“Hey, guys, Tomosaka Sasara here! Welcome to today’s vlog! Yahoo!”
As a majorly popular teenage Pinstagram influencer, the first thing I did after school is set up the camera. I know that sounds fancy and everything, but I didn’t actually have a studio; I recorded my vlogs in my humble home. But, I worked a ton on the interior design of my filming spot to make it look as stylish as possible, and to erase any signs that I lived out my day-to-day life there.
I couldn’t have done it without the recent lucrative sponsorship deals I signed. More of them poured in after I had that minor controversy online—it helped get my name out there. I got super depressed when it was all going down, but that was before I knew I was gonna get this lucky break. Guess there was just something about me that meant I could turn around even the very worst of situations!
“As soon as I get home from school, I get changed. I pull off my stuffy uniform and get into my loungewear for a bit of relaxation! Even the most stylish of girls has gotta be comfy at home. What, you’re disappointed? Or is that just what you expected? ’Cause if so, shut up!”
Guessing how my followers were gonna react and responding to them ahead of time was one of my special techniques. Even when you’re not streaming live, it’s important to pretend you’re interacting with your viewers’ comments in real time.
My original fans followed me purely because of my fashion vlogging and charisma, but after keeping a close eye on my recent numbers, I realized that I got a better response from people by playing up some minor imperfections. My idol, Hoshino-san, told me that affinity with your fans is the next most important thing after charisma. When I tried it out and got a good response, I was even more blown away by how impressive and smart she is!
So I guessed pretending to be a bit of a ditz counted as an advanced skill. Very interesting indeed.
Just then, my lips twisted into a pout as I heard a voice in my head respond to my thoughts.
“Right, pretending! Sure, we’ll go with that.”
It was Iroha’s voice, and somehow she made it sound like I was dumb without really giving me any room to argue back.
She’d really made it so my brain bullied me by itself now, huh? I was starting to think hanging around her was bad for my sanity.
Iroha was in Kyoto. If I was hearing her voice from all the way out here, it was nothing more than a hallucination.
Also, I was supposed to be filming a fun vlog right now! I couldn’t let myself get distracted; I needed to be all smiles!
“When I’m at home, I guess I’m usually on my phone. Oh, but I don’t just scroll through random sites! I check what’s trending on Pinsta!”
I filmed myself lounging on the couch and tapping away at my phone.
In case you were wondering, I shot my videos on a separate phone I set up on a tripod so it gave a high-angle view of the room. These days, I guess you kinda need two phones, especially if you’re an influencer.
I opened Pinsta to see what the accounts I followed were posting about.
“Hey, Enthusaland’s posted something!”
Enthusaland was all about visiting various theme parks across Japan and posting images along with trivia and obscure tidbits. I was too busy to go to places like that myself, and looking at this person’s fun posts made me feel like I’d been right there with them.
The account didn’t mention their gender or age, but the profile picture featured a young, businesslike woman with long hair, and the voice-over was feminine, so I assumed she was the account owner. I was just glad she wasn’t some gross greasy nerd.
Part of her account’s appeal was the long, rambling posts she wrote, but since she was a pretty Asian woman, they didn’t come off as creepy at all.
Her new post was about...Tenchido Eternaland? That place was super hot right now! And it was a great spot to take a video too!
“I never thought I’d ever get to see an actual LVIP in the wild! It’s enough to make even a girl like me break out in a sweat!”
Hmm. I didn’t know what an “LVIP” was, but it was obvious this was a big deal. It had me just about curious enough to watch the rest of the video.
“Hm?”
Some text flashed up on the video, reading “LVIP pass!” It was accompanied by a hastily edited-in red arrow pointing at some guy’s neck—where the pass was hanging. Some guy wearing a super familiar uniform.
But I literally didn’t care about that guy right now, because there was someone else in the shot.
“Th-That’s Iroha!”
There were no two ways about it! It was Kohinata Iroha, my friend who I sent away to Kyoto yesterday. What’s more, she was obviously on a lovely date with Ooboshi-senpai—the guy with the LVIP pass.
This girl was something else.
She’d been moping because her beloved Ooboshi-senpai was all the way in Kyoto, and she’d actually managed to track him down. She was way too good at stalking, and I was actually kinda grossed out.
Also, I just realized I’d shouted out her name while the camera was still rolling. But that was fine. It might be a tiny bit of extra editing, but I could still use this footage if I just cut that out. So, I would keep filming. Since the camera was fixed, I’d be able to cut it without it being too jarring and—
“Shut up, sis!”
Crash! Bang!
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
The door swung open, sending my filming phone and its tripod flying.
A tall, broad-shouldered guy had just crashed into my room. His tryhard hairstyle and rugged features made it look like he desperately wanted to be in a gang, but he was actually my younger brother. My dumbass younger brother: Tomosaka Chatarou.
“What the hell are you doing, you idiot?! You totally messed up the angle and positioning of the camera!”
“Cram it! I’m trying to study for my exams and all I can hear is you talking to yourself on and on and on and on, and then shouting randomly in a stupid loud voice! I can’t take it anymore!”
“Hnnngh! You messed up my vlog!”
“I don’t care about your stinky vlog! Don’t you have any homework you’re s’posed to be doing?! This is why you never beat Kohinata-senpai in anything, ’cause you’re always wasting your time with this lame stuff.”
“Excuse me?! All that airhead ever thinks about is boys—don’t start comparing me to her! You’re seriously gonna tell me she’s all perfect when you know what she’s doing right now?!”
“I don’t know what she’s doing, buttface! Why don’tcha tell me?”
“I’m not gonna tell you, buttface! I’m not the kinda snake who sells out her friends!”
Sure, Iroha was annoying, but that wasn’t relevant. I wasn’t about to tell my brother she liked Ooboshi-senpai, totally snapped when he left, then dipped out of school to go see him. Call it an honor thing, or whatever else you want.
Anyway, I was literally seething right now, and I hadn’t been this mad in a while. How dare my stupid little brother ruin my vlog?!
I glared at him, letting myself fill up with murderous rage, then jabbed my thumb in the direction of the door. “Let’s take this to the living room! We’ll let the shogi board do the talking!”
“Bring it! I’d like to see you get past my offensive bear-in-the-hole strat!”
Our sibling quarrel took a random turn that completely missed the point of the original argument, but I guess that’s a story for another day...