Ch 164 – 13 June: Azuki Miho 02

"Un, I think that's good enough. You can take some rest—" Kouta let Miho rest before his eyes moved to Nanami, who had been watching the test Kouta was doing on Miho. Nanami also utilized the test session as her own form of learning.

"Nanami, can you come here? How about we try practising with this line?" Kouta said, and Nanami immediately nodded and took the script given by Kouta. Before, Kouta gave her rigorous training as usual. It seemed that seeing Miho do voice acting made Nanami also eager to do the best she could.

As for Miho, she sat in her seat while leaning back more than usual. She also took a breath and let out quite a big one, too. She took the drink that Kouta prepared. At that moment, she saw someone approach her and hand her a clean towel.

"Good job," Utaha said.

"Ah, thank you." Miho was thrilled that she could get such treatment from an author she liked. This was an interaction she never imagined would happen. She enjoyed her conversation with Utaha.

However, Miho is pleased to be working with someone she can say she admires because it is extraordinary for a young girl of her age to be able to create a novel as good as 'Koisure Metronome'. As someone who wanted to become voice acting, she couldn't help but admire someone her age who had already achieved something. She used the towel Utaha gave her to wipe off her sweat after a long voice act and got a strict judgment from Kouta.

"Ah, I also have this herbal candy. It's said to be good for the throat after a long period of use." Utaha served the snack and gave Miho a sense of comfort.

"Uu— Even though you don't have to bother," Miho responded as she waved her hand, showing some shyness with Utaha's hospitality.

"You don't have to worry. All of this has been prepared by Kouta because, apart from making all of you feel as comfortable as he can. He also doesn't want anything to happen as long as you work with us."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it will be nice if our work goes well. It will be good for your resume and just a great experience overall."

"Ah, yeah. It's quite an honour to work with you, too, Utaha-sensei."

"Ahaha, you don't have to call me like that. You can call me by my name."

"Yes."

"You don't have to be nervous around me.

"But— I've never expected—"

"Well, it's thanks to him. He's the one who started this project and the one who recognizes you. At least— he's always good at that."

Seeing Utaha talk about Kouta like that made Miho feel a relationship between the two of them. Well, it was easy enough for Miho to think that way. Seeing Utaha's attitude in talking about Kouta, as well as how familiar she was with everything in Kouta's house, showed how often Utaha visited this house.

'I wonder if they're going out.' Miho thought as she looked at Utaha before moving toward Kouta, who was still coaching Nanami. She is also a bit envious of their relationship. She had a promise with her junior high school sweetheart that they would get married after she voiced a manga created by him.

That's why it gave her a bit of hope to see a couple working on the same project.

"You're doing a good job, you know. It's just him being strict since he feels like you have a good talent. I think so too—"

"Really—" For Miho, not many people knew about her dream of becoming a voice actor. Those who know are her boyfriend Moritaka, Akito and her friend Kaya. Plus, her father didn't really like her dream of becoming a voice actor, and only her mother supported her, so not many people praised her talent like this. Especially when it was someone she admired like Utaha. Well, she liked it when Kouta said it, too, since she saw what Kouta did. At least Kouta had more experience in this area than her.

Miho watched Kouta train Nanami carefully. She could easily see how Kouta corrected Nanami's mistakes and also helped her by demonstrating how to do things the right way. Miho also reads manga from Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko and also plays Flappy Bird. Both are simple in terms of creativity in their respective industries but still accessible for people to enjoy.

That was why she was so impressed with how Kouta could teach Nanami, and she also remembered how Kouta seemed to be able to comment on music with Michiru yesterday. In other words, this Kouta guy is multi-talented or perhaps a genius? Miho could probably take credit from a possible genius. At this point, even though she may be confident in herself. Her future was still unknown.

"Okay, I think that's enough for now," Kouta told Nanami before she was seen thinking and writing something into a note. Nanami breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to Miho.

