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I arranged various things to have Sherry appear. There was one who agreed with my plan, another who cooperated with me unconditionally, and yet another I had to threaten. I had to make some sacrifices. Forgive me.

“So, what is your intention? Calling me to a place like this?”
“Well, sorry that it’s a place like this.”

The place I called her to was my apartment room. The cafe would have worked too, but if people happen to overhear us, there’s a chance that rumors will spread, so I opted against it. I want to keep Sherry’s academy appearance a secret until the day of the event.

“I want you to sing with Aya during the academy’s graduation ceremony, so I called you here to negotiate for your appearance.”
“And if I say no?”
“This is a petition signed by all members of the twelve families currently enrolled in the academy. Will you still say no?”

I had a tough time collecting these. Thanks to that, I even had to make adjustments to the initial plan. I thought that Hadzuki would be my greatest obstacle, but I didn’t expect Kotori to blindside me. That genuinely caught me by surprise.

“Hmmm. But this doesn’t hold any real power, you know?”
“That’s right. This is a written petition from children yet to be family heads. It would be easy to ignore.”
“Right, it is easy. Yet it’s also a request I cannot ignore.”
“I knew you would say that.”
“As a songstress, hearing out people’s wishes is my duty.”

I’m aware that I’m being unfair by using this as a bargaining chip. This was the only idea I could think of that Sherry would not be able to refuse. However, the real problem starts here. Despite what she said, I refuse to believe that Sherry would accept unconditionally.

“Naturally, Unknown will also be singing with me, won’t she?”
“I knew you would definitely ask that. The answer is no.”
“You’re really quite the strategist. Since it’s on your contract that you can’t show your face, it makes collaborating with you difficult. Part of it was so you can ward off these kinds of demands from me, isn’t it?”
“Of course. Otherwise, it’s clear to me that you or Isami and the gang will go dragging me around.”

Try as they may to pave or lock-in a specific future for me; I’m doing what I can to pave my own way as well. While I have only a few ways to block her demands, it seems like they’re relatively effective. However, these only work for the people who wish for me to walk the path of a singer.

“However, due to certain circumstances, I will be singing as well.”
“Why is that?”
“Fumidzuki family’s daughter made it a condition in exchange for her signature.”

Damn you, Kotori. I honestly expected her to sign unconditionally. I feel like she was, in some way, influenced by Hadzuki. She did well negotiating. After all, since I was the one asking a favor, it’s only fair to ask for something in exchange.

“You’ve got troublesome friends, it seems.”
“Thanks to that, instead of just having a simple plan, I now have to put proper thought into this.”
“Regarding how to work around your contract, right? You brilliantly dug your own grave this time.”

Why do I have to find a loophole for a limitation imposed specifically to give me an advantage? There’s no way I could have predicted this future. I tried to negotiate for a different condition, but for some reason, Kotori was uncompromisingly stubborn this time. Don’t tell me, is Aya suspicious?

“I suspect that she colluded with Hadzuki. After all, Fumidzuki would likely never think of refusing a request from me by herself.”
“Did you do something to cause that?”
“Ah… Probably. Perhaps I unknowingly ruined a plan that he was working towards in secret.”

I asked Hadzuki to sign the petition before I went to Kotori. And when I talked to him, there was a moment when his face went stiff. It seems like he planned to have me and Aya do a musical performance. And I just happened to completely ruin that plan.

“Who would have thought that a minor remark back during the after-party was actually referring to this time’s plan?”

I can’t pick up a hint that subtle, you know? I just barely remembered it after actively digging through my memories. Who could have expected this to be payback for ruining that? And there’s still another problem to deal with.

“There’s also the issue of the music, correct?”
“That’s right. Having a prerecorded instrumental to sing over won’t be enough for me.”

I anticipated this, so I’ve already thought this through. What I need is a musician who can live up to Sherry’s standards. I don’t need many of them. At minimum, I just need someone who can play the piano.

