My daily life with the original diva

In just over two months since the TV series aired, its sales have successfully exceeded 1.2 million copies. It has been eleven weeks and it is still in the top ten of the record sales chart. Judging from this trend, it will become the single that stays in the top ten of the sales chart for the longest time this year.

The popularity of the TV series boosted the sales of the single by at least 200,000 to 300,000 copies. It also allowed Kimura Hiroshi to maintain a high level of exposure even though he doesn't appear on TV shows often, keeping his popularity and discussion at a high level.

It wasn't just the revenue generated by the drama itself that made other TV stations see Hiroshi Kimura's value. He could not only sell records and have high box office returns, but he could also become the king of TV drama ratings. The former two don't have a huge impact on TV stations, but TV drama ratings have a huge impact. As a result, they all extended olive branches to Hiroshi Kimura.

Previously, they only invited Hiroshi Kimura to participate in the filming of their TV dramas. Now, even the previously arrogant TBS TV station has given him greater authority, namely, to produce the dramas, with TBS TV station responsible for broadcasting and promotion. This is something that TBS TV station has never done before.

"Kimura-san, TBS has called me. Don't you really have any plans to collaborate with them?" Yukio Tomioka asked with some anticipation. This was a call specifically from a high-ranking executive at TBS. Tomioka had never received a call from a high-ranking TV station executive like this before, so he actually wanted Kimura Hiroshi to collaborate with TBS. This would help them build a relationship and would also benefit Warner's artists.

Sitting in his chair, Hiroshi Kimura shook his head and said nonchalantly, "I have no interest in collaborating with TBS. Mr. Tomioka, you know I'm very busy right now. I already have drama collaborations with Asahi and Fuji TV. Do you expect me to add TBS as well? That would mean I'd be working with three TV stations. I don't have the energy for that. Besides, Fuji TV has already booked my next drama."

Hiroshi Kimura no longer wants to expand his business empire and network. What he has now is enough to keep him busy. Besides, if he were to reach a cooperation agreement with three television stations for a TV series, what scarcity would his TV series have? If it weren't for the fact that TV Asahi and his cooperation with them were relatively pleasant and that they would broadcast anime produced by Wit Studio, he wouldn't want to cooperate with TV Asahi at all.

Their resources are really bad. Right now, apart from the music station program, the TV dramas produced by their company, Hiroshi, and some anime programs, which have decent ratings, their other programs are really not doing well. Even after the so-called reforms, it's still the same. Kimura Hiroshi even suspects that the increase in ratings might be due to his help.

If Tomioka Yukio believed that he had no energy, then something was really fishy. He knew very well how leisurely Kimura Hiroshi was, but he was too lazy to expose him. Instead, he started asking about something that was extremely important to him.

"Kimura-san, yesterday the president called me over and told me to prepare to return to Warner. I thought he couldn't stand me anymore and wanted me to go back, but he asked me to come back and ask you, are you planning to change your manager?" Tomioka Yukio said this with some unease.

In the past few years, he has been in charge of Hiroshi Kimura, and it can be said that he has reaped great rewards in terms of both fame and actual income. Although Hiroshi Kimura may be lazy, the records he sells are all top-notch, not to mention the singles he writes for Western singers, which are all bestsellers. This has made his reputation as Hiroshi Kimura's manager very well-known, and his income is also very substantial.

Regardless of how independent and self-reliant Kimura Hiroshi is, in the Japanese entertainment industry where artists are subservient to their managers, his manager is seen by outsiders as extremely successful and capable.

Now that Hiroshi Kimura is changing managers, it's like a bolt from the blue for him. Where can he find a singer like Hiroshi Kimura again? He simply can't find one. In recent years, no singer, whether talented or idol-like, has been able to surpass Hiroshi Kimura.

With a slightly somber expression, Kimura Hiroshi put down the entertainment newspaper he was reading and said very seriously, "Mr. Tomioka, I have no intention of changing my manager. As long as you don't go too far and I'm still releasing records, then you will be my manager. As for why the president said that, it's because his worries are unnecessary. He thinks that if I get married, I will stop releasing records."

"Ah, so you were worried for nothing. Wait, Kimura-san, what did you say? You're getting married?" Tomioka Yukio breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Kimura Hiroshi didn't want to change his manager, but he didn't expect what Kimura Hiroshi said next to take him by surprise.

