Episode 7: Naoko vs. Ex-Boyfriend

Naoko was doing what she always did when she was bored (and it wasn’t sinning movies). She was browsing the music forums on 4Chan, specifically for /mu/, when her dad walked in. The solemn look on her face scared her a bit.

He doesn’t look like that very often… ding.

“Naoko-chan,” he said slowly. “I’ve got something important to tell you.” The man took a seat on her bed, hands folded on his lap.

Naoko, alerted by this total mood shift from what he was looking at on the computer, closed the lid on said device and faced her dad in her chair.

“Yes?” She tried not to let her voice tremble as she spoke.

The man took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ve… decided not to run CinemaSins anymore. It’s been a long, enjoyable ride for the past five years now, but I think it’s time that I put an end to it.”

…

Oh. It is 2017 now.

Naoko had nothing to say. She was practically dumbfounded. Once she found any words to say, her dad continued.

“Unles of course… you want to continue the channel. I mean, you practically help me write each video anyway.”

… OH.

Naoko’s heart skipped a beat. I absolutely do. “Are you sure…?” The girl’s hands were shaking.

Her dad’s mouth broke out into a grin. “Yeah, that’s fine! I don’t care! As long as you don’t jump the shark.” He smiled and winked at her. “Not like you would anyway.”

Naoko shook her head, a bit of a smirk threatening to come up her cheek. She then looked her dad straight in the eyes.

“I would like to replace you, then.”

The grin didn’t leave Naoko’s dad’s face.”I knew you’d say that.” He stretched his hands out and cracked his knuckles. “Then try to figure out how to balance your school time with your job in the meantime. Oh, and also your club.”

“I will. And Dad…” Naoko bowed in her seat. “Thank you so much for letting me have this opportunity.”

“You’re welcome.” Her dad came over and hugged her, pattering her shoulder. “You’re welcome. I love you, Naoko-chan. I’m so glad I can count on you.”

★

Overnight, news spread like wildfire online that her dad had stepped down CinemaSins, something that Naoko secretly feared would happen.

It’s weird how that works. Was he dropping hints in his videos or something? If he did, Naoko wasn’t sure because she never watched the end products of the videos.

The girl started to worry about it, which meant that she got next to no sleep.

Everything became so stressful.

I, a ninth grader, am going to inherit the Cinema Sins throne? It sounds too crazy to be believed. Ding!

It really did. And it also sounded stressful.

Counting the sin points was a lengthy task to begin with since it included pausing every time something remotely “sinful” came up on screen and typing up something that sounded witty. Then she had to send the script to her dad so he could make the dialogue sound more like him. Then he’d have to send it to his coworkers (the YouTube channel was basically a job at this point—her dad was calling it that for nothing) so they can see if there was anything he could change in the content. The job would be slightly quicker now that there would be one less step in there, but it would still be an aggravating process to participate in entirely nonetheless.

All of these thoughts were wrestling in her head. Totally annoyed about this, Naoko rolled onto her side, grabbed her phone from the bedside, and turned it on.

Sure enough, the icon bell had a 20 by it, meaning some people connected the dots (since he mentioned that he had a daughter before) and found her online after quickly snooping.

I am going to answer them all right now?

Yes.

Should I explore the hashtags?

Yes.

Was there school tomorrow?

…

… Yes.

And with that, Naoko began to address her notifications. For extra amusement, she put an emo playlist on Spotify in the background, an idea that she totally did not steal from Mimori.

The responses were indeed all just asking “Are you really replacing your dad on CinemaSins?”. Various forms of that, in fact.

Naoko was glad that that was all they were basically positive and not asking for her to be put on a stake. It couldn't have gone so much worse. Ding!

The girl also knew what was going to happen next, probably early in the morning (so in just a few hours, really) her dad was going to be alerted by his PR people that he was trending, as well as his daughter, and address it. Probably via a video.

It then occurred to Naoko she was now going to be monitoring all of her dad’s social media… If planned to truly retire then.

Naoko’s heart skipped a beat again. Does this mean that he’s quitting for real and perhaps not taking up a smaller job at his, uh… job?

She was going to have to ask him the next day.

★

The first half of the day did indeed end up being awful because she only ended up just barely getting three hours of sleep that night. Nevertheless, she managed to stay awake in all of her classes, which was pretty impressive in her opinion.

Anyway, the news about her dad quitting CinemaSins eventually got around to her fellow club members, which didn’t surprise her in the slightest since they all had phones and were all relatively active on social media (well, except for Tomo. Unless you count YouTube as social media which it sort of is).

As Naoko walked into the clubroom that Friday afternoon, she was greeted by all sorts of things from her fellow club members.

“So, why did your dad quit his job?” Jopi asked innocently and practically immediately.

