Chapter 4

The first she did in a cheerful yet oddly calming voice. It was styled after a voiceover for a show about cute animals, a surefire winner for a demo reel. As for the second… “A miraculous collaboration with a famous restaurant! The flavor of the future has arrived! Just one bite, and…” Suzune whistled, impressed. A commercial-based sample was unusual. Most people did something like a news segment spotlighting a local shopping district. It was usually a bright and happy voice, somewhat different from the first but still in the same category. “All right, we’ve got it. Unless you have any concerns, that should do it for today.” At the mixer’s words, Karin turned to face the camera. “Um… Sengu-san, do you have any thoughts or anything?” Who, me?! Suzune was startled, even though that was the whole reason she was here in the first place. She wasn’t just watching to learn from a fellow voice actress. Suzune got up and opened the door to the booth. “No notes,” she said. The mixer nodded and conveyed this into the talkback mic. “She says it’s all good. Nice work.” Suzune closed the door behind her and returned to the table. What a wonderful thing she’d gotten to hear. It was always fun to watch someone else’s acting, even if they were just recording a demo reel. These reels were essentially a resume, summing up that person’s skills. Anime roles were usually decided by auditions, but roles for games were frequently determined by nomination instead. The main roles would all go to famous voice actors, of course, but since there were always a lot of characters to be voiced in games, newbies had a shot, too. These reels were often the deciding factor. As much as the agency could recommend specific talents, and often did, you wouldn’t get the role unless your demo reel matched what the casting directors had in mind. Still, you had to be able to act consistently, or you’d cause problems, so you couldn’t just record tons of different samples. It was best to present a few of your best voices, for roles that were in your wheelhouse. Suzune specialized in teenaged characters of all kinds; from the serious types to the slackers, she’d played them all. That, and little girls. She had a hard time with young boys, so she didn’t record those. While she wanted to try playing adult women, too, she hadn’t gotten a chance yet—it didn’t help that her voice was naturally on the high side. “Thank you very much.” A few minutes later, Karin emerged from the booth, and Suzune couldn’t stop herself from standing up to greet her. Karin looked at her in surprise, clearly wondering why she was standing. But Suzune was too excited to care. “You were amazing!” She blurted out her thoughts without a filter. She couldn’t help it. “Surely you’ve acted before—I mean, sorry, have you? You’re so good at it!” Karin blinked rapidly, clearly confused. Her cheeks took on a slight pink tint, and her eyes shifted. Was she embarrassed? If so, that was adorable, too. “Especially the young boy! I love it when voice actresses play boy characters, but yours might be the best I’ve ever heard! You really nailed that angelic quality young boys have right before their voice changes!” “Erm, th-thank you…” At Karin’s obvious bewilderment, Suzune finally caught herself. O-oh no… I went into otaku mode there… It was a typical nerd move to babble quickly in long, run-on sentences. At least, this time it was about voice acting and not idols. “Done already, hmm?” Fortunately, Miama entered the room just in time, inadvertently saving Suzune from herself. “How was it? No issues?” It took a moment for Suzune to realize she was the one being asked. “Not at all,” she answered hastily. “No redos or anything—she was amazing.” “That’s high praise from you, Suzune. I’ll have to give it a listen later. Well, good work, you two. Since you’re both done for the day, why don’t you take some time to get to know each other?” “Huh?!” Suzune was so excited, she practically shrieked in response. A part of her had been secretly hoping she and Karin might get to spend a little more time together, but she’d told herself that inviting her out of nowhere might be construed as harassment. But if their shared manager suggested it, then it was a matter of business! “Well…would you like to get tea or something, then?” Suppressing her excitement, Suzune turned to Karin. The few seconds before her answer felt like several long minutes. “Um…if it’s all right with you, Sengu-san.” LET’S GOOOOO! Suzune managed to keep her inner voice from clawing its way out of her throat in a scream and wrestled her lips into a straight line before they could form a grin. “Sure, why not,” she managed to respond, and off they went. “Um, could we maybe get drinks instead of tea?” When Suzune fished for suggestions of where to go, she was startled by Karin’s response. She hadn’t expected