Having a group of teenage girls in cute dresses as your wallpaper, as an adult, was the easiest way to raise eyebrows and alarm bells around normal people. Dress yourself with a fancy suit, add the tag of "producer", "manager", or even "CEO" of an entertainment company; and it would suddenly start being considered a sneaky way to showcase your product if said wallpaper showed up while projecting what's on your computer during a presentation.
People, especially businessmen, didn't really care about what was considered "normal". Not really. Instead, people liked the abnormal. What sticks to the perception, to memory. Something that, in our primitive pattern-recognizing brain's standards, would be considered out of the ordinary. And, thus, worth remembering. No one in this world would want to sell something ordinary, not even charity programs and such movements. They first re-framed things into something interesting, something worth remembering. Falling for the same trappings as the selfishness that they wanted to oppose; for no other reason that, for the average folk, their lives were unremarkable enough that nothing similar mattered.
And, for someone like Saitou Ichigo, the ability to differentiate ordinary things from unordinary ones was key to success.
"Ai." Hurrying to the place where the girls were, interrupting their chatting, would not be something that he wanted to do. Not now, at least. Because the sight of little Ai getting along with the rest of Ichigo's girls was one that he hadn't imagined before. He might have, in conversation, expressed his hopes for them to be a tight unit, friends more than co-workers, but in his heart he'd known that sometimes things didn't go the way you'd expect. Not as easily as one would want, at least.
He had known that she needed to find her footing, to bolster herself in ways that he was ill-suited to guide her through. A growing girl, no matter how much he or Miyako tried, needed to figure herself out in a world where everything would want her pushed down into a mold. Giving her space, enough room to explore and come to her own conclusions, had felt like the right move to do so far. Keeping her as herself at her core. Untainted by the world around her in a way that would take away her shine. The parts of Ai that made her unique. Ichigo had truly thought that this was a good idea.
He had, as it happened, been too idealistic in the way that he thought about his actions.
"Yes, Ichigo-san?" Ai stood to attention, figuratively. Kyun, Nino, and Takamine also stopped what they were doing. While Watanabe and Meimei kept working on Ari's hair after giving Ichigo a quick look.
They didn't have all day to stay, after all. And the problem that Ari's father brought the day before forced people to relocate assistants and workers to quickly move things, and cut corners to leave the rented beach sooner than expected. Yet, as Ichigo would have it, the girls of B-Komachi were more than capable of taking care of themselves. They didn't actually need people helping them change and get ready, even if time usually meant that the help let them get on stage in time. But here, with Ichigo and Miyako re-scheduling as well as they could, the girls had enough time to prepare for the work day with no problem.
"Change of plans. The interviewer is someone different, I'm hoping it has nothing to do with last night but…"
"Mom had people looking around for cameras and stuff." Ari spoke up, catching Ichigo by surprise. Normally, when he called for Ai's attention, she'd separate from whoever she was with. Perhaps a little glad to have some time to gather her thoughts, but it meant that these instructions were usually for her ears only. And in a way that the point was perfectly understood.
"Yes, but people can go to a place and have ideas for later without ever bringing out a phone." Ichigo cut didn't really have the words to explain. Yes, what Ari said was right. But that went implicit in his words, since he was warning Ai of a very particular set of circumstances.
"Got it." Ai nodded, making Ichigo have to hide a sigh of relief as she immediately took the center of attention while regarding the rest of B-Komachi. "The person that will interview us isn't the one that Ichigo-san was promised. We might be thrown a few curveball questions, so just keep that in mind."
"I doubt they have anything incriminating. You guys didn't do anything wrong… Right?" Ichigo lowered his chin to regard the group above his sunglasses, making the girls look at each other in a mixture of confusion and worry.
"Of course not, Saitou-san." Takamine replied first, clasping her hands in front of herself with worry.
"Nah, it was a girls' night." Kyun smirked, one of her eyes looking smaller because she was in the middle of finishing her makeup on the opposite side of her face. "No boys allowed."
"Yumiko-san might've yelled some weird things…" Watanabe scratched her cheek, messing with her own makeup a little. She looked the guiltiest outside of Nino, but that girl had a lot more to worry about.
"It's fine, non-idol friends and all that." Ai cheered, patting the girl's back before her demeanor broke into doubt, and then worry. "…Right?"
She looked at Ichigo for answers, and he just shrugged while shaking his head. Not really knowing what to tell her. As he was an adult man, and not a young idol girl with non-idol friends.
He motioned to the others, willing Ai to ask them instead. But she didn't seem to get it. She needed a little push.
