Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

Jina spent the entire ride back sulking, and then carried that energy forward into the next day. When Kana woke up in the morning, there was no breakfast. No signs of her having woken up, either. So, groaning and cursing herself for caring enough, she decided to bite the bullet and check on her.

Sure enough, a knock on the door caused her to moan about not wanting to wake up. It was a hassle enough that she had to worry about breakfast. And now, this girl was going to start crying about getting ignored once in her life. Kana almost wanted to make fun of her. About how, maybe, she finally understood what Kana must have felt all the way back then. On the first day that they met, and Nobuko turned on her too.

It was, however, a method beyond her. She wouldn’t fall down and resort to something that pathetic. She wasn’t a child. So, she just kept playing with the handle until it loosened, and the door opened.

Jina had covered herself with every piece of clothing in her room. Above the thick blanket, she had every pair of jeans, sweatpants, shorts, crop tops, dresses, leggings…basically her whole closet. Kana wasn’t sure how someone even got to such intense levels of crashing out, but she wrote it off as Jina being Jina. Feeling a little annoyed, she walked to the bed and sat down beside the girl.

“Don’t sit on my bed. Get off.”

“Just get up...” Kana pushed the whole pile of clothes off her and put her hands on the blanket. As soon as she did, Jina pulled it from the inside and held on tight. She wasn’t going to let go very easily, and Kana could see that already.

Silent inside the blanket, Jina moved her head without acknowledging what she was doing. And that too, away from Kana. As if positioning made any difference when there was already a blanket between you and the other person. Whatever, Kana sighed. If she wanted to play this game, then she had her freedom to be a bitch.

“What is this about?” Kana decided to act a little oblivious, “Nobuko ignoring you? Is that it?”

“I..t?” A whisper made its way out from the insides of the blanket, “It? Nobuko-chan…might have been angry at you right from the beginning. But with me…she was…”

“She…wasn’t, though? Nobuko was pretty nice to me in the beginning, too. So, you know, that’s not really a unique experience you’re hiding behind. I technically went through all of this before you.”

“Kana…leave me alone. I’m not in the mood.”

“Isn’t that something? Because, guess what? Neither am I! I’m not here to make you feel better or help you get over it. I really don’t care about how you handle your emotions. Just because you did it for me once does not mean that I will return such a childish favor.”

There was no reply from her. Almost as if she had already caught on to Kana’s lies and knew exactly why she was here.

Kana couldn’t help it, after all. It felt wrong that someone had put in actual effort into making her feel better, and now, she couldn’t do the same. It was tedious, boring, inflammatory work. But she was willing to put herself through the torture this one time. It wasn’t going to turn out well, and she knew that very well. She wasn’t someone who could just say magical healing words.

However, she was willing to try. Not the magical words, of course. She was willing to see how it felt to just tell someone something honest for once. Not to make them do something for her, or to get them to take a certain action. Just…because. Because it was Jina, and not someone else.

“My mother…stopped talking to me.” Kana bit her tongue, taking a deep breath before she convinced herself this would be worth it in the end. She really did not want to make breakfast herself. So, she got into it. “When I first left my house and decided to enter the training center, she basically disowned me. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really care. I still don’t care. I don’t like talking to her anyway.”

“Very motivational. Can you get the fuck out of my room?”

Here she was, telling something really personal and intimate, and she had decided to buzz in like that. Kana wrapped her palm into a fist and lightly punched the girl’s head. A soft yelp, and she felt at peace. Thus, she continued.

“But when my mom stopped, my…younger sister…she stopped too. Keiko, her name is. When Keiko stopped messaging me, or replying to me? I got, like, really angry. I sent her a lot of angry texts and told her that she was no better than our mother. How she will probably rot in that house forever, and never be able to make something of herself.”

That had certainly been a period of her life. One that she, weirdly enough, looked back on quite fondly. It was peaceful for a while, even if it occasionally hurt. Even if it did come to an end.

“Eventually, Keiko replied.”

Kana figured out right then. With her hand still on Jina’s blanketed head, she figured out that she couldn’t do it after all. She couldn’t tell this girl that it was foolish to look for a connection. That Keiko’s reply had just been more poison to counter her poison. That all she had done was complain about how Kana was selfish and left her all alone.