her to suggest alcohol, of all things. Thinking about it, she realized it wasn’t strange in the slightest, since Karin was also over twenty years old. But in Suzune’s mind, idols and alcohol just didn’t mix. Still, this was better than she could have hoped. If they went out for pastries and tea (or perhaps coffee), they wouldn’t be able to spend much time there. Suzune was confident that she could happily spend anywhere from twelve to forty-eight hours with Karin if they were close, no matter when or where—but while Suzune knew Karin well, this was basically Karin’s first time meeting her. But going for dinner and drinks could last at least two hours. Even if they didn’t end up having much to talk about, she could spend more time with Karin, basking in her presence. Suzune checked her phone. It was 5:40 PM. A little early for dinner, maybe, but most places would at least be open by 6:00 PM. “F-fine by me. Is there somewhere you’d like to go?” “No, not particularly… I’m a just little hungry, is all. Would you mind picking a place, Sengu-san? I don’t know this area very well yet.” Karin-sama is hungry! So cute! “I-in that case, we could go to one of my favorite spots, if you don’t mind a little walk? They have private rooms, so if there are any open I could reserve one right now…” “Thank you, that sounds great.” “Okay, j-just a second, then…” Suzune’s heart leapt as she tapped her smartphone screen. Her finger was shaking. The first place that came to mind was a Chinese restaurant that let you check for open rooms and make reservations right on their website. Luckily, two rooms were open. She quickly reserved one before it could get taken. Since she’d used this establishment’s website many times before, she didn’t even have to enter her contact information. “I made the reservation. It’s a Chinese restaurant, if that’s okay? Is there anything you can’t eat?” “No, I’m not picky. I can even eat pretty spicy food.” Suzune almost exclaimed “Yes, I know!” but gulped it down just in time. She’d watched Karin take on a super-spicy food challenge on an online talk show. When Suzune had first learned the nature of the show, she’d worried about what they might make her oshi do. But as contestants dropped out one after the other, Karin kept on eating. When she finally outlasted her final opponent, a comedian who’d been taunting her obnoxiously despite not even being particularly popular, Suzune cheered and whooped at her phone. Even if the show might have been rigged, Karin’s determination was the real thing. Why else would she have kept eating until her lips were red and swollen? “Shall we go, then?” Desperately suppressing the urge to skip, Suzune turned lightly on her heel and started walking. Karin fell into step next to her. She was walking side-by-side with her oshi. Was this a dream? It was difficult to resist glancing over at her constantly. Difficult but wonderful. But while her emotions were churning, there was one thing Suzune resolved never to do. Namely: She wouldn’t let Karin Shotsuki find out that she was a huge fan of hers. After all, Karin wasn’t an idol anymore. Since she’d quit being an idol and entered the voice acting industry, it would undoubtedly bother her if people kept bringing up her past. While the agency would most likely use her past accomplishments to further her career, that didn’t mean she would want her colleagues harping on about it. It might be strange to never bring it up at all; Karin probably wouldn’t mind if someone asked about her idol era out of simple curiosity. In fact, it might be more suspicious if Suzune avoided ever mentioning it. But surely, it was better to treat Karin as a fellow voice actress, no more and no less. “Ah…” Realizing that she’d automatically started walking toward the restaurant, Suzune stopped. “Sorry, would you rather take a taxi? It’s about a twenty-minute walk.” “No, that’s completely fine. I’m wearing the right shoes for it today anyway.” Karin gave a dramatic step to show off her shoes, a pair of button boots with low heels. They were very cute, with a two-tone color scheme. “Oh, good. I’m in the habit of walking anywhere that’s a half hour or less, so sometimes people get mad at me for not warning them that it’s such a long trek.” “Do they really? I do a lot of walking, too. Normally around ten thousand steps a day.” “Really? Same here!” Suzune was delighted to find common ground. Sure, a taxi would have been easier, but then they would have to keep the driver in mind when choosing what to talk about. By contrast, walking to the restaurant would let them talk about anything without reservation. The weather was nice and temperate. There was a pleasant breeze. She had to treasure these twenty precious minutes of having her oshi all to herself. Suzune racked her brains for a harmless topic to start out with and decided