[Seiyuu x reader] Dear childhood friend

Now in college, you had the opportunity to get to go to Japan for a year as a transfer student. Thanks to your brilliant school career, you were accepted in a prestigious Japanese university in Tokyo. It’s been years since you didn’t speak Japanese, but since you were an otaku, you could practice the language at home and with friends on social networks.

It’s the first time in years since you’ve gone to Japan. The first place you wanted to go was your hometown when you were living in the country. After several hours from the airport, you finally arrive at your destination. Nothing changed in your point of view, and you suddenly want to go to the park you used to play with your first friend you called “Ken-chan”. He was a timid boy, who wouldn’t speak much but you had lots of fun with him. You remember his smile was beautiful, and his voice really cute. Unfortunately, you had to cut ties with him when you moved to America, and you couldn’t find an opportunity to keep in touch with him once more…

You are now in this park. It’s 5 p.m and you just want to sit, tired of your flight and just wanting to find calm in a quiet place. You were listening to “Zero”, a song by a certain Ono Kensho , opening of one of your favorite anime, Kuroko no Basket. The artist’s name was the same as Ken-chan so you felt like something like fate was linking you. You saw several benches aligned and just sat down on the first you saw. There was a beautiful scenery : leaves were falling from trees, and a sweet breeze was blowing gently your hair. You became suddenly nostalgic : you remember Ken-chan, and the memories you had with him came even stronger in your head as you were in the park you used to play with him after school. He was a sweet, cute child with a genuine heart. He was always here for you when you needed it, and you even remember crying the day you had to say goodbye to him.

Smiling because of all these memories coming all at once in your head, tears fall down from your eyes and you just paused the song at that moment because for a mysterious reason, this voice plus the lyrics was making you cry even more when you thought about your childhood friend. You wanted to see him once more. You wanted to know if he was alright, what he was doing and if he thought about you like you thought about him. “Maybe he forgot everything after all… maybe he doesn’t want to see me anymore” : killing these thoughts with a sigh and wiping your tears, you notice someone is sitting next to you.
It was a boy, maybe in his mid-twenties. You don’t know why, but he looked like the Ken-chan you were thinking about a while ago. No, impossible… him, here ? Why ? You don’t know what to do. The boy is sitting and looks at the ground, a nostalgic smile on his face. He looked sad… you had a weird sensation while looking at him : this boy looked nostalgic to you. You had the impression you saw him before somewhere else. Something was linking you two. Is a big coincidence like this… could really exist ?

“I like coming here… on my day off. Sorry for suddenly sitting next to you, I just couldn’t stand being alone in that moment…” begins to say the mysterious boy.
“N—No, not at all,” you answer back, “It’s nothing… the scenery is really beautiful, isn’t it ?” you ask, not sure about what to say and a little bit surprised this boy talked to you first.
“Yeah, it sure is.” simply answers the boy.

His voice seemed familiar to you. You know you heard it somewhere else.

You stand a moment looking at the scenery just the two of you, and listening to the environment noises. Breeze, leaves, birds, bicycles, … and you were still thinking of Ken-chan. You had the sensation this boy was linked to him; maybe because he looked like him ? He could be his brother, or a distant cousin ? You were still children when you had to cut ties with him, so you couldn’t possibly recognize him by his voice, thank to nature’s beautiful work on growing boys. You couldn’t believe he was actually the Ken-chan you were waiting for… and even so, you wanted to believe.

Looking at the boy who was still looking at the tree, you begin to say in a small voice, enough for him to hear : “Ken-chan… ?”

It was just to test his reaction : if he reacts, he’s Ken-chan; if he’s not, then he’s not Ken-chan. It was a big gamble you were taking here. You were just coming for a year, and your first goal was to study, not to find him… but… if it was him ?

At your small voice, the boy suddenly looks at you, and you two are now looking each other in the eyes. You were troubled : his eyes… looked exactly like Ken-chan’s. He opens the mouth, and let a small whisper coming out : “(name)-chan… ?”

You were the only one who called him “Ken-chan”. The other classmates were simply calling him “Kensho”, or “OnoKen”. You were this affectionate with him because you liked him a lot; and he was the only one who was calling you this way too. Now there’s no mistake possible…

This boy was Ken-chan, the boy you liked and who was your first friend back then. You knew it all along, but you still couldn’t believe it.

“Ken-chan ?!” you say in a bigger voice. “Is that really you… ?”

The boy still looks at you but can’t say anything, too surprised to speak. He then blushes a little before nodding and look back to the ground : “(name)-chan, it’s really you… I can’t believe it… I—You’re-…. Uhm…”

You also blush a little : who would believe this handsome boy was the little Ken-chan you knew !

