Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

“I knew they were up to something.” Kelsey threw her fork down, attracting everyone’s attention before hastily picking it back up. “But you’re trying to tell me that Akiko did it on purpose?”

“Well, does it look like she's going to get into trouble for it?” Kana made a baby face, exaggerating her expressions at how stupid the question was, “Or do you think she’s not capable of pulling it off?”

“I never said that it wasn’t possible for her to do it. I just said that I wanted confirmation. Can you maybe shut up and stop putting words in my mouth? I’m the one who actually had to be there and play the round and get my ass blown up in some freak explosion, alright? What were you doing at that time? Having a private, one-on-one ASMR session with Akiko Hara!?”

“Oh, really? You know what? You’re right. If I were fighting in the round, I would not have been blown up by some random explosion. Know why? Because I would have found out about the underground part of the map before the match even started. I would have known every inch of it before even stepping inside. What kind of sniper doesn’t actually scout her locations!?”

Kelsey groaned, rubbing her forehead, “You could not have possibly done that. The only way you get to know what map you’re playing is by stepping into it and actually playing the game! And, sure, you could have narrowed it down via math or whatever it is you do with your half-educated brain, alright? But guess what? We don’t know what the maps even look like! Because we’ve never used them before!”

“Well, I was clearly exaggerating. Do you see my face?” Kana narrowed her eyes, pressing the spoon in her hand to release all of her anger in a relatively safe manner, “This is my exaggeration face, Kelsey. I exaggerate when I’m making this face. Of course, I wasn’t going to know everything about the map. Do you think I’m stupi-”

“Yeah, I do. What did you expect the answer was going to be? You thought I was gonna suddenly become some incredible goddess who saw all of your virtues like wolf-cut, horse-face over there? I was the one who had to go through all that, so maybe keep your advice to yourself when the other person clearly never needed it!”

Jina shrugged, “Why am I getting dragge-”

Kana ignored her, “No, I didn’t. Because it takes actual intellect to realize when you’re being a stupid bitch. And you’re clearly being a stupid bitch right now without realizing it, so no. You weren’t going to get it. I make one point about how that…woman…is sabotaging the entire game, and you have to make it about yourself, don’t you?”

“Myself? Guess what, intellectual genius? Guess what, Einstein of our generation? It is about me. I reached the second round. I fought in the second round. Then I was the one made to win it by force. Who else is this going to be about? Your lackey servant over here!?”

“Again, leave me out of-”

“No, it wasn’t going to be about a person, because it’s never about a person, you birdbrain. It’s about Velvet Beats as a whole, and if you can’t see what Akiko is doing, then maybe don’t open your mouth? Also, why is it that every single time I talk to you, most of my sentences are rhetorical questions?”

“I wouldn’t call this talking, really. Can we all calm down, please?” Naomi cleared her throat, raising her hands to make both of them keep their voices down.

“Is that so, Einstein? Then go on, please explain it to me. Please explain why my success, your forced failure, and this other girl’s being dragged to the victory line by people better than her is about all of us as a whole. Go on. As for your question, I wouldn’t know. Maybe it’s because I know that you’re an idiot who isn’t going to be smart enough to answer my questions anyway…”

“Well, the feeling’s mutual then, Kelsey. But just for your information, that was also a rhetorical question, so you did not actually need to answer it. As for the round, well, I will explain it to you.” Kana stabbed one of the sausages on her plate and shoved it into her own mouth, barely taking time to chew before she continued, “Jina, please enlighten this girl with the general opinion of Velvet Beats that most of the girls here have!”

“Huh? Me? Uh…” She coughed, quickly swallowing her current food before drinking some water, “They seem to have a very strong and passionate dislike for the entire group and how quickly we’ve gotten to the top.”

“Great. Good job, Jina. Now, second question. What is the general opinion of the same girls about you having reached the final round?”

“M…me? Uh…” She rolled her eyes, “They, um…very wrongfully and stupidly believe that I only got as far as I did because I’ve been riding the coattails of Akiko and Ayaka to win.”

“Perfect. That’s about as perfect as you could get. Except maybe for the wrongfully part, but you’re only human. Thank you once more.”

“What? Come on! You don’t actually believe that. I’m not that bad at what I do!”

Kelsey clapped her hands, refusing to touch her own dishes before she finished the conversation, “Great. Look, now it’s both of you talking. How fun. Except it is not. Get to the damn point, Minami!”

