Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 200, Section 2: "How to Sell Music is an Art"

After the bickering subsided, Masumi got down to business.

"In short, ever since I returned from Miyako Island, I've been thinking about how to support Mio's music."

After much hesitation, Masumi finally concluded with, "I will stay by your side and fully support your music."

He didn't make this choice on a whim, although his handsome words sounded like lines uttered in a moment of passion.

Masumi had indeed decided to give up music, but he also realized that he couldn't give up Mio.

Mio Kurokawa possesses unparalleled talent, and Masumi believes from the bottom of her heart that it would be a pity and a loss if Mio could not continue on the path of music.

Anyone who has witnessed her talent would agree with this.

Even if Mio herself doesn't have such a strong desire, this talent has become an invisible shackle.

Now, Masumi has also become a link in this chain, and since that's the case, she must take on the responsibility she should bear.

To let more people hear Mio's music and help her reach the position she deserves.

In this way, while supporting Mio, one's own musical dreams may also be extended.

but--

Although a choice has been made, what follows is not a sense of relief, but a host of unavoidable real-world problems.

These realities were like darts thrown at him, puncturing Masumi's passionate enthusiasm like a balloon, and making her start to seriously consider taking a down-to-earth approach.

The first thing to decide is how Masumi and Mio plan to make music.

“Isn’t classical music Mio’s forte?” Rinne said. “In that case, she should just continue participating in various competitions.”

Before Masumi could even speak, Mio refused without hesitation:
"Classical music is ultimately a niche genre. If we want to achieve what Masumi said—'to let the whole world hear my music'—we definitely need pop music."

Masumi glanced over without making a sound.
The words had two layers of meaning, but now that things had come to this, I was no longer confused.

"Is Mio also good at pop music?"

Rinne asked casually, her tone devoid of any particular meaning; it was merely an inquiry.

This time, Masumi answered for Mio:
“Although there is a clear distinction between classical music and pop music, Mio has talent in both areas.”

"so."

Rinne's lips twitched, her cherry lips trembling softly a few times, but in the end she hesitated and said nothing.

"How about forming a band?" Huan Qian asked.

Masumi: "Where's the band's lineup?"

"Let me think..." Chiai counted on her fingers: "Mio-neechan is the keyboardist, and Masumi-nii is the guitarist and lead singer."

"Ah~ It's just like Yoasobi."

For some reason, her eyes were shining.

"I hope that Masumi-nii and Mio-nee-nee-san can also become Kobe's YOASOBI."

Qian Ai smiled broadly and said innocently.

Her tone was utterly sincere, but the cunning hidden within was known only to herself:

(It would be wonderful if Masumi and Mio could maintain a pure friendship as musical partners, like the two members of YOASOBI.)
Unaware of the complex emotions swirling within Qingmei's heart, Masumi reacted to this statement as follows:
"YOASOBI is just a music group; a formal performance also requires a band."

"Really?" Chiai frowned slightly and turned to ask, "What musical instrument does Asami-nee play?"

"let me see……"

After a moment of contemplation, Mami brought her finger to her lips and said, "The Irish whistle... I guess."

"Huh? You can also use a whistle?"

Masumi raised an eyebrow as if surprised, then took a silver Irish whistle out of her pocket.

"Could you please blow it for me?"

Mami was dumbfounded: "Why would Masumi-kun carry a flute with him?"

"I won it when I went shopping at a nearby supermarket with Haiyue a couple of days ago, using a raffle ticket."

"Alas."

The moment Mami took the whistle from Masumi's hand, she seemed to have made up her mind to go all out. She brought the mouthpiece of the whistle to her lips, wrapped her luscious lips around it, and kissed it tightly.

Then blow hard—

"Ugh."

"Gently pinch the body of the flute with your fingers, and don't squeeze all the holes with your palm," Masumi said.

"Woo!"

"Don't put the mouthpiece of the whistle so deep in your mouth, won't it make your throat feel nauseous?"

"Woooooooo..."

"Even if you can't blow it, don't bite it with your teeth," Masumi said helplessly.

Seeing Mami's flushed face, I couldn't tell if it was from holding back her laughter while playing the flute or from being angry.

She lightly bit the mouthpiece of the whistle with her teeth, seemingly venting her frustration as if it were Masumi herself.

"If you can't play the flute, don't try to pretend you can."

Masumi sighed and stopped arguing with Mami, who was still struggling with the whistle.

"Masumi-nii, are you really not planning to form a band again?"

A complex emotion flickered across Qian Ai's lips; it was rare to see her show such an expression.

Masumi nodded quietly.

"How do you feel about me, Miss Rugu?" Rinne asked abruptly.

"Hey, asking me?"

On the screen, I, like a thousand-year-old ancient woman, had already started changing into my pajamas in my room as if nothing had happened, when I was suddenly stopped by this sentence.