“I’ll have Shiro perform.”
“Oh, in that case, I won’t mind.”

Thank goodness Sherry knows about Shirose. She mainly does songwriting, but Shirose is also a brilliant musician. She can only play the piano, though. Apparently, it’s because she was raised with education in that field.

“You really have a wide web of relationships.”
“If I had to say, it’s actually narrow.”

There’s many from the rogue’s den who got popular, after all. When you have someone with a highly specialized skill set enter a profession where they can make full use of it, that’s just the natural conclusion. However, it’s a mystery how they haven’t heard any negative rumors about them yet. It’s not like those guys are the well-behaved type.

“All that’s left is my issue. How about we do it so all students sing along in chorus?”
“In that case, wouldn’t that go against the goal of having me duet with my daughter?”

I knew she would point that out. If we had everyone sing from the get-go, it would defeat the purpose of having Sherry around. We might as well just sing without her. I need to set it up so that Sherry and Aya have a chance to sing.

“As I thought, with me in the picture, it would be difficult to achieve. How about having a duet first, then having the second be a choral performance?”
“In that case, us singing first, then all the students or just the graduates for the second would be exciting.”
“That would be an appropriate choice. However, there’s an issue.”
“It’s Fumidzuki’s demand, right? Will she be satisfied by that?”

If someone who understands the twelve families thinks otherwise, then the likelihood is high. After all, I feel the same way. In a student-wide chorus, my voice would be easily overwhelmed. And in that case, Kotori can justifiably assert that I didn’t commit to my promise.

“I’m completely pulling my own leg.”
“I think the best choice would be to have you sing along as a second-year representative. The first-year representative, of course, would be Rin.”
“I don’t want that, which is why I’m wracking my head here.”

My close friends know that I’m Unknown from my voice. If people then see that I’m close with Sherry and compare our singing with the field trip performance, it’ll increase the chances of my identity being discovered. If that happens, it’ll be a huge problem for me when I move up next year.

“Hmm, let’s go with a different idea. This way, the chances of my identity being exposed will be low, and it should satisfy her condition.”
“Is it interesting?”
“Who can say? There will be no change to the initial plan. Sherry, please invite Aya to the stage and sing with her. Regarding the chorus with the graduates and students, I’ll leave it to you.”
“In that case, I’d recommend mid-performance participation. If I say, ‘Sing with me, everyone,’ the audience should sing along.”

The safest method would be to have me join as a normal student. Frankly, I want to end it just like that, but there’s the previous issue, and Sherry likely wouldn’t agree to this either. I really don’t know why she took this much liking to me.

“Haa. In the end, I’ll need to ask for help from other people. As I thought, there’s a limit to what an individual can do.”
“Of course there is. Even I didn’t reach where I am purely by my own effort, you know? I achieved what I have thanks to the people supporting me.”

Even as one of the twelve families, there’s a limit to what an individual can do. It would be different if I had servants or subordinates I could mobilize, but I don’t have that authority. Rather, I’d feel a bit bad dragging a random person into chaos.

“So, what’s your idea?”
“The plan is to go like this…”

As I discussed my plan, Sherry’s eyes started to sparkle. I’m telling her a pretty ridiculous plan, so why is she looking at me with so much expectation? It’s seriously an unreasonable plan.

“Unknown, you’re always so interesting.”
“So, your response is?”
“Let’s go with that. I can sing without holding back too, so there’s no reason for me to refuse.”
“I’ll be dead.”

Thinking about how I’ll have to keep up with Sherry on full blast again is making me regret this a bit. It’s both physically and mentally exhausting. Anyhow, I got her agreement, so all that’s left is to prepare.

“You make it sound like this conversation is over, but I still haven’t given my condition.”
“Didn’t you just agree to do it unconditionally?”
“Of course not. My condition is for you to release a debut single before the end of June.”
“Ah? HaAa!?”

Who could have anticipated her to demand for something absurdly far above what I expected her to ask?