Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051596567318343/episodes/2912051599338325204
(Kuroi Amana)
“Okay! Well, that’s it for today! See you at the next stream—bye-bye!”
She rattled off those words and cut the stream.
…I closed Discord as if I were running away.
“~~~~!!”
My cheeks started to burn, so I pressed my hands against them.
“W-what was that all about? Trying to act so cool!”
As a surprise at the end, he made a video looking back on everything so far.
Seeing our journey together brought back all those fun memories, and I couldn’t help but get emotional.
And then it hit me.
My senior has always been there behind the scenes of my streams.
Whether it was a successful project or a fun stream, he was always helping me out behind the scenes.
Even during today’s stream, our banter was fun, and the viewers were really into it.
So, maybe my senior is… a special person to me.
My cheeks felt so hot they might burn, and my whole body was flushed.
A suffocating ache settled in my chest, and my heart pounded loudly.
Suddenly, I thought of my senior at school, reaching out to take me to the infirmary, and the face of that man I saw from my bed… I could hear a sniffle.
“N-no, no, no, no!! Senpai is just a commoner! He’s not cool at all!!”
He’s nothing like a prince who’s engaged to a princess, right? To teach him a lesson and make him know his place, I treated him like a commoner even on the stream! Everyone must be tearing him to shreds right now!
I fumbled with the mouse, clicking it repeatedly with a clatter.
What I opened was a social media hashtag—the one I’d added to today’s stream.
“Ichigo Daikyo’s stream was great~. It was nice to see her and the guest getting along so well!”
“The chemistry was great, wasn’t it? I could totally feel the flirting vibes~”
“I’m seriously shipping them! I wonder if they’ll start a couple’s channel or something!”
“Exactly! From what I heard, he seemed to be really supportive of Ichigo Daikyo!”
“Aren’t they a perfect match? A little devilish girl and a serious, likable young man—I’m totally shipping them!”
My mouth dropped open.
“Uh, uh, uh…”
Scrolling through while letting out a pathetic little sound.
Every single post, every single one of them, is all flushed with color.
And here I am, too…
“Waaaaaah!”
No! I don’t belong with a guy like that! I definitely don’t!!
I’m a princess, a super-popular VTuber… but I’m just an ordinary high school girl.
At first, I became a fan after watching his videos. We shared the same sense of humor, and I laughed until tears welled up in my eyes.
When I was in trouble, he answered my questions, and even though he was a bit of a slacker, he stuck with me.
Talking to him was always fun, after all. Even our real-life conversations made my heart race.
Whether I look at it subjectively or objectively, he’s a wonderful person.
The old me—the me before I became popular—would have fallen head over heels… no, actually, even the current me would.
“No, no, no! There’s no way that’s true!”
Despite what I’m saying, my body is heating up.
A sweet, tingling sensation makes me unable to sit still.
I opened Discord.
I called my senior.
I haven’t decided what to talk about, so I frantically try to think of something.
“W-what should I say? W-what should I talk about? W-what should I do?”
Even though I thought that, I couldn’t stop myself.
Half in a panic, I waited, but my senior didn’t pick up at all.
Unlike me, who couldn’t stay calm, my senior was completely laid-back.
Just imagining it made my frustration grow, and I wanted to kick him in the back.
I fidgeted, standing up and sitting back down in my chair.
I paced back and forth around the room.
After spending what felt like an eternity just sitting there, my senior finally answered the call.
“Hey! Answer already!”
I wasn’t expecting anything in particular from his reply.
But…
“Ichigo, you’re a disaster. I’m never dealing with you again.”
I hadn’t wanted that kind of reaction at all.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Honestly, I’ve had enough. Your way of treating people and your attitude are exhausting—I can’t handle it anymore. So, goodbye.”
“Eh…”
The call ended. I tried calling again, but it didn’t go through.
I tried other ways to reach him, but every attempt was rejected.
Why? How come? Did I do something that bad?
I reflected on my own behavior.
…It’s true, I feel like I treated my senior carelessly and forced him to do all sorts of things.
That’s the kind of behavior only a real princess from a fairy tale could get away with—it’s absolutely not something an ordinary person should do to another ordinary person.
The image of my middle school self—a nobody—flashed through my mind… and I shook my head vigorously.
“N-no! I’m Ichigo Daikyo, a super-popular VTuber! I’m a princess!”
That’s right. That’s it. It has to be.
My behavior is something that should be allowed.
Tomorrow, I’ll confront my senior at school.
I’ll make him kneel and say, “I was wrong. I want to stay friends with Ichigo Daikyo from now on.”
“Yeah, that’s right. That’s the way to go.”
I forced a smile and nodded.
Running away from the sharp pain that pierced my heart and the burning heat in my eyes.
＊＊＊
Mornings feel so good.
A refreshing breeze caressed my skin, and the air I breathed in cooled my lungs with a crisp sensation. The morning sun was scorching, but it was just right—not hot enough to make me sweat on my way to school. Since it was earlier than usual, there was little traffic; it was quiet, and there was no smell of exhaust fumes. It was a serene morning, and that feeling brought a sense of calm to my heart.
I suddenly wondered if this was what it felt like to have a weight lifted off my shoulders.
It wasn’t quite as good as when I first started streaming, but my mood was still on the upswing.
I hadn’t even been fully aware of it, but it seems my relationship with Ichigo Daikyo had been quite significant to me after all.
Just as I was gliding through the school gate with a spring in my step, a grumpy voice called out to me.
“You seem pretty energetic today, Senpai.”
Her black hair curled slightly at the ends, with a splash of red at the roots. Her face, brimming with a mischievous charm that perfectly complemented her dangerously glamorous hairstyle, was that of Kuroi, who stood by the school gate, her eyes fixed on me with a hint of resentment.
“What’s up? Why are you standing by the gate? Were you waiting for someone?”
Kuroi’s face twisted in frustration.
“Waiting… grr. I’m not waiting for anyone, though.”
“Well, that’s kind of creepy.”
It was earlier than usual. The kind of time when sports clubs are warming up for morning practice.
Unless I’d woken up early because I’d slept so soundly I couldn’t go back to sleep, I wouldn’t be coming to school at this hour. And standing by the school gate when I’m not even waiting for anyone is even more out of the ordinary.
“W-well, never mind me. But Senpai, why are you so giddy?”
Kuroi asked, her tone tinged with resentment.
She was probably seething over the reason I was standing here.
I had no intention of arguing with a girl in a bad mood, so I decided to answer honestly.
“Well, I guess I’ve managed to sort out some troublesome relationships, so I’m feeling a bit lighter.”
“Troublesome… relationships?”
“You know. Like, that snarky person at my part-time job quit, or that strict advisor teacher transferred to another school—there are all kinds of things like that. It’s the same for me; I had some people I didn’t like, too.”
“People… you didn’t like…”
“Yeah. It was kind of like power harassment, or something like that—it was pretty rough. Being freed from that, I guess I was feeling a little giddy.”
“……I-see.”
Kuroi’s expression crumbled, and she looked like she was about to cry.
“A-are you okay?”
I put my hand on her shoulder and peered at her face; Kuroi’s eyes widened.
Her cheeks flushed, her eyes welled up, and she bit her lip tightly.
“—Well then!”
Kuroi shook off my hand and ran off toward the school building.
“I wonder if she’s okay.”
Worried, I took out my phone to contact her, and saw a message notification on the screen.
‘Ibusuki-kun! Would it be okay if I asked for some free time to hang out like we did the other day, sometime soon!?’
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