Hikaru tried to enter quietly, but Tokiko spoke up with a, "Welcome home?" from the couch turned bed.
"Yes, I'm home," Hikaru replied. "Sorry if I woke you."
"You're fine," Tokiko told her. "There is a package for you on the counter."
"Thank you," Hikaru said, and scooped it up as she passed. She closed the hall door and started the bath running before opening it. It was the new sheets. She put them in to wash.
Then she messaged Kiri. 'Mirage is signing with Inline. I hope you won't be mad, but it's OK if you are.'
There was no reply immediately, and she sighed and prepared her clothes for morning. She checked her phone again. She brushed her teeth and when the washer finished she put the sheets on dry and took a bath. A message came in finally and she hopped out to check it, but all it said was, 'I see.'
She dried off anyway, and when the sheets were finished, made the bed and crawled into it. It was warmer, but she couldn't sleep. She sent another message, 'Thank you for the sheets, they are warmer.'
Kiri replied, 'Since you're still awake, I'll call you in a few minutes. <3'
Hikaru waited nervously.
He called finally, and her voice shook as she answered it.
"Hi sweetheart, I've only got a few minutes again, but I'm really curious about what happened? Takeda sent me an unusual contract to look over," he said.
"Are you mad?" Hikaru asked.
"Hikaru," Kiri said quietly, "I'm not mad, why would I be mad?"
"Because you don't want to work with us," she said uncertainly.
"There are several really simple solutions to that," Kiri replied.
"What?" Hikaru asked.
"I've been thinking about it, actually, I've been thinking about it for awhile now. But tonight it seemed more obvious," he said.
"What has?" Hikaru asked uncertainly.
"I should have been helping you more," he replied.
"No Kiri," she protested.
But he continued, "When I asked you about my job, you thought about it, asked questions, supported me. You told me to choose what will make me happiest. But I've just been trying to avoid your job, I've been ignoring it, I haven't tried to support you at all."
"Kiri, it's been fine," Hikaru interrupted.
"It's not fine," he replied. "I love you, I want to spend my life with you, I should be supporting what you want to do."
Hikaru hesitantly asked, "What are you planning to do?"
"Nothing right away," he answered. "But I've been thinking about what I could do, even without working with you directly. I could quit, get some other job if it got to be too much. I could simply take the Field Manager position, I've already felt tempted. It would mean my schedule is irregular and I still travel away from you, but it would make it so I'm not your boss. Although reading this contract, I'm not sure it would be anything like normal anyway. What's with this?" he asked.
Hikaru summarized how Mirage was being pressured by the other company, the solutions Takeda had come up with, Ryuske's refusal to sign anything without veto rights, their compromise.
"God," Kiri said when she finished. "I don't know if I'd have been able to react so quickly and cleverly. You are lucky to have caught Takeda-san's interest. But it's a risky set up Hikaru. When the company pays to produce an album or a video, the money spent adds to the pressure to publish the result. Mirage could wind up sinking a lot into producing things that get rejected with this set up."
Hikaru asked reluctantly, "Do you think we shouldn't have agreed to it?"
Kiri hesitated before replying, "I think it's probably the best compromise you could get with Ryuske-san refusing to sign a contract with more standard provisions. I want to go over it more, not that I don't trust Takeda, but he's working for Inline not for you."
"Which is why you don't want to work with us," Hikaru said unhappily.
"Yes, because it makes it difficult to balance, but Hikaru, don't worry about it, OK?" he replied.
"Kiri," Hikaru began.
"No," he interrupted, "I mean it. Will you really be OK with it if I take the field position?"
"Yes, if you aren't just taking it because of Mirage," Hikaru replied.
Kiri laughed and said, "I won't, and I won't decide until I get back." Then he paused and resumed with, "Damn, I have to go again. Hikaru, I love you, please don't worry about interfering in my job right now, let me figure that out. Go to sleep, and I'll look your contract over tomorrow. Do you want me to sign it or are you taking it to Miri-chan?"
"I planned on having my mother sign, so it's less, so it's not…" Hikaru replied.
"OK, Kiri interrupted quickly, I'll message my thoughts and suggestions. Love you, goodnight."
"Goodnight," she replied, and he disconnected.
She lay there for a few minutes, but fell asleep surprisingly quickly in the end. When she woke up there were a couple of messages from Kiri, and one from Ryuske.
'Before I slept, I messaged Takeda about putting in a clause, if Ryuske-san will agree to it, that Inline be limited to three rejections before it must cover the production cost for replacements, and Mirage be limited to three rejections of materials that Inline wants to put out before being required to provide replacements. That should limit the amount of money put into changes as well as increasing the pressure to actually put them into production,' was the first one.
The second was a question, 'Can I buy you clothes if they count as souvenirs?'
Hikaru laughed. She replied, 'Kiri, I love you, buy whatever you want.'
Then she read Ryuske's message, "Takeda called with a suggested change to the contract first thing this morning, I'll go with you to talk with Miri if you haven't yet."
She called her mother first and asked about visiting that afternoon to talk about signing a contract with a production company.
Miri protested, "I'll want to show it to Taka-chan at least, not rush into it!"
Hikaru had been so sure that her mother would be pleased and support the idea that she felt shocked. "If I ask Ryuske to email it to you, can you try to rush? We're kind of dealing with a situation," she replied.
"I suppose so, what kind of situation?" Miri asked uncertainly.
"Another company released one of our songs and a music video under their name," Hikaru replied.
"Without a contract?" Miri asked skeptically.
"Yes," Hikaru replied, "they thought we'd be pressured into taking their offer."
She started pulling on her uniform.
"I don't know Hikaru," Miri said reluctantly.
Hikaru said, "I'll come talk to you this afternoon, I need to get ready and go to school."
"OK," Miri agreed and they ended the call.
Hikaru messaged Ryuske, 'Can you email the contract to my mom, she's reluctant and wants to show Takahashi before she agrees. And I said I'd go over after school.'
'OK, I'll take care of it,' Ryuske replied.
Hikaru blinked in surprise at the breakfast Tokiko had laid out when she came out into the living area. Kiri's mother smiled at her and said, "I'm planning to go home today."
"Oh," Hikaru said. "I'm sorry, I don't have time to enjoy breakfast properly, would you mind if I packed it for lunch?"
"No, that's fine," replied Tokiko calmly.
Hikaru impulsively went over and kissed her cheek as she would have her own mother. "Thank you for your care, I'm glad you visited," she said.
Kiri's mother smiled up at her and said, "So am I."
Hikaru quickly packed a lunch box, and ate a bit as she did. Then collected her bag and prepared to head out.
"Have a safe trip home Oka-sama, see you," Hikaru said as she left.
Tokiko grinned with Kiri's pretty smile, and said, "I will, have a good day at school."