Even Michiko, who was overhearing nearby, widened her eyes and stammered, "Kimura-san is getting married, to Akina-san? What? When?"

"Yes, we are planning to get married, but it's probably still a long way off. However, I spoke to the president beforehand, and I didn't expect him to start making preparations so eagerly. I don't know what to say to him. Mr. Tomioka, Ms. Michiko, please don't worry, even if we get married, it will be next year. But I might propose this year." Kimura Hiroshi didn't seem to be hiding anything.

It turned out that a plan had been made. Yukio Tomioka breathed a sigh of relief. If Hiroshi Kimura had suddenly announced his marriage, it would have been a huge shock to him, and Warner would probably have questioned him. Informing him in advance so that they could prepare would not be so terrible.

“Since you have plans, Mr. Kimura, I won’t interfere too much. However, the decision to get married will definitely affect your career. If you’ve thought it through, Mr. Kimura, I won’t say anything more,” Yukio Tomioka said sincerely. He didn’t try to persuade him further because he knew that once Hiroshi Kimura made up his mind, he wouldn’t change it.

Nodding, Hiroshi Kimura said, "I've thought it through, Mr. Tomioka, so you don't need to worry too much. I will continue to release records in the future. However, this matter needs to be kept secret. Please don't leak it out, Mr. Tomioka, especially Ms. Michiko. If I hear any rumors, it will definitely be because you leaked them. So you must keep your mouth shut, understand?"

These assistants are arguably the most gossipy group in the agency, spreading all sorts of strange rumors every day. Ms. Michiko is no exception, so Kimura Hiroshi has to give her extra instructions.

Michiko quickly covered her mouth, not daring to speak. She could only show her with her eyes that she would keep this secret and would never tell anyone.

"We'll keep it a secret, Kimura-san. We absolutely won't let Akina-san, the other party involved, know," Yukio Tomioka said, a mixture of amusement and seriousness in his voice.

Seeing their expressions, Hiroshi Kimura could only shake his head and smile wryly. Being a celebrity is really troublesome. For something like proposing marriage, he could have simply found out Akina Nakamori's feelings and confirmed that she was willing to marry him before secretly preparing to propose. But as a celebrity, he had to consider other issues.

Firstly, the agency might not be prepared. If you suddenly announce your marriage without the agency's knowledge, it's like a blow to their head. No matter how harmonious the relationship was before, it could break down or even turn into enmity. Therefore, it's essential to inform them in advance.

In addition, there are the agents on both sides. As the people in charge of the artists' affairs, they also need to know in advance to prepare in order to avoid arranging some inappropriate work at the last minute, which would make everyone uncomfortable or even cause unnecessary trouble.

However, by doing so, what was originally intended as a secret surprise for the other party becomes something that many people know about. With more people around, it is easy to leak the secret, and the desired surprise effect cannot be achieved at all. Kimura Hiroshi is now facing such a dilemma, but he has no good solution.

"You have to keep your word. Okay, I've finished talking about my personal matters. Now let's talk about work. I'd like to release the last single of the year in mid-August, so we need to start preparing now. Oh, and the album I promised to release this year, I'll release it in mid-September. It's been a long time since I released an album, and I don't even know what theme to release. Mr. Tomioka, do you have any thoughts?"

Not wanting to continue discussing his personal matters, Hiroshi Kimura steered the conversation back to the purpose of his visit to the agency today: to prepare for the last single and album of the year. It's already July, and if he wants to complete the release of the single and album this year, he should hurry up.

From what Kimura Hiroshi said, Tomioka Yukio knew that he had prepared a single but not an album, so he asked, "Kimura-san, tell me first what single you plan to release. As for the album, if you don't have any ideas, I can help you think about it. Once the theme is decided, you can start creating the relevant music."

Kimura Hiroshi was naturally pleased to be able to slack off, and said, "Alright, then I'll trouble Mr. Tomioka to help me come up with some ideas. As for the single, I've already prepared it."

After saying that, he opened his bag, took out several sheet music, and handed them to Yukio Tomioka.

"I debuted with rock songs as a gimmick, but I actually mostly sing rock-pop and haven't really sung a hard rock single. So for my last single this year, I want to sing a hard rock song, which is this one that I wrote, 'Loving You Is Just That Willful, I Won't Hurt You,'" Hiroshi Kimura said, reminiscing about the past.

This single with a very long title comes from BZ, one of Japan's most popular rock bands. It is also their best-selling rock single, with total sales exceeding two million copies.