“Yeah, what the fuck?” Ean cried. “Where am I gonna get my Music Video Sins on Drake now?!”

That’s dumb. Also, she doesn’t even know. Ding!

“I’m proud of you for taking over!” Miharu said as she clapped her hands together, looking eerily enough like Tomo.

Suika cocked her head to the side. “Are you planning on sinning any episodes of Charmed soon? I know a few that would be pretty fun.”

All of these things were getting thrown at Naoko at once, and it was beginning to overwhelm her. That was when she was reminded of this so-bad-it’s-good song from earlier that year that she had sinned.

Okay, let’s do this for the meme.

“‘I can make your hands clap!’” She sang monotonously. The annoying, off-beat clapping section then followed.

“Huh?”

“Whuh?”

“What was that all about?”

“ … What even was that?” Suika was the last one to say anything about it.

Naoko sighed, then regained her composure (she was secretly dying inside). “It was a way to get all of your attention so I can explain all of these things. Ding!”

The girls looked at her intently. Naoko continued, hoping that they were going to be on the same page as her sooner or later.

“Okay. For one: My dad is quitting his job, per se. He’s just putting me in charge of the biggest role which is choosing the media I’m sinning and writing the script. He also told me this morning that he’s still going to be overseeing the channel, so it’s not a definite goodbye. For two: Ean, you’re still going to get your Drake videos. As long as that man keeps putting out awful music, we’ll continue to make videos about him.”

Ean pumped her fists in the air. “YESSS!! More Drake videos, let’s goooo!” She then paused. “Wait—he’s not awful! Fuck you, Naoko!”

Naoko’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck you too, Ean. Ding!”

Jopi waved her hands back and forth, clearly freaking out at the two girls exchanging barbs at one another. “G-guys, please stop arguing, okay?!”

Since when was she the peacemaker? Ding!

Naoko then recovered from that back and forth and cleared her throat. Only Suika’s question remained.

“And as for you, Suika, I’ll keep a Charmed video in mind… and make sure it’s not a season six one.”

Suika nodded, a smile small forming on her face. “Nice. That’s what I like to hear.”

“So, when do you start working there?” Jopi asked politely, hands under her chin and an interested look on her face.

Ah, right. That.

“Dad said that he’s going to show me around the place tomorrow,” she said in a mildly excited tone. “I’ve been working from my bedroom this whole time so this is going to be the first time I’m at his office.”

“Ah. Exciting.” Suika’s tone was just as monotone as Naoko’s and that made her want to laugh.

Having the two of us stoic girls in one room is still pretty ridiculous.

But yes. Tomorrow. It couldn’t come soon enough.

★

The CinemaSins headquarters was a decently-sized office that was inside another building that contained other offices in it. Their place of operation was on the bottom floor.

The office place, in general, looked really nice, despite it being the perfect size for a company that had about twenty or so workers in it. The vibe of the rooms was white and gray and clear glass, two colors and a material that just barely matched the vibe of the company itself, but Naoko didn’t want to criticize it that much.

After all, it’s not about the atmosphere. It’s about the YouTuber mindset.

As she was being shown around by her dad, someone extremely familiar entered Naoko’s eyesight.

Is that—?!

It was Brendon Urie. No joke.

But why is he here?!

“Aaaay, what up, man?” Naoko’s dad greeted the famous singer like it was nothing, with an aura around him that she never witnessed before.

Also, apparently, my dad is bilingual. Okay then.

Brendon grinned. “Aw, nothin’ much, Jirou!” The young then looked at Naoko, which made her heart race. “Is this the gal that’s gonna replace you?” His facial features softened then. The girl thought that he realized the shock on her face, which was pretty understandable considering he was in a famous band.

Of course, I’ve met famous people before. But to meet them like this organically, in the wild… is crazy. Minus one sin point.

“M-mm!” Naoko was at a loss for words, and it wasn’t only because she didn’t know English at the top of her head very well.

“As you can tell, Naoko-chan, Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco is here. He’s going to be taking over our social media management for a while since he’s here for a little vacation. I’ll be translating for him if that’s cool.”

“Ah… ah…” Naoko felt her face getting clammed up. Why am I feeling like this?!

There was only one thing she could do—that being teleport to Mari and get her power so she could talk to Brendon herself.

For whatever reason, she wanted to do that. Perhaps to seem not as childish as she was in front of this grown-ass famous man?

“I’ll be right back,” Naoko said politely as she bowed to the two men, and with that, she went into the women’s bathroom that she’d been eyeing a minute before.

★

In the blink of an eye, she was back from Mari’s house where she had her friend simply touch her shoulder and in that instant, she was able to speak in English.

An interesting factoid about Mari’s power that she learned: When you have her power, you can switch between speaking in English and Japanese—it doesn't just leave you permanently speaking in just one language.

