"Rimuru, were you a guy in your previous life?"
"Pfft—"
The sudden question almost made me drop the bottle I was holding. Ruby was incredibly nonchalant with her questions ever since she found out I could talk.
"W-what made you ask that?" Incredibly flustered, I replied with a half-hearted smile.
"Because you keep on avoiding drinking from mom's boobies directly. You're just like Aqua."
This girl was ruthless. Why did she have to bring that up?! And here I was being a gentleman and keeping to myself. I swear, kids these days are so upfront that, old men like me get heart attacks from time to time.
"I'm interested too. Ruby and I talked about this before you decided to speak up before. I was a guy in my previous life, Ruby was a girl. All that's left is you."
Have any of you heard of privacy? Hello?!
"Well, I was a guy in my previous life." There was no point in hiding the truth.
Aqua immediately looked sympathetic to me. He reached out his tiny limbs toward me and pat me on the back saying, "It's gonna be hard pal, between you and me, I was a Doctor, so I know how difficult women have it."
He whispered those few parts in my ear making sure Ruby couldn't hear us.
"...I'll take that into consideration."
Aqua's words made me realize how different it was living as a girl from now on. I hate to say this, but I'm probably gonna be a weird girl when I grow up. I still like women!
But that matters not. I'm happy enough to be reborn, even as a girl. I'll focus on living a happy life with my current family. My mother being the Idol she is, my siblings are most likely gonna follow in her footsteps in the entertainment industry.
Maybe I will also go down that path...
***
While crawling along pretending to be a baby, I overheard a few conversations in the living room. It seems like Ai's monthly income was lower than she thought it'd be.
"Hey, this agency's so stingy with pay. The single we put out reached No. 3 on Orichon didn't it? Aren't these middlemen taking too big of a cut?"
I see the problem. I've known that this agency isn't that big, and I did speculate that more often than not Strawberry Productions had been using middlemen to produce their performances, distribute the merch, and even advertise them.
It's not surprising to hear that the profits of the agency take huge dips even when Ai's popularity carried the overall sales.
"I've come to realize that the world revolves around money."
"That's quite a depressing realization."
Tell me about it. I learned that the hard way myself.
Ai picked up Ruby and started to speak in a serious tone, "Being an idol is fun, and it's okay if I go on like this by myself. But you know something? I want these kids to go to good schools, take lessons that benefit them in the long run, and so on. If I don't do something about this, I won't be able to make any of those happen."
Ai put Ruby down and gestured for me to come to her. I crawled my way over to her making sure she doesn't find out I could walk. It's difficult to Mimic a baby's movements.
"Like Rimuru here, I can see myself in her. You know how she always tries to be alone in a corner somewhere, it's like how I was back then. Her eyes give the same light as mine, and I think she can even surpass me if she decides to become an Idol or even an Actor."
At those words, all my thoughts, my feelings, and my instincts listened in wholeheartedly.
"I see the same in Ruby and Aqua as well. Rimuru, Aqua, and Ruby, to give them lots of options, I've gotta sell better and earn as much as possible, don't I?"
Ai looked incredibly sad at this particular moment, and something in me had started to turn. Little did I know it would be the starting point of a bigger ambition.
"As things stand now, I won't be able to make these kids happy."
I did not like the look on her face. I wanted to slap her if possible. But my arms were short, even if I could reach her, I wouldn't have enough strength to slap her. And so I thought, What can a baby do to cheer up their depressed mother?
When my nephew was born, my brother always told me stories about how his child lifted his spirits with a single gesture.
A single smile is all it takes.
"Mama~"
I reached out my hands as if I had intended to hug her. All the while imitating the same smile she used to captivate my soul. She did say I looked like her, didn't she? Or was it just me?
In that room, Rimuru never knew the extent of the gesture she had made. The impact on Ai's motivation and ego was enormous. Every single good feeling welled up within her as she stared at her daughter's smile.
Her sad expression instantly disappeared.
"...Hahaha, thank you, Rimuru. You saw right through me, didn't you? I can't believe you're a baby."
***
Ai left a few hours later after that, it seemed like she had gotten a hit of motivation and went off somewhere. We were left all alone with Miyako who was left to be, as usual, our babysitter. Aqua and Ruby immediately came up to me after Ai had left.
"Woah woah, you totally looked like Mom at that moment! You must have some crazy talent!" Ruby was touching my face and was trying to form a smile by moving my lips. This is annoying.
"I see you're quite talented. You changed Mom's expression from that one to one I've never seen her make before."
