Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

Covered in bandages, Kana didn't know how to handle her emotions, so she decided to head to the training range. She and Jina had been promoted to Rank 3 this morning after their results. Now that she could level up her grenade launcher and railgun, and unlock the next one, she had a concrete goal for the day.

Jina hadn’t spoken to her all day and had been in the agency office since morning. Yesterday’s events had clearly left an impression on the girl, and she still hadn’t processed how she wanted to react. Kana hadn’t pushed her either. Mainly because she had other things to worry about, but also out of consideration for her. She had tried to fight back against Kana’s orders, but ultimately proved that she couldn’t. It had to have been difficult.

Another blast from the launcher took out some more dummies, and she reached Level 28. This one could now go up to 40, so she still had a long way to go. The Railgun could get to Level 3, and the new weapon would only be unlocked once she reached Level 30 on the launcher. It was a headache of a system, but she wanted to see what her new toy looked like.

“Taira-san called me last night.” Yamazaki remarked. He was the only one sitting on a bench nearby. Eyes on the destroyed dummies, he spoke with conviction, “She was asking if your injuries were not too bad, or if you needed any help from her side.”

“Tanaka was involved, I guess.” Kana smirked, “What have you been able to find out about her current work? How often does she go to the Lilac Shower office?”

“She does not. In fact, she is banned from the building. She only sticks to the Coalition offices, and hardly enters any agency’s buildings anyway.”

“What about Tanaka, then? How often is he in the same Coalition building?”

“Almost every day.”

“Bingo.”

Already halfway to Level 29, Kana wondered if she had just gotten more efficient or if the gun was stronger. As far as she was aware, the levels only affected points. But now, she could swear that she was gathering the XP much faster than before. She hadn’t ever thought about it, but for the first time, she wanted to question who made this entire System.

Yamazaki cleared his throat, “At the risk of sounding biased, I have to admit that I do not think she is involved. If she is, then I do not think Aiko Taira is aware of that involvement. She really was worried about you yesterday, but she didn’t do anything out of fear. Because Sakai and Tanaka were not getting themselves involved, she didn’t want to take a chance.”

“You too, then? Weren’t you all silent as well?”

“That was because I knew you didn’t need my help.”

“So, maybe she was thinking the same. That nobody she cared about needed any help.”

He sighed, burying his face into his hands, “Aiko is not that kind of person, Minami-san. I’m sorry, but you are wrong this time. I know her, you see. I know her much better than you do, and I trust that judgment. Taira is intimidated by people as powerful as Tanaka or Sakai. She will always be under them. But she is…”

Kana stopped shooting as soon as the Level 29 celebration popped up and turned. Launcher rested on her shoulder, she waited for him to continue his statement. She had a couple of thoughts about what he was trying to say, but she decided to give him the luxury of stating his point first.

“What? She is…what?”

“She…is the kind of person to call a man she hates if it means she gets to check on you. Last night was the first time she called me of her own accord. In almost a decade, that is. And it was just to ask about you, because she felt she hadn’t done enough. Look, I know you did a lot for Naomi. I am grateful. She is resting at home right now. But…but I can’t let you blame someone who should not be blamed.”

“Are you trying to question my accuracy, Yamazaki-san? You think that I can’t recognize such obvious patterns?”

“No!” He raised his voice, gulping, “I’m questioning a much simpler thing. The only thing I’m asking you is…do you not trust me?”

Kana cracked a smile. She had no other response to his words. It hadn’t been that long since she had first seen this man. Awkward, barely able to hold his own, stuttering with every response. Now, he dared question if she believed in him. For some reason, it only made her believe in him more. Because fierce loyalty did not mean nodding your head without a thought. It meant wanting to see someone truly succeed.

“Come on now, Yamazaki-san.” She turned and started shooting once more, “You know I’m not getting out of this until this building has your name on it, right? If you say Taira’s not worth it, then that’s the truth. Focus on what you think is right. I just need the results.”

Yamazaki nodded with a slight smile, “Sakai’s called me to his cabin later today. He wants to discuss what I was talking about yesterday. The issue is…I don’t know who runs the Fair Play Committee. It was a bluff to get Tanaka to slip. If Sakai questions it, I won’t be able to say anything.”

