"Now?" I asked. "I just got into bed."

"The sooner the better," Aya replied.

Breathing deeply, I sat up on the edge of the bed. The dim blue moonlight hit my feet through the window.

"What should we do?" I wondered.

"Well, I've had similar experiences in my previous jobs but not about individual people, obviously. They were controversies about the entire company."

"And how did you handle them?"

"Pretty well, if I may say. If there was a chance, I gathered as much information as possible before the situation became public to build a public statement with that. If not, I'd take longer to do it. Late, but better than nothing."

"Then why didn't you make one for us?"

"I had only arrived at the company and saying little was best in that situation. Actually, it was the biggest controversy I've been part of in my entire career by far. Congratulations for taking that record."

"Funny. What do you want to do about Aki's situation, then?"

She sighed. "I need to talk with her about it and ask many specific things. It won't be pleasing, but she should understand it's for professional reasons and nothing personal."

"She'll understand."

"That doesn't make it any easier. Just tell her we need to talk about it tomorrow, if possible."

"This soon?"

"We are getting more and more popular every day. It won't take long before someone that knows about the situation appears."

"Yeah, but…. Fine, I'll tell her."

"Thank you."

"Did you just say thank you? It has to be the first time I've heard you—"

"Yes, I did. Get over it."

I smiled without thinking. We remained silent for a moment, a strange one to have and a bit awkward.

"How's life?" I asked her.

"So-so," she replied. "It will be better when I get paid more. Still, being the PR manager for an idol company is interesting, to say the least. The more I study about them, the weirder things I find. I just hope my big-headed brother can handle it."

"You should trust in me a bit more."

"I will. And you? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright. Life took quite a turn a month ago, but I'm not complaining. Well, I do sometimes."

"You finally got a girlfriend."

"Finally? I'm only twenty-one. And that's what you credit me the most for?"

"You're right, she probably was the one to ask you out. Have you done it?"

"Done…?" I sighed. "No, we haven't. Why do you want to know that?"

"As I expected. Well, time to hit the bed. Good night, little brother."

"Wait, what do you mean—"

She ended the call. I let out a long sigh. She always does this.

I let myself fall back onto the bed. I thought the day had finally ended, but I had to do something before that. Still lying down, I looked for Aki's contact to message her. On second thought, I called her instead.

"Hi," she answered.

"Are you feeling better?"

"A little. More, now that you called."

"You could've called me."

"It's not the same. Did you call because you were worried or because you're going to tell me something I won't like?"

I took a deep breath. "Both."

She chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't get mad at you. Just tell me what you need to before we chat until one of us falls asleep."

"Sure. Aya wants to talk with you and ask specific things about the situation. It won't be nice, but it'll be better if we know."

"I know that. When does she want to talk?"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Tomorrow."

"Not letting me take a break huh?" she sighed. "Alright, the sooner the better."

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, all of this was long coming. I was just delaying the inevitable. Okay, let's talk about happy things now."

We spent the following four hours talking about random topics until I fell asleep first. It was nice hearing her laugh and I hoped she was doing better.

However, the next morning arrived. The girls danced while Tomokazu and I discussed ideas. Aki and Aya talked in Umi's studio next door. Two hours passed before they came back. They both seemed normal and the day continued normally as well.

Later in the day, I walked Aki to her apartment before I had to go to the Business Administration lecture. It was then that she told me she was destroyed inside and that Aya comforted her for the rest of the time the two of them spent together.

It took her a few days to feel normal again, although not completely. We finished the next song, including its choreography, and the girls began to practice it.

A few people had sent their curriculums. Unlike with the PR job posting, we could afford to be picky. We had to be since there was a high chance of people wanting to work with us only to get famous because of the controversy. Thankfully, Aya had some experience with that.

Everything had been fairly calm for a week until we received an unexpected visitor at our studio's door.

"Good morning, Mr. Miyahara," the suited man smiled at me when I opened the door. It was the same man that had told Umi to pay her rent.

What is he doing here? Our rent is up to date.

"You seem surprised," he continued.

"Sorry, we didn't expect any visitors today," I replied. "Are there any problems?"

"Not at all. In fact, it's completely the opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, I've recently noticed that your company's headquarters are located here. I'm not going to lie, the recent events are quite the promotion for my units."

Oh, is he going to dismiss our rent as a thank you?

"However, as stipulated in term seven point nine of the contract for the renting of a unit, companies that operate in a rented unit within this building have to pay an additional fee of fifty percent per unit, plus an additional fee of one point five percent per employee working within each unit."

He stared at me with a smile and I stared back at him in silence with a dull expression. Why doesn't it surprise me?

He continued, "Also, the insurance requires an additional fee…"

Umi approached us from behind me and yelled, "You son of a—"

I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Umi."

"Calm down? This asshole keeps pestering me—"

"Umi!" I yelled.

Her eyebrows raised before furrowing into a frown. She walked past me and pushed the suited man aside to step outside and head to her studio.

"I see Ms. Adachi is as lively as ever. As I was saying…"

"We'll keep it in mind," I interrupted. "Thank you for the notice."

"But I haven't finished—"

I closed the door in his face and stood still. Umi's insult was mild compared to what he really is.

Aki held my arm. "Are you okay? Take some deep breaths."

I did as she said and managed to clear my head enough to think properly. I should apologize to Umi.

Aya approached me. "What did he say, exactly? I could only hear some things but not everything."

"Basically, we'll have to pay a ton of fees for working here."

"What? Didn't you read the contract before signing?"

"I did. Twice, in fact. As far as I'm concerned, there was nothing related to using the units for work."

"You should ask Umi about why she's always angry at him," Aki suggested. "Maybe he did something similar to her."

"I will. I'll also ask for professional advice."

Before doing that, I headed to Umi's studio and apologized to her. She still seemed annoyed, but it was nothing to worry about. I asked her about her experience with the owner of the building and she answered that he had added an extra fee if the value of the items inside a unit exceeded a certain amount.

I called the lawyer we had worked with when the controversy happened and sent him the two contracts of our units. We continued working until he called back two hours later. A hologram of him projected out of my glasses onto the floor for everyone to see.

He looked around. "Good afternoon, everyone. Being in the spotlight is a little nerve-wracking, but I'm here to do what you paid me for."

"Please go ahead."

"I'll go straight to the point. No, what he did is not illegal. However, the law dictates that, after an update in a lease, there's a window of impunity for the client to take the necessary actions."

"Can we use that impunity?"

"Totally. There's a requirement, however. You have to use it before half of your next rental period passes after the update. In your case, you pay monthly and you just paid today, meaning you only have fourteen days of impunity."

I sighed. He did it today on purpose to leave us as little time as possible. What a jerk.

"What does that impunity do?" I asked.

"If you terminate the contract within the window, you won't have to amend for any updates made to the lease and you'll only have to pay for half of the period. If one day passes, you'll have to pay for the entire period and the updated fees."

I stared at the floor. "What's your advice?"

"My advice is that you should start looking for a new place to operate out of. I'm sorry."

"Alright. Thank you for the information."

"That's what you paid me for. I'm at your service if you have questions or troubles. Have a nice day."

"I will. Goodbye."

He nodded with a smile before I ended the call. His hologram disappeared and I sat on a chair. Silence encompassed the studio for a while.

"What are we going to do?" Astra asked.

"You don't have to worry about it, just focus on practicing," I answered. "I'll take care of it."