"Thank you for the good work!" We greeted our senpais as they exited the recording studio.
"(F/N), our senpais are really great" Shiima whispered to me. Shiima and I were newbies in Pro-fit Incorporation. And today newbies from voice acting agencies were allowed to watch a live recording of pro-seiyuu and there would be sessions too. There were five newbies who came from our agency
"Yeah, as expected from Okamoto-senpai and Miyake-senpai" I agreed
Shiima and I knew each other since we were young, and we both aspired to be seiyuu. Shiima dreamt it because of an anime she watched. For me, I must do it for my mom who couldn't see.
"Okay, to all newbies please follow me" someone called us and we followed him. Overall, there were 20 newbies who attended today
"Good luck" Miyake-senpai shouted to us as she and Okamoto-senpai waved at us. They knew their juniors, hmm...
We went inside a big recording studio. And to our surprise, there were veterans voice actors in front of us
"Hello," He is Sugiyama Noriaki. The one who voiced Sasuke in Naruto, well he did introduced himself "So you are all inspiring seiyuu. I am here to evaluate each one of you" he bowed down. Wow, how could I say it? His voiced as Sasuke was so different
"Eh, hello, I am also here with Sugiyama-san to evaluate you. I am Kaida Yuki" and this one was Kaida Yuki. She voiced lots of male anime characters
These two would be evaluating us. Though I wouldn't affect our status as a seiyuu, still a comment from a pro is important
They gave us the script and we formed into four groups of five. They assigned us our characters, and it was a good thing that Shiima and I were in the same group.
But the hurdle was so hard, since we were the last group. The first three group were so great, and they portrayed differently. But hey, who said I couldn't do great? The character I got really fit to me, a teenager who was grieving from the loss of her parents and had a guy friend who was so insensitive of the situation, but you like him so the character would confess out of nowhere. I couldn't say that I already lost my parents, but I could do it!
As the cue for my time came, I went in front of the microphone on the right timing and spoke my lines with intense feeling
"I lost my parents!" with quivering voice I told him. I didn't even know the name of this new seiyuu. I smiled and the breath from me and chuckled could be heard "Please, for now, even though I really love you, now, no one can replace my parents" I sobbed and when my cue ended, I sat down. I had a glimpsed on Sugiyama-san and Kaida-san, they were smiling.
I smiled to myself and had a glimpsed on the window near the door, there Okamoto-senpai was standing, smiling towards us
The recording ended and we were sitting quietly waiting for our evaluation, well Shiima and I weren't talking, the others were talking to each other.
"Kyaaa!" the female seiyuu giggled as Okamoto-senpai entered the recording studio with Shimono-san and Miyake-senpai.
"Eh, right now we evaluated, and to tell you the truth you were all good, but there are some who excel" Kaida-san smiled as she explained. "And right now, these three seiyuu plus the two of us will do the right recording of those characters you just did. From that, think if you did right, okay?"
As the five seiyuu stood freely behind the microphone, they took turn and they were really pro, since they knew their cue. They were so great!
And I evaluated myself, I did the right thing! The way Miyake-senpai did was the same one as what I did. Kaida-san smiled at me when they finished. Yes, she did smile at me!
Sugiyama-san gave our evaluation paper. I didn't read it. I wanted to read it alone. I was shy and nervous to what would it be.
"So that ends the session for today. Thank you for coming and work hard to become like them" the coordinator said and we all clapped
We headed out of the recording room and the other new seiyuu came to me. I was surprised and they wanted to be friends with me
"You were great!" the guy who I partnered with said
"Same as you"
"Yo!" Okamoto-senpai with Shimono-san greeted as from behind and the female and male seiyuu swarm over them "Thank you for the good work" the two of them smiled
"(F/N), let's go. I'll treat you today" Shiima approached me. Indeed we wanted to talk to them too, but we could see them in the agency. Plus, senpai would never notice us.
~
Months had passed and I had some small roles in some anime. But, still in entertainment world, bullying also exist.
This week, I was so down, since my mom would be undergoing a surgery. I did lot of mistakes, and I was holding everyone from finishing the recording.
"Okay, we will record it again, tomorrow, (L/N)-san. Everyone, you may go" the director said as I sighed. I approached the director and bowed down
"I apologize for today"
"(L/N)-san, it is fine. There were also seiyuu who experienced what you are experiencing now. But to me, I can sense that you are having a personal problem."
"Thank you very much. And again, I apologized for today. I should not bring my personal problem here, but I can't help"
I again bowed down and exited the recording studio after explaining my situation.
"Really, why is she here? Just because she did great during the session, the director and Kaida-san liked her."
"She is not that great"
"All she did was cried"
And I heard three female seiyuu spoke so that I could hear them. They were there during the session, and the hard feeling, two of them were from the same agency
I sighed and walked aimlessly. As I walked more, I arrived at the top floor of the building and I felt a wind entering the building
"The door to rooftop is opened" I told myself and entered the rooftop. I roamed my eyes around, and no one was around. I wanted to go back, but the wind was so good that I was tempted to enter the rooftop.
I walked towards the rail, and I could see the city from where I was standing. I looked up and the sky was so clear, there were two or three clouds, but it was really blue, that I felt so calm.
