“This is big. This is crazy! Something incredible is underway, so I just had to hop urgently on to live stream! At my humble home, where I always stream from, we have avery special guest! The one you all know! The girl you’ve been begging for collabs with in the comment section. Now she’s here! On this channel! Ah, it’s much too much! I’m beside myself with excitement!”
Talking excitedly was a familiar dark-haired girl…Mana Akihabara.
A female friend I saw on an almost daily basis seemed different somehow while streaming.
Maybe it was because she was doing a collab with a genuine star?
“And so it gives me great pleasure to announce that Erio Shibuya has come to hang out with me! All right, give her a big hand, everyone! Don’t be rude!”
“Hello. I’m Erio Shibuya. Wow, so many viewers. What a big welcome!”
“Oh, no, no, my channel’s still tiny! Whoa, wait—those are my Now Watching* numbers?! That’s ten times… No, a hundred times more than what I usually get! Oh! Oh my! Hoo! This is the Erio effect in motion! Unreal!”
Akiba was blushing with excitement over the highest number of viewers in her channel’s history. If she was in an anime, she’d have the yen currency symbol flashing in the pupils of her eyes.
Keeping one eye on the video, I grinned and addressed the real Mana Akihabara in front of me.
“You look like you were having fun. Huh, Akiba?”
“Ah… Ah-ha-ha…”
It was lunch break on a weekday in the midst of the midterm exam period. We were in the Ryouran High student cafeteria. Shiika, Akiba, and I were seated at a four-person table in the corner.
Akiba had ordered a high-calorie yakiniku lunch, but the ribs and loin that were gorgeously decorated on the plate had been generously divided up, with most of the meat now resting on Shiika’s plate as well as mine.
Akiba’s obvious desire to atone for her sins with food.
Of course, her crime was divulging the nearest station to the Ikebukuro household to Erio Shibuya.
I didn’t get angry right away. I wanted to see if she’d come clean on her own. But in the end, Akiba didn’t turn herself in until the day of her collaboration with Erio. Thus, today was the day of reckoning for her.
“I’m… I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Okay?”
“Hmm, since nothing terrible happened, I guess I shouldn’t get too mad about this. Listen, I won’t even ask you to make amends.”
“Oh, you’re so kind…”
“But I won’t forgive you that easily. It’s not like I hate you now or anything, but you crossed the line. I just want you to be aware of that.”
“I… I think I was manipulated by a dangerous individual…”
“Did you say something? Sorry, I’m not interested in gossip and bad-mouthing.”
“Right! It was nothing! Forget what I said!”
“Nice response. A little too nice to be genuine. But whatever. Since you’ve given us this good food.”
“Thanks! Let’s dig in!”
Once she had my permission, Akiba began gobbling up her rice drenched in yakiniku sauce.
Rolling my eyes at her, I resumed eating. When I tasted the meat that Akiba had given as a form of apology, the rich, salty sweetness melted on my tongue.
“Oh, this is so good.”
“Meat… It’s been so long… Nom!”
Shiika also devoured it with sparkling eyes.
It had been a long time since we had a good meal.
Since the start of May, our streaming numbers had increased. We had good prospects of earning a decent stipend this month, but payday wasn’t until the end of the month. I couldn’t let my guard down until I knew how much money would be transferred into our account. This was no time to spend extravagantly.
I chewed on the meat, praying this taste would become a regular thing next month.
“…Hmm?”
Watching Akiba and Erio’s collab stream as I ate, it suddenly struck me.
There was something strange in the comments section.
“ERIO SHIBUYA IS A PIECE OF TRASH WHO SELLS ONLY BECAUSE OF HER YOUTH AND GOOD LOOKS. HER TECHNIQUE IS BELOW AMATEUR. SHE HAS NO TALENT.
“SHE SUCKED SOME INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE’S (REDACTED), AND THAT’S THE ONLY REASON WHY SHE’S DEBUTING WITH A MAJOR ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY.
“IS IT TRUE THAT SHE MAKES SOCK PUPPET ACCOUNTS JUST TO TRASH HER RIVALS?”
The comments were scattered throughout, but they were all from the same user.
“Hey, don’t you think this is odd?”
I showed Akiba my phone, slowly scrolling through the comments section.
Akiba scanned the screen, scarfing down her rice.
“Not really? It’s just the usual hate comments.”
“But here. Look. Erio having a contract to debut with a major label is undisclosed information, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but look at Erio Shibuya’s trajectory. Anyone could predict that. There were rumors circulating online that her music video was so good that she already had a major management company handling her.”
“Right…”
“What’s bothering you?”
“Nothing, just… It sounds like the hater behind these comments might be a little too close for comfort.”
“There are haters everywhere. I mean, I’ve written a few hate comments myself in my time.”
“Huh?”
She said this so casually that I was stunned.
Akiba spoke with zero guilt.
“Just for a bit, when I was in junior high. There was this bully who published a song written by someone they bullied, claiming it was their own song. I didn’t like that, so I kinda became a bit of an online stalker.”
Akiba giggled, like she was recounting a tale of her own heroism. Then her face fell.
“But it’s hypocrisy to bash someone online when you can’t do it in person, in the classroom. It’s just self-gratification at that point. That’s why I don’t do it anymore.”
“I see… A bandit who defeats the thieves undercover. Like some sort of antihero.”
“I’m not a bandit. I was just exploiting an opportunity. It’s not like I did anything wrong. If you’re going to lecture me, I’ll take that meat back!”
“No way.”
I moved the plate away and easily dodged Akiba’s outstretched chopsticks.
“Guh… Well anyway. The industry is extremely competitive, and the classroom is like a microcosm of it. I bet you could find a hundred people who’d love to stab Erio Shibuya in the back. Probably someone’s posting hate comments based on classroom rumors. Actually, that sounds totally plausible.”
“I see, I see.”
In that case, did that mean the individuals posting hate comments on Shiika’s videos were nearby, too?
It would be pretty easy to sniff out the culprits, then.
Once I do, I’ll deliver swift and painful justice. Oh yes, I’d made my mind up about that.
“By the way, is Shiika going to be okay for the midterm exam? She’s going to have a showdown with Erio Shibuya, isn’t she?”
Akiba suddenly changed the subject.
“Yeah. Showdown is tomorrow,” I answered.
“What song are you guys going to use?”
“We’re planning to do a cover of an original song by an online singer, who does a lot of I Tried Singing vids.”
“Seriously? You’re not going to use that new song that Komae wrote just for Shiika?”
“Apparently not.”
“Apparently not; what do you mean?”
“It’s out of my hands. This is what Shiika wants. Even I can’t guess what goes on in Shiika’s head.”
I glanced over at Shiika, who was beside me as I spoke.
“Nom. Yum.”
She was happily devouring the meat, acting like her usual self.
But tomorrow’s midterm exam would be a big day for Shiika.
After all…the song she was planning to sing…
Was the first original song by the popular virtual singer known as Seeker.
Shiika would sing her own song. It was kind of a statement. A statement saying she no longer cared if her true identity was at risk of being exposed.
I had no idea what prompted Shiika to make this decision, but it was HER decision. I’d already made up my mind to keep my mouth shut and respect her wish.