After being elected as the governor of Tokyo, he will debut as a band!

After listening to Mei Fuyuyama's original composition, Machiko Dai genuinely believed that Takashi Kakimoto had plagiarized her song.

Despite her poverty, Fuyuyama Mei persisted in composing music, even contracting lung disease as a result... This series of actions clearly moved Mayuzumi Machiko (whom lawyer Komikado scoffed at), so she was determined to get Komikado Kensuke to personally intervene and seek justice for Fuyuyama Mei.

"There is such a thing..."

Hiroi Kikuri was a little dumbfounded. She couldn't understand how she had offended Kakimoto Takutaka when she was just trying to sing a song and sell some singles and albums.

Seeing this expression on her face, Mayuzumi thought she had been persuaded and quickly pressed her advantage, saying, "As a common enemy of Ms. Hiroi and Ms. Fuyuyama, you must also want to punish Kakimoto Takatsukasa under the law, right?"

"Well, even if I knew the person who really insulted us was this Kakimoto guy, I wouldn't feel much hatred towards him..." Hiroi Kikuri shrugged. "Okay, to be honest, I kind of want to see him get his comeuppance..."

"Could you please persuade Attorney Komekado to take on this case?"

Mayuzumi Machiko eagerly handed the file closer, almost touching the beer can in Hiroi Kikuri's hand.

“…Then I need to see what kind of case it is first,” Guang said.

Jing glanced at the file and was immediately overwhelmed by the dense text. "Sigh, my eyes are getting blurry, my eyes are getting blurry... Senior, could you help me look at this?"

"You're such a nuisance. People came to you, but you're pushing the problem onto me."

Ichiji Hoshika made a disdainful remark, but still took the file and started reading.

"Yano Fuyuyama... and her band, I remember them, they performed at the Starry Night Auditorium before, but their band is a heavy metal band, right? It's very different from Kakimoto's songwriting style... Are you sure this Kakimoto plagiarized her song?"

"I'm sure! You must be the manager of the Starry Night Showroom. A professional like you can spot the plagiarism immediately after listening to both versions of the song just once."

Machiko Dai rummaged through her purse for a while and took out a USB drive. "Could I put this in here?"

Ijichi nodded and pointed to the laptop belonging to Ms. PA. The laptop was connected to the stage speakers and could play music that sounded like a live performance.

A few minutes later, as the sentimental pop songs and the deafening heavy metal rock came to a halt, Iji Tomoka and Hiroi Kikuri were both nodding in agreement.

"Indeed, the two songs have at least two major sections of variations and harmonies that are completely identical, and the lyrics are also similar in meaning. They have only been slightly modified, so there is no problem in identifying them as plagiarism."

"This behavior is absolutely outrageous, senior. I think we need to protect Miss Fuyuyama's legitimate rights."

Isokachi Music Awards: 125 The Tokyo Grand Stage can't tolerate such a scumbag.

When Aoyama arrived that evening, Hiroi Kikuri was already completely drunk and fast asleep on the sofa. Several customers who had come to the Starry Night Showroom to see the live performance were taking photos with Hiroi Kikuri, and there were also a few people in line.

Ijichi Hoshika put up a sign next to her that read, "Photos, 500 yuan each."

As mentioned earlier, although the members of Sick Hack have recently had a bad reputation in the mainstream music scene, Sick Hack fans have not stopped supporting them. They are quite happy to spend a little money to take a photo with Kikuri Hiroi.

Ijichi Seika was counting money over there until Aoyama walked over, causing the fans to gasp in surprise, at which point she stopped what she was doing.

"Good evening, Huck... Perfect timing, here's something for you."

Ijichi Seika gave the fans an apologetic look—but with her habitually sharp gaze, her effort to convey her apology probably failed—before she got up and led Aoyama Hikaru into the practice room.

The four members of the Link Band had finished practicing and gone back, leaving the practice room empty, perfect for discussing business.

"Qingshan, take a look at this. It was brought over by Attorney Dai. It should be helpful for Sick Hack's current situation."

Ijichi Hoshika turned to a page of the dossier left by Mayuzumi Machiko and handed it to Aoyama Mukai.

"what?"

Aoyama glanced at it briefly, then flipped through a few more pages and got a general grasp of the content.

"Did renowned composer Takatsuka Kakimoto plagiarize an original song by the little-known underground rock band Mei Fuyuyama? Mei Fuyuyama hopes to file a lawsuit demanding that Takatsuka Kakimoto issue a public apology and compensate her for economic losses of 1000 million yen?"

