Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

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Jina Ohara

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Jina Ohara had never thought that she would one day end up in this position. It had never occurred to her, that the days she spent perfecting her behavior to be agreeable, would transform into a whirlwind of chaos driven by ego. Not her ego, but that of Kana Minami. A girl who had not only made her question her choices, but changed her from the inside out.

Tripping past Emi Kitamura’s suitcases, which had fallen to the fall, she made her way to the kitchen. It was ten in the morning on a Sunday. Kana would not be waking anytime soon. Especially if the occasional sounds that had bled into her room were anything to go by. It was embarrassing in more ways than one. The only positive thing she could think of was that she had more time to cook breakfast now.

Just say it, she had said.

Jina’s love for eggs had not gone unnoticed. But that love was still limited. She would not make something that she had already made in the last two weeks. It wasn’t novel enough to eat. Maybe it was time to revisit a poached egg sandwich, then. It had been a while since she had had one, and they had fresh ingredients, too.

As Jina got to work, she wondered why she even bothered to do all this. At first, it had been a way to show off. She wanted to prove to Kana Minami that she was a better person. She wanted to make it clear that, despite all of her narcissistic ego, Kana wouldn’t function in the real world. What better place to prove that than the kitchen?

It had worked, too. Kana was, indeed, horrible at making food. But the more that became clear, the easier it got to dig deeper into her other shortcomings. Cooking was just one of her many, many weaknesses. The most noticeable one, of course, being how much of an act she put up.

Jina took the readymade sourdough out and started cutting it. The eggs were coming along well. It wouldn’t take long to get ready, which gave her more time to spend at the agency.

It was completely right that Kana was a rude, condescending person. But that didn’t apply to everyone. As much as she believed that she was everybody else, she was not alien to the concept of a friend circle. She tried her best to put on the same front for everyone, but her true self only poked through in front of certain people. The ones she considered to be truly despicable.

Jina, somehow, had fallen out of that category with her daily breakfasts.

At first, she thought it had been a survival mechanism. That she had only started thinking Kana was not that bad because there was no other option. That she had to be like that to survive in this apartment. But then she found herself happy to hear this girl react to the breakfast of the day. She found herself truly impressed by how competent and capable she was.

Kana Minami was not all talk, and that was what separated her from most narcissists. If she said she was good at something, she knew she was. And what she knew was nothing but the truth.

Once the sandwich was assembled, Jina sat down at the dining table to have hers. Taking her first bite, she noticed Kana’s door open on the upper floor. From a small gap, Emi’s head peeked through. Looking in every direction, she sighed with relief at the lack of people. Then, once she turned down and locked eyes with Jina, she jumped and closed the door.

Funny girl. It made sense that she had been able to get so close to Kana. She was clumsy, but smart. She was incompetent, but determined. Most of all, she was really, really cute. And Kana Minami, regardless of what she claimed, was attracted to cute things. She was just like anyone else her age.

Jina finished her breakfast, washed her plate, and then had a bath. All of that took her upwards of half an hour. After that, she gave Yamazaki a call and prepared to leave the house. Even after she got ready and put on her shoes, Kana and Emi did not leave their room. It was for the better, then, that she had undercooked and frozen their eggs. They could heat them later.

She got a message and left the apartment. Below the building, Yamazaki was already waiting for her in his car. Jina was always left surprised at his punctuality. Last night, she had heard something about him not continuing with them anymore. She hoped that didn’t happen.

“Same route as always?” He asked.

“Good morning, Yamazaki!” She cheerily got into the back seat, “And yes, please. Thank you.”

“Good morning, Ohara-san.”

With that, the car started. Yamazaki took a U-turn, taking her along a path she favored. It crossed through a particular bridge that had become important to her. The one where she had first been able to peer into Kana Minami’s heart. Seeing it every morning had become a ritual of sorts. One to remind her that, no matter what, there was a heart in that girl.