Anyway, she was back now in front of her dad and Brendon, still shaking at the fact of what was going on.

What should I even say to Brendon? That I only really know “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”? No, even I know that he’s totally over that song now. He’d probably get a sour opinion of me if I said that.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she decided to say in perfect English.

“Whoa!” Her dad looked expectedly shocked. “Where did you learn this perfect English from, Naoko-chan?”

The girl’s face flushed again. “U-umm… Erica-chan,” she said carefully.

Good. That’s the perfect lie. Ding!

With that out of the way, the two of them continued their tour, with Brendon joining along as well. They walked around for a bit more until they got to a wall by the back (near the bathrooms, ironically) that just had a flower pot on a cute table decorating it. The men that were there apparently wanted to talk to him about whether that was a good place for Naoko’s introduction video or not.

Ast that was happening, Naoko focused her attention on the other people in the office, and that was when she found someone else familiar to her in one of the cubicles.

Someone that made her heart rate double.

Bobby Burns.

Oh my god.

The angle at which his cubicle was in was kind of odd too, because from where she was looking she caught only his back (which she knew immediately because his hair was still pretty distinct) and what was on his computer screen.

What is on his screen…?

The girl decided to investigate a little more. Taking a quick glance at her dad and Brendon, who looked too involved in the conversation that was actually about her, Naoko booked it to the cubicle that was in front of Nathan’s and saw what he was looking at.

Let’s see, it’s pictures of…

Guys?

Naoko’s jaw dropped which she then covered with one of her hands. In that instant she went back to where she was, the men luckily not seeing what she just did.

Must. Stalk. Later. For. More. Information.

What she saw didn’t make any sense.

“Naoko-chan, hey.”

That hushed voice made the girl perk up and look at who it belonged to.

Ah. It's Brendon.

“Ah, yes?” Naoko also said that in a hushed voice and the two walked away a little from the other people.

“Do you know that person?” The singer queried. Naoko was a tad weirded out that he already connected the dots. Is he a psychic or something? Ding!

Naoko pursed her lips and looked to the side like a tsundere. “Y-yeah… We broke up because Nathan wanted time to discover himself more or something. That’s all.”

Brendon nodded in an understanding manner. “Okay, yeah. I get it.”

“NAOKO!” Naoko’s dad called out to her which made the two stop their conversation instantly. “We want you over here in front of this plant, we’re going to be starting your introductory video soon.”

The girl sighed and walked over to where her dad was, the two workers positioning her so she was perfectly centered. She noticed that one of them had an expensive camera in his hands.

“Alright,” Her dad said. “We’re going to start in 3, 2, 1…”

Naoko’s heart leaped again. “But what do I say?!”

“Ha, ha. Just kidding about that.” He paused. “Just be yourself. I already have faith in you that you know what to say. Just think of verbalizing it aloud, I know you’re pretty good at that.”

Right. Be myself.

Before she knew it, her dad was counting down again and the camera was rolling. Naoko took a deep breath and let it out.

“Umm…” Of course I had to start it off like that. Ding! “Hi there.” She waved dorkily. “My name is Naoko. I’m Jirou CinemaSins’ daughter and I’m going to be replacing him on the channel. This means I’ll be the one who narrates the videos now, so please get used to my voice. I know it’s emotionless but I hear that’s the charming part.” Naoko forced herself to smile a bit.

“Aaaand cut!” Her dad yelled. The cameraman stopped the recording.

“And so it begins,” Naoko muttered to herself.

★

And so after that, the video was put up and Naoko went home, really scared to see what the like/dislike ratio was going to be, and what the comments were going to say.

During Naoko’s visit there the cameraman said that he was going to upload it as soon as possible, which made the girl anxious about how well the reception was going to be. All she knew was that the video was definitely going to be viral given how fast and big the news about her dad’s exit was.

As long as it gives us ad revenue, which it will. That’s what makes his channel thrive.

Just like the night before, Naoko barely got any sleep, However, unlike last night, what she was constantly thinking about wasn’t her job (which she was actually starting on Monday after her club by the way)...

It was all about Nathan.

Nathan.

He’s… gay? Or is he not…?

I mean, he was only looking at someone’s Instagram who just happened to be a man’s. They’re probably friends. I’m jumping to too many conclusions at once. Ding!

It was now noon the next day, and Nathan was still on Naoko’s mind. As she was lounging in her bed, trying to take a nap, the urge to grab her phone and finally go onto his Instagram took over her mind. After all, she hadn’t looked at his social media since they broke up.

Yes. She basically muted him. Not unfollowed him, but muted him. And Nathan did the same.