She slowly raised her face, her hands, which were gripping the hem of her clothes, paused, and the fabric stopped licking her ribs.

"Ah~ As a senior figure who acts as a 'guide,' it's certainly appropriate to react when a junior says they're giving up."

I, Ru Gu Qian Sui, spoke as if I were hearing this for the first time.

"However... after all, I abandoned Masumi without saying goodbye before."

"Unfortunately, I can no longer find any semblance of my seniority in this man."

She sighed, seemingly troubled:

"It feels like Masumi is pressing down on the G chord with her fingers; as soon as she gently plucks the string, it will involuntarily produce a high-pitched piano sound."

"Masumi-kun's fingers..."

Mami mumbled to herself, her face turning red for some reason, and the whistle in her mouth emitted a high-pitched sound.

Kurokawa Mio then turned her gaze to Masumi's slender fingers, while Rinne silently stared at her reddening ears and sighed quietly.

Chiai tilted her head, looking confused.
"Um... although I don't play any instruments, I used to listen to Masumi-nii play guitar a lot. A G chord shouldn't be a very high note, right?"

"..."

Her snow-white skin was exposed defenselessly from the collar of her pajamas, and then slowly flushed red.

◇

Back to business.

"Now that everyone has been gathered today, I think Masumi probably already has a plan in mind, right?"

I, like an ancient thousand-year-old, spoke with eyes that seemed to see through everything.

Masumi nodded first, then looked puzzled: "You guessed that you would think that way, senpai?"

"Do not."

As I, like a proud young man, smiled smugly, “It’s based on my understanding of Masumi.”

"Although Masumi appears to be easygoing on the surface, she is surprisingly a tyrannical and autocratic ruler."

She said it with a meaningful tone.

"Calling him a tyrant is too much of an exaggeration."

"Isn't that right? Masumi was like that when she was going through a lot of hardship, she wouldn't give up until everyone achieved their goal."

“I won’t deny that, but…”

"But that's based on the premise that you're confident you can resolve the conflicts within the team, right?"

The one who asked that question was Rinne.

The other girls were taken aback at first, but then, as if they had reached a consensus, they all nodded in agreement.

"Was I really too naive..." Masumi sighed.

Don't be discouraged.

As I, like a thousand-year-old ancient man, half-closed my eyes and said in a loving tone, "Innocence has its advantages."

"No need for words of comfort, senpai." "It's not all comfort; a significant portion of it comes from the heart. Masumi, would you like to confirm this?"

She said it with a hint of sarcasm.

"How can I confirm the truth?" Masumi sighed helplessly. "I'm not a lie detector—"

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"I'd say it's not so much the idea I came up with, but rather the inspiration I got from other people."

Seeing the curious looks from the girls, Masumi didn't keep them in suspense any longer:
"network."

In this era, relying on the internet to spread music is nothing new.

The record market has shrunk drastically, and the influence of streaming media is growing, making it impossible for anyone to ignore the existence of the internet.

Even though Masumi's original band was primarily based in the Tokyo underground scene, they still maintained accounts on Spotify and Instagram, and it's not uncommon for them to be purely online artists.

"What I want to do this time is be an anonymous online singer," he said.

"An anonymous online singer?"

Asami repeated the word, thought for a moment, and said, "I can understand being an online singer, but why choose to remain anonymous?"

"With Ms. Mio's beauty, she stands out even in the entertainment industry where beauties abound. If she were willing to show her face, she would definitely gain a lot of fans."

“Those fans aren’t here for the music, and I don’t want to introduce preconceived biases into the music.”

—This was the explanation that Masumi had already prepared.

I, like a thousand-year-old girl, gave a meaningful smile: "Eh, isn't it actually Masumi's possessiveness that's causing this?"

"..."

Masumi didn't respond, but continued speaking:
"I want to be an anonymous singer in a more 'trendy' way."

"It just feels weird coming from Masumi-san's mouth to use the word 'fashionable'," Chiai complained.

"So... what kind of fashion is Masumi-kun thinking of?"

"it is this."

He then borrowed Asami's phone, opened YouTube, and showed the screen to everyone—

This is the account page of an online singer who uploads music videos to YouTube.

The account's profile picture is of a girl wearing a white beret with long, gradient-colored hair.

JELEE.

It is both the account name and the girl's name.

Masumi explained, "This is an anonymous singer who has been active online for about a year. Four different members are responsible for the singer, illustrator, composer, and video production. This is the method I came up with."

“Therefore, I hope to get everyone’s help,” Masumi said sincerely.

"Us?" Qian Ai asked, her eyes widening slightly in surprise as she pointed to herself.

"Mio will be in charge of keyboards and composition, Asami and Chia will be in charge of character design, and I will be in charge of lyrics, post-production, arrangement and video production."

