Chapter 182: Naoki-san is too bad!

Decisively casting aside Shimada Yuzo's nonsensical questions, Naoki Nagayama asked Akina directly,

"Akina-chan, aren't you in the middle of recording?"

"Because we have to shoot on location, we came to the beach~" After calming her mood, Akina asked, "Naoki-san, why are you in the sea?"

"Diving. This is a famous diving spot, you know," Naoki Nagayama replied. "I just earned my diver's certification these past two days, so I can go diving at some spots on my own now."

Diving was still a strictly niche sport at this time; only those with both money and leisure had the energy to participate.

"Is diving fun?" Akina asked with great curiosity, and then she began to size up the scuba gear and other equipment on the small boat.

"It's very interesting!" Naoki Nagayama took off his wetsuit and put on the floral shirt from the boat. "Diving underwater and swimming on the surface are two completely different feelings. The scenery on the seabed is also extremely beautiful..."

Just as Naoki Nagayama was about to properly popularize some of the knowledge he had just learned, Shimada Yuzo interrupted from the side: "Akina-chan, let's chat later. We still have shooting tasks to finish."

This guy thought of the instructions given by Nobuo Tomioka earlier; for the sake of Akina-chan's idol career, he had to be the one to break up the lovebirds!

"Hai~" Although a little disappointed, little Akina was, after all, an idol artist who took her work very seriously. "Then Naoki-san, let's talk later~"

"Haha, work comes first!" Naoki Nagayama nodded. "Yuzo-san is indeed a strict producer~"

"Haha, that's true, but I'm very easygoing when I'm not working."

Shimada Yuzo, standing to the side, was speechless. Shouldn't one avoid the person in question when commenting on them? A living, breathing person like me is still standing right in front of you!

(Nobuyasu Honda and Yuta Kuroki: "Don't forget us!")

"Sorry, I've disturbed everyone's work~" Naoki Nagayama expressed his apologies, then said to Akina, "Akina-chan, I'll go return the boat first~"

"Hai~"

Naoki Nagayama pushed the small boat off the beach. Only the temporary anchor had broken; all other functions were normal. After he started the motor, the small boat quickly sped out of the fjord.

Perhaps because she had seen an acquaintance, little Akina was no longer bored, and the shooting process went very smoothly.

Shimada Yuzo, however, was in a bind. How was it that this Naoki Nagayama seemed like a stalker? Wherever Akina was, he could be seen?

Listening to what he said, he was going to come back later. What should he do?

Run away early now? Doing it too obviously would provoke Akina-chan's resistance, right...

After several months of contact, Shimada Yuzo had a deep understanding of this young girl's stubbornness. If it turned into a rebellious phase, the more he blocked the two from meeting, the worse the outcome might become.

"What a headache~"

"What a headache~"

In Japan, Otomo Yoshimura couldn't help but let out the same sigh, because he had also run into a rather thorny issue. The sexy member of his Wild Cat Group, Hisa Akiyama, and Katsuhide Uekusa of the Shonentai, had actually been exposed in a scandal.

In "The Gas Station Robbery Incident," there was a scene where Katsuhide Uekusa and Hisa Akiyama played a strip game. One was an ignorant youth, the other sexy and beautiful; their scenes together naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Originally, it was just shooting a scene, and after it ended, the two wouldn't have any further entanglements.

What Otomo Yoshimura hadn't expected was that in the past few days, while promoting the movie, the Wild Cat Group and Shonentai had been on the same stage several times. After being teased by reporters and fans, the two seemed to really have the beginnings of something.

Otomo Yoshimura used to produce photo magazines; at that time, it didn't matter at all if the agency's artists dated.

Hisa Akiyama was also discovered by him from among photo magazine models, while Katsuhide Uekusa had previously been a nobody. Naturally, they had no defensive mentality regarding scandals. The two were eating openly at a restaurant and were photographed by paparazzi.

Otomo Yoshimura had actually only learned about this from the newspaper.

Before calling Hisa Akiyama in to understand the details, Otomo Yoshimura felt a massive headache.

"Naoki-san, why haven't you come back yet..."

What should he do after finding out?

"Department Head Yoshimura, were you looking for me?"

Although the agency only had one manager, the position of president was given to Naoki Nagayama, so everyone usually addressed Otomo Yoshimura as Department Head.

"Hai." Otomo Yoshimura handed over the newspaper. "Hisa-chan, are you dating Katsuhide Uekusa?"

"Eh?"

