Destroyed, I walked back to Aki's apartment. Thirty minutes remained before we needed to go to work, so I wanted to be alone with her until then. However, I stopped when I raised my hand to ring the bell. I wanted to be comforted, but not in the way Aki did.

Instead, I walked to the neighboring apartment and rang the bell. Haru opened the door a few seconds later.

"Kaito? I'm glad to see you, but what are you doing here? Don't you have work in half an hour?" she smiled.

Her smile disappeared as soon as I said, "Can I come in for a bit?"

She turned around to look inside her apartment before looking at me again and nodding. She held the door open for me to enter and closed it behind me.

Her apartment was a little messy with piles of clothes stacked here and there. Compared to Aki's, at least the clothes were more organized. Apart from that, the apartment was very simplistic. It had a few tiny plants over the table and the kitchen counters, and a couple of bigger pots sat on the floor.

Haru moved the books from the table to her desk. "Please take a seat." She then rushed to tuck the clothes into a wardrobe as she asked, "Did something happen?"

I sat down before answering, "Yes. I might've just wasted the last opportunity I had to keep GIMA afloat."

She closed the wardrobe and glanced at me. I had seen her serious face a few times already, but it was still a rare sight. She approached the table and sat down in front of me.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Out of nowhere, a lump emerged in my throat as I tried to talk. I tried my hardest not to cry, yet I was unable to. I brushed my face with my hand repeatedly to hide the tears, even though the sharp breathing and the silence made it obvious. Still, Haru didn't say anything.

The tears kept flowing out for a while until the lump in my throat weakened enough for me to talk.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be crying over something like this."

"It's fine. You must've had a lot of pent-up emotions."

I brushed the remaining tears away so I would be able to see Haru's face, but the embarrassment didn't let me stare at her. However, I saw enough to notice her bittersweet smile.

"I wonder how many CEOs cry when they feel overwhelmed," I laughed nervously.

"Many. Everyone has their own way of relieving stress. As long as it's not something harmful, it doesn't matter."

"Right."

Silence encompassed the room. I still was unable to stare at her, so I merely stared down at the table. I'm an idiot. I'm putting her in an awkward situation.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked.

"Yes, sorry. A big music company offered to… partner with GIMA. I'm no lawyer, yet I still noticed weird and ambiguous terms in the contract, so I paid the lawyer I always hire to review it."

"And what did he say?"

"He said the same things I thought and noticed more things I didn't, but he told me it was to be expected from a big company. I asked him if I should sign it and he didn't want to answer. I wonder if he didn't because he knew that I wouldn't sign if he told me."

Haru didn't say anything, yet she stared at me intently.

I sighed. "He was right. As always, I was naive and asked to have a meeting with the company's lawyers. Even the CEO was there, which was quite overwhelming. Thankfully, my lawyer was there to talk and not make the dumb mistakes I would've. Of course, they didn't buy any of it. I was hit with an ultimatum and I said no."

Haru stayed silent in thought before saying, "You did what you believed was best for your company; naive or not, it's done. Only time will tell if it was the right decision."

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

It wasn't what I wanted to hear, yet it was logical she didn't have anything more to say.

I continued, "Not only did I reject a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but I might have also made enemies."

"This is a competitive world, Kaito. More than ever before. It's normal to have enemies. Let's just hope they play fair and square."

"I'm not that naive to think they will."

"Let's not think about that," she laughed nervously. "So, the problem is money."

I nodded. "We are popular and we are getting money, but it's far from enough to cover the costs. I didn't manage our resources as I should've, just like I did with my last business. The difference is that I can't even take out a loan since that business went bankrupt and ruined my credit history. What should I do?"

"I'm sorry, I can only tell you solutions you won't like. Look for another company to partner with or investors willing to take a risk, which will be hard to find."

"Not to say impossible," I added. "This is why I am at a dead-end; my naiveness won't let me get out of it. Unless a person I deeply trust is in the middle of a life-changing phase and is willing to take a chance, I…"

Haru stared at me, confused. "What?"

The workday had already started, yet I was barely on my way to HQ. I had called Aki to ask her to go out without me so she wouldn't be late. She obviously became worried although I told her it was for a good reason.

I stepped into the office, dropped my bag on my desk, and ordered, "To the dance studio. Now."

Aya and Tomokazu looked at me in shock, yet I didn't wait for them to head upstairs. I turned into the recording studio first. Miki was sitting behind the control panel with a hundred buttons and sliders, playing a track I hadn't heard before at full volume. He hastily paused it once he saw me at the door.

"Boss! What brings you here? Please tell me I didn't miss a message you sent."

"You didn't," I replied and he sighed in relief. However, his eyes opened wide when I bluntly ordered, "Dance studio. Now."

I walked to the dance studio and entered without even knocking. Again, they were playing music at full volume, although I recognized it this time—Sakura Metaphors. It was weird since they hadn't performed it live and I hadn't seen its choreography in a while. Maybe that was why they were practicing it.

They continued for a few seconds until Satō finally saw me in the mirror. She stopped the song and the girls turned around in confusion.

"Boss! What brings you here?" Satō wondered.

"Miki said the same thing," I replied. "Did you forget we were going to have a meeting today?"

"I didn't. Please don't tell me I missed a message you sent."

"No, you didn't. I just called everyone here."

Just as I finished the sentence, Aya and Tomokazu arrived behind me. Miki didn't take much longer and they all entered the studio. The girls sat on the wooden floor, while the others sat on the five chairs.

I stood in the middle and took a deep breath before saying, "Miki, Satō, girls, I'm sorry for hiding this from you. I always wanted to be as transparent as possible with all of you, yet I didn't tell you the critical situation we are in: GIMA is about to go bankrupt."

Aki's, Aya's, and Tomokazu's expressions didn't change since they already knew about it. They merely glanced at everyone else as their faces showed surprise and disbelief and their jaws dropped.

"Seriously?" Sanae asked.

"Seriously," I answered. "This is why I've been acting so serious for the past few days. I scheduled today's meeting to announce GIMA's fate for good. I was hoping to come with the news of being able to sign the contract with a big music company that was willing to take the risk of partnering with us, yet my naiveness let me down once again. Even though there were many reasons for me to reject their final offer, I can't bring myself to use them as an excuse. It was naivety."

The room stayed brutally silent. Everyone glanced at each other, not knowing what to say, which was my plan all along.

"So, this is it?" Astra asked.

She stared at me with a frown. As much as I wanted to drag the joke, I couldn't bear to see her cry.

"This was it," I answered.

"Was?" Umi wondered.

I nodded. "I found someone else willing to invest in GIMA."

"Really?!" Astra grinned. "Who is it?"

I used my glasses to say, "Come in."

It didn't take long for Butcher to call me through Talkie and say, "Young man, there's a woman claiming you invited her. Her name is—"

"Let her in."

"Understood."

Everyone stared at me in silence as we waited. The wait had become so long that it was becoming awkward. Luckily, she arrived and knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said.

The door opened and Haru appeared, smiling as always.

Aki stood up in a jump and shouted, "Aunt?!"