Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

“But why? Why, why, why, why, why?” Emi groaned, grabbing onto Kana’s hand and moving it back and forth like a child, “Why would you do that? You were winning, too!”

“Oh my, uh, choreographer…” Kana smiled and quietly pulled her hand back. Even if she was disappointed at the outcome, she couldn’t just do that. They were right in the middle of the dining hall, and things didn’t need to get any more complicated than they were. She added more rice to her plate and patted Emi on the back. “We all make dumb mistakes, right?”

“You don’t need to keep it up, Minami.”

The hand that reached out and took the serving spoon from her was Neptune. She put two massive heaps of rice on her plate, and then glared at Kana.

“What is?”

“You and this…choreographer of yours. You think people are that dumb, do you?”

“Oh. Uh…” Emi gulped and took a few steps back, and then she made a sprint for the Velvet Beats table while hiding her face.

“I’ve found that people are exactly that.”

Kana was planning on keeping the spoon back anyway, since she didn’t need more rice. But having it taken from her without permission left a bitter taste in her mouth. So, even though her stomach couldn’t take it, she snatched the serving spoon back and took some more rice.

Neptune cringed, taking a step back and leaving her alone.

At least the entire room wasn’t looking at her like last night, so Kana still considered it a win. Keeping the utensil back, she looked at the more-than-needed food on her plate. Hopefully, one of the other girls hadn’t already gotten their food yet. Thinking that, she made her way back to the table.

Emi had struck up a conversation with Kelsey, of all people. Jina, on the other hand, was bothering Naomi this time around. Kana was sure that a week from now, she was probably all the Yamazaki household was going to talk about. Her constant childish attitude, her stupid jokes, and how much she pestered the siblings.

Some movement to the right caught her attention, and she peeked to see Marie Iwata. Waving her hand with a smile, she gave Kana a thumbs-up. By all means, they had put on a good performance, which made Kana want to respond positively. But the performance wasn’t over yet. So, she gave the Nozoki Neko a soft, subtle smile to get her actual point through, and then snapped her neck away with a frown.

It caught Atlas’ attention, who was already keeping her eyes on Kana due to Neptune’s storytelling. Even if the Nozoki Neko girls felt bad about the gesture, it had done its job.

Kana took her place at the table.

“The people who haven’t caught on don’t need to, Emi.” She started eating her food, “I’ll explain everything later, so just keep your hands to yourself for some time.”

“Uh, yeah.” She nodded, “I didn’t mean to do that. I was just…really surprised. Sorry.”

Kana shook her head, “It’s fine. I get it. The point was to let it be outrageous. The point was to make people look at our team so that they never forget we were eliminated in the first round.”

“I…see. I mean, I don’t. I don’t get any of it. But as long as it helps you out, that sounds like it should be alright.”

“It will be. Do you want more rice?”

“Huh?”

“I! I want more rice!” Jina smiled, pushing her plate forward.

Kana put hers forward too, until she looked at Jina’s almost lecherous smile. For some reason, the prospect had her grinning like a perverted sixty-year-old. It made her more uncomfortable than she cared to admit. So, she pulled it back.

“No, I think I’ll finish it after all.”

“Eh?”

Once she looked back at the girl, though, she questioned if that had truly been the case or if she had just imagined it.

“Minami-san.” Naomi spoke up, “Why did you do it, then? To be honest, I was really surprised as well.”

“I’ve got work to do outside of the game.” Kana explained, “The only way to leave it was to be eliminated. When everyone else is busy playing, the resort will be empty. I can do whatever I want.”

“Don’t you think it will be suspicious? If you don’t show up to watch your own group’s members, that is.”

“Nope.” Kana stabbed a piece of shrimp and ate it. Smiling as it melted in her mouth, she went on, “Who would I even watch the game for? Jina? Fuck Jina. Who else? Kelsey? Fuck Kelsey.”

“Oi.” Kelsey cleared her throat, “Watch your mouth.”

“Yeah, yeah. Calm down. I don’t mean it.” She laughed, “What I mean is that my character has been decided upon already. That character would totally say something like that. And because of that, refusing to attend the remaining rounds as the audience is precisely what people will expect. It is very much like Kana Minami.”

“After throwing away other people’s lives as if they’re worthless, your next goal is to do the same to yourself?”

Kana rolled her eyes. She wondered how Kelsey could say something that awkward without thinking twice. In a righteous world, she would be made fun of for even letting that string of words escape her mind. But since she was expected to reply now, she at least ate another shrimp to feel a bit better.

As it calmed her down, she finally found the temperament to say what she needed to.

