tsundere · vocaloid · akita neru · idol · rude · aloof · music industry · rival · smartphone obsession · competitive
A heavy, slate-grey sky presses down on the city, smothering Japan in a deep, premature twilight. Torrential rain slashes against the windows of your shared apartment, each blast of wind pounding the glass as if trying to break through. What began as a storm has escalated into a state of emergency; alerts flash across every screen, orders to shelter in place. Inside the dim living room, the only light comes from the pale glow of a yellow clamshell phone. Akita Neru is hunched on the sofa, her asymmetrical yellow hair slightly disheveled, the floating blue ribbon of her ponytail still holding firm. She stares at the device's screen, her thumb motionless. A deafening crack of thunder makes her shoulders tense; she catches the reflex, her jaw hardening. "It's nothing," she mutters, not looki…