Suffer Not the Shaman to Live (1)
Around the time Ninomae Hitomi was, once again today, wandering the border between life and death upon the bed—laid low by an affection that had carried on clear into the afternoon—
"Ah, ahhh……."
"Are you really all right with just this?"
A fellow second-generation talent, like her: Komori Sae. The woman inside that name, Bansei Marin, sat in a café with another woman's hand lightly clasped in her own. Healthy-looking brown fingers twitched inside her grasp.
"At this level it's practically a handshake event. I don't imagine it does all that much for you……."
"Ah, ah, no. It's enough… hnn, it's enough…!"
"If this were the very first time we'd met, perhaps. But you came to see me twice back when I was active, Alejandra."
"Wha—? Y-you remembered… nngh, augh, ghhh……."
"Alejandra…? Alejandra?!"
Bansei Marin. Current VTuber, former idol. She had just pulled off the feat of fainting an Apostle with nothing more than a few words.
The incident traced all the way back to the planning of Ninomae Hitomi's proposal.
The one situation this operation had to avoid was both sides, each unaware of the other, preparing surprise events. The chance was slim, but they still needed to confirm that Han Seoyeon was not planning a proposal of her own. It was certain she had not discussed the matter with anyone from Anathema Production, which left the Church's connections. The decision was to contact Sarah Groothuizen—that is, Apostle James the Greater, Abraham-Delta—and have them confirm it.
And it was then, as Abraham set about investigating the people around Seoyeon at Hitomi's request, that they realized a dilemma.
If someone is preparing a surprise, they are hardly going to try to tell the person the surprise is for.
To resolve it, Abraham brought in Apostle Matthias—Alejandra. If Seoyeon sought counsel on the matter, there was a good chance word would make its way even to her. And even supposing it never reached Alejandra's own ears, she was someone who could manage a little investigation—what the world usually calls "hacking"—so there was no harm in asking her cooperation. With a touch of Abraham's own foresight slipped in as support, it had been, unexpectedly, quite a sophisticated operation. Nor could one leave out that Hyakurenno's capital had been added to the preparations.
In any case, the condition offered then in exchange for Alejandra's cooperation was precisely this: an arranged meeting with Bansei Marin.
When Guroyuki Sui later heard the story from Hitomi, she had her doubts. Would someone who held the rank of Apostle really betray Han Seoyeon over a trifle like that, and spill a secret they had agreed to keep? In the end it came to light that Han Seoyeon had told no one anything about a proposal, and so that answer would remain unknown forever.
But today, Guroyuki was certain.
If she'd heard even a little, this one would've spilled it. One hundred percent.
When the woman had first come into the café and waited a moment, the impression had been of a sexy, self-assured beauty of an older sister—the very stereotype of a South American woman…….
"Hahh… ah, I'm sorry. I just can't calm down… haaah."
And yet from the instant that woman laid eyes on Bansei Marin, this was the state of her. Once again today, Guroyuki felt in her bones the truth of her standing creed—that too much fandom ruins a person—and buried it in her chest.
"Bansei-chan, Bansei-chan remembered me… ehehe……."
"…She's all right, isn't she."
"Well… it's every fan's dream, isn't it. Be a little understanding."
One celebrity, and a fandom of many. From the celebrity's side, it naturally becomes difficult to see each of them as a person, and they come to be gathered into a single mass called "the fans." Even when a little subdivision occurs, it only goes as far as sorting them into a few groups by some given standard. To be recognized and remembered by one's oshi as an individual, then, is a truly special thing—the dream of idol fans everywhere.
"I'm not like you, with a memory that good, you know. I'm poor with faces, and the fans knew that about me too."
The fans knew Bansei was that kind of person, so the occasional fan she did remember became an object of bitter envy. It would have been the same in any celebrity's fandom, but in Bansei's case the jealousy ran especially sharp for that very reason. And for that same Bansei to remember her still, long after retirement, all the way to now—for a diehard fan devoted enough to follow her even into this reincarnation as a VTuber, it was nothing short of an event to die happy over.
Even so, Guroyuki would have preferred she refrain from collapsing while gasping that she couldn't breathe. For a moment there, she had even debated whether to call Han Seoyeon and begin a resurrection rite. What café owner in the world wants someone dying in their own shop?
"I mean, how could I not remember you, Alejandra? As far as I've confirmed with my own eyes, you were my only South American fan."
"Muerte—good heavens. Mother, Father. Thank you so much for being Hispanic!"
The thanks were sincere, and they were aimed at her junkie parents, who were in all likelihood burning in hell at that very moment. It was probably the first time in her life she had felt grateful toward them. Bansei, of course, who could not have known those circumstances, could only smile awkwardly at the theatrics.
Then Bansei leaned toward Guroyuki, seated beside her, and whispered.
"So… you said this person is an Apostle or something, like Shion? I heard it was impressive, but honestly I'm not really feeling it."
It had been only a month or two since Bansei learned the hidden world existed. She hadn't gone looking for any further information since, so even the word Apostle didn't land with much weight.