“H—Hey. It’s been a while. Whaddya you doing ?” is all you find to say. You smile but you are tensed… and god, is that all what you had to say in your long-awaited reunion with Ken-chan ?!
“Haha, no need to feel this nervous (name)-chan. I’m also surprised, who would believe this beautiful girl in front of me is actually you ? You sure grown up a lot…” he says, a smile brightening his face.
You remain silent afterwards some seconds before bursting into laughter both. All the pressure you felt released and now only happiness dominated in your head.
“And so what are up to, Ken-chan ?” you ask, eager to know more about him : you had to catch up with all these years.
“Ah uhm… I’m an actor and voice actor now. What about you ? Why are you here ?” he asks you in return.

So he was a voice actor ? What we call in Japanese a seiyuu ? Wait… since you’re an otaku, you’ve seen tons of anime and… yeah. No wonder you thought his voice was familiar : you already heard his voice in some anime… sport anime ? Which one was it again… ah !

“K—Ken-chan… maybe you know about him ?” you ask shyly, pointing the strap of Kuroko Tetsuya hung to your bag. There were also straps of Slaine Troyard, or Hakuryuu in Magi, between others.
His eyes are now wide open. He’s astonished to see these goodies hung to your bag.

“Wait. Yeah these are characters I voiced. Kuroko, Slaine, and Hakuryuu too… I can’t believe you’re a fan of them !” he said, while you could hear a bit of excitement in his voice.
“Really ?! A—actually I’m a big fan of them ! First I really like their personalities, Kuroko is a cutie and even he’s a shadow he’s contributing to the team and his relationship to Taiga is just—aaah so amazing !! And, about Slaine, I love how he’s devoted to Asseylum and how he’s ready to do everything for her, and also… uhm, uhm. Hakuryuu… uhm, well I love how he confessed to the girl he loved !! Oh and more recently, I also like Mikaela from OwaSera ! The way he behaves towards Yuu is—”

You couldn’t stop because your otaku switch was on. You had a slight interest in seiyuu and you remembered at once all these characters had the same voice actor in common : Ono Kensho. You just blurted all you liked about these characters, and you added you even had tons of goodies of them ! A while ago, you imagined Kuroko and co’ saying to you “Good luck !” with this fabulous voice before you had to go for your studying year… who would believe you were now sat just next to the man who voiced them ?! Plus he was your first love, your childhood friend, and only you called him “Ken-chan”.

“And also—“, you continued, “It’s because I loved… their voice… it was a great support for me whenever I felt down or feeling like giving up because this voice was always here for me… but to know that it was your voice Ken-chan… thank you, really.” You said, bowing your head.

Kensho was listening to you, a kind smile on his face. He was obviously surprised to know you loved some of the characters he voiced, but you were speaking so passionately of them he couldn’t stop you. Also, the way you thanked him for voicing these characters was really moving for him. He just bowed back his head. At the end of your long oral essay about what you loved about your 2D loves, you were panting. All your feels were released and this is when you realized you were speaking to Ken-chan that you began to be embarrassed.

“S—sorry, I just… blurted out all my feels…” you start to apologize.
“N—No, it’s alright. Haha, I just was a little startled.” He said, a relieved tone in his voice. He then put his hand on your hair and begins to pat your head. “Thank you for loving the characters I voice. I can do my best with your support.”

His hand was warm; it was a really pleasant feeling. He smiles kindly at you before letting go of your head. You then remember you liked an artist who has the same name as him. You take the opportunity to ask him : “Ken-chan, are you singing too… ? I mean, do you know of a song called ‘Zero’… ?” Kindly, he answers you : “Well, since you’re a KuroBas fan, obviously you know about that song… well… yeah, I sing it… kind of…” he says, a little bit uncomfortable.

You noticed he was embarrassed to speak about it so you decided to keep quiet for the next minutes. The silence was starting to feel heavy so he decided to break it.

“And so, enough speaking of me (name)-chan, what about you ? You didn’t answer my question earlier.” Kensho asked, pouting a little bit.
“Ah… me ? Actually I’m here to study for a year. My university in America has a partnership with a Japanese university so I had the opportunity to go there as a transfer student.” You answer, kind of proud.
“Eh really ? That’s amazing !” says enthusiastically the boy. “So it means you’re going to stay here for a year ! We can see each other when we want ! I’m really happy !” he continues as a big beautiful smile illumines his face. “I know you were the type of person who could accomplish such amazing things. You’re always working hard, and seeing you makes me think I must work harder too. I mustn’t lose to you…” he finish, a sudden serious tone in his voice.