A heart that had been broken and then rearranged. Rearranged…into a twisted replica of the original.

If someone asked Jina Ohara why she wanted to become an idol, money would not be the first answer. She would just say something dumb, because the truth was too embarrassing to say out loud. It would hurt her to claim that she just liked seeing people smile. That someone, someday in the past, had made her smile. And now, she just wanted to do the same.

She knew she was not a good person. She knew she was not inherently kind. And that held her back every day of her life. But as long as she could learn to put on an act in front of others, she might one day make someone smile. If she wasn’t a good person by default, she could hammer herself into one. And Kana Minami would be her first patient.

Kana Minami, who had made her realize that there were always people who needed help. There were always people who needed someone to be with them and smile.

The bridge came into view, and she looked out. Yamazaki, too, did the same. He didn’t like to say it out loud, but he preferred this route as well. They just never took it with Kana in the car, because she would go red in the face and start complaining.

“Oh, I didn’t get to say it yesterday.” Yamazaki spoke up as the bridge passed, “Also, I hadn’t watched it until then. But I got to check out the recording this morning. Both of you did a fantastic job last night.”

“Haha!” She smiled, leaning forward, “I know, right? I mean, you didn’t do a half-bad job either, right? I saw how Aiko-san was looking at you in that mirror!”

“Weren’t you supposed to be asleep? Also, it doesn’t matter. I love my wife too much to care about others, no matter how close I once was.”

“Hmm. That’s nice.” Jina went back to slumping against the couch, “Didn’t you wonder, though? What was going through Aiko Taira’s head in that moment? What was she thinking when she found out that you had stood up for her?”

“Uhh…probably how she is really angry to have gotten help from me.”

“Ehh? But her eyes said something else, I swear.”

“Again, you were supposed to be asleep!”

“Ah, well. Sleeping or not sleeping. What is the difference, really, except consciousness? It’s all the same thing.”

“No, I think the consciousness is the deciding factor there.”

“Hmm. Maybe. How is Naomi-san? Is she settling in well again? Sorry for not asking earlier. I tend to forget. And Kana is…well…Kana.”

Yamazaki laughed, “Oh no, don’t worry. She is doing very well. It is difficult for her sometimes due to the withdrawals, but the others take care of her. My daughter is particularly taken by her, for some reason. Hopefully, Naomi had been teaching her some good things.”

“Well, well. She’s your daughter, so I am sure she will turn out fine. If nothing else, try to model her after me. I’m sure that will make her a star!”

“I think I’d rather jump into an actual star.”

“Huh!?” Jina raised her voice, “What was that? What did you say, my very cool, very supportive, and emotionally healthy manager!? Huh!?”

He cleared his throat, “I meant that it is a fantastic idea. I would jump at the chance of being able to make her exactly like you. What a wonderful proposal.”

Jina laughed, looking out of the window once more. He just understood her somehow. It was never boring to talk to Yamazaki. Especially in the morning like these, when Kana was not bombarding him with questions about espionage and sabotage. It was fun to see those plans come into shape, but that didn’t excuse the slight boredom she felt.

Unfortunately, those times had to come to an end. Not only because they had reached the agency, but because he had confirmed her worst fears. This would be his last day as their manager. It was what it was, though. This was what their actions had brought upon them. She thanked him and got out of the car. Jina wondered what Kana thought about this.

She entered the building and headed straight for the training room. It was necessary for a Melee class to keep up with her physicality. If she did not, then her muscles would lose the strength she had slowly built up over time. Once she entered the room, though, she noticed that Kelsey was practicing there too.

“Yoohoo! Good morning, Kelsey-chan!”

She pulled her sniper rifle down, giving her nothing more than a frown, “Ok. What do you want?”

“Huh? Nothing. I was just saying good morning, because that’s what it is. It is good, and it’s a morning! What did you think of the performance yesterday?”

