novelraw Chapter 36: Suzuki Kiyoto's Resolve
Chapter 36: Suzuki Kiyoto's Resolve
Sunday night dissipated quietly. The morning light of the new week, like diluted lemon juice, spilled into the headquarters building of TV Tokyo's Production Bureau.
Some kind of unseen atmosphere was permeating.
When staff members encountered each other in the corridors and their eyes met, it was no longer a scripted nod of greeting, but held a few more traces of inquiry and speculation, as if a common unspoken secret was floating in the air—
The final viewership rating of "Yamishibai"!
Now, the viewership rating of this program, which was repeatedly setting records during what was considered garbage time, was soaring.
Even on Saturday, the viewership rating of 4.22% had almost caught up to the viewership ratings of certain minor popular moments during the daytime!
Who wouldn't be surprised and curious?
Hence, when the report card for the seventh episode "Contradiction" was brought back to the Suzuki Section by Hashishita Ichiro with a posture akin to sleepwalking, printed on that thin piece of paper was a number completely sufficient to make all late-night program producers doubt life—4.89%.
Distance to that mythical threshold of 5%, only a single step remained!
The office lacked the clamor of the past few days. Everyone seemed to have entered a peculiar sage time after being repeatedly washed over by a massive sense of happiness.They merely surrounded that report, using a look akin to viewing an artwork, meticulously envisioning a beautiful future.
Their minds were even blanker.
They didn't know what to say.
Because this 4.89%, a rating short of breaking 5% by a mere 0.11%, could simply be said to have thoroughly swept away all doubts.
One must know this viewership rating achievement that almost broke 5%.
Even for certain minor programs in the prime-time slot.
It was roughly this score!
Yet what "Yamishibai" was broadcast in, was this early morning slot that had been the absolute worst, the absolute most garbage slot since the birth of television programs!
And it still had this achievement.
And it still had this viewership rating.
It could even be said, that this was a viewership rating achievement they couldn't have thought of, and didn't dare to think of, at the very beginning of the "Yamishibai" planning!
"Phew—"
Suzuki Kiyoto didn't participate in the young people's celebration. Under the crowd's gaze, he merely tidied up his suit that hadn't been ironed flat for a long time, then exhaled a breath of stale air, and alone, walked towards the end of that corridor he once felt was incomparably long, yet now only felt was close at hand.
He took the elevator to the top floor.
Deputy Bureau Chief Asumi's office.
The door was open.
The secretary at the door respectfully invited Suzuki Kiyoto to enter.
Then Suzuki Kiyoto saw the sunlight slanting in from the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the fine dust in the air as wondrously as golden sand in a golden paradise.
And he also saw Deputy Bureau Chief Asumi currently sitting on the sofa.
"Deputy Bureau Chief!" Suzuki Kiyoto walked over, bowing and bending at the waist.
"Mm."
Asumi had a broad chin, looking like a square face, appearing quite solemn. However, at this time he was sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of clear tea in his hand. Seeing Suzuki Kiyoto enter, he revealed a radiant smile, pointed to the seat opposite, and said: "Sit, Kiyoto."
His voice was gentle, yet carried a steadiness belonging to someone who had been in a high position for a long time, leaving no room for interference.
Suzuki Kiyoto sat down in front of him, his posture respectful, but his back was perfectly straight. He knew that starting from today, he had the qualification, and the confidence, to sit a bit straighter in front of this former benefactor, and current direct superior.
"The matter of 'Yamishibai', was done very well." Asumi set down his teacup, coming straight to the point: "The entire Production Bureau, no, I'm afraid the entire Tokyo television circle, hasn't seen such a grand occasion for many years. You earned massive face for us folks originating from 'Kanto Station'."
"I don't deserve such praise." In Suzuki Kiyoto's voice carried a trace of irrepressible excitement: "This is all... Nohara-kun's merit."
Without the slightest hesitation, he laid bare the entire story in complete detail—how Nohara Hiroshi found him with the drafts, how he proposed that stunning "slideshow" concept, how he stabilized morale when viewership ratings were at their lowest, and how, in just a short week, he brought out all the subsequent high-quality drafts as if through divine revelation.
He spoke very calmly, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself.
But that heartfelt appreciation and admiration for a young man couldn't be concealed no matter what.
Asumi listened quietly, within those eyes profound as an ancient well, a thick trace of interest gradually surfaced.
