My Childhood Friend, a Vtuber, Treated Me Like TrashโIโm Never Producing For Her Again
The new school year has begun.
Normally, I would have been walking to school side by side with my childhood friend from the neighborhoodโYue
But today, I was alone.
Sure enough, she had blocked me on everythingโphone calls, LINE, and Twitter.
(Well, I guess this is for the best.)
Before the new semester started, Iโd gotten rid of all my mementos and photos of Yue.
Keeping them would only leave me clinging to the past.
Iโm sure Yue did the same.
When I arrived at school, I checked the bulletin board to see my new class.
(Class 2-3, huh?)
Fortunately, it looks like Yue is in Class 1.
If weโd been in the same class, it wouldโve been way more than just awkward.
Since Iโd been secretly on edge, I felt a slight sense of relief.
โฆThat said, I really need to break this habit of unconsciously looking for Yueโs name as soon as possible.
I stepped into the 2-3 classroom, found my seat, and sat down.
โHey, Komachi.โ
A familiar voice called out from the seat behind me.
I turned around and replied.
โItโs you again, Yamamoto.โ
โMan, I was surprised too. I never thought weโd end up in the same class all the way since seventh grade.โ
Yamamoto is one of my few friendsโa fellow otaku.
Unlike me, heโs tall and good-looking, even by other guysโ standards.
Thatโs why heโs popular with girls, and heโs never been without a girlfriend.
Yamamoto suddenly started looking around the classroom.
He seemed to be looking for someone.
โLooks like Aizawa isnโt in our class this time. Thatโs too bad.โ
โOh, Yue isโฆโ
Come to think of it, I hadnโt told him yet.
I scratched my head, wondering how to explain it.
โActually, she turned me down.โ
โHuh? Seriously? Did you confess to her?โ
โWell, something like that.โ
It was almost as if Iโd confessed knowing full well Iโd get rejected.
โSo, does that mean itโs actually a good thing youโre in different classes now?โ
โYeah. So, Iโd appreciate it if you didnโt bring up Yue too much.โ
โGot it. Letโs talk about something else, then.โ
Yamamoto pulled out his phone and showed me the screen.
โDid you watch Teruko-chanโs livestream yesterday? Man, she was so cute.โ
โUh, wellโฆ actually, I havenโt been watching Teruko-chan anymore.โ
โHuh? But you used to love her so much. Youโre the one who got everyone into her in the first place, right?โ
โW-well, thatโs true, butโฆโ
โOh, I get it. Itโs because her voice sounds like Aizawa-sanโs, isnโt it? It just brings back unwanted memories.โ
โW-well, I guess so.โ
The truth is, I couldnโt say for the life of me that Yui was actually Teruko-chan.
I regretted telling Yamamoto about herโif Iโd known it would turn out like this, I never would have.
Yamamoto put his hand on my shoulder.
โCheer up. There are as many girls out there as there are stars in the sky.โ
โYouโre saying the exact same thing my dad says. Canโt you come up with something a little more original?โ
โIโm not going out of my way to comfort a guy.โ
โYou jerk.โ
โOh, hold on a sec. I got a LINE from my girlfriend.โ
โYou damn social butterfly.โ
I was a little annoyed, but being able to banter like this took my mind off things.
Soon, our new homeroom teacher walked into the classroom and gave a brief self-introduction.
I propped my chin on my hand and watched the scene blankly.
To be honest, it was a little boring.
โNow, let me introduce the new transfer student. Okay, come on in.โ
The door swung open, and a girl timidly entered the classroom.
She had long, unkempt black hair.
Her steps were so awkward that you could tell at a glance she was nervous.
(โฆBut more than that, her hunched posture is pretty bad.)
I use a computer myself, so I canโt really criticize others, but her hunched posture was on a whole different level.
Plus, her face was barely visible because of her unkempt bangs.
She was literally radiating the textbook โshy kidโ vibe from head to toe.
โU-umโฆ wellโฆโ
The girl took a small breath and continued speaking while keeping her head down.
โIโm Mei Mizutaโฆ N-nice to meet youโฆโ
Her voice trailed off almost to the point of disappearing.
Mizuta, huh?
Could it be that this is the daughter of the Mizuta family who just moved in next doorโthe one my dad told me about?
Though I felt a strange sense of connection, I quickly changed my mind.
(Well, I guess weโll just pass each other occasionally and exchange greetingsโthatโs as far as itโll go.)
This isnโt a manga; thereโs no way something like a romance with a beautiful transfer student is going to happen.
