Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

When Kana and Jina got back to the apartment, the smell that tingled their noses was not one that inspired confidence. The former did not address it, moving straight to the couch and grabbing a drink. The latter, who was the one pouring the drink, couldn’t just let it go without question.

“Did you not tell Emi that we’re eating out?”

“What do you mean?” Kana mumbled, barely able to keep her sanity. The incident with Kelsey would gain way too much publicity if Yamazaki did not work quickly. She trusted the man, but she did not trust the speed with which people worked online.

“She’s made dinner.” Jina checked the pots in the kitchen with a sigh. “You forgot to tell her, didn’t you? All of this is going to go to waste now.”

“Put it in the fridge or something. It’s no big deal. I mean, it’s just food. Who cares?”

“Uh, the person who made it, I am guessing?”

“She won’t feel bad about it. I’ll talk to her and tell her I forgot. That girl will probably just give me a light smack on the head and then ask me what I did eat. So, as I said, just throw it in the fridge.”

“It won’t stay fresh in the fridge, Kana. It’s gonna go bad soon, and the cold won’t save it. She made this a long time ago.”

“Well, then, throw it out. I don’t know. It’s just food.”

Kana stood up and put her empty wine glass back on the counter. If Jina was going to throw a tantrum like this, she didn’t have time to engage in the discussion. Kelsey had chosen the worst possible way to do what she did, even if her intentions were not bad. And here Jina was – worried about food.

“Good night.”

With that, Kana decided to head upstairs. As she did, the sounds of utensils attracted her attention and made her stop on the stairs.

Back in the kitchen, Jina had taken out a plate and was grabbing some of the dinner from the pots. Jina Ohara, the girl who did not like to overeat to maintain her figure, was forcefully trying to down all of that. To prove a point. That was it.

“Are you dumb?” Kana asked. “You’re gonna get fat like that, and then I’m the one who will have to hear all the complaining.”

“I’ll exercise a bit more. It’s fine.” A full plate in her hand, she sat down at the dining table and looked out the window as she took her first bite.

“She really won’t mind. I’m being serious. This is not the first time I’ve forgotten to tell her something, and it won’t be the last.”

“That’s quite noble of you, isn’t it?” Jina put her spoon down and stared at her. “Kana, she did all of this for us. She thought we were coming back home a little late, so she made food for everyone. What kind of defense is that, anyway? Just because you’ve made a mistake before, you’ll make it again? That makes it fine, I guess.”

“What I’m saying is that she knows me. She understands me. She is not going to que-”

“Sure didn’t seem like she understood you yesterday afternoon.”

“Do not bring up what happened yesterday.”

Jina completely turned her chair to face the girl. “Do you even love her, Kana? Or is she just there so that you don’t feel too lonely all the time?”

Kana rolled her eyes. “You’re going two for two on the personal attacks recently, aren’t you? Of course, I love her. Why do you ask? Trying to see if you still have a chance? Well, spoiler alert, you fucking don’t. You never will.”

“Well, spoiler alert back to you, I stopped asking a long time ago. But as a friend of both of you, I am not going to sit here and just see you treat her like she’s a toy to make you feel better about yourself.”

“I…” She thought about shouting back. She could have shouted back. But then Naomi Yamazaki’s face came to mind, and she wasn’t sure if that was the best idea. So, she sat down on the stairs, exhausted, and continued. “I’m sorry. But…I do. I love her, Jina. I love her a lot. At the same time, I…”

“Am not very good at expressing it as I should?” Jina asked, smiling. “I’m sorry too, for what it’s worth. What I was trying to say is that you need to try a bit more. If you don’t, then it will be too late before you know it. Trust me when I say you don’t want that. She’s a good girl, Kana. But she’s not of this world, and she never will be. You dragged her in either way.”

“I didn’t mean to drag her i-”

“Yes, you did.” She interjected. “You totally did. Person as calculating as you did not think twice before pulling out that grenade launcher in a public space? Just admit you wanted to show off to the girl. You wanted to prove how cool you were now, so you did what you did. And three people died for that, too.”

“In my defense, they deserved it.”

“In their defense, they were three bullies who didn’t know any better. Now, they’ll never know any better.”

“I thought we were talking about Emi.”

Jina groaned. “Look, if you want to show her that you love her, then start caring about what she thinks. Just because she accommodates you does not mean that she has no life of her own. Why do you think she ran out of your sister’s place the other day?”

“She didn’t run out. She went to visit her own parents.”

“She did not. Come on, Kana. Even I know that she does not have the best relationship with her mother and father, and I barely know her. Emi got out of that house because Keiko was busy with me, and you were busy with Yamazaki, and she was just…sitting there. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?”

To be left out. To feel like you didn’t matter, or didn’t exist. Yeah, Kana had a clue. She had way too good a clue about what that felt like. It had just been so long since she felt it herself that she had stopped considering it. She had been blinded to the fact that others could still feel like that. Emi could still feel like that.

“Oh, fuck it.” Kana stood up and walked down. “I’ll bite. What did she make?”

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Over the next two days, things went as planned.

Nozoki Neko worked on editing and polishing the audio to sound as natural as possible, and then set up the release for the evening of November 7. Akiko’s plan had given them the perfect alibi to do so, after all. If all of them were present at that meeting, there would be no way for them to have released the audio online.

Kana took the time to ensure the music production was going right. With their popularity still soaring, the time to release an album was ripe, and they were on track to do exactly that. By mid-November, it would be ready to put out. Marketing had already started to build up hype for the same. There was no time to be wasted for Sakai, who desperately needed to get back on his feet after the competition had shut down.

Each passing hour, however, only one question bothered Kana – what exactly was Akiko Hara planning? She had run through the options, but there was no saying. She would only find out when she got to the mansion and heard it herself. The only saving grace amidst all of this was that her own plans were going well.

MidoriLIVE would come down soon. Then, either Bobtail Felis would regain their place in the Fair Play Committee, or someone would buy out THE POP-JO and gain that right. That someone would be Sakai Entertainment. It had to be. That was why the album sales were necessary. Because either way, they needed to get closer to Tanaka.

Even with the competition down, the Coalition was still functioning, after all. It still ensured a fair ground between all of the members and acted as the main beating heart of the major agencies. Not to mention that sooner or later, the competition would be back. Without it, the Coalition could not print money like before, after all.

Kana was just preparing herself in advance. She was readying herself for the inevitable comeback and to use that to push them to the top.

And so, before she knew it, the day was here. Before she could have prepared herself for what was going to happen, it had already happened. The day it all started to crumble. The day every plan she could have ever made was broken with a single blow.

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November 7, 2043 – Around 15:30

Katsuhara Apartments

Velvet Beats leaves for Akiko Hara’s mansion

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