What if Honma Himawari Had Quit the Audition That Day? - Episode 7

The streets of Namba were packed on that Saturday afternoon. Under the Glico sign, tourists were taking commemorative photos. The smell of scorching sauce drifted from a takoyaki shop. Young people's laughter mixed with J-POP spilling from some store, and the very air seemed to be bursting with energy. But Honma Himawari's footsteps were heavy. "[whispers]...Am I really cut out for this place?" The building she looked up at gleamed with its glass facade. A stylish café occupied the first floor, where people in suits sat with their laptops open. Himawari glanced down at her own clothes. A white blouse, just a little nicer than usual, bought from the secondhand shop "Replay." Looking closely, the collar was slightly frayed, and she traced the loose threads with her fingertip. (*I don't belong here.*) Beside her, Tsukino stood with her chest puffed out. "[excited]Alright! Let's go, Himawari!" Bright red short hair. The bun on the left side bounced with a little bob. Her round black eyes were gleaming even more intensely than usual. Her outfit was the same black hoodie as yesterday. "[whispers]Tsukino, aren't you nervous?" "[serious]Of course I'm nervous! My heart's pounding like crazy! But see—" Tsukino took Himawari's hand. A rough, warm hand. "[excited]This pounding—it's the same as the pounding before stepping onto a stage. It's scary, but it's the exciting kind. So, we can do this!" "[surprised]...Tsukino." "[serious]And besides, you're here, Himawari. I'm not alone. You have no idea how reassuring that is." A warmth spread deep in Himawari's chest. That heat rose all the way to the back of her throat, and she blinked hard, once. That's right. She wasn't alone. "[excited]...Yeah, let's go!" The two of them stepped through the building's entrance. The automatic doors slid open silently. —Nakajima Promotion. A talent agency based in Osaka. They had about forty-five talents on their roster. They put a lot of effort into their comedy division and frequently sent performers onto TV. That agency had said they wanted to meet us. It was like something out of a dream. But inside the elevator, Himawari's legs were trembling. She stared down at her toes. She pressed her feet against the floor again and again, but the sensation from her fingertips felt distant. Tsukino said nothing, just lightly tapped her on the shoulder once. Sixth floor. The doors opened, revealing the reception counter. The company logo gleamed in silver against the white wall. "[gentle]H-Hello! I'm Honma Himawari, and this is Tsukino Akari. Um, we received an email yesterday..." The receptionist smiled warmly. "[gentle]We've been expecting you. Please, right this way." They were shown into a small conference room. A white table, four black chairs. The walls were covered with posters of the agency's talents. There were a few faces she recognized. "[whispers]Himawari, look at this. It's a poster of the duo that won *Bakushou King*." "[surprised]Oh wow! That's amazing..." As the two of them were looking around, the door opened. "[serious]Hello, sorry to keep you waiting." The man who entered looked to be in his fifties. A gray suit. Short hair mixed with white. His face was smiling, but his eyes weren't. His gaze, as if appraising them, fixed on the two of them steadily. Himawari straightened her back, but her fingers clutched her skirt tightly on her lap. "[serious]I'm Nakajima, the president. Please, have a seat." Himawari and Tsukino hurriedly sat down. Nakajima spread some documents out on the table. "[serious]*Himawari and Tsukino's Late-Night Radio*. Current subscribers: eighty-three. Total views: approximately three thousand. ...To be honest, looking at the numbers alone, you're complete amateurs. I can't flatter you by saying you're successful." On Himawari's lap, her clenched fingers tightened with force. (*Well, that's true, but...*) "[serious]However." Nakajima pulled out a single photograph. It was a picture from last week's *Gera Night*. The two of them were on stage, laughing. Bathed in the spotlight, their bangs were plastered to their foreheads with sweat. "[serious]I went to see your live show the other day. I was in the back of the audience." "[surprised]What?!" "[surprised]Seriously?!" "[serious]One of my staff happened to see that show. They reported that there were 'some interesting amateurs.' So I went to see for myself. ...And I thought, I see. You two have a sense of *ma*—timing. A rapport with the audience that even professionals struggle to acquire. That is talent." Talent. That word dropped into Himawari's chest with a quiet thud. Like a single drop of cold water, the heat deep in her heart grew still and quiet. (*I... have talent?*) "[serious]Now, to the main point. Would you like to join our agency? Starting as trainees, initially. We'll provide opportunities for media exposure and live performances. Of course, you're welcome to continue your streaming activities as well." Himawari held her breath for a moment. Then she glanced over at Tsukino. Tsukino, too, was staring straight at the president with her mouth slightly open. "[cold]However, there are conditions." Nakajima's voice suddenly turned cold. "[cold]We are a production company. We have no need for people doing this as a hobby. First, we will check your streaming content in advance. The material will also basically be provided by us. We will take sixty percent of the revenue. And also—" Nakajima looked at Tsukino. "[cold]Tsukino-san. That red hair of yours. You should change it. To a more conservative color. Also, your unit name, *Himawari and Tsukino's Late-Night Radio*, sounds far too amateurish. Let's change it to something catchier." Tsukino's expression changed. Her eyes, which had been gleaming just moments before, clouded over in an instant. Unconsciously, her left hand moved toward the bun in her hair. Her fingers gripped her hair tightly. "[serious]...Our unit name is something we came up with ourselves. And my hair—this is my trademark." "[cold]Trademark? Hah. Well, fine. We can discuss that later. In any case, if you're going to work as professionals, you need to shed your amateur sensibilities. Prioritizing 'what sells' over 'what you want to do'—that's the world of entertainment." Silence filled the room. Himawari looked at the posters on the wall. The comedians' smiling faces, showing white teeth. The edges were slightly faded and discolored from sun exposure. But suddenly, those smiles looked fake. (*This isn't it.