on their shared manager, Miama. She had plenty of stories about her manager’s exploits. No doubt it would make for a fun conversation. “Well, then…cheers.” Suzune picked up her slim glass, which was slick with condensation, and raised it in a toast. She wasn’t sure what they were toasting to exactly, it just seemed like the thing to do. “Cheers!” Karin went along with it, mimicking the gesture. She was clearly used to these kinds of interactions. They clinked their glasses together lightly, and Suzune took a sip of her drink. The frothy foam and tangy hops were a welcome refreshment. It was only recently that she’d learned to appreciate the taste of beer. That being said, she still hadn’t quite come around to Yuika’s drinks of choice, like whiskey or brandy. They ordered their food à la carte. One of the restaurant’s specialties was shrimp with mayonnaise. It was unique in that the shrimp came pin-straight, not curled up in a ball, making it easy to eat. It was seasoned just right, too, not overly sweet. They each picked out a few other dishes. Karin ordered mapo tofu, proving she really did have a strong spice tolerance. She also requested dim sum dishes like century eggs, turnip cakes, and square spring rolls. Aaah, this really is a dream come true! If you’d told Suzune a month ago that she would be sitting at a dinner table with her oshi, she never would have believed you. Surely, it would sound like a belated April Fool’s joke or a prank on a hidden-camera TV show. Wait…it’s not a prank, is it…? Suddenly nervous, Suzune went over everything that had happened so far in her head and determined that there was nothing to worry about. She was the one who’d chosen this restaurant, and it was silly to think that she’d been set up in the first place. The fact that her script arrived today and that Karin happened to be recording her demo reel at the same time was just a fortunate coincidence. They talked about nothing in particular, from the freshness of the shrimp to which app games they played to how they incentivized walking ten thousand steps a day. All the while, Suzune was on cloud nine. Karin Shotsuki’s face was adorable, of course, but Suzune loved her voice as well. Her tone was somewhat more relaxed now than it had been during meet-and-greets or bouts of MCing in between songs at concerts. She sounded so real and genuine. Suzune had to fight to keep herself from grinning like a fool at the sheer luxury of it all. After a while, when their second round of beers was brought in and they were left alone in the room again, Karin ventured a question. “Um, so…be honest with me: How was it?” Suzune knew what she was referring to right away. “The demo reel, you mean?” “Right.” Ahh, that explains why she wanted to go for drinks, Suzune thought. It was scary to ask for someone’s honest assessment of your work. A bit of liquid courage came in handy, both for asking the question and for hearing the answer. “It was great.” Suzune wet her lips with a sip of beer and voiced her opinion truthfully. However, Karin’s brows furrowed slightly. She was probably worried that Suzune was just being polite, which wasn’t the case at all. “Honestly, I was surprised. You’ve got the acting chops of someone with real experience. Especially that young boy voice! How in the world did you get it to sound like that? Also, have you done theater before?” Karin’s shoulders sagged in relief. Suzune’s enthusiasm must have proven her every word was genuine. “I’ve always had a knack for the ‘boy voice’ thing… I just never had a chance to show it off before. And I’ve studied acting, but I’ve never actually done it on a stage before.” “Wow, really? When you said you studied, do you mean after you quit being an idol? …Ah, I’m sorry.” It still wasn’t clear why Karin Shotsuki had suddenly graduated. There were all kinds of theories online, but the truth was still shrouded in mystery. Suzune worried that it would be rude to touch on the subject when Karin hadn’t talked about it herself. “Ah-ha-ha, it’s fine, really.” Karin’s posture had relaxed a little, perhaps thanks to the beer. Her bangs fell over one eye, giving her a slightly sexy look. I want to capture this moment for eternity! Suzune’s fangirl urges threatened to take over for a moment, and she had to grab her own hand to stop it from reaching for her phone. Still, maybe they could take a selfie together later. That would be perfectly normal for a pair of work colleagues, right? “I graduated from DIAGONAL because I wanted to become a voice actress.” “What?! Wait, r-really?!” This was news to Suzune, although in retrospect, it should have been obvious. But she never knew Karin had such aspirations. Suzune was sure she’d read every last interview and article about her oshi, and none of them had ever mentioned such a thing. “In fact, the whole reason I signed with