I took a deep breath and shouted. A long, big, shout "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
After shouting, I felt the heavy feelings inside me became lighter. I tried not to cry, but tears ran down on my cheeks.
I stood straight and held the rail "I can do it! Mother, I will make you proud! Even though you cannot see me, I will make you proud with this voice of mine!"
I took a deep breath for several times and wiped the tears on my face.
"Yosh! I need to practice my dialogue, let see."
I scanned the manuscript and read my lines. But I tilted my head, "this part, there's something wrong"
"It's probably because you need someone to practice with"
"Ah, I see. You are right. But I need a male partner" I had a deep thought
Eh? Wait?! I looked behind and I just noticed that there was another rooftop, and there Okamoto-senpai smiling. From where I could see him, he was lying on his stomach
"S-senpai? Since when are you lying there?" I nervously asked him
He hurriedly jumped down and went in front of me. He got the script on my hand and scanned it "I am here even before you came and started screaming" he answered while smiling
I felt my blood flowed to my face and I really was embarrassed remembering what I just did.
"You should say something, I feel so embarrassed now"
He looked at me and he laughed "Well, I also did that once. By the way, as your senpai, I am willing to be your partner for practicing"
"Eh?"
"Now! Let's start!" he said and I was startled and just follow his lead
The next day, I was so nervous. But yesterday, Okamoto-senpai gave me lot of advices and he helped me practice my lines
I entered the recording and sat down at the seat far from them. I had a vacant seat both my side
"Good morning" Satou-san sat beside me. Same as me, she was on the session too, and we were from the same agency
"Good morning" I greeted back
"I'm really so tired. Oh yeah, are you going to audition for an anime after this?" I shook my head and smiled "Eh, but why?"
"I have something to do after this." I answered "I already told the agency" I would visit my mom today, but I only told the agency
"Good morning" Okamoto-senpai entered the recording studio to our surprise. What the heck he was doing here?!
"Nobu, what are you doing here? You have recording today?" Shimazaki-san asked him
"Yeah, I am joining the recording today" he answered and sat down beside me "Good morning" he greeted us
I bowed down and felt the glared from the others.
"You are also part of this anime, senpai?" I asked and he grinned "I didn't hear about it"
"Yeah, the director actually kept it secret" he whispered as he scanned his own script. Then he suddenly got mine "I did something great yesterday, but I forgot what is that"
"Ah, the adlib you did" I said then flipped the pages "Here"
He read then looked for a pen, it seemed he didn't have so I lend him mine
The recording started and I was so happy that I did my part in first try. With the help of Okamoto-senpai. And to my surprise, my character was the same in real life towards Okamoto-senpai's character, a senpai and kouhai.
After the recording, I was about to leave when the director called me
"Here" he handed me a manuscript
"What is this, sir?"
"This is a script for the next anime project. I will give you this part."
"Eh?" I scanned the script, and to my surprise, the sister of the main guy character "But?"
"Actually Noriaki-kun was the one who asked us. He wanted you to play as his daughter"
"Sugiyama-san did?"
"Yeah, well, we will be holding an audition today for some characters. Please accept this, okay" he patted my head and I was left dumbfounded to what just happened
I exited and went to the bus stop. I was on deep thought that I didn't know what was going on. Mother, was this the start?
"(F/N), what are you doing there?" I looked at the car that stopped in front of me, and it was Okamoto-senpai and Shimazaki-san in front of the wheel
"I'm waiting for the bus to come"
"Why don't you go in? We'll send you" Shimazaki-san said
"Eh, no I am fine"
"Hop in (F/N)" Okamoto-senpai got off the car and lead me inside the car "You should accept your senpai's kindness" he smiled and closed the door. He sat down on the passenger seat and then Shimazaki-san drove off "Where are you heading?"
"General Tokyo Hospital" I answered
"Do you have any problem in your health?" Shimazaki-san asked
"No, I am fine. Just going to visit someone." I answered. Well, Okamoto-senpai found out why I became a seiyuu and he said that I would make my mother proud. The two of them talked about events and drama cd recording that seemed normal for the two of them. As for me, I just looked at the window and watched the buildings we were passing by
It was then I remembered the script the director gave. I got the script on my bag and sighed
"What's the problem?" Okamoto-senpai asked looking at me
"I received a script from the director. But I didn't audition for this"
"What anime?" they both asked
"Ichi no Inochi" I answered
"What role did you received?" Shimazaki-san asked in curiosity
"The sister of Ichi" I answered and the both laughed that made me curious "What?"
"I played Ichi" Shimazaki-san answered. "Then you'll be my little sister" I could see from the front mirror that he was looking at me and he was smiling
"Nobunaga-san?" I again asked and he nodded
"Then that settles, the three of us can record together"
"Senpai?" I asked Okamoto-senpai who was laughing on his seat
He showed a manuscript and grinned widely "I'll play the childhood friend, and also Ina's love interest. Well, our characters are friends that like each other, but afraid that the friendship might destroy if we passed the line" he explained that left me dumbfounded
But that time, I didn't know. Because of that anime, lots of unexpected turn of events would happen to me.
~To be Continued~My Senpai is Okamoto Nobuhiko Part 2~