Requested by @_Kavis_
Kinda based off of the official popularity poll they did. (咲かせよう！エールでMANKAI// Sakaseyou ! Erude Mankai [i think 'eru' is right? idk, my katakana isn't the best lmao]) Y'all probably already know how the results of that went, but if you don't it's not really essential information.
I'm not too good with Banri's character tbh so there's a little more Taichi love in this one shot than Banri love
There's a little swearing in this oneshot so idk ig that's kinda important
-
"Oh, hey! That's the Mankai Company Director!"
You turned towards the voice to see two high school girls casually talking. The two excitedly approached you.
"You're the director, right?"
You nodded.
One of them squealed, "That means you get to see them all the time at the dormitory, right?"
Huh. They must be someone's fangirls. Whose though?
"Who are you talking about?"
"Obviously Banri Settsu!"
"Obviously Masumi Usui!"
The two girls then looked at each other in confusion. Looks like the fangirls are self-destructing.
"You wrench! That Masumi guy doesn't even have any friends!"
"Well that Banri bastard is so lazy and is such a slob!"
"Hey, this isn't really the time and place..." you mumbled in discomfort. "... That's also kinda rude-"
"Hey director, you should do an official popularity poll!" the Masumi stan prompted. "For all of the troupes!"
You thought for a moment, "But there's a lot of fan-made polls online, anyway."
The Banri stan smirked, "Yeah, but an official poll would totally get loads more voters and opinions!"
"Oh, I suppose it could be a fun thing to do since we haven't done much lately," you noted, considering the mild inactivity of the Mankai Company.
"Mhm!" the Masumi stan hummed, "And if it was a meet-and-greet as well that would totally get more voters!"
"So you think we should do it with ballot boxes like an election?" you queried.
"Why not also do a digital one for international fans?" the Banri stan beamed.
Though you doubted the existence of international fans, you still thought it was a good idea, "Nice. I'll propose this idea at my next meeting."
"Alright! Make sure to rig it so Banri wins!" the Banri stan cheered as she left.
"No way! It should be Masumi, you bitch!" the Masumi stan 'corrected' as she hurried alongside her friend.
"You're totally wrong you idiot, haha."
"Haha, you're taste is so fucking rubbish."
Somehow, despite their name-calling, they left as good friends.
TimeSkip: Two Days Later
"Guys! We're doing and official popularity poll!"
"What's with this all of a sudden?"
"Obviously (Y/n) will win the popularity poll-"
"I'm not even part of it, Masumi," you interrupted in annoyance. "Let me explain it first before you guys start forming opinions."
"So basically, next week, we'll have a ballot box, some slips of paper and pens on a table in our front yard. Fans will come and write their favorite actor's name and drop it in the box," you explained.
This seemed to work for Itaru, "Oh, so we can just be inside the whole time-"
"No, it'll also be a meet-and-greet."
Itaru felt like sulking in a corner.
"What if someone steals the ballot box? This is also a good chance to change the poll results during the voting," you mentioned, trying to make everyone more positive towards the event.
"Just do the poll digitally," Banri argued.
"We're doing both."
"Ha? What's up with that?"
"Come on you guys, you should care more," you said in disappointment.
"I'm up for it!" brightly exclaimed Taichi.
Tsuzuru sighed, "Yeah, Taichi, I think you're the only one who cares."
"I knew it wouldn't be that great of an idea," mumbled Sakyo, despite approving it during the meeting.
"I think it's be fun!" Sakuya smiled.
Citron nodded, "This Popcornarity poll sounds rather interesting!"
"I think you mean, 'popularity,'" corrected Itaru.
"I'll win it if it makes (Y/n) happy," Masumi stated.
"I'm totally gonna win wit all my followers on Instagram," Kazunari cheered.
"I'm going to take this chance to become popular and win it with everything I've got!" Taichi beamed, cheering at the opportunity. He then turned to Itaru and Banri, "Even though I'm not as gifted as you are, I'm not losing this!"
"I don't even care," Itaru grumbled in irritation.
"Well, I probably will win," Banri smirked, "So there's no way I'll lose to you."
"Hah, well, it seems everyone suddenly cares about this event now," you noted, observing the newfound hype in the actors— excluding Itaru and Hisoka.
"I'm going to win this and gain Director's affection!"
"Oh? Taichi, did you say something?" You asked, assuming you misheard.
"Nope, nothing at all!"
Banri clicked his tongue, "In that case I'm definitely not going to lose."
(and Masumi couldn't say anything because he's not a harem fighter of this xreader)
TimeSkip: Poll Day
Your view surveyed the Mankai Dormitory's front lawn. Everything had been set up, and there was already a long line of mostly fan girls, putting slips of paper in the ballot box.
There were also your subordinates doing the meet-and-greet part, casually chatting and charming fans.
