Chapter 926: Suddenly becoming childish

At the headquarters of the Being Agency, Akina Nakamori had already finished her morning filming and had just returned to the office to prepare for discussions on the selection of songs for her new album.

"This time... we want to try a new type of record medium: laser CDs."

Akira Terabayashi explained to Akina Nakamori that her albums were currently usually on cassette tapes or vinyl records.

"This type of record is small in size, easy to carry, and its sound quality is high-fidelity. Unless you are a professional, there is no difference from a vinyl record... Moreover, the acceptance of record CDs in Europe and America has already risen, and Japan will definitely shift in this direction in the future..."

"Yes!"

Akina Nakamori nodded. She had always been quick to accept new things because Naoki Nagayama at home would go to the foreign trade market from time to time to buy the latest electronic equipment; they even had a computer at home now~

"The MV filming we talked about earlier also needs to start..."

"The latest album, as the highlight for the beginning of next year... the promotion needs to start from the end of the year..."

In fact, the songs for the new album had already been selected. Because of the medium, they would have to go to the United States in a while to record in a high-level studio. Other work could also proceed step-by-step according to the schedule; there was nothing to worry about~

Akina Nakamori was somewhat absent-minded throughout the process, and after the meeting ended, she went to Akira Hanami's office.

"Akina-chan, is something the matter?"

The sudden arrival of his agency's pillar took Akira Hanami slightly by surprise. He subconsciously thought something unexpected had happened.

"Were you photographed by the paparazzi? Or is there a problem with your health?"

One had to know that in the past, it was always he who issued the request for a meeting before Akina would come to the office, and she was always smiling...

"Ah, that's not it..." Akina Nakamori shook her head, then her expression became somewhat hesitant. "Hanami-san, there is something I don't know if I should say..."

"Uh..."

Seeing the hesitation on his artist's face, Akira Hanami seemed to guess something, his tone becoming solemn.

"Akina-chan... are you... getting married and retiring?!"

"Eh??!!" Akina Nakamori was startled, then her face turned red. "Hanami-san, what are you saying?!"

"Ah? Could it not be?" Akira Hanami's expression improved significantly after hearing Akina's words, and he let out a sigh of relief, his tone also becoming relaxed. "Then why did you come to my office with such a solemn face, Akina?! You scared me!"

"..."

Akina Nakamori rolled her eyes.

"I have a proposal, I don't know if Hanami-san will agree..."

"Nani?"

"I think, we at Being... could consider snatching Yukiko Okada over!"

"???" Akira Hanami's face was full of confusion. "What does snatching over mean... Could Akina mean, let Yukiko Okada transfer to Being?!"

"Yes!"

"This..."

Akira Hanami's first reaction was that it was absolutely impossible. One had to know that Yukiko Okada was highly valued by the Sun Music agency and was the successor to Seiko Matsuda; it was impossible for them to let go easily. Besides, Yukiko Okada herself would definitely not be willing to leave the agency that had supported her all the way...

Akira Hanami was thinking from the perspective of an agency boss, subconsciously feeling that artists would not be ungrateful...

Just like company bosses who always feel that hiring employees to work is an act of mercy, giving employees a bite to eat, so they should be grateful. Asking them to work 996 or 007 overtime is, of course, an even greater blessing...

Little did he know that in the hearts of the working class, they see the boss like this—"Pah! Down with capitalism! Liberate the workers!"

However, he was a businessman after all, and he keenly thought of other aspects, immediately looking at Akina Nakamori:

"Akina-chan, since you say so, have you talked to Yukiko-chan? Does she have the idea of transferring?"

"... Not yet..." Akina Nakamori opened her mouth. "I just see that her condition has been very bad lately... Hanami-san also saw the news about her fainting before, right... Yukiko-chan has been working until one or two in the morning every day for a long time..."

"..." So it was wishful thinking!

Akira Hanami sighed; this was the reason Akina Nakamori didn't know whether to say it just now!

Seeing the president's expression, Akina Nakamori hurriedly told Akira Hanami the points she had discussed with Naoki Nagayama before: Yukiko Okada's contract was about to expire, Being was facing a transformation and needed a successor in the idol field, the relationship between Sun Music and Yukiko Okada was not solid, and so on.

Listening to Akina Nakamori's arguments, Akira Hanami thought about it seriously... Signing Yukiko Okada over, for Being, didn't seem impossible...

"Akina-chan, how did you think of signing Yukiko-chan over?"

"..." Akina Nakamori paused, but still said, "Seeing a girl as strong yet fragile as Yukiko-chan, I couldn't help but want to protect her... just like wanting to protect my former self..."

"..."

It seems we at Being have always been good to Akina! And you are a shareholder now!

Thinking of this, Akira Hanami became even more serious. If Akina proposed an opinion as a shareholder, then as the president, he had to consider it even more seriously...

