*THE NEXT DAY*
*OKUDA'S OFFICE - GOLDEN CALF HEADQUARTERS - AKIHABARA - TOKYO*
NATSUMI: "..."
OKUDA: "Well, well, well. It looks like you're finally trying to prove yourself."
NATSUMI: "I won't let you down again. I'll never lose!"
OKUDA: *Chuckle* "Under my guidance, you never will. Here, let me see that trophy."
NATSUMI: "...Here."
OKUDA: "Edogawa Hometown Idol, performance contest winner?
Pfft, are you really attached to meaningless titles like this?"
NATSUMI: "I..."
*THROW*
OKUDA: "It belongs in the trash."
NATSUMI: "M-My trophy?!"
OKUDA: "You want your trophy back? Then dig through the trash like the rat you are and get out of my sight."
NATSUMI: "N-Nattsu-!"
OKUDA: "Ugh, I thought she would never leave. Now... Where were we, Kanon?"
KANON: "..."
OKUDA: "Your behavior towards your superior was unacceptable. I hope you understand that to get far in this industry, you will have to learn to listen."
KANON: "Yes."
OKUDA: "Good. Hmph... That's what I had to do for eight long years before I took my rightful place as Empress."
KANON: "Eight years..."
OKUDA: "You're lucky; you have your spot in the center; I had to lie, cheat, and steal my way into the leadership of QUASAR."
KANON: "QUASAR..."
OKUDA: "Yes, that's right. QUASAR! The greatest force this industry has ever seen!
Do you think this weak and pitiful QUASAR you see today is a force to be reckoned with?
Don't make me laugh..."
KANON: "You're saying they were stronger with you as a leader?"
OKUDA: "Not just stronger, we were invincible. I know Kami-P has his eyes on you to lead the group in the future.
That's why I'm going to sculpt you into my image. I'm going to make you untouchable, unbreakable!"
KANON: "I only have two years left as part of Liella!... So I should probably think about the future."
OKUDA: "All you've experienced is failure after failure, correct?"
KANON: "Yeah..."
OKUDA: "How does that make you feel?"
KANON: "I hate it with every fiber of my being. No matter how hard I work, it always fails.
Well, not this time. I will bring smiles to the faces of every Yuigaoka student at the School Idol Festival."
OKUDA: "It will be a statement night, where you finally put those three groups who look down on you to rest.
Because that's what we do to advance in this industry, Kanon, we utterly decimate our enemies. Leaving them as empty husks, incapable of restoring their shattered popularity."
KANON: "But is this the only way?"
OKUDA: "Look around you. This is the only way. Everyone who stands in your course must be crushed.
Three hundred thousand applicants to the QUASAR rehearsal I was a part of. I crushed them all to be the last one standing."
KANON: "Impressive."
OKUDA: "Has Kami-P explained our history to you?"
KANON: "Yeah, Golden Calf was an Enka production label. Until they started dipping their toes into other genres.
Then the company took off when Kami-P's father, Kamijou Senior, put him in charge of the QUASAR project."
OKUDA: "And he delivered. Every time he consistently delivers."
KANON: "Throughout QUASAR's history, there have been four centers.
The first was..."
OKUDA: *Chuckle* "Go ahead, say it."
KANON: "...I don't think I want to."
OKUDA: "Once again, you're being defiant to your superior."
KANON: "Fine! The first center of QUASAR was Hana Hazuki! Ren's mother!"
OKUDA: "After the dissolution of KiSeKi, she became the founding leader of QUASAR.
Tsk, it was short-lived. She threw all of that away for some executive, and now we're stuck with her daughter whose talent couldn't hold a candle to hers."
KANON: "..."
OKUDA: "Continue."
KANON: "The second leader was Kana Kihara."
OKUDA: "..."
KANON: "You were her second in command."
OKUDA: "..."
KANON: "Okuda-sensei?"
OKUDA: "Yes. But even the brightest of stars must shrivel and die."
KANON: "She's dead?!"