Upon receiving the sheet music, Yukio Tomioka was first drawn to the somewhat strange title of the single. Then he looked at the song's content and found it to be a very hard rock single, as could be seen from the rhythm of the sheet music. However, he hadn't actually seen many hard rock singles, so he found it difficult to tell whether it was good or bad.

"Is Kimura-san going to change his style again? But as for hard rock, there haven't been any hit singles on the market yet. Wouldn't it be a bit risky to do this?" Yukio Tomioka expressed his concerns.

Kimura Hiroshi was quite confident about this, saying, "Mr. Tomioka, this is my song. Even if there isn't a huge hit hard rock single, I'll lead the trend. Maybe there will be one in the future."

He said this because starting next year, hard rock will become an indispensable part of the Japanese music scene and will become an extremely popular form of music.

Yukio Tomioka was unaware of these things, but since Hiroshi Kimura wanted to sing, he had no choice but to agree.

Chapter 552 I'm Twenty-Four Years Old

Although he had an extra single to record in July, it didn't actually increase his workload much. After all, arrangements are handled by professionals, and Kimura only needed to make his requests and have them follow them, so it didn't take up too much of his time.

Besides filming movies, he even had time to plan a 24th birthday party for Akina Nakamori. July 13th was Akina Nakamori's 24th birthday. Kimura Hiroshi originally wanted to celebrate with Akina Nakamori as usual, but considering that she had been too busy in recent years and hadn't celebrated her birthday with her friends for a long time, the last time was the year of her coming-of-age ceremony, Kimura Hiroshi tried calling Akina Nakamori's friends instead.

To his surprise, everyone readily agreed to make time when he called, which took Kimura Hiroshi quite by surprise, as it wasn't easy to gather such a large group of artists in the past.

However, after thinking about it again, he understood. Apart from him and Akina Nakamori, whose popularity had not been greatly affected, the popularity of others had begun to decline to varying degrees. Even Kyoko Koizumi was no exception. She now mainly acted in TV dramas, and her record sales were only around 100,000 copies. As for Ikuya Fujii's band Checkers, their popularity had plummeted. As a result, many of his old friends had more time to spend with him.

"Let's not go to a fancy restaurant. How about we go to a karaoke bar? We're all young people, we can sing together, have cake, and celebrate. Going to those fancy restaurants always makes me feel uncomfortable." Kimura Hiroshi suggested this when he called Miyazawa Rie.

Kimura Hiroshi thought this was a great suggestion, and he agreed. Going to high-end restaurants always felt like a business meeting, and it didn't give people the casual and relaxed feeling that friends have. So, let's go to karaoke instead.

Kimura Hiroshi didn't inform Nakamori Akina in advance because she had a lot of things to do on her birthday and wouldn't have time until the evening. So, he simply told her that this year, it would just be the two of them going to karaoke and eating birthday cake for her birthday.

Akina Nakamori was very happy about this. She didn't really care about the form of her birthday celebration; all she wanted was for someone to be with her and for someone to remember her. What she cared about was the emotional connection.

So, looking forward to her birthday after get off work, Nakamori Akina was in an exceptionally good mood all day. She even had a smile on her face when she appeared on the show. She's really not good at hiding her feelings, and even the viewers in front of the TV can tell how she's feeling when she's on a TV show.

After a busy day, around 8 p.m., Nakamori Akina, along with Akiyuki Yoshizawa and Ms. Noriko, headed to the karaoke bar they had arranged to meet. Even though it was a karaoke bar, it was a very luxurious one, with lavishly decorated and spacious private rooms to accommodate enough people.

When Akina Nakamori arrived at the agreed-upon private room, she found it completely dark. Just as she thought she had gone to the wrong place, the light of birthday candles suddenly shone in the darkness, and then Akina Nakamori heard many people singing "Happy Birthday".

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Accompanied by the birthday song, in the dim light, Nakamori Akina saw many familiar faces: Koizumi Kyoko, Fujii Ikuya, Miyazawa Rie, and even Minamino Yoko. Of course, there was also Kimura Hiroshi, who was slowly approaching with a birthday cake in his hands.

Kimura Hiroshi walked up to Nakamori Akina and said with a big smile, "Happy 24th birthday, Akina."

Looking around at so many friends, Nakamori Akina knew that this was another surprise prepared by Kimura Hiroshi. Nakamori Akina was taken aback at first, and then she was so happy that she could hardly speak.

