With the meeting concluding with my hiring, A thought it would've been a good idea to introduce me to the other members of the group so that they could get to know me before work.
She asked Sora to take me to them, but my old friend really didn't want to, judging from the sour expression she wore throughout our walk to the room they were held at.
"Are you going to keep fighting me throughout my time here?"
"No, I know that we can rely on you… just that-"
"You wished I wasn't here."
"Yeah."
She cut her losses and took a deep sigh before standing in front of me with a gentle smile.
"Why don't we start again?"
"Huh?"
"I didn't want that to be our first interaction after a while of not seeing each other, so let's try it again."
I knew better than to say no to Sora's request, despite really wanting to. Plus, it had been a while since we last saw each other, entertaining her a bit wasn't going to hurt.
"Alright."
Hearing me agree, made Sora jump for joy, cheering and hopping around like a little kid, a huge smile plastered onto her face.
Once she got the joy out of her system she then looked at me with a bright expression.
"It's great to see you again, Rio!"
Seeing that expression again felt nostalgic, it had been so long since I'd seen her that a small expression reminded me that she was always such an optimist.
"Yeah, it's nice to see you again too, Sora."
Before we went into the room, Sora pulled me off to the side and asked me if I was going to do the job cleanly, which meant, was I going to result to some underhanded tricks? A fair concern considering this was her group that I was working with, but unfortunately, with the way things were, doing it cleanly would've been a challenge. So no, I wasn't going to do it cleanly.
"No, there's a good chance I'll need your and the other's assistance."
Sora's eyes furrowed a little, before letting a small sigh and telling me to just make sure not to push them too much, which was a rather tame reaction honestly. I thought she would be very opposed to the idea, yet she was quite calm about it.
Well at least with that, I was allowed to make certain moves without hesitation.
I thought that was the end of that conversation and was about to head to the room, but Sora tugged on my sleeve and with a serious told me to stay for a little while since there were still some things to discuss.
I was surprised by how curious Sora was about the job since I was sure she would've been hands-off the entire thing, yet she seemed eager to know what was going on in my head and what plans I was making.
With that in mind, I made sure to prod her just the same, I wanted to make sure I had as much info as I could before going off and asking someone else for the info.
"How much do you know about Shuu Takamura's group?"
"Not much, they're still new so they're still establishing their fanbase. But they're called Virtuo, there's five girls in their group, same as ours."
She then showed me her phone and on it were the youtube channels of the group members. The girls weren't that different from Hololive, they streamed just like them and sang songs just like them, and from what I could tell, they didn't seem capable of shady activity that would've led to a mass wave of haters flooding Hololive.
I then decided to go into the comments of one of the Virtuo member's stream and on it were a lot of comments praising the Virtuo girls like goddesses while insulting Hololive as a hack group of idols.
"So far most of these seem like a normal thing for the internet."
"Normally yeah, but if you're a new idol group under a company, you'd think they'd try and steer away from controversy."
"Or, by leaning into it, they get a massive publicity boost as the good guys."
"Huh?"
"Since their popularity happened when you and your group was chased out, them leaning into the controversy is far more advantageous as it secures them a following. An easy audience and all they have to do is let them fester."
"But why would I new idol group try to use controversy as a way to get an audience, that's risky."
"They must be confident they will not be touched by the populous. Or at least, that is what I believe."
Sora seemed to understand that line of reasoning, though she was probably having trouble grasping it from an emotional standpoint. An unnecessary factor to success and growth in a company or industry. For people in business, it never mattered whether someone else falls to give you a place at the top, so long as you succeeded, nobody else mattered.
After that discussion, we both headed back to the room where the rest of the idols were currently at. They were there because they had dancing lessons and Sora actually came bursting during my interview since they wanted to discuss the plans for their concerts and what to do while they were essentially under fire.
Sora went in first while I hung back to let her talk to the girls about me. She told me some of them weren't all that comfortable around guys, so a random boy just walking in would've been shocking.
Perfect, they hired a male bodyguard and some of the members were not always comfortable with a man. It was obvious there was a lack of preparation on their end, not that I could blame them, they did contact me on short notice.
I listened in as Sora conducted a question and answer between her and the other members. They were really interrogating her in regard to what sort of person I was.
"Does he look reliable?"
"Yes."
"What about a creep? He doesn't look like one does he?"
"I doubt he's interested in that sort of thing."
"Is he big?"
"He definitely has some height, but not too tall."
"How do you know he can fight?"
"A and I knew him in the past and so we know he can fight very well."
"Sora-senpai is he your boyfriend?!"
"What?! No!"
It was amusing to say the least, watching her sweat bullets as she answered every question her juniors had before finally giving up and just rapid-firing every point she could make under the sun to assure the girls I was no ex-criminal, harasser, or boyfriend that would snap if the wind blew against me.
After managing to calm the others down, Sora allowed me in. To say I was nervous was an understatement, over 20-something girls all eyed me like some sort of criminal the moment I walked in.