OKUDA: "No. But she may as well be. After the damage I caused to take her spot... She's been hiding from the public eye for fourteen years now."
KANON: "Then you, Shiro Okuda, became the third leader of QUASAR."
OKUDA: "And ushered in the strongest era of the group's history. None of that sisterhood bullshit that...she...tried to push."
KANON: "So your methods of leading were different from Kana Kihara's?"
OKUDA: "It's clear which leadership style worked best. Because I'm still standing as a living legend, and she has faded into obscurity."
KANON: "..."
OKUDA: "When I graduated on my terms, a lost rat crawling from the rubble of Shining Productions decided to take my place."
KANON: "Aki Kashiwagi."
OKUDA: "It doesn't matter what her name is. Because you will become the fifth leader, Kanon Shibuya, and I will get you there!"
KANON: "Okuda-sensei."
OKUDA: "Hm?"
KANON: "Did you ever have doubts about yourself?
Like, if an opponent was too strong for you to beat..."
OKUDA: "Maybe at first, but God had other plans."
KANON: "God?"
OKUDA: "The plan was simple. Dethrone Kana Kihara at any cost and rule the idol industry with an iron fist.
But someone from another agency was getting very popular... A legendary idol. Someone who lied as naturally as she breathed. Her whole existence, like my own, was nothing but lies.
I knew I had met my match and challenged her to a showdown at the Tokyo Dome."
KANON: "Tokyo Dome, the biggest stage in Japan... That's where the Love Live! finals are held each year.
It's where we should have had our crowning moment, but..."
OKUDA: "I know what the Tokyo Dome is. You're looking at a multiple-time headliner."
KANON: "..."
OKUDA: "It was the first time in my career that I had felt doubt. As the new leader of QUASAR, I didn't want to be responsible for my unit's downfall.
My whole plan for domination could have gone up in smoke that day.
I even prayed... Stating that I would sell my soul in exchange for a way out of this pressure.
Do you know what happened?"
KANON: "No..."
OKUDA: "That same idol I was scheduled to have a live show battle with...was murdered by a crazed fan that day."
KANON: "?!"
OKUDA: "At that moment, I knew that I stood unopposed. Nobody could touch me; my only rivals were vanquished. Fate works in mysterious ways, but surely her death was fate itself choosing me.
She was a sacrifice by fate, necessary for the greater good, so I could rule. She died so I could live!
My two greatest adversaries were gone, I stood alone at the top, as Empress. A goddess."
KANON: "But someone died... Don't you feel any remorse?!"
OKUDA: "People die every day. Golden Calf had nothing to do with it, and her fruity little production company went downhill fast. I mean, come on, a shoddy reboot after 14 years?
Pathetic.
It's not my fault that a fan was a fucking psycho. It wasn't her fault, either.
But in the end, it only benefited my takeover."
KANON: "..."
OKUDA: "We're not the kind of agency that would kill one of our rivals. We don't want death; this isn't a personal matter, it's just business.
But we at Golden Calf know how to capitalize upon the misfortune of our rivals better than anyone.
We won't stoop as low as murder, instead we prefer to kill the careers of our enemies.
It's as simple as that."
KANON: "I see..."
OKUDA: "It's the only way, Kanon. In exchange for fame and success, you must be willing to sacrifice everything. Only then will you make your fans happy."
KANON: "But it's all lies..."
OKUDA: "That's what idol fans want. They want to be skilfully lied to. They hate the truth, they prefer to live in a fantasy land. This is an industry of lies that are so convincing that they have become the very truth!"
KANON: "Understood."
OKUDA: "Oh?"
KANON: "I...don't care anymore. I hate losing, if I have one life to live then I don't want it to be defined by failure. If I have to lie, if I have to shatter the dreams of others, then I'll do it.
I won't let our fans down... I won't let our school down!
Please, teach me your ways, Okuda-sensei!"
OKUDA: "Spoken like a true champion. You and I are going to get along very well... Heh... Hahaha!"