“Hongjun, you…and all of you…”

She looked exceptionally cute, and everyone who came couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh.

"Okay, stop talking, let's blow out the candles." Seeing that she couldn't explain it clearly, Kimura Hiroshi quickly stopped her from saying anything more, saying that blowing out the candles was more important.

After calming herself down, Akina Nakamori quickly lowered her head and tried her best to blow out the twenty-four candles on the candle holder.

Then everyone present cheered and applauded, and then, as if that wasn't enough, someone shouted, "Give him a kiss, Akina, give him a kiss!"

"Give me a kiss! Give me a kiss!" Everyone, always eager for a good show, started shouting.

This made Akina Nakamori feel a little shy, but not wanting to disappoint everyone, she actually stood on tiptoe and gently kissed Hiroshi Kimura on the lips.

"Whoa...!" The cheers grew even louder.

Knowing that this was Nakamori Akina's limit—she didn't really like revealing her private life in front of too many people—Kimura Hiro opportunely turned on the lights in the private room and said, "Let's eat cake!"

He carried the cake into the private room and then called for someone to cut it. Nakamori Akina followed him in. At that moment, Koizumi Kyoko grabbed Nakamori Akina's arm and said, "Akina-chan, I didn't expect you two to be so close. Kimura-san even asked us to come and prepare a surprise for you for your birthday."

Akina Nakamori was quite open with Kyoko Koizumi, whispering, "I had no idea that Hiro-kun had prepared this so carefully. Also, don't think I don't know. Didn't you just call out for a kiss? I remember your voice very clearly."

Unexpectedly, she was caught out, but Kyoko Koizumi refused to admit it and pretended to be innocent, saying, "It wasn't me. Don't talk nonsense. I didn't say anything."

"Akina, today's host is here to cut the cake for everyone." After the cake was cut, Kimura Hiroshi called for today's host to cut the cake for everyone, sharing the joy of his birthday with them.

"Here you are!" Upon hearing Kimura Hiroshi's call, Nakamori Akina didn't even have time to settle scores with Koizumi Kyoko and hurriedly went to distribute the cake to everyone.

There were many people here today, and the cake ordered by Kimura Hiroshi was big enough for everyone to get a decent piece. But today wasn't just about eating cake; it was more like a long-awaited get-together. Everyone was around the same age and got along very well. Only Koizumi Kyoko and Fujii Fumiya didn't speak, and there wasn't even a chance for them to exchange glances.

After eating the cake, Kimura Hiroshi had the karaoke bar deliver a lot of other food as a late-night snack. Of course, it's impossible to come to a karaoke bar without singing. Everyone present was a singer, and it wouldn't be fun if they sang like they usually do. So, they started doing all sorts of silly things.

There were male voices singing female songs, duets, and strange alterations to someone's lyrics—basically, anything that was fun and entertaining. No one was singing seriously, and everyone was having a blast.

Of course, the ones who received the most attention were Kimura Hiroshi and Nakamori Akina. Under the urging of these guys, they not only had to sing together, but also had to sing wedding celebration songs. Nakamori Akina didn't dislike this at all; on the contrary, she sang with extra enthusiasm, doing her best to be funny. She was even more uninhibited than Kimura Hiroshi, which really broadened Kimura Hiroshi's horizons.

They had fun, but it didn't last long because many people here had to work the next day. So even if they were having a great time, they had to stop around 2 or 3 a.m. If they didn't, they would have to stay up all night, and if they were tired and unable to work the next day, that would be a real problem.

Before leaving, everyone gave Nakamori Akina birthday gifts, none of which were expensive, which is considered an unspoken rule in Japan regarding gift-giving.

Overwhelmed with congratulations and gifts, Akina Nakamori was overjoyed. She smiled throughout the night, often laughing loudly, which showed just how happy she was.

After everyone else had left, they paid the bill and got into the car. Nakamori Akina was still humming a little tune. Kimura Hiroshi, seeing her like this, couldn't help but ask, "Are you that happy today? You're still humming a song even after getting into the car?"

Nodding vigorously, Nakamori Akina said, "Yeah, I'm so happy. I didn't expect so many friends to come and celebrate my birthday with me today. Ah, it's been so long since I've celebrated with them. Everyone is so busy, it's really not easy to get together. Of course, I have to thank Hiro-kun for all of this. Thank you for the surprise you prepared for me."

