Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

“Ah, Kana Minami. I remember you from the Monster Dimension! And you, too, of course, Jina Ohara. And uh…Chika Mae…sorry. Kelsey, isn’t it? I heard you all made a new group after everything that happened. Sorry about that, by the way. I hope that you’ve been recovering well, all of you.”

Akiko Hara bowed down with a gentle smile. By the time she came back up, though, it had been wiped off. Holding her small handbag, the leader of Ruby Passion had distanced herself from her group. Yuko Suzuki and Sachiyo Tanaka did not look like they intended to follow her, either.

“We’re fine.” Kana replied, folding her hand and looking away at the mountains rising behind the resort building.

“Is that so?” Akiko nodded, “That’s nice, isn’t it? The outcome cannot be changed anymore, so accepting it is the healthiest thing you can do. It is nice to see all of you get back on your feet despite your losses. Sacchan was telling me about how sad your fans were. It must have been difficult to deal with them.”

“Not really. They were quite understanding.” Kelsey answered this time, also refusing to lock eyes with the woman for too long.

“Sacchan?” Jina asked.

“Oh, sorry!” Akiko laughed, “It’s always a mess bringing her up between new people. I mean Sachiyo, of course. Sacchan is what everyone calls her, so it's basically become her version of ‘Kelsey’, if you will.”

Sachiyo Tanaka glanced over once she heard her name, but then got back to her conversation with Yuko right away. Kana had always thought of her as the black sheep of the group. Akiko was the face of the group, while Yuko had the most fans because of her quiet personality. Sachiyo was always…there. Just there.

Despite getting in due to being Kenji Tanaka’s niece, she had never been able to break into the spotlight. And now, Sacchan.

“Sacchan…” Kana spoke up as the thought came to mind, “She’s your drummer, is it?”

“Bassist! Get your damn facts right.”

The answer came from the source herself, who snapped her head back away. Despite apparently not being interested in the conversation, she was clearly engrossed in whatever was said about her. She had climbed all the way to the top and was still worried about small details.

Or perhaps, it was because she had climbed all the way to the top that she cared so much. Either way, it made Kana giddy for having gotten under the nerves of a Ruby Passion member.

Akiko sighed, “Minami-san, Ohara-san. It is my fault, so I apologize. Both of you are new here, and you’re clearly not acquainted with everyone. Allow me, then. Before the representatives of the Coalition arrive, I’ll give you a little tour of the groups! I’ve got nothing better to do, and it’s always good to know the competition, right?”

“Yeah? Are we the competition, are you, or are the others?”

“Hmm?” She tilted her head in confusion, “All of us are, obviously. Come on. We don’t have much time, and I’m sure the other girls will love to meet you, too!”

With that, she put one hand on Kana’s wrist and the other on Jina’s. The same smile on her face, Akiko Hara started walking towards the other groups. As she did, everyone stared. Kana looked at Kelsey, who refused to give a reaction and started talking to Naomi instead. Emi, standing there helpless and confused, gave her a weak thumbs up.

Even though she tried to wrestle free from Akiko’s grip, it felt impossible. Her grip stayed strong, and even tightened as Kana’s hand tried to break away. More than that, it went unacknowledged. Either the leader of Ruby Passion was acting as if it wasn’t happening, or her hands were so strong that she did not even feel the pathetic effort Kana was putting in.

Once more, sweating at just the prospect of being touched by this vile woman, Kana looked at the ground. Her legs started to slow down, but Akiko kept pulling her along. The whispers blended into one all around her, and it was impossible to focus. She did not want to know anything. She did not want to meet any more people. Kana wanted to get out. She wanted to get away.

Her breathing started to quicken. Her muscles tightened. For some reason, her arms completely gave up on trying to get out. She accepted the lack of control she had in the moment and stopped trying. Why? Kana asked herself as she looked at the floor, trying to hide her panic attack.

Why did Akiko Hara do this to her? Kana knew that her resolve was not weak. She knew that she hated this woman more than anyone else. But her body weakened the moment she came close. Nothing Kana did mattered anymore. How could she beat her, then? How could she possibly make her lick the floor, as she had promised? How…

Someone touched her shoulder, and Kana’s feet touched the ground once more. Vision cleared, and heartbeat back to normal, she noticed that it was Jina. She gave Kana a slight nod and two pats on her back. Embarrassed, Kana immediately looked away. She could feel her face burning due to the mix of gratefulness and self-loathing that had just filled her body.

