Let No Shaman Live (4)
Anyone in the know will know, but Snake Bitch almost never makes a face this flustered.
But honestly — is this even something to get that rattled over? That Rin?
I say this is acting. Yep.
"Gen 3……."
"Did something come up all of a sudden?"
Ninomae Hitomi was sprawled across the sofa, fishing potato chips out of the bag. Han Seoyeon, a toothbrush still caught in her mouth, had been stepping out into the living room when the murmur reached her, and she asked.
"No. A post just went up from someone who says they went to the Gen 3 audition."
"Ah… that."
"It was a complete and total disaster."
Han Seoyeon gazed off toward somewhere far away and let the words drift out, faint and distant.
"And I heard the results came out this time."
"Ah, I saw that as well. It was Rin's stream… Kuroyuki's, rather."
"Right. The members heard earlier that the results were out at all, though."
They already knew the selection was finished, so of course the news could be turned into a little noise marketing. At Hitomi's words, Seoyeon nodded.
"But even when I ask the president, she absolutely will not tell me."
"Have you asked any of the other staff?"
"It seems she put a gag order on the affiliated VTubers as well. No spoilers yet."
"You'd think they could at least tell us this much ahead of time…"
Hitomi muttered it like a grumble. She reached for another chip and moved to pop it into the mouth of Seoyeon, who had come up beside her — then stopped. Only then did it seem to occur to her that Han Seoyeon was in the middle of brushing her teeth. The chip reversed course where it stood and went into Hitomi's own mouth.
"Shion, you haven't heard anything?"
"Nothing in particular, no."
"Though," Han Seoyeon added.
"I was one of the judges, after all, so I do know who received a favorable evaluation."
"Really? Tell me!"
"Hmm. Let's see……."
She thought for a moment, then went on.
"First, Osean Lee, who works at Kuroyuki's café."
"Oh, she auditioned too?"
"Yes. She participated. The evaluation was quite good."
Even after she was caught putting on her innocent act, the judges' overall opinion, as Seoyeon recalled, had not been a bad one.
"And Sakuragi's younger sister."
"Oh, the one we saw at the school before… her name was Sakuragi Honoka, wasn't it?"
"Correct."
This one, too, was simply a case of having interviewed well, and the evaluation had been decent. Of course, with that panel sitting across from you, merely having conducted a normal interview was likely enough to reach for the top ten percent.
"As for the rest… this one's a little hard to call."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, it's certain that one of the two will pass. I just don't know which."
"What? If they auditioned well enough to pass, then they did, and if not, they didn't. Isn't that how it works?"
Hitomi cocked her head, plainly not following, and Han Seoyeon scratched at her cheek.
"The maid — that is, Momomomo Chisa — and Ryuumai Fuu, whom we met the other day."
"Ah. Those two, at least, could probably have kept their composure all the way through an audition……."
"But why those two?"
Hitomi still looked baffled.
"You know the two of them don't get along. You saw it last time, didn't you?"
"Ah, yes… somewhat."
"The truth is, their relationship is worse than you think. That time, they were holding themselves back because you and Yuri were right there in front of them."
"That… would be a real problem."
A great many MCNs whose talent pools skew toward a single gender run on yuri fanservice, but Anathema rides that line a little harder than average. It is, in short, a company that prizes the relationships between its members, which means even a petty rumor of discord can swell into a serious problem. And if the case is not some rumor-shaped whisper of bad blood but an actual, severe rift… the company can hardly help shying away from it.
"Who do you think will pass, Shion?"
"If I had to say… Ryuumai seems the more likely, doesn't she. Momomomo has her primary job, after all."
"The other way around, though — the maid already has a character she's built by showing up so often on Tsubasa's streams. Wouldn't that work in her favor? Like Sister."
"Hmm. I couldn't say."
Well, it was that president. She would have made a sound decision. Han Seoyeon closed the subject out with something suitably vague, able to tell that without any essential information, talking about this any longer would only loop on itself forever.
"Ah, so, about tomorrow's trip. Have you packed?"
Hitomi seemed no more eager to keep going on the subject, and she took her cue from Seoyeon and changed it at once.
"Not yet. I was thinking of doing it after I finish washing up."
"Were you."
"And you, Hitomi?"
"Already done!"
She drew her shoulders up with pride and pointed at the trunk set beside the sofa. For some reason she looked thoroughly pleased with herself.
"Already? You seem to be looking forward to it a great deal."
"Even if we only just went, this is still barely my second time overseas. And it's your homeland, Shion."
"Well. Homeland or not, I wasn't actually in Korea for all that long a stretch."
"Even so, if we're going to be particular, you've gone and defined yourself as Korean, haven't you?"
"That much is true."
"Then it's basically the same."
Hitomi said so, and shrugged.
"Is that how it is?"
"That's how it is, I'm telling you."
A moment later the two of them were facing one another, smiling.
"We take both. Gen 3 is going out as a four-person lineup."
"…President?"
"You can lump it all together and call it yuri, but in practice there are several branches. Isn't it about time Anapro introduced a love-hate relationship?"
"No — President? Could you wait a moment?"
"No. I will not wait. I am the president, after all."
"Sorry to say this to your face, but do you genuinely have no human heart?"
"Well. I am a Deep One."
"…So it's confirmed. Gen 3 manager is officially the most avoided posting at Anapro."