Chapter 22: 022, How About You Sing It Yourself!

Yoshimura Otomo was highly efficient; after only one day, he had found a music teacher who was reportedly a specialist in training artists to sing.

Yoshimura Otomo brought Nagayama Naoki to a Western-style building. The rooms were filled with musical instruments, various music books, and simple recording equipment, presumably to allow students to listen to their own voices during lessons.

"Naoki-san, this is Ms. Tokunaga Sachiko from Toho Gakuen University." Upstairs, Nagayama Naoki met a dignified lady in her forties. "She is also a vocal teacher specially contracted by our agency. She has trained quite a few idol singers~"

"Nice to meet you, Tokunaga-sensei. I am Nagayama Naoki. I look forward to working with you!" He bowed politely to greet her.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Naoki-kun. It's a pleasure." Tokunaga Sachiko seemed quite pleased to see a handsome young man.

"Now that you both know each other, I'll leave you to it." After nodding to them, Yoshimura Otomo quietly went about his business.

Once the door closed, Tokunaga Sachiko served Naoki hot tea and said, "When I heard Otomo-kun mention it, I was quite curious. A creator who possesses a hit song, yet doesn't know how to compose music?"

"Yes, because the inspiration came suddenly, I have never formally studied music theory before," Nagayama Naoki replied candidly. "Last time, I also had to ask a friend to help me compose the music."

"So, you mean you only have a slight melody in your head?"

"Not exactly, Sachiko-sensei." Nagayama Naoki took out the transcribed lyrics. "The lyrics are already written, and the melody is basically complete."

"Ah, so you mean it's essentially a complete song already."

"Yes. As for myself, I can sing it, but I have no way of letting others know the melody or performing it."

Tokunaga Sachiko took the lyrics. "That is truly peculiar. I've encountered students before who claimed to have created songs without knowing how to compose, but they only had fragments of a melody."

"The lyrics are a bit sad," the teacher remarked after reading them.

"It is a song of regretful love."

"Well then, I understand. Naoki-kun, please sing it a cappella for me first. Judging by the lyrics, it should be an excellent piece; I'm looking forward to it~" Tokunaga Sachiko seemed moved by the lyrics, taking a deep breath to steady her emotions.

*Do people in music have such intense emotions?* Nagayama Naoki wondered briefly, then softly began to sing "Sakura ~Anata ni Deaete Yokatta~" (Cherry Blossoms ~I'm Glad I Met You~).

Although it was originally a song for women, it had a unique charm when sung by a male voice, especially with Nagayama Naoki's bright, clear, and resonant tone.

As the song ended, Tokunaga Sachiko still seemed immersed in the music. Nagayama Naoki couldn't help but call out, "Sachiko-sensei?"

"Ah, it really is a wonderful song, and very poignant~" Tokunaga Sachiko said. "However, Naoki-san, you clearly haven't studied singing before; your technique is a bit off, even though your vocal condition is excellent."

"Huh?" —_-

"Haha, well then, Naoki-san, let's start composing!" Tokunaga Sachiko was very excited and immediately began working.

Without even taking a sip of his tea, Nagayama Naoki began cooperating with the teacher to compose the music.

As expected of a professional; the work that had taken nearly three days of back-and-forth with Hoshino Suzumi was completed much faster with Tokunaga Sachiko. After listening to it once, she wrote down the rough melody, then had Nagayama Naoki hum it several times to refine the detailed score.

Finally, she used the piano at home to play it, allowing Nagayama Naoki to make corrections.

In total, it took about three hours to finish the composition.

"Unbelievable, Sachiko-sensei. The previous score took three days to write with a friend, but now it's done in less than an afternoon."

Tokunaga Sachiko replied calmly, "It's just transcribing a song into music; what's so difficult about that?"

She thought of the many students she had encountered in the past who wanted to compose but couldn't. "The truly difficult part is the process of creation. A genius like you, Naoki-kun, is rare. Many creators rack their brains and still cannot write such an excellent melody."

Nagayama Naoki felt embarrassed, as he was essentially copying "knowledge from the future." "I was just lucky."

Then, remembering the requirement to let Ida Shuichi and the others listen to it, he said to Tokunaga Sachiko, "Sachiko-sensei, I'm sorry to bother you, but could I trouble you to record a version? I want to let the people at the agency hear the complete song."

"A demo is no problem, but can you play the piano, Naoki-san? It will be difficult without accompaniment," Tokunaga Sachiko asked.

"No way, I can't play."

"Haha, I should have expected that." Tokunaga Sachiko considered it for a moment. "How about you sing it yourself? Your vocal quality is very good."

"Wait, didn't you just say my singing technique was wrong?"

"It's fine, it's just one song. I can correct you as we go," Tokunaga Sachiko said, as if this were simply her job.

Since she put it that way, Nagayama Naoki had no choice. "Alright, I'll give it my best shot."

As expected, it was just a matter of singing style. After three or four corrections, Nagayama Naoki was able to sing it continuously.

Then, the music teacher took a blank cassette tape, inserted it into the recorder, and began to signal Nagayama Naoki to start singing while she accompanied him on the piano.

To his surprise, everything went so quickly. A demo version of the future legendary hit, "Sakura ~Anata ni Deaete Yokatta~," was recorded.

Watching Tokunaga Sachiko skillfully attach a label and write down the song title, performer, lyricist, and composer, Naoki thought, *Maybe composing and singing isn't that hard after all.*

Thinking that he might recall more songs in the future and that composing would be unavoidable, he asked, "Sachiko-sensei, may I study composition and singing from you?"

Tokunaga Sachiko realized Nagayama Naoki had an interest in learning more. "Of course! That is exactly why the agency entrusted me with training artists."

"Not to mention teaching the handsome and talented Naoki-san~"

*Oh no, is this teacher also eyeing my looks?*

Ever since he started working out and paying attention to his appearance, Nagayama Naoki had experienced a level of attention he had never felt before; even walking down the street, young girls would occasionally approach him to strike up a conversation.

Fortunately, he was quite a homebody, didn't go out much, and always had a car to pick him up.

*No wonder those handsome guys always wear sunglasses...*

Lost in these wandering thoughts, Yoshimura Otomo pulled the car up in front of his apartment in Waseda.

"Thank you so much for your trouble, Otomo-san."

"Don't mention it. This is a manager's job... uh, it's the agency's responsibility." Yoshimura Otomo almost mistook Nagayama Naoki for an artist of the agency.

"Haha, Otomo-san, please deliver this demo tape to Ida Shuichi-san. Let him hear if it can be used as background music for an advertisement."

"Yes, I will certainly deliver it."

"Thank you very much."

Nagayama Naoki did not go upstairs until he could no longer see the taillights of Yoshimura Otomo's car.

As he walked, he thought to himself: *It looks like I really need to buy a car.*