Chapter 190 – A Storm Brewing

On the 26th, a Saturday, an unexpected snowfall had lasted for quite a while.

Only after a thin white layer had settled on the ground did the flakes finally begin to fade away.

The weather turned even colder after the snow, so when Aoki stepped out, he made sure to put on an extra layer underneath his coat.

After his talk with Ryo yesterday, she lingered in his apartment for a while.

Aoki had even prepared himself to cook dinner for her.

But then, around five o’clock, she suddenly received a call from her parents.

They asked, “Where are you now? Why weren’t you home after work?” and so, quite naturally, she had to head back early.

As for the aftermath of yesterday’s conversation…

Even though he consciously didn’t want things to develop in that direction, Aoki couldn’t deny that, with the way he acted and carried himself lately, he probably looked like a complete playboy.

That much was undeniable—and impossible to explain away.

Even if he didn’t mean it that way, his actions could easily be misunderstood.

Luckily, the girls in Kessoku Band understood his personality well enough.

Otherwise… in this situation, he really wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on.

But for now, that wasn’t the main concern.

At three in the afternoon, with the thought of doing a little practice, Aoki slung his guitar over his back and took the train to STARRY.

On weekends, around this time, the band members usually gathered there.

But today turned out to be a little different:

Ryo had gone off to the music store by herself, while Kita had dragged Bocchi to the mall.

Which meant that, for now, only Nijika was at the shop.

He pushed open the door and greeted her briefly.

She responded with a wave and her usual casual tone—like nothing was out of the ordinary.

As if that day—her reddened eyes, her hesitant demeanor, and how she’d avoided meeting his gaze—had all been nothing but a trick of his imagination.

But Aoki knew better.

None of it had been a mistake.

Still, since Nijika had already told him she was “fine,” he really had no ground to press further.

It still lingered in the back of his mind, of course.

But if she could manage to adjust on her own, then maybe—just as she said—it really wasn’t a problem anymore.

Shaking off those thoughts, Aoki set down his guitar case.

After a pause, he said, “I’ll be in the studio practicing. Nijika, if you need anything, just call me.”

There would be a live performance soon, organized by KL Productions.

He needed to get himself back up to standard—not just with the guitar, but with the keyboard too.

“Mm.” Nijika nodded softly in response.

With his electric guitar in hand, Aoki stepped into the studio, while Nijika stayed outside, continuing her cleaning duties.

Musical skill was something that always wavered if left untrained.

That much was inevitable.

Aoki was better than most, since he made sure to practice regularly.

His ability still fluctuated a little depending on his condition each day, but never by much.

And with the upcoming event, he had to push himself harder than usual.

After hooking up the equipment and adjusting the sound, he centered himself and began practicing.

————————————————————————

By six o’clock, STARRY was open for business.

Rubbing his slightly numb fingers from pressing the keys, Aoki closed the keyboard lid and stood up.

By this time, he usually stepped out to lend a hand—mopping the floor, serving drinks, whatever small jobs needed doing.

He called it “taking a short break,” but in truth, it was just his way of loosening up.

After putting away the electric piano and guitar, Aoki left the studio and entered the main hall.

He glanced around. Nijika was behind the counter, serving drinks.

Seika, the store manager, had shown up at some point and was seated at the counter, eyes fixed on her laptop, crunching numbers.

“Good afternoon, Manager Seika.” He greeted her as soon as he noticed Ijichi Seika.

She gave him a short reply, and Aoki turned his attention back to Nijika.

Since there wasn’t anyone else helping today, she was juggling double the workload—taking orders, ringing up customers, handing out orange juice and other drinks all at once.

“I’ll give you a hand.” Aoki slipped behind the counter naturally and reached for a cup.

“There aren’t that many customers today. It won’t be too busy…” Nijika murmured, even as she instinctively let go of the cup.

Aoki only shook his head silently, flipped the switch, and started helping out.

Nijika pouted slightly, but soon returned to her own tasks without further fuss.

On the other side, Seika paused for a moment.

Watching the two of them interact so naturally, as if nothing unusual had ever happened, a flicker of doubt stirred inside her.

But soon, she pushed that doubt back down.

No matter what, she couldn’t very well ask them all sorts of questions—especially not right here, in front of Aoki.

Suppressing her curiosity, Ijichi Seika straightened her expression and looked back at her laptop screen.

And then—

It was already six fifteen.

Aoki had thought he’d keep helping out until closing.

But unexpectedly—barely ten minutes in a sudden ringtone cut through his movements.

He pulled out his phone, lit up the screen, and checked the caller ID.

It was just after six, the time when many office workers were getting off work.

Yet at this hour, Fujita Masahito was calling him.

With a faint flicker of confusion, Aoki pressed the answer button.

“Hello?” he said simply.

Immediately, the voice of Fujita Masahito came through.

Normally, the man in his thirties spoke with a steady, unhurried tone.

But this time, Aoki could clearly hear something else—an edge of anxiety.

“Aoki-sensei, Aoki-sensei—something’s come up. We’ve received some news, and I was wondering… are you available right now?”

Realizing that something serious must have happened, Aoki frowned slightly.

Casting a quick glance toward Nijika, he instinctively lowered his voice.

“More or less. I can make time. What’s wrong, Fujita-san?”

Fujita drew in a deep breath before continuing.

“NH Music has just signed a partnership with Justice Entertainment. Because of copyright conflicts, your future music uploads will be banned on their platform…”

Aoki froze as the man’s voice carried on:

“In other words, any of your songs will be completely blocked on NH. Even your artist profile will be erased—covered up entirely under the excuse of ‘copyright disputes.’”

“Copyright disputes? Banned from uploading?”

A sharp breath escaped Aoki.

No matter how he looked at it, he hadn’t expected the pressure from capital to escalate this far.

NH Music was arguably the most influential music platform in Japan. And now, Fujita was telling him that they were forbidding him from uploading anything there ever again…

Was the impact big?

Well, Aoki had started on Yutube.

Being shut out of NH wouldn’t cripple him.

But still—like he’d thought before this was far from harmless.

First the smear campaigns a few days ago, now this news from Fujita…

It was like being surrounded by flies.

Even if they couldn’t really hurt him, they never stopped buzzing around, weighing down his mood.

“So then, Fujita-san… when you asked if I had time, what exactly do you need me to do?”

After thinking it over for a moment, Aoki spoke again.

“Here’s the situation, Aoki-sensei,” Fujita replied quickly. “Because of the market changes, we need to draft a new contract. The compensation will be the same, but… this time, we can’t include the words ‘NH Music’ anywhere in it.”

“As for what you personally need to do…” His tone faltered. “I’m sorry, Kei-sensei. But even here at KL Productions, we honestly aren’t sure what kind of countermeasures can even be taken.”

“…”

There was a pause. Then Aoki answered steadily, “I understand.”

Contracts for live performances and events were coming up fast, so the earlier they handled this, the better.

After setting up a time and place with Fujita, he ended the call.

His past had been dragged into the open.

Capital forces were stirring up public opinion, guiding the crowd against him.

And now NH Music had chosen to burn their bridges, siding openly with Justice Entertainment.

The storm is coming—it was the perfect phrase for this moment.

With a quiet sigh, Aoki slipped his phone back into his pocket and turned toward Nijika and Manager Seika.

“Sorry, Manager,” he said. “Something’s come up on my end, and I need to handle it in person. So… I won’t be able to help around here tonight.”