The Mask
"Do you happen to have any interest in livestreaming?"
Lee Sae-ah's breath caught in her throat. Her hands and her eyes trembled of their own accord, and she could not will them still.
Livestreaming. For her, it was a word steeped in equal parts gratitude and resentment — the means that put food on her table, and the suffocating labor of talking without rest to a sea of nameless strangers.
She had never told a single soul that she streamed. The moment the line between Lee Sae-ah and the streamer Rea began to blur, the everyday life she had barely managed to hold together could come crashing down.
...It can't be.
And now Ryuzaki was rattling that very line.
"And what, exactly, is your reason for asking?"
"Oh, I just thought maybe you were into it too, senpai. You don't have to think much of it."
Why livestreaming, of all things? Even if he watched streams himself, there was no reason to put that question to her. And even granting that — why ask her? Because he wanted to get closer?
If that were the case, there was no reason to bring up livestreaming as a topic. You did not ask a girl your age whether she watched streams just because you wanted to be friends. And if he had truly wanted to get closer, he would never have shut the conversation down with you don't have to think much of it.
Which left only one possibility.
"The truth is, I found a streamer yesterday whose voice sounds a lot like yours, senpai."
"......"
Her heart plunged. Lee Sae-ah knew, with a certainty that needed no proof.
This boy knew she was Rea. And right now, he was probing her for it.
The instant that realization landed, a nauseating lurch rolled through her stomach. A secret she had never told a soul. A secret she had fought tooth and nail to keep hidden — and the one and only member of her student council had found it out. A delinquent, no less.
...Of course, judging by how he had been acting lately, his manners and his speech were those of a model student, appearances aside. But nobody ever really knew what someone was like underneath.
Lee Sae-ah closed her eyes slowly and evened out her breathing. She loathed dragging things out. Now that they had each seen through the other's intent, she had no desire to talk in circles and burn through her nerves for nothing.
"Your deduction is correct. I make my living as a livestreamer. I'm impressed you figured it out."
"Well. It just kind of happened that way."
"Does anyone else know?"
"No. I haven't told a soul."
And so Lee Sae-ah cut straight to the point.
"What is it that you want?"
"......"
"If it is within my power, I will give you whatever you ask. In exchange — can you keep this matter a secret?"
If the demand was something she could bear, she was prepared to accept it. Better to end it here and now than to let this drag on, living in dread. But if he crossed a line — if he asked for a large sum of money, or for her body — she would report him to the police on the spot.
Ryuzaki blinked once, then began tapping the desk lightly with a finger.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
That measured rhythm gnawed at Lee Sae-ah's composure, little by little. Fortunately, the torment did not last long.
"In that case... could I have that?"
Lee Sae-ah swallowed without meaning to.
"...That?"
"The chocolate bun in front of you, senpai. Just one."
...A chocolate bun?
There was, indeed, a chocolate bun sitting in front of her. One of the breads she had bought for lunch — a two-hundred-yen chocolate bun.
"This is what you want?"
"Yes. Oh — if you'd rather not, the cream bun next to it is fine too."
It was not a question of chocolate versus cream. She was reasonably full already, so handing over a single bun was nothing at all. The question was why a chocolate bun, of all things.
If this was the price of his silence, he could have asked for money. He could have asked her to dump student council work on him. There were any number of far more practical demands he could have made.
"...Very well."
Just as they had once slid a water bottle across this same desk, the chocolate bun now glided over to his side.
"Thanks. I'll enjoy it."
Ryuzaki did not seem inclined to eat it right away; he nudged it off to the side. Watching him, Lee Sae-ah asked again.
"And what else do you want?"
"That's all."
"...I beg your pardon?"
For a moment, her mind went completely blank.
"You mean to tell me that this is truly the end of it?"
"Yep. What, were you hoping I'd squeeze you for more?"
"No... that isn't what I meant."
Common sense and every expectation she had held had been betrayed, as casually as if that were the most natural thing in the world.
"You don't want people knowing, senpai. So why would I go around telling them?"
You shouldn't do things other people hate.
Everyone had heard that line at least once. But the number of people who actually held to that simple principle, all the way to the end, was surprisingly small. Most only pretended to. The moment an advantage appeared in front of them, they started turning over how to use the other person's weakness.
But this boy... why? To look at him, you would think he was the type to unearth every secret he could find and blackmail people with them.
...Is he acting?
The thought flickered through her mind, but she shook her head inwardly a moment later. If he were truly that calculating, he would know it was far more profitable to hold her secret over her head than to go around spreading it.
"Ah — then, could I ask you just one thing instead?"
"Go ahead."
Was he finally showing his true colors? Confusion tightened back into tension.
"When you stream — how do you talk that easily with so many people? I think it'd make me sick."
The tension dissolved back into confusion.
Contrary to every expectation, his question was wholesome to a fault. Was there information to be gained from a question like that? None. Then... why?
"Senpai?"
"Yes."
"Are you all right?"
"I am fine."