As she spoke, Akina Nakamori reached out and pretended to massage Hiroshi Kimura's shoulders, as if to reward him for the arrangements he had made that evening and to make sure he wasn't too tired.

"Is that so? How about I prepare a birthday like this every year from now on?" Kimura Hiroshi asked, turning his head to ask.

However, Akina Nakamori immediately refused, saying, "No, it's better not to. Everyone is busy, and not everyone has time for my birthday every year. It would cause trouble for everyone, which is not good. Besides, what I really want to do on my birthday is to be with Hiro-kun. As long as you are there, I will be happy. It doesn't have to be with my friends."

That's quite a lot of consideration. Indeed, it would be difficult to invite such a large group of people every year for one's birthday. Kimura Hiroshi is also worried that some people might come even if they don't have time, just to avoid offending them. That could easily spoil the friendship between them, which would be bad. So it's better to have these kinds of group activities only occasionally.

"Oh, I see. Then Akina will have to make do. She'll have to spend her birthday with me next year. It'll be a pretty quiet one," Kimura Hiroshi said.

"No, I'm happy just to be with Hiro every year on my birthday. Why would you say it's mundane? If this is mundane, I wish every year could be like this." As she spoke, Nakamori Akina rested her head on Kimura Hiro's shoulder, as if to tell her that she wasn't lying, but speaking from the heart.

"Okay, Akina, don't worry. I'll celebrate your birthday with you every year from now on. Even if we're not together, I'll call you or prepare a gift for you in advance. But you need to lift your head up now, I'm driving, it's not safe to do that." Kimura Hiroshi was quite careful about safety while driving, it wasn't the time to show affection.

Knowing that what she was doing was a bit inappropriate, Nakamori Akina quickly raised her head, but couldn't help muttering, "We should be saying more sweet nothings in this situation, why are we talking about safety? It's ruining the mood."

Although she spoke very softly, how could Kimura Hiroshi not hear her? Hearing her say that, Kimura Hiroshi was not happy. He suddenly turned the car and drove into a side road, then stopped the car on the side of the road. He turned to Nakamori Akina and said, "Akina wants atmosphere, right? Now that we're safe, let Akina experience what atmosphere is."

After saying that, ignoring Nakamori Akina's surprised look, he suddenly reached out and hugged her head, then kissed her hard, letting Nakamori Akina experience what it meant to be in the right mood.

Kimura Hiroshi only let go after they were both a little breathless from the kiss, then asked with a mischievous grin, "How about that, is the atmosphere enough, Akina?"

Completely baffled by Kimura Hiroshi's actions, Nakamori Akina wiped her mouth and said, "You, you're so mean, Hiroshi-kun, ah, no..."

Upon hearing Akina Nakamori call him awful, Hiroshi Kimura tried to kiss her, but thankfully this time he only gave her two light kisses before laughing out loud, restarting the car and driving towards the apartment. Hiroshi Kimura found that sometimes teasing Akina Nakamori was quite a fun thing to do.

Akina Nakamori was so angry with Hiroshi Kimura that her mouth was bulging as she walked, but after a while she burst out laughing and said, "I really hate you."

"Oh, is it really that annoying?" Kimura Hiroshi asked with a mischievous grin.

With a soft hum, Akina Nakamori turned her head away, clearly not wanting to talk to Hiroshi Kimura anymore. But her ignoring him didn't last long. She turned back to look at Hiroshi Kimura and said, "Hiroshi-kun, today is my twenty-fourth birthday."

Not understanding what he meant, Kimura Hiroshi, who was focused on driving, said, "Yeah, I know. Akina-chan, who is older, is officially turning twenty-four today."

Seeing that Kimura Hiro didn't understand her meaning, Nakamori Akina reminded her, "Hiro-kun, have you forgotten what you once told me?"

Kimura Hiroshi really couldn't remember. He tried hard to recall, wondering if he had promised Nakamori Akina something when she turned twenty-four, but he had no such memory. So he could only ask, "What did you say?"

Nakamori Akina's lips were about to puff out again, as if she had no recollection at all. She said very quickly, "Hiro once said that the best time to have a child is when you are twenty-four. I am already twenty-four, and I will be twenty-five next year. I will be past that age soon."

"Screech!" Kimura Hiroshi slammed on the brakes. He was genuinely shocked by Nakamori Akina's words. He never expected that Nakamori Akina would remember so clearly the things he had casually made up back then.