I don't think I did anything that impressive. All I did was smile till my lips couldn't rise anymore and just used the leverage of a baby's cuteness. All that anime I've watched isn't all for show. I thought of continuing the act as a way to prank the two, but how would I do that in the first place?
Do I keep acting like this?
"Why~ I am her daughter after all. It's only natural for me to be able to imitate her to a T."
Hmm, I'm doing this fairly well. Did I ever have such good acting skills? My sudden ability to act didn't surprise me all that much at this point in time. I never knew how hard it was to pull off what I was doing right at this very moment, it was almost as if something else was at play.
"So cutee~ Ahh, I don't care if you were a guy in the past, you're a girl now!" After saying that, Ruby dived in and hugged me to oblivion. I couldn't breathe so I tapped her shoulder.
"H-Hey, I think you should let go Ruby, Rimuru can't breathe." Both Miyako and Aqua tried to tell Ruby that I was obviously losing oxygen. But alas, Ruby kept up the hug for a minute long after that. I nearly passed out due to suffocation.
***
From Aqua's point of view, Rimuru was an extremely talented actor. The perfect imitation of Ai's smile made that obvious to Aqua at that moment. Aqua thought that maybe Rimuru was in the entertainment industry in her past life.
But he had no way of knowing since Miyako was still present. They couldn't speak about their past lives in front of her.
If there was one thing Aqua was good at, it was observation. His experiences in his past life may have something to do with it, but aside from that he could truly analyze something with observation alone.
Rimuru's facial expression that perfectly imitated Ai's signature smile is a talent amongst the best I've ever seen. I've seen my fair share of Actors and Idols, but only Rimuru and Ai showed that dazzling, encaptivating smile.
Rimuru was a case study in Aqua's mind.
"Are you gonna be an Idol when you grow up?"
It didn't hurt to ask, and so he did.
Rimuru's reply was somewhat unexpected. "Idol? I don't think I will, singing and dancing aren't what I imagined I'd have for a job you see."
If Rimuru wanted to be an Idol, she could literally become a worldwide Phenomenon. Or at least, that was Aqua's thoughts. He sure wasn't holding back on his expectations.
Such a talent at such a young age, I know she's had a past life, but she can train now and by the time she grows up she'll essentially be a major force in the industry. She could also choose to be an actor, which can show her talents at a young age as a Child Actor.
Aqua had numerous thoughts about Rimuru's future. That shows how deeply captivated he was by Rimuru's imitation of Ai's smile.
By this act alone, Rimuru's first and second fans have appeared.
***
I wonder how I got dragged into this.
"Wowww! A sales promo event! A mini-concert! The kind you'd need to win a lottery ticket for!"
Ruby was very excited as we enter the venue for Ai's concert. Or shall I say, "mini-concert". My headaches started when Ruby kept insisting to bring me along when they wanted to watch Ai's concert.
I was gonna accept either way, but Ruby was way too enthusiastic and ended up shaking me too much. My tiny body can't handle being shaken so violently.
Miyako ducked down and looked at Ruby, "Now listen here, I brought you here since you kept insisting. But you know, I'm the one who'll take the brunt of it if the president finds out about this, got it?"
Miyako was being extra stern to the two today. "No cheering, running, or speaking! And that includes you too, Rimuru!"
Huuuh?! Why did you call me out specifically?!
"Don't give me that look, I know you watch her concerts till late at night! You're probably gonna be the loudest one if I don't keep you in check!"
How'd she know??!?!
Her scolding me like that made my cheeks turn red. I tried to look away from the other two to hide my embarassment.
The mini-concert started.
Ai with two other members of B-Komachi ran in and started to perform. Aqua was to my left, his eyes were glued to the performance, and to my right, Ruby was the same. The concert was extremely hype, the crowd alone made me want to wave my arms around.
—No, I already was doing it!
"Holy crap, these babies are insane! That's one extreme idol-fan dance! Who are they?!"
All three simultaneously thought;
"Crap, the instincts took over!"
Fufu, I'm sorry I broke the promise Miyako-san. There was a rule. If you enjoyed something from the bottom of your heart, you can't help but express it. I'm so not gonna take responsibility for whatever happens! Miyako-san, good luck!
***
1,000 followers! THANK YOU ALL OF THOSE WHO FOLLOWED AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Your support means a lotttttttttttt, thank you for your kind words. I thought I'd write something sloppy again and disappoint myself and the readers especially with a series like Oshi No Ko.
Thank god it's been received well!
Adios!