Episode 14 – Special Program Part 1

“Five seconds to live! Three, two, one.”

The director signals, and cheerful music begins to play.

Then one man vocalizes loudly.

“The “Let’s Talk about Composer Kazashiro Rei” event has begun!”

First, the two male and two female moderators are pulled off the screen by the camera.

“My name is Hatsuo Maru, and I will be your host today, and I mainly write lyrics.”

“Yes,I am TV announcer, Yoshizumi Sato, and I look forward to working with you today!”

Drawn by the tension of the one out-of-place man in an aloha shirt, female announcer Sato also greets him smilingly.

“Well~, Sato san.”

“What is it?”

“I was looking forward to this day so much I couldn’t sleep!”

“ara, really?”

“Because it’s Kazashiro Rei, you know. I’m going to call him ‘Kazashiro-sensei’ this time, but isn’t there anyone in the industry who doesn’t know about that guy?”

“I see. It is true that even an ordinary person like me knows the name of Kazashiro sensei.”

Oh, of course, Maruhatsuo sensei, the announcer adds.

“HaaHaaa, Compared to Kazashiro sensei, I am a mere fraction of the industry.”

“No that’s not right”

At this point, the director says, “Please move on.” The director gives a cue to introduce the guests.

“Now, I’d like to introduce you to our lovely guests here.”

The announcer change the story according to that instruction.

“I understood~. After all, they were all superb guests. Yamada san, the producer, said, The schedule and the fee were really tough”

“Yes, yes, please don’t tell that kind of backstory here. Let’s go ahead and introduce them!”

and here the camera switches from number 1 to number 2, with the spotlight on the opposite side of the moderator.

“First of all, let’s start with this person. She is a very popular actress, and also made her debut as a singer, Shirakawa Kotoha!”

“Hi~, I’m Shirakawa Kotoha. I look forward to working with you today!”

Then, next, Azusa and Mirei were introduced. Azusa stood there, aware of the TV shots, while Mirei, as usual, gave a flat greeting with a careless look on her face.

“Yes, thank you. And now on to …… the man of the hour! Go ahead!”

“No, no……. My name is Harushita Suzune, nice to meet you.”

“Wow! It’s really Suzune chan! I didn’t think you’d come back to life!”

Suzune laughs at Maruhatsuo’s excitement. She is really in trouble, but she doesn’t seem to feel bad about it.

“Wait Maru sensei, there is one more”

“Oh, sorry, sorry, Sato san! And I’m also sorry about our guest. There is actually another person who is coming. He is a composer who has written numerous songs and is just as popular as Kazashiro sensei! Here you go!”

Maruhatsuo introduces another female guest to the screen.

“I’m Nozaki Haruka, composer. It’s a little bit painful for me to be here among all the gorgeous guests, but I look forward to working with you at …….”

Haruka bows politely, and Maruhatsuo follows up again. At the rate the program is going, it will run out of lenght, so these parts will probably be cut.

“Yes. Well then, guests, I look forward to working with you today!”

At the sound of Maru’s voice, the 100 or so spectators gathered applauded, and the program began.

“Yes, we went from tenth to eighth, but…”

“It’s amazing~. All of the songs are so well-known that it feel like an all-star already.”

Kotoha reacts to Maru’s statement.

“What do you think of Shirakawa san’s song, which was also ranked in the list? What is your impression of Kazashiro sensei?”

“I have the image that he is very serious about what he does. I think he has a strong feeling that he wants to make good songs rather than just sell them.”

Hohoho, Maru nodded mysteriously. Azusa joined in the conversation.

“I understand! He doesn’t care about money at all, doesn’t he? he doesn’t even get paid all the time.”

“Eh ? Is that so ?!”

The lyricist, Maru, and the composer, Haruka, responded greatly to this.

“Is that true?”

“I’m sure of it. In fact, he told me directly that he would not accept the money.”

“Yes, yes, that’s what I was told too!”

Kotoha and Azusa confirm Maru’s question. 

“Um, perhaps  …… Tatsumi san and Harushita san as well?”

“Yes. He doesn’t get paid.”

“I told him I would indeed give it to him, but he refused.”

The four of them talk about how they experienced the same thing there, recalling what they did at that time.

“Eh, not getting paid for all those successful productions, that’s amazing”

“I’ve never heard of such a person. He is already a great person.

Haruka and Maru both shouted in astonishment, and from the audience, “What?”

Suzune was delighted to see the reaction.

She had decided that she would definitely tell her beautiful story of “not getting paid” today.

This may be a sign of anger toward him for not getting paid, or it may be a way of repaying him for the wonderful music he has provided.

(I’m kind of frustrated that Kotoha san beat me to it, but ……, oh well…)

As for Suzune, she was already filled with a sense of accomplishment because she had said what she had intended to say.

So she couldn’t imagine that Kotoha was thinking the same thing.

unknown to these women, their battle had just begun.

It was a disturbing start