Seeing Miyahito's dazed state getting worse, Maki sighed and prepared to raise her hand to snap the shell-shocked boy out of it.
Just then, Akane, sitting across from them, spoke first, saying something to the giggling Miyahito that left Maki completely confused.
"Did it work?"
Worked? What worked?
However, what confused Maki even more was that Miyahito actually answered.
"Almost... hehe, I'm preparing."
"Oh?" Wearing a deeply knowing expression, Akane crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs under the table, and looked at Miyahito—whose face practically screamed beaming with triumph—with half-lidded red eyes. "Seeing you like this, I thought you'd already succeeded. How nice, youth."
Hearing Akane bring that up, Miyahito immediately remembered her ill-timed phone call. The radiant smile on his face instantly crumpled.
"I was about to say it, but then someone randomly called me."
Damn it. The atmosphere was so perfect just now. The confession he'd prepared for so long was right on the tip of his tongue.
And then, snap! A phone call ruined everything.
"My fault? Ah." Akane rarely showed a slightly bewildered expression. After thinking for a moment, she offered a perfunctory apology. "Oh, that was just now? Sorry, sorry, my bad. When I called, I didn't know where you were. Sorry, sorry."
By now, thoroughly confused, Maki finally interrupted the riddle-like exchange between the non-blood-related siblings.
"What on earth are you two talking about? What 'succeeded'?"
"Can you speak in terms normal people can understand?"
The moment her words fell, both Miyahito and Akane simultaneously turned their gaze to Maki, who wore an indignant expression.
Stare——!
"What's with you two?" Suddenly feeling the piercing weight of their combined stares, Maki's confidence deflated, her voice growing weak. "Did I say something wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing."
Hearing this, Miyahito and Akane replied in perfect sync again.
Then they completely ignored her and resumed their conversation.
"By the way, Miyahito, what anime protagonist are you playing? Dropping the ball at the critical moment."
"You're blaming me? If you hadn't called, it would've already been a done deal."
"Yeah, yeah, my fault. All my fault."
"...."
Finally, completely ignored and excluded from the conversation by both the artist she managed and her college classmate, Maki couldn't sit still anymore.
"Hey! Stop ignoring me!!"
"I'm not ignoring you, Maki-nee."
"Maki, hurry up and check Miyahito's contract for any issues. Don't just sit there doing nothing."
"Oh, oh." Hearing Akane's prompt, Maki, not fully processing it, quickly nodded. Then instinctively grabbing the contract from her desk—which she'd already reviewed multiple times—she started going over the clauses again.
Wait! Hold on. I already checked the contract. It's fine!
Realizing she'd been played, Maki's face instantly darkened. She looked up at the two, who were chatting enthusiastically about a riddle she still didn't understand.
My fists are tightening! Seriously!
As the ace manager of Sakuragawa Agency, when have I, Nakamura Maki, ever endured this kind of treatment!
"By the way, what kind of girl is she?"
This question, spoken by Akane with a slight, teasing smile, instantly froze Maki, whose anger was about to explode.
Dazedly looking at Akane, then turning to Miyahito beside her, whose face was full of blissful smiles, and connecting it with their earlier cryptic conversation, Maki blurted out in utter shock.
"Miyahito, you're in love!"
"..."
Miss Akane, you're just realizing it now?
Completely ignoring Akane's slightly disdainful glare, Maki stared at her singer with sparkling eyes, hands clasped, her face screaming gossip mode.
"No wonder all of Miyani's recent songs are about love. The president even asked me a few days ago if you were going through something."
"So you're in love, huh! Mou! Miyahito, you're something else. How could you keep something this huge from your manager?"
"So? Want some advice from your big sis? Don't underestimate chasing girls, Miyahito."
Seeing his manager leaning in with sparkling eyes, Miyahito offered an awkward but polite smile. He leaned back slightly, placed his hands on her shoulders, and replied very politely.
"No need to trouble yourself, Maki-nee. I can handle it myself."
"Yada yo! Why so formal with me? Come on, Miyahito, let your sis tell you what girls your age really like!"
"No thanks, really no thanks! Maki-nee!"
"....."
After the commotion settled.
"Ahem." Meeting the expectant gazes of Akane and Maki, Miyahito organized his thoughts and began.
"Her name is Kasumigaoka Utaha. She's a classmate from my school."
"Kasumigaoka Utaha... nice name." Recalling vaguely of her own high school days, Maki nodded with a nostalgic expression. "When I was in high school, my best friend also got liked by a boy from our school, and they started dating."
Suppressing the urge to ask "What about you?", Miyahito twitched his mouth, adjusted his expression, and continued.
"Her grades are amazing. She's always first in the grade on every exam."
"Also, Utaha is a very popular up-and-coming light novel author."
As he spoke, noticing a thoughtful flicker on Akane's face, Miyahito suddenly remembered something.
If things followed the original plot, in the future, after Utaha goes to college, this very woman in front of him would recruit her, along with Eriri, into her circle to help develop games.
And not only would she get a great career, but with this woman's help, Utaha's writing career would reach new heights.
In that case.
"Oh, right. Akane-nee." Changing the subject, Miyahito spoke to Akane with a deliberately mysterious tone. "Have you been keeping an eye on Shinobu Publishing's latest works lately?"
Clearly, as the president of a massive animation circle and a production company spanning anime, light novels, games, and more, Akane instantly connected the dots between his two seemingly unrelated statements.
"Kasumi Utako. Kasumigaoka Utaha." Whispering the two names, Akane lightly licked her lips, a spark of curiosity flashing in her red eyes. "Why bring up that connection to me, Miyahito?"
"Nothing much." Seeing that Akane already understood his implication, Miyahito smiled, his tone slightly embarrassed. "Didn't you mention before, Akane-nee, that you were having trouble finding a good scenario writer?"
"Utaha's writing is really impressive."
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