After school came.
When I headed to the empty classroom, Shiranui was already waiting. There didn’t seem to be anyone else. I was scared since the objective was unclear, but it seemed unlikely I’d be surrounded by a group and have something done to me, so I was relieved.
“Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”
“It’s fine. I just arrived myself.”
I smiled wryly at the response that was like a date meetup, and sat in an open spot.
“By the way, what about the girls who are always with you?”
“They have club activities.”
“Doesn’t Shiranui do club activities?”
“I did them last year, but there was a bit of a problem. I’m in the go-home club now.”
I was caught on the word “problem” but accepted it. At least if those hanger-on girls won’t come here, I’m relieved.
When the conversation cut off once, Shiranui began.
“I’ll get to the main point. Kanbara-kun, do you like VTubers?”
“—!”
Should I answer this honestly?
I felt somehow reluctant to respond, thinking I’d get a disgusted look if I said I liked them.
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. It’s not a question with a bad meaning.”
“……?”
Shiranui cleared her throat.
“It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t say it from my side. Actually, I’ve loved VTubers for a long time.”
“Seriously?”
It was an incredibly unexpected confession.
Among the princesses, Shiranui was the one I had the least information about. Other than knowing she was an ikemen girl who was super popular with other girls, I knew practically nothing.
I’d carelessly assumed she was the outdoorsy, cheerful type. That she liked VTubers was completely unexpected.
“Surprised?”
“I’m shocked out of my mind.”
“I’d like to keep this a secret if possible. I haven’t told anyone around me about it. If people found out, it would get a bit troublesome.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna go spreading it around.”
I understood the feeling.
Being an otaku means caring about how others see you. While VTubers are popular, I fully understand that there are plenty of haters too.
And Shiranui is the person furthest from any otaku stereotype. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if this hobby became known. She probably understands that herself.
“Thank you. That’s a relief.”
Shiranui let out a sigh of relief.
“Hey, do you really like VTubers?”
“I love them. I even buy merch and everything.”
“You’re hardcore, aren’t you?”
“I consider myself quite the dedicated fan. My room is covered in merchandise, and it’s no exaggeration to say my video site’s liked videos section is filled with VTuber content.”
The same as me, or maybe even more so.
“So, what you wanted to talk about—”
“It’s because Kanbara-kun’s hobby is the same as mine. You like them too, right?”
She must have figured it out from the screen when I picked it up. I was listening to Feni the Phoenix’s singing, so it was pretty obvious really.
“I love them!”
“Right. I wanted to talk about VTubers with you, Kanbara-kun.”
I was surprised that Shiranui was a fellow VTuber fan, but this is a chance to get closer. I should use this as an opportunity to expand the conversation.
After that, Shiranui and I had a fun chat.
After talking for a while, I understood. Shiranui is hardcore.
“3D lives are the best, aren’t they? I love regular singing streams too, but lives have that special feeling. That sense of unity, or rather, that unity with the comment section is wonderful.”
“I know what you mean. It gets me so hyped up.”
“Singing in front of such a huge crowd like that—I’d be so nervous if it were me.”
“For sure. Even speaking in front of a few hundred people would make me shake, so tens of thousands would be absolutely impossible.”
Before I knew it, I’d forgotten my objective and gotten completely absorbed in V-talk.
“Don’t you watch male VTubers much?”
“I mostly watch female ones.”
The rumor about her hating men might be true.
We talked like that for a while and really hit it off. Our taste in favorite VTubers was similar too, and it was an extremely enjoyable time.
After several tens of minutes had passed.
“……By the way, Kanbara-kun.”
“What’s up?”
“I didn’t ask, but who’s your oshi (favorite)?”
She asked with a tense expression.
“She’s pretty minor, is that okay?”
“I don’t care about that.”
“You might have seen earlier, but she’s a VTuber named ‘Feni the Phoenix’ who started streaming last summer. She’s an indie, by the way, not corporate.”
“—!”
The moment I mentioned the name, I thought I saw Shiranui flinch, but I quickly continued talking about my oshi.
