Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

Explaining the whole situation to Kelsey without letting anything slip was the biggest hurdle. Once that had been crossed, and Kana was carrying Sanada’s ‘dead’ body in her arms, it was just a matter of time.

“You’re prisoners. A single step out of our sight, and I’ll blast your legs off. Got it?” Nobuko had declared, asking them to walk with Ruby Passion Jr. the entire time. It was because Sakai Entertainment wasn’t supposed to be here in any capacity today. She was doing her duty and intended to report them to the authorities.

“And what about you, Nobuko-chan?” Jina asked, still putting on a smile to signal her lack of malice, “Won’t you get into trouble for staying late, too? I mean, the reason we aren’t allowed here is because of those actions, you know.”

“No. You’re in this position because Kana Minami blew up Ward I.” The leader replied without remorse, still using that disconnected, emotionless voice, “Now, start walking unless you want to hobble like blondie over there.”

Kelsey groaned, leaning against Jina, “Any one of you tries to reduce me to my hair once more…and I’m going to lose it. Either start using my damn name, or keep it to yourself. Got it!?”

“Oh, wow.” Shoko remarked, laughing, “Looks like we lit the kerosene on fire. Funny how fast it catches on. Tanaka-san was right.”

The girl’s mechanical leg sparked in the dry heat of the wasteland’s afternoon. She tried to wrestle past Jina’s hold, reaching out for the healer, but was held back. It was almost funny how monotonous she was when it came to retaliating. Always went straight for a grab without a second thought. Still, Kana did not laugh. Not even on the inside.

For once, Kelsey was on her side. Whether morally or not was unrelated. She was in her camp in this particular situation, and Nobuko was the larger enemy. Kana could not laugh when one of her own was getting attacked. It made her look bad in association.

“Takahashi! Behave.”

“Y-yes. Sorry.”

One reprimand from her leader, and she looked at the ground. Megumi laughed for a second, but was glared down by Nobuko. That one interaction revealed so much about who they really were. For that apparently cute, performatively sincere girl, her two team members were just inferiors in her service. And they somehow accepted that tag, too.

“You’ve got quite the mouth on you, don’t you?” Kana asked, “What went wrong during the audition, then? Got tired of pretending like you were some weakling barely trying to get by?”

“Huh?” Nobuko just slightly tilted her head to the back, eyeing Sanada’s body before she replied, “Not really. Just because you know nothing except lies doesn’t mean everyone is like that. That was real, Minami. It was as real as it could be. But then…then you went and blew up a helicopter because you were angry. You might not know it, but people are capable of changing and growing.”

“B-but!” Jina closed her eyes, refusing to look at Nobuko, “You’re kind! You’re a nice person, so why? You haven’t grown at all. You’ve just become angry, and…and annoying, and you’re just rude now.”

“I’m rude? I’m angry?” Nobuko chuckled without letting the genuine joy in her escape, “You’re the one who is saying that? What was it you told me that day? I remember. We should let Kana Minami get away with it. Because we can torture her so much more if she’s in the industry. Isn’t that right?”

Her eyes looked at Jina head to toe, and then darted to Kana. Switching between them a couple of times to make her point, she sighed, “Looks like you’re the one who’s actually become annoying, Ohara.”

Kana looked at Jina, who tried to hide her face. Turning to face Kelsey, she started to distance herself from the group. She couldn’t go far, since Ruby Passion Jr. wouldn’t allow it. That made her pained expressions all the more obvious. She had clearly wanted to hide this little fact, and now it was out.

For once, Kana was inclined to believe Nobuko. That girl had no reason to lie when she was trying to prove herself as honest. Jina, on the other hand, had all the reasons not to speak of her original intentions. She had gotten too deep into all of their plots to admit to something like that. Not that it mattered to Kana by now, but Jina was probably embarrassed.

It had been obvious that she had had some not-so-nice motivations earlier, but her transformation had been natural. Jina had stayed with Kana for too long to dislike her now. Now, the two of them were only capable of pure hate towards each other. That was how close they had become. That, obviously, was not going to happen any time soon.

At least the honesty Nobuko had tied herself to could be helpful now.

“Nobuko…where are you guys performing this weekend?”

“Why? You’re gonna sabotage that, too?”

Kana laughed, adjusting Sanada’s body. Who knew humans were so heavy to lift? Movies made it look so easy. Ensuring her shallow breaths were not in view, Kana drew attention to herself, “Of course not. I don’t have any time for that. We’ve got a performance too, if you remember. Both of us are debuting together, aren’t we? We’re in Ward C, though. What about you?”

“D!”

Megumi was the one who replied, but was then instantly stared down by Nobuko. A heroic sacrifice, to be sure.

“Are you sure you want to worry about performances now, though? One of your friends is dead.” Nobuko looked at Sanada, “Or are you just that desensitized to it all after the first one?”

“Shut up!” Kelsey entered with aggression once more, but the pain from her broken leg caused her to wince away.

Kana looked down at Sanada, who was doing quite a good job at playing dead till now. Maybe it was worth giving her a little backstory for extra effect.

“Sanada-san…wasn’t going to live for long anyway. She had been basically dead after RiRi-san passed away. It hurt her really badly, so she was adamant about wanting to take revenge. That is why we came here. I think we all knew it was going to happen. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s why she stepped in here in the first place. Revenge was never possible.”

“But you did get it, didn’t you? We got that one.”