"Think of them as the ten best vampire hunters the Church picked. Understand it that way and you'll be fine."
"That's quite a person……. For someone like that to like me this much, it's an honor, isn't it?"
"Ah, no! The honor is entirely mine!"
Watching that reaction with a blank stare, Guroyuki nodded as if she understood perfectly.
"Just a Sister with a different oshi."
The thought had slipped out before she could catch it. Any way you looked at her, she was the same breed as Han Seoyeon. It did make one wonder whether Apostles were simply all like this.
"M-Margarita and I are different! I don't have a shred of romantic feeling! Pure worship! I'm in the faction that wants to become a houseplant and watch the HeavyMori couple!"
"No. We weren't a couple to begin with……."
"Ah. The concept is that you aren't a couple in the RP. I'm well aware."
"We're not that kind of relationship in real life, either."
Don't tell me this one was another of those vicious fans who treated a performed couple as the real thing. Guroyuki pressed a hand to her forehead. Granted, it was a side effect that came with the territory the moment Anathema set out to do business by leaning openly into a yuri atmosphere.
"HeavyMori?"
Bansei, for her part, had reacted to a different piece of it than Guroyuki. Who was on top and who was on bottom in a ship was a critical matter—all the more so when you yourself were in the ship.
"As expected, someone who knows. I had faith in you."
"No, it's SaeRin, isn't it?"
"Ah-ah. Losers, quiet. —Anyway, what would you like? Bansei-chan's the usual strawberry latte no matter what."
"Ah? I'll have, um… a house blend…?"
But Guroyuki refused the conversation as if a self-evident truth were not worth arguing, and rose from her seat.
"Oh? Where did the rest of the staff go?"
"Anri's playing sick. Ma's holed up claiming PTSD."
"Not that it matters. I always make Bansei-chan's anyway."
She shrugged, and headed behind the counter.
"…So you really do come here often, even if you don't say so on stream. Bansei-ch… ma'am."
"Well, mm. I suppose so."
"Th-then HeavyMori is real after all, isn't it?!"
"No, so please don't just force a yuri relationship onto real life?! We don't even have a setting where we're like that, to begin with? And besides… the correct way to write it isn't HeavyMori, it's SaeRin…"
"I cannot accept that interpretation, not even from Bansei-chan! Just going by the number of illustrations uploaded to Nimphev, the HeavyMori tag has far more……."
Well. It was a hastily thrown-together fan meeting that could be summarized, in the end, as noisy in every possible way.
"I had so much fun today, Bansei-chan!"
"Mmm, all we did was chat a little at the café, didn't we?"
"You have no idea how happy that is for a fan from the early days. …It's a shame, but I should get going. My flight is supposed to leave soon."
"Oh my. You're heading home already."
"Weeell, I only stopped by in the first place for today's meeting."
The enjoyable one-on-one fan meeting at the café had wrapped up before she knew it, and Alejandra rose slowly, looking truly regretful. After asking several times to be spoken to without formality, she had even succeeded in hearing casual speech in her oshi's usual voice. There were satisfying points, in their way……. And yet no amount of enjoyment could keep parting from one's oshi from aching.
But Alejandra truly could not stay. She had carved time out of a packed schedule and flown to Japan in a rush the moment she heard Bansei Marin would see her. Once she handled the last errand she needed to take care of in Japan while she was here, she would have to return to her actual work.
However sunk she might be in an idol, this was not a meeting worth having while a dragon ran loose and civilians died. That would be disqualification as an Apostle.
"The next time we meet will be at Seoyeon's wedding, I suppose."
"Ah, you're coming then too? I'm glad there'll be another chance to see you."
"Well then, I'll really be going now. Take care."
She bowed from the waist again and again, and even as she left she kept turning back to show her regret… until at last Alejandra had gone far enough that the café was no longer in sight.
"Ah… I wanted to talk more……."
What spilled from her mouth was that same regret. But there truly was no time left now. She let out a sigh… and climbed into a car parked along the nearby street. A rental, secured in a hurry.
"—Sorry. Did I keep you waiting long?"
She addressed the passenger seat at once. A figure sat there with a hood drawn up—face concealed, and the whole body with it. The curves showing through the top made it possible to guess she was a woman, yet she had a height considerable even set beside a man.
"How long I waited doesn't matter. Not one bit. But you made this meeting secret enough to turn even me into a coward. If it isn't worth that much, I'll chew your skull off and eat it. Right here."
"Um… I don't think that would be very easy. But I suppose we can be glad the situation for even attempting something so pointless won't arise?"
Even at the woman's growling threat, Alejandra only went on in a tranquil voice.
"Well then. Shall we discuss the Prophet Hunt? —Marbas?"
"Hmph. Go on. Run your mouth."
Alejandra looked at the black-haired woman and grinned.
To her, an Apostle was someone who had to know how to use even a meeting with the person she loved most, when the greater cause demanded it.