“Here’s THE POP-JO! They’re currently number two on the list and are owned by MidoriLIVE. I’m sure you’ve heard of them before, but you’d be surprised to know that they think you are a good competition, too!”

Focusing on the moment. That was what was important. Kana nodded and decided to check out the girls Akiko had led them to. The group with whom Kenji Tanaka had effectively kicked out Nozoki Neko from the Fair Play Committee. A group composed of, in a good change of pace, four girls. All of them had distinct hair colors and styles, but wore matching green t-shirts with the logo of their agency in the front.

Akiko proceeded to introduce all of them, but Kana could not be bothered to remember them all. There was just one that stuck out to her. Not only because of the stars in her eyes the moment Akiko got near, but because of the one fact that was added about her tastes.

“This is Sayuri Kakuta. She’s the newest member of the group, and get this – she loves your new song! In fact, she’s had it on loop ever since it was released digitally. What was it called again? Jan...Jan? Something?”

“J-Jenga!” Sayuri Kakuta corrected her, still blushing and covering her face in happiness, “H-how do you know about that, Akiko-san? You checked my account?!”

“Hmm? Of course I did! I always check what everyone is listening to. How else will I keep up with what is popular?” Akiko puffed her chest out in pride and nodded, “Remember this. It is always important to know what the other idol groups like listening to, rather than what the audience likes listening to. Understood?”

“Eh?” Jina whispered, “What?”

“B-because you want to be good friends with everyone, right? Isn’t it, Akiko-san!?” Sayuri smiled.

“Yeah, totally!”

The leader put on a fake smile and gave the girl a head pat before turning around and starting to move again. Jina looked at Kana, waiting for an answer to what she meant. And even though Kana had understood where Akiko was coming from, it disgusted her just enough to not want to verbalize it. So, she just shook her head and continued to be led away to the next team.

Focus on the other idols, and not the audience, was it? Sure. It made complete sense. It made so much sense that it was a little sad that Kana hadn’t thought of it before. It also made sense that it was coming from the one sitting on top of the top idol group. She knew what was most important in this industry, and was exploiting it best.

It also explained why they stopped at the next group, but Akiko’s introduction to them did not have even a single percent of the enthusiasm from before.

Nozoki Neko.

Three girls. One of them had a long ponytail that reached down to her knees. One of them had a short, masculine cut that accentuated her off-brown hair color. The last had them tied up into two buns on either side of her head. They gave a weak smile to Kana and Jina as they got close, but did not entertain Akiko even as she spoke.

These girls, then, were worth looking at.

“Nozoki Neko! You might not have heard of them, but their music is very unique and fun. A lot of people seem to love their songs. This is their leader, Marie Iwata. And the other members are Hanae Miura and Hiromi Kitani! Be sure to be nice to them, too, alright? They’re our cute little juniors, after all!”

Jina gave them a wave, “Nice to meet you, Marie-chan! You too, Hanae-chan, Hiro-”

“We should get going now. The others are waiting, and the Coalition reps are probably not very far now. Let’s go!”

Without letting her finish her greeting, Akiko pulled both of them away. As the indie group started to get out of sight, Kana did what she could to get into their good graces. A little seed of trust that could be grown later as required. She looked at the leader, Marie Iwata, and rolled her eyes in frustration.

The moment Marie – the girl with the long ponytail – chuckled and gave her a blink, Kana won. Even if this bitch, Akiko, was not going to let them talk, they would find a way to get through. Maybe this little meet-and-greet session was not too bad, after all. Even three new potential friends, especially given their precarious current position, was a massive victory against Ruby Passion and Lilac Shower.

Once they were completely out of Nozoki Neko’s view, however, it was time to move on to the next group. According to the pattern she was following, it was probably going to be Ruby Passion Jr.

“The little ones, huh?” Akiko stopped and looked around, “Looks like they aren’t here yet. And anyway, you’re already acquainted with Ruby Passion Jr., right? I don’t need to introduce them to you. Let’s move on to the next group. Uh…FloAngels? Yeah, let’s go to them. Look, they’re right there.”

“Uh…wait!” Jina spoke up, giving her a light tap, “Fluorescent Angels, right? Yeah…we already know them. We’re good friends, in fact. So, it’s really not worth wasting time on them right now. We can always talk to them whenever we want.”