Besides, in manga, itโs a clichรฉ for the protagonist to end up with his childhood friendโbut just look at me in real life.
Thereโs no such thing as a story that convenient.
โSo, Mizuta-san, take that empty seat over there.โ
โY-yesโฆโ
Of course, there was no clichรฉ where the transfer student just happened to end up sitting next to me.
ใโ
After that, I reached lunch break without really talking to Mizuta-san at all.
I usually ate lunch with Yue, but today, Yamamoto and I ended up eating alone in the school cafeteria.
โCome to think of it, do you have a girlfriend?โ
โOh, didnโt I mention it? My current girlfriend goes to a different school.โ
The way he casually dropped the phrase โmy current girlfriendโ made me realize we live in different worlds.
Normally, Iโd just tease him and leave it at that.
But right now, having just gone through a breakup, I found myself envying him just a little.
I wondered if things would have worked out with Yue if Iโd been as good-looking as him.
โSpeaking of which, about that transfer studentโฆโ
โMizuta?โ
โYeah.โ
Yamamoto took a bite of his curry before continuing.
โShe wasnโt exactly cuteโshe was super plain, actually.โ
โHuh?โ
โHuh?โ
โWhat are you talking about? Youโre calling her plain?โ
Itโs true she had zero sense of style, and she was even slouching.
Her bangs and hunched posture hid both her face and figureโbut I wouldโve thought someone as experienced with girls as Yamamoto wouldโve noticed.
โMizuta-san, her face was actually pretty cute, andโฆ umโฆ this part was huge, you know?โ
I lowered my voice and pointed to my chest.
Yamamotoโs eyes widened.
โHuh, really? I didnโt notice at all.โ
โShe just has a plain vibe, but I think sheโd look totally different if she dressed up a bit.โ
โHuhโฆ Youโve always had a weirdly good eye for these things. Why donโt you try giving Mizuta-san a makeover yourself?โ
โNo, why me?โ
Besides, just blurting out something like โIโll give her a makeoverโ out of the blue is just plain rude.
โI hope spring comes for you too.โ
โShut up.โ
If youโre going to say stuff like that, at least set me up with someone.
Well, I guess he doesnโt mean any harm.
ใโ
As soon as I got home, I flopped down on my bed.
Even though the house was empty as usual, today it felt unusually lonely.
I just couldnโt bring myself to play games, read manga, or dive into a novel.
If I opened YouTube, I felt like YueโTerukoโs livestreamโwould pop up in the recommendations, which would just make me feel even more down.
(Since Iโm in this mood, maybe I should study a bit.)
My grades werenโt that bad to begin with.
But as I helped Yue with her VTuber activities, my studies took a back seat, and before I knew it, my grades had plummeted.
We werenโt even dating, and she wasnโt going to take responsibility for my life.
So why was I trying so hard for her?
Itโs true what they say: โWasting your life chasing after women.โ
I sat down at my desk and started studying.
(โฆโฆItโs going to take quite a while to catch up.)
Once I got started, I hit a wall much sooner than I expected.
And yet, I have to get into college, at the very least.
I scratched my temple with the end of my mechanical pencil and sighed.
โThatโs when it happened.
โT-today! It was my first day at my new school, and I w-was so nervous! Everyone around me was a strangerโฆ Oh, I mean, at my old school, it was pretty much like everyone was a stranger too. But still, everyoneโs niceโฆ right? I-Iโm not too much of a loner to get teased, am Iโฆ?โ
I could hear an unusually high-pitched voice coming through the window.
Our house is way too close to the neighborsโ.
Plus, maybe because itโs an old building, I can hear every word even with the windows closed.
Come to think of it, this voice sounds a lot like Mizutaโsโthe one I heard this morning.
But rather than sounding like she was on the phone with someone, her tone was more like she was doing a live stream.
(Could she be a VTuber?)
No, no way. That canโt be right.
I gave a wry smile and decided to just tune it out for now.
I silently prayed that theyโd install a makeshift soundproof booth or something soon.
But thenโ
โWoooooahโฆ! Ah, no! IโmโIโm gonna get hit!! Ah, aaaahโฆ!! IโI got hit!! Waaaaahโ!!โ
The volume shot up even higher.
There was no way I could study now.
I get that reactions are important for a livestream.
But this is just way too loud.
(All right, Iโll say something.)
Since weโre going to be neighbors from now on, I donโt intend to complain about the stream itself.
That said, I canโt just put up with this forever.
At the very least, Iโll gently suggest soundproof curtains, sound-absorbing materials, or adjusting the microphone settings.
Having made up my mind, I headed for the front door.