"Iron out the kinks, will you?" Ichigo looked at Takamine, who didn't know why she was being thrusted with the responsibility at first.
"Oh, of course." Kyun gave Ichigo a thumbs up. "We weren't so drunk that we forgot what we were doing."
"I didn't pay attention to everything, though." Ai furrowed her brows. Slowing down in her movements.
"That's why we're should talk this out. So we can say the same thing on camera." Kyun huffed.
"Oh, right!"
Ichigo nodded to himself, satisfied with this outcome. He didn't need to hear the idols telling him not to worry, or that they had it covered. They were meant to be independent, after all. Agreeing with them was simply a matter of politeness.
Okay, next thing. Ichigo needed to keep the schedule in mind. Keep two or three points in his memory so that no time was wasted. Being in his position meant that even a small mistake could displace important things and cost them greatly. He had to check on the other models now, see if the ones that had returned home had indeed taken their flight and landed. Take the calls of the PR team, check with Miyako for whatever the fashion company needed, check on the twins so that they weren't alone all day, check on B-Komachi again…
Ah…
"By the way." Ichigo had already been on his way out, but he spun on his heels and pointed at Ai as he remembered something too important to forget.
"Hmmm?" His little girl had also gotten to work, so she had to stop in her tracks when Ichigo called out for her again.
"How was the beer?"
Ai's first reaction was to make a disgusted expression.
"It sucks."
Ichigo let out some air through his teeth, grinning.
"You'll get used to it." He shook his head; remember the first times he went drinking. Or at least the parts of those nights that he remembered. "Or not. You can always be like Takamine and act as the responsible adult of the group."
"But I'd want to go out to have fun?" Ai tilted her head, looking at Ichigo with more intensity.
"Ai-chan, you don't have to drink to have fun…" Takamine tried to have her see reason, but Ari scoffed at the girl.
"It's more fun to be the drunk than the sober person worrying about the drunk."
"You shouldn't drink enough for people to worry!"
"Ummm, actually…" Meimei interrupted. "Officially, we didn't. So… Get your story straight, Taka-taka."
"Right!" Ai clapped her hands together. "Let's start there! How much did we drink?"
"I don't know." Ari stated.
"No clue." Meimei agreed.
"I don't drink." Watanabe lied.
"I'm such a light-weight… I might've passed out very early in the night…" Kyun stuck out her tongue while doing a cute pose.
"…" Ai turned back toward Ichigo again, expression blank and filled with no answers for her problem.
"Figure it out." Ichigo turned around and hurried to leave. It'd be better if Ai got used to her idol-mates' particular ways of messing around. It was one of the things that ensured that teams worked seamlessly, after all.
"Well, compared to Yumi-chan and the others we're kind of small. So going with the light-weight route sounds…"
"Cute enough. Okay!" Ai picked up Ari's line of thought and changed it into something that she could understand.
It seemed like B-Komachi remained in good hands.
The needed to be. Ai, no matter what the rumors of past and present said, was one of Ichigo's direct subordinates. One of the handles for the units of Strawberry Pro, a link for him to lead and get them to success when he couldn't personally handle every single thing of the group.
Yes, B-Komachi was the single most important piece in the company's success. And Ichigo often spent a disproportionate amount of time personally intervening in the way they worked and interacted with the industry, but he couldn't just disregard everything else. They had actors, models, some internet influencers; and that wasn't counting the regular employees and contacts that the company maintained. For no man would survive in this business without other people giving them entrance to spots in TV, places to present their talents, and helping them ride the waves of public perception that changed in an hour-to-hour basis. Just making sure that his talents were behaving could be draining, so people like Ai were necessary for him to be able to breathe. For Strawberry Pro to flourish and make everyone's dreams happen.
…
Perhaps, in this too, Ichigo was too idealistic. Thinking that, just because he was involved in everything, nothing would go too wrong to fix. He had managed to ride the wave of Ai's success. He'd taken the right opportunity from then on, and the people under him were better off for it. No one ever left Strawberry Pro with dissatisfaction in their hearts. Even the girls that left B-Komachi, in more than one occasion, came back to see if they could still work with him. For the problems festering under the pretense of wholesomeness and innocence were far deeper rooted in other companies than his own.
Ichigo didn't create B-Komachi as a cash grab, but out of genuine passion and the desire to make a light that would make things better for people. If it succeeded, his company would rise. And it happened. His vision had been right, and everyone was better off for it.
Or so he wanted to think.
"Ichigo." Miyako snapped him out of his thoughts. He had slowed down in his steps, and now forgot what he was supposed to be doing next. What he needed to bring his attention to. "I checked with the hotel; they got a few things on record. Nino might be able to use it in court if necessary."