“She’s doing her best as an indie, but compared to the popular ones, she doesn’t have much name recognition. Especially since she doesn’t collab with other VTubers. But she’s such a good girl that you won’t regret remembering her.”
When it comes to VTubers these days, corporate ones are overwhelmingly strong, and indies tend to be weak. The sheer number of them has increased so much that they just get buried.
Popular indie VTubers are usually people whose real identities were already famous. They were popular artists or celebrities. For an amateur starting from scratch now, it’s a pretty tough situation.
“Um, well……I’ve actually watched her streams before.”
“Seriously!?”
“Y-yeah.”
So she knows Feni the Phoenix.
None of my few friends knew about her. I was surprised to find someone here who knew her.
“Tell me what you like about her.”
“It’s going to be long, is that okay?”
“Y-yeah. I want to know what got you hooked, Kanbara-kun.”
Alright, I’ll tell you everything.
“First is her voice. She has an incredibly cute voice. It’s such a lovely voice that you’d mistake her for an angel. It’s feminine, and sweetly cute without being annoying. It matches her character design perfectly and is very charming. And then—”
Her voice was what got me started.
When I first got into VTubers, I was following the popular corporate ones.
As with anything, there’s a reason things become popular. Their character designs were very cute, their voices were cute, and on top of that, they had great talking skills. Their singing voices were wonderful too, and watching them play games happily was healing.
However, they have a lot of fans.
An overwhelming number of fans. Comments flow by in an instant, and no matter how much you comment, you never get read. Getting acknowledged is just a pipe dream.
One day, I had a fateful encounter.
That was Feni the Phoenix.
The video site happened to recommend her to me. Since I was bored, I checked her out, and I was instantly captivated by her voice. After that, I checked her past videos and live streams.
“She’s also good at reading comments.”
I became completely hooked when she picked up my comment. I was so happy that she responded to my comment that before I knew it, I was crazy about her.
“Her singing voice is great too. She’s not incredibly skilled, but you can feel her trying her best. What I’m oshi-ing besides her voice is exactly that—how hard she works. Feni is hardworking, and even though she’s bad at games, you can feel her earnestness.”
“Ehehe, I see, I see.”
Why are you blushing?
When I gave her a suspicious look, Shiranui seemed to snap back to reality as if startled. Then she cleared her throat several times to cover it up.
“After hearing all that, I understand you, Kanbara-kun. You’re a comrade with the same hobby, and on top of that, you’re a nice person to talk to.”
“I’m glad you seem to appreciate me.”
“I actually have a consultation for you, Kanbara-kun.”
Shiranui’s expression became serious.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
A consultation?
It’s strange to get a consultation from someone I just met, but she’s Shiranui, who shares a hobby with me. It’s probably about VTubers.
“Tell me what it is.”
“I’ve been popular with the same sex since I was young.”
That’s completely different.
“It’s pretty tough. Being suddenly confessed to by someone I thought was just a friend is troubling, or rather, I don’t see them that way myself.”
This must be a problem unique to Shiranui, who’s popular with girls.
I can’t relate to the feeling at all. Someone who’s not popular with either the same sex or the opposite sex like me has absolutely no connection to this. I’ll probably never truly understand it in my entire life.
However, I can imagine.
If a guy confessed to me, it would be difficult to accept. I’d probably agonize over the fact that I was being seen as that kind of target. But at the same time, it would be hard to treat them coldly. We’re friends because we get along well, after all. My sense of distance and emotions would probably get all messed up.
By coincidence, I know someone with a similar problem.
The VTuber we’ve been talking about—”Feni the Phoenix.”
My oshi has also been confessed to by the same sex multiple times. She has an episode about being confessed to by her best friend during summer break.
It’s a strange connection, but that huge donation message that became a laughing stock on the internet and led to me having to pursue the princesses—that was sent regarding exactly that incident.
Though of course, Feni’s situation must be different. From Feni’s sweet, melting voice, I can imagine the person behind her is a cute girl. In her case, she’s being confessed to because she’s too cute.
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