A woman appeared at the classroom door.
She looked to be around twenty-three or twenty-four, dressed neatly in a black professional suit.
Her name was Makoto Hirata, secretary to the president of "Our Voice" Talent Agency—and the person everyone in this voice acting class most hoped to see.
As President Matsuda Kako's direct representative, Hirata rarely visited the training school.
But when she did show up, it usually meant only one thing: someone's about to hit the big time.
It had happened before.
Students chatting or reviewing notes after class would suddenly hear a name called out.
Moments later, that student would return holding a stack of contracts—one for officially joining the agency, and another for an actual voice acting role.
One minute they were classmates; the next, they were full-fledged professionals.
Her nickname around here was:
"The Miracle Angel at the Door."
But there was always an exception.
And that exception was Nishimiya Shouko.
Everyone knew the agency president had a soft spot for her.
Sometimes, even when there was no business to speak of, she'd call Shouko over just to chat.
And sure enough, as soon as that "miracle angel" stepped into the classroom, the imaginary spotlight she carried pointed straight at Shouko—without even pretending to shine on anyone else.
Hirata walked briskly down the middle of the room.
She stopped and bowed politely to Ayano Kitani, the legendary instructor, before turning her attention to Shouko with a bright, respectful smile.
"Nishimiya-san, if you're available, could you please come with me? The president would like to see you."
"Of course! I'll come right away," Shouko replied, standing up quickly.
She had a good idea what this was about.
"Then please follow me. The president is waiting in the meeting room."
Hirata gave a small smile and gestured gracefully toward the door, turning to lead the way.
The moment the "angel" arrived, the classroom had fallen into absolute silence—everyone holding their breath as if awaiting judgment.
And the moment she left, the room exploded into chatter, like the Kanda Festival had broken out inside the building.
You'd think they were hoisting a portable shrine and parading their neighborhood god around.
Most of the people in this training program were working adults—some just off a factory shift, others headed to work afterward.
They'd been through the grind of real life.
While they usually showed proper respect to their instructors… today was different.
The second Shouko and the secretary disappeared through the door, the gossip began flying, as if Kitani-sensei had vanished into thin air.
"She got called again, huh? I wonder what role they want her to try this time."
One woman in flashy Shibuya-style fashion stared longingly at the now-empty doorway.
Her family didn't support her dream of voice acting, so she had to cover rent, food, and tuition on her own, all from her part-time job at a convenience store.
She was already close to her limit.
'Nishimiya Shouko… I'm so jealous of her.'
"Tch, what's the point of giving her so many chances? She always fails anyway."
Another woman—Sakaguchi Yukie, known among the students as "Sandwich Girl" thanks to her job at a sandwich factory—grumbled bitterly.
She'd made a mistake at work today and had been rushing to catch up all afternoon.
She hadn't even had time to put on makeup before coming to class.
Her complexion was a dull yellowish-brown, and her cheeks were marked with angry acne scars.
"I mean, who's backing her? Why do all the agency pros treat her like royalty? Is she the daughter of some CEO? Or a politician?"
"Not necessarily… I mean, look at her. Nishimiya is really pretty…"
Another girl joined the gossip.
The fact that they were speaking so openly meant they weren't close to Shouko—both socially and in terms of seat location.
They were far enough from Kitani-sensei to think she couldn't hear them.
What they didn't know was that the "Chameleon Witch" whom the entire voice acting world respected—Ayano Kitani—was gifted with extraordinary hearing.
It was part of what allowed her to master so many voices.
Where Sakura might describe Kyousuke's singing as "kissed by a devil," Kitani could pinpoint every off-note and identify exactly how to correct it.
So now, even from five or six meters away, with students chatting between them, she had clearly heard every venomous word.
And she liked Shouko.
That sweet girl who, even after class ended, would just sit there daydreaming about her crush—Kitani had always had a soft spot for her.
The old woman narrowed her eyes slightly.
With her round, youthful face and fluffy white hair, the expression still looked warm and kindly.
She slowly strolled over to Sandwich Girl's desk.
The gossipy group immediately fell silent, faces turning ashen, as if they'd just swallowed burning coals.
"Young people today really do have such kind hearts," Kitani said sweetly—but her words rang out clearly through the noisy classroom, making the group tense in confusion.
"Even when graduating from a voice acting school is already a struggle, you still worry so much about a classmate who's already a professional. I'm truly touched."
She continued, as if simply talking to herself.
Then, without waiting for a response, she turned and headed to the front of the class, hands folded behind her back.
Murmuring softly to herself, she added:
"If you can't even graduate from a voice acting school, wouldn't that make all the money you've spent working part-time a total waste?"