Ichigo nodded, rubbing his eyes beneath his sunglasses. The light of day, artificial or not, was so painful that he needed them on constantly. But that wasn't the reason for doing this. It was more the stress than anything.
"Since I threatened to call the police, Niino-san should behave. For now. I guess telling Nino about this would be better. Don't want her to get too nervous during the interview." Ichigo looked at the ceiling, connecting the dots about both situation and how to sort them out without telling the public that one of their idols was having family problems. It still felt too early, too close to the attempt on Ai's life. Someone smarter than him would be able to start drawing a line of events that painted Strawberry Pro as negligent to the extent that other companies actually were, but had managed to hide better.
"Might be better to let her hint at a problem now, and let people discover what it was about later." Miyako's option sounded awful on paper, but there was a merit to it. They might not be able to control how or when the public figured this out but, given how much Nino's mother had blown things out of proportion, she might self-destruct and reveal things in a way that made her look terrible.
Still…
"Nino doesn't have the skill to do this gently enough." Still, Ichigo had a good grasp of his talents. If not personally, at least in how they performed. How much backstage planning and preparation was needed for them to shine.
Whereas Ai was mostly autonomous and fell in line with little input, the others weren't as skilled in this. They'd fallen victim to their own ideas, thinking as a group rather than coming up to their own conclusions as individuals.
Figuring things out on their own and later asking for confirmation was, if nothing else, a sensible skill that people rarely developed nowadays.
"Still better to let her know, so that she can bring her A-game to this." Miyako insisted and, for a moment, Ichigo wanted to shut her down completely.
He hung his head and sighed instead.
"Yes, you're right. Can you…?"
"I'll talk to her after bringing the twins something to eat." Miyako straightened her back. Expression completely professional, but there was a hint of pride in her eyes that hadn't been there while talking about work. "They have some soft fruit in here, it might be good for them."
Ichigo nodded, getting en route and seeing Miyako wordlessly follow him. No instructions or confirmation required. They had already figured out how to work back-to-back for maximum efficiency.
"Remind me: Are the three 'extra' girls coming with us later or…?"
"They're scheduled to return to Tokyo on their own." Miyako dutifully explained. "Though their flight comes after B-Komachi's own, so seeing them off to the airport would be impossible."
"It'd be easier if we had Hikigaya-chan to take the flight with the twins…" No matter how much they prepared for it, how many plans they had, and how much time they'd been doing this… Taking the twins with them was a massive risk for everyone. They'd bring up questions, it'd get people digging… And there was only so much that Ichigo's connection would be able to do in such a case.
"I guess that the best-case scenario is actually for her to stop working with us, and have 'them' babysit so we can go back in track with Ai and the girls." Miyako sighed. Fully knowing that it was a shabby way of thinking of people that had extended them their trust and had played fair with Ichigo's shenanigans for this long. But, in the end, the two Saitou knew better than anyone how much peace of mind have safety measurements brought.
"Hmm…" Ichigo didn't like that thought too much. It was imposing on someone, and trampling over their potential. It rubbed him the wrong way, even if he fundamentally agreed with the notion. "Right. There's only so much time left before we have to release Ai into the open again…"
"We are losing interest slower than I'd have imagined but…" Miyako didn't finish her sentence and greeted one of the hotel's staff members as they walked by. But Ichigo knew that this wasn't the reason for it. Her apprehension came from elsewhere. "In any case, we should get the girls back on stage. Soon."
"I know." Ichigo took out the card to open the hotel room door. "We just have to iron out a couple of annoying kinks and we'll be golden."
"MA-! Oh, it's Ichigo-san." Ruby went from 100% excitement to 0% in the span of a second, letting the two Saitou enter before moving closer to where the door might let her be seen from the outside.
"Are you kids hungry? I can get some fruit for you. What do you like?" Miyako went straight to the point, while Ichigo played a bit with Ruby's hair. Letting himself get comfortable and switch mental gears before engaging the children.
"We'll have a busy day. But we might be able to squeeze a couple of hours so you can go out to play with Ai in the evening." Ichigo told them while sitting on the bed, bending to bring out one of the travel bags that he brought.
"Oh, really?" Aqua sounded actually surprised. Eyes almost sparkling in spite of his poker face, unable to completely hide his excitement.
"Yes!" Ruby had no such qualms, however. She bounced on the unmade bed, free to do as she pleased as the Saitou had asked the hotel to not bring room service no matter what. Letting the kids do as they pleased.
It was the least they could do for keeping them indoors all the time.
