Thinking back carefully, Shimizu-san had indeed mentioned very early on that her father worked in the animation industry, and she had even learned to draw from him when she was a child.
But what he hadn't expected was that this "industry practitioner" was actually the president of an animation production company.
Regarding this, Shimizu-san explained somewhat bashfully, "Even though I say it's an animation production company, it's not a particularly amazing one, and it hasn't produced any famous anime."
As she spoke, Shimizu-san listed several anime produced by her father's company.
Akira found, somewhat awkwardly, that they were indeed titles he had completely never heard of.
"Uh, sorry—"
"Haha, it's okay."
Shimizu-san let out a few light chuckles dismissively, then continued, "I know, of course, that these are just niche late-night anime with very little popularity."
"Well—"
Akira thought about it carefully and felt that it might not be that her father's company was too weak, nor was it that he was ignorant.
First of all, this was a parallel world that was similar yet different from his previous life; it was normal for there to be anime he hadn't heard of.
Secondly, in this period, whether it was official imports or pirated distribution domestically, they would only target a small number of works that were already huge hits in Japan and had guaranteed market appeal.
The fact that he hadn't heard of these works might not be because their quality was poor, but perhaps just because they weren't strong enough yet.
More importantly—
He smiled and said, "Being able to take on the gross production of an entire anime makes it a fairly impressive animation company, doesn't it?"
This wasn't mere flattery; it was a fact he recalled from a report about the Japanese animation industry buried in the corners of his memories from his past life.
According to the report, among all animation production companies, over 70% were purely outsourcing companies, lacking the capacity to even handle the gross production of a single episode.
A company capable of grossing an entire series was already in the top 20% of the industry.
Being in the top 20% could hardly be considered bad.
"Is that so?"
Hearing him say this, Shimizu-san blinked in surprise; she didn't really have a concept of such things.
But moving on, after explaining her family's company situation, Shimizu-san returned to the previous topic: "So, Mochizuki-kun, are you interested in visiting?"
"Well—"
To say he was interested, he definitely was, but if it was Shimizu-san's family's company, the situation was a bit different.
"Maybe we should save it for later?"
He scratched his head and gave a sheepish smile. "After all, going directly to someone's company without having met their father first feels a bit—"
He paused mid-sentence, not knowing how to continue, feeling that what he was saying sounded a bit strange.
On the other side, Shimizu-san also thought of something, and her face couldn't help but turn slightly red. "Um—you're right. Let's save it for later then."
She had suddenly remembered an issue—after successfully signing with Being last time, she had thought about calling her mom and dad to tell them the good news.
But because she didn't know how to introduce Akira, she had temporarily given up on the idea.
Even when her mother called to ask how she was doing, she had kept it from them and still hadn't told them about the signing.
Fortunately, her parents didn't pay much attention to the music industry, so they hadn't discovered the truth she was hiding.
Thinking about it now, she felt a sudden wave of lingering fear; it was lucky Akira hadn't agreed immediately.
Seeing how interested Akira was in animation production, she had made the invitation on a whim.
If he had actually agreed, she couldn't imagine how her parents would have reacted.
Meanwhile, seeing the atmosphere turn a bit strange, Akira decided to change the subject.
Recalling a previous memory, he spoke tentatively, "By the way, Shimizu-san, do you get along well with your father?"
"Huh?"
Shimizu-san asked, sounding confused, "We're fine. Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
"Well, it's like this—"
Akira brought up a conversation they'd had a long time ago, the first time Shimizu-san had mentioned her father.
At the time, Shimizu-san seemed reluctant to talk about her father, looking as if there were some hidden circumstances.
However, they weren't very close then, so he hadn't pried.
Now their relationship was different, and since she had brought up her father herself, he wanted to take the opportunity to look into that previous situation.
"I see."
...
Shimizu-san had a moment of realization and said with some surprise, "I just didn't expect Mochizuki-kun to remember a detail from so long ago."
"Is it that long?"
It had indeed been over four months, but that meant nothing to his 'cheat' ability.
So he smiled and said, "It's because I have a good memory, and also because I care."
Because he cared?
Did he care about things related to me?
Shimizu-san's heart fluttered slightly, and she couldn't help but look at Akira again, wanting to see his true thoughts in his eyes.
But after meeting his gaze, she shyly looked away, feeling like she was being a bit embarrassing.
So, pushing down the distractions in her heart and returning to the question itself, she said with a hint of helplessness, "Actually, that was a problem from a long time ago."
"Or rather, it's not really a problem, just a little worry of mine."
Although according to Akira, her father's company seemed to be doing well now, there was a period when she was in elementary school when things seemed particularly difficult.
Now she knew that time coincided with the bursting of the Japanese economic bubble.
During that period, not only was her father incredibly busy, but even her mother, who had been a full-time housewife, chose to go out and work to help him.
As a result, with no one to look after her, she was temporarily sent to her grandparents' house. She finished elementary school in her hometown and wasn't brought back to Tokyo until she started junior high.
After that, because she spent a lot of time with her mom and they talked often, things were fine there. But her interactions with her dad weren't as natural as she remembered.
Perhaps it was because her dad felt he had wronged her by sending her back to their hometown.
So nowadays, when he communicated with her, she could always feel a faint sense of guilt beneath his words, and he was especially accommodating toward her.
But she didn't like that feeling.
She had specifically discussed this with him, but although he said he would try to change, it was all talk and no action. That was what made her feel most helpless and angry.
The behavior Akira had noticed that day was precisely because she had just finished a routine call with her parents.
And because she felt helpless and annoyed by her father's attitude, she had acted so awkwardly.
"I see."
Having understood the whole story, Akira didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He could understand Shimizu-san's feelings, but this really wasn't a serious problem.
In fact, whether it even counted as a family conflict was debatable.
No wonder Shimizu-san said it was just a little worry of hers.
More importantly, there didn't seem to be any room for him to intervene.
Well, then it was fine.
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