"What would your family say?"
"Then again, even if you do graduate, landing an actual role might be even harder. To keep up appearances, you might have to work even more jobs than you do now."
"What a shame… I wonder if any of you will end up blurting out 'Welcome to our store!' during an audition."
"Sigh… young people these days…"
The girls looked at one another, stunned and silent.
Their faces, already an unhealthy shade, now turned an ashen gray.
The light had left their eyes.
She was right.
If they couldn't even graduate, then what were they doing criticizing someone already walking the path to success?
Maybe instead of throwing shade, they'd be better off going to Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mt. Fuji and picking out a nice, scenic burial spot—to save time.
The Shibuya-style girl looked at Sandwich Girl, then quietly slid her chair a few seats away.
Better to focus on studying.
No shortcuts.
After all, Nishimiya always took class seriously—even though she was already so far ahead of them.
People only see what they want to see.
And adults? Even more so.
Their eyes, clouded by envy.
Their mouths, fueled by resentment.
They couldn't see Nishimiya Shouko's talent or hard work—only the special treatment she received.
Voice acting training schools like this one weren't places you could just waltz into with a fee.
Unlike casual voice acting academies, this training institute existed specifically to cultivate talent for the Our Voice agency.
Every student had to pass an entrance exam—meaning they were already performing at a near-professional level even before setting foot in the classroom.
The fact that all the instructors were active voice actors said it all.
The agency was clearly watching this place closely—just like everyone said about the "Miracle Angel at the Door."
As long as you had talent—or worked hard enough—the agency never hesitated to offer opportunities.
There were two paths to "graduation":
Passing the institute's final evaluations, or
Getting scouted and signed as a professional voice actor.
Whether it was voice training, physical movement, or group dubbing practice—Nishimiya Shouko was, without question, the top student in the class.
The Shibuya-styled girl from earlier quietly reflected on how well Shouko always performed, then opened her nearly empty notebook with a sigh.
'Maybe I'll borrow Shouko's notes later…'
The training center shared the same building as the agency's main office—real estate in Chiyoda wasn't exactly cheap.
Every day, students would watch the dazzling professionals climb the staircase above and disappear, fueling their own drive to succeed.
Shouko followed Secretary Hirata up to the sixth floor, to the president's office.
The secretary gave a polite knock.
"Come in," came the voice from inside.
"Excuse me," Shouko said softly as she stepped in behind her.
"Good afternoon, President Matsuda."
She greeted her politely.
Despite President Kako Matsuda's usually stern appearance, Our Voice promoted a relaxed company culture.
And the president—despite her iron will—was known for having a weakness when it came to her voice actresses.
She'd even started a mysterious internal club called the Flat Chest Alliance, or as she liked to say, "Justice Is Flat."
Thanks to that, Shouko always felt comfortable around her.
"Take a seat! What would you like to drink? Plain water? Warm water? Or maybe slightly warmer warm water?"
President Matsuda asked with a straight face, gesturing toward the sofa in the center of the room and walking over to sit beside Shouko.
Her office never offered anything else to drink. Even high-profile visitors got nothing more than water.
She called it part of a voice actor's discipline.
As president, she led by example—showcasing the professional ethic of their agency starting with herself.
Shouko responded with a graceful, gentle smile—she knew how to appreciate dry humor.
If Kyousuke-kun or Sakura were here,
they'd probably just say "Water's fine."
Thank goodness this was a different timeline and location.
Otherwise, Yukinoshita Yukino would be fuming by now:
"Can this family go one conversation without turning it into a word game? Puns won't save Japan, you know!"
But Shouko, ever sweet and adored, simply smiled and replied that warm water would be fine.
Without being told, Secretary Hirata brought over two glasses of water and bowed lightly before stepping into a side room—leaving the two of them alone.
"Shouko, I know you already explained this before, but I want to double-check just to be safe. These roles—are we really free to assign them however we want?"
President Matsuda tapped a file folder on the table with one finger, her tone serious.
"Out of the five main characters, one was written specifically for me by Kyousuke-kun," Shouko answered calmly. "As for the other three roles—not counting the five leads—those can be offered to anyone in the agency."
As she mentioned the role Hojou Kyousuke created for her, a soft blush touched her cheeks.
Still, her voice didn't waver. In fact, it carried a subtle pride.
"Oh? Then I misspoke," the president said with a chuckle. "If you're one of us too, Shouko, then technically we have four roles we can assign freely."
She smiled warmly.
"The last time we got something this lucky was when four small agencies—including ours—teamed up to make an anime.
Casting felt like a dream. Everyone in the office was as excited as kids at a summer festival."
