Chapter 310: Apologize to Teacher Luqiu and His Girlfriend Now!

Himekoji Tadashi was about to lose his temper again when suddenly, someone else cut in first—

“Become a seiyuu? Like you are right now? Let me tell you, before you learn how to be a seiyuu, at least learn some respect for others’ dreams! Shinohara Momoko, right? I officially inform you now, you failed!”

“F-failed?”

Her face, arrogant just moments ago, instantly drained of color. Momoko stared disbelievingly at one of the audition judges who had appeared at Himekoji’s side unnoticed.

Sporting neat short hair and wearing a simple office outfit, the female judge had a name badge on her left chest – representative of the rights holder, Machida Sonoko.

“Yes, failed! And don’t act like Aoyama cheated you! I’m sure you know how strict this audition is. Even though your usual results are top-notch, that doesn’t guarantee a pass this time because only one spot was available! And why you became that ‘one’ – are you seriously clueless? Did Himekoji hurt your chances or actually help them? Do you really not know? Or are you just playing dumb while flaunting yourself? Can you explain that, Miss Shinohara?”

“W-what are you even saying? I don’t understand at all! Why was I the one? Because I deserved it! Besides, passing or failing is decided by all the judges together! I passed the audition! It’s already settled! There won’t be any changes!”

“The contract hasn’t been signed yet, correct?”

Machida Sonoko casually pulled the contract from her briefcase, waving it dismissively in front of Momoko. Then, in a swift motion, she suddenly stuffed it into the hands of Himekoji Akito, who was still standing nearby, bewildered.

The editor first shot Himekoji a meaningful glance, then continued speaking at a leisurely pace, “Teacher Luqiu, as the original author, naturally has the right to recommend a few seiyuu. As for whose voice best fits the characters he created, no one understands that better than the author himself.”

After saying this, she lowered her voice slightly, leaning closer to Himekoji’s ear.

“Of course, the final decision still lies with the animation producers. After all, you’ve only been in the business for a short while; you’re still a newbie. And since this is the first time your work is being animated, making suggestions is fine, but making the final call…”

As she spoke, Machida-san’s gaze meaningfully shifted towards Nanami, who was being held in Himekoji’s arms.

The hidden meaning seemed to tell Himekoji that even if he, as the author, recommended Nanami to the production team, she might not be chosen. Her performance earlier, hampered by her high fever, had been really poor…

So poor that it made her teammate Momoko shine brightly by comparison…

“Huh? Oh… oh…”

Only now did Himekoji start to grasp the situation. Holding the contract, he still felt dizzy. His own editor suddenly appearing and the plot suddenly reversing felt way too much like a drama.

“Sonoko-nee? Wait, hold on… let me get this straight… You’re here as the rights holder representative, right? You said all that stuff… and handed me the seiyuu contract? So you mean…”

“Yep, exactly! This production is the animation adaptation of Risque Jokes! We invited you before, but you wouldn’t come. Instead, you sneakily came to support your girlfriend! You’re something else!”

Editor Machida patted Himekoji’s shoulder and winked at him, confirming his guess.

But it still felt incredibly surreal…

Wasn’t this way too coincidental?

He had just been preparing to use his ‘pervert ways’ to stand up for Nanami, and now Sonoko Machida showed up to help, solving things almost effortlessly.

“Oh, by the way,” Machida Sonoko added softly, her voice low enough for only Himekoji and Nanami in his arms to hear, “Just hang onto the contract for show. Remember to give it back to me later.”

“Uh…”

So she just handed him a feather pretending it was a command arrow? Himekoji felt utterly at a loss for words.

While Machida Sonoko and Himekoji exchanged their private whispers, Momoko remained standing there, brows twisted together, her face cycling between anger and pale shock.

She stewed for what felt like a long time before finally exploding again: “Him? The original author? Impossible! I don’t believe it! How could someone like that be the author? How could Nanami even know the original author? What right does she have to know him?”

“Ahem… well, Madam Sonoko,” the manager hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over, seeing the situation deteriorate. “Momoko here was frightened because this gentleman startled her earlier. Everything she said after that was just angry words, not serious! Besides, matters already settled with the production team shouldn’t be overturned now, right? That wouldn’t be very… appropriate. President Shinohara has always been very supportive of his daughter’s seiyuu career. If things ended this way, he… might not be happy.”

His attempted mediation was slickly phrased – implying Himekoji had started the trouble by startling Momoko and invoking her father in a thinly veiled threat to intimidate the situation.

Machida Sonoko almost laughed at this.

“What does appropriate mean? Right now, we’re only discussing what is appropriate for the voice actor of this work’s characters. Regarding an unproven seiyuu trainee like her, if the original author himself feels she’s unsuitable, we can withdraw her. Selection requires discussion and a final decision with the producers. But withdrawing someone? Especially withdrawing a newcomer with zero accomplishments? We hardly need a formal process. A simple word suffices.”

At this point, the manager finally had his ‘oh no’ moment, realizing how badly things had gone.

The other party was clearly determined to back this crying girl all the way, even pulling out the authority behind the rookie trainee wasn’t working.

But then again, Fujisawa was a giant company with countless potential partners. Why would they pay any mind to such a small agency?

It wasn’t Fujisawa needing to please them; it was them needing to please Fujisawa.

Hitting this realization hard, he internally cursed. He’d gotten impatient trying to stand up for the ‘young miss’ and foolishly dared to spit out that subtly threatening remark. Regret washed over him, and he fumbled for damage control.

“Momoko! Hurry! Apologize to this, this…”

Machida Sonoko waited imperiously, glancing coldly at the sweating manager before finally offering a prompt: “Teacher Luqiu.”

“Right, right! Apologize to Teacher Luqiu and his girlfriend right now!”

……