Chapter 4

"Miss Minase, welcome," Daichi greeted her with his salesman smile and shook her hand. "Thank you for coming. Please have a seat." He motioned to the couches in front of his desk.

"Thank you." Misaki sat across from Daichi.

"Hello again, Misa. I hope you've been doing well." Shun gave her a sparkling smile and sat beside Daichi.

"H-hi, Shun. I'm... hanging on." She tipped her head down, avoiding eye contact with him. I shouldn't have come here. Even talking to multiple people these days gets overwhelming.

Ren sat beside her. "You brought the rest of this song, right? We're eager to read the rest of it. Even better if you've recorded yourself singing it."

"I never got around to it for this one." Closest was at the diner. She pulled the rest of her music out of her backpack.

"Could you play it for us?" Daichi asked, motioning behind him at the keyboard setup.

"Uh..." It's only three people; I can do it, right?

"I'll do it. It's supposed to be for us, anyway." Ren snatched her music and sat at the keyboard with it after rearranging the missing piece and reading through it once. "Might be a little rough, since it's a first try, but here we go."

Oh! Didn't expect him to do that? It's been years since I've seen him perform in person.

His fingers glided across the keyboard, playing her melancholic tune. When the pace picked up, and the song went from dreams to nightmares, Daichi nodded while frowning.

"Are you sure this suits the two of you?" Daichi asked. From his perspective, they were still living their dreams, so where would the nightmare come in? What was Ren going through that he didn't see? "I'm not sure how you relate to it."

"Shh." Shun hushed him, listening carefully.

"And will it work for a duo? You're not a solo artist, Ren." He couldn't help but try to make sure it would work, but he didn't have the same ear for it.

Shun glared at Daichi, and he zipped his mouth shut.

Misaki bit her lip as she teared up, finally hearing the song closest to her heart brought to life. Sounds better with him singing. So clear and smooth. Goosebumps crawled up her arms.

When Ren finished, the three of them clapped.

"I can even see where we should split up a few parts between us," Ren read over the song again, nodding.

"So did I," Shun agreed.

"Well, I'll be... I know you're the one that asked for it, but I didn't think you'd agree to sing a song from another writer. Not with how you were acting the other day."

"This time, I'll make an exception." Ren smiled at Misaki and saw her wiping away a tear. "She always had talent as both a writer and a singer. Since you're focusing on the writing side more, how about collaborating with us? We can write more songs together rather than asking you for a dozen more."

Misaki froze, her gears turning. Do I have that many new ones in me? I haven't written with other people before like that. It could go badly. But Ren and Shun have always been easy to flow with.

She swallowed hard. "You want me on contract instead of freelance?" But then I'd officially be with Eclipse Entertainment again...

"Yes, because I know we can work well with you." Ren sat back down beside her. "Right, Shun?"

Shun nodded. "Of course. That was proven back during our training days. And if Ren thinks he can write with you, while rejecting all the other offers, I'm inclined to believe he's right."

"Other offers?" Misaki looked at both of them.

"We always have a lot of offers for collaborations and people trying to sell us their songs," Daichi said, chest puffed out and head held high.

"But Ren prefers we write our own songs," Shun said, holding back a smile. "In fact, yours is the first one he's wanted to buy. Must've really loved what little he heard at the diner."

Ren told him?! Wait, it's these brothers; of course, he did. Misaki glanced at Ren beside her, and he smiled.

"We haven't worked together since training days, but from what I've heard, you've only gotten better. So, what do you say? There are details to go over of course, but are interested in working with us?" Daichi asked.

Misaki gripped her hands in her lap, biting her lip. Do I really want to be with Eclipse Entertainment again?

"Is there something bothering you? Something holding you back?" Shun asked in a soothing voice, leaning forward as he dipped down to look into her eyes.

"It's just..." Misaki trailed off and sighed, averting her gaze.

"If we talk it over, maybe we can help."

"I don't mind selling you the song." Ren sang it better, anyway. "But I don't know about a full contract."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Is this your way of saying you don't want to write songs with us? With me?" Shun helped with writing, but it was mainly Ren. "I'm a big boy; I can take it." Despite his words, he was pouting.

"N-no! It's not you, Ren." Please don't give me that look.

"Then is it...?" Ren brought his hand up to his face to block the view of his brother and pointed at him, lowering his voice. "I mean, I know how you—"

"No, it's not Shun either," Misaki said before Ren could finish his sentence. "If I'm under contract with you guys, I'll be working for Eclipse Entertainment again. I'm not sure I want any part of this place anymore. Not after what happened. Eclipse did nothing to protect me from Aki, not even after it all went down." How can I trust a label that abandoned me?