She looked at the unmoving girl, who was probably waiting for her to continue. But no honest words left her mouth. They never could. She wasn’t someone who could do that. Because honest words right now would mean that Jina would collapse. And as much as she had started to like this girl over time, Kana could not let her collapse right now.

They needed to win against Ruby Passion Jr.

They needed to get that fifth position, at the very least.

“Keiko told me that it had been our mother. That she had confiscated my sister’s phone and locked it with a key only she had. So, she had been unable to contact me. She didn’t know my location, so she couldn’t send a letter either. In the end, she apologized to me way too much. I couldn’t…apologize to her. But we eventually started talking to each other again.”

Jina moved a little and whispered a question, “What even is that supposed to mean?”

Kana shook her head with disappointment. How dense could a single human be?

Of course, it wasn’t like she was telling the truth. The reason the two of them had started talking once more was that Keiko ended up trying to slit her wrists. She survived, but Kana wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do after that. She apologized as much as she could, and then her younger sister took her back. Kana promised her that one day, when she was capable enough, she would take her out too.

She asked her to hold on until then. Until she was in the apartment that she had promised Keiko.

That was the truth of the situation. The truth was that sometimes, things were even worse than you thought. That no matter what you did, they weren’t going to get better. Maybe, by poking the cinders, you were just going to lead to something even worse. That sulking, staying quiet, and moving on forever was the only option. But Kana could not let Jina do that. She could not let her stay quiet right now.

“It means that…sometimes things aren’t as bad as we think. Right?” Kana smiled, pulling the blanket down, and looking Jina in the eye. When had she gotten so good at this? The cameras had taught her well, “Think about it. I don’t like that bitch at all, but what if it was Lilac Shower who told her to be like that? What if she was just as hurt as you are, while ignoring you?”

“That…” Jina looked deeper into the blanket, trying to hide her eyes, “Could be true…I guess. Actually, that has to be true. I know what kind of person Nobuko-chan is. She would never do something like that. Even that day, she agreed to keep your secret buried!”

“E-xactly!” Kana stood up in victory and completely pulled the blanket off her, “So, get off your ass. The best thing you can do for her is stand up and get back into the competition. If you don’t show up, can you imagine how bad she will feel? She will know that it was because of her reaction that you did not come. It would be horrible!”

“Y-yeah. Maybe…”

“Stop being a little piece of shit crybaby, got it?” She said it as apathetically as she could, and turned to head for the door, “Just become the enemy she wants you to be, and show her that you’re playing along. Otherwise, Lilac Shower will win that too. We aren’t letting them win, are we?”

“N…no.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

“Kana-chan?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Kana groaned and held the door, “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just get up and make some breakfast while I take a bath.”

She closed the door behind her and started walking to her room. Sulking did not suit that girl at all. She did not need to keep thinking about such bad things. Kana did not need someone like that on her side.

_____________

Pink Beats showed up to the competition. It was a surprise for sure. All three of them were there, and all three of them ignored their presence. For a grand total of five minutes, that was. Eventually, Sanada broke and gave them a quick wave. That helped with Jina’s mood even more. The girl was practically better than ever now.

“Ruby Passion Jr. is…” Kana started to speak, but Kelsey started walking into the house. Going inside from this door while looking at these girls had become something of a habit at this point.

“We…heard.” RiRi was the one who spoke up, as if she had been designated their mouthpiece, “Yamada-san filled us in on their presence. Yamazaki-san told him about Lilac Shower’s plan, too. We know what you both are planning.”

“Well, RiRi-chan?” Jina asked, walking right beside her with a smile, “Will you be helping us, then? We are already in fifth place, and Kana-chan knows this awesome spot where we can keep getting points. It’s basically confirmed if you stick with us!”

“Oi, don’t get a big head.” Kelsey opened the door with the key and tossed it back to Yamada, “You do what you want to do, and we do what we want to do. We are not teammates, got that?”

“Ahh, Kelsey…” Kana sighed and shook her head. Pushing past the blonde, she entered the gate, “Good luck failing. What else can I say? What about you, Sanada-san?”