Qingshan frowned.

After all, he had been a lawyer for several years and knew that many unknown musicians or authors would use their previously published works to accuse celebrities of plagiarism.

Some of these cases do involve plagiarism, but most are baseless accusations. Their published works may have some plot similarities to those of famous people, but they have absolutely nothing to do with plagiarism. Their lawsuits or their complaints of injustice in interviews are just ways to attract attention.

He suspected that this Fuyuyama Mei was in the same situation... Although the famous composer Kakimoto Takatsuka instructed his band to make public statements against Sickhack on television programs, that was a moral issue and had nothing to do with whether the person was talented.

Besides, even if the song listed in the case file that is suspected of plagiarism was indeed borrowed from elsewhere by Takashi Kakimoto... he, a guest of honor at Fuji TV, had absolutely no connection with an unknown like Mei Fuyuyama. He might not have even been to the small performance hall that would invite Mei Fuyuyama's band to perform for more than ten years. Even if he wanted to plagiarize, he probably wouldn't have had the opportunity.

"Hoshika, are you sure this Ms. Fuyuyama Mei isn't trying to scam me?"

Aoyama raised his doubts.

Ichika shook her head, her eyes resolute, and said, "Aoyama, you think that way because you haven't heard their music. Once you've heard it, you'll immediately see the similarities between the two..."

She reached out and touched her ear, then pointed to the direction where Kikuri Hiroi was outside the door. "Although I haven't performed on stage for several years, my hearing hasn't deteriorated... and Kikuri Hiroi, an active musician, can vouch for me."

Now that Ichiji Hoshika and Hiroi Kikuri had both confirmed it with their own ears, Aoyama Muto also dispelled his doubts, trusting in the character and professionalism of these two people.

If it is confirmed that Takashi Kakimoto plagiarized Mei Fuyuyama's work, then only one point remains to be considered.

That is, how did Takatsukasa Kakimoto come to see or hear about Mei Fuyuyama's work?

"Plagiarism isn't a huge issue, but it's not insignificant either... Even if Fuyuyama Mei wins this case, it's unlikely that Kakimoto Takama will pay a heavy price..."

Qingshan muttered to himself.

To truly inflict a painful blow on him, and at the same time send a scare message to agencies and entertainment companies that share his stance, other methods are needed.

“I understand the matter. I will leave the case to Attorney Komekado. I will have people look for new evidence and put pressure on Fuji TV and other media outlets to ensure that the trial process is as fair as possible.”

……

After reaching an agreement with Ijichi Hoshika, Aoyama made a phone call to his assistant at his personal agency, Nakamoto Itsuki, and asked him to gather information about Kakimoto Takuya, mainly focusing on his interpersonal relationships and daily schedule.

Let's examine whether there are any coincidences in the interpersonal relationships and daily activities of Kakimoto and Fuyuyama, two people who seem to have nothing in common at first glance.

If a high-ranking official in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government can be close friends and family with Hiroi Kikuri, a drunkard on the street, and Iji Tomoka, the owner of a small performance hall, then why can't Kakimoto Takuya have some unknown relationship with Fuyuyama Meino?

This is Japan... There is a possibility that young but poor women and wealthy, socially established middle-aged men could cross paths.

……

Nakamoto Itsuki was extremely efficient. The next morning, when Aoyama was sitting in his office drinking coffee, Nakamoto Itsuki had already placed the information he had gathered on Aoyama's desk.

While munching on fresh bread that his family's cook had just baked that morning and which had been rushed over, Aoyama casually flipped through Kakimoto Takuya's information.

He soon discovered the interesting part.

To be fair, Takatsukasa Kakimoto was indeed quite talented in his youth. Recognized by his teacher and with three classic film scores, he stood out among his students and first married his teacher's daughter.

And with the help of his teacher's resources, he made a name for himself at Fuji Television.

But about fifteen years ago, with the passing of his mentor and father-in-law, he officially took over all of his connections and became a pillar composer for Fuji Television.

But his good fortune didn't last long. When Takashi Kakimoto was composing for a girl band project for a certain company, he encountered a bottleneck. He forced out thirteen songs, nine of which were so bad that people in the industry and the audience felt like they were listening to someone farting instead of listening to music... This plunged him into a career slump.