"Akina-chan, I know about this matter... I will consider it carefully! I will also contact relevant parties to clearly understand Yukiko-chan's current contract situation..."

"Then... can I talk to Yukiko-chan about this?" Akina Nakamori was somewhat happy and immediately asked, "Ask her if she is willing to transfer to Being?"

"Hmm..." Akira Hanami thought for a moment and nodded. "You can test the waters first..."

Yukiko Okada had only debuted for two years and was not even an adult yet. Her voice in the Sun Music agency was actually not very high. If she were to transfer, it would mainly depend on the opinions of the agency and her guardians.

If she reached the level of Akina Nakamori or Seiko Matsuda, they would have a great deal of decision-making power themselves~

However, if she really were to transfer, the various matters involved would still be very complex, and the conflicts from all sides would be very intense!

"Yes, I will make an appointment to go shopping with Yukiko-chan later!"

Akina Nakamori's mood improved quite a bit, as if she felt this matter would really succeed.

Naoki Nagayama stayed at the Tree Friend building for half a day, and after having lunch with Shohei Imamura, he came to the venue of the Satsuma Shigen-ryu in the afternoon.

In the small dojo in the backyard, he saw his cousin Kaede Nagayama standing on the dirt, trying hard to learn the stance.

"Yo~" Naoki Nagayama teased Kaede Nagayama, who was sweating profusely while lifting a wooden sword above his head to swing it down. "Cousin Kaede, this move of yours is masterful!"

"... You guy!"

Kaede Nagayama roared.

"You didn't come after the first time!!! Leaving me to train hard all by myself!"

"Hahaha, this is Cousin Kaede's training after all. If you want to take over grandfather's mantle, how can you not sweat or bleed..." Naoki Nagayama sat on the veranda laughing, not feeling embarrassed at all. "Besides, didn't I come to see you now?!"

"Omaera!!!"

Kaede Nagayama was so angry he laughed. He looked left and right, suddenly grabbed a wooden sword used for training, and threw it over.

"I've sweated a lot, but I haven't bled yet! Naoki! Come and try it with me!"

"!! Matte! What are you doing?"

"Hehe, wait for what! Let you see the results of my training these past few days!" Kaede Nagayama roared with a ferocious smile, raised his wooden sword, and strode toward Naoki Nagayama. "Satsuma Shigen-ryu, Kaede Nagayama, reporting for duty!!"

"!!!"

Naoki Nagayama immediately did a roll, picked up a wooden sword, ran to the side, and after getting far away from his cousin, held the sword with one hand, pointing diagonally at the ground.

"Don't come over here!!!"

"Naoki, just die for me today! Aaaaaah~" Kaede Nagayama became even more excited, yelling and screaming; it was obvious he had been influenced by the Satsuma Shigen-ryu, like a monkey in heat!

"Cousin Kaede..." Naoki Nagayama's eyes became sharp. "Since it's like this, don't blame me!"

After saying that, he applied a little force to his hand, stuck the wooden sword into the mud, and then used force to flick the mud toward Kaede Nagayama, who was running over...

"Watch this, Flying Heaven Imperial Sword Style, Dragon Flash of the Earth!!!"

"..." Kaede Nagayama was stunned for a moment and used his arm to block the mud flying into his face. "Throwing mud?! Only children fighting use this move! And what Flying Heaven Imperial Sword Style... Naoki, you are shameless! ~"

"This is street fighting~ Cousin Kaede!" Naoki Nagayama laughed. "It's already very kind of me not to use quicklime!"

While speaking, Naoki Nagayama attacked again, jumping up to split the mountain with force... commonly known as a jump slash~

"Watch my Dragon Hammer Flash!"

"Kono yaro!!!"

The two brothers were having a great time playing in the backyard, but as a master of the Satsuma Shigen-ryu, even as a private tutor who had been paid, Katsuo Takagi couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth when he saw this scene, and a series of black lines fell on his forehead...

"You two guys!!!" "Do you think my Satsuma Shigen-ryu is for juggling?!" "Learn seriously!!!"

After saying that, a few simple swings of his sword knocked the Nagayama brothers' swords to the ground in the backyard... then he began to scold them with a serious face:

"Although I took the money, if you continue like this, believe it or not, I will use a real sword to add some scars to you!"

"..." "Sumimasen!" X2

Next, both of them were punished to swing their swords for at least two hours!

However, as the financiers, they naturally had a certain degree of freedom, and the two chatted about movies while swinging their swords.

"Cousin Kaede, the actors for 'Hayato's Legend: New World' have already been selected. In a few days, after the Tokyo International Film Festival ends, we will prepare to start filming!" Naoki Nagayama said to Kaede Nagayama, one of the leads. "You've learned the stance well enough, right?"

"I've learned the basic stance~" Kaede Nagayama nodded. He wasn't here to learn kendo for real. "It doesn't matter if I imitate the Satsuma Shigen-ryu for now... But didn't you say my opponent also needs to learn?"

