Today is the day for the second-year career counseling at school.
Not just a meeting with the teacher alone, but a three-way counseling session with my Parents.
Fortunately, it was a day that my Mom could also make it, so there was no need to set up an extra date.
If all my classmates had brought their parents today, and I had to go alone with my Mom coming another day for counseling…
Yeah, I would have to drop out on that day because it would be too embarrassing to stand out!
“Mina.”
“Oh, Mom.”
As I sat in a chair in front of the teacher’s staff room, waiting for Onodera Sachi‘s counseling to finish, my Mom, dressed in a sleek black suit, walked down the hallway.
“Glad you made it just in time without being late.”
“Right….”
Since Onodera had gone in about 10 minutes prior, my Mom really arrived at the perfect timing.
If she had been even a bit late, I would have gotten pushed to the next slot and had to wait for close to another 10 minutes in this chair.
As I sat there with my Mom, Onodera finished her counseling and came out, stretching her arms.
“Whew, finally done!”
“Are you heading straight home, Sachi?”
“I’m going to play with Hara and Mya after counseling! So, I’ll wait in the classroom.”
As I was chatting with my Mom, our eyes met with Onodera.
“Oh, Kayanoh! The teacher said it’s your turn now…”
For some reason, Onodera suddenly froze up and couldn’t continue speaking.
“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Onodera Maki, Sachi’s Mom.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kayanoh Yui (茅野 佑泉), Mina’s Mom.”
In the meantime, my Mom and Onodera exchanged light greetings, and following the teacher’s call, we entered the staff room.
…Is there something going on with Onodera?
★
“Well, fundamentally, Kayanoh‘s grades are quite good, so there shouldn’t be any problems with advancing to the next school. What do you think, Mom?”
“I’m aware that her grades are advantageous for moving on, but I hope Mina can choose a path she truly wants without being bound by her grades.”
Listening to Kaname and my Mom’s conversation, I quietly thought.
What is my dream exactly?
More than half of my time as a high school student has already passed.
Which means it’s time to start seriously worrying about my career path.
Of course, technically speaking, as a VTuber under Star’s Flow, I’m already earning money as a working adult.
In fact, I really enjoy living as a VTuber right now.
Just talking with my friendly members while seeing the viewers that I love makes my heart naturally feel warm.
I’ve probably never been this happy, even including my Previous Life, right?
But if you were to ask whether this current life is my career or dream… well, probably not.
So then, what is it that I genuinely want for my career?
What do I want my future to look like?
“What do you think, Kayanoh?”
“I… um, I’m still not sure. I’m sorry….”
“Oh, no! You don’t need to apologize, Kayanoh! It’s absolutely fine not to have decided on your career path yet.”
“Mom believes it’s okay even if it takes time, as long as Mina does what she loves.”
Something I love.
I enjoy drawing and I enjoy broadcasting.
But I want to keep drawing as just a hobby, so I turned down all external offers after the big collab.
And broadcasting… well, there are so many aspects I hesitate to call it my career.
What on earth should I do?
“If you find it really hard to choose, I think it’s actually fine to aim for further studies as a start. With your grades, there shouldn’t be any issue with internal advancement, and you could even aim for national universities.”
“Certainly, going to college and slowly finding your dream wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
In the end, without reaching a firm conclusion, my career counseling came to an end.
“Let’s head back, Mina.”
“Yeah….”
With a complicated mindset, we exited through the school gate.
“Uh, um, Kayanoh!”
For some reason, Onodera was waiting for me.
…Didn’t she say earlier she’d wait in the classroom with Tateyama?
Why is she standing here all alone?
“Well, um, it’s just that….”
While I was thinking, Onodera suddenly blushed, looking incredibly embarrassed.
…Wait a second.
Onodera is an otaku to the point she was dragging Tateyama to Comiket.
So, the chances she watches VTubers are pretty high, right…?
H-Hold on, could it be that she recognized me as Kainoh Izumi?!
I didn’t have any indication of this until now, so why suddenly? What’s going on?
I thought I hadn’t done anything suspicious at all?!
Oh no, this is bad.
“Kayanoh, um, I heard that… maybe…!”
Seeing Onodera blush and shout eagerly at me, one thought crossed my mind.
I have to deny it first.
“Your Mom’s name is Yeon Seona, right?!”
“Uh, misunderstand! It’s a misunderstanding, Onodera! I-I swear it’s not like that…!”
…Huh?
★
To cut to the chase, it turns out Onodera was a fan of my Mom.
She even started liking her before my Mom appeared on TV.
…Well, my Mom had been featured in magazine interviews before appearing on TV.
“Make sure to get along with my Mina.”
“Y-Yes! Of course!”
My Mom said that and moved aside to let us chat for a moment.