But three years later, he made a comeback with ten high-quality songs. These ten songs not only made two previously unknown female singers famous, but two of them were also selected for the Japan Gold Disc Awards.

Since then, he has maintained a prolific creative output, producing more than ten high-quality songs every year. He has supported several bands and singers, including SOID, and has even collaborated with top domestic female singers such as Miyuki Nakamura.

Up to this point, it's still an inspirational story of a middle-aged musician who, after encountering a bottleneck, works hard to hone his skills and then returns to the top. But what Nakamoto Itsuki discovers next is quite interesting.

Thirteen years ago, during the second year of his temporary hiatus, Takatsukasa Kakimoto opened a composition training class, enrolling seventy-six students in the first batch. Among them, three outstanding students were accepted as his disciples.

Every year thereafter, his composition training class would recruit new students, and every year several outstanding individuals would be accepted as his formal disciples.

Over the years, he has taken in about thirty formal disciples, but strangely, only one of them has become a formal composer. The rest either continue to practice as his disciples without producing any independent musical works, or they have changed careers and faded into obscurity in industries unrelated to music creation.

At the end of the document, Nakamoto Tatsuki also made a brief summary and analysis of Kakimoto Takuya, believing that he was very likely to monopolize the works of his disciples, and at the same time use his power to deprive his disciples of their room for advancement, making them his tools to contribute their creativity. When the disciples' creativity was exhausted, he would use various methods to pressure and belittle them. When the disciples could not bear it and their hearts were broken and they wanted to leave the industry, he would give them small favors and arrange for them to be placed in an industry far away from the music industry.

Nakamoto Itsuki also speculated that the reason why Kakimoto had been doing such immoral things for more than ten years without being collectively reprimanded by his disciples was not only because he had a very high reputation in the mainstream music industry, which was enough to exert a strong deterrent effect on his disciples, but also because he was good at understanding people's hearts. All the disciples he accepted were people who were weak-willed, insecure and lacking love, and who had been screened by him.

Such a person doesn't believe they possess exceptional talent. Even if their compositions are widely praised, as long as Kakimoto tells them, "The fame of this piece is mainly due to my personal reputation and my friend's recommendation. If you put your own name on it, it will just disappear without a trace. You wouldn't want your hard-earned composition to remain unknown to anyone, would you?" Such a person will then give up.

……

"A cancer! A pure cancer!"

When Aoyama arrived at the Starry Night Performance Hall, he told Ichiji Hoshika and Hiroi Kikuri what he knew. Before the two of them could react, Toyokawa Shoko, who was working there, was the first to jump up.

"Takatsukasa Kakimoto is nothing but a gluttonous demon who devours other people's dreams and hopes like food to fatten himself up! I cannot tolerate such a shameless and despicable person existing in the music industry!"

Ijichi Hoshika stared at her in surprise for two seconds.

She knew that Toyokawa Shoko was a person with a strong sense of justice, but she didn't expect that Shoko was also a person with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).

It's all about "treating other people's dreams and hopes as food" and being a "devouring demon king." Is he trying to portray himself as a hero who saves the world?

Shoko Toyokawa blushed under the stare. She realized that among the people present, only Aoyama knew that she was the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family and might have the ability to punish Takashi Kakimoto to some extent in the future. In the eyes of Hoshika Ijichi, she was just an ordinary girl from a poor family who needed to work part-time to support her band. Making such a declaration would be childish and humiliating. So she lowered her head and sat back down in her chair in silence.

At this moment, the enthusiastic supporter, Ichiji Nijika, quickly spoke up, "I completely understand how Xiaoxiang feels! That kind of person is really awful. I always thought that Professor Kakimoto was the kind of senior who mentored younger generations and was both virtuous and talented. The tuition for that Kakimoto composer training course isn't too expensive. I was even thinking of enrolling last year..."

"Then you might as well just give me the tuition fee directly. If those nine terrible compositions from fifteen years ago were Kakimoto-sensei's true level, then I'm definitely much better than him in teaching composition. Most importantly, I only want the money, and I will never plagiarize Nijika's works," Yamada Ryo said, covering his mouth.

"Yamada, you need to pay attention to cultivating your character, otherwise I think you'll one day become a scoundrel like Takatsuka Kakimoto."

Ijichi Hoshika stared at Yamada Ryo and said, her sharp gaze sending a chill down Yamada Ryo's spine.

"Manager, you're underestimating me too much. I'm not that generous."

