Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

The knocking came as several people were arguing about seats at the Seibu Stadium.

The member near the door stopped talking, got up, and opened the door.

"Please come in."

The people outside the door were not strangers.

Satsuki stood in the corridor, two economics textbooks tucked between her arms. Today she was wearing a light-colored knitted top and a dark blue long skirt, her long hair hanging down her shoulders, simply tied back with a ribbon near the ends.

The activity room fell silent for a moment.

"Saionji-kun..."

The staff member who opened the door was stunned for a moment, then quickly moved aside.

"Sorry to bother you."

Satsuki nodded to him and went into the activity room.

Seeing the person they were discussing step down from the report, the group that had been talking incessantly around the flyer suddenly stopped talking, as if they had suddenly remembered whose company they were discussing.

The girl at the end of the long table was still clutching the folded flyer. She instinctively tried to stuff it back into the folder, but halfway through, she realized it would look even stranger and stopped there.

Satsuki saw it.

Her gaze lingered on the flyer for a moment, then fell back on the girl's face.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

The girl put the flyer back on the table, trying to make her tone sound natural.

"We were just talking about Izumi Sakai's performance."

"So that's what you were talking about."

Satsuki walked to the table and placed the textbook in the empty space.

"I heard someone in the hallway say that they could stand and watch if they wanted."

A few barely suppressed laughs suddenly erupted in the activity room.

The girl's face flushed slightly.

"Because tickets are really hard to buy."

After she finished speaking, she quickly added:

"Uh, please don't misunderstand. I wasn't complaining to Saionji-kun."

"It's okay."

Satsuki pulled out a chair and glanced down at the date on the flyer.

"There were indeed some problems with the phone appointment."

Kojima immediately turned around.

"Saionji-kun knows too?"

"I reviewed the briefing yesterday."

Satsuki sat down at the table and nodded.

"Initially, we didn't plan to open so many seats for this performance."

The girl at the end of the long table immediately sat up straighter.

So, will more tickets be sold?

"We're making adjustments at the back of the stage. If we can free up more space, we'll release another batch."

"real?"

Her voice suddenly brightened.

"When?"

"Once confirmed, it will be announced on SA Ticket Line first."

The girl's smile vanished instantly.

"I have to make another phone call..."

"I couldn't get through at all a few days ago."

Another member couldn't help but complain as well.

"I called from 10 a.m. until noon, and all I heard was a busy signal. When I finally got through, all the seats in front of me were taken."

"President Itakura was listening to these things all day yesterday as well."

Satsuki picked up the flyer and gently pressed down the curled corner.

"His secretary compiled more than twenty pages of complaints, half of which asked why, despite such extensive advertising, there were only a few lines on the appointment hotline."

"What was his answer?"

Kojima asked.

He said that you can't entirely blame the company for an artist becoming famous too quickly.

There was a moment of silence at the table, followed by a burst of laughter.

"That's too cunning."

"This is completely an attempt to shirk responsibility."

"That sounds like something President Itakura would say."

Takahashi looked at the last person to speak with some surprise.

"Do you know President Itakura?"

"Yeah, I'm super close to him..." He had barely finished speaking when he realized that this person's superior was still here, so he immediately changed his tune, "Okay, okay, we met in a newspaper interview."

The member smiled and waved his hand.

"Every successful publicity campaign is attributed to him, but when problems arise, he says it's because the enthusiasm of young people exceeded expectations."

Satsuki smiled too.

That's about it.

She put the flyer back in front of the girl.

"SIS is already adding routes. In addition to phone reservations, the next round of additional tickets can also be registered at designated karaoke bars and service counters at Seibu Station."

"Can I really buy it at the train station?"

"Register first, then pay after you get your reservation number. Seats not picked up within the designated time will be released again."

"Then you won't have to keep waiting by the phone anymore."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, but soon thought of something else.

"But wouldn't some people use multiple phone numbers to register repeatedly? I've heard that scalpers are using home, company, and dormitory numbers to make calls all at once."

"Someone has already done it."

Satsuki looked at her.

"The person who registered the most had forty-six."

"Eh—"

Several surprised voices rang out simultaneously in the activity room.

"That's way too exaggerated."

"Does one person have to take the entire company to see it?"

"Of course, it's for resale."

Kojima looked completely confident.

"Therefore, tickets are now issued under a real-name system. We will now verify the name, address, and ticket collection record."

"Sugatsuki said."

"Only one set of seats can be reserved for the same person."

Kojima stroked his chin.

"What about using a different name?"

Satsuki turned to look at him.

"It seems that Senior Kojima has thought this through very carefully."

"It's just to check if there are any loopholes in the research department's system."

Kojima spoke with a straight face.

"We are the Department of Economics Research."

"Just now I was only thinking about buying tickets, but now I've started looking into ways to circumvent the rules."

The minister finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Don't use the research department's name in this kind of situation."

Another burst of laughter erupted from the table.

