Chapter 237

"We were thinking we might come here in the future, so they asked me to come and check it out first."

"Hmm... that makes sense, after all, Kawasaki isn't that big." He nodded in understanding.

Even performing in a livehouse isn't the best way to debut; it's just a beginner's area, and the status is at most a bit higher than street performances.

To truly debut, a band first needs to be signed by a record company or agency.

While there are opportunities to perform in livehouses, they are relatively few.

The real opportunities to gain significant exposure are at large local music festivals or selection competitions organized by reputable organizers.

For example, the Yokohama Music Festival, the preliminary rounds of Future World Fes (which Roselia previously participated in), Sweet Music Shower, Riot, etc.

[Note: FWF and SMS are competitions in Bando-ri, while Roit is a competition in Bocchi the Rock!.]

Many firms and companies focus on these areas, and if you perform exceptionally well, you can be noticed by them.

Even if they don't pass in the end, as long as their abilities are recognized by the audience, their chances are still quite good.

Other methods include livehouses co-organizing events to select bands for the Budokan —for example, Poppin'Party, Roselia, and RAS performed together at the Budokan concert last year through this method.

However, without a powerful backer, ordinary bands initially accumulate fans slowly by holding performances in various venues, uploading production videos, and sharing their daily lives.

With both connections and resources, one can quickly build popularity through large-scale projects and multiple exposures.

Record companies and talent agencies... Sakurakoji Talent tapped his fingers on his arm.

I'd only thought about it briefly before, but if they really want to debut, should I recommend someone I know?

Given their personalities, even if they joined an ordinary company, they would eventually leave because they dislike being restricted in their creative process.

"But where are Nina and Subaru? Without you, they can't perform together, right?"

"Ah~ Subaru has something to do with acting school, huh? Nina isn't planning to study anymore, but she's working part-time with Tomo and Rupa now, so it seems like she's stopped getting financial support from home."

"Huh? What's going on?" Sakurakoji Talent was stunned and looked at her in confusion.

"Didn't I tell you that you just need to focus on the band right now? Putting 486 aside for now, why are those three still working part-time jobs?"

"That," Kawaragi Momoka gave a wry smile, awkwardly touching her face with her fingers, "Is because they don't want to rely on your kindness forever; they want to live by their own efforts."

"You've already helped us enough. Now that you've chosen this path, you need to show your backbone and resolve! It's only right to struggle with all your might!"

"--That's what they said."

"I'm relatively free lately because I still have some savings—and I haven't touched your ten million yet."

He fell silent.

It's not that I'm angry at their stubbornness; it's part of their charm.

I'm just wondering if he's oversimplifying things. There are some things in the world that can't be solved simply with money, like dreams.

While money can bring them fame and status, the process of cultivating delicious fruit through their own hard work and sweat can never be replicated.

"I see. In that case, I respect your decision. Don't worry, I'll be there to support you."

"... Aren't you angry?" Kawaragi Momoka asked nervously.

"No~ It makes me even happier than you two do." Sakurakoji Talent glanced at her with a slight smile, her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, I see. That's good!" She was relieved and patted her chest.

Ding~

"Oh~ We're finally here! Your floor is really high!" The elevator doors opened, Kawaragi Momoka looked at the number 66 on the display panel with a sigh, "Just how tall is this building?"

"This is the top floor. It's about two hundred meters, but less than three hundred meters."

"Over two hundred meters?! This is the first time I've ever been to such a tall residential building. Subaru's is less than a hundred meters."

Stepping out of the elevator, she put her hands on her hips and turned back to tease, "I thought Young Master like you would live in a mansion or villa or something, but it turns out you live in an apartment too."

"What? Is this place not good?" He walked past her, went to the door, opened it, and prepared guest slippers for her in the entryway.

"No, this location is so good, the rent must be expensive, right?" Kawaragi Momoka, who was looking around the corridor, suddenly noticed something and ran over in surprise. "Huh? There's only one room on this floor?!"

"Yes, because it's Loft Apartment."

"Ugh..." She choked on her words, her expression complicated. "I misspoke. You really are a Young Master."

"Enough with the talk, come in, come in~ Welcome to my place for the first time." He swayed his ponytail rhythmically and walked towards the kitchen with a smile, "What would you like to drink?"

"Beer~" She quickly composed herself and casually replied while sitting on the steps in the entryway, taking off her shoes which were a bit difficult to remove.

"That won't work. Although I've been wanting to try it these past few days, no one will buy it for me."

"Oh right, you're not even 20 yet," Kawaragi Momoka said, remembering the question as she walked in after changing her shoes.

He usually seemed too mature, and she had forgotten that he was actually younger than her.

"Sorry to bother you~"

"Then come with me and I'll prepare some Green tea for you."

OK!

After answering loudly, she began to wander around and explore the place with great curiosity.

"Wow~ the living room is huge~ it's almost as big as a typical commercial apartment outside! And the furniture looks so expensive..."

"Huh? This is a bathroom? Are you sure it's not a small public bathhouse?"

"Wow, so many rooms... Oh, and there's even a walk-in closet! I've only ever seen that in TV dramas!"

"What is this?! It's full of cabinets, are they all wardrobes?!"

"So, it turns out that the glass wall displaying shoes and bags online actually exists..."

"..."

The further she walked, the more astonished she became, just like when she saw Inoseri Nina give the middle finger to the shop assistant; her entire worldview was being shattered one by one.

In fact, although they are all called Loft Apartment, there are differences between different Loft Apartment.

