Kei Tennouzu
President, Tennouzu Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Representative Director, Impachi Live Co., Ltd.
Special Scout, Ryouran Private High School
“Whoa…!”
The business card was a laundry list of impressive titles. It seemed too incredible to be real, but if it WAS real, then this guy who’d just appeared before us was surely on par with the fairy godmother who’d come to give Cinderella the pumpkin carriage.
My impression of the man changed, as the old…I mean, Kei Tennouzu, ah, heck, let’s go with just Kei…as he gave a charming smile.
“The name’s Kei Tennouzu. Former idol of Ignition, now a hot young businessman. Have you heard of Impachi Live?”
“No idea,” Shiika responded.
“Huh?”
“I mean… Oh, oh, oh! My sister, that’s just how she is! Sorry, I wasn’t thinking! I’m her brother, her manager, see?!”
I pushed my sister, who was incapable of reading facial expressions, forward.
I was an expert at kissing up to people. I wasn’t particularly smart, had no education, athletic ability, nor a special talent, nothing, really. But one thing I did have was the ability to wag my tail like a frenzied dog when I got a whiff of the opportunity to live without having to work. Oh, my pride? Dude, that thing was in tatters. Like an apple that’d been gnawed away by rats.
“Well, whatever. Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
“Yes, yes, let’s do that.”
“I’m here for Shiika Ikebukuro. How would you like to turn her into a real entertainer?”
“Let’s do it.”
Zero hesitation on my part.
Kei Tennouzu…I mean, Kei…his eyes widened.
“Ah, but don’t you want to think it over first? This is a huge turning point in both of your lives, you understand?”
“What’s there to deliberate? You want to have Seeker make her major-label debut, right?”
“Well, eventually, that is the goal, yes…”
“CD sales, subscriptions, karaoke royalties, live performances, TV performances, commercials, we’ll do anything. I can even lick shoes if you like. Trading sexual favors for career advancement… Well, I won’t have Shiika doing that, but I don’t mind biting a pillow or two.”
“Hey, hey, hey, hold your horses. You’re not a great listener, are you?”
He hurried to interrupt me, and I took a quick glance behind me. Perhaps he was worried about ordinary folk overhearing? But luckily, the housewives watching from the entrance to the park didn’t appear to be able to hear us. They just stood rapturous, eyes sparkling.
“Unfortunately, you seem to have a big misunderstanding here, sonny.”
“Oh, right, trading sexual favors probably shouldn’t be done by proxy. Well, if that’s the case, let’s call the whole thing off.”
“No, not that. Can we perhaps move on from that subject altogether?”
“Oh, sure.”
“First off, I’m scouting Shiika Ikebukuro herself, not Seeker.”
“You mean, not as a Vsinger, but…as a real singer?”
“Right. And one more thing, this isn’t an invite that comes with a guaranteed major-label debut. You’ve read my business card, right?”
“Special Scout, Ryouran Private High School.”
“A performing arts school, where students in all kinds of different artistic disciplines…music, acting, dance, and fashion…congregate. A school created to produce first-class stars who will one day dominate the top of the entertainment world. I would very much like for Shiika to enter this school.”
All of a sudden, the heat that had risen up inside me cooled.
But of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s always a catch.
“So it has to be her, in person? In the flesh, so to speak?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“So you didn’t come to scout her after seeing her popularity as a Vsinger?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Kei… Ah, screw it, Kei Tennouzu shook his head.
“It’s that singing ability. I want raw vocal talent. She can carry on her virtual stuff as a hobby if she likes, but I have high hopes for her future as a flesh-and-blood pop star.”
“Why are you so fixated on the nonvirtual aspect?”
“Because virtual stuff doesn’t work in the wider world. Of course, it’s possible to gain tremendous popularity using a virtual avatar. But there is a target audience that simply cannot be reached without flesh-and-blood performers as a draw.”
It felt like all of Shiika’s efforts up until now were being thrown to the side, and it pissed me off, but I forced myself to take a deep breath to calm down.
This guy was a professional, so he had to know what he was talking about. To be honest, there was a part of me that realized there was a limit to the numbers we could reach with Shiika’s virtual persona.
“All right, I understand the situation. I think there’s merit, too, in what you say.”
“Great. So she’ll come, then?”
“However…”
I understood the situation. But…
“Unfortunately, we must decline. Shiika does not show her face.”
“Mm-hmm… Mm-hmm…”
I turned as I spoke, and Shiika, hidden behind my back, gave a series of small nods.
“You won’t change your mind?”
“No.”
I answered without hesitation. I was absolutely adamant.
