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Maybe out of consideration for my sudden silence, or just from boredom, the owner turned on the television. My eyes shifted to the screen, which was indeed showing news about yesterday.

“Seems like they’re speculating about Unknown. How about it? Any comments, Ms. News-maker?”
“They aren’t too far off, I suppose.”

They identified my age from my voice and even noted similarities between me on stage and Unknown, so they’re getting pretty close. But there’s also misleading information intermixed. It seems like their wild imagination is keeping the speculations away from the truth.

“Oh, it looks like they got new information.”
“«According to the information we’ve just received, EXIST has sent an emergency statement regarding Unknown.»”
“From those people?”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“«EXIST has informed various outlets that they hold the ownership of Unknown as well as the right to have precedence in negotiation.»”

The idiots really made it public now. Isn’t anyone going to point out how you shouldn’t need negotiation precedence if you really do have ownership rights? More importantly, the big takeaway here is that EXIST is picking a fight with Sherry.

“I was hoping that people would forget it in time. At this rate, it’s never going to quiet down.”
“They probably didn’t want Kotone taken from them.”
“Still, this is too much. I already told their manager that I won’t be affiliated with anyone.”
“And you should have known that they’re not the type to be satisfied with that.”

True. I know those guys the best. Someone else might get a hold of me while I’m free and unaffiliated. And because they don’t want that, they won’t back down against anyone, even Sherry.

“«Follow-up report. We have a message from Sherry. Three words: I won’t lose.»”
“You’re pretty popular, Kotone.”
“It’s a real nuisance.”

Stop giving me more headaches. Sherry just threw down the gauntlet, so that’s going to make some noise in the industry. And Sherry is probably going to enjoy that. The gang? I don’t know.

“A fight for Kotone, huh. Should we join in too?”
“I don’t feel like we can win in a direct competition. Still, I think our place has the best odds.”
“I do prefer being here to doing musical activities.”

Working at the cafe is probably more natural to me than singing to an audience. I personally can’t get used to being in the spotlight. The past me wouldn’t care about it and just prioritize having fun. That’s why my life is already done. I want Kotone to have various choices for the future.

“What does Kaori intend to do with the cafe?”
“She didn’t tell you, huh. I even warned her that you might get the wrong idea if she didn’t.”
“Kaori is planning on inheriting the business once her club activities end. That’s why up until then, we decided to let Kaori do whatever she likes.”
“So she really thought a lot about it.”

There’ll be a lot of qualifications she’ll need to inherit this cafe. Besides that, Kaori won’t be able to manage the cafe all by herself. The owner and Saori divide responsibility between themselves, and that’s why the cafe can function properly. In that case, Kaori will also need a partner of her own.

“Kaori probably needs someone she can rely on.”
“If it’s that, I believe she’s already found one. All that’s left is whether or not she can win ‘em over.”

She already has someone? Moreover, it sounds like Saori is fine with whoever the guy is. It’s not like I’m always with Kaori, so I have no idea who it could be. The owner, who previously seemed against Kaori having a partner, isn’t saying anything, so I guess he’s also fine with it.

“Personally, I’ll be glad as long as Kaori finds happiness.”
“Well, if you say so. After all, your future is yours to decide.”

She was talking about me, huh. I’m not particularly dense, but I don’t remember Kaori ever bringing up something like that. Is she being considerate of me? Is the time just not right yet? I don’t know. Whether I’ll accept it or not is still undecided.

“In any case, I can’t make a choice yet. Not until the day when I finally wallop my father.”
“I really can’t tell if you’re serious or fooling around.”

I’m completely serious. It’s my most important goal currently and the time to realize it is near. All that’s left is to hope that my plan doesn’t have any major hiccups. The plan’s easy, there’s nothing complicated about it. It’s simple and easy to execute on my part. But still, it’d be nice if the other party isn’t weirdly perceptive.

“Well then, I need to leave soon. There’s still a lot I need to do.”

I do have a lot to do, but honestly I want to leave before any academy students come here. I kept myself hidden in the academy; that’ll all be wasted effort if I get found during my private time. What should I do about the groceries? There are so many stopovers, it’ll be difficult to manage time.

“Go meet them tomorrow.”
“Of course. There’s no telling what they’ll say about me if I’m not there.”

I left without saying anything, so there’s still no telling what they’ll say about me whether I go or not. Still, I’m sure the field trip left them with good memories. Things went completely different from my original plans, but I’m satisfied with the results.

“Now to go shopping and clean my room.”

As I got back to my room, what awaited me was a scolding from Akane. Somehow, she found out I was hospitalized. And what happened after that as well. I’m really sorry for overdoing it.