While Kyousuke was out indulging with his subordinates in Otaru, Shouko's time in Suimon City was just as vibrant and fulfilling.
The voice acting agency's hobby classes weren't really meant for profit—they were more like a way to promote the agency and scout potential talent.
On the first day, the instructor did a quick screening, filtering out those who had only joined for fun by checking their interest level and the uniqueness of their voice.
Those who didn't make the cut were refunded their registration fee.
The content of the first class was light, filled with industry anecdotes and a few fun exercises.
The real training wouldn't begin until the second day, when teachers from the agency's professional training division would step in.
Shouko woke up even before her alarm went off or had she even set one before falling asleep?
Wait… did she fall asleep while talking to Kyousuke last night?
Her soft brown eyes flew wide open as the realization hit her.
"Aah! No way!" Shouko puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
She had fallen asleep mid-call with Kyousuke—such a wasted opportunity!
She had so many things she wanted to say.
"Shouko, Shouko," she scolded herself. "You've gotta stop sleeping so much, or you'll turn into a little piggy!"
Determined, she sat up straight and patted her cheeks with her hands, which peeked out from the sleeves of her pink pajamas.
Huh? Where was her hearing aid?
Did she sleepwalk and take it off?
She checked her phone—it was almost 8 a.m.!
Shouko quickly tossed off her blanket and rushed to the bathroom to wash up.
"Morning, Shouko!" her younger sister Yuzuru called out cheerfully from the kitchen, where she was helping their grandmother make breakfast.
"Good morning, Grandma, Yuzuru!"
Blushing a little at being the last to wake up, Shouko greeted them quickly and dashed into the bathroom.
Even without her hearing aid, she could easily understand Yuzuru's words just from her lip movements.
After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Shouko carefully adjusted her hearing aid in front of the mirror.
Back in her room, she picked out an outfit similar to her school uniform—today was another class, after all.
She went with a navy pleated skirt, a white blouse, and layered it with a khaki knit cardigan. She tied her hair into a high ponytail for a clean, fresh look.
"Are you going to your class again today?" Grandma Nishimiya asked as they gathered around the table for breakfast.
"Yep! There's going to be an amazing teacher today!" Shouko replied enthusiastically, scooping up a big spoonful of cereal soaked in hot milk.
She turned to her sister with sparkling eyes. "Yuzuru, wanna come with me? It's really fun!"
"I think I'll pass. I'm not really into that," Yuzuru said with a chuckle. "I'm going to the park with Grandma today to take pictures. She's going to be my model."
"Oh, really? Then I'll come find you guys after class!"
"Perfect. You can show us what you learned today," Yuzuru grinned teasingly.
"I was really looking forward to it yesterday, but someone kicked me out of the room just to talk to Kyousuke-kun. I was so heartbroken."
Shouko's pale face flushed bright red. "I did not…" she muttered, burying her face in her cereal.
Watching her two granddaughters bicker playfully, Grandma Nishimiya smiled with quiet happiness.
"I'm done eating! Yuzuru, can you handle the dishes today? I'll do them tomorrow!" Shouko called out as she stood up, mindful of the time.
"Sure thing! Do your best at class, Shouko!" Yuzuru raised her hand in a mock salute, and their grandmother waved goodbye with a warm smile.
After Shouko left, Grandma hesitated for a moment before asking, "Yuzuru… I asked your mother about the whole voice acting thing."
"Do you really think Shouko could become a voice actress?"
Yuzuru quietly went back to eating her cereal. "Who knows what the future holds? As long as she's happy right now, that's all that matters."
She understood why their grandmother asked, ever since Shouko mentioned wanting to become a voice actress, even their grandma had started looking into the unfamiliar world of voice acting.
Yuzuru had done her own research too.
On the surface, it might seem like hearing ability doesn't matter much in voice acting, since it's all about using your voice.
But after digging through every corner of the internet, she hadn't found a single professional voice actor with a hearing disability.
Still...
"Kyousuke-kun will figure something out… like he always does," Yuzuru whispered, almost burying her voice beneath her cereal.
It was selfish, she knew but if it was Kyousuke, she truly believed he could help make Shouko's dream come true.
Grandma Nishimiya didn't say anything more.
There was still plenty of time for Shouko to decide her future.
At this age, having something to work hard for was already a valuable experience.
A small note: Suimon City didn't have a subway.