"Good job."

"Un— What do you think?"

Nanami asked Miho, who answered the question honestly and then the two of them discussed each other's looks. They also asked Utaha, who was sitting near them, for her opinion. This made them have a lively conversation. As for Kouta, he seemed to be busy preparing something, and it seemed to be quite a lot.

After Kouta finished taking care of what he prepared, he spoke to Miho.

"I think— This is good enough. What we need to do now is talk about a contract. Do we need to talk to your parents?"

Kouta could remember that her strict father had gotten angry because Miho had appeared at an event in an outfit that was slightly revealing for her father. Of course, Kouta wouldn't do that, and he didn't need her to do that. Honestly, Kouta is a little lucky that it looks like Miho hasn't joined an agency like in the manga, where she has to appear in magazines in bikinis and so on. To spread and expand her career.

"Ah, that's true. We need to talk like that."

"Can you ask your parents about it and we can talk about it? I'm already prepared and ready anytime."

"Yes, I will ask them. Ah, it looks like tonight it's fine, and my mother said she will prepare dinner."

"Really, that's good. And you will come with me—"

"Do I need to go too??"

Kouta told Utaha after he finished his conversation with Miho. As Miho had said, Kouta invited her to dinner and talked about finalizing the contract. He felt that Utaha's presence would be helpful if there were any problems with her father.

"Yeah, it would help me a lot."

After that, the three of them went to Miho's home while Nanami went back to her own. Kouta could remember that her father was quite protective of Miho since they actually moved her home after she went to high school, so she didn't need to go to school by train.

Kouta didn't really remember what Miho's father looked like, but he had those strict fathers in anime and an old but stern look with glasses. On the other hand, her mother, Azuki Miyuki, has a younger look, just like any other mother in anime. She pretty much had the same face as Miho; she just looked a bit older and had dark gold hair with a ringlet.

"Huhuhu— I wonder if you all enjoy the food," Miyuki said after dinner was over.

"Well, it's a good dinner." "Un, thank you for the delicious food." Utaha and Kouta replied as they praised the food. Kouta could see Miho's father looking at her like he was judging him or something.

After that, they moved to the living room, where Kouta gave a file containing a profile of the circle as well as the visual novel that the circle would be making. The file could be said to be arranged very neatly even though someone made it of his daughter's age. That was what Miho's father thought when he examined the file.

The file contains profiles of all the people involved, such as Kouta, who made the Flappy Bird game and also the story writer of the manga. Then also Utaha and Eriri, who have the best resume among others. The rest were newbies, including his son, Miho. Of course, there were concerns about working with so many novices, as well as most of the people in the circle being the same age as Miho.

At the same time, as Kouta explained to her, there are advantages to this position. Because his daughter got the job as the lead and will most likely have a great experience compared to other jobs. In addition, Kouta also told Miho's father that taking this project would provide an advantage for Miho. The very thing that a projective father like Miho's father would love.

The first is the fact that almost all the members of the circle are girls, which makes Miho's father very calm. The second is the words of Kouta, who said that if the visual novel is successful, Miho will be able to avoid the side jobs that won't really benefit her once she becomes a well-known voice actress. She will not need to do idol-like jobs and may also try to utilize her sex appeal to find fans.

Of course, that is only the case if the visual novel is successful, but the presence of Eriri and Utaha already makes the possibility of the novel's success very high as they already have their own fans who are likely to pursue the work of the two of them.

Well, after listening to all the explanations from Kouta and looking at the files Kouta brought. This job was great for Miho, and he didn't have much reason to refuse, especially if Miho herself wanted to do this job. Because although he was a strict father, he still allowed his daughter to pursue her dreams. The last thing he likes is that both Utaha and Kouta have good grades, so he doesn't have to worry about his son's grades going down after working together on this project.

Without any difficulty, Miho's father agrees, and Kouta finally finalizes the contract with Miho.