"I'm fine now, Shion. You can go back to your practice."
Having pulled himself together, Kuroba Akira was ready to dive back into his creative work.
But then it occurred to him that he hadn't been paying attention to Shion's progress with voice acting. Whenever Akira entered a state of intense focus, he became deaf to everything around him.
He used to listen to music while working—not to enjoy the music itself, but rather to enter a state where he could no longer consciously hear it. Once the music disappeared from his senses, he knew he was truly concentrating.
Still, he thought he ought to at least ask her about her progress.
"Oh, right. Shion, how's your practice coming along?"
"Well, I've pretty much memorized all the lines. Um, maybe I could do a quick run-through right now and you can listen?"
Shion was eager to show Akira how much she had improved, though part of her still feared his critique. She felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety swirling inside her.
Akira shook his head.
"No need to perform for me yet. You haven't practiced enough. Doing it in front of someone else right now would make your emotions fluctuate, magnifying any mistakes you're already making."
Typically, a voice director handled voice-acting sessions. Clients only provided feedback. Akira had been a client before, but never a voice director. He could give her general impressions but lacked the expertise to advise on details.
Shion was nowhere near even entry-level right now. Offering her vague feedback might just hamper her progress.
Thus, she had no choice but to rely on herself—imitating professional voice actors as closely as possible, adjusting and refining only once she had reached eighty or ninety percent similarity.
"Just show me your hand for now—your left hand."
"Alright."
Shion was puzzled but obediently stretched out her left hand.
She recalled how yesterday Akira had also asked to see her hand, claiming he was checking her talent. Perhaps this was Akira-kun's special skill?
Akira carefully studied Shion's left hand. No proficiency related to voice acting had appeared yet.
Well, even someone with S-class talent couldn't achieve proficiency that quickly.
Yet, after examining her hand for a moment longer, he noticed two new proficiencies he hadn't seen yesterday.
[Acting LV1]
[Bel Canto LV1]
…Hmm?
She's developed acting already? Impressive. Even if voice acting isn't there yet, acting itself is already at entry level. As expected of someone with an S-class soul for performance.
But Bel Canto…when had she learned that? Was this proficiency always there?
Considering Shion already possessed [Singing LV2], acquiring Bel Canto wasn't too surprising. She had the foundation; all she needed was the ability to hit high notes.
With her heaven-blessed S-class voice, she probably found reaching high notes trivial.
Although the progress bars under these two proficiencies were barely visible, probably at 1%-5%, merely appearing meant she had officially entered beginner territory.
Such terrifying talent…
Akira became increasingly convinced that making Shion into a voice actress was akin to playing a nurturing game on easy mode.
"Good job, really impressive. Keep up the good work."
Akira almost reached out to high-five Shion with his right hand but quickly remembered that doing so would erase the copied talent there. He immediately switched to his left hand.
"Mm!"
Delighted by Akira's praise, Shion happily slapped her palm against his, naturally intertwining her fingers with his afterward.
She'd wanted to hold hands yesterday but had been brushed off. Now, face-to-face, she could finally hold his hand openly.
Their fingers interlocked, palms touching, creating a feeling of being physically connected. Shion discovered she genuinely liked holding hands.
She shook their joined hands playfully up and down, like girls teasing each other—a level of closeness reserved only for friends.
Friendship…was something entirely foreign to Shion.
Since childhood, Shion had moved several times and switched schools repeatedly, never having the chance to form deep friendships.
Thus, Akira was essentially the first friend in her entire life.
But then she hesitated, realizing that she and Akira were technically in a working relationship, like a performer and her manager. Could something like this really be called friendship?
Anxiously, she asked in a small voice, "Akira-kun, do you…consider us friends now?"
"Huh?"
Akira stared blankly at her, momentarily dumbfounded. Shion felt her heart skip a beat, hurriedly lowering her head and waving her right hand.
"Ah! Sorry, I just assumed…"
"You misunderstood. I'm just confused—if you didn't consider me your friend, how were you daring enough to come home with me?"
"Eh?"
"I've already brought you back home, haven't I? We're roommates living in the same room now. If two people living together aren't friends, then what are they?"
If they weren't friends despite sharing a home, they could only be a married couple—or perhaps purely physical bedmates.
"Friendship isn't measured by the amount of time we've spent together. You trust me, I trust you—that's friendship," Akira said with a smile.
"Outside of work, I really do want to treat you as my friend. Unless you think being friends with me is embarrassing?"
Shion quickly shook her head, frantically explaining, "N-no, that's not it! I just… I was worried you saw me only as…um…"
Shion faltered midway, unsure how to express her doubts. Her head dropped lower, letting her bangs cover her eyes.
"You think I'm only using you?"
Akira kept smiling, but his words struck sharply, causing Shion's body to tremble faintly.
"Well, you're not exactly wrong. But even if I am using you, it can still be mutually beneficial, friendly cooperation, not something manipulative or malicious, ending with us as enemies."
Akira let go of her left hand, gently patting her shoulder.
"So, how you see our relationship depends entirely on you. Personally, I consider you a friend and business partner."
Although friends who go into business together usually end up estranged.
Fair-weather friends, friends of convenience—when there's no profit, who can you rely on?
Indeed, benefits and the human heart…are the most unpredictable things in existence.
"…Mm! I'll also see Akira-kun as my friend! Let's stay friends for our entire lives!"
Shion wholeheartedly decided that Akira would be her first—and lifelong—friend.
Trading half her lifetime, she had gained a true friend. To Shion, this exchange now finally seemed worthwhile.
"Ha."
Akira couldn't help chuckling aloud.
He'd heard the exact same phrase from Class Rep earlier today, and now Shion repeated it at night.
You both really place so much value on friendship, huh… Well, that's fine too.
The deeper your feelings, the higher the price.
When the time comes, I'll collect that 'friendship fee'—with interest.
I hope neither of you regrets it then.
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T/N: im tling this again after 50 years, names WILL be different because A. I got better, B. I forgot the names... anyway toodaloo
4 chapters since i was gonna update yesterday but didnt, bonus chaps are tomorrow and uhhh no character note for thisweek
heres my patreon (patreon.com/wisetl) theres also a 25% off discount for firsttime members until christmas ends and heres the powerstone rewardsss Every 100 Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter. 100ps = 1 chp 200ps = 2 chp 300ps = 3 chp etc. uhhh for legal matters, my patreon is only there if you wanna support me yep yep with the added bonus of reading ahead OH OH also heres the discord link discord.gg/wisetl