Hmm... Charming fans? Banri, Itaru, Masumi and some other were probably doing it easily and effortlessly, but you wondered how Taichi was doing.
In curiosity, you decided to look for him, spotting him easily with his signature bright red hair.
"Wah! You're so cute, like a puppy...! I want to be your fan guard!"
'Does that derive from vanguard or fan girl...?'
"Thanks, but I think it should be the other way around...!"
'Ah, what a sad attempt at being charming. It came off way too stiff. You're an actor goddammit—"
The girl continued to squeal because it was cute. Of course Taichi would get a pass. "I can't believe you're so underrated!"
'Maybe my hard work as the director is the most underrated thing here-'
"Yo-"
You turned around and snapped, "Why the hell is everything interrupting my thought process?!"
"Uh, well," Banri shrugged, "You just kinda looked like you were spacing out."
"Yes, and you're also spacing out to the point you're just annoying the group of loud squealing fan girls behind you?" You retorted, being in somewhat of a bad mood, "You should be giving some fan service."
"Hm? You mean like," Banri smirked, proceeding to pin you to a wall in front of his own fan girls, whom let out a very shocked gasp.
You smacked him, failing to push him away, "Don't kabedon me, kabedon tHEeM goddammit!" You pointed at the fan girls. "This is a public place anyway, at least just do it later!"
This caught the attention of Masumi, but Taichi stepped up first (because Masumi is not part of the request— cough cough), "Hey, what's going on here?"
Banri relaxed and moved away, "Geez, I'm just giving a little fan service. She asked for it."
"Heh, with this heroic act of saving Director, I've totally sky rocketed in popularity!" Taichi exclaimed triumphantly.
You sighed, "Taichi, it's just a kabedon."
Despite this, fan girls squealed, "Wahhh!! Taichi's so heroic!"
Then the half that wheezed, "OMFG A KABEDON DIRECTOR IS SO LUCKYYY!!!"
No, you weren't lucky to be in this chaos.
And so, the rest of the meet-and-greet ended up being awkward between you and Banri.
TimeSkip: Next Day, Poll Results Released
"Woah, can't believe we tallied both poll results so quickly!" Sakuya beamed in surprise.
"Yeah yeah, all thanks to how good I am at counting slips of paper," you
mumbled, partially bragging about something un-bragworthy, "Anyways, it's time I share the poll results!"
You brought out an envelope from your pocket, containing the rankings in a slip of paper.
"What's with the envelope, this ain't Mr. Universe—"
"Ahem," you cleared your throat. "Second runner up, Misumi Ikaruga!"
"Oh! Third place is three, like a triangle!" Misumi cheered, "Sankaku, sAnKaKu, さんかく!"
Itaru clicked his tongue, "Misumi, this is an English server."
"First runner up, Banri Settsu!"
Banri frowned, "I guess first place must be-"
"First place, Itaru Chigasaki!"
"Of course he won," Tsuzuru remarked, unsurprised.
"How did everyone else rank?" Tenma asked.
"Uh, I only printed the top 10 on this slip of paper," you muttered.
"You're supposed to start from tenth place and go up to first place..." Tsumugi corrected, finding it funny you didn't do that.
But in the corner of your eye, you saw Taichi leaving.
"Hey, Taichi, where are you going?"
"Huh?" Taichi stopped for a moment, "Well, it's not like I got first place, so there's no point."
You sighed, "But don't you at least want to know your ranking?"
"If I see it, I'll only get depressed over how un-popular I am..."
'Where did this sudden foresight even from?'
"You're not unpopular!" You argued, in attempt to comfort him, "Look here, tenth place!"
He still didn't seem very comforted, so you took drastic measures.
"I mean— Ten is one digit away from one! See, if we cover the zero!" That felt somewhat embarrassing to add, but at the same time you hoped no one thought you were being sarcastic.
He looked dumbfounded, so you took a different approach.
"Come on, your ranking isn't supposed to determine how unpopular you are! But if that's how you see it, you should use the knowledge to know your current place and see how to improve!"
Taichi smiled, "Alright, then next time, I'll be your number one!"
Banri stepped up, "Don't be too sure about that."
(and masumi growled in the background because he's not part of this xreader)
-
Taichi Nanao... That name totally has some Japanese word play in it right? Does he write his name/ is his name written with the kanji for "ichi" (means 1) in the JP release? Idk, just a random thought I had lol.
Anyways, so about the poll vote thing in the one shot. I know the official poll is voted by fans of the game A3, and this one is voted by fans of Mankai company that are supposedly in the A3 canon. Which means the results would have certainly been different since the fandom's view of Manakai company's actors is different from Mankai fans in the canon. (For example, A3 fandom knows Itaru likes games but Mankai fans in the A3 universe/canon don't.) Because of that, I'm pretty sure the poll results in this one shot would have been different than the official poll. But, uhm, figuring out all that is inconvenient so please understand ^^U