For ordinary commercial residential buildings, the area of a single floor is generally less than 500 square meters, mostly around 300 to 400 square meters.

However, since this is an apartment building, and a super high-rise building at that, if the floor area is too small, it would be unprofitable to build, and would directly bankrupt the construction company.

The taller the building, the more the construction cost increases exponentially for every additional ten meters.

For economic reasons, at the very least, a single floor should be over 1,000 square meters, and two or three thousand square meters is quite normal.

So even disregarding the public areas such as the elevator lobby and corridors outside, the total area here is by no means inferior to those duplex apartments, and may even be much larger.

This explains why Aoyama Nanami comes to clean every day; it's not just for show—it's a very physically demanding job.

Even if some areas don't require daily cleaning and wiping, it still takes a considerable amount of time.

The lower floors are divided into small rooms according to the standard apartment layout before being rented out.

The monthly rent for a small room in a high-rise building was 2.5 million yen during the opening special offer, but here... well, you can imagine.

"The view here is amazing, it's like being on top of the world, and you can even see Tokyo..." Kawaragi Momoka's eyes were blank, with a sense of powerlessness in the face of money.

"Finished your tour?" After preparing tea, Sakurakoji Talent came out carrying a gilded tray.

"Talent, you..." Kawaragi Momoka gazed at him wistfully, on the verge of tears.

This isn't some rich girl like Anwa Subaru; who would live alone in such a huge place?!

She now finally understands that his earlier statement, "It's just a mere ten million," was not an empty boast.

What level of professional band do they need to become for them to be willing to live here?

"Come and have some tea." He sat down on the sofa, picked up the teacup, and took a small sip.

He had also come back from outside and was a little thirsty, so he didn't care that it was a bit hot.

He glanced at Kawaragi Momoka, then his gaze broadened. Come to think of it, this seemed to be the first time any of his friends from outside had come to visit him here.

Ouka Mai met him passively, while Shiina Mashiro lived downstairs, and both of them came from well-off families.

The others, including Kasumigaoka Utaha Shiina Mahiru, have never been here before.

The feeling of inviting others to my place is quite novel.

"I'm not drinking anymore, I'm so angry I'm full!" Kawaragi Momoka leaned back and said angrily.

"Envious?"

"It's jealousy!"

"Ha~ I completely understand what you're thinking, but there's nothing I can do about it -- by the way, have you had dinner yet?" He asked, glancing sideways. He had just gotten home from get off work and hadn't eaten either.

I had some snacks in the afternoon, so I'm not very hungry now, but I don't know how Kawaragi Momoka is feeling.

Since she's come to my turf, I can't let her go hungry.

"Not yet, never mind. I'm going down for a walk to buy some food and beer. Do you want some?" She ruffled her casually falling silver-gray hair and stood up dejectedly.

For some reason, she felt restless and had a strong urge to drink.

"Then I'll trouble you. I'll reimburse you for the expenses later."

"No need. You've taken such good care of me all this time, leave this to me." She waved her hand behind her back, put her other hand in her pocket, and walked away with a flourish.

I'll take the keys now.

Sakurakoji Talent sipped his clear green tea, his gaze fixed on her retreating figure with a meaningful look.

This child is still too young.

Half an hour later,

Kawaragi Momoka strode back, her beautiful face contorted with rage, and she shouted through gritted teeth:

"What's going on here! The prices are way too high!"

As expected, Sakurakoji Talent replied, "After all, it's Aoyama. Didn't you try to find a chain convenience store?"

"I'm not familiar with this area, how would I know? Besides, it's too far to walk back, and it's tiring." She placed the two large bags on the coffee table, feeling annoyed.

How long will it take her to earn back all this money? She's lost all the money she painstakingly saved for accommodation. It's unbearable...

"It's really tiring." He glanced at the plastic bag, which was mostly filled with canned beer. "Want me to reimburse you?"

"Forget it, forget it!" She unscrewed a can of beer, sprawled out on the sofa without any manners, and chugged it down in one gulp. "Ah~ That's awesome~"

The strength from before vanished instantly, her long, straight legs casually bent and stretched as she lazily said, "Consider this as repayment for taking me in. I bought some Oden, sushi, and takoyaki as snacks, and some beer too. Do you want some?"

While encouraging minors to drink alcohol is clearly illegal, and if Okura Rumin heard it, she would certainly be punished, but how many people truly abide by basic laws?

She first drank alcohol when she was about his age and had just Kawasaki.

And now he's become an alcoholic...

"Hmm..." Sakurakoji Talent glanced at the plastic bag and blinked.

To drink or not to drink?

He's lived all these years and has never drunk alcohol before, so he doesn't know how much he can drink.

From a genetic standpoint, it probably won't work, but how will we know if we don't try?

Moreover, he'd been having a lot of worries lately, and he'd been wanting to try drinking for a while now—even though he knew that cigarettes and alcohol weren't good things, people's stereotypes always seemed to suggest that they could help people temporarily forget their troubles.

"Drink!" His gaze was firm; after all, it was just an experiment.

"Suo Suo! You have to be brave enough to try everything! Drink up! I bought a lot, I'll drink with you until midnight tonight!" She sat up abruptly, stretching out her strong and slender arms to cheer him on.

Suddenly, she remembered something. "... If your family finds out that I encouraged you to drink, won't they come after me?"

"Don't worry, it won't happen."

"That's good! Here, I'll open it for you!"

"It's such a small matter, I'd rather..."

"..."

The next morning,

Sakurakoji Talent woke up in his big bed, staring blankly at the familiar ceiling above him, but his heart was not at all calm when he woke up as usual.