Akubi Demonspade: The Queen and Her Overworked Producer
One karaoke stream changed everything.
Kenta, a rookie manager at the downtown streaming studio Million Production, is told by the CEO to become the exclusive handler for a streamer named Akubi. Standing at 140 centimeters with a self-proclaimed age of 2000 years, dressed as the Queen of Spades, she speaks in a husky, hyper voice—and when she sings, the world goes silent.
"[excited] So you're my new manager? You're tiny and cute!"
Her very first words leave Kenta speechless. But her streams a
Akubi Demonspade: The Queen and Her Overworked Producer - The Little Devil's Confession and the Broken Queen's Voice
The afternoon lobby on the first floor of Million Production's headquarters was cool and quiet, shutting out the heat outside. The old building's air conditioning hummed low in a corner of the wall. Behind the reception counter, Tanabe Yuki flipped through a stack of documents with an expressionless face. In her forties, she worked silently as the office's receptionist and accountant, just as she did every day.
Satou Kenta stood before that counter. His usual body bag hung from his shoulder. On the back of his right hand, an old burn scar from equipment repairs glimmered faintly under the white fluorescent lights.
"Is this the complete list of Akubi-san's streaming equipment?"
"Yes. I've included last month's damage report as well."
Tanabe said this in a voice devoid of emotion, then slid a thick file across to Kenta. He took it and flipped through the contents.
(Seven more microphones again...)
He barely managed to swallow the sigh that threatened to escape. It had already been three weeks since he became Akubi Demonspade's exclusive manager. Her wildly unpredictable streams destroyed equipment one after another. Kenta's work always began with repairing it.
"Satou-san, you've been looking pale lately. Are you sleeping properly?"
"Ah, yes. I'm fine. Just a bit backed up with repairs."
Kenta brushed it off with a vague smile. The truth was, he hadn't been sleeping. Because he kept rereading the note Akubi had given him that night — *I'm just scared of being alone again. I'm sorry.* Every time he saw her trembling handwriting, something deep in his chest tightened with pain.
(I couldn't say anything back then.)
All he could do was apologize. He couldn't accept her anxiety. That regret came surging back every night.
It was just as Kenta was about to put the file into his body bag.
"Oh, isn't that Kenta-kun?"
A sweet, coaxing voice echoed through the lobby.
Kenta looked up.
Standing there was a girl with long, purple-tinged straight hair. A braid hung at her side, and her narrow blue-violet eyes stared straight at Kenta. She brushed her hair up with her right hand. Her voice was soft, with a slight drop at the ends of her words.
Sera Nox. Nineteen years old. Akubi's contemporary and a popular streamer affiliated with Million Production. With over eight hundred thousand subscribers, her little-devil persona commanded overwhelming support, especially from her male fanbase.
"Sera-san. Good work."
Kenta gave a slight bow.
Sera glanced at Kenta's body bag and let out a small giggle.
"Still carrying your tools around? Being in charge of Akubi-chan must be really tough."
"Well, equipment repair is my main job."
"Fufu. You're so earnest. But that's the part of you I like, you know."
Kenta was at a loss for words. Sera's blunt way of speaking always threw him off balance.
"Your streams are interesting, Sera-san. The singing stream I watched before was really good."
He said it casually, without thinking.
And in that instant—
Sera's eyes changed completely.
The blue-violet eyes that had been smiling softly suddenly took on a serious color. She stared at Kenta as if piercing through him.
"Hey, Kenta-kun."
Her voice dropped a notch.
"I think I might have fallen for you."
The air in the lobby froze.
Kenta went rigid. His mind went blank. Did she just say what he thought she said?
Clatter.
Behind the reception counter, Tanabe dropped the stack of documents she'd been holding. Papers scattered across the floor with a rustling sound. Expressionless as ever, Tanabe slowly began picking them up. But her hands were trembling, just slightly.
"Ah, forget I said that."
Sera suddenly laughed in a bright voice. As if the serious face from moments ago had been a lie.