"Hard to say."

To be honest, Ichika Ichiro really thinks that Yamada Ryo has the potential to become a scumbag—this guy even wanted to embezzle the wedding money that Goto had saved up. It's not impossible that he will develop into a scumbag who uses PUA to make others work for him for free.

"Ryo Senbei looks so righteous and cool!" Kita Ikuyo, standing to the side, looked at Yamada Ryo, who was putting on a righteous and awe-inspiring appearance, and her eyes were filled with hearts.

"Kita, be careful. Yamada might treat you the same way he treats his disciples!" Ijichi Seika warned.

"Eh? It's okay, I'm willing to contribute my creativity to the Ryusei." Kita Ikuyo wasn't afraid at all.

"..."

Ijichi Hoshika sighed and turned her gaze to Pochi-chan, who hadn't said a word.

Then she noticed that Pochi-chan was huddled in her chair, her face ashen, looking utterly dejected.

Oh no! What A-Xiang just said about the disciple who was most exploited by Kakimoto Takatsukasa and whose fate was the most tragic was someone with musical talent who was weak-willed and had low self-esteem. This is very similar to Pochi-chan... Could Pochi have really projected herself into that description?

Ichika wanted to offer some advice, but then felt she lacked persuasive power in this matter, so she gave Aoyama a wink—

You're responsible for solving the problems you created.

Aoyama reached out and patted Pochi-chan's head—since he had acquired the title of teacher-student relationship, he was no longer so cautious when making physical contact with the four members of the Bond Band.

"Goto, don't have too high hopes for the industry, but don't think of it as too dark either. Besides, you four are my juniors. Someone like Kakimoto would have to get my permission before he could bully you, right?"

"Well, yes."

Pochi absolutely believed what Aoyama said.

Who do you think you are? If you cough twice in front of a picture of Takatsukasa Kakimoto today, he'll have to come to your door and kowtow to apologize tomorrow.

"Yeah, Pochi-chan! Even a superstar like Kobenko is Hakusan's friend, how could he not handle a mere Kakimoto?"

Kita Ikuyo also ran over and hugged Pochi, her warm hair color matching hers.

The transfer of body temperature reassured Boqi considerably.

“I’m really annoyed by this kind of person jumping around on Fuji TV. I’d better make him disappear from the public eye as soon as possible.”

Aoyama then took out another list and handed it to Hiroi Kikuri.

"Take this to Attorney Komekado and have his client, Fuyuyama, identify if any of her friends are among them. These are people who have been or are currently disciples of Kakimoto."

Isogachi Music Awards: 126 A master like me will not lose to a nobody.

When Takatsukasa Kakimoto received the court summons from his female secretary, he didn't feel distressed at all; in fact, he almost laughed.

Fuyuyama Mei? What kind of amateur musician is this, trying to rip me off?

I don't even know her, so where would I find the source of her songs to plagiarize?

"Ms. Kakimoto, according to the lawyer's letter sent by the opposing lawyer, Mei Fuyuyama claims that the song 'Eighteen Months of Lover' that you gave to the SOID band last month was plagiarized from her song 'Gray Confusion'..."

"It was Tsubaki Ozawa, Takatsuki's female disciple and personal assistant," she said respectfully.

Unlike most of Kakimoto's "disciples" who act as tools, Ozawa Tsubaki's daily work does not include being Kakimoto's ghostwriter. On the contrary, she focuses more on Kakimoto's gun... She is essentially Kakimoto's semi-public lover. The reason she has the title of "disciple" is just a title that Kakimoto specially arranged for her to make it easier for her to manage other disciples as the "senior sister".

Ozawa Tsubaki continued, "The initial idea for the song 'Eighteen Months of Love' was submitted by Ms. Ishii Noriko... We cannot be sure whether she was inspired by Fuyuyama Mei's 'Gray Confusion' when she was creating it."

While it's called a "preliminary idea," what people actually submit is basically a version close to the finished product. But at the "Kakimoto Training Class," anything that hasn't gone through Kakimoto's personal "modification" step can only be called a preliminary idea.

Which one is Noriko Ishii?

Kakimoto frowned. He never took these tools of his subordinates seriously. As long as he confirmed that the other party was weak and easy to bully, he didn't even bother to remember their names.

"It's that little girl with the bun hairstyle, who always wears frameless glasses, and who always wears a sweater even in the summer..."

"..."