Do I really have a thing for female voice actors?

His bewildered look almost made Mika Takagi laugh again, and she raised the beer can in her hand.

"Come on, cheers!"

"Ah! Although it's a toast, it doesn't mean you have to drink it all in one gulp. It's just that you have to say something at times like this."

Does she think I'm stupid?

"cheers."

Mika Takagi seemed genuinely happy tonight. Until now, she had always regarded Toru Tazaki as a dangerous person who could commit suicide at any moment, but now she had completely dropped that filter and was treating Toru Tazaki as an ordinary person.

Those two empty beer cans lying on the floor are the best proof.

Tazaki Toru seemed a little tipsy, his head was slightly dizzy, and he couldn't help but think about what happened at the live house during the day.

“Oh, Ms. Takagi…”

What exactly is a dream?

"Huh? Tazaki-san wants to discuss philosophy with me?"

"That's not the case. I'm just wondering if what I'm doing right now can really be called a dream."

"What's the thing Tazaki-san wants to do most right now?"

"Write songs."

"If Tazaki-san becomes an old man, what would he most like to do then?"

Tazaki Toru paused for a moment, recalling his second life, which, despite the change in appearance, still led him to do the same things as in his previous life.

"I guess... I'll stick to writing songs."

The girl's eyes reflected his sincerity and expectations, and a strange feeling quietly spread through her.

"Then I think this must be your dream."

"must?"

"must!"

Tazaki Toru couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth and gulp down a few mouthfuls of beer.

These two simple words, spoken by her, seemed to possess a magical power.

Could it be that voice actors' voices can bewitch people?

He was so convinced of her statement that it was "certain".

"how about you?"

"Eh?"

"Now that I've said mine, you should exchange dreams with me, isn't that fair?"

"Exchange dreams?"

The girl thought timidly that it was an extremely arrogant act to speak her mind so freely.

If she had even better abilities, if she could portray all sorts of roles well, would she be able to stand tall and be proud of herself then?

She wants so much, so much more.

but……

“I want to…become a voice actress,” she stammered.

"You've become a voice actor, haven't you?"

"That's different..."

Tazaki Toru seemed a little drunk, behaving in ways that were not his usual self, holding a soup spoon upside down and offering it to the girl.

The girl was startled.

"Now, let's invite Ms. Takagi... no, Ms. Kohinata Mika, to share her aspirations for the future!"

The girl's face was flushed, it was hard to tell whether it was due to the alcohol or because Tazaki Toru was calling her by her stage name.

Mika Takagi is still a new voice actress.

After graduating from a voice acting training school, I joined a small agency directly under my agency, but I could hardly get any decent work. I had to work three jobs a week to make ends meet.

Looking at the soup spoon handed to her, Mika Takagi's voice was barely audible.

"I can't hear you."

"Hmm, I want to... I want to voice a character with a name."

"anything else?"

"That's all we have~"

"Since there's no one else around, it's better to have big dreams."

"Bigger?"

She hesitated for a while, then said, "Well... if I could become the hometown ambassador for Minamibo, I would like to let more people know that it is a beautiful place."

She's such a simple country girl.

"This one is good, any others?"

"Is it even possible?"

She opened her mouth in surprise, as if Tazaki Toru in front of her was an elf who had emerged from the lamp and could grant her three wishes.

Mika Takagi looked at the bass guitar in the corner of the room, her lips moved, but she could hardly make a sound.

Seeing this, Tazaki Toru almost pressed the spoon against her lower lip.

"Well... if possible, I'd also like to,"

"I want to get into the Budokan."

Her eyes were hazy and confused, emboldened by the alcohol, and it was unclear whether she was drunk or sober.

13. She's not the type of girl who cries easily.

The hands of the clock hanging on the wall turned slowly.

It was already midnight.

The television in the living room was playing an unknown late-night anime, and Mika Takagi, sitting opposite her, was watching it with great concentration. Every time a character spoke, she would repeat the same line to herself.

That seemed to be a role she had auditioned for but failed.

They had finished their beer, and their faces were flushed with a slight buzz from the alcohol.

Enveloped in the loneliness of midnight, they seemed more awake than ever before.

When the animation ended and the voice actor credits appeared, the girl who hadn't spoken stood up and went to the kitchen to pour two glasses of water.

Thank you so much for today.

She placed the water glass in front of Tazaki Toru, bent down to sit, her fair and delicate cheeks still flushed with the aftertaste of drinking, and her tone was gentle.

"I don't seem to have done anything that would make you grateful."

She scratched her smiling cheek with her index finger: "I've never said those words to anyone before, but after saying them, I feel like I can keep working hard tomorrow."

"It's unbelievable. If it were Tazaki-san, I think you wouldn't laugh at me even if I told you."

His cheeks were flushed with alcohol, but it seemed that only his eyes remained clear, reflecting Tazaki Toru's calm face.

"I won't laugh at you, and besides, you've already tried your best."

The girl shook her head, hugged her curled-up legs tightly, rested her chin between her knees, and slowly closed her eyelids.

"Anyone can put in the effort."

"But those who don't work hard will never be able to realize their dreams in the way they most desire."

Mika Takagi looked at Toru Tazaki in surprise: "Tazaki-san, you are indeed a bit different from what I imagined."

Tazaki Toru smiled but didn't reply.

"Hey, can you tell me?"

This is probably a question that one would only dare to ask when under the influence of alcohol.

"Why did you... back then..."

Unlike her cautiousness, from Tazaki Toru's perspective, this was not a difficult question to answer, since the person who put the rope around their neck was someone else.

So, when Mika Takagi learned about Toru Tazaki's tragic past, the girl buried her face in her knees, curled her toes, and fell into a long silence.

In a daze, Tazaki Toru heard her murmur clearly.

Mika Takagi is just an ordinary girl you could find anywhere; she's neither particularly beautiful nor exceptionally intelligent.

I won't get approached on the street, and I don't have anything that can be called "talent".

Yet, from the mouth of such an ordinary girl, her soft murmurs at this moment brought an incredible warmth to Tazaki Toru.

"It's so good that I didn't hesitate at that time."

Tick, tick.

The girl's tears fell to the floor.

Tazaki Toru thought.

She may be the only person in the world who is willing to shed tears for "them".

After a while, Mika Takagi seemed to realize her lapse in composure, and quickly turned her head a couple of times, wiping all her tears on her pants.

"I'm sorry, I made you laugh again. Actually, I'm not a crybaby."

She sniffed, her moist eyes fixed on Toru Tazaki, as if afraid he wouldn't believe her, and emphasized, "Really!"

Tazaki Toru stared at her reddened eyes, his lips moving slightly, unsure of what to say.

So he had to change the subject, taking a ticket out of his pocket and placing it on the coffee table.

"This is?"