Anata to Scandal 13

Chapter 13

P77

Running into a giant close-up of your own face in the middle of town...
That’s not something that happens every day...

sign: Same person.

Serika: I’m telling you, hurry up and turn off that big screen!!
sfx: RAGE


P78

CEO: Call it “Aurora Vision”, please
VIP CEO.

CEO: I didn’t expect this reaction.
I thought you’d all be happier about it.

Serika: Don’t mess with us! We never asked for this! It’s too embarrassing. I can’t even walk around town anymore now!
Takemi: There there.
Before we realized it, we’d become famous.
Apparently that video has been playing in town non-stop since the competition.

Tomoka: Calm down, Serika-san!
CEO: This is troublesome...


P79

CEO: We were planning to expose you guys to the public throughout the entire country as much as possible.
Arata: !
CEO: Because you guys are going to...

CEO: debut under our record label.


P60

Tomoka: De-...

Tomoka: Debut!?
Huh!? We’re gonna be celebrities!?
Arata: But... We didn’t even win the grand prize.

CEO: Competitions like that...
are meaningless.


P81

CEO: Let me tell you what goes on behind the scenes.
The real purpose of competitions is to enter bands whose debut has already been decided, and let them win.
In other words, it’s simply to give them exposure.

Tomoka: !
CEO: You guys are just a surprise we picked up along the way.
Your performance was pretty messy back then.
But I think we’ll be able to sell your music.

CEO: If you follow my directions...
I’ll definitely make you into real stars.


P82

Tomoka: What the heck!!?
sfx: SLAM
So the winner of the competition is decided beforehand!?

CEO: Ah... You scared me...
Tomoka: Then why did we even bother to work so hard towards that performance!? This pisses me off!!

Tamotsu: That’s just unfair.
Takemi: Is this how the “industry” works...?

Arata: We wouldn’t like it...
if you treated us like little kids and made fun of us, old lady!
CEO: Old...


P83

CEO: But your efforts are being rewarded now!
Don’t you want to become stars!?

Serika: I can’t trust anybody...
who treats people as commodities.
Takemi: Bye bye.

CEO: ...I was thinking...

of cancelling your debt, if you guys...
signed a contract with us...


P84

Serika: De-...
Arata: Debt!?

sfx: SMILE

CEO: When you guys screamed into the microphones, all the audio equipment went bust. We can’t use it anymore.
Also, one amplifier, one camera, and three lights.
Takemi: Ah...
CEO: This video proves that you did it.
Tomoka: It’s us...


P85

Serika: Alright. We’ll pay you back.
How much is it?
sfx: BEEP BEEP BEEP
CEO: Well... Only about this much.

Takemi: Ack!
Arata: Six hundred thousand!?
Tomoka: No way!
Tamotsu: But if we all took on part-time jobs for a few months, it should work out somehow...
Serika: I have some savings...

CEO: You’re missing...
a digit!!

sfx: STUNNED


P86

6 million!?

Tamotsu: Ah...
My head hurts.

Takemi: Maybe we should just make our debut then?
I don’t like that old lady, but that doesn’t change the fact that our dream would come true...
[Arata’s house]
Tomoka: That would be like a village girl selling her body to an evil official to pay off her debt.
?: That’s right, we can’t do that!
Arata: Tomoka, you don’t have to think about it.
We’ll come up with something.


P87

Tomoka: Why are you leaving me out? That’s not fair!
Arata: Not fair...?
Tomoka: I’m the one who acted first, so I’m responsible for this too.

Serika: You guys don’t have to think about it either.
I’ll do something about it by myself.

Tomoka: Serika-san?


P88

Tomoka: What!? Could you do that, Serika-san?
Arata: I know you’ve got a lot of savings for your job, but aren’t you saving that for something else?
Tamotsu: Don’t your parents send you any money?
Serika: Um...
Takemi: Where are you from, anyways?

Serika: Don’t ask so many things...

Serika: all at once...
Center of attention
Serika: ......
sfx: AHEM

Serika: I’m not sure I can do it.
And I’m not... getting anything...


P89

Serika: I don’t even...
...have parents anymore.

The reason I’m saving money...

...Is because...
I want to go to college.
sfx: MUTTER...

College!?


P90

Tomoka: Wow, I hadn’t expected that from you! You never told me!
Rapid fire
Serika: ......
Arata: Which college? What do you want to study?
Tamotsu: What are you gonna do after that?

Takemi: Why did you drop out of school then?

sfx: GULP...

sfx: BA-DUMP

...Ah, well...
It’s fine if you don’t wanna talk about it...

Tomoka: L-let’s get back on topic!


P91

Tomoka: Anyhow!
We’ll have to make money somehow!
And then we’ll shove it in that annoying old lady’s face!

Tamotsu: It’d be great if we could make money, but...
How did you wanna make six million?
Tomoka: We... We’ll start thinking about that now.

Plan A: Begging
(If it goes well, you can get lots of money)
(Grandma!)

P92

Arata: Can I get my allowance early?
Grandma: How much?

Arata: Six million.

Arata: She said no.
Tomoka: Of course she would.

Plan B: Extortion
(They chose the one most suited for the job.)

Tamotsu: Hey man. If you don’t wanna get hurt, gimme some cash.
sfx: EEEP!


