responding to Mitsuki’s call with a loud, “YEAH!”
“Keep it down, boys,” the amused voice of the Izumi brothers’ dad called from the kitchen.
“Sorry!” Riku called back, then grinned at the others.
“Looks like we’ll be busy the next weeks,” Yamato sighed, dropping back down on the sofa.
Mitsuki shot a slightly evil grin at him. “Try next months, old man.”
“Nanase-san and Nikaido-san are the only two that don’t want to show their faces while the rest of us are all right with it. So should we stick to a group art or try something with the five of us…”
“Actually, at this point, I don’t mind much,” Riku finished Iori’s musing. “Originally, I wanted to keep my face anonymous just in case this wouldn’t work out or in case Tsumugi-chan couldn’t help me anymore because of her job. But after you six showed up and made it more…permanent, this might be a good time for a face reveal.”
Glancing sideways at Iori, Riku couldn’t resist a teasing, “Unless, of course, you don’t want me to expose my irresistible smile to the public.”
“Hey, that was an objective analysis—”
“You two, don’t fight,” Yamato interrupted, raising his hands as if trying to tame two wild animals. “Honestly, if Riku is all right with showing his face now, I suppose it’d be lame of me to refuse to do the same.”
“You don’t have to, Yamato-san,” Riku said. “I’m sure Nagi and Tamaki wouldn’t mind drawing another cover art.”
“Well, we’ll have to for the song cover, anyway,” Tamaki pointed out.
“Exactly,” Mitsuki piped up, slapping Yamato on the back. “Don’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with, Yamato-san.”
“No, no…I’ll be fine. I never minded…and besides, it would be a shame to waste Tama’s talents in dancing,” the older man sighed, grinning crookedly at Tamaki, who grinned back.
“Okay!” Nagi exclaimed, clapping his hands. “Then we shall be idols for one day, just like Zero!”
“Oh…that’s a good point…” Sogo whispered. “Covering an idol’s song, it might be better to act like idols, too…”
“True! Tsumugi-chan did say once it was a shame that we weren’t idols,” Riku reminded.
“Great, that means we have to draw and I have to come up with choreography,” Tamaki sighed. The fact that he still wasn’t that great with drawing notwithstanding—though he’d been pulled into the job after Nagi had insisted he needed Tamaki’s “good sense”—he was the only one in the group Tsumugi had said was qualified to go immediately pro in dancing. “And do homework…” he added with a lot more dread.
Sogo placed a hand on Tamaki’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Tamaki-kun! Nagi-kun can probably handle the art himself. And I’ll help you however I can.”
“But you’ll be busy with producing the backtrack, Osaka-san,” Iori reminded him.
“Looks like all of us will be busy these next few weeks…I’m not much of a dancer, but I’ll try,” Yamato laughed, folding his arms.
Tamaki, mouth full of pastry as he bit into one of the Izumi family’s many baked goods laid out before them, mumbled, “That’s all right, Yama-san. Mikki and I will help you.”
“But just so we’re clear, we’ll be doing a dancing and singing video?” Iori clarified, scribbling into his notebook. “Do we want a stage for it, then?”
“Oh…I wonder if Tsumugi-chan would help with that, if we decide to go with a stage,” Riku muttered, then shook his head and nodded at Iori. “Yep. Let’s dance!”
“You sure you’ll be all right, Riku-kun? With your health…”
Riku beamed at Sogo, which eased the worried line across the latter’s face. “I’ll be fine, I promise! It’s not like it’ll be a real live, after all.”
“Nii-san, for the Zero cover…do you have any ideas what song to use?”
Mitsuki glanced over at Iori, continuing to mix his batter. The brothers were up early to help their parents set up for the day’s baked goods, and Iori’s question had come up a bit suddenly.
“Hm? Wouldn’t that be more yours and Yamato’s decision, being the producer and leader of Nana?”
“Well, yes,” Iori acknowledged, “but I don’t think any of us know Zero as well as you do. After all, you’re the one closest to him, in a way.”
That…was a fair point, actually. And it wasn’t like Mitsuki didn’t have ideas; he’d just kept quiet, not wanting to intrude upon his brother’s and friend’s areas of work.