Unlike Tokyo, where there's a train for practically every destination, not all Japanese cities were so well connected.
Fortunately, the hobby class was only a couple of blocks from Shouko's house—she made it there in under ten minutes.
The hobby class and the voice acting training school shared the same building.
In fact, perhaps as a subtle marketing strategy, the classroom for the hobby course was located above the training school to subtly encourage students to look into joining more seriously.
"Good morning, Miss Ishikura, Miss Kawai," Shouko said with a polite bow as she entered the building, greeting the front desk staff before heading up the stairs.
"Good morning, Nishimiya-san! Do your best today!" Ishikura Asami smiled warmly.
Once Shouko disappeared from sight, Kawai Kanna leaned over and whispered, "She has such a beautiful voice. Do you think she'll join the agency directly?"
"Unlikely…" Asami gently touched her ear.
"She has a serious hearing impairment. Honestly, the fact she can speak this clearly is already a miracle. Who knows how much effort it took."
"Yeah… sigh."
As front desk staff, they heard all kinds of stories, both through work and casual gossip.
Chatting like this was part of their daily routine.
Shouko stepped into the classroom and let out a breath of relief—no teacher yet.
She quickly made her way to her seat and greeted the new friends she had made the day before.
"Kuno-san, Ikuta-san… good morning!"
Most of the class was older than Shouko—some were high schoolers, and a few were already working adults.
"Morning, Shouko! Oversleep today?" Kuno Otome waved and cleared some space on her desk.
"I just went to bed a little late last night," Shouko replied sheepishly, pulling her notebook from her bag and setting it on her desk.
Not that notebook, though—not the one she used to write in when she couldn't speak.
That one had been carefully tucked away ever since she started practicing speech with Kyousuke.
Back then, whenever she wrote in it, Kyousuke would get all grumpy and insist she keep speaking even if it took her multiple tries, he'd do his best to understand.
It had only been over a couple years ago, but it felt like a lifetime had passed.
Smiling faintly, Shouko joined the conversation with the older girls sitting nearby.
Some of them were determined to apply to voice acting school after high school, while others were just exploring new possibilities in their spare time.
Listening to their stories always gave her a little spark of inspiration.
Thinking about her future, Shouko couldn't help but recall how just a simple compliment from Kyousuke-kun had sparked a dream in her heart to become a voice actress and bring his manga to life through animation.
But even with that dream taking root, she wasn't confident.
Could she really become a voice actress?
Could she truly breathe life into the characters Kyousuke-kun had created?
Her heart was full of uncertainty.
Luckily, the person in charge of the class had complimented her voice yesterday, saying she had real potential for this line of work.
That little reassurance helped.
Just then, the classroom door swung open.
A kind-looking middle-aged woman stepped in.
The students, realizing this must be the instructor the organizer mentioned yesterday, quickly quieted down.
The woman walked to the front of the room and gave a small bow before speaking.
"I'm Yoshiko Kikuchi from BandY Voice Acting Agency. I'll be your instructor today."
Shouko noticed the girl sitting next to her, Miss Otome Kuno, looked unusually excited.
Shouko was curious, but she sat up straight, her brown eyes brimming with curiosity and eagerness to learn.
She desperately wanted to know how to walk the path of a voice actress, especially from someone so experienced.
Kikuchi-sensei didn't start the lesson right away. Instead, she turned to the whiteboard and began writing down titles of anime and movies.
Shouko only recognized a few of them.
"So impressive…" Shouko finally understood why Otome was so thrilled—this teacher wasn't just an instructor.
She was an active voice actress with multiple major roles under her belt!
"As you can see," Kikuchi-sensei continued, "I'm technically your senior in the voice acting world. So, I'll be sharing some advice with you all today."
"Just keep in mind—it's just for reference. There are many in this industry who weren't noticed at first, but suddenly hit it big."
"Like they say in that soccer anime I worked on—'The ball is round. Anything can happen.'"
She ended her intro with a smile and a quote from one of her own anime, and the students all looked visibly impressed.
"Kikuchi-sensei is so kind," Otome whispered.
Shouko could tell her classmate truly admired the teacher—Otome's hands, clenched tightly in her lap, were trembling from excitement.
"Yeah," Shouko whispered back with stars in her eyes, "it'd be amazing if we could join the same agency as Kikuchi-sensei someday…"
"Totally!"
"Now then, let's move on to the part you've all been waiting for." With another gentle smile, Kikuchi-sensei took a seat near the front.