The conversation gradually shifted from ticketing back to Campus Voice.

The girl at the end of the long table pointed to the event logo on the back of the flyer.

"Saionji-kun, did you plan to send the winner to the Seibu Stadium from the very beginning of this event?"

"no."

Satsuki shook her head.

"Initially, we just wanted to encourage students from nearby universities to go to karaoke more often during their free time in the afternoons. But the number of applicants grew so fast and the records sold better than expected that President Itakura decided to turn the preliminary rounds into a public event."

"So the opening act opportunity was added later?"

"Um."

"No wonder there have been so many more people signing up recently."

Kojima leaned back in his chair.

"The K-On! Club initially thought the flyer looked like a karaoke coupon, but after hearing that they could go to Seibu Stadium, they took all the remaining registration cards that very day."

"No, the number of applicants for Gakushuin is still not very high."

Satsuki thought for a moment.

"In yesterday's statistics, Waseda University was first, Keio University was second, and Gakushuin University was seventh."

"Seventh isn't a small number, is it?"

Kojima said.

"President Itakura thinks it's not enough."

"Does he think all college students should go to his karaoke bar to sing?"

"almost."

Satsuki answered naturally.

Laughter erupted again in the activity room.

The tense atmosphere that had arisen from her sudden appearance gradually eased with these words.

It was only then that the first-year student sitting by the window put the notebook, which had been sitting upright on his lap, back on the desk.

He hadn't been in the club long, only seeing Satsuki from afar on the day of the open research meeting. When everyone else addressed him as "Saionji-kun" directly, he followed suit once, but he didn't know why everyone treated this newcomer, who wasn't even a member, with such respect.

At that moment, Satsuki noticed that there were no documents in front of him, so she pushed an extra flyer from the table over to him.

Where were we?

The first-year student was stunned for a moment, then quickly flipped to the back of the flyer.

"Regarding the number of applicants for Gakushuin."

"That's perfect."

Satsuki glanced at the pencil in his hand.

"If the research department is going to include this in their report, remember to try to get a better explanation for Gakushuin than for seventh place."

Laughter broke out again at the table. The first-year members also relaxed their shoulders and carefully wrote the words "Insufficient publicity" next to the flyer.

The minister waited until the conversation had paused slightly before pulling out the long-prepared application form from under the list of new students.

"Saionji-kun."

He placed the application form in front of Satsuki.

"Since the last public research meeting, we have been wanting to formally invite you to join the research department."

The area around the table fell silent again.

Kojima also stopped joking and leaned forward slightly.

"This year, almost twice as many freshmen left their contact information as last year. Several people also said that after listening to your discussion with Senior Takahashi, they realized that economic research can also start from things around them."

Satsuki glanced down at the application form, her finger lightly tracing the blank space next to her name.

"I can have my name listed."

As soon as Kojima smiled, Satsuki continued speaking.

"However, I probably won't participate in many events. I have things to do at both the group and the school, and the research department doesn't need to wait for me when they have meetings."

This translates to: I don't have time to play house with you guys.

The minister was clearly prepared, and simply nodded slightly.

"It's fine to just have your name listed. The research department won't create a separate position for you because of your status, nor will it include you in the fixed attendance list."

"Then there's no problem."

Satsuki took the pen and wrote her name on the application form.

Kojima peeked out from the side.

"You agreed so easily?"

"Would you like me to propose a few more conditions?"

No, absolutely not.

Kojima immediately sat up straight.

"I just thought I'd have to invite them a few more times."

"No matter how many times I invite you, my answer will not change."

The girl in charge of taking notes flipped to the last page of the club member roster and took out a personal information form from the drawer.

"We know your name, department, and year. How should we write your interests and areas of expertise?"

Satsuki glanced at those columns.

"Let's leave my hobbies blank for now."

"What are your areas of expertise?"

She held the pen and thought for a moment.

"Capital markets and corporate operations."

Kojima peeked out and looked at the table.

"Isn't this range a little too large?"

"You can also shrink it a bit for me."

"Then let's write it as is."

Xiaodao quickly sat back down.

The girl in charge of taking notes suppressed a laugh, neatly wrote those words in the "areas of expertise" column, and then pushed the application form back in front of Satsuki.

After finishing writing, Satsuki placed the pen back on the table. The department head took the application form, pressed it on top of the new student information, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

This "nominal member" position is probably the most direct connection between his family and Satsuki.

"Welcome to the Economics Research Department, Saionji-kun."

Please take care of me in the future.

Satsuki bowed slightly.

A round of applause immediately erupted around the table. Kojima clapped especially loudly and even turned to signal to the club members sitting by the window to join in.

"Shouldn't nominal members also have a welcome party upon joining the club?"

"Don't rush to increase the activity budget."

The minister carefully put the application form away.

"Besides, Saionji-san just said that she almost certainly won't participate."

"Then the welcome party can be arranged for the one she attends."

"You're quite good at saving money."

