Do I really have a thing for female voice actors?

She noticed something different about Hina Aoki and couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection).

Hina Aoki seems to have moved past the stage where she was easily upset by Toru Tazaki's words.

As for Tachibana Rin, she seems to still be stuck in the stage of wanting to tease her.

This is based on their personalities; Hina Aoki possesses a maturity and composure that Hina lacks.

Perhaps, she should also reflect on herself.

Suddenly, Tachibana Rin stuffed a bite of cake into her mouth, propped her cheek on her hand, and said, "If I hadn't asked, I wouldn't have known you guys liked me so much."

Hina Aoki glanced at her.

"If we didn't like you, would we still live under the same roof with you every day and pamper you like a pet?"

"Well... that's not wrong."

Hina Aoki put down her spoon, a serious expression on her face.

"Also, I have to correct you. Tazaki-kun at most likes the guitar you play. Don't get that wrong."

Rin Tachibana rolled her eyes.

"You don't even need to tell me that. I don't want him to like me."

"You think you can fool me with just a few nice words? Do you really think I'm just a nobody because of my title as the second young lady of the Kubo family?"

"……That's good."

Hearing the slight change in Aoki Hina's tone, he completely assumed that Aoki Hina was jealous.

Rin Tachibana immediately moved closer to Hina Aoki and touched her shoulder.

"Oh dear~~ Think about it, with you as a cautionary tale, if I fall for a man's tricks again, wouldn't I really be a fool?"

“I didn’t fall for Tazaki-kun’s trick.”

Rin Tachibana laughed: "Yes, yes, yes."

Looking at Tachibana Rin's rather unrestrained smiling face, Aoki Hina opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

I decided to trust Tachibana Rin's personality.

However, a faint sense of unease still lingered in Aoki Hina's heart.

She understood what kind of man Tazaki Toru was.

It's likely that few girls could resist his sweet words.

Or rather, from Tazaki Toru's perspective, what he said wasn't exactly sweet talk.

Hina Aoki also understood that the underlying logic of what that man said to them was encouragement and recognition.

It stems from his heartfelt sincerity.

However, for girls in bands like them, encouragement or recognition are both welcome.

That's sweet talk.

It was even sweeter than the cake they were currently enjoying.

In the end, they ended up drinking poison to quench their thirst.

202. Her face is truly magnificent.

October.

Tazaki Toru walked through the crowded streets and out of the station, the cool breeze blowing against his face causing his black hair to flutter back and forth.

Outside the bakery in front of the station, there's a limited-edition autumn standee, and you can see a lot of young girls queuing up there.

We walked all the way to the recording building.

Upon entering the recording studio, I greeted the receptionist as usual and went straight to the sound room.

"Tazaki-kun, you're here."

"Yes, good afternoon, thank you for your hard work."

Only Mr. Fujita was sitting in the sound room; Director Kakimoto and Ms. Ayana had not yet arrived.

Today I'm here to audition a new song that Toru Tazaki wrote not long ago.

"Speaking of which, the voice actress for Misumi Hatsuka still hasn't been decided?"

After that, there were many more auditions for the voice actress of Misumi Hatsuka.

However, the selection of a voice actor has not yet been finalized.

It's now late October, and the four members of Mujica have been practicing for almost a month without a lead singer.

Tazaki Toru had long since lost interest in participating in this protracted tug-of-war.

Or rather, Tazaki Toru had already decided in his heart who he thought was the most suitable person, which is why he had such an idea.

"Yes, they're still discussing it. Apparently, they'll be holding another selection event next month. This time it's even more impressive; they've gone to the music academy."

Upon hearing this, Tazaki Toru couldn't help but feel puzzled, then thought that places like music academies weren't all full of young and beautiful girls.

A feeling of helplessness suddenly welled up in my heart.

Is age really that harsh?

When this matter is brought up, Toru Tazaki feels somewhat resentful.

The reason for this is related to the new song we are going to audition today.

Tazaki Toru has been staying home writing songs lately, so he has no say in casting matters and no decision-making power.

He simply stayed out of it, only informing him afterward of the conclusion reached by Mr. Fujita.

Instead of adding to my troubles, I'd rather write songs and feel more at ease.

"Is the person who's coming to record a song today the one Mr. Fujita mentioned to me?" Tazaki Toru asked.

"Yes, it's her."

Tazaki Toru suddenly fell silent.

Seeing that Tazaki Toru remained silent, Mr. Fujita turned to look at him and was surprised to see Tazaki Toru's furrowed brows.

Tazaki Toru had attended that female voice actress's live performance.

To be honest, the singing was just average.

By Mujica's standards, it could even be considered somewhat terrible.

They are at the level where they would be eliminated in the first round if they participated in the selection process for Triangle Junior High School.

The only thing that impressed him was her stunningly beautiful face, which could be described as the most beautiful woman in the room.

Putting aside her singing skills, she perfectly meets certain requirements.

Young and beautiful.

However, it would be too frivolous to ignore singing ability when it comes to a music project.

Originally, Tazaki Toru had no objection to this kind of thing, and he understood that this was the policy of the project and that it was ultimately a commercial project.

Youth and beauty are also a gift, and one should never judge a book by its cover.

No one dictates that beautiful girls must be criticized for relying on their looks, thus denying their hard work.

This is also unfair to naturally beautiful girls.

Do they have to be born filthy to have their talents noticed?

Tazaki Toru certainly understood this principle.

But when I think about how there are still people in this world who perform on the street corner day after day, expressing their heartfelt gratitude to a few passersby, I feel a surge of emotion.

She used her voice, which could have been heard on a much larger stage, to receive scattered applause that was drowned out by car horns.

Despite having enough strength to defeat all the other competitors, she was rejected simply because of her age and appearance.

Even though there are girls like her, no one seems willing to pay attention to her.

No matter what, Tazaki Toru would feel a little sad about this.

Seemingly sensing Tazaki Toru's thoughts, Mr. Fujita couldn't help but show a hint of surprise, though he couldn't quite understand Tazaki Toru's idea.

Fujita had been dealing with Tazaki Toru for quite some time; he had the most contact with Tazaki Toru throughout the entire project.

This is the first time that Toru Tazaki has so obviously expressed his dissatisfaction.

However, this emotion was only fleeting, and Tazaki Toru understood perfectly well that such decisions were inevitable.

He had no choice but to accept this approach and, based on it, write songs that could showcase their charm.

Whether she's an ordinary girl or a dazzling one.

Through songs and melodies, we bring dreams to the audience.

This made their singing even more moving.

This is Tazaki Toru's job.

As time went on, more and more people gathered in the sound room, and the supervisor and others arrived.

After exchanging pleasantries, they started talking about the new song they were going to audition for today, and the conversation inevitably turned to Toru Tazaki.

To be fair, Tazaki Toru didn't put in too much effort for this new song. He completely followed the project's requirements, creating a melody that was more accessible to the general public, and intentionally restrained his arrangement skills.

After all, Toru Tazaki is now a professional composer, not a musician who takes to the stage to showcase himself.

The primary condition is to compose a piece of music that satisfies the project team.

Even so, if it can make the girl who sings it even happier, Tazaki Toru has no other desires.

Shortly after, a girl pushed open the soundproof door, took a small step inside, and stopped near the doorway.

Everyone in the sound room was drawn to it.

She's wearing...

No, talking about these things is too cliché. Her face alone is enough to make people overlook her hairstyle, her clothes, and all those trivial details.