"Just kidding, kidding. Did I surprise you? Fufu, I wanted to see that face of yours, Kenta-kun."
With that, Sera turned lightly on her heel.
"See you. Tomorrow, then."
She left the lobby.
Kenta watched her back as she went.
(A joke...?)
That's what he thought. But he was wrong.
Sera's back was trembling.
As she left, her slender shoulders shook in small spasms. That wasn't the tremor of suppressed laughter.
(She was serious?)
Kenta's heart began pounding loudly.
"...Satou-san."
Tanabe, having finished gathering the documents, said quietly.
"Yes."
"That girl smiles much better when she's lying."
Kenta had no reply.
Tanabe said nothing more and returned behind the counter.
Kenta stood alone in the lobby, rooted to the spot.
(Sera-san, me?)
He couldn't believe it. Sera Nox was one of the agency's top streamers. Why would someone like her be interested in a rookie manager like him?
(But that trembling in her back...)
Beneath the mask of the calculating little-devil, something was hidden. That's the feeling he got.
Kenta adjusted his grip on his body bag.
(For now, work.)
He had to check Akubi's equipment list. He had to arrange the repair schedule. There was a mountain of things to do.
But Sera's words wouldn't leave his head.
*I think I might have fallen for you.*
That voice repeated over and over in the depths of his ears.
***
That night, at Kenta's apartment.
An old one-room unit on the outskirts of the Hummingbird district, thirty years old. The rent was cheap, but the walls were thin, and he could sometimes hear the neighboring unit's stream audio. It was a place with the miscellaneous atmosphere typical of a streamer city's downtown.
Kenta was wrestling with the equipment list spread across his desk. He needed to order the parts for tomorrow's repairs from an online shop. He rubbed the burn scar on his right hand with his left thumb. A habit of his when he was thinking.
(What am I supposed to make of Sera-san?)
The events of the day spun around in a corner of his mind.
Ding-dong.
Suddenly, the intercom rang.
Kenta checked the clock. It was past one in the morning. Who would come at this hour?
He peered through the door scope nervously.
Standing there was Sera Nox.
Kenta felt his heart leap.
(Why is Sera-san here!?)
He hesitated. Should he answer, or shouldn't he?
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
The intercom rang persistently.
Kenta gave up and opened the door.
"Ah, Kenta-kun. Good, you were awake."
Sera smiled brightly. In her hands was a small toolbox.
"Sera-san, why are you here... actually, how do you know my address?"
"I asked someone at the office. Oh, here — these are your tools. You left them behind."
Sera held out the toolbox.
Kenta checked his body bag. All his tools were there.
"No, I didn't leave any tools behind."
"Oh, really? Fufu, then let's call it a present from me."
Sera said it without a trace of guilt.
(I knew it. I didn't forget them.)
Kenta was certain. This was her excuse.
"Hey, can I come in? There's something I want to talk about."
"Eh, um, at this hour, that's a bit—"
"It's fine, isn't it? Right?"
Sera looked up at Kenta through her lashes. Her blue-violet eyes seemed moist.
Kenta was weak against pressure. He couldn't refuse when asked. He knew it was his weakness, and yet.
"...Come in. It's messy, though."
"Thank you. Excuse me~."
Sera entered the room lightly.
The scent of a girl spread through the six-tatami room. A sweet, floral fragrance. Kenta felt as though his room had suddenly shrunk.
Sera sat in the center of the room and booted up the tablet she'd brought.
"Hey, Kenta-kun. Look at this."
The screen showed an archive of Akubi's stream. A singing stream from three weeks ago. The one where she sang with everything she had.
"This girl is amazing when she sings for real. I've watched her as a contemporary, so I know."
Sera operated the screen and played Akubi's singing voice.
A husky voice echoed through the room. Low, sweet, a voice that made the listener's body tremble.
"But you know, Kenta-kun. When she's singing for you, this girl's voice is a little different."