my old agency in the first place was to become a voice actress, not an idol. I only joined DIAGONAL because I was told it would be a newbie voice actress unit project.” That was even more surprising. Suzune didn’t know this, either. If DIAGONAL ever mentioned any kind of connection to voice acting, surely she would have heard about it. “But it was all a big lie. They tricked me on purpose, because they wanted to make me an idol so badly. I guess they figured that once I got started, it would work itself out.” Karin pursed her lips and gave a little huff. Was she angry or sulking? Either way, it was adorable. Suzune couldn’t help gazing at her, although she was still listening intently. “I mean, I guess they were right about that. And I’m such an idiot, I just kept believing them when they made promises like ‘soon’ or ‘someday’… Especially since I did get to do some anime-related work, albeit not as a voice actress.” Right, the theme songs…they were all certified bangers, too! “But well, I figured it out eventually, didn’t I? Like, ‘Oh wait, I’m on the wrong path here.’ I really did love all my fans and the other DIAGONAL members, though. So I decided to stick it out, at least until I could pull in enough of a crowd for a solo concert at a big venue. I figured I’d do whatever else I could in the meantime, so I asked a veteran actress at my agency to introduce me to a voice actress she knew, and then that person put me in touch with a different voice actress who gave me private lessons for a long while.” “Do you mind if I ask this voice actress’s name…?” “Sure.” Karin gave the name readily. It was a seasoned voice actress whose work Suzune knew well. If she remembered correctly, that actress was a teacher at a specialty school, too. Ahh, I get it. So the reason she seemed so comfortable in the booth was because she already knew what to do. Still, Karin’s networking skills were impressive. She’d managed to land private lessons with a seasoned veteran who even Suzune had never been in the studio with. “Are you sure you don’t mind telling me all this when we’re still just getting to know each other, though? I mean, I know I’m the one who asked…” “It’s all right. I wanted you to know that I’m serious about this, that I didn’t just get into voice acting on a random whim… Besides, Miama-san told me I should try and make some allies.” “And you chose…me? But why…?” Suzune’s heart stirred. Could it be that Karin recognized her from the meet-and-greet after all? Part of her was hopeful that her oshi might remember her, while another part was worried about how it would affect their interactions from now on. “Well, Miama-san said you’re a good person.” “I—I see…” Suzune didn’t know what else to say. She took a long sip of her beer to cover for the silence that followed. She couldn’t help but wonder why Miama-san would say that about her. Suzune knew she tended to try and look out for people, and she did like it when new voice actresses looked up to her. Still, it bothered her to think that her manager might think of her as a useful patsy. “She said ‘If you’re honest and direct with Sengu-san, she’ll take you seriously,’ or something like that. That’s why I figured it was safe to be open about all this. Because I really am serious.” Suzune turned bright red. As if it wasn’t enough that her oshi was looking straight at her from such a short distance away, she was also embarrassed to have doubted Miama even for a moment. “I’m not really all that, you know…” She poked at a piece of shrimp. It had gotten a little cold, and the mayonnaise was starting to harden. She should have eaten it while it was still hot. “Really?” Karin tilted her head, then snatched up the shrimp and popped it into her mouth. She swallowed, then giggled a little. “Mm, yummy.” She’s such an angel… After Suzune got home, took a bath, and changed into oversized sweats, she wrapped herself around a body pillow on her bed and blissfully thought back on the dreamlike time with her oshi. They had ended up spending three whole hours together. After finishing their second beers, they had moved on to Shaoxing wine and finally several cups of sweet-scented oolong tea. Since Karin had received instruction from a seasoned pro, she seemed to understand the basics of the industry, at least in theory. They hadn’t talked that much about work, but they hadn’t delved too deeply into their personal lives, either. Instead, they spent most of the time chatting idly about trivial topics. Even so, it was clear from their conversations that Karin was a diehard anime fan. She mentioned that she watched at least a few episodes of every new anime each season before deciding which to stick with, and she was very knowledgeable about the subject in general, too. If anything, Suzune was the one who couldn’t keep up with her. Ever since she’d started working