Jina kept her bag down and walked over to her usual spot. Two blocks away from Kelsey, she pressed the button to spawn the dummies and took out her axe. It was the new weapon she had gotten by hitting Rank 3, so there was still quite a bit of levelling up that needed to be done.

“It was fine.” She replied without any excitement, continuing her sniper practice. Not that she got much use here, since there was a limited amount of range. She usually had to use digital recreations that helped her get better. Kelsey shot once, and then turned around, keeping her weapon away.

Once she started to leave the booth, and then headed for the exit of the room, Jina knew that there was no progress on that front. At least Kelsey hadn’t thought it was horrible, so their lives were still theirs. And now that she was not in the room, Jina could go all out with focusing on her work.

She cleared her mind as she slashed. Everything that had happened since the bridge, and everything that she had felt, stopped mattering. Only when she was wildly bursting through the many purple mannequins did she feel a sense of calm and get some peace. Because then she did not need to keep thinking about how much she had on her plate. She didn’t need to process all of these emotions, and how it felt to feel them.

When Kana reached the agency late in the afternoon, there wasn’t much left to be done. Sakai congratulated them and Kelsey on a job well done and gave them the day off. Since they had to return to the competition the next day, he asked them to focus on that. In the meantime, Yamada would work on getting some shows outside of the main Coalition stages for Velvet Beats.

From now on, they were going to go all out on Jenga. The song had been a hit with the audience yesterday, so it was best to fast-track its progress. A music video would be in order soon, and he apparently had a good place in mind to shoot it. Sakai promised to share that later.

Thus, they decided to return home.

Kana was giddy just at the prospect of being able to spend more time with Emi. Last night had clearly been a success, then. Good for them, Jina thought. It was only right for the two to be happy together. To find peace when they could see, touch, and be with each other.

In the car, she leaned against the window and closed her eyes. She would not be thinking about all this if not for Nobuko. That was right. It was all because of Nobuko. It had all started when she had been rude to Jina, and then she had spent that night sulking. If none of that had happened, Kana would not have been forced to comfort her. She would not have come so close to speak with her.

Nothing in that whole ride remained in her memory. None of it mattered as the streets passed, and they reached Katsuhara. Kana got out of the car, thanked Yamazaki for his service, and promised him that she would find a way to get him back. Jina did the same, agreeing with her about wanting him back as their manager. Thanking them too, he left for his own house.

They walked towards the entrance, and Jina almost tripped on a piece of rock. Kana laughed and overtook her. Jina smiled and then bit her own tongue. There was no need to smile. There was no need to think so much. None of it was important or real. None of it had any worth when Emi already existed.

Kana Minami. She looked at her, opening the door and heading for the elevator.

Kana Minami pressed the button and waited for the elevator.

Kana Minami waved at her, warning her to look at the floor just in case the lobby had any pebbles.

Happy with herself, Kana Minami stepped into the elevator as the doors opened.

The whirring of the motors overpowered Jina’s senses as she got in. Kana Minami hummed Jenga as they started moving. Kana Minami twirled her finger around in tune with the song. Smoothening a part of her skirt, Kana Minami accidentally sang a wrong note and clicked her tongue. Kana Minami…

Kana. Kana. Kana. Kana. Kana. Kana. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please stop. It is wrong. Please stop. Go away. Don’t think about it. Look away. Kana…please.

Jina looked away, wondering if the fan in the elevator was not working. She couldn’t breathe. Her vision was tunneling. She couldn’t think. She was wrong. She should not do this. There was no point. There was only pain. There was only embarrassment. She could keep quiet. She could keep it to herself. She didn’t need to s-

What would it cost, at most?

Why did she have to say that?

Why…

“Kana.”

“Hmm?”

The door opened, and she raised her leg.

“I know it’s wrong. But…”

The world collapsed on her. And at the same time, every weight on her shoulder was lifted.

“I love you.”

The door closed. Nobody got out. The leg stayed hanging in the air.