I stood beside Sora, silent and glancing at her to give me a hand. I was never good with introductions, so I was pretty much relying on her to give me a necessary prompt I could go off on.
Unfortunately, Sora wasn't complying so I had to do the introduction myself. First impressions have always been important, so I couldn't mess up. I needed the girls to see I was someone they could be comfortable with, failure was not an option!
"Um, I'm Rio Kanazaki… uhh, nice to meet all of you."
I messed up.
Not only was that the stiffest introduction in my life, but their faces showed no signs of interest. It was so embarrassing, I don't know what my face looked like, but I must've been as red as a beet from shame and the only thing that ran through my head at that moment was to bury myself deep in a hole and cry forever.
I could no longer show my face in front of anyone again!
"How are you still this bad with introductions?"
Sora whispered in disappointment. She had worked so hard to give me a good platform to introduce myself, but in the end, it all went to waste.
"Sorry."
She could only sigh at my response before taking over again and going over my role.
Mr Motoaki, the boss of the place, pretty much explained to me how everything was going to work. Essentially, the girls could request for me to be their bodyguard for a day throughout the week, but they can only do it once per week. That was done so that I had a chance to meet with as many of them as possible.
Although it seemed to be a good idea at first, it was quite easy to see holes in that plan. For one, all of the girls were being attacked online, there was no guarantee that only one girl was being targeted at a time, which meant that while one girl was being protected, the others were vulnerable. Luckily the girls never left their homes that much so technically they were safe, but again, what's the likelihood people could find their address with a bit of searching? The other problem was the fact not all of them were used to men. So the likelihood they would ask for me to escort them was most likely 0 percent.
There were so many things that could go wrong, and the others seemed to agree as well. They asked Sora about every aspect of the plan, wanting to know if there were any solutions to the problems we had at hand.
"So should the rest of us stay at home if we don't have a bodyguard?"
"Yes, for the moment. That was what Mr. Motoaki said."
"Hey Sora?"
"Yes, what is it Miko?"
A red-haired girl stepped forward, her hands clasped together and her eyes full of worry.
"Are we really gonna be safe?"
Sora retracted a bit from that question, she had her own doubts about the entire thing as well, but she couldn't show that in front of the others, they looked up to her so she wanted to seem strong. It's always been the same, even back before she was an idol, she always hid her worries behind a confident smile, it was honestly amazing, her mental fortitude.
"We are. It may not seem like it'll be possible, but Rio here is amazing, he won't let us down. He's never let me down after all."
What a motivating speech, but I wasn't going to let myself get carried away by that, I still had to deal with protecting an entire group of idols, separated into 6 generations, all on my own. But I guess it was quite nice to be thought of so highly, especially by an idol as cute as Sora, that was not a privilege anyone could enjoy.
Though I knew those weren't necessarily for me to hear but for the others. Her confidence in me was what quelled most of the members' worries.
Amazing, they trusted her wholeheartedly. They didn't know me, let alone trusted me, but just because Sora said I was an amazing person they actually seemed to believe it. The power of the first member was no mere illusion, Sora truly held something special in Hololive.
"Rio, why don't you stay here and talk to the others?"
"Huh?"
"I know you're not good at talking, but we're counting on you after all, it's best to get to know us."
I didn't want to, but it was the best move, if I wanted these girls to work with me, I needed to make the effort to make them trust me.
"I guess you're right, but is that ok? Don't you all have things to do?"
"We just finished practice so we're free for the rest of the day."
"I see. Well, I don't mind."
Sora smiled and turned to the girls.
"Alright girls, he's all yours!"
She then turned back to me and gave me a thumbs-up before walking out of the room, leaving me in a bit of a panic.
I thought she was going to stay with me, but no, she just left! In fact, I was pretty sure she planned to toss me into the deep end in the first place!
With a sigh, I turned back to the girls to restart our conversation, but the moment I faced them I was met with bloodthirsty glares. What happened to the soft eyes from moments ago? Were they just faking it in front of Sora?! Apparently so. They were better actresses than I thought.
I don't know how long I spent in the room, answering questions from each of them, but by the end of it, I was mentally drained. Who knew idol was just another word for interrogator.
After I left the girls to grab some air, I met up again with Sora who was actually watching my entire interaction with the rest of the members and was amused by my suffering, she held back dozens of laughs while commenting on my inability to hold a conversation with a new face for more than five seconds.
"Amazing, you're still awkward."
"I've gotten better though."
"For like one second."
She was definitely having fun, but I didn't look for her to be massacred by words, I wasn't into that sort of stuff either.
We settled on a set of steps in silence, drinking some cola we got from a vending machine. There, Sora tried to a bit of catch up with me, but I only gave her short answers so she couldn't easily follow up with anything and was relegated back to mere silence.
It wasn't as though I didn't want to talk to Sora, but I had little to no interest in talking about myself since everything I did before this conversation was just a constant cycle of working and searching for Shuu Takamura, not a very exciting topic to discuss with an old friend.
However, whenever I glanced over at Sora, I noticed her worried look.
