Chapter 430: A Prodigious Clash |
In Hoshigawa Academy, the student council room around lunch time. Friday.
Yuri sat at the head of the table and glanced at the two girls glaring at each other from opposite sides on her left and right.
Suzume adjusted her glasses and sighed. "Chi-chan. Are you seriously going to continue being a delinquent gyaru?"
Chihiro kicked her feet up on the table and said, "What's it to you, Prez?" She pulled out a stick of gum and then started chewing it, blowing a bubble. After it popped, she said, "My life, my choices, my consequences. Besides, not like I'm letting it affect our streaming at all, am I?"
Suzume looked down at Chihiro, crimson eyes cold with disappointment.
Yuri shook her head and looked over at Chihiro. "It isn't like that. Suzu-chan's just worried about you, Chi-chan."
Chihiro rolled her eyes. "I can handle myself, Riri." She idly checked her painted nails and then tucked a strand of her bleached blonde hair aside. "I'm perfectly fine the way I am now."
Yuri resisted the urge to pinch her nose to stave off the growing headache.
Since there was an off-collab scheduled for later in the evening, most of the members of Prodigy had gathered to gameplan. Shu would have been present too, but she had graduated already, and she was also off taking care of some personal business in her hometown.
But Yuri was getting distracted.
Looking back at Suzume and Chihiro again, Yuri said, "Okay. Then... how about we just talk about what we're going to be doing tonight then? It's an off-collab with just us three, so any ideas?"
Chihiro looked at her painted nails and then gaze Yuri a side eye. "I dunno. Aren't you our leader, Riri? Figure something out."
Suzume narrowed her eyes and said, "Be more respectful, Chi-chan. What would your father think?"
A flash of guilt crossed Chihiro's face. But then she clicked her tongue and said, "Who cares what that old fogey thinks? Never let me do anything I want anyway..."
Suzume frowned and glanced at Yuri before looking back at Chihiro. "At least you have a father to care about you."
Chihiro flinched and glanced at Yuri. Then she averted her gaze, pursing her lips together.
Yuri sighed and covered her face.
This had been a common occurrence. Suzume scolding Chihiro. Chihiro lashing out. Shu trying to help when she could, but too busy with her own life to interact much...
Was it because they were labeled 'Prodigy?' Despite everything Yuri tried, they all seemed to just be drifting apart. It wasn't ego, not completely. But they just... didn't mesh. Not as well as Prototype did...
And the argument right now was only just highlighting that fact.
After a bit, Yuri sighed and lowered her hands. She looked at Chihiro and Suzume before saying, "Let's not fight, you two."
Suzume slowly relaxed and let out a deep sigh. Although she looked disappointed at Chihiro still, she shook her head and said, "Very well. Though I do not support Chi-chan's life decisions... this is not the time or place to discuss them."
Chihiro crossed her arms, lifting her crop top. After glancing at Yuri, she lowered her gaze and said, "Yeah, yeah... I won't fight, Riri. So what." She looked up and said, "We just doing karaoke? Shu's not around, so what's the plan? And we got school tomorrow still, so we can't go too crazy."
Yuri smiled. Good, they weren't fighting. And they were listening, at least a little. So... "How about a game?"
Suzume frowned. "If it is just us three, won't that be hard? There are not many games with three players."
Yuri paused and then she groaned. "Right... and it's supposed to be an off-collab too. Gaming together would be a waste, I guess..."
Chihiro sighed. "Why did we even plan this again?"
Yuri rubbed her arm and said, "Well, it's been a while since we did anything as a group. Uncle Kai suggested we do something together, and since we're in school, an off-collab would be easy. Or it should have been easy..."
Chihiro clicked her tongue. "Kai... I still don't get why we need a manager." She shook her head. "I can manage my stuff perfectly fine on my own."
Suzume looked at Chihiro and said, "You may. But Project MirAIs has become a more formalized organization. Having managers and support staff are to be expected."
Chihiro pulled her feet off the table and scowled. "Isn't the whole point of Project MirAIs to let us do what we want though? The concept's like granting our wishes or whatever, right? Why are we forced to do this crap?"
Yuri sighed. "We aren't 'forced' to do anything Chi-chan." She looked at Chihiro and frowned. "If you're really against it, we can just cancel the collab. But our fans might get upset and wonder what happened."
Chihiro groaned. "Ugh, right. The optics would be terrible..."
Suzume looked over and said, "Does the idea of collabing bother you that much, Chi-chan?"
Chihiro ran her hand through her blonde hair. "No. It's just..." She sighed. "I love the attention and my fans, but... I dunno. Maybe I jumped into this too early." She crossed her arms together, hugging herself. "I don't really know what I want to do, and now there's all this pressure from Dad, my fans, Kai, and you guys..."
Yuri stared at Chihiro for a bit. Then she hesitantly reached out to put a hand on Chihiro's shoulder. "It's okay, Chi-chan."
Chihiro tensed. But then she sighed.
Suzume walked around and sat next to Chihiro. She placed her hand on Chihiro's other shoulder and said, "I apologize, Chi-chan. I didn't realize you were struggling like this."
Chihiro shook her head and muttered, "It's okay. I didn't tell anybody. I just..." She sighed. "I just wanted to be happy for once. You know?"
Suzume nodded and quietly whispered, "I know, Chi-chan. We all do."
Yuri patted Chihiro's shoulder. "We'll work through it. You can rely on us too, Chi-chan. We're not just your genmates. We're your friends too."
Chihiro smiled.
Yuri smiled back and said, "Besides. We owe you a lot for helping with our tech stuff all the time."
Chihiro rolled her eyes. "That's because you're all hopeless. Seriously, where did John get all you technologically illiterate people to stream..."
Yuri chuckled.
Suzume giggled.
Chihiro let out a relaxed smile.
And then the doorhandle to the student council room jiggled.
Yuri flinched and looked over.
At that time, a voice echoed. "Huh? It's locked?"
Yuri blinked and then called out. "Senpai?"
That was definitely Rin.
But why was she here?
Suzume stood up. "One moment, Senpai. I will be right there to-"
*click*
Before Suzume could take a single step, the door swung open.
Rin was standing there, holding a knife in her hand along with some paper clips. "Yay! Lockpicking skills, level up!"
Yuri gave Rin a blank stare. Then she covered her face and let out a deep sigh.
Rin flicked her wrists, making the knife and paperclips disappear somewhere. Then she beamed and said, "Hi! Did I come at a bad time?"
Chihiro leaned over to whisper to Yuri. "You know, Riri. I've been meaning to ask since you hang out with Rin Senpai a lot. But... is she always like this? You know..." She waved her hand and said, "Casually scary...?"
Yuri nodded. "You have no idea..."
Rin puffed her cheeks and shut the door behind her. "I'm not scary! I'm just skilled!" She locked the door again and said, "Besides! Isn't it nice to have a skilled Senpai?"
Yuri quickly nodded. "It is. But..." She scanned Rin's uniform and couldn't even find a trace of the knife. Which was incredible considering said knife definitely had a four-inch blade... "But um. Is there a reason you carry a knife around, Senpai?"
Rin blinked and tilted her head, smiling sweetly. "What knife, Yuri?"
Yuri started to sweat. "N-Never mind..."