Chapter Text
The silence in the Leo Corporation meeting room was almost intimidating. The large bay windows let daylight pour in, and Reiji’s desk stood at the center of the room. He looked up from his screen when the door opened.
The moment Yuya walked in, Reiji couldn’t take his eyes off him. Yuya offered him a soft, polite smile as he greeted him calmly.
“Hello, I’m Sakaki Yuya. Thank you for meeting with me.”
Reiji stared at him for a moment, unsure if he recognized him. “Have a seat.”
Yuya obeyed without fidgeting, without even resting his elbows on the table. He looked Reiji straight in the eyes like a well-mannered child.
“I believe we’re here to discuss a potential sponsorship for our group, is that correct?” he asked with a slightly shy smile.
Reiji folded his arms on the desk. “So you really are the leader.”
Yuya smiled. “People give me that role, yes. But honestly, we work like a family. We discuss everything together. Still… someone has to be the one who signs the papers, plans things out, and makes the difficult decisions.”
He said it with surprising maturity. Reiji watched him silently, intrigued.
“You’re very different from how you act in your videos.”
Yuya let out a small laugh. This time, his smile carried something softer, almost melancholic.
“That’s intentional.”
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
“Excuse me?”
“I realized pretty early on that a group might attract attention through music, but it keeps people’s hearts through warmth. So… I try to be that warmth.” He paused, as though hesitating to say more. “My brothers need that. And so does our audience.”
Reiji didn’t answer immediately. He was trying to figure this boy out, this young man who acted like a fool in front of cameras but now spoke with such clarity and intelligence.
Yuya continued, quieter now. “We never thought things would grow this big. The contracts keep piling up, the travel, the filming, the expectations... We’ve reached a point where I have to think about their future, about keeping them from burning out and protecting them.”
He said it without self-pity or complaint. Just a simple fact he had accepted. Reiji tilted his head slightly.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen.” He smiled faintly. “But sometimes I feel forty.”
As the conversation went on, Reiji slowly began to understand how Yuya worked. He was just a young boy who had suffered through his childhood and now did everything he could to give others the smiles he himself had never been allowed to have.
This wasn’t just a group of talented youths.
It was a family led by a boy who played the clown to hide his scars.
And he played that role better than anyone.
“I’m not going to beg for a sponsor, but if Leo Corporation wants to invest in our cause, then I want a fair partnership, not a contract that traps us. I want a sponsor who respects us as much as we’ll respect their conditions.”
He held Reiji’s gaze without trembling, as though waiting for an answer worthy of his expectations.
And for the first time in a long while, Reiji felt a spark of genuine interest stir inside him. This boy wasn’t just some cheerful puppet.
He was a leader.
A pillar.
And maybe, Reiji thought silently, the most genuine person he had met in years.
“Why are you smiling, Yuya?”
Reiji stood up, calmly closing the file in front of him. “You can wait in the lobby for a while. I’m going to speak with my father. An assistant will come inform you of our decision.”
Yuya nodded politely. “Thank you.”
He left the room in silence, just as composed as when he had entered. In the main lobby of Leo Corporation, Yuya sat on a beige bench. His hands rested on his knees, but his foot tapped nervously against the floor. He tried not to let the knot in his stomach show.
The future of their projects rested in the hands of a man he didn’t know, a cold father and a calculating son. But at least Reiji had taken the time to listen to him, and Yuya appreciated that.
Half an hour passed. An assistant crossed the lobby carrying documents, glanced at him… then walked away in the opposite direction. Still no answer.
Yuya sighed, exhausted.
Then calm footsteps echoed through the hall. He looked up and saw Akaba Reiji approaching. He hadn’t sent an assistant.
He had come himself.
“You’re still here.”
Yuya tried to laugh. “Looks like it.”
“I was clarifying a few things with my father.”
Reiji didn’t smile, but he sat down beside him. A long silence settled between them before Reiji finally spoke again.
“I’d like to ask you something.”
Yuya turned toward him, curious. “Go ahead.”
“Why music?”
Yuya took a few seconds before answering.
“It’s a family story, really. My father, Yusho Sakaki, was an artist… an incredible performer. He mixed theater, dance, and singing together. He called it ‘Dueldance.’” He smiled faintly. “He really made people smile, not just laugh. Smile… you know?”