Kana weakly smiled, “We did too, Kimura. We killed the one who attacked RiRi-san right then and there. But that doesn’t mean it helps. The truth is that no amount of killing ever helps. No matter how many of those monsters you kill, it is not going to bring her back. We will never be able to make up for it. Revenge is for kids who can’t stop throwing tantrums.”

“Kana…”

Jina whispered from the other side, turning to look at her. Their eyes met for a second, and Kana wondered why. She had just been making up a story. She had just been stating the obvious for someone like Nobuko. Then why was that wolf-cut girl looking at her with those eyes? Why…

Kana looked at Sanada, who had clearly turned her head away. She was not pleased with this little story, clearly. Too bad she didn’t have any other option.

As they kept walking, Kana wondered why she had said those things. Did she believe in them, or was she just saying things that made logical sense? Because whenever Nobuko came into view, she wasn’t able to stop her blood from boiling. Every time she imagined Akiko Hara’s face, she couldn’t help but grit her teeth in frustration.

“Please…” Kana bit her tongue and continued. She didn’t need to think too hard about things like these. She just needed to do what she felt was right, “Just this once, let us go. I’m sure they already know Sanada-san is dead. They’ll catch us either way. But if you turn us in, they will take her body from us.”

“Yes…” Jina gulped, “Th-that’s right. We want to deal with this ourselves. Please, Nobuko-chan? We can’t afford to get caught by them. We weren’t rigging the competition. We want nothing to do with it this week. It was just…Sanada-san. Please?”

Nobuko smirked, “You think that will work? You think I will let you go just because you’re pleading? You’re the one who taught me begging doesn’t mean anything, Minami. I was begging that day, too, wasn’t I? What did I get in return? A trip to…to that…therapist…”

She looked away, increasing her pace.

Kana had never gotten her answer. She had never found out what happened to Nobuko when she was shown those pictures. It had been easy to assume that she had been some hidden maniac. But in reality, if she really had just been that innocent back then, what had she felt when she first saw those photos? How much stress had it caused her?

There was no time to think about it, though. The hours were counting down, and being caught by the Coalition would be a disaster. They needed to get out, and they needed to do it fast. Nobuko was not going to respond to begging, and she had made it clear. They needed something stronger. Something more tangible and believable. Their collective desperation needed to come through.

She started to list down options in her head. What could they give to her, to make her bend? What was the price of their freedom in this context? Nobuko had been disappointed enough about the ranking to come here today. Maybe the stages, then? It would be a huge blow, but they could swap their stages. Velvet Choker could perform in Ward D, while Ruby Passion Jr. went to War-

“Five hundred thousand yen.” Kelsey was the one who beat her to the offer, “To your personal account via a discreet sender. Will that be enough?”

“What is this? A business deal? You’re starting to sound like drug dealers.” Nobuko noted.

“It made you think, though. It’s what you earn in a month, isn’t it? It will be instant. No tax. Just answer if it is enough or not.”

“Well, sure. But that’s for me. What about my two friends here?”

“I’ll cover it. Five hundred thousand to you, and two hundred thousand each to them. Is that enough?”

“Kelsey-san.” Jina looked at her, “We…will pitch in too. You don’t need to pay so much yourself. Right, Kana?”

“Speak for yourself. I haven’t even gotten paid for the first month yet. I’m not paying anything.”

Kelsey shot her a dirty look with a frown, “That’s alright. I’ll cover it all. You, speak up. Nobuko Kimura, is it? Will that be enough?”

“More than enough.” She laughed, sticking her tongue out, “It’s perfect.”

_____________

Once the four of them separated from Ruby Passion Jr., the work became much easier. Far away from any prying eyes, Sanada finally got off Kana, thanking her for her help. She had already been bandaged for safety earlier, so there was no contamination of her wound. Overall, the plan had gone much better than expected. Especially considering that they had been so rudely interrupted in between.

Over the next few hours, none of them spoke. Kelsey was too butthurt about having to spend all of the money herself, but too proud to accept help. Sanada, probably trying to quadruple-check her logistics once she got out, was absorbed in thinking. Jina did not want to deal with Kana, since she was scared by now. Kana, on the other hand, was glad she wasn’t being bothered for once.

A quick sleep brought them to the end of the night. Just as calculated, the door they had decided to stop in front of had been assigned to Fluorescent Angels. The four of them hid as those neon-dressed girls passed them, and immediately got through to the other side.

Sneaking out was easy, too, but took some time. Fluorescent Angels’ manager stayed in the area for a while, speaking to someone on the phone. Then, he smoked a whole cigarette while looking at the night sky, and even listened to a few songs before finally leaving. It was only then that they got to leave.

Kana took out her phone and called Yamazaki. He had been waiting nearby, which allowed for a quick getaway from the scene. Surprisingly, Yamada had decided to accompany them as well. He hadn’t been informed of the plan by them, but Yamazaki had probably shared the information.

Maybe it was for the better. Sanada seemed pleased to see him there.

“Katsuhara first?” Yamazaki asked, looking back at Kana.

Sitting in the very back of the SUV he had decided to drive tonight, she nodded. Sanada could spend the night there if she did not want anyone to find out very easily. But then again, maybe the guards across the street would spot her. Kana opened her mouth, hoping to stop him on time.

“No!” Sanada spoke up first, “The airport. First, the airport.”

“Huh?” Kesley asked, “Why?”

“Why?” The vocalist asked, tilting her head, “What do you mean? I’ve got a flight to catch. I’m leaving. Right now, in a few hours.”