"What's wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, it's just that…"
"That?"
"Is it impossible to not involve the girls?"
She was still thinking about keeping the girls out of trouble, her heart was as big as ever, or maybe even bigger.
"Frankly, no, Shuu Takamura isn't some random person on the internet. He holds a ton of power and connections, and facing him as we are is suicide."
"Where do the girls come into play then?"
"Who knows? But I know I will need their help if you wish for this group to survive."
"Rio, what are you-?"
"You'll just have to see what I mean soon. Just follow my orders."
"Hey wait, Rio!"
I left Sora behind and headed out of the building, she was definitely completely lost as to what was going on in my head, but that was fine, she didn't need all of the details. Just that I had a plan.
Knowing her, she wouldn't question a lot of things and will accept my ideas without hesitation, that was the in the past as well. However, I did consider that she had changed over the years in some way, so there was still the possibility she would work against me. I needed a solid strategy if I wanted to make sure she couldn't argue against me.
Information was everything in a battle and apart from what Cover knew, which was lacking to begin with, I had no other way of knowing where to start with Virtuo. Luckily I knew someone who could find that starting point for me.
Shoji Masumi was an acquaintance of mine from my high school days, he was part of a family of dirty detectives who would sell info to just about anyone for the right price. Back when I first did my own things, I consulted his father a lot and that led to me meeting him. Years later he became my reliable source of information after also becoming a slimy detective like his father.
I called him over the phone for a drink and he knew I wasn't one to invite people out so suddenly. Meaning, it was work for him.
I went to our regular roadside bar and waited for him to show up, I wasn't into alcohol so I always just ordered some cola.
Not an hour later, Shoji arrived in his favourite grey suit right after, what I assumed, was work.
I also noticed that the women in the bar couldn't help but swoon over him as he made his way to me. I could understand why though, Shoji was a handsome man, chiselled and well-built, his long white hair in a ponytail swayed majestically with every step he made and those sharp, yet soft eyes, one could get lost in those if they stared too long.
He's mentioned before he was not above seducing people for info, so I guess the prince charming look had more advantages other than getting dates or discounts in stores.
"Hey there Rio, you look snazzy today, what's the occasion?"
"I had a job interview."
"A job interview? What did your dad's job get boring for ya? Hahaha!"
"It's about him."
He quickly stopped laughing and put on a serious expression, he ordered a glass of whiskey and leaned onto the counter.
"Well now, that's interesting. What do you need?"
"Are you not going to ask how I got to this position?"
"Will you tell me?"
"I was hired to help the virtual idol and streamer group Hololive. Sora and A are working under there so they called me over to help and sort out-"
"Wait Sora? As in, Sora Tokino? From high school?"
"Yes."
A small chuckle then escaped Shoji's lips, he mused how he hadn't heard her name in a long time.
Sora was that popular girl in school, so nearly every guy drooled over her like a dog. Shoji was no exception, though, unlike the other boys in our school, he did try to at least be normal about it. In fact, I'm sure only us two never really went out of our way to try and act like Sora's knights or something.
"Man, the goddess, you two are close even now huh?"
"No, we only reunited today. I pretty much distanced myself from her after high school."
"You mean just before it ended."
Well, I suppose that was more accurate. I never did finish high school, since in my last year, that happened and I decided it was better to focus on other things rather than exams. So just before I graduated I left and ever since then, I've been focused on only one thing.
"Well whatever the circumstances, it's clear that this has something to do with Shuu Takamura. So, what do you need?"
Finally back on topic.
"Takamura has a new idol group called Virtuo, Sora and her company suspects they are the ones responsible for the attacks against them. I need you to look into them and see if there's some dirt on them. Doesn't matter what it is, so long as it can hurt them."
"Alright, consider it done. I'll call you if I get anything."
We then cheered our drinks to sign off our agreement before proceeding to drink the night away. After about 5 glasses of whiskey later, I had to call someone to pick Shoji up since he went and drank more than he could handle and was pretty much nearly blacked out.
It happened so frequently that it was parred for the course by that point. Once that was taken care of by his co-worker, I decided to head back to my place as well because it was now quite late into the night and I had some preparations to do for the bodyguard part of my job.
It was a long day and there was a lot to take in.
Sora and Hololive.
Shuu Takamura and his new idol group.
Add all of that to my own goals and suddenly I have an entire heap of work to do. It wasn't going to be easy and I knew it wasn't going to be a quick job I could get done in a month.
But I knew, so long as I keep going, I'll reach him and exact my revenge.
God to think this began as a completely more explicit story. I'm pretty sure this is my second or third version of this story. But anywho, I'll tell you now this is a slightly slow burn since it was the first time I was trying out a new style of writing and I didn't get the hang of it until I got to the second half of the story, so you'll probably see a shift in quality or word amount when we get to the later parts. Though during editing I do try to fix stuff up, so maybe it's not so bad.
Anywho that's all from me this week, thank you all for reading this chapter, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments and I'll see you all next chapter. Bye!