"Does that mean I'll be in charge of designing the singer's costumes, and then Asami-nee will draw them?"

"That's right."

“I’m really happy that Masumi-nii is willing to ask me for help, but this is a very important job, is it really okay to leave it to me?” she asked worriedly.

“As long as Chiai agrees, there’s no problem,” Masumi said confidently.

"..."

"...That's just too unfair."

Qian Ai turned her face away and murmured.

"Aren't you taking on too much responsibility yourself?" Rinne frowned. "You also have work to do with coffee and novels, don't you?"

Mami nodded knowingly: "He must be trying to show off his boundless energy in front of us."

"I'm not that vain."

Masumi shook her head helplessly, and the heiress continued:

"I can't help with the music, but I might be able to share some of the work when it comes to video production."

"Really? If so, that would be a huge help."

His tone was so theatrical that Kurokawa Mio immediately and blatantly revealed her wariness.

"Didn't Masumi promise to fully support my music? Could it be that she already planned to have Rinne and the others join in?"

“Of course not,” Masumi denied without hesitation.

"Since I promised Mio that I would fully support your music, I will definitely see it through to the end."

"But it is precisely because of this responsibility that I have realized my limitations, and I do not feel that it is shameful to ask you, my close friends, for help."

In the end, he condensed his long speech into a single sentence:

"I need you."

Masumi's tone was so sincere that the girls couldn't help but lower their eyes, their gazes shifting nervously.

Only I, like a thousand-year-old ancient being, disagree:
"It's very convenient for men to use women they've had relationships with."

"senior."

"Alright, alright, we'll do as Masumi says."

I smiled, my eyes crinkling with affection: "In that case, I'll do my part too."

"I can also contribute to the music production process."

Masumi readily accepted: "Then I'll leave it to you, senpai."

"Eh, he doesn't even spare Miss Ruko, who is far away on Miyako Island. Masumi-kun is indeed a born capitalist."

Mami crossed her arms, deliberately making a gesture of distancing herself.

To be honest, she doesn't look like a corporate slave suffering from high-intensity work, but rather a white-collar woman being harassed by a lecherous boss.

However, halfway through her sentence, she suddenly seemed to remember something and moved closer.

"Even capitalists have to pay their employees wages. Does Masumi-kun intend for us to work for free?"

"Watch out, or I might sue Masumi-kun at the labor commission!"

This time, the mistress, who had been using her body as leverage after her affair, turned around and threatened her boss.

Because of the arm movements, the valley in front of his chest was squeezed together, making it look as spectacular as the Kurobe Gorge.

As a side note, Kurobe Gorge is one of the island nation's "Three Great Gorges," a famous tourist destination. Just hearing its name and imagining the enchanting shape of its valleys and ravines is enough to make many people yearn for it.

...Is the Mami mountain range something that makes you want to get closer?

Masumi closed her eyes, not daring to accept the challenge. She said:
"...What would you like as a token of your gratitude? I will do my best to fulfill your request, as long as it is within my power."

"Oh~"

"Did you hear that, everyone? The 'capitalists' are about to bleed a lot!" Asami announced with great fanfare.

“To correct you, not everyone who is a company superior is a capitalist. Only those who control the means of production can be called capitalists,” Masumi said.

"Huh? Compared to us, isn't Masumi-kun someone who possesses the 'production' data?"

Asami said in a surprised tone, her face already wearing a mischievous smile.

Masumi sighed helplessly: This idiot who had a normal birth.

"As long as Masumi can do it..."

Kurokawa Mio rested her chin on her hand, seemingly deep in thought, before uttering a startling question: "Should we take this opportunity to have a child?"

"Mio is really straightforward," Rinne sighed.

"Wait! You can't do that!" Qian'ai hurriedly stopped them. "Everyone should be treated the same."

Kurokawa Mio immediately stopped thinking, her sharp gaze piercing down on him as she coldly said:
"Does Chiai also want Masumi's child?"

"Eh." Qian Ai first trembled like a frightened bird, then her cheeks instantly turned an unbelievable red.

"How...how could this be! That kind of thing..."

So you mean you don't want to?

Kurokawa Mio patted her chest as if relieved.

Qian Ai became anxious instead: "I didn't say I didn't want to... No! Now is not the time to talk about this kind of thing."

"It's just a sentence. Do you want it or not?" Kurokawa Mio looked puzzled. "What a strange woman."

"It's Mio-neechan who's weird!"

Rinne sighed, I, Ruogu Qiansui, smiled gently, and Asami watched the show with a smile.

In the midst of the noisy atmosphere, Masumi, now quiet, seemed like Okiku from the Bancho Sarayashiki, muttering to herself in a voice no one could hear:
"...We're still missing one person."

(End of this chapter)