Toyokawa Sachiko was visibly nervous in front of Duanmu Huai. After chatting with him for a few moments, she got up and took her leave. Watching her depart, Duanmu Huai finally turned toward Club President Saito Kyoko.
"What's going on? Is B Komachi adding a new member?"
Adding members to an idol group was nothing unusual. Some idol groups eventually grew to forty-eight members. Duanmu Huai simply had never been fond of that sort of thing.
"I'd like to, but we can't right now. As for whether we'll add anyone later, that'll depend on what Ruby and the others think."
Saito Kyoko shook her head.
"Then why recruit such a young girl? She doesn't seem to have much experience."
"Um..."
Faced with Duanmu Huai's question, Saito Kyoko awkwardly scratched her cheek.
"It's partly just a little favor. I know her mother... You've heard of the Toyokawa Group, right?"
"I've heard of it. Is this some rich heiress trying to experience ordinary life?"
"It's a little different from that. Her mother died of illness earlier this year, and perhaps because of that, her father ran into problems with the business, causing the group to suffer massive losses..."
"Oh..."
Hearing that, Duanmu Huai clapped his hands.
He had thought the name Toyokawa sounded familiar. Wasn't that the unfortunate sponsor his assistant had been gossiping about earlier?
"So her father resigned to take responsibility and was also expelled from the Toyokawa Family..."
"Then this heiress must be having a hard time. Is she trying to earn money to support the family?"
Duanmu Huai more or less understood what had happened. To be honest, he already considered it remarkably merciful that the Toyokawa Group hadn't poured concrete over Sachiko's father and sunk him in Tokyo Bay. A loss of ten billion yen! If Duanmu