“Ah, well. I do have a few ideas,” Mitsuki admitted. He paused to check the thickness of the batter before continuing to stir. “‘Dis one.’ wouldn’t be a bad choice, for example. A song about moving forward, which is appropriate seeing how Nana will probably take a new direction after this.” He smiled at his little brother fondly. “Just like you wanted, right?”
If it were anyone else, Iori would probably have denied it. As it was, he reddened a little but didn’t say anything on the contrary. “I promised Nanase-san that I would make him into a superstar. I even talked about it with Takanashi-san a little, and she confirmed that the six of us joining Riku somehow…increased the channel’s appeal.”
The batter being ready, Mitsuki set it down to rest a bit, picking up another bowl to mix and chuckling. “Of course you did. Ah, that takes me back to when you would tell me you’d do anything to make me an idol.”
Iori had started to carefully scoop the batter into a piping bag. “I still will if you want it,” he replied without hesitation.
“Hm…that dream has changed, to be honest,” Mitsuki said, smiling faintly as he remembered what had been his goal even up to only a few months ago. Surprising how taking over as Riku’s publicist with Tamaki, as well as handling the livestream chats and interacting with the fans, had made him just as happy as dreaming to be an idol had. However…
“But I would be lying if I still didn’t want to use those dancing and singing lessons I learned for something,” Mitsuki admitted with a laugh.
To his surprise, Iori took him by the shoulders—careful not to get in the way of his mixing but fixing him with an intense but determined stare. “You will. I believe in it.”
Blinking at Iori’s certainty, Mitsuki stared up at Iori for a moment before bursting into laughter. “That’s my little brother. Well. Then I—and Nana—will put our trust in you, Producer.”
“The problem is copyright, right? Because we definitely want to monetise this cover if it does well,” Yamato muttered thoughtfully.
“Of course,” Nagi hummed, having just come back from the kitchen with a glass of water. “I wish I could help but, alas, I have given Haruki’s new songs to Tsumugi’s papa. But we must respect the wishes of fair use.”
Yamato smiled at that. “Those originals wouldn’t really help with a cover, though, Nagi.”
“Oh…”
He sounded disappointed, prompting Yamato to sit up straight and give Nagi and easy grin. “Ah, don’t worry about that, Nagi. Onii-san has that covered.”
“Do you?” Nagi leaned forward eagerly. “And how would that be? It would be very hard to get permission to use Zero’s songs when we’re simply just an amateur and independent music group.”
That was Yamato’s cue to fall back onto the sofa, not meeting Nagi’s eyes. “Ah, well…I had to do something for you guys, right? Plus. You, Sou, and Tama are even letting me live here, after all.”
And for some reason, they’d all appointed him the unofficial leader of Nana, whatever that meant. It didn’t make sense to Yamato, considering Riku was their main singer and Iori their producer. There was Mitsuki, too, the one who lead the livestreams and engaged with the fans with Tamaki, who had the additional job of collaborating with Nagi on their cover illustrations. Or even Sogo, who took on the job of arranging the tracks. Sure, Yamato was the manager of their social media, but Nagi or Mitsuki were honestly better at playing publicist.
Still, Yamato knew better than to say all that.
“Hm…do you need any help, Yamato?” Nagi offered innocently. “I have much experience with making deals and negotiations!”
Yamato let his head fall to the side, peering over at Nagi. How did it happen to be that a nineteen-year old could claim something so absurd? And Yamato knew those claims were legitimate, seeing how Nagi handled the occasional fire they went through on social media for various reasons (or how he’d helped Iori with the few in-person events they’d put out. Bless Iori, but the high schooler’s strengths were most certainly not with people, unlike Mitsuki, Nagi, and even Sogo.)
“That won’t be necessary. I’ve gotten all the permissions needed,” Yamato said, waving his hands at a stack of folders on the table and finally getting to the thing he’d been leading at. “Only, I don’t really get all the jargon, so I was wondering if you could help me with that. If you need help with a word, I’m here…”
He didn’t miss Nagi’s weighty “Oh…” However, it wasn’t enough to make him explain further how he’d received permission for this.