It was an odd breakup. They weren’t angry at each other, per se, but they didn’t want to see or talk to each other for a long while. The two kids wanted time to themselves so they could grow as people, essentially.

I need to get some sleep but I need to do this more.

Naoko let a long breath out. “Here goes nothing,” she whispered to herself as she held her phone out in front of her on her pillow.

Hands readied, Naoko began to type in Nathan’s name in the search bar on the app. At that exact moment, she happened to get a message from Mimori, of all people, on her Messenger app.

Oh God, what does she want right now. Ding!

It was a private message (not in the groupchat) so it had to be special enough… right?

The oh-so-important message she got was this:

An attached image of Mimori and Cone making silly faces.

Really? That was it?

There was something under the picture, however.

Listen to this! it read. You won’t regret it! Me and Cone-chan are listening to it right now!

“Ugh…” Naoko grumbled. “Guess I’m gonna have to listen to it right now, aren’t I?”

What perfect timing. All Naoko was doing now was prolonging the Big Reveal, but now this song that her friend linked interested her.

Pressing on it, the link opened up YouTube on her phone and the video began to play.

Ah, it’s Korn.

Naoko’s ears, with earbuds freshly put in, were greeted with a screwy-sounding guitar and a jumpy bass.

Huh. This is actually pretty good.

The song, “Wicked,” was definitely different from what she usually listened to, which was often mocked by Ean for being “boring and slow.”

Once the song was done, Naoko actually felt refreshed and not as scared anymore for the adventure she was about to embark on.

With newfound confidence thanks to the Kornmen, she finished typing in Nathan’s name in the search bar and pressed the first result.

What she saw floored her.

On Nathan’s Instagram page were pictures of him and another boy.

It wasn’t just them being bros, either. She could tell by their body language that they were dating.

They’re in love.

They’re a couple.

There were tons of pictures, too. The oldest ones dated back to mid-June, which was a couple months after they broke up.

Naoko felt the strength in her hands weaken. Her mouth went dry and her stomach started to make weird noises.

Nathan is gay, and I didn’t know.

How did I not know this?

The girl turned her phone off and curled up on her bed, tears forming in her eyes.

He didn’t love me then. It was all a lie…

★

Monday afternoon came, meaning that it was her first official day of work at the CinemaSins office. She actually got some sleep the previous night for once, but that was likely because she was emotionally drained. On another positive note, the reactions to her being the head of CinemaSins were overwhelmingly positive, which was good.

Probably because I’m a cute young girl, she thought dryly. Ding!

“Come in!” Naoko called from her seat.

The door opened, and in came Nathan.

“Hey,” he said awkwardly.

Naoko’s mouth didn’t move for a few seconds. “Hi,” she said eventually, in a clipped voice.

“I just wanted to say hi,” Nathan continued. “‘Cuz you’re working here now, after all.”

“Yeah.” Naoko’s voice sounded even colder than usual.

The room was silent for a moment. Naoko decided to speak again.

“Congrats on your new love.”

“Oh!” Nathan perked up, and to that, the girl’s face grew darker. “You saw those Instagram posts? Nice! Yeah, he’s a very nice dude.”

“...”

“ … Oh, you don’t know, do you.” The excitement in Nathan’s voice died down.

“ … Know what?”

“That I’m bisexual.”

…

Ehhh? He is?

A sense of relief washed over Naoko’s body. Maybe he had feelings for me after all…

“Congrats,” she repeated, but this time tears were filling her eyes.

“Ah, Naoko-chan!” Nathan rushed over to her side and began to touch her shoulder. Naoko didn’t tell him to stop.

“C-c-congrats…” That was all she was able to say now.

“You’re fine, okay? It’s just, as we were dating, I noticed that I was attracted to guys too, and that’s mainly the reason I wanted to break up. I wanted to see if what I was feeling meant if I was gay or bi or whatever… and then I fell in love again.” He laughed nervously. “But what I felt for you was real. I just didn’t want to hurt you if I found out I didn’t really love you. That would’ve hurt even more, wouldn’t it?”

“Y-yes…” Naoko’ rubbed her eyes and took a tissue from the work desk to blow her nose with. “T-thanks. That’s what I wanted to hear. And I get it…”

“Yes. I still love you, don’t worry.” Nathan patted her head and then looked at your computer. “Ah, I see that you’re doing some work on a video. Sorry to bug you. Just wanted to welcome you here, is all.”

Naoko nodded and finished wiping off the rest of her tears. “Thank you again. I still love you too.” There was a beat. “I’m gonna unmute you on social media, by the way. You should do the same.”

Nathan smirked as he reached the door. “I will. Have fun now!”

“You too.”

With that, the door was shut again. Naoko sighed and looked down at her legs, which she drew to her chest.

“That’s what I like to hear,” she said as she laid her head on her knees, smiling.