Chapter 265: Thought It Was a Program, Turned Out to Be a Display of Affection
The live broadcast program wasn't overly flashy. After a short opening segment, the studio appeared on screen, along with two voice actors and a masked figure.
As soon as they saw the mask, everyone presenthaving read Su Qing's novelnaturally knew which character it represented and couldn't help but laugh.
"Puhahaha! It's actually the Headless Rider's mask!"
Aisaka Taiga laughed heartily while clutching her stomach, pointing at Kaede, who was introducing himself on the TV screen, and said, "This guy really knows how to put on a show! I thought it would just be a mask of the protagonist or something, but it turned out to be this!"
Then, Kaede, wearing the mask on TV, said, "Actually, I originally wanted to get a Headless Rider's helmet... well, a head, but that seemed a bit costly. I'm only attending the program once, and making one just to use it once and then keeping it at home felt quite spooky, so I ultimately decided to just use a mask."
Utaha watched Kaede's performance and remarked with emotion, "As expected of Asakura-kun, he shows no signs of nervousness at all."
Aside from the conversation between the three of them, Takasu Ryuji focused his attention on the comments.
"Let's see what the comments on the live broadcast are like."
Aisaka Taiga moved the mouse and displayed the comment section, finding that it was pretty much as they had expected.
Seventy to eighty percent of today's viewers were readers of Kaede, and over the past year, they had already become familiar with this author's habits. Although the program officials said they would invite him, everyone knew he was highly unlikely to show his face.
At this moment, the comment section was filled with phrases like "I knew it" and "Just as expected."
Later, Utaha even saw some comments that mostly said, "He's just a male author anyway, what's there to see? Wearing a mask actually adds to the show's effect."
After reading them, Kitamura Yusaku adjusted his glasses and affirmed, "Indeed, authors attract their own kind of readers. These readers basically guessed Asakura's move; they aren't surprised at all."
"After all, he hasn't made a live appearance since his debut, and people like him are not uncommon in the industry, so it's nothing new," Takasu Ryuji said, shrugging his shoulders while looking at the live broadcast screen. "Speaking of which, Sawamura went too, right? Senpai, should we ask her about the situation there?"
"I already planned to do that."
Utaha nodded, took out her phone, and sent a message to Eriri.
[Are you at the recording site or somewhere else right now?]
After more than ten seconds, Eriri replied.
[Before it started, I went to the recording site to take a look, but I ended up going back to the lounge. I didn't want to bother the staff or Kaede-kun. The recording site is actually pretty ordinary, a small space with just the scene you see on screen plus all sorts of equipment. It's quite boring. Hehe, let me tell you, I just took a photo with the two voice actors and added them as LINE friends!]
Following that, Eriri sent over a photoa picture of herself with the two voice actors.
Utaha wasn't particularly envious when she saw it; after all, when her light novel was adapted into an anime, she would have plenty of chances to meet voice actors. She was just annoyed by Eriri's smugness.
After thinking for a moment, she sent a message back.
"Hmm, I saw it. But I have to say, Kayano Ai has a great figure. The contrast is even more obvious when she stands next to you."
After that, Eriri stopped replying.
Witnessing this series of actions by Utaha, Kushieda Minori and Aisaka Taiga, who were sitting on either side of her, fell silent for a moment. Kushieda Minori then said, "Senpai, the way you interact with Eriri... is really quite unique."
Utaha replied with a smile, "That's just how Eriri is. If you let her get too smug, her nose will point straight up to the sky. As her good friend, I must constantly guard against that happening and keep her from getting too carried away."
"Uh..."
Although they felt that Utaha made a good point, neither Kushieda Minori nor Aisaka Taiga would dare to do such a thing.
This kind of behavior was probably only something Utaha would attempt.
Just then, while reading viewer mail on the live broadcast, the threehaving presumably agreed upon the flow of conversationread a letter concerning a relationship problem, which then led the discussion toward the romance between Kaede and Eriri.
If this topic hadn't been agreed upon beforehand, it would never have been brought up, as it could easily cause a broadcast mishap.
Therefore, Kaede, on screen, was completely relaxed and said in a theatrical manner, "You really want me to answer? Ah, well, although I am in a relationship, Kashiwagi Eri and I are both in Tokyo, unlike the friend who wrote in, who is separated from his girlfriend and can only meet once every month or two. Long-distance relationships are indeed difficult, but solving them isn't hard; it depends on the resolution of both partieswhether you go to her or she comes to you, and who is willing to give up their current development for the sake of the relationship. Hmm, I won't say too much, after all, everyone's relationship problems are quite complicated."
After Kaede finished answering, the two voice actors opposite him spontaneously applauded.
"Oh! That was a great answer!"
"Exactly! The production team must have picked up on this point to have us read this letter. Otherwise, the two of us single people couldn't provide a convincing answer."
Before the program started, everyone had already chatted and gotten acquainted; the voice actors were just ordinary people off-camera. Regarding the conversation during the program, they had also asked Kaede, and he agreed that any topic could be discussed as long as it wasn't about his true identity.
In this way, and also to let the audience get to know the guest, the two voice actors didn't hesitate to directly ask Kaede about his relationship.
Due to their manga collaboration, almost everyone already knew that Kaede and Kashiwagi Eri were a couple, but few people knew the specific details.
After a few questions, many people started complaining that this wasn't an anime promotion program at allit was clearly a show for the author to flaunt his romance!
But complaints aside, everyone was still watching with great interest, and they even learned that Kashiwagi Eri was half-Japanese and was present at the venue today.
The only regret was probably that she didn't appear on camera without a mask.
Meanwhile, Eriri, who was in the lounge, hadn't expected Kaede to talk about this at all.
Her cheeks flushed with a blush, Eriri huffed and said, "Hmph, it's a good thing Kaede-kun didn't say too much, or else I'd definitely make him pay after the broadcast ends!"
Sawamura Sayuri and Asakura Reiko, sitting nearby, exchanged glances, both showing expressions of helplessness.
These two children really couldn't help but show affection wherever they went, and this time, even the production team was stirring things up.
But since they didn't reveal the specific details, let things be as they may.