: A dagger who likes Hamburg steak, call her Hamburger
: uh
: †Hamburger†
: that makes Awayuki-chan the Hamburg Master
: hamBUUUUURG /masterhamburg
: looool
Still speechless.
*GULP GULP* “Oh, that’s the last of it. Thank you so much, Master! I’m sleepy! I’m going to sleep now! So long, everyone! Bye-bye!”
: HUH?
: most abrupt stream ending
: im dying hahahaha
: g-good night?
: Sweet dreams! ￥1,000
: I can only hope she recovers from this...
The video ended.
“Master... What should I do?” Dagger-chan’s voice weakly croaked. I hadn’t said anything for a while, but she must’ve intuited the clip would be over by now.
Dagger, how can you... How can you... How can you... “How can you be so damn cute?”
“Nooo!!! Stawwwwppp!!!”
Ouch, my ears—but how else did you expect me to react to a video so adorable, Dagger-chan? The video was so relaxing, it literally gave me that same sense of relief as when you bolt up from bed thinking you’re late for work before you realize it’s Saturday.
“Did you even watch the video, Master? I’m in big trouble!”
“I did. And I have to say: you were very adorable.”
“No! Do you realize what’s happening on Cheeper right now? Hamburger-chan and Hamburg Master are trending more and more as we speak! At this rate, I’m going to be fired—fired!!!”
“Ah, so I’m caught up in this too. Welp, can’t say I don’t deserve it.”
“You don’t!!!”
The chasm between Dagger-chan’s energy and mine yawned ever wider. But could you blame me? As someone who’d experienced several character-defining arcs and emerged unscathed every time, Dagger-chan’s anxiety was flabbergasting to say the least. Like, from my point of view, she seemed to be finally poised to unleash her full Live-On potential, bringing a little bit of much-needed cuteness to the chaos, so why the worry? Sure, “cute” wasn’t exactly what Live-On was known for, but that just made her a long-overdue breath of fresh air.
Was it merely because she’d broken character? I could understand that, I guess. I hadn’t been in the clearest state of mind myself when I’d forgotten to turn my stream off, but that had been a true fiasco. In comparison, Dagger-chan’s incident felt like a...nothingburger.
“Oh, wait,” I said. “Was that everything just now? Or was there something worse besides that clip?”
“No, that was pretty much it,” Dagger-chan replied.
“Great. So when are we getting together to make Hamburg steaks?”
“Maaa-sterrr!” she pouted.
Oops. That clearly hadn’t been the right thing to say to someone who thought they were on the verge of losing their job.
Okay, time to take this seriously, I thought, clearing my throat and sitting up straight. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make light of the situation.”
“N-No, I’m sorry as well, for shouting.”
“No, no, you’re fine. You did the right thing, coming to your senpai for help. But I am still a little confused, though. Why exactly do you think that clip will get you fired?”
“Well, because the only reason I got into Live-On was because I had amnesia. That quirk is all I have!”
“What? No, it’s not!”
“It is, though. I spent ages thinking about what would make me stand out when I applied to Live-On. I realized I’d lived such a carefree life, I practically had nothing to show for myself. So, on audition day, I mustered all the courage I could, pretended to have amnesia, and bumbled into their office. I believed it was my only shot at getting noticed.”
“Okay, so you do have your memories, as we all thought. And wow, that part about you stumbling into the Live-On offices was real?”
“Yeah, it was! But do you see how this means that unlike Tadasu-chan or Sensei, I don’t really have anything that’s truly mine? It’s just this facade I created for the audition. Without it, Live-On would’ve never let me in. And then what did I do yesterday? Outright rejected the one thing that got me this job. Now I feel like I don’t deserve to be here.”
“Hmm...” I bit my tongue. There was so much I wanted to say, but that could wait. For now, all Dagger-chan needed to know was: “You won’t be fired.”
“How do you know?!” she countered. “You don’t know what they do with dead weight like me!”
“You’re right, I don’t. But I also know they can’t fire you just like that. Live-On is a legitimate company, believe it or not—there are hoops and red tape. Not to mention the flak they’d catch from the public. Besides, they haven’t called you up yet, have they?”
“N-No, they haven’t. But even if they’d forgive me, I wouldn’t if I became a burden to the company I love so much.”
“Mmm...”
One of the thoughts I’d kept to myself was that Dagger-chan kept going on and on about how she had nothing to offer Live-On besides her amnesia—but was that really true? While I wasn’t nearly articulate enough to spell out what made her special, I knew for sure that she wasn’t normal, and I meant that in the best way.
Oh. But there was one overarching theme that set her apart.
“You’re incredibly adorable. Isn’t that enough?”
“I mean, like... I don’t hate it, being called adorable and all. It’s just that it doesn’t feel like a trait I should have. Aren’t memory-loss characters more cool, more mysterious, you know?”
“Ohhh. Is that why you’re so hung up on the ‘cool’ thing? I get it, but... Isn’t that stressful? Constantly pretending to be something you’re not?”
“No? Because of that act, I get to be here, with you, with everyone else I look up to, living out my dream. Why would that make me feel stressed?”
“I... I see.” Now there’s a thought. Live-On’s recent surge in popularity meant there were now fans who idolized it. In that case, I didn’t really know what the right move was? This was such uncharted territory, there seemed to be no precedent to work with. In fact, Dagger-chan’s “problem” felt so little like one that I was tempted to say any number of solutions could work, as long as they were packaged and sold right.
All right, Awayuki. Take a step back, gather your thoughts. What do we know? Dagger-chan wants to remain in Live-On, but fears that without her amnesia schtick, she doesn’t deserve to be here.