Chapter 35: Opening Day

Nishida Jun’s sudden dogeza at the door was so dramatic that Seiko thought something terrible had happened.

As it turned out, Nishida Jun had just written a script himself and wanted Seiko to see if it could be made into a movie.

Taking some time, Seiko gave Nishida Jun’s script a rough read-through.
Her only impression… was an inexplicable sense of strong déjà vu.

In Nishida Jun’s script, their school, Urawa High, had become a sacred place for delinquents across the country, infamous for having the lowest college admission rate and the worst discipline.
At the same time, the school was rife with gangs, with delinquents forming various groups to constantly fight for hegemony, all for the dream of “conquering Urawa.”
The person who could reach the top of Urawa High could spray-paint their name on the highest point of the school’s rooftop water tower.

The script revolved around the story of two delinquent bosses, one surnamed Nakagawa and the other Baba, fighting for control of the school.

“What’s the title of this script?”

After speed-reading it, Seiko couldn’t help but ask.

“Uh…” Nishida Jun scratched his head.
“It doesn’t have a name yet.”

‘Why not just call it “Crows Zero”…’

Seiko complained inwardly.

As a gangster film, the “Crows Zero” series was undoubtedly hard to rank on any list, but as a hot-blooded manga for middle schoolers, “Crows Zero” was quite excellent.

In her past life, Seiko had been very fond of the “Crows Zero” soundtrack.
“Into the Battlefield” was her favorite music to listen to when she went to the shooting range.

“How did you come up with writing a script like this?”

Seiko asked Nishida Jun curiously.

“Well…” Nishida Jun answered honestly, “I was inspired by listening to Nakagawa and Baba talk about conquering Urawa back then.
I’ve always found it interesting…”

‘So it was inspired by his two buddies…’

Seiko didn’t pursue the matter of the “Inoshikachō” trio’s rebellion, not even considering whose territory Urawa was.
She passed the script to Miyazaki, Saori, and Ōmori Ryō to have a look.

Saori wasn’t very interested, just smiled sweetly and praised, “The writing is very good.”

This made Nishida Jun, who was most likely a virgin, blush with embarrassment.

“It’s a bit like a shonen manga script,” Miyazaki commented.

“It does have a bit of a shonen manga style,” Ōmori Ryō hesitated for a moment before speaking honestly.
“However, as a script, there are still many shortcomings.
Do you want to be a screenwriter?”

Faced with Ōmori Ryō’s question, it took Nishida Jun some time to muster up the courage before he said, “No, I want to be a director!”

Before anyone else could speak, Nishida Jun quickly explained, “When we were filming Guilty of Romance, I learned a lot from the camera teacher and you on set.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do after graduation before, but then I discovered that I’m very interested in making a movie of my own.
I hope I can have the opportunity to try this path!”

After speaking, Nishida Jun bowed his head solemnly again.

‘So you were learning to make movies…’

Seiko thought of Nishida Jun’s exhausted appearance on set, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.
At the time, she had just thought he had lost his head.

“As long as the opportunity is right, I’m happy to invest in anyone to make a movie.
But the problem is that you don’t seem to have the ability to make a movie on your own right now, do you?”
Seiko pointed to Nishida Jun’s script and said, “Your script is written like a half-finished product.
Why don’t you go to Bubble Witch as an apprentice first?
Once you’ve honed your skills, I’ll consider investing in you to make a movie.”

“Of course I can!
I can be an apprentice!”
Nishida Jun was overjoyed and immediately agreed.

Seiko looked at Ōmori Ryō, as he was the real manager of Bubble Witch.

Ōmori Ryō nodded.
He didn’t really care about having another apprentice in the company, but he suggested, “To be a qualified film director, you need not only practical experience but also a lot of theoretical knowledge.
If you really want to be a director, I suggest you at least get into a junior college and study at a professional institution for a year or two.”

Nishida Jun hadn’t expected the topic to eventually return to the college entrance exams.
He had been a delinquent with “Ino” and “Shika” for the past two years and had almost completely neglected his studies.

But in the end, Nishida Jun still gritted his teeth and nodded solemnly, “Yes, I understand!”

After dealing with the interlude with Nishida Jun, the next morning, Seiko and Saori arrived at Oshin-ya.

Oshin-ya officially opened its doors for business today.
At this time, the entrance of the store was already filled with red and white floral wreaths, mostly from other organizations within the Yamagami-gumi.

That’s right, according to Japanese custom, floral wreaths are sent for store openings.

Although Seiko always felt it looked like a funeral parlor, she still chose to be respectful.
After all, she wasn’t the manager of the “funeral parlor.”

“Miss, what do you think our business will be like today?”
Ishiwatari Takashi, with a manager’s name tag on his chest, whispered to Seiko, who had come to watch the excitement.

“It shouldn’t be too bad,” Seiko pointed to the waiting customers at the door.
“There are already people lining up outside.”

Ishiwatari Takashi looked up, and his anxiety grew heavier.
“Only a dozen people are lining up.
We’ve been promoting for over half a month, how come there are so few people?”

Seiko rolled her eyes speechlessly.
“Boss Ishiwatari, you weren’t this nervous when you were cutting people down, were you?”

Ishiwatari Takashi realized his gaffe, scratched his head in embarrassment, and smiled, “Miss Seiko, you know, our Ishiwatari-gumi has always been tight on funds.
This rental store has already cost tens of millions of yen.
It’s the biggest business our Ishiwatari-gumi has ever taken on.
If we lose money, then I…”

“So pathetic,” Seiko pursed her lips and pointed to Saori beside her.
“Her dad has lost who knows how many tens of millions, and isn’t he still doing just fine?”

Saori smiled, not looking angry at all.

Murakami Eishi’s bar had very good business, but it often lost money.
This sounded contradictory, but it was the truth.

Murakami Eishi’s bar had a good location and was high-end.
In a place like Urawa, where white-collar workers gathered, good business was a given.
But because the brothers of the Yamagami-gumi often went to support their own people’s business, and after supporting, sometimes they wouldn’t pay in cash immediately, but would put it on their respective organization’s tab, and then settle it all at once after a certain period of time.

This “certain period of time” was very subtle.
Some people felt the time was up and came to settle, some felt the time wasn’t up and kept owing.
Murakami Eishi wasn’t the type of person who would turn on his own brothers for money, so over time, the bad debts piled up.

In the past, when the Yamagami-gumi was selling drugs, the bar could rely on the commission from drug sales to make up for some of the bad debts, but now that the Yamagami-gumi no longer sold drugs, this portion of bad debts was even harder to fill.

“Alright then…”

Ishiwatari Takashi was speechless.
He could only let out a long sigh to calm himself down.

Pop! Pop!

Two paper flower cannons went off, and Oshin-ya officially opened for business.

“Welcome!”

The burly Ishiwatari Takashi and the handsome male and beautiful female staff he had personally selected shouted loudly at the door, bowing to welcome the customers.

The scene looked like a bear with its food.

The customers entered the store one after another, curiously looking at the dazzling array of video cassettes and music tapes on display.

Ishiwatari Takashi wanted to go up and introduce the products, but he knew his appearance was not up to par, so he forcibly controlled his urge to move, standing there like a wooden block, not knowing what to do.

After an unknown amount of time, someone finally came up to Ishiwatari Takashi, hesitantly took out a flyer, “Boss, is what’s written on this true?
Do you really give away free video recorders…”