Reiji said nothing, but listened carefully.
Yuya continued more quietly. “And one day… he disappeared. We never found out why. Or where he went. He just… left.”
His fists clenched unconsciously. “I was eleven, and everything fell apart. Zarc, my older brother, took over everything. He worked himself to the bone to keep us alive. And me… I wanted to do what our father did. Make people happy. But I didn’t want to do it alone.”
His eyes shimmered for a moment, but he didn’t cry.
“I dragged my brothers into this madness with me. I wanted us to do it together. I wanted…”
He paused for a second.
“I wanted our father, wherever he is, to be proud of us if he’s watching.”
Yuya forced himself to smile, a smile hiding a deep pain. A smile he knew far too well.
Reiji finally allowed himself to speak.
“You’re not the carefree idiot you pretend to be in your videos.”
Yuya laughed softly. “No. But if everyone thought I was strong and stable, they’d expect too much from me. So I’d rather be the fool.”
Reiji straightened slowly. “I have what I need.”
Yuya frowned slightly. “To reject us?”
Reiji turned his head toward him. “No. To trust you.”
He stood up and slid a document toward Yuya. A preliminary agreement, with a handwritten note at the bottom:
“Approved personally by Reiji Akaba. Priority sponsorship.”
Yuya blinked, then a real smile spread across his face.
“Thank you…”
Reiji took a few steps away, then stopped.
“This isn’t a favor. It’s a contract. Work hard. I’ll be demanding.”
Yuya stood up as well, and their eyes met.
And in Reiji’s gaze, an almost imperceptible shift occurred.
This boy wasn’t just a leader.
He was the heart of everything Reiji had been trying to understand for years.
Once Yuya had left, Reiji returned to the president’s office without knocking. His father, Leo Akaba, was still seated behind his desk, his hands folded in front of him.
“So?” he asked without looking up from his papers.
“I’m sponsoring them.”
Leo finally raised his eyes, frowning slightly. “Without hearing my opinion first?”
Reiji walked forward calmly and placed the group’s file on the desk.
“You asked for a solid investment. I saw more than commercial potential. I saw vision, a loyal audience… and an extraordinary leader.”
“Yuto, was it?”
“No,” Reiji replied.
Leo raised an eyebrow before Reiji continued.
“It’s Yuya Sakaki.”
A brief silence followed. Leo casually flipped through a few pages.
“Sakaki… as in Yusho Sakaki.”
“They’re his sons.”
Leo looked up with interest. “Interesting.”
He said nothing more, and Reiji took the opportunity to add:
“You wanted a safe investment. I’m betting on them.”
Leo closed the file.
“You’re not the type to gamble blindly. I trust your judgment. Don’t disappoint me.”
“I don’t intend to.”
And with that, Reiji left the room.
That evening, the front door of the Sakaki house burst open as an out-of-breath Yuya rushed inside, wildly waving a stamped folder in the air.
“WE GOT SPONSOOOOOOORED!!!”
Yugo jumped in shock, Yuri dropped the game console he was holding, and Yuto, who had been quietly reading, looked up with a mix of disbelief and concern.
“What?!” Yugo shouted, jumping to his feet.
“Leo Corporation! It’s signed! It’s done! It’s REAL!” Yuya spun around the room clutching the folder to his chest, tears in his eyes. “We got a contract! A REAL one! They’re going to produce us, help us with the album, everything!”
Yuri let out a low whistle. “You serious? Like, we’re actually gonna work with the Reiji Akaba?”
Yuya nodded frantically. “I talked to him. He’s kind of terrifying, but honest and smart. And he didn’t sign us out of pity.”
Yuto slowly stood up, still stunned. “Then we’ll have to live up to it.”
Yuya walked over to him with a smile. “We always have.”
Yugo threw himself into Yuya’s arms, followed by Yuri, who complained while half-strangling him in a hug.
“You could’ve warned us before screaming like a maniac in the entrance!”
“It was funnier this way!”
Yuto joined them silently and placed a hand on Yuya’s shoulder.
“Dad would be proud.”
Yuya lowered his eyes, then smiled softly.
“I hope so…”