The XP was definitely moving up faster than before. She was already halfway through 29, and it hadn’t even been a whole minute since she started. The progression did not make much sense. Or…it made complete sense. The higher you went, the easier it became to keep climbing. You only wasted time grinding when you were at the bottom of the ladder.

“Then learn, Yamazaki-san.” It was time to teach him a little lesson, then. He had clearly grown enough, “It doesn’t matter if you have something or not. The other person needs to believe that you do. Do to Sakai what he did to Tanaka. Ask for more, and more, and more. If you’re going to spy for him, then tell him that he needs to pay for it. He will be stingy at first, and you get time to actually find out that information.”

“Hmm…”

The man’s brain started to race immediately. The moment that she told him what he needed to hear, he was already moving forward with a plan. If only she could start bringing Jina on the same level. She had been surprisingly shallow and quiet recently, especially after her little Nobuko scare. Kana shot her grenade launcher once more, keeping the girl’s image in her mind.

Level Up!

Grenade Launcher

Level 30

And along with that, the reason she had been doing this on a Sunday in the first place.

New Weapon Unlocked!

Portable Landmine

Portable Landmine? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

She circled the UI to the new weapon and clicked on it. Once it started materializing in her hand, the dots started to connect. It was an absolutely diabolical idea, by all means. The thing looked like a pump more than a gun. It had a circular opening at the bottom and a trigger at the top.

Kana looked at the approaching dummies and pressed the opening against the floor. If she was right, and she probably was, this was how the thing worked. The moment her fingers touched the trigger, the gun started to rumble. Something plopped out of the opening and started to move through the insides of the floor. Eventually, it stopped moving and rested on a particular spot on the floor.

A second later, once the dummies got there, the landmine exploded. She laughed, and the purple blocks flew up and into her. That’s what the portable part meant. She didn’t need to be close to where she placed the landmines. Kana just needed to point and shoot like the rest of her guns. It was an ideal, low-risk trap. To match that, however, it had only killed about three dummies. The weapon was heavily balanced in that regard.

“Ready, Yamazaki-san?” She put the gun back and turned to him.

“I guess.” He nodded, “I guess I’ll put more work into the Fair Play Committee, then. It is not a particularly public part of the Coalition. Even in all their secrecy, information about it is reserved for very few people. Sakai is not one of them, unfortunately. I might have to…”

He did not say anything beyond that. Hand on chin, calculating his options, he started walking. At that point, Kana did not even need an answer from him. He would get her what she needed, so she couldn’t care less about how it happened. Following him, she got out of the room. Sakai had arranged a new dance instructor, apparently. It was time to get to that.

_____________

“Kana, did you hear!?”

She was bombarded by a jumpy Jina the moment she stepped into the dance practice room. Sanada, who had been standing beside her, immediately stepped back. Walking away, she went to the right wall and sat beside Kelsey, who had a splint on her ankle. That twist had been brutal.

“Heard what?”

“We’re merging. That’s what Sakai-san finally decided upon. He’s mixing the teams into one group. Apparently, that’s the only way we can survive, because both of us only have two people!”

Kana looked at the members of Pink Beats, and both of them turned their faces away. This was going to go exceptionally well, then. She had put in so much effort into beating them, only to be put in the same room and forced to perform on the same stage. How was any of this fair?

“What about the songs? I thought we were supposed to have our first performance next weekend.”

Jina nodded, “That…will be all of us! We will debut Jenga as the first new song of our reworked group and perform together. That’s the situation as of right now.”

“You seem awfully cheery about that.”

The excitement in her face vanished, and was replaced by a rather monotonous expression. Looking at the floor and taking a few steps backwards, she replied in a sour tone, “I was just telling you, that’s it.”

“What’s got you so down?” Kana sighed, throwing the bag on her shoulder aside, “Don’t take that blonde bitch’s words to heart. She was just throwing around whatever insults she could muster up. You’re not my slave, and you know that well, too.”

“Alright, keep it to yourself. I haven’t even looked at you, have I?” Kelsey shouted from the other side of the room.

“See, she’s barking even now. All she knows how to do, apparently.”

“You...!”

“Kelsey, calm. You’re gonna break the splint if you move.” Sanada put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and pushed her down. Then, looking at Kana, she lowered her eyes and whispered, “And you, please leave us alone. You’ve ruined our lives enough already. At least have the courtesy to stay away.”