You smile, relieved. Ken-chan also grew older and bigger, but in your heart he’ll still remain the little Ken-chan you knew and loved. There were lots of questions you wanted to ask him but you were afraid to bother him so you just looked at him silently. It was certainly not the moment to think about his love life, but you couldn’t help it but wondering : is there any girl he’s interested in ? Maybe he already has a girlfriend… shaking your head to erase these thoughts, you hear he begins to clear his throat. You then look at him with puppy eyes.

“Erm… (name)-chan, do you… have a boyfriend… ? Or someone you love… ?” he asks in a little voice, avoiding your eyes.
“Eh ?” you questioned, a little surprised by the sudden question. Was he an esper who could read in your thoughts ? Just at the moment you were wondering about his love life situation…
“N—No, I don’t… ! What about you Ken-chan ?” You lied. The one you loved and still love was in front of you but you couldn’t simply say it and confess after all these years. Kensho wasn’t anymore an ordinary person : he was an actor and a seiyuu… in short, a person you couldn’t approach this easily. Certainly he was your first love, but it’d be unfair to confess just like this.
“Well… actually I have someone I’m interested in… since a long time…” he answered while looking at you, his eyes a little wet.

Your eyes widen in surprise. “Just so I thought” you think. “He’s handsome and amazing, has a genuine heart and is kind to everyone… obviously he has someone he’s interested in. After all these years, no wonder he spoke to plenty of cute girls and met all kind of persons…” you sigh a little, disappointed. You were stupid for still believing in your chances to get hooked to him.
“Haha… really ? Good for you, Ken-chan !” You smile and laugh to hide the fact your heart hurt. He won’t know if you don’t say him so the best for now is to hide it… not letting any sign showing you’re hurt. “I hope you’ll be able to confess to this person !” you said, to stab once more the knife deeper in your heart. You were in the verge of tears. If he were to say one more fact about that person, you’re sure you could burst into tears. Why did this have to hurt this much ? It wasn’t you, and so ? Well, you don’t know, maybe it could be you, but maybe not… but you didn’t want to know; or maybe you just wanted to escape the reality… ?

“Thank you (name)-chan. It was impossible until now, but now I think I can manage it.” He simply said with a malicious smile.

You were about to say something but got interrupted by Kensho’s phone which was ringing. “The person he likes maybe… ?” you think. He looks to his phone and seems to be fed up. He then looks at you and says : “Sorry it’s from my manager I have to go…”; you smile at him and just answer : “O—oh, okay. You’re really busy huh, Ken-chan. Glad I got to see you today !” He then get up from the bench and was about to go, saying a quick “Yes me too, I’m really glad I got to see you again !”; As he was walking to the park’s entrance, he suddenly stop and quickly came back to you as he was forgetting something. Now in front of you, he took a little piece of paper from his bag : “Oh I almost forgot. Here,” he begins as he wrote something on here, “my contact information. Send me a message or something when everything’s settled by your side ! I’ll try to find time in my schedule to see you once more. Oh, and also… you seemed to be curious earlier about the person I was interested in, so as a special treat I don’t mind telling you…” he says as he bends over you, closing the distance between you two.

He then whispers in your ear : “I… you, (name)-chan.”

Only the wind knows he said “I love you” at this moment; he just said this so only you could hear it, but you missed that part so you didn’t know he was telling you such sweet words. Instead, you were just wondering even more what he was trying to tell you. You were about asking him to repeat but it was too late : he was already far away, waving his hand to tell goodbye, with this beautiful smile you loved so much illuminating his face.

Oh well, you have his contact information now, so when you feel like it, you can always send him a message, or even call him to hear his voice which you loved. You didn’t read the paper when he was giving it to you so you decide to look at it, by curiosity. You could read :

“Ono Kensho — 090-XXXX-OOOO
Thank you for today, (name)-chan ♥”

A big smile could now be seen in your face. You returned in the country you loved, in your hometown, and had a fateful reunion with your first love, who was also the man behind the voices of your favorite characters. Nothing could bring you more happiness than this. You are now full of energy, ready to go for another round in the brilliant future that awaits you. No matter what hurdles or tough moments you had to go through, you knew you could manage all of that, because he was here.
You wait a moment before getting up of the bench, and pulling out your earphones to bring them back to your ears. ‘Zero’ was still paused, and at the moment you pressed ‘play’, you could hear these lines sang by the voice you loved the most :

“My future self that I can hold pride in
Let’s walk from the present that I trust in
Someday will come when I’ll remember it again
The day when I drew a zero.”

… as if he was singing it only for you.