It was, however, enough to make him resume a more proper position and face Nagi. “So…will you help?”
Nagi sighed but nodded. “It can’t be helped,” he declared. “I will sacrifice another evening with Kokona. But fear not! Her latest episode is being recorded!”
“I didn’t ask…” Yamato muttered dryly, though he smiled in spite of himself.
“Yamato,” Nagi said, purposefully emphasising his odd accent in speaking Yamato’s name. “Do not disrespect Kokona’s magic.”
Raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, Yamato conceded. “Yes, yes. I’m very sorry I’ll rob you of another magical evening with Kokona. But I do appreciate it a lot, Nagi.”
That made his friend beam. “Of course! It would be a waste not to share my brilliance with my dear friends, after all! I will spend a magical evening with you instead, Yamato!”
“…don’t say it like that. People will misunderstand.”
Of course, instead of acknowledging his weird words, Nagi simply dived for the folder and exclaimed, “Now let us engage ourselves with Japanese and RabbiTube copyright laws!”
Yamato was probably going to need several cans of beer.
“You shouldn’t be working this late, you know?” Tamaki’s voice broke the silence of the night.
Sogo whipped around to find the younger boy eyeing him judgmentally from the entrance of his room. He hadn’t even heard him come in, focused as he was on the screen and with his headphones blasting the song for the thousandth time into his ears.
“Tamaki-kun!” Sogo greeted, then coughed when he realised how raspy his voice was.
“…did you even drink water?”
Tamaki’s voice was accusing, though he didn’t sound that angry. Rather, he simply sighed and tossed a water bottle at Sogo, who caught it on reflex.
“Sorry…I didn’t realise it had gotten this late. But shouldn’t you be asleep, too, Tamaki-kun?”
“I woke up to get a drink and saw your light was still on,” Tamaki responded easily, wandering into Sogo’s room and leaning to the side to see what the other had on the screen. “Huh, didn’t you say you finished with the track?”
Sogo’s lips thinned. “Well, I did…but I just wanted to experiment with it. Not that I’m changing the original track! I mean…it is a Zero song made by Sakura Haruki. I want to do Nagi’s friend justice, so if he happens to hear it and hear Nagi’s voice singing to it, he’ll know his song is in good hands. But I still wanted to experiment and…” His words died along with what was left of his resolve. And if he laughed nervously, that was no one’s business.
“It’ll be fine, Sou-chan,” Tamaki sighed. “We’ve all heard your tracks, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to experiment.” His last words were followed by an expectant stare.
Sogo fidgeted in his chair, hesitating for a minute. But finally…
“Um. Do you—do you want to listen to it?”
Tamaki’s eyebrows shot up at the question. Despite his fatigue, he was curious and couldn’t help the nod. He wasn’t expecting much, to be honest, when Sogo handed him the headphones and hit play.
“…huh?” His voice was raised like a question, less from doubt and more from shock.
But of course, Sogo didn’t see it that way, shrinking back on his chair and fidgeting even more nervously. “What’s with that question?” he asked. “Is it that bad? I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t mess with—”
“Quiet, Sou-chan. I’m still listening,” Tamaki shushed, pressed the headphones closer to his ears.
There was a long span of silence, only broken by the small sounds Tamaki made as he swayed to the song. Only when he removed the headphones did Sogo dare to speak up again.
“So…?”
Tamaki met Sogo’s gaze and held it for a solemn moment. “I like it. I don’t know much about music, but I like how it sticks to the original’s flow but has…something different. I think we should use this one instead.”
“Eh???”
Sogo choked on his words, standing up and stumbling back. “Eh? What, what, wait—we can’t just change the—”
“Sure we can,” Tamaki argued. “It still fits the beat of the choreography we made, and we still have more time to practice. If Nagicchi and the others think it’s fine, why don’t we?”
Seeing that he couldn’t find the words to speak, Sogo simply nodded dumbly, then realised what he was doing and shook his head. “What?! No! No, no, no! Tamaki-kun. You’ve seen some of the comments from that post that teased what we were covering! Making more changes is—”
“It’ll be fine…” Tamaki drawled, then yawned. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, though. Good night, Sou-chan. Try to sleep, please.”
