Golden Era (Book 2)

38. Last Partner

Hikari released a public statement as soon as Doutsu confirmed their partnership. An alliance with a prestigious university softened the public sentiment. With peace restored, Ayuna proceeded with fundraiser planning. 

The kickoff meeting was held in October, a month that marked the peak of autumn in Kyoto. Already, the once-verdant mountains had taken on a dazzling palette of red, orange and yellow. The sky grew wide, the clouds elongated, and the days turned over to the most beautiful season.

To avoid crowds, Inui Sadaharu took the first express train to Kyoto. At the station, a chauffeur was waiting and drove him to Hikari. As the resplendent campus came into view, Inui had a premonition that he was about to cross into a different world. 

Ayuna greeted him at reception. Inui stopped in his tracks. Though he'd already heard her voice over several phone calls, seeing the gone girl rematerialize was still a shock to all senses.

As they entered the board room, she asked if he had a good trip. Inui nodded yes, then went on to greet the other members, which included Atobe Keigo and a red-head. While they exchanged pleasantries, Inui thought that of the extraordinary experiences in his life, coordinating a high-class event with an ex-rival and a disappearing freshman had to be the most surreal to date.

"I'm surprised you'd just show up like this," remarked Atobe from across the table. "I thought you'd come armed with more questions."

"I'm all caught up," replied Inui."Eiji gave me a comprehensive overview."

"As expected from Inui—ever proactive when it comes to research."

Unpacking his laptop, Inui smirked, "Call it a disease of the profession."

Ayuna eased the door shut and sat at the head of the table. "Thank you all for being here. I've limited this first meeting to key organizers to drill down a plan. Once we agree on the modified proposal and work out timelines, I'll schedule more extensive meetings."

Passing around a few folders around the table, she went on, "As mentioned before, we'll be modifying Atobe's initial pitch of hosting a tennis tournament amongst the Kansai universities. While a sports event matched this year's charity, getting people to participate will be challenging."

"We know the elites enjoy being seen as put-together. The last thing they want is to show themselves huffing and puffing on court," added Noa.

"Exactly," said Ayuna. "Instead of asking elite students to participate, why not have them be the audience? We could instead gather top-notch players for a championship and ask them to attend this event."

Inui nodded. "I think this modification will be much more appealing to our target audience. Having the upper class be spectators rather than breaking a sweat effectively removes their barrier to contribute. "

"It's a little reminiscent of polo match events, isn't it?" observed Atobe.

"It is and it isn't. Polo is an expensive sport and has long been a symbol of elitism. To maximize revenue, we'll be opening this event up to everybody." Motioning towards Noa, she said, "Noa's the one who figured out a system for pricing tickets, so I'll let her explain."

The group directed their attention to Noa, who flipped to a new page showing a series of tables and charts. "I think it's in our best interest to open up ticket sales to everyone in the region. Similar to commercial sports events, seats will be priced differently. Depending on the location and services included, we'll administer varying ticket grades: VIP, premium, regular and basic."

Setting down the paper, she continued, "The point is to keep the event classy but inclusive. The Kansai region only has a handful of prestigious institutions, but ample public universities and private colleges with middle-class students. We'd be remiss to leave them out."