Hisa Akiyama took the newspaper and discovered that the scandal between herself and Katsuhide Uekusa had appeared on the entertainment page, accompanied by a photo of the two eating together.

"The photo is real," Hisa Akiyama said after a brief look. "But I am not dating Uekusa-san. This was just a normal meal."

"Hmm..."

In this situation, Otomo Yoshimura believed what Hisa Akiyama said was true, because for an idol who started as a photo magazine model, dating didn't count for much.

But looking at Katsuhide Uekusa in the photo, Otomo Yoshimura, who had also been through his own youthful, ignorant phase, clearly felt something was wrong. This was not the kind of smile one could show while just having a normal meal!

Otomo Yoshimura had had quite a bit of contact with Shonentai before, and he knew that these guys were all high school age. Moreover, because Katsuhide Uekusa had been trained by Johnny's since he was a child, he had had very little contact with the opposite sex and was very innocent regarding feelings...

Otomo Yoshimura couldn't decide whether to cut off this connection.

Having spent over a decade struggling at the bottom of the entertainment industry, it had long been proven that Otomo Yoshimura was not a decisive, profit-first manager. Otherwise, possessing the resources of photo models, there would have been no problem profiting for himself, or perhaps relying on his relationship with Kadokawa, he could have risen to the top.

After thinking quietly for a while, Otomo Yoshimura decided to cold-handle this scandal.

"Hisa-chan, just ignore this scandal for now." Otomo Yoshimura continued, "Next time you eat out, remember to avoid the paparazzi. You are no longer that unknown artist you used to be."

"Hai! I understand!" Hisa Akiyama bowed and then exited the office.

"Naoki-san, if it were you, how would you handle this?"

"If it were me, I'd naturally choose to bribe the other party with money!"

Naoki Nagayama, having returned the boat, was chatting with Shimada Yuzo while watching the other two shooting Akina.

Shimada Yuzo had just asked Naoki Nagayama: if you run into someone who is always causing trouble while you are working, but it's inconvenient to have a falling out with them, what should you do?

"Yuzo-san, remember, the trouble that can be solved with money is the easiest trouble. There is an old Chinese saying: 'Eating someone's food makes your mouth soft, taking someone's things makes your hands short.' As long as you lower your posture a little, the trouble can be solved."

At this moment, Shimada Yuzo especially wanted to ask: Naoki-san, if I wanted to bribe you, how much would it cost!

"What if you can't bribe them? But for some reason, you can't have a falling out."

"If you really don't want to have a falling out with them, then it depends on how big the trouble caused by the person causing trouble is. If it's not big, avoid them if you can. If it's too big, you can only find someone who can control that guy to help."

Naoki Nagayama seemed to think of something and whispered to Shimada Yuzo: "Yuzo-san, is there someone at Warner Music who isn't cooperating with Akina's work?"

"Not exactly, it's other aspects..." Shimada Yuzo stared at Naoki Nagayama, wanting the person in front of him to understand that he himself was the biggest trouble.

Naoki Nagayama, however, saw Shimada Yuzo's "sincere" gaze and nodded seriously: "If there is anything I can help with, please don't be polite, Yuzo-san!"

Sigh...

Nobuyasu Honda and Yuta Kuroki over there had nothing left to shoot. They signaled to Shimada Yuzo that they really couldn't delay any longer.

"Akina-chan, today's shooting is about done." Shimada Yuzo had to say these words, then asked, "Are we going back today?"

Holding a one-in-ten-thousand hope that Akina would answer that they were going back directly.

"Hai, let's go back after eating with Naoki-san!" Akina walked happily to Naoki Nagayama's side. "Naoki-san, let's go eat~"

"Of course~" However, Naoki Nagayama looked at little Akina's swimsuit. "Akina-chan, you need to change your clothes first~"

"Ah!" Akina blushed all of a sudden. "Naoki-san is too bad!"

She had clearly been shooting swimsuit photos all afternoon, but at this moment, it was as if she had just discovered it, and she suddenly became shy, hurriedly running to the side to put on a hoodie.

What does that have to do with me... Naoki Nagayama scratched his hair, looking bewildered.

The group arrived at an open-air restaurant by the beach, eating seafood barbecue.

Having learned the lesson from drinking before, Shimada Yuzo didn't desperately toast today, but kept talking to Naoki Nagayama,

such as the upcoming itinerary, development after returning to Japan, future plans, and so on, making Naoki Nagayama feel like he was being interrogated.