Kenta's heart skipped.
"Different? How?"
"Hmm, it's hard to put into words, but... her singing is usually colder. Like a solitary queen's song, pushing the listener away. But when you're nearby, her song is so... warm."
At Sera's words, Kenta's chest stirred uneasily.
(Akubi-san's voice, warm?)
He couldn't tell. But Sera apparently could. Because she'd been listening to her songs all along as a contemporary.
"So, you see, I'm not going to lose."
Sera smiled with her little-devil face. But her eyes weren't smiling.
"I'll come again tomorrow. Kenta-kun."
Sera stood and left the room.
After closing the door, Kenta couldn't move for a while.
His heart was pounding so loudly it was unbearable.
(What is this?)
Sera's words, Akubi's song, his own heartbeat. Everything mixed together into a jumbled mess.
Kenta sat at his desk and began repairing the broken microphone. If he didn't keep his hands moving, he felt like he'd lose his mind.
***
The next morning.
Million Production headquarters, second floor, Studio Two.
Akubi Demonspade had just finished a stream. Her red and black dress, the spade emblem at her chest. Her silver hair clung to her forehead with sweat.
Today's morning stream had been terrible.
She kept losing at games, and cruel words lined the comment section. Normally she could laugh them off, but today, she just couldn't.
(No word from Kenta.)
Not since last night.
Usually, he always sent her "today's schedule" before a stream. After a stream, a message saying "good work." And yet, today, nothing.
Akubi stared at the streaming equipment monitor.
(What is that idiot doing right now?)
Something churned deep in her chest. She knew this feeling.
Lonely.
Anxious.
The fear that someone might take him away.
(I've lived two thousand years, so why am I like this...)
Akubi clenched her fist.
And then—
CRASH!!
She smashed her fist into the streaming monitor.
The liquid crystal shattered, fragments scattering across the floor. Blood seeped from her knuckles. But it didn't hurt.
"Why won't you contact me... you're supposed to be my manager..."
Her voice was trembling.
Just then, the studio door opened.
"Akubi-san! Are you all right!? I heard a huge noise—"
Kenta burst in.
He saw the monitor fragments scattered on the floor and Akubi's bloodied fist, and his expression changed.
"What are you doing! Your hand is injured!"
Kenta tried to take Akubi's hand.
"Don't touch me."
Akubi shook off his hand.
"Where were you yesterday?"
Her voice was cold.
"Eh? Yesterday I was checking the equipment list and... then I talked with Sera-san for a bit—"
The moment Kenta said "Sera," all expression vanished from Akubi's face.
"What were you talking about with Sera?"
Akubi grabbed a spare microphone from the floor.
And she slammed it into the ground with all her strength.
Clatter!
The microphone shattered into pieces.
"You make that face with anyone, don't you... it wasn't just for me, was it..."
Akubi's voice was shaking.
Three weeks ago, on the way back from the streamer mixer. When she saw Kenta having his hand held by Sera, she'd said:
*You make that face with anyone, don't you.*
Those words, Akubi repeated once more.
"Akubi-san, that's not it. Sera-san and I were just talking about streaming—"
"Liar! That girl likes you! I know it!"
Akubi's scream echoed off the soundproof walls.
Kenta was speechless.
(She knows? How does Akubi-san...)
"I've lived two thousand years. I can read the subtleties of people's hearts. The way that girl looks at you... that's real."
Akubi's crimson eyes were moist with tears.
The two-thousand-year-old queen was on the verge of crying.
"Akubi-san, please calm down. I'm your manager. Nothing more, nothing less. Sera-san and I really haven't—"
"Nothing more, nothing less... that's right. I'm just your 'assignment,' aren't I."
Akubi laughed self-mockingly.
"But I... I can't see you as just my exclusive manager anymore."
Kenta thought his breath would stop.
"Akubi-san, what do you mean by—"
"Exactly what it sounds like. ...I'm sorry."
Akubi turned her back on Kenta.
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