Chapter four (segment seven), 2016, August, Ryu

Sis, I wouldn't have done that. Only proves you're a better person than I am. Still Ryu didn't understand why Noriko had let Kuri in on the gift. And he didn't understand why his father had chosen anything that grossly expensive. Hundred, hundred and fifty thousand yen? More? He shook his head.

It was time to drop the bomb to Urufu as well. The club would return back home tomorrow, but the six of them would remain until school started. Principal Nakagawa had even brought the last make-up exams Urufu and Kuri needed to pass.

Kuri already knew, and her shots would continue for another two days. After that she needed to study.

Ryu waited for Urufu to serve another batch and prepare the grills again. Two grills hadn't been enough for this many people; the charcoal burned down and had to be replaced.

“Urufu,” he said when the grills were lit anew. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah?”

He looked over the beach. The members were mingling with models. Some played with fireworks and others changed clothes handed out to them by some Uniclo representative. Even if they're not that expensive, that's still well over a million yen in clothes thrown all over the beach. Guess it's not that much money for them, but still.

“When the rest of the gang return we'll stay,” he said to Urufu who had wiped his hands clean on the ridiculous towel he wore instead of a shirt.

“Huh? Why?”

“The Nakagawa gig. It's only the first of five.”

“What!”

Ryu looked at his friend. Is he still a friend? Yes he is, but I'm going to be a lot more careful around him from now on. “Yes, you'll have another eighty people arriving the coming two weeks.”

“What the hell? I need to study and I have work to do.” Urufu didn't look at all pleased with the change of plans.

“Calm down,” Ryu said. “You'll get paid. A crapton of money if I got it right.”

Urufu sighed. “Ryu, I respect you, but you're a kid. Crapton of money means different of things for you and me. I don't think you understand exactly what kind of income I have.” He looked like he was about to continue, but Ryu had to interrupt that.

“I'm aware of what a lot of money is. I'm what you'd call a rich kid. This gig will make you more money that you've seen the last year.”

There was another sigh. “Ryu, I charge premium consultancy fees for a single person company.”

“Shoot!” Urufu was way too arrogant. It was time he was brought down a peg or two.

“Returning customers pay me fifty per hour. I can't afford doing this for free.”

That's a crapton of money. Who the hell had the audacity to charge that kind of fees? Shit! “OK, how much have you made this far?”

A glimmer of uncertainty showed in Urufu's eyes. As if he was uncomfortable with the truth. “Almost seven million.”

Bloody hell! But the gig was still worth more. Ryu forced control over himself. “Not too shabby,” he said and tried to sound like he was used to seeing that kind of money lying around in his drawers.

“Not too shabby? It's more money than I'm supposed make working full time after university!” Urufu stared back. “What's this work worth? A million, two? It's still crap pay for running a hundred people.”

Ryu gathered up his last reserves of pretending to be unperturbed. “Yeah I know. Especially as you're paying salaries and the cost for the hotel as well.”

“Salaries? The cost for the hotel? For one hundred guests? Are you insane?”

“I know, and the course is at a discount as well.” Urufu looked like a man beaten into the ground. It was almost humorous to watch him. “Still, the contract is a hundred per participant, so you should still come out in the black.”

Urufu stood absolutely still. Then he suddenly had the looks of a much older man in his face. “Ten fucking million yen?”

Ryu nodded.

“Expenses paid, you said. So I end up with, lemme see, two or three million net gain. Fine, that's fair enough. Even if one hundred is a steal.”

“After our salaries?” Ryu teased and looked over the beach again.

Urufu returned to his grills, but his eyes never left Ryu. “Salaries. What the hell did you cook up while I was out?” He moved around some coals with an iron he had picked up. “Ryu?”

“We had a few contracts made. Kuri backed it up as well.”

“Spit it out!”

Ryu couldn't stop chucking. “You've got yourself four employees, and you're a partner with dad now.”

“Fucking hell!” Urufu turned to face him. “Christina backed it up?”

“Yeah.” It wasn't anything Ryu felt proud of. They had signed away a lot of control to his father, and Urufu hadn't even been asked. “Principal Nakagawa required that an adult stand behind your company or the school wouldn't agree to your part time job.”

“Nakagawa huh. Cunning bastard. Fine, I'll do it his way. How much am I paying you, cause I assume I got saddled with everyone but Christina?”

“You're the CEO. Our salaries are your call.”

“And what did I employ?”

Ryu laughed. “Junior consultants. Dad said we're junior consultants or the deal is off.”

Urufu suddenly grinned. “I'll work you so hard you'll hate the guts out of me. And I'll make sure you earn every yen you make.” He gave Ryu a hard glare. “This is work, real work. If you think you can handle it you'll get paid accordingly.”

For the first time Ryu felt interested. “Accordingly?”

“Yeah. You tell the others their salaries. I'll handle back-pay if I ever see the money for this.”

By now Ryu wanted to know what Urufu had in mind. He hadn't needed any part time jobs this far, but he had a pretty good idea about what high school students made. “OK, will do,” he said.

“I'm not paying a yen more than you deserve. Yukio and Kyoko start at two hourly. I have to train them before they can get a decent pay.”

That was a lot more than he had suspected. “Noriko and I?” Ryu said.

“You're more useful, for different reasons. Three thousand per hour. Make me proud and it'll show in your wallets.”

What the hell? That's triple what's normal! “That's more than I expected for high schoolers.”

“I don't give a shit about high school. You're junior consultants. I can't make an arse out of the company.” Urufu started loading meat and vegetables onto the grills. “By the way, what's the name of my glorious company?”

Ryu thought for a while. The English words were strange in his mouth. “Twin Arc Productions, or something like...”

“Fucking yeah! TAP, the bloody bastards had me restart TAP. You wonderful bastards!” Urufu shouted and grinned. More than a few faces turned in their direction at his outburst.