"Oh, I see." Ren rubbed the back of his neck as he thought.

"But I'm not Akihiro. I wouldn't do anything like that to any of my people," Daichi assured her.

Not sure his words mean much to me.

"Daichi, mind giving us a moment alone?" Shun asked.

"During a meeting for a deal?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Please."

Daichi sighed and glanced at his watch. "I'll grab a cup of coffee and be back in 10 minutes." He headed off.

Shun moved to sit on the other side of her, trapping her between them.

Geez, what's going on now? Misaki tensed, her hear racing.

Shun reached over and placed a hand over hers in her lap. "Our label is technically owned by theirs, but we can put you under Hayase instead. We handle our own creative projects, our image, and our collaborators. They handle the legal side, finances, and distribution, but you'd only be dealing directly with Daichi. And despite his flaws, he's ours, and we trust him."

"Yeah, Daichi's a true businessman who follows the money, but he's got a backbone, and he's loyal to us," Ren added. "He's done his fair share of protecting us in the past, when we were young and foolish."

"We?"

"Fine, mostly me." Ren sighed. "But there was that one time you..."

Shun narrowed his eyes.

"Never mind." Ren laughed and looked away.

"So you trust he wouldn't sell your songs to someone else to make more money and try to say you plagiarized if you release your version?" Misaki asked, her throat tightening at the thought of Akihiro.

"Of course not. What we write together will be ours. You can even tell us not to release a song after it's done, and we won't. We don't want to use you; we want to work with you," Shun said, gripping her hand tighter in assurance.

"And I don't think he would, but if Daichi ever tried to push you into anything you didn't want to do, just tell us, and we'll deal with him," Ren said, giving her a thumbs up. "We know how to deal with him."

"Has he pushed you guys too far?" Misaki asked. I barely know Daichi...

"He keeps pushing us to release our next album, even if we have to buy all the songs, but I think that's Eclipse pushing him. He hasn't done anything more than mention it and show us a bunch of songs. He knows how we are, so he knows we won't do it unless we want to."

"You're safe with us, Misa." Shun patted her hands and sat back.

"And you'll get to write songs that will go out to the world. No more hiding them in a bottom drawer somewhere."

"But if we collaborate, my name will be attached to it?" Misaki asked, her stomach churning. I'm not sure I'm ready for the spotlight again.

"That's up to you. We can omit it on the official release, but it'll be on all the papers, or you can choose a pen name to use," Shun suggested.

"A pen name?" Maybe that's what I should've been doing these last few years. It would take away the false plagiarism attachment there is to my name.

"How about we just go with Misa? Always liked the nickname." Ren nodded. "Nice, simple, and you're used to being called it."

"But wouldn't that be too obvious? People might know it's me."

"Without a last name, it could be anyone." Ren shrugged. "It's just one option that I think would work out. So, do we have a deal?" Ren held his hand out to her.

She stared at his hand. "Umm... Maybe I should think about it for a few days, and bring a lawyer for the official contract, if we proceed with this." Probably the best people to work with, but I still worry about this company.

"I suppose that's fair. I was hoping I'd won you over with my performance of your song, and Shun's assurances to put you under our label, but I guess we'll have to wait." Ren sighed, dramatically slouching his shoulders as he pulled his hand back.

"Sorry..."

"No need to be sorry, Misa. We understand, and this wasn't a no." Shun smiled at her, and her heart skipped a beat.

No, heart, don't say yes because of silly feelings. I need to think this through away from them.

Ren pulled out a business card. "Here's the official business number to contact Daichi, and if you don't mind, I'd like to exchange phone numbers, regardless of what happens."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it's not a problem, is it?"

"N-no." As long as he doesn't call for an answer every hour, it should be fine. She pulled her phone out for him.

Ren put his number in and called his own phone to save hers. "I put both of ours in there." He handed her phone back. "Oh, guess I should return these." He pulled her hat, sunglasses, and mask out from behind him on the couch.

"Thanks." She wrapped her hair up in a loose bun and put her hat on.

Ren couldn't help but wonder why she hid her hair when no one would recognize her anyway, but held back the question. "I'll walk you out." Ren stood with her.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. I'll contact you soon." She bowed to them and rushed off.

"Oh, you're done?" Daichi asked as he came back in.

"Bye," Misaki said as she rushed away.

"Did things not go well?"