"Really? That actually happened?" Shouko's eyes widened in surprise.
Why had none of the seniors ever bragged about this?
Those playful upperclassmen usually boasted about even getting assigned a new microphone, let alone something this huge.
"It got axed," Matsuda said bluntly. "Barely aired four episodes on some tiny local station. Forget national TV—no streaming service even picked it up."
She took a sip of her warm water, as if trying to wash away the lingering bitterness.
The lesson was clear: even in an age where voice actor idol culture ruled, producing a show just to promote your own agency talent didn't always work out.
"…Hehe~" Shouko giggled quietly and lifted her own glass to take a sip.
"I do trust both you and Hojou-san," Matsuda said, shifting tone slightly, "but I still have to ask… how exactly did he land this project? It's kind of outrageous."
She wasn't exaggerating.
Though the anime only had a few characters—it was a slice-of-life series, after all—both the original work and the production studio were top-tier.
For Hojou to get access to so many roles in one go… it felt more like a supermarket flash sale than a casting process.
After their first meeting, Matsuda had already imagined the possibilities.
A genius like him couldn't be as simple as he looked.
Right now, he was writing novels, drawing manga, doing editing, even handling key animation.
When his own anime studio officially launched and started adapting all of his IPs…
He wouldn't even need to say anything—just being on good terms with Shouko might be enough for their agency to get casting rights automatically.
Of course, she knew her vision might be too idealistic.
Even geniuses sometimes burned out.
She'd seen too many "gifted" creators squander investor money and turn popular source material into complete disasters.
Still, she couldn't help but believe in Hojou.
Not just because of his success in the anime and manga world, but because of his other job—being a student.
Anyone who could balance school and creative work this well deserved serious respect.
No way a genius like that can't even do basic accounting!
In the end, no matter how beautiful her vision was, Matsuda had never expected the rewards for investing in Shouko—spoiling her openly, nurturing her without restraint—to arrive this quickly.
Without even showing up in person, four whole roles were handed over to their agency.
No auditions, no rounds of screening—just like that.
It was unbelievable. It felt like the entire project revolved around Hojou alone.
President Kako Matsuda honestly felt like she'd just been knocked out by a golden pie falling straight from the heavens.
No wonder she kept asking for confirmation.
"How did he even get his hands on all this?"
Shouko tilted her head slightly, trying to recall the details.
"Kyousuke-kun didn't really say much… I think the publisher wanted him to serialize a new manga in their magazine? But he wasn't too keen since school just started and he's super busy. Then…"
Although Shouko didn't finish the thought, President Matsuda already understood what happened.
She'd pulled this move herself before—dangling a big role in front of a voice actor who was thinking about leaving or switching agencies, hoping to keep them around a bit longer.
But still… just to convince Hojou to take on another series, they offered this much?
She remained doubtful.
"It's not just the voice roles," Shouko added, noticing the puzzled look on Matsuda's face. "Kyousuke-kun is also credited as a key animator."
Hisss...
President Matsuda drew in a sharp breath.
Just how much money was Weekly Shounen High pouring into this anime? Was this even allowed?!
Wouldn't the director riot over this?
Wasn't that director supposed to be super picky about the animation quality? And also… kind of a big deal?
"You don't even need to ask. This has to be a great series," Matsuda said, honestly impressed.
If the source material wasn't outstanding, no publisher in their right mind would throw out a deal this generous.
This was the kind of thing that could disrupt the entire industry standard.
"That's absolutely true!" Shouko nodded with conviction, her ponytail swishing with the motion.
She still didn't really understand what kind of story involved a Grim Reaper falling in love with an elementary school boy, helping him dodge death while purifying the world…
But that didn't matter.
She trusted Hojou Kyousuke unconditionally.
"I really look forward to Hojou-san's masterpiece," Matsuda said sincerely.
She gave Shouko a warm pat on the arm, her tone softening into something almost motherly.
"Shouko, for this project, I want you to give it your all. Really push past your limits. Fix those little habits of yours. Okay?"
Only then—when the manga the publisher had placed so much faith in eventually got adapted into a full TV anime—would their agency be able to ride the wave through Shouko.
"I will! I promise!" Shouko nodded earnestly, her brown ponytail swinging with determination.
Just as she believed Kyousuke-kun's work would be incredible, she was just as certain that she wouldn't let him down.
This was the manga their whole family loved.
When it aired, they were going to sit together and watch her perform.
If she didn't give it everything she had, it would be so embarrassing she'd never live it down.
Inside her, a fierce, unshakable determination flared up—120% effort, no less.
"President… which role do you think suits me best?" she asked seriously, eyes sparkling with resolve.
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