“Do you really need more than that? I destroyed the first level, Jina is thought to be winning without putting in any effort, and now you will be defeated by Akiko in the final round. Do you see it yet? Or do I need to spell that out to you, too? Everyone hates us, Kelsey. You’re insane if you think Ruby Passion is playing this stupid game. They’re not. They’re playing the audience.”

“The idols, though.” Naomi shook her head, leaning in, “Right? They might be making you a common enemy for the girls, but the people at home have nothing to do with it. If they’re Velvet Beats fans, then they will always support you, no matter what.”

“Sure, but the people at home hardly matter. They eat what you give them without a single thought. That’s why Akiko never cared about them, either. No, she goes straight for the source.”

Jina nodded, “That’s what she said back then, too. When we met her on the first day.”

“Yup. The brain is used for once, how nice. Akiko is not trying to sway the audience as much as she is trying to sway the other idols. The point is not to make us lose public support, but industry support. By making them hate us, they’ll make them hate the kind of music we make. That leads to nobody making the same kind of music, and that keeps us as the niche that does not make the music the audience usually listens to.”

Kelsey stopped heaving in anger, and pushed her spoon into the rice on her plate before picking some up to eat, “Are you trying to say Ruby Passion is going fo-”

“Industry saturation, yes.” Kana completed her sentence for her, “And once that’s all that is left, that is what the audience will like. And because the type of music will be what Ruby Passion’s good at, they will automatically stay at the top because of their…ugh…talent.”

“And she’s just using all of you as scapegoats for that?” Naomi smiled, almost laughing, “Sorry, I don’t think it’s funny. It’s just…weird. I apologize.”

“It’s ok.” Kelsey smiled back at her, “Common response. Sometimes anger and sadness just get you to laugh instead. And it’s more than valid in this case, so feel free to let loose.”

“Uh, no. Sorry. I don’t wanna do that. Just feel worse if I did.”

Kana looked at her kind smile in response to that, and then back at Naomi. She wasn’t sure what was going on here, but she intended to find out. The two had gotten weirdly close ever since Naomi had been hired as her personal assistant, but the why of it was what puzzled Kana most. Normally, it wouldn’t have. But when someone like Kelsey suddenly got friendly with someone like Naomi, it raised an alarm.

Moving from them, though, she noted Emi Kitamura. Quietly eating her food without a word or reaction, despite being on the same table, it was almost like she was a ghost. Kana felt her muscles tighten even more than Kelsey had already caused them to. And for the rest of dinner, she did not speak a word either. She did not feel like it anymore.

Once they were all done, and before they could disperse, Kana grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her away to her own room. They needed to settle whatever this was.

_____________

Closing the door behind them, Kana finally looked at Emi in the eye and took a deep breath. Heaving, the weight of her dress started to pull her down. There was no excuse for what this girl had been doing. There was no answer good enough that would validate her actions at this point. And yet, Kana wanted to give her a chance.

Walking past her for now, she sat down on the bed and started taking her shoes off. Emi, slowly coming forward with her hand grazing the wall, took her position leaning on it, hands behind her back.

“What happened?” Kana asked.

“Nothing.”

“What do you mean by ‘nothing’? I must have done something to piss you off, so at least tell me what it is. I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what there is to fix!”

“There is nothing to fix, Kana. Don’t bother with it so much. You can’t do anything, no matter how hard you try.”

“Ok, now you’re pissing me off. Are you going to get to it or not?”

“Oh, yeah. Like how you got to it with Kelsey back there? If that’s getting to it means to you, then maybe we should insult each other for ten minutes straight before actually voicing our issues and concerns!”

Kana threw the shoes away and collapsed on the bed, shutting her eyes. Feeling Emi’s presence in the room, she calmed herself down and replied in a whisper, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my mind like that. Can we just talk normally for a little bit?”

“Didn’t you?” The girl finally moved. Pulling the dressing table chair out, she took a seat and crossed her legs, “You can’t lie to me, Kana. You lost your mind back there because you wanted to. You went up and broke into someone else’s room because you wanted to. You cannot just keep doing things and then say that you didn’t mean to do them.”

Her girlfriend raised a finger, “Alright, let’s get the facts straight. I totally did mean to infiltrate their rooms, and I informed you about those plans before I carried them out. Is that what you’re mad about now?”

Emi snorted, “Sure, yeah. That’s it. That’s the issue with you, you know? You think that you know everything.”

“Yeah, because generally, I do!”