“Wait, Tama—”
But before he could get another word in, Tamaki shut the door to his room behind him.
“Well, I don’t mind helping out with the staging,” Tsumugi said, setting down the cup of coffee as she smiled at Riku. “I’ve never done it for a dance video, though. I’m still mostly learning every area of management and production, after all, before my dad—er, the president—decides where to put me. So I’m sorry if it doesn’t turn out to be that good.”
“What are you talking about Tsumugi-chan? The plays you put on in school were always the best!” Riku exclaimed confidently. “And I’ve also seen some of the concerts you’ve helped with, and how they’ve always received a lot of praise from pros. Honestly, it makes me kinda feel bad that we aren’t paying you that much…”
Tsumugi laughed softly into her hand. “Well, we’re old friends, anyway. And you wouldn’t believe how much you’ve helped me gain credibility by letting me help with the production of your channel when you started out. Especially now that you guys have gotten more popular.”
They both beamed at each other across the table.
“So you’ve decided what Zero song you want to cover, I assume?” Tsumugi continued after a sip of her coffee. “I saw the announcement you put out in Rabbitter. I heard it almost broke Yamato-san’s phone.”
Giggling at the recollection, Riku nodded. “You should have heard him complain about becoming the SNS manager for Nana. But he really is skilled at these things…almost like he’s had practice for a long time.”
“Right?” Tsumugi exclaimed. “Yamato-san has a surprising amount of connections! He even—oh, sorry!” Tsumugi’s hand flew to her mouth. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything…”
Riku blinked in surprise at the sudden reaction, then winced sympathetically. “That’s okay. Everyone here has their secrets. Nagi always tries to pry them out of Yamato-san, but Mitsuki says to leave him alone.” He shook his head, smile reappearing at the motion. “But yes! It was Mitsuki, with some help from Sogo-san, who chose the song we’re covering! The unique backtrack Sogo-san’s been working on, the choreography Tamaki’s arranged, and the line distributions are all set and almost perfected. All we need is for Nagi and Tamaki to finish the cover art for the downloadable versions and a few other things. By the way, thank you for helping us deal with the copyright.”
“Uh, i-it was no problem. You guys really have gone so far…” Tsumugi muttered, her look fond. “I’m glad for you especially, Riku-kun.”
“…you’re going to embarrass me,” Riku laughed, forcing away his blush by looking at his untouched plate of cookies—he made a mental note to eat them lest the Izumi brothers hound him again about wasting food. “Besides,” he added, picking up one of the two cookies, “I really got lucky being classmates with a future manager and producer, not to mention meeting six really talented people who could help expand my channel.”
His expression wavered, drawing Tsumugi’s attention. “What’s wrong?”
Riku grimaced, swallowing his bit of cookie. “Nothing, really,” he evaded, then sighed. “I mean, no…I’m just worried for Tamaki, I guess. I know our livestreams do really well, especially with Mitsuki leading them, but they still do get less exposure than the songs.”
“Well, there was that duet Tamaki-san and Sogo-san did back in the winter,” Tsumugi reminded. “Didn’t that turn out to be one of your most popular videos?”
It had. It was third most watched video in Nana’s channel, only beaten by a Re:vale cover that all seven of them had sang together to introduce the new members of the channel and Riku’s breakout song cover of a Vocaloid. However, despite the video being shared everywhere on social media, the small chance that Sogo and Tamaki’s video had going on TV had been interrupted by Sogo’s family.
That had been an…interesting time for the members of Nana, but they had managed to eventually pull through it, being encouraged by the way the views had broken the millionth mark in just a few days.
“It was pretty popular,” Riku agreed. “Still…Tamaki’s trying to find his sister, and going on TV would probably still be the best way to get her to see him.”
“Hmm…”
That was Tsumugi’s only response, followed by that suspicious knowing smile she’d been sporting these past few weeks. Riku was debating whether to ask her about it like Iori had—several times, actually, flustering her—until Tsumugi spoke herself.
“Riku-kun,” she said, her speech suddenly in that more formal manner she used when talking in the workplace.
It startled Riku enough that he stammered out an overly polite, “Yes, ma’am?”