The vocalist gulped and looked at her own team members. They acted like she did not even exist. Perfect, then. The rift was clearly defined enough not to be repaired easily. Kana had successfully opened up the wounds they had closed on their own. The secrets and hatred they had buried had come to the surface that day.

“Come on, Sanada-san! We will do even better with three people, so it’s a guaranteed win!!” Jina held her hand, pulling her in the direction Kana and she were going.

“I…” Sanada looked at her and then at Kelsey. Once more, no reaction. And with that, she closed her eyes, managed to usher a smile, and opened them once more, “Sure, Jina-chan. Let’s go.”

With that, the break-up was more or less confirmed. There was no coming back from something as big as this. All that was left was sweeping the broken pieces once they came crashing down. Another week, and Kana’s promised goal of becoming the A Team would be a reality. For now, though, she took Jina and Sanada and headed to the farming spot they had decided upon.

_____________

“122k!” Jina celebrated at the leaderboard once they finally got out.

She wasn’t wrong to do that, of course. But that did not mean anything had really worked. Sanada’s presence had allowed them to gain slightly more points than yesterday, but Ruby Passion Jr. was already sitting at 193k. They were still nowhere near their level. What was worse was that the Fluorescent Angels were catching up. In the sixth position, they were at 116k points.

Sanada uncomfortably laughed, “That’s a bit...”

“Outrageous?” Kana asked, looking at the scoreboard beside her.

“Exactly that.” She nodded, “They’re scary, aren’t they? Just joined yesterday, and they’re already in fourth place. That too, with just Rank 2 weapons, isn’t it?”

“Nobuko Kimura is a monster. She has some special, undisclosed class that we did not get to know much about. Somehow, it always manages to get her an absurd number of points.”

“Well, all we can do is try, right?” Jina put her hands on her hips, smiling, “We’ve got no other option. As long as we can maintain that small gap in points, we’ll be able to keep our position!”

“That is correct, Jina-chan!”

“Sanada-san!” Yamada called for her from their car. The others were waiting.

She looked back at them and then gave them another weak smile. They said their goodbyes, and she headed for the car. Kana couldn’t imagine the air in there being very fun. But it was what it was. None of it had been their fault, but they had unfortunately gotten in her way. Also, she really didn’t care about any of them, so she didn’t feel a thing. They could just start over again once they got destroyed.

Once Pink Beats’ car took off, they got into their own vehicle. Yamazaki confirmed that he hadn’t made much progress in his investigation yet and that it would take longer than expected. Documents regarding the Coalition and its creation were heavily secured and difficult to access. But it was fine. Kana had more than enough time to wait for that. She didn’t have enough time for tomorrow.

“I don’t want fifth place…” She muttered.

“Wha!?” Jina looked at her in shock, her mouth agape, “What do you mean!?”

“I want to…beat them.” Kana looked out of the window at the sky. For extra measure, she added something to reach Jina deeper, “That’s what we promised, right? The best we can do. Do you think this is it?”

“Well…” She replied, “We tried our best today, too. But if Pink Beats won’t cooperate, then this is all we can do. At least we are maintaining fifth place, right?”

“No.”

No reply from her side.

Kana looked her in the eye and asked, “What if I told you this wasn’t our best? That we can do more. That there is a way. Would you do it?”

“What is that?”

“I’ve...got a plan.”

Jina smiled, “I guess I’ll try going along with it. Spill!”

Kana smiled back. This is what she wanted. Today had been a great big experiment, and it had worked in the end. She had confirmed Pink Beats’ non-cooperation. She had confirmed that Nobuko’s point barrage hadn’t been a fluke. Most importantly, she had made sure that Jina would not crash this week. That she would be down to give Nobuko a true competition.

Now, she would need to unleash her most insane plan yet. One that had been brewing in her mind ever since Jina and Sanada got trapped in the dimension that night. One that, if it worked, would help her claim the fourth spot from Ruby Passion Jr. And one that, if it failed, would probably lead to their collective death. Metaphorical, career, and physical. All included.

And if it meant winning against the girl who had caused Jina that much pain? It meant getting back at that cute bitch who was playing the most dangerous game of all? Kana would have it no other way.