P93

Tamotsu: What do you mean, I’m suited for that job!!?
Tomoka: You always have a scary look on your face.
This is a joke. Please don’t try it at home.

Plan C. Selling ourselves.
(You can’t do this unless you’re self-confident.)
Takemi: Won’t you buy me for six million, ma’am?

Tomoka: What if she seriously wanted to buy you!?
Takemi: I was just joking...

Plan D. Physical labor.
(Honesty is the best policy.)

Serika: Welcome.
This is tough...


P94

Tomoka: Serika-san!

Serika: Ugh. You’re here again.
Tomoka: What’s with that response?
I even brought you some refreshments.

Serika: Are you supposed to be a date?
Tomoka: N-no, it’s not like that! Take-chan and the others were with us at first.
Arata: You don’t have to deny it so bluntly... Not that I care, but...

Tomoka: There aren’t any good jobs in here...
book: Part-time jobs
information
Tomoka: Isn’t there an easy way to make lots of money fast?

Arata: If there was, I would be doing it already.
Tomoka: I guess you’re right.
Arata: If we’re gonna work, why don’t we just work here?


P95

Tomoka: Huh? Would you be okay with that?
Arata: Why not?
Tomoka: Because we’d be together with Serika-san the whole time then.

sfx: GASP
Tomoka: Oops...
Arata: ......

Arata: I stopped being jealous a long time ago. It’s stupid.
And besides...


P96

Arata: I’ve been worried about Serika.
She sometimes looks so small and fragile, like she could disappear any moment.

Arata: ...Everyone else is feeling it too.
The other day too, I felt like I just couldn’t ask more from her...

Arata: She... doesn’t like to talk about herself.
She’s been acting a little more open lately, but that’s only since you joined the band.


P97

Arata: She seems to have her reasons, so could you spend some more time with her, and try to ask about it?
If it’s you, she might open up even more and tell you some things.

Tomoka: Alright.
I’ll do that.
This is... getting kinda complicated...

Being told something like that by Arata-kun...
Serika: Tomoka!
Arata!

Serika: I just got a phone call from that CEO from VIP.
She said she had something important to talk about, so we should come to the office right now.


P98

Tomoka: I wonder what she meant by “something important”.
She went through the trouble of calling your workplace, so it must be very important, don’t you think?

sfx: TA-DAH

Arata: Wha-...
It’s cash... Cash...
Serika: What... is this!?


P99

CEO: Somebody offered to pay off your debt.
It’s amazing. You have a sponsor willing to shell out six million in cash.

What!?
Serika: Wh-who is it!?
CEO: You don’t have any clue?

Arata: I don’t know anybody that rich. You?
Tomoka: I hadn’t even told my dad about this.

CEO: He said he’d like to meet you.

Serika: Me...?
Tomoka: Is it someone you know, Serika-san?
sfx: CLICK


P100

Long time no see.
sfx: SMILE
Serika-san.


P101

I’m glad you look well!
sfx: GRAB
I’ve meant to go see you so many times, but I just couldn’t make it.
I missed you so much!!

You must be her friends. Nice to meet you.
Here! Here!
Take this as a token of our acquaintance...

Arata: That guy is so lively.
Tomoka: Won’t you introduce us, Serika-san?
Serika: Ah... Um...

Serika: Who are you again!?
sfx: THUNK


P102

I guess it can’t be helped. We’ve only ever met once before.
I doubted my eyes when I first saw you too. Your hair has grown a lot.

Serika: My hair!?
I’ve never had it much shorter than this...

Serika: Aaaaaaah!!


P103

Arata: Who is this guy? Does he shock you that much!?
Tomoka: “Director Takashimizu Fuyuhiko from NK Pharmaceutics.”
Fuyuhiko!?
What an unlucky-sounding name...

Fuyuhiko: I’m Serika-san’s...
fiancé.

Fi-...

TL Note: The kanji in Fuyuhiko’s name literally mean “winter boy”.


P104

D-d-did
he say “fiancé”...!?

Tomoka: What’s this!? What’s this!?
Serika-san, are you gonna marry this guy!?

Serika: ...You must be insane.
You still intend to marry a girl who did something like THAT?

Fuyuhiko: To you, it might just be something your parents decided on their own...


P105

Fuyuhiko: But for me, this is my own decision.
I want to marry you, Serika-san.

In return for the six million yen...
I’d like you to come back home.


P106

Fuyuhiko: Your father told me to bring you back...
even if it means I’ll have to force you.

Serika: The six million is dad’s cash, huh.
So he’s been keeping an eye on me the whole time.

CEO: In that case, I cannot accept this money.
I’ll need her and her band to carry our agency in the future.

Fuyuhiko: Ma’am, she can’t do that.
sfx: GRAB

sfx: TOSS



P107

Serika: I’ll never return to that house anymore!
So take your money and leave, and tell my shitty old man I’m never coming back!

Fuyuhiko: Serika-san.

Tomoka: She’s right!! She’s right!! She’s right!!
sfx: BAM


P108

Tomoka: I... don’t really know what’s going on.
But you can’t just suddenly come out of nowhere and start talking about marriage and family!!
I won’t... I won’t...

Serika: Tomo-...
Arata: I bet she’s about to say something outrageous again..

Tomoka: I won’t give Serika-san to someone like you!