"Hopefully." Miyako added before the kids could become too hopeful. Exactly what Ichigo was wrestling with at the moment.
They had so many things to do, and so many questions to answer. Ichigo kept on wondering if he should be stricter, if he should bite the bullet and take a firmer control over these people that he had grown to rely on.
Ai refused to give him answers, and he thought that maybe he hadn't done enough to win over her trust. Now, seeing how far she was willing to go while completely neglecting the aspects that would ensure her and her children's safety… Ichigo wasn't so sure.
"Ichigo-san…" Ruby sat down beside him; eyes filled with something akin to seriousness.
It took him by surprise. It was almost like she could read his worries with that child-like mind of hers.
"Y-Yes?"
"Mama's outfit yesterday was cute. Can I see the pictures that Miyako-san uploaded to the group's socials?"
…Ah. Of course.
"Sure." Ichigo brought up his laptop and saw how Aqua tried to be very low-key about joining in.
They were children, in the end. And they had no responsibility over how they had come into this world.
…
"Let me just double check what's in stock for today." Ichigo said before switching to the schedule, stretching his back and sharpening his mind to keep working. "Let's make room for this evening, shall we?"
"You're tense." A young woman said through the phone. "Relax~ there's nothing to worry about right now."
It was easy for her to say that, safe at home and free from the weight of having to raise three kids and a whole company with nothing but her wits and a wife.
"Yesterday was tough, and today doesn't seem to have anything better for me." Ichigo sighed, taking a drag of his cigar while resting against the outer wall of the hotel. "Are you sure you can mingle in this? Compared to the Shijo the Yukinoshita are…"
"What's the harm?" The young woman interrupted him cheerfully, almost like the idea was amusing. "I just pulled a couple of favors here and there. Relocating people so that they can finish their job is hardly something that a big corp like theirs would be worried about."
Ichigo knew better than to argue with people's field of expertise. And, although this girl did little more than contact people and make deals, it was still faster and more efficient than what Ichigo would've been able to do in a few hours.
"If you say so."
"Besides, it's fine. It's not like Arisa-chan's daddy is a danger to you and yours." The young woman hummed, and Ichigo heard the sound of keys being punched like she was working on an old desktop computer. Not surprising, given how Japan favored older tech. But it still annoyed Ichigo a bit. "Yup, her father has been on thin ice ever since Arisa-chan was born. But, well, that's what happens when you get a Minato girl pregnant so…"
Yukinoshita Haruno was, if nothing else, a sly little girl that knew exactly what to say at any given time. Her ability to just straight up contextualize any problem was unparalleled, and Ichigo couldn't help the stray thought of wondering what could've happened if he had found her sooner. What would be of Strawberry Production if she was directly under him.
Stupid thoughts. The way she spoke was beyond mean-spirited. Efficient, because Ichigo quickly realized that this girl neither feared the Shijo or found any problem in finding information about them, but still being a little too amused about this whole thing for his liking. She didn't ask for reasons or elaboration; she didn't care for anything but about what was required of her and what she got in return.
It had been the same when they met. Going straight to the point, drawing lines on the sand for Ichigo to contextualize where a random shady guy had seemingly swooped in to steal Ichigo's precious little girl away from him. Communication itself, it seemed, was her specialty. And the bigger Strawberry Pro got, the more important it was to have allies like this.
"If it comes down to it, it'll just be a small section of the Shijo corp, then?"
"More like, if it comes down to it, I suggest that you tank the hit and see the man fold under the pressure of the family." The young woman didn't speak coldly. She knew that she was suggesting something unprofitable, so her tone changed and became kinder. "The Shijo are big, but they have a bigger rival in the Shinomiya. If they find their loser ex-heir wasting resources and time elsewhere, well…"
Ichigo couldn't help the frown that came to his face.
"You're suggesting we publicly denounce them."
"I'm suggesting that Ai-chan does it herself." The woman's tone became colder. "Japan's darling implies that the company mostly known for having foreigner deals is messing with her, and a mixture of fanaticism and nationalism can quickly build up and become a public affair… Not like it'd take the Shijo down, but your problem man-child will get a good scolding, if nothing else."
"I… Suppose I should have the girls tweak today's interview a little." It would, if nothing else, set a bit of a precedent if push came to shove. Implying that there were outside factors now was akin to a sleeper agent to be activated if things got out of proportion. The public would connect the dots by themselves. They lost nothing adding this detail in now.
Except, that it might hurt Ari in some way. These were the choices that he had to face, and that he had trained Ai to take in his place as the one actually involved on the level where the problems of said choices manifesting.