He had understood Nohara Hiroshi before when eating together.
He originally thought this was merely an accumulation and profound outburst of Suzuki Kiyoto after being suppressed for many years, combined with the whimsical ideas of this young man.
Yet he didn't expect that behind this surprisingly hid such a nearly monstrous young man.
"What you're saying is." Asumi's knuckles tapped lightly on the sofa armrest, emitting rhythmic soft sounds: "In this battle, the true general is that intern named Nohara Hiroshi?"
"Yes." Suzuki Kiyoto nodded without hesitation: "I am merely a lucky veteran chosen by him."
This sentence already explained the primary and secondary status of both parties clearly.
Hearing this, Asumi couldn't help but chuckle. In that smile carried a bit of teasing, and also carried a bit of confusion: "Kiyoto, you don't seem like someone who would hand over readily available merit to a person on a silver platter. You saying this, is to pave the way for him?"
Facing Asumi's gaze, on that old face carved with countless gullies by time, Suzuki Kiyoto revealed a frank and even somewhat self-deprecating smile.
"Deputy Bureau Chief, you are forty-five this year, right in the prime of your life. While I, am already fifty-three."
He spoke slowly, his voice carrying a calmness after seeing through worldly affairs: "The position of a Level 2 Director, is perhaps the peak of my mountain. Going further up, I don't have the ambition, nor the energy to fight for it. Thinking about how in a few more years, perhaps it's time to consider retirement, going home to plant some flowers, and spend time with my grandchild."
He paused, a flash of sincere light in his eyes:
"But that young man is different. I can feel his mountain is not an ordinary mountain, but should be Mount Fuji, is Mount Everest. My little bit of meager merit, acting as a stepping stone for his mountain climbing, isn't a loss."
The office quieted down, only the sunlight quietly moving.
For a long while, Asumi chuckled again. He shook his head, the meaning of appreciation in that smile even denser.
"Kiyoto oh Kiyoto, you're the same as always. Seemingly stubborn, but actually more clear-headed than anyone." He lifted his teacup, gesturing with it: "Don't rush to talk about retirement. The war, has just begun."
He gently pushed a document in front of Suzuki Kiyoto.
"That old fox Takada, won't let things go so easily. His 'Onibo Samurai' is broadcasting tonight. I heard he mobilized all resources, bound to suppress us in terms of viewership ratings."
Suzuki Kiyoto's complexion became solemn.
"However, that's just a small skirmish." The corners of Asumi's mouth curled into an arc of profound meaning: "The station's higher-ups are recently evaluating an S-rank project proposal, also in the horror genre, but it's a live-action drama. The budget, promotion, and broadcast time slot are all the station's top-tier resources."
His gaze, like a sharp knife, stared straight at Suzuki Kiyoto.
"Originally, this project had almost been internally decided by Takada to go to Iwata. But now, the appearance of 'Yamishibai' has brought variables into the matter. Among the higher-ups, more than one board director, has developed an enormous interest in your 'urban legend' model."
Suzuki Kiyoto's breathing instantly hurried.
"Deputy Bureau Chief, you mean..."
"I mean..." Asumi's eyes became sharp: "Have you and your genius intern put in more effort. Use the results of 'Yamishibai's' second week to tell everyone that your success is not accidental, but an inevitability. Then, take this record, and snatch that S-rank project from Takada's hands for me!"
Boom!
Inside Suzuki Kiyoto's mind, it was as if something exploded.
Looking at Asumi's eyes burning with flames, he felt that heart of a creator belonging to him, which had long since fallen silent for many years, was re-ignited at this moment.
He stood up violently and bowed deeply, very deeply towards Asumi.
"Yes, sir!"
...
When Suzuki Kiyoto returned to that small office carrying lingering smoke of gunpowder and fighting spirit, he didn't assemble everyone.
Instead, he walked straight to that corner, walking to that young man who was still quietly drawing something.
And he relayed Asumi's words completely unchanged to Nohara Hiroshi.
He thought he would see that familiar confident smile on the young man's face.
However, Nohara Hiroshi merely put down the pen in his hand, raised his head, and within those eyes that had always been calm as an ancient well, for the first time, a sharp light akin to an unsheathed sword flashed.
"S-rank project proposal? Live-action horror drama?"
He spoke softly, in that voice carrying a trace of delight of finally being able to let loose.
"Interesting."