"Yuzo-san, as a member of Akina's promotion department, how do you plan to promote Akina-chan later?" To interrupt Shimada Yuzo's incessant questions, Naoki Nagayama asked back directly. "Akina-chan's debut progress is already lagging, right?"

That was indeed the case. Among the Flower 82 Group, Iyo Matsumoto, Kyoko Koizumi, Yu Hayami, Hidemi Ishikawa, and others had already made a name for themselves on major Japanese programs, while Akina Nakamori at this time hadn't even finished recording her debut album.

"Hai, but daijobu." Shimada Yuzo said confidently. "Akina-chan's ability is unquestionable. After serious preparation, she will definitely shine brilliantly."

"But the competitive pressure must be very high, right."

Fans are limited, and fans' attention is also limited.

With several leading competitors already ahead of you, trying to snatch fans from them is not an easy task.

"Hai, we have already considered this and plan to use increased promotion to close this gap." Shimada Yuzo remained confident. Being backed by the financial group Burning Production, they just had a lot of money!

"Burning money? Most of the time, that's a good method!" Naoki Nagayama nodded, but did this group of "nouveau riche" in the entertainment industry know the correct way to burn money?

"Hahaha, burning money, yes, that's burning money!" Shimada Yuzo drank a large glass of alcohol.

"Akina-chan, be careful of this guy. In Japan, burning money, if you don't burn it correctly, it's very likely to cause the opposite effect."

Akina Nakamori, while drinking coconut juice, was eating barbecue very heartily: "Opposite effect?"

"Mm-hmm, just like running for class monitor in high school, but someone bribed the judge in charge of the assessment." Naoki Nagayama bit on his straw. "This person would provoke the hostility of the whole class, right."

"Hai, that's for sure." Akina seemed to have entered that scenario. "If you run into a guy like that, no one will talk to him in the future!"

Reading the air?

Shimada Yuzo, however, was dismissive: "Naoki-san, Akina-san doesn't need to worry. How could burning money in promotion be met with hostility? Could it be that you buy out all the promotion channels? Hahaha~"

Then he happily drank another large glass.

That's true, no one would do such a thing, right?!

Looking at the wild Shimada Yuzo, Naoki Nagayama whispered to Akina, who was busy eating: "Akina-chan, Yuzo-san seems a bit wrong."

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Akina also asked quietly.

"Seems to have something on his mind, as if someone is always coming to cause trouble at work." Naoki Nagayama said. "So he's drinking very heavily now~"

Akina glanced at Shimada Yuzo and found that he really seemed to be drinking again. She lowered her voice: "Is that so? I didn't notice it while in the recording studio. Is it the staff from Warner America?"

"Don't know. Anyway, pay more attention to Yuzo-san later. Feels like a good person~" Naoki Nagayama also said in a low voice.

At this moment, a soft voice suddenly came from the side: "What is Akina-chan discussing~ so quietly~"

Shimada Yuzo, as if protecting a calf, quietly leaned next to Akina-chan's chair...

"No... nothing..." Little Akina hurriedly lowered her head and continued eating. She was almost discovered!

Naoki Nagayama hurriedly changed the subject: "Yuzo-san, have another glass~"

"Eh?" Shimada Yuzo looked at the glass being handed over and looked at Naoki Nagayama suspiciously. "Naoki-san, you didn't put anything strange in it, did you?"

"... Yuzo-san, what are you thinking?!"

Watching Shimada Yuzo drink it all in one gulp, Naoki Nagayama winked at Akina, expressing this meaning: "Akina-chan, you have to pay more attention to this guy!"

Little Akina, however, looked at the "flirtatious wink" thrown by Naoki Nagayama and became shy again: "How can Naoki-san be like this..."

In Japan, Akira Terabayashi was looking at the Oricon chart for this period. The idols from the same period as Akina-chan seemed to have already begun to emerge.

Junko Ito broke into the top ten last week and had a slight decline this week, but she was still hovering in the top 30, while other idol artists were already eyeing them from behind.

What should be done in this situation? How to let Akina-chan start late but overtake?

He flipped through an entertainment magazine that reviewed newcomers. Among these magazines, Akina hadn't debuted yet, and there was actually only a black-and-white photo.

This won't do! A newly debuted idol needs exposure! As long as everyone discovers Akina-chan's singing ability, they will definitely be attracted by Akina-chan!

Akira Terabayashi saw a popular music chart magazine, and a shocking idea appeared in his mind: what if this magazine was all Akina-chan?!

If that were the case, all the music lovers in Japan would know about this new artist, Akina! ===== CHAPTER 183 =====