The response didn’t even faze Tsumugi, who started intensely at Riku. “Could you gather all of Nana for a meeting sometime this week?” she said, continuing in that speech “I know your video is releasing in eleven days, but if you guys have time…”
Riku blinked, pausing mid-bite at the weirdly business-like request. “Of course? We always love meeting with you. We’re planning to shoot the video tomorrow or the next day, then Nagi and Iori will work on editing the video, so maybe in four or five days?”
“Yes! That would be great!”
“Why the formal tone, though?” Riku pressed, munching thoughtfully.
“Th-that’s a surprise!” Tsumugi squeaked, though she couldn’t hide the faint flush of excitement.
If he were anyone else, Riku might have thought to press, but he trusted Tsumugi. Besides…
“Oh! I love surprises! Ah, but now I won’t be able to wait,” Riku chuckled, then shook his head. “No. Everyone’s worked so hard, I have to focus on the video!” He hoped that he looked as resolved as he felt inside. “I can’t wait, too. It’ll be like we’ll really be idols…”
Riku bit into a cookie. “…like Tenn-nii…”
“…Riku-kun…”
Before Tsumugi could continue with her expression of sympathy, Riku was shaking his head again, smile set on his face. “We’ll let you see the video once it’s finished, Tsumugi-chan. You’ll be our first viewer.”
It was true. They would be using a studio Nagi had somehow managed to rent—and some of Nagi and Tamaki’s art as backgrounds on a green screen—and decorate it with their props, but they didn’t exactly have a camera man for the job. In the end, they were still amateurs, particularly in video production, and it wasn’t like they had the revenue to hire anything more professional when the money was being split between the seven of them.
Still, Tsumugi looked happy hearing that she’d be the first to see their amateur production of Zero’s song.
“I’ll be looking forward to it! I’m cheering you all on!”
Despite some minor hiccups, everything went with surprising smoothness.
Thank everything for Tsumugi helping them deal with some additional legalities and logistics they hadn’t thought of, trying to film a dance video with all seven of them for the first time. It would also be Riku, Yamato, and Iori’s first time on an official music video—Iori was generally behind the camera, one of his many talents including videography because of course it was.
Riku made a mental note to treat Tsumugi to something, and maybe thank whatever force there was for having landed them in the same high school and club.
But for now, they were all gathered in Tamaki, Sogo, Nagi, and Yamato’s place to show Tsumugi the video they had recently filmed and painstakingly edited.
It wasn’t anything too complicated—given their limited funds, it shouldn’t be anything too complicated. But they had all been proud of the end results, incorporating Nagi and Tamaki’s small animations and art along their dancing and singing to Zero’s song.
Riku knew he was probably biased, but it had come together amazingly. Even so, he was nervous to show an actual professional in the entertainment industry the final draft.
The nerves grew when Tsumugi simply watched their video in complete silence. While Tsumugi was generally a very easy person to read—even to Riku, who was aware he could be somewhat oblivious and that Tsumugi’s easy readability may be courtesy of being high school friends with him—her face gave nothing away.
So when the video ended and Tsumugi looked across from her seat on the couch to where the seven boys were gathered on the floor, the tension palpably hung in the air.
“That was…”
They waited with bated breath for her final judgment.
“How would you like to join Takanashi Productions?”
The nervous tension was suddenly replaced with another kind of silence. How strange, the flavours of emotion that silences and tensions could take.
“What??”
Iori was the first to break that silence, standing up suddenly.
It seemed that Tsumugi had also just realised what she’d said, stiffening as she met the high schooler’s wide eyes with widened eyes of her own. “Oh! Sorry!! I didn’t mean to spring it up on you so suddenly!”
“Wait, what??” Yamato was the second of Nana to speak, even if it was a repetition of Iori’s baffled words.
“Um…the video was great,” Tsumugi said, grimacing as she shifted her strained but steady gaze from Iori onto the other members, then back to him. Her words were hurried but firm as she explained, “Iori-san, I can’t believe you’re still in high school with such an effortless performance. Your youthfulness and confidence give the group a strong vibe. Yamato-san, you’re so expressive…it’s like you were made for the camera. You draw everyone in not only to your performance but to the performance of those around you. And Mitsuki-san, I can tell you were trained in vocals and dance, but it’s nothing compared to the energy you bring to those all around to the group! You set the tone and mood of the song, and it’s hard to believe you had to retake the dance many times in different places given how energetic you all are.”
