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Fortunately for me, my first call was picked up. If Akane hadn’t answered, my next choices would have been Shizuo, Rin, or Aya, in that specific order. As for why Aya is last, well, take a guess. The situation is already chaotic enough; I’d rather not add to it.

“Kotone, aren’t you in the middle of your field trip right now?”
“I have a big favor to ask. I want to get in contact with Sherry.”
“With Seika?”

This is where the challenge starts. In the first place, I didn’t even know that Sherry’s real name was Seika. Negotiating an appearance with someone I know so little about is nothing short of reckless. My chances of success are extremely low. And if I fail, everything will go to waste.

“I want to ask for an appearance request.”
“If it’s only as a surprise for the field trip, it’ll probably be difficult. I don’t think she’ll accept without a decent reason.”
“There is. I want to explain it to Sherry directly, so can you contact her for me?”
“Can I tell her your direct contact details?”
“I don’t mind.”

Akane likely didn’t ask for many questions because of the seriousness of my voice. I’m honestly at my wit’s end. If I stumble here, I’m done. I have to at least reach the point of negotiation.

“Alright. Seika seems to be interested in you too, so she’ll likely be positive about it.”
“Interest in me? Why?”
“Because of me and Aya.”

I just know that weird information about me has been leaked. She didn’t introduce me as her wife to her own husband’s family, did she? No, even without Akane saying it, Aya would have probably talked about it for fun.

“Enjoy your field trip.”
“I’ll try.”
“Well that’s a weird answer. I’m looking forward to your stories.”

The call ended there. Sorry Akane, but there’s a lot I can’t tell you about. Especially the tag-chase that happened immediately after I was discharged; if she learned about that I’m sure she’d get really angry. Have to skip over that.

“All that’s left is to wait. There’s likely a high chance that I’ll be contacted quickly.”

If I trust Akane’s words, then Sherry will definitely call me. She’s an individual who married into that Shimotsuki family. She’ll definitely join if she feels like it’ll be interesting. Moreover, since she knows about me, I’m sure she’ll want to meet me.

“I didn’t expect it to be this quick, though.”

She really did call in quick. Checking the caller number, it’s not someone I know. If this is just someone who called the wrong number, I might just chuck my phone in rage. That’d be too much.

“Hello?”
“It’s Sherry. Are you Kisaragi Kotone, perhaps?”
“That’s right, yes. My apologies for the roundabout means of communication.”
“It can’t be helped. This is our first time ever talking, after all. So, is this going to be boring or interesting?”

So it really is going to be like I expected, huh. Whether this request is interesting or not will depend on Sherry’s definition of interesting. Normal people definitely wouldn’t find it interesting. After all, it’s a request to appear as a backup singer, not a leading role.

“I’d like to request your appearance for a theme park’s last highlight, the night show. However, the lead singers will be the academy choir club, I’d like to ask you to support them.”
“OK. I accept.”
“Ha?”

The quickness of her reply surprised me. And hearing that, I hear an amused chuckle from the other side of the phone. No matter how you look at it, Sherry has the initiative. She seems to be experienced with negotiations.

“Thank you very much. May I explain the situation in detail?”
“You really are eccentric. In most cases, people would be needlessly hesitant and ask if it’s really alright first.”
“I just believe having someone’s word is enough.”

It really helps that things are going smoothly. If it was a really crazy request, I’d double-check with her, but we’re not in a position to be picky right now. I do feel stupid for overthinking how to get her approval. Like I thought, the Shimotsuki family is weird.

“Hm, hm. I understand the situation. Regarding the commission fee, do you know the market price?”
“No, I’m uninformed about the market prices, though it’s easy to see in this case that the fees will be high.”

It’s an on-the-spot appearance request. Her side is in a more advantaged position to negotiate. Our side, meanwhile, is completely disadvantaged; the only choice we have is to accept their conditions. Moreover, Sherry is a well-known major artist. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll ask for an exorbitant price.

“Doing this for free wouldn’t be right, so let’s go with the average freelance commission fee.”
“Are you-, ehem. I’ll check with the people in charge.”

I nearly asked her if she was stupid. Naturally, the park supervisors were shocked but gave their approval. I’m sure they were anxious about how much they’ll have to pay for her. I was thinking really hard on how to negotiate for a lower fee too.

“However, I have a personal request for you, Kotone.”

Fully expecting this, I let out a soundless sigh. We’re the ones who will be in trouble if I don’t play obedient here. I’m up against a Shimotsuki, so I have no idea what she’ll ask of me.

“What might it be?”
“Come to our home sometime.”
“Then during the New Years.”
“You answer pretty quick yourself.”

This is me practically diving headfirst into chaos, but I don’t regret it. I might already be burned out before I even reach their house, but I’ll do something about it. Either way, it’s better to do it earlier if I have to anyway. Still, what the heck is this negotiation?

“Well then, I’ll be heading there now.”
“Thank you very much.”

I was suddenly swamped with exhaustion. This was absolutely not a negotiation; it was pretty much a light chat. The main problem is still unresolved, but I successfully got Sherry on our side. However, I forgot one important thing.

“What if we don’t get permission from the academy side?”

Hearing my muttering, the people in the room were startled, but that’s a normal reaction. I should have told them about this earlier, but because of the weirdness of the conversation and my lack of sleep, it slipped my mind.