"Ah, Tomokazu Miura... He uses the Katori Shinto-ryu in the movie... As a professional actor, he has already learned this kind of action scene~"

"Oh? Are we going to play at disarming a blade with bare hands?"

"Are you baka?" Naoki Nagayama curled his lips. "He is playing a police officer, of course he uses a gun!"

"Does the Katori Shinto-ryu actually use guns?"

"Of course, the Katori Shinto-ryu is a school with a complete gun-fighting technique..."

Naoki Nagayama said this and suddenly felt that he and his cousin were chatting about kendo like teenagers. He couldn't help but shake his head... How did they suddenly become so childish? It wasn't a youth hot-blooded manga!

It seemed like Kaede Nagayama suddenly rushed over with a sword, and then it became like this...

"Alright, alright, let's talk about business!" Naoki Nagayama maintained his sword swinging. "In two days, I'll bring you the Red Snow Left Text sword from home to use as a prop during filming..."

"Isn't that fake?"

"Pass off the fake as genuine!"

The set for 'Hayato's Legend: New World' was almost finished, and even the clothing habits from forty or fifty years ago were ready. Plus, didn't Kaede Nagayama have many members from his hometown? The people inside were qualified enough to be underlings~

Everything was almost ready, just waiting for the awards ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival to end, and then everyone could start the blessing ceremony and prepare to film...

"Wait, you said, should we bring grandfather over for the blessing?" Kaede Nagayama suddenly asked.

"Hmm... this..."

Speaking of which, this movie was indeed adapted from grandfather's story, and he himself seemed to be looking forward to it... However, the last time grandfather came to Tokyo, he made the police at the Sakurada Gate very nervous!

After all, he was the boss of the Shizuoka Yamaguchi-gumi. Over the past two years, he had made a lot of money through KTVs, and his uncle, Kumahara Nagayama, had recruited many new people. With a lot of money and many people, they were one of the top groups in the Yamaguchi-gumi...

If such a person came to Tokyo, it would make old friends very nervous!

"My father is in power now, and grandfather has retired~" Kaede Nagayama said. "He is just an old man now. If he comes alone, it shouldn't matter!"

(Achoo! Hayato Nagayama at the ancestral home sneezed...)

"In that case, it's not impossible..." Naoki Nagayama nodded. Since grandfather was very concerned about this movie, let's just consider it fulfilling a wish~

"Good, then I'll call him after I go back..."

Kaede Nagayama had grown up by grandfather's side since he was a child, so he was naturally closer than Naoki Nagayama... A happy smile hung on his face now~

By mid-October, the weather in Tokyo was getting colder, but the popularity was becoming more and more surging~

More and more tourists were coming to Tokyo because, in addition to the chrysanthemum exhibitions and festivals all over Tokyo, there was also a film festival that global filmmakers were paying attention to—the Tokyo International Film Festival, which was about to give out its final awards!

Different from other film festivals, the winners of the first Tokyo International Film Festival would receive a considerable prize money... Part of the box office share of 'One Cut of the Dead'... The prize money received by the winner of the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prize could already be compared to the movie's own profit share!

As it neared the end, filmmakers from all walks of life gathered again because the red carpet for the closing ceremony was also comparable to the strongest TV program. The stars who missed out on the opening ceremony learned about the exposure level that time and regretted it endlessly~

And the major clothing brands that learned of the promotional effect urgently contacted stars to make high-end custom dresses, wanting to show the characteristics of their own brands on the red carpet...

Otomo Yoshimura took a thick stack of invitations:

"Naoki-san, take a look, are there too many people invited this time..."

"What's wrong, more than the opening ceremony?" Naoki Nagayama was a little surprised. "Wasn't it all set?"

"Everyone is using connections to ask for invitations..." Otomo Yoshimura smiled bitterly. "Even people from the Film Ethics Review Association want to show their faces at the closing ceremony... to show their presence..."

"Hahaha, then let them all come!"

"But... there aren't enough seats! The seats in the back are all paid for, they can't be adjusted at will!"

"Then add chairs to the round tables in the front!"

"There are already ten people at every table now..."

"Add to fifteen!" Naoki Nagayama said decisively. "They won't mind if it's a bit crowded!"

"..." "Alright~"

Otomo Yoshimura put down the invitations and continued,

"Naoki-san, for the performance at the closing ceremony, are you sure you want Ms. Nakamori to go on stage?"

"Of course!" Naoki Nagayama laughed. "Such a good exposure opportunity, why not give it to one of our own?"

"..."

One of our own is Tree Friend! Akina Nakamori is from Being!

Otomo Yoshimura complained in his heart, but his face still had an approving expression.

"Since that's the case, I'll arrange it~"

"Hmm~"

The song performed this time was 'Roppongi Junjo-ha', which could be said to be a debut from another angle~ ===== CHAPTER 927 =====