Don't be nervous, Shouko.
You've got this.
Just like you practiced.
Kyousuke-kun said your impression of Saitama was exactly how he imagined the character!
Shouko clenched her little hands on the desk, her toes stretched straight in her shoes as she took deep, slow breaths.
"Nishimiya Shouko."
"Here!"
Lost in mentally prepping herself, Shouko was caught completely off guard when her name was called first.
She jumped up, voice louder than intended.
"Hehe, relax. If you're this nervous now, what will you do at real auditions in the future?" Kikuchi-sensei joked kindly.
The class chuckled quietly, while Shouko, stepping out from her desk, felt like her legs were jelly.
The last time she was this nervous was probably at her elementary school graduation ceremony.
Auditions?
Do those mean even more people staring at you than this? In her mind, tiny versions of herself trembled and shook one another in panic.
"H-Hello, I'm Nishimiya Shouko." She bowed politely with her hands folded in front of her, trying hard to keep her voice steady.
Kikuchi-sensei glanced at the list in her hand.
Shouko was placed first based on voice tone and physical appearance, per the organizer's rankings.
With the voice acting world becoming increasingly idolized, Kikuchi's eyes naturally went to the girl's face.
Such a cute girl. She'd be perfect for the moe-type roles…
'Wait—what's that?'
Before she could fully assess, the flesh-colored hearing aids on Shouko's ears instantly caught her attention.
Does she have hearing loss?
No time to dwell on it—seeing Shouko standing there nervously, Kikuchi smiled warmly and picked up a sheet with some classic lines from the stack on the table.
She handed it to her and let her glance through it while turning back to address the class.
"Technically, voice acting is a profession with no real barrier to entry. As long as you can speak, you have a shot at making it in this field."
She turned back to Shouko and gave her a reassuring nod, her smile filled with kindness.
Shouko was taken aback by the encouragement.
Her eyes sparkled with emotion, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a small smile.
A thin mist of tears blurred her vision as she hurried to study the script in her hands.
Then someone raised their hand. K
ikuchi-sensei nodded.
"How can we tell if we're suited to voice acting?" the student asked.
"There's no clear industry standard," Kikuchi-sensei replied. "And I won't say things like 'as long as you have a dream, that's enough.'"
"From my personal experience, the key is whether you have the ability to learn language."
"Do you mean like learning English?"
She laughed. "Not quite. Honestly, I can only say simple things like 'hello' in English even now."
One of the reasons Kikuchi was always asked to teach the first day of these interest classes—besides her fame—was her approachable personality.
"What I mean is, the ability to pick up on the subtleties of pronunciation. For example, the student earlier had a nearly perfect standard Japanese accent, but when saying the word 'Eigo', the intonation was just a bit too heavy on the first syllable.
"If you can adjust that quickly when it's pointed out, then it shows strong language learning ability. And that tells me you've got what it takes to seriously pursue voice acting."
"Thank you, Kikuchi-sensei. I understand now."
Meanwhile, Shouko was still trying to focus on her lines but she couldn't help being distracted by Kikuchi's warm and soothing voice.
'Language learning ability…?'
She thought back to how she used to speak in ways no one could understand, and now she sounded just like everyone else.
Maybe she did have talent in that area?
But the insecure part of her kicked in right away.
'If it weren't for Kyousuke-kun, I'd still be speaking in 'Nishimiya alien language' like a fool… If I can learn, it's only because he helped me…'
"Nishimiya-san, are you ready?"
The sudden question jolted her out of her thoughts.
Her eyes turned into wide, panicked dots, and the paper in her hand crinkled as she accidentally squeezed it too hard.
"Um, not… quite yet…"
"Haha, that's fine. Let's begin anyway. In the real world, directors often change lines on the spot during recording sessions."
"Consider this a sneak peek into the professional world." Kikuchi said with a smile.
"Yes!" Shouko straightened up, snapping into full concentration.
Even after she sat back down, Shouko was still too stunned to remember how she'd done.
"I must've done terribly..."
The girl lay face-down on the desk, letting out a soft whimper her voice as delicate as a kitten that hadn't been fed for an hour.
"No way! I was mesmerized watching from the audience! Shouko, you were just like the professional voice actors I see on TV. You were absolutely amazing!"
Otome Kuno patted the shoulder of the sweet girl sitting beside her.