*) Himawari thought. (*This isn't what we want to do.*) "[gentle]...Um." Himawari spoke with a trembling voice. Her own voice sounded blurred, as if coming from a distant speaker. "[gentle]What you're offering, Nakajima-san, is something we're very grateful for. But... what we want to do is make people laugh, with our own words, in our own way. The material for our streams, we think it up ourselves, we fail ourselves, we laugh about it ourselves... that's what our 'Late-Night Radio' is..." "[whispers]Himawari..." Tsukino looked at Himawari with surprise. Under the table, Tsukino's sneaker gently touched Himawari's shoe. "[serious]In other words, you won't accept our conditions?" "[whispers]...Yes." Himawari lowered her head. Her heartbeat was loud. Her fingertips were faintly cold. She had managed to refuse properly, in her own words. She gently opened the hands she had been clenching on her lap. The marks of her own nails were clearly etched in red on her palms. (*Good job, me.*) "[serious]...I see." Nakajima let out a sigh. He leaned his weight back against the chair and loosened his tie knot with his fingers. "[serious]Young people like you are common. You chase your dreams, and in the end, you can't make a living and disappear. But, well... do as you like. I only approached you because I thought you had potential." Saying that, he stood up. The sound of the chair scraping against the floor echoed in the room. "[cold]If you change your minds, contact us. However, you should assume there won't be a second chance." The door closed. The sound of footsteps receded down the hallway. The two of them were left behind in the conference room. For a while, neither of them spoke. Only the second hand of the clock on the wall ticked away. The breeze from the air conditioning made the edge of a poster on the ceiling flutter just a little. "[whispers]...Himawari, are you sure? It was a big chance." Tsukino murmured. Her voice was low, as if crawling along the surface of the table. "[whispers]It was a chance, but... it just felt wrong. When he told you to change your hair color, it made me really angry. I love your red hair, Tsukino." Tsukino's eyes widened. Her eyebrows drew together just slightly. Then— "[crying]...Pfft... ahaha!" She suddenly burst out laughing. "[surprised]Huh, why are you laughing?!" "[laughing]Because you said 'I love it'! What's that, some kind of proposal?!" "[angry]It's not! I was just talking about your hair color!" "[laughing]I know that! ...But, I'm happy. Thank you." Tsukino rubbed her eyes. Her fingertips were just slightly damp. She wiped them roughly with the sleeve of her black hoodie. "[serious]Alright! It's decided! We'll do things our way! We won't lose to Nakajima Promotion! We'll do even funnier streams, get even more subscribers, and someday we'll make that guy say he made a mistake!" "[excited]Whoa! Tsukino, you're so fired up!" "[excited]Of course I am! The word 'give up' isn't in my dictionary!" "[laughing]It's definitely in there." "[excited]It's not! Probably!" The two of them laughed out loud. Their laughter echoed in the white conference room. Himawari laughed so hard she almost cried. She wasn't quite sure herself whether the tears were from frustration, relief, or something else entirely. When they left the building, it was still bright outside. The streets of Namba were as crowded as ever. The elbows of passing people lightly bumped against Himawari's shoulder. But the feeling of "not belonging" from earlier had vanished somewhere. Without realizing it, she was walking with her back straight. "[excited]Alright, let's head back! Back to Minase, to work on material for our next stream!" "[surprised]What, already?! Let's take a little break." "[serious]No time to rest! Talent rusts if you don't use it!" "[laughing]That line again! Who said that, anyway?" "[serious]I did! Just now, I made it up!" Himawari looked up at the sky. The city sky was narrow. Between the buildings, she could see just a little patch of blue. (*It feels like the world has opened up.*) A major talent agency had approached them, and they—had turned it down. The soles of her feet were planted firmly on the ground. Her own weight was resting solidly on them. No, that wasn't it. She had chosen "our way" for herself. "[gentle]Hey, Tsukino." "[surprised]Hm?" "[gentle]I'm really glad we came here today." Tsukino, looking just a little embarrassed, raised the right corner of her lip. "[gentle]...Yeah. Really glad." The two of them started walking toward Nansei Electric Railway's Namba Station. Let's go back to Minase. The usual convenience store. The usual karaoke box. The usual eighty-three friends. "[excited]Himawari, next we're doing a public stream in the shopping district! We'll get Kichi-san from Marukichi to talk about how delicious his takoyaki is!" "[surprised]What?! Kichi-san is super shy! He'll definitely hate that!" "[excited]It'll be fine! We'll win him over with our passion!" "[laughing]'Win him over'—that sounds kind of aggressive." Laughing, the two of them passed through the ticket gates. The train slid into the platform. The wind made Tsukino's red bun sway. Bound for Minase. Local train. The car was empty. They sat down side by side. Himawari by the window, Tsukino on the aisle. Himawari opened her s

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Episode 7

Name: What if Honma Himawari Had Quit the Audition That Day?
Author: Novelia

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