And, given that she was actually deepening her bonds with the others, her ability to make these choices should do nothing but be sharper. Such was Ai's ability to improve herself, compared to everyone else.
"Sure." The young woman didn't ask what he meant, or tell him to take her word more seriously. She just moved on, knowing that it wasn't her place to say either of those things.
Again, the idea of having her as an active force his favor returned. But Ichigo snapped it and went back to the things that actually mattered.
"And about the Lala Lai ex-talents…?" Officially, he had asked of her something simple: Find people that had been skipped over or that had escaped the entertainment industry, giving her a handful of companies to scour. The theatrical company, however, was the one that Ichigo was interested in.
Because there was no way that the father of the twins hadn't belonged to it, now that Ichigo spent months thinking about it harder than ever.
"Oh? You had your sights there from the beginning?" She sounded amused, but Ichigo was more than used to big shots being all high and mighty while dealing with him. His own company hadn't always been big, so he knew better than to fall for it. He remained serious, steadfast. He had nothing to hide, and she had no reason to know more than he let her.
"Oh, didn't you know? We had a bit of an exchange of talents in the past. Though I never did hook the people I saw… I wonder if they'd change their minds now."
"Right. It's difficult to find capable people on the best of days." The girl sighed. "Can't blame you for having that splinter still bothering you."
"Then?"
"No good. I don't have anything for you about them specifically. It seems like the company is rather protective of the people that were around during the time of the couple that committed the murder-suicide." The girl spoke softly, but Ichigo could almost picture her shaking her head. "Never mind asking around for favors. I'm getting the picture that a lot of people are benefiting for that particular problem remaining out of people's memories."
Ichigo grabbed his cigarette wrong, crushing it with his fingers. He was so angry that he didn't register burning his pinky and ring finger against the lit part.
"I was kind of hoping that an outsider could circumvent that problem." A stupid thought by any metric. But it was fine if he allowed this little girl to think that he was a little stupid. Better than the alternative, actually.
The young woman laughed at his words, and there was some sort of melodic tone to the sound she made.
"No dice, Saitou-san. I can give you profiles for the guys on the other companies, though."
"Sure." Ichigo played it off cooly. Throwing the crushed cigarette away as the pain of burning himself started to settle in. He didn't let it show in his tone. "Thanks for the hard work."
"Getting to know more people in the industry has been super fun~" The young woman cheered. It almost sounded like she was a little naïve. Just a rich girl messing around, seeing what she could get praised for. Ichigo was smart enough not to fall for the façade. "But I have to ask: Will the other companies have such serious problems too?"
Ichigo considered the question for a moment.
"Probably not."
"Ha-ha… Please, don't use me to get away with snooping around scot-free. I'll get mad."
"You can drop this favor whenever you want." Not like the other companies held anything that Ichigo cared about. Even if she already checked them all and was keeping the information to herself.
"You still have to give the people I recommended a chance, though."
"I know, I know." Ichigo scoffed. "Magnitudes different, I know when to bend the knee."
"Okay~ as long as that's the case!"
"Thanks for your time." Ichigo clicked his tongue. "And for all the help, of course."
"I'm just doing what I've been asked to." The young woman stated. "Keeping my family safe is my top priority."
Ichigo grinned, but stopped himself from scoffing out loud.
"Right… Your 'ex-potential brother-in-law', right?"
"I'd like to think that he's still my potential brother-in-law." The girl chuckled sweetly. "By any metric imaginable, Yukino-chan just won't lose~"
"Right, of course." Ichigo shook his head. "Let's hope that you're right."
"Yes, let's. It is my responsibility to cheer for my little sister's happiness, just like it's yours to cheer for your daughter's." The young woman stated more seriously now. "It's nothing personal."
"Just our particular responsibilities." Ichigo nodded to himself. "I can get behind that."
"I have to touch base now, Saitou-san. So I'll be on my way." The girl moved something on her side of the call before continuing. "Just to make sure things are under control, I'm sending you the phone of a lawyer. Has direct ties to us, so feel free to say my name if you want a consultation or something."
"Will do." Ichigo sighed. "Please, don't spoil us too much. We might start liking it."
Ichigo could just picture this little girl with too much money and time on her hands grinning.
"That'd be pretty fun, not gonna lie." Then, her tone returned to normal. "See you! Gotta go deal with a pest before it becomes a major problem."
"What kind of?" Ichigo's words died in his mouth when the call was cut.
What an unlikeable woman. Was this Hikigaya's way of retaliating for all the mess Ichigo got him involved in?
Brilliant. Maybe the older Hikigaya held more potential than expected, just not in the way his little sister or Ichigo's eldest little princess did.