Kana clicked her tongue and decided to do exactly that. She didn’t want to look at those two either. It was painful enough that she needed to perform with them. Just being in the same room reminded her of RiRi, and that was additional torture. As if Kana needed a constant reminder of the one time in life that she had failed so miserably.

“We need to clean the pool, by the way.” Jina continued to speak in that half-dead voice, “I’ve asked Yamazaki to give us some names for good companies. Once I go through them, I’ll let you…”

“What?”

She had just stopped, for some reason. The door behind them had opened, but why had that made her stop speaking? Kana turned to look at their new dance instructor. Was it so ugly a human being that Jina had been left spee-

“E-mi?”

Kana’s girlfriend looked at the floor and quietly moved to the middle of the room. In a meek voice, without acknowledging Kana’s presence, she asked everyone to stand and line up in front of her. As Sanada got on her feet and came to stand beside Jina, Kana walked up to Emi and put her hand on her cheek.

“What did they do? Why are you here?”

Emi pushed her hand down, refusing to look her in the eye, “Please focus on the classes. Go and stand in place, Minami-san.”

“What the fuck do you mean?”

“Minami-san…” Her voice faltered, “Please…go and stand there. I am your new dance instructor, and only your dance instructor. Stop this at once if you do not want to get either of us in trouble.”

“Oh, that bastard Sakai.” Kana walked back and stood beside Jina. She did not have the mental strength to deal with that fat old guy, so she decided not to provoke herself too much. At least Emi was safe. That was what mattered at the end of the day. She could not let him win by doing something stupid.

Once they were in a line, Emi clapped her hands and started giving an introduction. All of them, things that Kana already knew well. She explained that she was going to choreograph the steps for Jenga, and that they would have to keep up with her as she danced. She knew how to dance, but wasn’t a particularly good teacher, so she needed their cooperation.

Kana seethed on the inside as they started their practice. Every bit of her soul tried to figure out how she could get back for this. Yamazaki was working on his front already, which would be a good first blow. But now, he had gotten Emi involved in the agency itself. He had indirectly introduced her to Kelsey, of all people. This would not end well if that blonde bitch started to target her. For now, at least, she was silent.

Sanada, on the other hand, seemed to be getting a bit too reckless. For some reason, every time Emi tried to introduce a new pose, she found it difficult. Her leg either got caught against her other leg, or she twirled a bit too much and fell down. It was the most obvious sabotage Kana had ever seen in her life, and she wasn’t being subtle about it.

“Sanada-san…” Emi whispered, “Do you want to take a break?”

“Huh!? No. Not at all. I’m fine! Let’s keep going, Kitamura-san!”

“Oh…ok.”

And so, they kept going. Every time Sanada fell on the ground out of her ‘clumsiness’, Kana felt her throat burning. She wanted to scream at her and call her out for trying to make Emi look bad. At the same time, though, she did not want to risk making Emi look bad. Raising her voice right now could indirectly get the poor girl in trouble. Kana did not need that.

It did, however, come to an end. As they approached the edge of their dance practice schedule, Sanada’s expression got more desperate. Her movements got dangerous and reckless. Every time, she fell louder and harder. Kana held herself back. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, over and over. All the way until with one final step, Sanada spun around on her toes, and a crackle filled the air.

The girl collapsed, and the bandage around her ankle turned red. Kelsey gasped and tried to stand up, but found it too difficult. Emi, shocked, stopped and ran to check on her.

“Sanada-san! Are you fine? Your wound’s opened up.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She groaned, holding her leg, “I need to go to the infirmary. Please…”

“At once, yes. Come on. I’ll take you.”

“N-no…” Sanada shook her head, looking at Kana and Jina, “You need to keep the practice up, right? I heard. Sakai-san will be angry if you mess up, so you keep going. Kana-chan can take me, right?”

Jina looked at Kana at the same time as the others. She was, possibly, the only person in the room who read the subtext in her voice. This wasn’t a random fall. She was planning something. She had something to gain out of this forced injury. Very well, then. Kana would play along.

“Sure.” She nodded, “Let me help you up.”

Kneeling down, she put her arms around Sanada’s shoulder and got her on her feet. With a smile, the vocalist looked back at Kelsey and gave her a thumbs-up. Once both of them were standing once more, she took a deep breath.

“Alright, let’s go.”