W-Well, there wasn’t really a need to do that…
I was planning on heading home with my Mom anyway, and I hardly ever had a conversation with Onodera.
This is going to make me so nervous I might die!
“Haha… sorry. That was really sudden, huh?”
“Y-Yeah, I can understand that, so it’s alright…”
“I never thought I’d meet my A-chan in real life. That’s why I got really excited.”
“…A-chan?”
“Yeah. Among fans, she’s called A-chan….”
This is incredible.
I never expected my Mom would have a cute nickname from fans online.
As her daughter, how on earth should I react?
It’s really complicated.
“…By the way, Kayanoh. What did you mean when you said it was definitely not that earlier?”
As I got lost in my complex feelings, Onodera cautiously asked me that question.
…This is a real pickle.
How on earth do I explain this?
“Well, um, it’s just that… I was really surprised!”
In the end, I chose the strategy of confronting it head-on.
It was a totally nonsensical excuse that it had no meaning and was just a surprise.
But thankfully, Onodera seemed to be convinced, clapping her hands and nodding.
“Oh, right…. We haven’t had many conversations in class, so it’s reasonable for you to be surprised. I’m really sorry.”
…Looks like it’s true that popular people tend to have good personalities.
It wasn’t Tateyama who was special after all.
“By the way, does that mean A-chan is Kayanoh‘s Mom, so are you mixed?”
“Ah, yes. My Dad is Japanese, and my Mom is Korean.”
“So, do you have a Korean name?!”
At my answer, Onodera seemed overly excited and suddenly grabbed both my hands and looked at me with sparkling eyes.
That intensity made my stomach twist, but I somehow held back the nausea and opened my mouth.
“Um… yeah… my Korean name is Yeon Mina….”
“Yeon Mina? So your name is the same?!”
“It’s Min. Ah, not Mina.”
“Min, Ah. Min, Ah. Yeon Mina. Such a pretty name.”
“Hehe….”
At Onodera‘s compliment, I felt a bit better and smiled.
We continued chatting until my Mom came back.
“I’ll keep what happened today a secret, of course.”
“Th-Thank you….”
“It’s not a big deal. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you or A-chan because of me.”
After saying that, we parted ways.
★
“Still thinking about it?”
“Yeah….”
“Like I said earlier, Mom believes that if it’s hard to decide right now, it’s okay to aim for further studies for the time being. You haven’t finished high school yet.”
Although my Mom spoke in a gentle tone, my complicated thoughts wouldn’t be easily organized.
‘What about external advancement? There’s a good chance of getting into a national medical school….’
‘Me? I think I’ll go with internal advancement. I’m a bit interested in economics.’
‘Seems like I’ll inherit the family business right after graduation… Since I love cooking.’
Miyauchi, Tateyama, and Onodera.
Everyone seems to have at least some idea about their future.
Though they aren’t entirely certain, they all have a clear path they want to follow.
Meanwhile, I find myself still wandering, unsure.
I have hobbies I love and enjoyable activities, but why can’t I be sure?
Lost in that thought, I almost let out a sigh.
★
[【Produce Master】It’s a showdown! I won’t lose, senpai! #Star’s Flow 2nd Generation #Kaino Izumi #Namikawa Tsubaki]
-─(≧▽≦)>Zumi Zumi!
Today is the day for an impromptu collab with Senpai Namikawa.
The circumstances for this collab are a bit comical, and to be honest, from my perspective, I feel somewhat wronged.
Produce Master is a rhythm game featuring 39 idols.
The player becomes the ‘Producer’ in-game, aiming to grow the idols’ popularity, and among the 39 idols, the player can select one as their ‘handled idol.’
In terms of the story, the Producer handles all idols of the agency, but in the game system, it means the player can choose one idol they like the most.
When the chosen idol’s card is raised, you can receive additional developmental benefits, but…
The idol I chose to handle is Suzuki Chino (鈴木 智乃).
She had a charming blue-haired with striking red eyes.
Senpai Namikawa’s handled idol is Murasaki Nodoka (紫 和佳).
She has a stunning purple side-up ponytail with lovely green eyes.
And these two… during the selection for this event in Produce Master, they battled for the same role, and Chino won by a narrow margin of 3% in votes.
In other words, Chino got to take the lead in the next event while Nodoka fell behind.
I was just expressing my joy that Chino won her role when…
[Namikawa Tsubaki: As Nodoka’s Producer, I can’t forgive you.]
[Namikawa Tsubaki: It’s a challenge!]
…
That’s how this collab ended up happening.
Sure, I knew Senpai Namikawa was a player of Produce Master, and that she was Nodoka’s producer, but…
Isn’t it just natural for me to be happy since I’m Chino’s producer?
[Namikawa Tsubaki: Producers have to compete!]
…
Even though I expressed that, I feel so wronged!
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