"Hey hey~ Are my little piggies having a good day today? It's Hikari-sama, who's graduated from the masochist character you all love~!"
"It's been a while since I've done a video shoot like this, and just having me here is enough, but this time, our adorable company's youngest member's wife is involved with a production that's starting a new idol project, so I've come to make an appearance~"
"Huh? My juniors? Who cares! I've laid out the groundwork, so it's up to them to take advantage of it! I've never raised the brats under me to be weak, okay?"
"Why help the youngest, you ask? Well, before we're all executives, none of us would turn down a request from our youngest, right?"
"Is that discrimination? Of course it is! If I had to choose between the kids under me and the idol group from the production where our youngest's wife is, I'd pick the youngest, obviously!"
"Our youngest has a good eye, so they're definitely kids who'll make it big, so I'm helping out early~ before I retire! That way, even after retiring, our youngest will help Hikari-sama out, won't they~?"
She really is a pro… she's filming while perfectly embodying her character… impressive enough to hit the dome after just a year.
"Of course I'll help. But honestly, even if I didn't, haven't I helped out a lot already…?"
Mainly with drug experiments or sourcing necessary materials…
"Huh? Youngest, are you talking back to me?"
I let out a groan.
If being the youngest is a sin, then I guess I'm guilty…
"Alright! Let's move on from that and start with introductions! Me first!"
"Yay yay~ It's Hikari, an idol nearing her 40s who's about to retire~! Call me Hikari-sama!"
Hikari, who'd been holding a mic from who knows when, handed it over to me.
"I'm Hoshino Yume, in my 30s. I'm an actor now, working under the same agency as Hikari. Nice to meet you."
After finishing my brief introduction, I passed the mic to Ruby.
"Ah… uh… ah… I'm Hoshino Ruby from Kuma agency!?"
"...Since when have you been under the same agency as me and Hikari?"
"...Do we have a new youngest?"
Flustered, Ruby introduced herself with our agency, and Hikari and I exchanged looks of utter disbelief.
"Eek!? Ah… no, I'm Hoshino Ruby from Hoshino agency!?"
"Hoshino is your last name, isn't it!?"
"Don't get mad at the kid…"
She's so nervous that even helping won't do any good…
"How about you take a deep breath, look at the camera, and start with your name?"
"Inhale… exhale… okay!"
After slowly breathing out, Ruby composed herself with a determined look.
"Hoshino Ruby, 15 years old!! Currently a self-proclaimed idol under Ichigo Production!! Our group's name is B-Komachi! Nice to meet you!!"
She even bowed perfectly—I'm so proud of Ruby…!!
The mic had moved to Kana's hands.
"Umm… so… I'm Arima Kana, a self-proclaimed idol under the same Ichigo Production as Hoshino Ruby here… 16 years old, and… uh… nice to meet you…?"
Luckily, though a bit awkward, Kana managed a slightly better introduction than Ruby's disastrous start.
"Oh yeah~? B-Komachi, huh? Come to think of it, wasn't your wife's idol group also called B-Komachi?"
"That's right. Well, except for Ai, the other members have pretty much retired from the industry, so effectively, only Ai is left."
"But is the name okay?"
Hikari quietly met my eyes as she spoke, and I looked back at her.
"There's no reason it shouldn't be. It's proof of how much our Ai loved B-Komachi. And I believe they'll definitely surpass B-Komachi's legacy."
I smiled gently at Ruby and Kana.
"Yume…"
"Yume-senpai…"
Ruby and Kana looked moved, their expressions on the verge of tears.
"So, how are we proceeding today?"
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I quickly changed the subject. Hikari noticed and held back a laugh, letting it slide.
"That's right~ Well, for starters, just having these two appear with famous people like you or me means their faces are already out there! So, regarding B-Komachi's two members?"
""Yes… yes!?""
Hikari looked naturally at Ruby and Kana as she spoke.
"I'll tell you everything you're curious about, so it's question time for me and the youngest."
"Huh?"
"What?"
At this unexpected statement, Ruby and Kana let out surprised gasps.
"Anyway, this video will be uploaded to YouTube too, so except for really important stuff, I can talk about most things~ like where I'm from or even the messes I got into back in the day~"
For the record, if you dig into the real Hikari, her past antics come up too.
I glared at Hikari with wide eyes, and she cautiously averted her gaze.
"Well~ you should know everything from the start~"
"Sigh… since it's come to this, ask anything you're curious about."
It's probably better if they ask me most of the questions. If they ask Hikari, something really weird might come out…
After pondering our words, Ruby quickly raised her hand.
"I'm curious about the back alley you mentioned, Hikari-senpai!!"