"If it bothers you, you don't have to answer. I don't want to put you on the spot."
A look touched with genuine concern turned toward her. Ryuzaki had said it himself — if she did not want to talk, she did not have to. On any other day, she would have taken that kindness and been glad of it.
"It is nothing of the sort. I can answer."
But not today. For reasons she could not name, she did not want to turn his question aside.
She steadied her breathing and looked at Ryuzaki. He was watching her with a gaze that seemed determined not to miss a single detail — as if he were studying the person in front of him the way one studies a text. She had seen that look before. It was the same look he wore when he examined documents. The same look he wore when he opened the textbooks he always brought with him.
Being on the receiving end of it sent a peculiar pressure washing through her.
"The truth is, I am not the sort of person who particularly enjoys talking to others."
"Yeah, I got that impression."
"...You need not agree quite so readily."
"Ah — sorry."
Ryuzaki's shameless little joke pulled a brief grimace across Lee Sae-ah's face. But perhaps because of it, the nameless weight pressing down on her seemed to ease, just a little.
"I make a mask. A mask by the name of Rea. And so, when I stream, I think and act not as Lee Sae-ah, but as Rea."
"So you separate who you are normally from who you are on stream."
"You may think of it that way. It is not unlike acting."
Ryuzaki gave a small nod, as if something had clicked into place. Then came the next question.
"Then... are you wearing a mask right now, too?"
"......"
She had no answer. Not because she did not want to give one. Because she herself did not know.
Had she always been this person? Or had she worn the mask for so long that she had come to believe it was her real face?
"...I am not certain."
"I see."
She had started this conversation on her guard against Ryuzaki. And yet, by the time she came back to herself, it had become a moment of looking inward. The feeling that left her with was difficult to name — but it made her heart beat a little faster.
Lee Sae-ah looked at Ryuzaki without a word. He was gazing into the middle distance, as if turning something over in his mind, and continuing his meal. Once she had quieted the pounding in her chest, she asked,
"...And what about you?"
"Me?"
"Do you wear a mask, Ryuzaki?"
Ryuzaki said nothing for a long moment. Then, with a wry smile, he confessed in a low voice:
Lee Sae-ah's impression of Ryuzaki shifted, just a little. From a suspicious kid — to someone a little strange.
"I see."
Lee Sae-ah looked at him for a while. When was the last time she had looked at anyone this long? Today, of all days, she felt awkward in her own skin.
"Ryuzaki."
"Yes?"
"I'm rather full, so — would you like the cream bun as well?"
And yet, the feeling was not a bad one.
Without a word, Lee Sae-ah peeled off a sticky note and pressed it to the back of the cream bun's wrapper. Then, in small letters, she left a memo.
Weekdays 7:00 PM – 2:00 AM LIVE
Weekends OFF
The door creaked open, and a blond man stepped into a girl's room.
"Beatrice. You got a minute?"
"Whether I do or don't, it's not like you care."
"Haha, don't be so harsh."
The man dropped into a chair with a careless laugh. Beatrice, for her part, did not so much as glance at him. At a glance, it might have looked like an ordinary conversation between siblings.
"So? What is it?"
"We've got the west locked down completely now, so isn't it about time we started looking south?"
"The south? That's Ryuzaki-kai territory. Weren't you the one who swore you'd never deal with their boss?"
"Well, yeah. That old wolf Genma is a nightmare once his eyes go red."
They might have looked like ordinary siblings, but their identities were anything but. Nexus was the mafia organization that had seized the western district of the academy city. Orta led its Tsukuyomi Academy City branch, and Beatrice was his adopted younger sister.
"I've got a job I need you to handle."
"...Does it have to be me?"
"Yep. This kind of thing is your specialty."
"What is it."
Orta lit a cigar and spoke.
"You remember the young master of Ryuzaki-kai?"
"I remember. The delinquent who loses his mind the second he sees a pretty face."
"That's the one. Genma's precious son. Word is he and Genma had a massive falling-out recently. Things between them are pretty frosty right now."
"And?"
Blowing out a stream of smoke, Orta went on.
"You're going to use him to swallow Ryuzaki-kai whole?"
"Exactly. Going after Genma directly is too hard, so we go after the son."
"I'm not sure I follow."
Beatrice squinted at the cigar smoke for a moment.
"Genma's smart. Last time he beat you in a battle of wits and you took a serious hit."
"...He did."
"You're not considering the possibility that Genma would just cut the kid loose?"
"Nope. Not considering it."
Beatrice tilted her head. Her brother was a long way from normal, but he was not the type to make guarantees without a reason.
"Genma won't abandon Ren. No — he can't. There's a promise."
"...Well. If you're that sure."
"So go take care of it, my pretty little sister. This kind of thing is your specialty, after all."
My little sister.
The words grated. He did not even think of her as real family. But she had no choice but to obey. Before he was her brother, Orta was her superior.
"I've told you how many times to smoke that outside."
"Ah, sorry~"
She would not fail. The word failure did not exist in her dictionary — and it never would.