There was another burst of laughter in the activity room.

When Satsuki turned back to the table, she noticed the unopened white envelope next to Takahashi's hand.

"Hasn't the envelope from SA Entertainment been opened yet?"

"We were just about to dismantle it."

Takahashi picked up the envelope from next to the revised draft.

Kojima immediately moved his chair forward.

"We already guessed it, it must be related to Izumi Sakai."

Satsuki glanced at the performance flyer spread out on the table.

"You can only be considered to have guessed part of it correctly."

"Is there anything else?"

The girl at the end of the long table also sat up straight, her eyes already fixed on the seal of the envelope.

"You'll find out when you open it."

Satsuki sat down in the empty seat and placed the two textbooks stacked in front of her.

Takahashi unsealed the envelope along its edge, and a dark blue card slid out.

The card features a photo of Izumi Sakai standing on stage. White light shines down from the side, illuminating her hand holding the microphone and half of her profile, while the audience behind her remains in darkness.

The photo is printed with the name and date of the first large-scale public performance at Seibu Stadium.

"It really is spring water."

The girl at the end of the long table had already left the back of her chair and was almost lying on the tabletop.

"But it's so thick, there can't be only one card, right?"

Takahashi flipped the card over.

Several hard-copy tickets were neatly clipped into the card slot on the back.

When the first ticket was pulled out, Kojima was still identifying the seating area on the ticket. As the second and third tickets landed on the table, several people gathered around.

Takahashi put down the last card.

There are eight in total.

The words "Seat for Relevant Parties" are clearly printed on the right side of the top ticket.

The activity room was silent for two seconds.

The girl who had just been complaining about making a phone reservation stared at the stack of tickets, her lips moved slightly, but she hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Eight seats... all for associates?"

Kojima had already reached out and picked up the top one.

"They're still seats together!"

After looking at the area, he immediately went to count the tickets on the table.

There really are eight.

This sentence seemed to finally lift some kind of restriction, and the two sides of the long table immediately became lively.

"Let me see the location."

"Don't clutch the ticket stub."

"Senior, you've been keeping it under the book the whole time?"

"Let me see one first—"

As soon as Kojima raised his ballot a little higher, people crowded around him from both sides. He had no choice but to lower the ballot again, protecting the stub with one hand and blocking the members who were about to reach out with the other.

"Wait a minute, let's check them one by one. Who's responsible if they get damaged?"

"You were the first person to grab it just now."

"I'm checking the quantities for everyone."

The activity room quickly descended into chaos.

The girl at the end of the long table also joined in, and the group took turns checking the seats and entrances around the stack of tickets. Kojima protected the ticket stubs, constantly reminding them not to fold them, but he himself kept clutching the top ticket tightly.

After everyone had finally looked through the tickets, he rearranged them neatly and spread them out on the table.

"The minister has one too, right?"

The island split the tickets again.

There are exactly eight people here today.

"Where is Saionji-kun?"

Someone asked.

"These are tickets for the research department."

Satsuki raised her finger and pointed to the table.

"My seat will be arranged separately by the company and will not count towards the number of seats available here."

The minister turned the ballot over and placed it on the table.

"Thank you, Saionji-kun."

He sat up straight, and his tone was more serious than before.

"Such a seat is very rare. The research department will make good use of it and will not let this kindness go to waste."

Only then did the few people who had been focused on the seats seem to realize what was happening and began to thank Satsuki. The loudest voice came from Kojima, while the girl at the end of the long table, her hands gripping the edge of her ticket, added earnestly:

"Thank you so much. I was originally prepared to give up on this performance."

"I'm glad you're willing to go."

Satsuki glanced at the eight tickets on the table.

"President Itakura heard that the research department has been discussing Seibu Stadium recently, so he had a few tickets reserved from the company's reception area. If you have any comments after the concert, you can compile a list and give it to him."

"Then it won't just be about going to concerts."

Kojima immediately straightened the ticket.

"I also need to check on SA Entertainment's work while I'm at it."

"Are you already looking for faults as soon as you get the ticket?"

"This is the rigor that the Economics Research Department should have."

Laughter broke out again around the table. The atmosphere, which had briefly become formal during the thanks, relaxed again.

Some people started checking the entrance information on their tickets, while others took out brochures to check the direction of the stands. The girl who had just complained about her failed reservation had already taken out a tram timetable from her bag and was discussing with the person next to her whether she could catch the last tram after the show.

Takahashi sat to the side watching, and the girl surrounded by the crowd seemed to have transformed back into that elegant and poised first-year student.

Of course, he also didn't forget that the girl was the one who could intimidate executives who managed projects worth billions of yen simply by sitting to the side.

Which one is the real her?

Thinking it over, Takahashi flattened the empty envelope and placed it back next to the revised draft.

This time, he didn't hide the smile on his lips.

However, it's definitely more interesting to leave the letter in the activity room to open it later than to open it alone in Marunouchi.