Tsumugi took a deep breath, but she wasn’t finished. “Tamaki-san, I really have to repeat that your dancing ability is beyond wonderful. Yet you still pull the others along with your moves, supporting them and letting the group shine as a whole. Sogo-san’s remix of Haruki’s composition added something so new and fresh, something that made me feel both as if I was listening to a Zero song but a Nana performance. You’re such a reliable performer, Sogo-san, and it really is hard to believe you’re a newbie in composition. Nagi-san, you have such an elegance and beauty in your performance that makes the others shine! Really, with Yamato-san’s expressiveness, Mitsuki’s energy, and your elegance, you three encompass the others with a unique appeal.”
Finally, Tsumugi was done, face flushed but earnest, leaving a gaping Nana speechless from her praise.
Clearly, none of them had expected this. Not even Iori, who was slumped slightly in disbelief, face a little coloured from Tsumugi’s earnest words.
Then, she turned to her high school friend with a bright smile. “And Riku-kun…again. Your singing ability is out of this world. Having you as the cent—lead vocal was truly a stroke of genius. Iori-san was right about your appeal…you not only ground the others with your spectacular singing, but give Zero’s song a new voice that I can’t help but know is full of love and admiration.”
“Haha…” Riku laughed weakly, flustered by the praise. “This just sounds like the time in high school when you dragged me into theatre club…”
His light words were what broke the weighty mood of the moment, causing Tsumugi to burst into laughter that was soon joined by Riku and the other six.
“Ah, my apologies…” Tsumugi said, grinning at the group when the laughter had subsided. “I will admit there are areas to improve in, but when aren’t there? All to say, I really loved it. Don’t let whatever backlash that may come discourage you.”
Riku’s face lit up, though she wasn’t exactly smiling. “Thanks, Tsumugi-chan. This means a lot coming from you.”
“Well, I want to live up to my role as your first fan,” Tsumugi said, not a hint of irony in her words. “And I believe in all of you…which is why I asked if you wanted to join Takanashi Production.”
Having brought the conversation full circle, the air resumed a more…formal feel.
“Takanashi Productions, huh? The one where Iori was stalked by a creepy old man to join, right?” Mitsuki mused.
Immediately, Tsumugi shot up.
Mitsuki jumped, almost knocking his elbow against the coffee table, at the reaction and then stayed backed off when she gave him, then Iori, a deep bow. “I’m so sorry about my dad! I promise he means well!”
“Wait, that was your dad??” Mitsuki sputtered at the same time Iori exclaimed, “That was really the president??”
Tsumugi sat back down, nodding slowly. “…yes. Seriously, I’m so sorry about him…”
“Hm…he tried to scout me too, I remember,” Riku muttered to the side. “But I was already running Nana, so…”
Iori shook his head. “Never mind that,” he said. “Just… Why the sudden offer?”
“Ah…I suppose it would seem sudden to you all, but my dad actually wanted you all since last year, around the time he tried to scout Riku-kun and Nagi-san,” Tsumugi explained, placid again. She sat back on the sofa and nodded at Riku, who smiled back. “But…well, I met Nagi-san, introduced him to Riku-kun first, and… I don’t think my dad’s forgiven me for that.”
Her lips were quirked in a slight smile, giving away that she regretted absolutely nothing. “And then, you all did so well by yourselves…for the most part, anyway,” Tsumugi said, facing them all of them with something that they were all hesitant to call pride. “Honestly, part of this is my selfish wish. I want to see you all break the limits of what you can do, and I want to be a part of it more than I am right now.”
She shook her head, putting back on her more business-like tone. “That’s not to mention signing under a production company as a…music group or band—or even an idol group, honestly—would give you more opportunities, like appearing on television now that you’re all okay with showing your face, better stages if you ever want to hold live events, and even other things if you want to expand beyond music. Also, better production.”
