September in Tokyo is the transition between summer and autumn.
In the first half of September, the temperature still feels like summer, but by the latter half, it finally begins to drop, with the daily highs gradually falling below thirty degrees.
When they went out during the day, Akira was still wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, while Rin had already changed into long sleeves and wore a baseball cap for shade, looking quite sharp.
Their outing this time was naturally due to Haruka's notification; they were heading to the Being headquarters to meet up with her. It was said there were some important announcements and matters to discuss.
As they walked, Rin shared a small situation she had recently encountered.
"Ran into a fan?"
Hearing what Rin told him, Akira was somewhat surprised. "You weren't surrounded, were you? Like, the crowd blocking the road or something—"
"It wasn't that exaggerated."
Rin gave him a wry smile and a playful roll of her eyes before continuing the story.
Not long ago, while she was at the supermarket buying supplies, she suddenly noticed another girl also shopping there who kept staring at her, which felt very strange.
So she walked right up to the person to ask why, and upon asking, she found out the girl was a fan of her music.
Because the girl had watched "HEY³" and remembered her face, she recognized her this time.
"I see."
Akira nodded and then added, "However, as you become more famous, being surrounded by fans might actually happen."
Rin hesitated. "Surely not... right?"
There is a conventional rule in the Japanese entertainment industry: celebrities do not 'work' in private settings, and fans should not proactively disturb them in private.
Furthermore, Tsukirin followed a low-exposure route, only participating in a small number of TV programs for promotion when a song was released.
Therefore, they wouldn't be as easily recognized as idols who maintain high exposure.
If their future singles could maintain high sales, they could even follow Sakai Izumi's example and almost never appear on TV at all.
Thus, it should be difficult for her to encounter a situation where the road is completely blocked by fans in the future.
However, considering the possible existence of extreme fans, Haruka still suggested she cover her face when going out to further reduce unnecessary trouble.
After all, even without considering extreme fans, being recognized and stared at on the street would feel quite uncomfortable.
That's why she specifically wore a baseball cap for this outing.
"Being famous really is a hassle."
After hearing this, Akira couldn't help but sigh, and Rin deeply agreed.
After the two entered the Being building and met with Haruka, she expressed her congratulations to them once again.
"Congratulations, Mochizuki-sensei and Shimizu-san!"
Haruka said with an irrepressible smile, "Single sales breaking a million is only a matter of time now!"
Although she tried to keep her tone calm, it was truly difficult.
In her heart, she was already blooming with joy.
Even though she had declared she would work toward a million sales and was scolded for it back then, she never expected that this goal would actually be close to being realized now!
Undoubtedly, after this, a glittering record would be added to her professional resume, and a substantial bonus would also be waiting for her!
She hit the jackpot this time!
Akira and Rin looked at her expression and understood that this highly career-driven contact person seemed to have fallen into some kind of beautiful dream.
Seeing this, they glanced at each other with a mix of helplessness and amusement, and then Akira smiled. "Miss Tanigawa, you didn't call us here just to congratulate us, did you?"
—*Cough*, of course not."
Coming back to her senses, Haruka's face instantly flushed red, and she immediately entered work mode. "There are mainly three important matters this time."
The first matter was the routine follow-up promotional activities for "Marigold."
Although summer had passed, the sales of the single CD were so good that it was impossible to stop now.
So the company decided to strike while the iron was hot and arranged another music variety show for Rin, "MUSIC STATION."
"HEY!³" was one of the two top music variety shows in Japan, and "MUSIC STATION" was the other—and its viewership consistently beat the former.
If she performed well on "MUSIC STATION," the sales of "Marigold" might see another explosive growth.
The second matter was the production of a self-titled album with "Marigold" as the lead track.
This album would also include "Snow Flower."
Hearing this, Akira raised an eyebrow. "So 'snow flower' won't be released as a standalone single?"
"Of course not."
Haruka explained with a smile, "The album is scheduled for release early next year, so it doesn't affect the standalone release of 'Snow Flower.'"
If anything, with the precedent of "Marigold," it was impossible to delay the release of "Snow Flower" even if the album production was delayed.
And if "Snow Flower" could achieve brilliant results like "Marigold" by then, the album containing these two singles would be even easier to sell.
In short, for the company, the existence of the album was merely a tool to maximize the squeezing of fans' wallets.
Truly the work of evil capital.
Aside from these two songs, Akira was not mandatory required to provide the other tracks for the album; they could be handled by other producers under Being.
"Alright then."
Akira had no objection, but Rin raised her hand. "Um, can the songs I wrote myself be included?"
"Shimizu-san's songs?"
Haruka hesitated for a moment before smiling. "I need to confirm this with the relevant departments, but I think it shouldn't be much of a problem."
As long as the quality of the songs themselves wasn't too bad, adding them wouldn't hurt and could even serve as a gimmick and selling point.
Finally, there was the third matter.
At this point, Haruka paused and asked the two with a smile, "Have you two read or heard of the manga 'Detective Conan'?"
Akira and Rin nodded in unison. "Of course." ×2
As one of the pillars of "Weekly Shonen Sunday" in this era, anyone who followed ACG content would find it hard not to know this work.
And Akira knew even more about it.
For example, it was the only work in the future that could compete in longevity with "One Piece," and very likely might even outlast it.
Mainly because that guy Gosho Aoyama could just keep drawing various procedural cases without advancing the main plot.
As long as he wanted to, he could draw until the end of time, and it wouldn't even be impossible to pass it down to the next generation to continue.
Coming back to the present, Haruka's sudden mention of "Detective Conan," which seemed unrelated to music, made Rin a bit nervous and expectant.
As artists under the Being system, they naturally knew what kind of subtle connection Being had with "Detective Conan."
"Since you know it, then it's simple."
Sure enough, Haruka smiled at them. "It's like this. The next theatrical movie of 'Detective Conan' is currently in production."
"And for the theme song of this movie, the higher-ups want you to provide it."
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