He could keep at it until he was blue in the face, but my answer would not change. If Shiika was capable of showing her true face on the world stage, then she would never have become a shut-in school truant in the first place.
“Living expenses will be paid. As long as she keeps her grades up.”
“Huh?”
“All kids scouted personally by me, i.e., the ones who don’t have to go through the admission process, the so-called Scout Kids, are completely exempt from paying admission fees and tutoring fees. There are no initial costs. She can receive a stipend for living expenses. And once she graduates, she’ll have a one-way ticket to a life of first-class stardom. I doubt you’ll find such a good deal anywhere else.”
“Oof…”
Darn it. My resolve was weakening fast.
“With the advent of WayTube, anyone can make a living from their art, but when it comes to the I Tried Singing video trend, well, rights are split in half, so those videos don’t generate much advertising revenue. And wouldn’t you both like to eat really good food, more than just once in a blue moon?”
“Guh…”
I clenched my jaw. My determination was like Jell-O.
“Slurrrp.”
Shiika was drooling, too.
“Well, if you’re not interested, I did my best. I’ll have that business card back.”
“…!”
“Huh?”
My fingers clamped down on the business card even as he tried to take it away.
Kei Tennouzu tugged, but it was wedged firmly between my fingers, as if glued there, and didn’t give at all.
“Shiika. You don’t want to show your face or go to school. Do you?”
“No. Don’t wanna.”
“But you want to eat delicious food, don’t you?”
“Wanna eat.”
“Could you handle it? Going to school, I mean?”
“I think I could just about manage. As long as you can be in the same class, Gak.”
“…You heard her. Would such an arrangement be possible?”
I looked cajolingly at Kei Tennouzu again. He paused and seemed to consider something deeply, stroking his chin.
“All right, it’s a deal!”
He showed me his white teeth and gave me a thumbs-up.
“Wow…”
“Food…!”
“We’ll pay living expenses for two, as well.”
“Are you some kind of angel?”
“An extra side dish…!”
Shiika and I clasped hands, our eyes sparkling.
To be honest, having to leave home was a big hassle, and I never wanted to find myself in a school environment again. But the stomach wants what it wants.
And it would be a million times better to slack off at a school than work.
Besides, if I could be in the same class as Shiika, that alone would make it completely different from the school life I’d experienced in the past. With that one condition, a lot of hurdles had been cleared.
Because as long as I’m around to keep an eye on her, I know Shiika won’t come to any kind of harm.
So with that being the case…I guess I can handle going to school again.
Even though I thought there was pretty much zero chance of Shiika becoming an entertainer if she had to show her face.
Still, all we had to do was bide our time. Collect the living expenses for the next three years, while uploading videos as Seeker on the side. Then all we had to do was say “no thanks” to Shiika becoming an in-person entertainer. Reap only the benefits and bow out when the situation became inconvenient.
A perfect plan with no possible drawbacks! Ha-ha-ha!
“Then it’s decided. Ah, these are the enrollment forms. Please submit them by the beginning of next week. Detailed materials will be sent later. As soon as spring break is over, you will join us at the entrance ceremony. With that in mind, please make whatever arrangements you need to be prepared.”
“Right! Thanks very much!”
“Shiika Ikebukuro… I look forward to seeing how our academy evolves, with the entrance of such a prodigious vocalist.”
Then Kei Tennouzu…ah, correction, Kei…gave us a stylish wave and walked off.
“Those kids were just scouted by Kei himself!” “They must be future megastars!” “Eek, how amazing! We should go and grab their autographs while we’ve got the chance!”
The eyes of the housewives by the park’s entrance were completely different now.
Thoughts of money swirled in my mind.
“…Still, I won’t fleece them…too much. Heh. Heh-heh-heh.”
A lower-middle-class kid like myself could get carried away.
“Hey, Gak?”
And then we have my sister, who’s not just a normal lower-middle-class human, but an actual musical prodigy.
“What’s performing arts?”
“You…listened to that whole conversation without knowing what that meant?”
“All I got from it was that you and I can go to school together and eat yummy food.”
“There was quite a lot more to it than that…”
Shiika’s vocal talents had been highly evaluated, and she had been granted entrance to a top performing arts school.
Those two things alone would be enough to have aspiring talents all over the country freaking out, but Shiika seemed almost…placid.
No doubt, my sister has a screw loose somewhere.
A school where the elite of the entertainment world congregated… I was a little worried about how two shut-ins like us would fare in a place like that. But when I looked at Shiika, I felt all my doubts fade away.
I mean, what could possibly go wrong? My sister, after all, has got some serious talent.