as a voice actress, Suzune had lost the ability to watch anime purely for pleasure. Instead, she devoted more of her attention to idols and live-action TV dramas. Watching Karin talk about it with such enthusiasm, Suzune felt an increasing desire to stop consuming anime from a professional standpoint. It was an occupational hazard that voice actors automatically paid more attention to the vocal performances than anything else. Her conversation with Karin had been a truly wonderful experience…yet at the same time, she felt a little saddened by it, too. The person in front of her was without a doubt Karin Shotsuki, the undisputed center of DIAGONAL. And yet, she wasn’t the idol Suzune had obsessed over for so long. The brilliance that made her shine like a supernova had settled into something calmer, and her all-out energy had been turned down a notch. She seemed like much more of an adult. Her idol persona was just an act. Of course it was. Suzune didn’t think of this as a betrayal, and she didn’t feel dismayed by it. If anything, she knew deep down it was better this way. Both for Suzune’s work life and her personal life. But still, it drove home the reality that her oshi really had graduated. As Karin had sampled Shaoxing wine and giggled, “What a funny taste!” she’d looked for all the world like a normal twenty-two-year-old woman. The DIAGONAL merch decorating Suzune’s room was still as dazzling as ever, but now it felt a little more bittersweet, a representation of something now lost. Still, though… I’m glad she found a new path. From Karin’s perspective, she was finally returning to her original dream. Suzune, on the other hand, had been genuinely anxious about what Karin would do after moving on from life as an idol. While she never would have imagined the answer would be voice acting, it was clear that Karin was very serious about it. Suzune’s smartphone pinged, letting her know that she’d received a new message. When she looked at the lock screen, a popup notification informed her it was from none other than Karin. Just like that, her excitement spiked. Is this really happening?! It was a thrill she never could have imagined just a few days ago. After they’d finished eating, Karin had asked: “Umm…would you mind if we exchanged contact info?” As if she could possibly refuse. Suzune had whipped out her phone and pulled up the messaging app in a flash. They immediately formed a group chat for just the two of them. They even decided they would never let anyone else join it. Now she opened the app and read the message. Thanks again for today. It was really fun and super helpful, too. I hope we can go out to eat again sometime soon. OMG YES PLEASE! Suzune took a deep breath to calm herself, so as to not let her feelings get the best of her and answer with those exact words. That was a close one. If she’d responded so intensely, she would have come across as being way too eager. As the older and more experienced one, she had to play it cool. I had a great time, too. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions. Yes, I’d be happy to go out to eat again. “………” She forced herself to wait a full minute before sending the response. Okay, send! The app showed her message being sent with a little animation. The “read” receipt appeared almost immediately. That was fast! If she didn’t know any better, she’d think that Karin had been waiting for her to respond. Rationally, she knew it was just that she must have been fooling around on her phone after initially messaging her. But as she thought all this… Yes, please! As long as you’re not just saying that to be polite. The response came instantly. Of course not, silly. This time, Suzune responded right away as well. In seconds, there was another message. Oh good. When’s the next time you’ll be at the office? Most likely next week. OK, let me know when you have a better idea of what day. I’ve got plenty of free time at the moment. W-wow, she’s really coming on strong… Suzune was thrilled, of course, but she was also a little confused. Should they really become friends like this so quickly? While Suzune knew all about Karin as an idol, she didn’t think Karin knew much about her yet. Or was this just the normal attitude for youngsters these days? In the meantime, another message came. And you don’t need to be so formal in messages, either. I’m the newbie, remember! OK then… As much as Suzune hesitated to be so bold with her oshi, she resolved to do her best to be informal without being too overly familiar, since that was what Karin wanted. By the way, are you… She’s still going?! Kids these days are so forward, she thought. In the end, they wound up messaging each other back and forth for another two hours. The next day, when Suzune flipped the pages of her script at the recording session, she found her thumb was a little sore.