"Oh!? Yeah, yeah, I get it~! You want to know about my origins, right~!? If a junior asks, I have to tell you!!"
"Sigh…"
This personality of hers, always getting excited when back alley stories come up, hasn't changed at all.
"Let's see~ I was just about to become an adult, right? Honestly, I had no parents, you know~"
"So, I ran away from the facility in high school, didn't even go to school, and the only thing I was good at was fighting—kept fighting and fighting until I became the boss of that alley~"
"Honestly, if I weren't working at this company now, wouldn't I have become a pretty successful yakuza boss in some alley?"
"Wow...!"
"Don't people usually hide that kind of thing…?"
Ruby was purely impressed, while Kana asked cautiously.
"No, no, most of the executives in our company are like me, from delinquent backgrounds, you know? So there's no point in hiding it."
"What!? So Yume's company is actually a yakuza company!?"
"No, it's not. We're a legitimate security company. So there are a lot of people who use their bodies, and many of them are from delinquent backgrounds, plus executives bring in their own people. But as long as they're in our company, we don't allow any dirty work, so we're viewed favorably."
"Ironically, this guy saying this is considered the 'craziest' among us, except for 'the doctor'."
"Pfft…"
I thought she'd let it slide quietly…
"What!? Yume-senpai!?"
Hikari laughed amusingly at Kana's surprised reaction.
"Well~? The only ones with bloody nicknames in our company are just two people? The doctor and the youngest."
"Then! If that doctor person and Yume fought, who would win!?"
I was moved by Ruby's seemingly disciplined demeanor, but this completely unexpected question caught me off guard—and not just me.
"Uh...?"
Why are you looking at me? Hikari brought it up, so she should wrap it up!
I shot Hikari a look saying just that.
"Hmm... honestly, in a sparring match, the doctor would win…"
"Sparring match?"
"Yeah, like light training~"
"Then if it's not sparring, would Yume win?"
Ruby asked with an innocent look, her eyes fixed on Hikari and me.
"Ugh… how do I put it?"
"I wasn't planning to hide it… well, if we fought with 'intent to kill,' I'd win."
Honestly, both the doctor and I are a bit off in the head.
The reason I often get paired with the doctor on jobs is because it's most comfortable when we work together.
"Huh… huh…?"
I patted Ruby's head to calm her down.
"Haha, that won't happen, so don't worry too much. Okay, next, Kana, do you have a question?"
I gently tapped Ruby's head and asked Kana for a question.
"Um… was it… not hard for you to act as the masochist character…?"
Oh...
"Not hard, you say?"
At Kana's question, Hikari shot up as if having a fit and climbed onto the prepared table.
"Of course it was hard!? I was already annoyed about not growing, and then Director Kuma suddenly brings in some character called a masochist or whatever, saying I should make it work because Hikari-chan can do it!!"
"'Hikari-chan can handle it, so give it your all!!'—how could I refuse!?"
"And none of the executives would dare turn down a request from Director Kuma anyway!! Not even that guy over there!! Or the doctor!! They'd jump at Director Kuma's word!"
"Ahh! I didn't refuse because I owed him, but inside, I wanted to so bad!! Saying 'trash~♥' like that was so infuriating!!"
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!"
Ruby, Kana, and I quickly fled from Hikari's frenzied outburst and decided to blankly watch the scene until she calmed down.
For the record, this scene ended up being one of the most popular videos on Hikari's YouTube channel.
"Alright, I'm thinking of wrapping up the video shoot soon. Any last questions?"
After Hikari finally regained her senses—20 minutes later—we continued filming, and after about three hours, we had a lot of decent footage. Getting the signal to wrap up, I asked for final questions.
"Yes! Hoshino Ruby here—I'd like to see Hikari-senpai perform the masochist character one last time before you retire!!"
"Huh?"
"Hold back."
At Ruby's question, Hikari's expression was like, 'Crossing a line? Should I kill her?' and I tried my best to stop her.
"Sigh… fine, since it's a junior's request… this is the last appearance of Hikari-sama before retirement, so watch closely, junior!!!!"
"Yes!!!!"
But from the way she said it, it seemed Ruby had won her over.
"Hehe~★ You wanted to see this Hikari-sama that much, you little sow~♥ Well, can't be helped~? Even the boars praise this Hikari-sama, so the sows must like it too~"
Hikari slowly approached Ruby from behind and leaned in as if whispering in her ear.
"Trash~♥ Trash~♥ Trash~♥ You like this, don't you, little sow~♥"
"Guhk!?"
The whisper must have been critical, as Ruby clutched her chest and collapsed.
"Well~ thanks for watching, everyone~"
With that, the video shoot ended, but honestly, I'm not confident I can watch the edited version.