"This is too reckless, Sakiko."
On the way back from the agency, Misumi Uika couldn't help but say to Togawa Sakiko.
"You should have at least waited until after this week's live show to talk about it, right? What if our agency misunderstood and thought you were here to interfere? Forget collaborating, they might have just banned us from seeing each other in private."
"...No. If I had waited until after the live show to contact them, it would have been too late."
However, Sakiko, having barely managed to reach a consensus with them, had not a single regret about her risky decision.
"After this live show, you and Hoshino Ai will definitely be flooded with work requests and all sorts of commercial offers. To secure enough room for my plan, I had to reach an agreement with your agency in advance."
"Mm, that does make a lot of sense..."
Regardless of the outcome, the immense traffic generated by this live show would inevitably make [Summer Zodiac] the most talked-about idol group of the moment.
At that time, faced with a predictable sea of job offers, no matter how much the agency valued its artists, it would still have to schedule things based on the client's importance and the order of the requests. Moreover, coming to discuss a partnership before the live show was even a success was enough to demonstrate Sakiko's own trust in Uika and the sincerity of her proposal.
"Still, I never thought you'd suddenly want to form a band again, Sakiko."
Uika looked at her.
"Was it because you were provoked by that Mori Minami?"
"What happened that day was just the trigger. I actually came up with this series of plans during the days Tetsuya-kun was in Yokohama."
Sakiko said with a straight face.
"Even though I kept saying I wanted to be a help to Tetsuya-kun, there's a limit to what I can do for him as just an apprentice. So... I've decided to build a personal faction for him."
"A personal faction?"
Uika's expression turned curious.
"What does this faction entail?"
"Simply put, it's a large-scale joint project."
Sakiko explained.
"First, as his exclusive model, Hoshino Ai is a given. Even without my request, she would willingly offer her strength to Tetsuya-kun. Although I don't approve of her as a person, her current influence and that face of hers indeed make her the only one among us who can immediately help him. As long as she's around, the 'print and visual model' fields have their most basic guarantee."
"Then there's the music world. The first card is Chihaya Anon's band, [MyGO!!!!!]. Although this band is still in its budding stage, as long as Tomori and that lead guitarist are there, their prospects are worth looking forward to. And their style, which leans towards pop and emotional expression, can perfectly supplement the audience that [Ave Mujica] can't cover."
"[Ave Mujica]..."
Uika silently repeated the name.
"The current members are you, me, and Wakaba Mutsumi... I see. You're planning to go for a major debut based on raw skill, aren't you, Sakiko?"
"Exactly."
Sakiko snapped her fingers.
"The second card is the band I'm preparing to form, [Ave Mujica], an absolutely professional and commercialized band. This band has only two purposes: one is to rapidly increase our commercial value, and the other is to promote Tetsuya-kun's [StarrySky]. If everything goes smoothly, then his faction will cover [Idols], [Models], and [Music]—the most talked-about fields among young people. And later, after I enroll in [Filia Girls' Academy] next year, he will further venture into the 'aristocratic circle.' By then..."
"Forget [NozAK!]. Tetsuya-san will even have a chance to rise to the level of a high-end fashion brand."
Uika's expression gradually became dazed.
"No wonder Higuchi-san agreed to your proposal. The scale of this project is just a little too massive—"
"...It's not over yet."
Sakiko suddenly shook her head and added.
"Having Mutsumi move in with Soyo and Tetsuya wasn't just about her helping us... I also wanted to gamble on Minami-san's next move."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Uika thought for a moment, then her jaw dropped.
"Wait... don't tell me you're planning on using even Minami-san's influence?"
"And why not? As a famous actress and the wife of a well-known comedian, her name alone is worth more than the commercial value of all of us combined."
Sakiko said.
"Even if she herself is unwilling to promote us, just using her existence to connect with the [Entertainment World] is a surefire win. That's why I had Mutsumi go to Tetsuya-kun's place instead of with me, because I wanted to bet on whether Minami-san would establish a connection with him because of it."
"...Hold on a minute, Sakiko."
Although the picture Sakiko had painted was grand and beautiful, the key to maintaining this massive faction was an incredibly tricky and extremely unstable matter—
Uika analyzed the situation.
"Ai is a given; her partnership with Tetsuya-san is the most solid. You and I are also on his side. Besides that, the other members of [MyGO!!!!!] and [Ave Mujica] are all girls connected to him. As of now, the only one whose stance is unclear is Minami-san, but her future position is basically tied to Wakaba Mutsumi..."
Uika chose her words carefully in her mind before speaking.
"If you want this faction to operate for the long term, Tetsuya-san's attitude and position are arguably the single most important point."
"...Mhm, that's true."
Sakiko nodded.
"In a way, for a long time to come... Tetsuya-kun will have to maintain connections with all the girls in his faction, and keep the relationships as stable as possible, without favoring or neglecting any one side. Hmm... how should I put it? It's like maintaining peace in an ancient emperor's harem!"
Under Uika's complicated gaze, Sakiko nodded thoughtfully.
"Thinking about it, 'harem' is actually the most fitting word to describe this project..."
"You absolutely cannot let Tetsuya-san hear you say that. He'd definitely be the first one to reject the idea."
Uika couldn't help but retort.
"Well, it is pretty close, I'll admit."
"This way, even if it's just to maintain balance among all parties, he'll never be able to easily make a move on any single one of us."
Sakiko stated.
"In other words, until the dust settles, he'll be the 'common property' of us all."
"..."
From a more idealistic perspective, it would indeed be as Sakiko said. Chihaya Tetsuya would become the center of this giant spiderweb, stably maintaining the balance between all parties. But... if any one party were to break that balance and proactively approach him, then to maintain the overall stability, the others would also have to close the same distance.
In that case, if someone really succeeded... then the rest of the faction would have only two choices: one, to withdraw from this delicate balance, and the other, to follow along...
Huh? Doesn't that mean... in order to maintain stability and fairness, everyone else would have to follow suit?
For some reason... I have a really bad feeling about this.
"It's a good plan, for sure. I just hope nothing goes wrong in the end..."
Uika gazed at the skyline, stained by both sunset and nightfall, and couldn't help but mutter under her breath.