She pushed herself up off the bed and got on her feet. Emi looked so small to her. Despite trying her best to maintain an air of confidence with that position, the girl was clearly on the very edge of breaking. This was no time to get angrier. Kana sighed and got closer, kneeling down and putting her hands in Emi’s lap.

“Yeah, and you’re here because I threw grenades in front of three stupid bullies. Emi…you’re not just being introduced to all of this. I can’t be in this world while trying to be legal and moral all the time.”

“Nobody asked you to be, either.” Emi held her hands, leaning in, “Nobody is forcing you to be ethical or…whatever. I couldn’t care less. But…you can’t keep letting it consume you. You can’t just be rude to people for no reason, especially when they are on your side. Like…that call. Who were you talking to on the phone back there?’

“Huh? Oh…that was…an old friend.”

“And you shout and curse at your friends, do you?”

“No!” Kana shook her head, “No, no. That’s not what I did. I mean, I didn’t do it without a reason. She was being dumb, and she was just going to put all of us in danger, and that was the only way to calm her down.”

For some reason, even groveling in front of Emi did not feel wrong to her. Kana squeezed the girl’s palms and widened her own eyes. She could imagine those hands slipping out of hers, and the very thought caused her to crash. If there was one thing Kana did not want, it was losing this girl. Not like this. Not because of such stupid misconceptions.

“I see.” Emi gulped, “And if this girl had ended up doubling down on her actions? What would you do then?”

“Well, then…I would find a way to fix it without her.”

“Why?”

“Why? Uh…” She groaned, “What is this? A test? I…don’t know. I wouldn’t have involved her because she’s already proven that she is not capable of being trusted. How about that?”

Emi smiled, putting her hand on her head and landing a few pats, “That’s it, Kana. That’s the issue, don’t you see? You don’t even think twice before saying that because you believe you’re in the right. But…what happened to her being a friend? You will just cut off a friend because she did something stupid?”

“I mean…it’s a pretty good metric of judgment.”

“Then how many times by now should I have cut you out of my life?”

“Well…” Kana pursed her lips, “Like…one? You’ve done it once already.”

Emi paused, squeezing her hands while stifling a laugh. Controlling her face from giving her feelings away, she nodded and then brought herself back to a neutral expression. Shaking her head, she replied, “Nope. That’s…not what I meant. Kana, all I am saying is that I am tired of seeing you become a worse person for getting what you want. That’s it.”

“Emi. I-I don’t have a choice. You either become me, or you give up and die. It’s as simple as that.”

“It doesn’t need to be!”

Emi got down from the chair, pushing Kana back and kneeling down beside her. Sandwiching the girl’s head between her hands, she creased her forehead and blinked twice to hide the tears that had started to form.

After staying as she was for a moment, Emi continued.

“I’m here, KanKan. I’m right here. And here…I will be forever. I’ll give you all the love you want, alright? It’s what I want to do. But I can’t have you ruining your own life in the process. I can’t have you slowly become less and less kind. Ever since the day I met you again, you’ve been…so loud. So angry. So…much. I don’t like that, KanKan.”

“I…”

“You…have the capacity to be better. And I know it. And I will do whatever you want me to do with you, if you try to be better. Break into however many houses, destroy however many people. Do it. I love you, Kana Minami, and your actions don’t matter to me. As long as you remain the sweet, kind KanKan who actually had a heart of gold, I’ll be right here.”

Kana nodded, wrapping her arms around Emi as she started to feel a lump building up in her throat. She would do it. She would do whatever Emi wanted, too. No more rude behavior, she decided. No more hurting people who didn’t need to be. No more being unkind to those close to her. She would do it all.

“I’m sorry, Emi. I’ll do it. I’ll do it. All of it. I’ll be nice. Don’t do that again. Just…don’t.”

“Hmm…”

The reply from the blonde girl was cut off by her own tears. Leaning further in and pushing her weight onto Kana, Emi pulled her into a hug. As the crying finally started on both sides, their embrace became tighter.

Emi whispered into her ear, “I’m here, KanKan. So take my help, please. Alright? Please. My…my dad is a lawyer, right? I can help you. I can help you however you want. I know quite a bit about it all, too. I’ll help you.”

“Mhmm…”

Kana didn’t reply. She didn’t feel like replying. Holding Emi tight, her breathing finally got slower and more reserved. The last few hours had been the worst. She hadn’t been able to think straight, and then Akiko had ruined it even more. But right now, she could be herself. Right now, she could let it all go.

In Emi Kitamura’s arms, Kana Minami didn’t have to pretend.