Thursday, June 4th. - Tokyo TV Station.
It only took him a day and a half before the results from the investigation were right in front of him. There were details of Sumire having a bad relationship with her previous company and how they exploited her. It seemed like they never intended to promote her as their top artist and only scouted her due to her being a member of the Ibuki family. The company was on the verge of decline, and recruiting Ibuki was their way of saving themselves.
The more he read, the angrier he felt. How could he have been so stupid? The signs were all there, and they even admitted that they would be cutting Ibuki off.
Back then, he assumed that perhaps Sumire had received a different offer that she had accepted already, and that's why the company was planning on cutting her off before she left. How wrong was he?
That time when they met on the street, there was something wrong with her. Her clothes looked torn, and anger and pain flashed through her eyes. It's not hard to imagine what had happened. If the company planned to cut her off and made that known, then that would have left her vulnerable to be attacked.
The information on the reports aside, is there any other way he can confirm directly?
"Oh my. Mr. Takeyama?" A familiar voice called out to him.
Takayama turned around and spotted a woman with bubblegum pink colored hair. Unlike the last time he saw her, she matured and gave off the impression of a star. But her aura and presence are still far weaker than Sumire's.
"Miss Hori Fuuko we meet again." Takeyama said with a fake smile on his face.
"What brings you to Japan?"
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"I see; you've always had a good eye for people. But right now might be difficult."
"How come?"
"Yuhi is currently dating Ibuki Sumire; it seems they plan to get married since he got her pregnant."
Takeyama sighed quietly in his head. This woman has been in the entertainment industry for a long time, but she still hasn't learned. She is far too easy to read; even back then, he sensed that she was hostile towards Sumire.
"Are you saying Yuhi is only marrying her because he got her pregnant?"
"You don't know Yuhi as well as I do. Yuhi is the type of person who values traditions. Since they happened to know each other before, he mistook his feelings as love and accepted her. Now that he has gotten her pregnant, he will take responsibility for it."
He would surely laugh if he wasn't trying to get information out of her. If she truly thinks Yuhi's feelings are a mistake, then she is blind, no even a blind person can tell that Yuhi genuinely likes Ibuki Sumire.
"Miss Hori Fuuko, since your calling Yuhi by his first name. It seems like you know him. Are you two friends?"
"Actually, we dated for a short while."
Oh? Even without her explanation, Takayama understood. No wonder her grudge against Sumire seems to be stronger than before. It's because Sumire is dating the person she likes.
After speaking with her for twenty minutes, the girl eventually got up to leave but not before leaving her contact information. Takeyama waited for a bit before he got up to follow her. If Hori Fuuko is here, then surely Katakura Leona is around too. He watched her enter a waiting room.
It did not take long before a familiar person came into view. She had aged more since he last saw her, but Takayama recognized her immediately.
"Fuuko! There you are; what did I say about being punctual?"
"I apologize, Leona-san. I was just having a short chat with Mr. Takayama downstairs."
"Takayama?" Leona paused. "Are you talking about-"
"Yes, it's him."
"And you had a chat with him? How was it?"
"He seems strangely interested in Ibuki still."
At those words, his lips curved into a smile. So she isn't as dumb as she looks? Perhaps she did that deliberately just now. Takayama couldn't miss the look of disgust that flashed through her eyes. How unusual, even though it was so clear to him before, why did he ignore it?
'When I passed her on the street that time, I should have been more persistent. If I did, then perhaps she would have long been by his side. Perhaps she would not have had to suffer.'
"I don't understand what is wrong with that man. No all of them; why are they so fixated on her?"
"Beautiful, has a good singing voice, dances well, and comes from a rich household. It's normal for any man to fall for these traps." Fuuko stated as she took a sip of her tea.
"Sure, her singing is good, but she-"
"She doesn't have the same problem as before. You saw how she was during the FNS J festival. Back during her showdown with Takahashi Yumi, we could still say that she could only stand on the stage because her senior was there. But it's different now. She stood on that stage in front of thousands of people all alone and even sang not one but two songs." Fuuko dropped the cup in her hands.
She looked livid; gone was that earlier sweet and innocent look.
"Why? Why can she suddenly sing? I thought she had mental health problems. But what is with her suddenly? Since the festival, she has been appearing on more programs and performing more lives. All her CDS are selling out and are making the top of the charts. At this rate, she is already accumulating more than enough points for the next Queen cup."
"But you don't have to do the preliminaries like her because of your status. That is the difference between you two."
"Hahaha." Fuuko laughed. "I only don't have to do it because of connections. But if it's her, it would be because of her ability."
"That's how this industry works. Didn't you tell me before that you never expected to beat her based on skills? That's why we bribed all the media outlets. We spent a lot of time and money getting them on our side."
Takayama sighed. What type of conversation is this? But now he is starting to understand. The main reason why the media is so hostile towards Sumire is because these people bought them over. Instead of using that time to work on her skills, here she is using such a cheap trick.
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