Someone else was performing on stage at the moment, so their quiet exchange went unnoticed.
"Thank you, Kuno-san." Although Shouko still felt she hadn't done well, she made sure to express her gratitude right away.
Then, sitting up straight, she turned her attention to the stage.
The teacher never gave feedback on the spot if they did, it wouldn't be advice, it would be an execution.
Imagine being told "give up" in front of the whole class.
That's not constructive; that's just cruel.
Instead, during the next class, students would be called one by one into an empty classroom next door, following the order of their performances, to hear Yoshiko Kikuchi's feedback.
Naturally, the first one up was Shouko.
What kind of evaluation would she get?
Kuno-senpai had just said she might get scouted on the spot by an agency, but Shouko had no confidence in herself.
All she hoped for was a positive review—just something good.
She knocked on the door, her heart racing.
When she heard a voice respond, she pushed it open with nervous hands.
"Hello, Kikuchi-sensei."
"Hello. Come sit over here, Nishimiya-san." The room was a small lecture hall.
Kikuchi sat in the front row and gestured to the seat beside her.
"Forgive me for asking right off the bat, Nishimiya-san… but your hearing?"
The very first question sent Shouko's heart plummeting.
The thing she'd dreaded most had finally come up.
Her whole body went cold, but she forced a smile. "I was born with a hearing impairment."
Kikuchi's face was filled with sympathy, though she still held onto a sliver of hope. "Is it mild, or…?"
"It's severe," Shouko replied softly.
That voice—gentle and clear, like crystal—made Kikuchi feel all the more regretful.
"I was actually going to recommend your name to an agency," she admitted. "But now… I'm sorry."
If you can't hear your own voice clearly, how can you be sure it will move someone through a screen? Even with hearing aids, it's…
"It's okay. I understand." Shouko gave a small shake of her head.
She'd considered this possibility from the start, hadn't she?
Sensing the determination in the girl's expression, Kikuchi added kindly,
"If you love anime, voice acting isn't your only path. There are other roles—like animation, directing, production…"
Most young people in Japan dream of becoming voice actors because of their love for anime.
That's why she brought it up.
Shouko shook her head. "That's not it."
Why did she want to become a voice actor?
Because Kyousuke-kun once told her a character's voice matched the one he imagined in his head.
Because she wanted to help him bring his story to life as an anime.
Because she wanted to return the kindness he'd always shown her.
"I appreciate your advice. Thank you very much." She stood, bowed respectfully, and left the room.
Leaning against the hallway wall, Shouko placed a hand over her chest and clenched it tightly.
Her big eyes sparkled like the stars—her soft, round cheeks still cute, but now filled with resolve.
She wasn't the crybaby she used to be.
If she cried now, Kyousuke-kun would be sad.
Shouko had grown stronger.
And she was going to keep trying—no matter what.
"How was it, how was it? Did Kikuchi-sensei say she'd sign you to an agency?!" Back in the classroom, Kuno-senpai rushed over with excitement.
A few other students nearby turned to listen too—clearly curious.
"No, she just gave me some advice for the future," Shouko said.
"What? Really? I thought for sure you'd get picked!"
"You're this good without any formal training—if you studied professionally, you'd be amazing!" Kuno said, sounding baffled.
"Yeah… I just need to work even harder."
"Wait, was it because of… this?" Kuno lowered her voice and subtly pointed to her ear.
"Mm." Shouko nodded.
"That's such a shame… I was really hoping to have a friend in the voice acting world."
Who knew what kind of past this eccentric Otome Kuno had, calling herself a dream-chaser since graduating high school.
She definitely wasn't the reserved, quiet type you'd expect from a typical Japanese girl.
Even though they'd just met yesterday, she already treated Shouko like a lifelong friend—blunt, loud, and full of heart.
"It's okay. I'm going to become a voice actress."
Her face lit up with a bright, radiant smile.
Her voice—so soft and clear—carried not a trace of gloom.
Just hearing it made you think of a wide, cloudless sky, as if all your troubles might vanish into the blue.
"Wahhh! Shou-chan, you're just too cute!"
Kuno-senpai suddenly burst into tears and wrapped her in a hug.
Shouko stood frozen, arms half-raised, completely overwhelmed.
"Let's all do our best, together! Let's chase our dream of becoming voice actors!"
Such a determined voice.
…Though secretly, Shouko still wished Kyousuke-kun would give her a hug too.