“Ahh, is that so?” she nodded, “True. Wait, I guess that could be the case. They were the ones who stayed locked in the Monster Dimension with your group, after all. Even if they didn’t know you before that, there’s no chance you would miss each other in a situation like that. I guess we’ll skip them, then. Thanks for the info, Ohara-san.”

“No…issues.”

Meeting them would have been disastrous, so the girl had done a good job of making sure that didn’t happen. And if Akiko Hara were to find out that Fluorescent Angels were not particularly fond of Velvet Beats anymore, she would get more ammo. It was for the best that she did not get involved with their relationship at all.

“Well, that leaves us with…”

Leading them to a group of six girls who were talking to each other, Akiko waved to get their attention. Two of them waved back, but immediately started sulking as soon as they noticed the other girls. Similarly, when their four friends saw Kana and Jina, they made sour faces and started walking away – even going as far as to ignore Akiko and her advance.

“Ahh…” The leader sighed, finally letting go of their hands, “That’s the last two groups. Looks like they’re not very interested in getting to know the two of you.”

“Why would that be?” Kana rubbed her wrist, noting the marks Akiko’s fingers had left.

“Well, they’re the ones below you right now. To be fair, nobody’s below you right now since you’re not even on the list, but you get my point. You two joining Sakai Entertainment really shifted the balance of the lower half of the list, so you’ve got some enemies of your own. Have you not noticed?”

“Never mattered much to us.”

Akiko laughed, giving Kana a head pat, “Isn’t that nice? That’s the attitude you should have when it comes to things like these. In the end, only the people at the top matter, so don’t even blink at the ones angry at your success. You agree, don’t you?”

Kana smiled back as they started walking back to Emi and the others, “Of course. No other way to do it. But then again, what about their perspective? Would you blame them for being angry?”

“Nope. Not at all. I mean, did you ever get angry when you beat your younger sister in a video game, for example? No, you didn’t. Nobody ever does. Why would they, after all? It’s a simple fact. You’re better, and they’re worse. No amount of anger is going to change that. That’s how you’re supposed to stop worrying about all of these haters, got it?”

“Yes…”

Kana looked away and quickened her pace. She did not want to ask it. She did not want to react to it. Even as the panic hit her once more, she tried her best not to make it as visible as before. If she asked any questions right now, Akiko would know that she had hit a nerve. Somehow, Akiko Hara knew that Kana had a younger sister.

How? She had even known about that girl, Sayuri. She had known what music she listened to last week. It was creepy. It was beyond creepy. Just how much access did being in Lilac Shower give this woman?

They finally got to the group, and Kana stopped. Jina moved in, standing right between Emi and Naomi. But Kana kept her distance. She went and stood next to Kelsey instead. Even though Emi looked at her all confused, she couldn’t risk Akiko finding out about her. Though if her sources were this deep, she probably already knew.

“It was nice to meet you, Minami-san and Ohara-san! Give it your best, alright? I’m always happy to meet new people and see new idols join the industry. It can be really grueling and tough, but hang on to the people you trust and love. You’ll make it far. I can see it in your eyes!”

“T-thank you, Akiko-chan.” Jina gave her a little bow.

“Mhmm. You’re welcome. Both of you were fun to talk to.”

She waited for Kana to thank her, too, but quickly turned once she realized that that was not going to happen. As she did, though, a thought was born. One that quickly got processed in every way possible in a matter of milliseconds. And one that, before Kana could question if it was a good idea or not, she had already asked.

“Akiko-chan. Three years ago. You had a small concert in Ward F. Do you remember it?”

“Huh?” She turned back and then took some time to tilt her head and think about it, “Ah! It was in some kind of community park, wasn’t it? Yeah, I remember it! You, Yuko? You know, the one where we got that massive audience, and had to fill out some paperwork because the concert went on for too long?”

“I…guess?” Yuko replied.

Akiko nodded, smiling at Kana, “In fact, I think I even remember the date. It was winter, so somewhere between 17 and 19 January. I think it was the nineteenth, actually. The twentieth was a Sunday, and we could not eat at that one restaurant Sacchan had been hyping up. Yeah, pretty sure. Why do you ask? Did you see us!? Did it inspire you to become an idol!?”

“Yeah.” Kana replied with a whisper. She had been sure that Akiko would not remember. That she would have forgotten by now, given how self-absorbed her personality was. But she didn’t. She remembered every little detail, down to what happened the next day. Why? Why did she have to remember?

Clutching her fist, she hid it behind her back and smiled.

“Very inspired. I wouldn’t be here without it.”