That was the end of Tsumugi’s offer. Of course, there were a lot more details to work through, as well as more benefits to be had. She also made a mental note to take them through some of the cons of the offer later. As much as she wanted to manage them, she didn’t want to pull them fully into the industry without letting them know the risks. Especially given Riku’s health, Sogo’s family situation, and Yamato’s secret.
The silence stretched on as they gathered their thoughts, but it was Tamaki who broke it first.
“Well, I say yes,” he decided, standing up. “If it’ll help me get on TV, that’s all that matters.”
“Wait, Tamaki-kun,” Sogo cut in. “We can’t just accept this without thinking about it.”
“Why not? I only agreed to help Iorin with this because he said it would get my face on TV more, and even though I love Nana, I need to find Aya.” His voice was laced with a desperation that made the other members’ hearts ache for their youngest.
Sogo fiddled with the end of his shirt, nodding along to Tamaki’s words. “Still…it’s a little sudden, and don’t you think we all need time to process this?”
“Oh! You don’t have to answer right away,” Tsumugi hurried to assure. “If you want, you’re welcome to tell me any time you feel ready to. I mean, your video is releasing in three days. I just…wanted to let you all know that the offer was on the table.”
“It might be good to discuss this further with your father,” Iori pointed out.
“Yes, that too…”
“Then again,” Iori muttered, more to himself now than to anyone, “it would make for a great switch. To use the Zero cover to go pro…might benefit everyone, too with—oof!”
His mumbles were cut off when Yamato slapped him on his back. “Come on, Ichi. Don’t hoard those thoughts to yourself. But let’s put that for later and focus on the fact that a professional manager liked our dance and song cover.”
“Yes! Your voices harmonised very well!” The manager in question nodded enthusiastically, eyes flashing with a pride that Iori understood but told himself he didn’t really get.
But he simply said, ice cold, “Please don’t touch me so aggressively, Nikaido-san.”
“There, there, Iori,” Mitsuki laughed, standing up to join Yamato behind Iori. “You can draft plans all up to your heart’s content later. Right now, it’s time to celebrate.”
With his brother looking at him like that…
“Ah…I suppose you’re right, Nii-san,” Iori muttered.
“Of course, Mitsuki is right!” Nagi exclaimed, suddenly throwing confetti—where had he gotten that?—up in the air. “Let us celebrate this new step in our careers, everyone! Even if it doesn’t do well, let us bask in the fact that this is something we can all be proud of.”
Riku jumped up, laughing when some of the confetti fell on his head. “Yes! And I’m sure where Sakura Haruki is, Nagi, he’ll be proud of you.”
“Oh, Riku…thank you,” Nagi whispered, mellowing all of a sudden.
“I mean, I’d still like it to do well, given how hard we worked on it…” Yamato muttered. “Celebrations might be too early, no?”
This time, he was the one wincing when Mitsuki lightly punched him in the arm. “Come on, old man, don’t be such a downer. This really is something to be proud of. Finishing a Zero cover and getting an offer from Tsumugi’s dad’s company—can you believe that?”
“If you say so…”
“Yes! Iori, do you have the cake we asked Fonte Chocolate to make?”
“Of course, Nanase-san. What do you take me for?”
“Do we have Ousama Pudding anywhere here?”
“Tamaki-kun, didn’t you have two just an hour ago…”
“Yamato! Mitsuki! Shall we drink to our hearts content?”
“You’re still underage, Nagi.”
“Whatever you do, don’t give Sou-chan any alcohol.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad…”
“You are, Sou. You really are.”
The apartment, originally made for three that had grown to be a home for four and now held eight people, suddenly filled with chatter and excitement.
They didn’t know how their cover of Zero’s song would do, nor did they know what would happen with Tsumugi’s sudden offer.
Right now, though, with all of them free from university or high school classes or their part-time jobs, and free from weeks of work on their dance and song cover, they all felt it was a cause to celebrate.
Maybe their cover would receive backlash. Or maybe something unexpected would happen—many unexpected things had occurred these past few months as they had trained and worked together.
Still, with all eight of them gathered under one roof, chattering and bickering and laughing, it really did feel like the start of something new.