“Yup!”

_____________

Shoko Takahashi was standing by the pool again.

Kana, who had left the dining hall after finishing her massive portions before any of the other girls, had decided to come by for a stroll. Yet, all she found was the same girl sulking on the edge of the water. Her arms crossed to mirror Shoko, Kana slowly walked to her side and just stood there.

It took some time for the healer to notice. After that, it still took her some time to respond. And when she did, she didn’t even move an inch.

“You should have run. You should have made your way out and just hidden somewhere. How the fuck did you think walking out in front of everyone was a good idea!?”

“Calm down, Sho-chan. You were down, and so was Marie. I wasn’t going to take on that entire map all on my own, was I? Hiding doesn’t work when all that’s left is rubble and you’re the one who made it.”

“Yeah, but all you needed to do was survive! An hour, that’s it. We could have been back for Round 2!”

“And then what?” Kana crouched down, put her hand in the pool, and started playing with the water, “Akiko Hara would kill us in the second round. What’s the difference? Don’t tell me you, of all people, thought we were gonna do something.”

“I guess all of that confidence was just a lie, then, huh? I thought that…if it was you, then…” Shoko shook her head, “All of that stupid effort put into those worthless competitions, and when it actually mattered, you didn’t even care. So much for being the prodigy of the generation.”

“Prodigy of the generation?” Kana laughed, looking at Shoko, expecting sarcasm.

There was, however, none. Shoko Takahashi had a completely serious expression on her face, even now. As if the term she had just knighted Kana with hadn’t been a bad joke. As if there were people out there who actually called her that.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Just that you’re a disappointment.” Shoko reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Taking one out, she put it in her mouth, “Why do you think people are so pissed at you all the time? Cause you’re better than us. We aren’t gonna sit there and pretend you aren’t. Gave you names, too. And this is what I get in return.”

“Aww, how sad. You gave me a stupid name on your own, and then you were disappointed when I didn’t live up to it.” Kana stood up, shaking off the remaining water from her hands as Shoko took a lighter out, “Being better than you all doesn’t require a prodigy. It just requires someone using their brains for once.”

The girl lit her cigarette and laughed, “Sure. Whatever you say, Minami. Although I guess you aren’t wrong. Akiko Hara is the only prodigy here. You just happen to be a little insane.”

“Akiko Hara is a fucking nobody.” Kana scoffed, “She just has stronger abilities than the rest of us because she’s at Rank 5. Give it a few more weeks. When Tanaka pushes your group there, you’ll be the same person in a matter of minutes.”

Shoko took a step back. Kana bit her tongue, wondering if she had said too much. Tanaka probably knew that she knew by this point, but the other girls didn’t. She looked at the Ruby Passion Jr. member, expecting a large reaction. Instead, all she got was a shrug as Shoko turned away and took a puff.

“Sachiyo Tanaka is at Rank 5. Yuko Suzuki is at Rank 5. Both of them have their weapons and abilities fully upgraded.” Shoko spoke in a whisper, “Akiko Hara is also at Rank 5. All of her abilities are still at Level 1, though. Don’t be so confident when you don’t know what you’re talking about, Minami.”

“Uh…what?”

That was not possible. It didn’t make any sense.

“I told you, didn’t I? That woman is a monster. She does things with this class that people can only dream of, even with broken and overpowered classes like yours. Akiko-san doesn’t use weapons. She doesn’t level her abilities up. Standing in front of any of the other girls, she is like an unarmed child. But if she were to fight them one on one, Akiko Hara would win.”

“Are you messing with me?”

Shoko laughed, louder this time, “Got nothing to gain from that, Minami. Think what you want, I guess.”

“You…”

Without a reply, looking at the floor with the same sad eyes, Shoko Takahashi left the scene. Kana gulped, looking around to see if someone else was watching. There was always a chance that Nobuko asked her to do this to get a funny reaction. But then there was also the chance that that wasn’t the case.

The chance that, as Shoko had said, she didn’t stand to gain anything from lying like that.

Akiko Hara’s abilities were still at Level 1. Her rank had nothing to do with her skills. Kana was just supposed to accept that. She was supposed to have seen what that woman was capable of and then just be fine with this new information. How did that make any sense? Why would someone come up with something so cruel?

She shook her head and crossed her arms once more. This was nothing a walk around the pool could not solve. She just needed to clear her mind once more. There were other things she needed to focus on. Akiko Hara would go down in time, one way or another. Skills or not, she would fall. Kana didn’t need the help of her weapons either. She trusted herself enough.

The plan started tomorrow. MidoriLIVE was the target.