[Kaino Izumi 3D] Now I Can Move My Whole Body!
"All right—today, let's all have a good time...!"
The first song I chose was Dreaming of an Ordinary Day, the opening theme from Uncle. There had been talk that copyright might sink it, but fortunately we got permission. I picked it in part because I was a fan of Uncle, sure—but more than that, I simply loved the song. Read the lyrics, and it felt as if they were cheering for the person I used to be, and for the person I was now.
...The company had said it didn't suit a 3D debut broadcast. I still wanted to sing it.
Looking back on the past, I said it. This road we have walked was the wrong one.
I stretch my arms out. The choreography I had drilled so hard in dance lessons might not come to mind, but my body remembered it, so there was no way I would slip. ...No. Even if I did slip, that was fine. This stage was the start. From here, I was sure I could keep moving forward.
Looking at me, you said it. The road we walk from here will be beautiful.
Whenever I snuck a glance to the side, chat raced past, packed with cheers as if that were the most natural thing in the world. What were they thinking, looking at me? Were they cheering? Were they moved? That feeling I used to get watching Nacchan—were they feeling it too?
...Well, that was an arrogant thought, wasn't it? Still, I hoped there was at least one person like that.
I'll admit it. The coward I was. So I'll hold on—to the ordinary days I dreamed of.
Singing and dancing at the same time really was hard. My breath was starting to climb, only a little, but it was climbing. Even so, I didn't want to stop at all. I knew there were people watching me. People cheering me on.
Even if I can't see what lies ahead, I can't just keep running away.
Before I knew it the song had passed its highlight and was heading for the end. The lights that had been washing the whole stage narrowed until they singled me out, and on the screen behind me a firework effect burst into full bloom.
To meet you, I live this day over again today. Chasing the ordinary days you left behind....
And with those words I thrust my hand straight forward, and at last the song was over. Every light cut out. The stage went dark, and applause swelled in my ears.
"Haa... haa...."
I steadied my breathing little by little, holding the pose, waiting for the lights to return. I had finished the opening stage—the most important one—but that didn't mean the 3D debut broadcast itself was finished.
I was still looking at a chat window full of praise when the stage lit up again. Not the flashy lights from the song—ordinary illumination. The signal, in other words, to move into the MC segment.
"Haaah.... A-and so, everyone, Ko-Konzumi...! Y-you're all watching, right?!"
"W-well.... Th-the day has finally come. The 3D debut of Stars Flow Second Generation's M-Miss Kaino Izumi...!"
"S-so, how was it, everyone? I-it's my first time singing like this in front of other people.... I sang i-incredibly well, right?"
I had worked so hard for today. Even during Golden Week I hadn't just sat around at home—I'd gone so far as to privately beg my training teacher for extra practice. A TS pretty girl who already had the greatest voice in the world, working this hard? There was absolutely no way she could sing badly. So hurry up and praise me already! ...That was the spirit in which I'd said it.
For some reason the chat was full of nothing but praise that didn't feel like praise. Strange.... According to my plan, this was supposed to be the scene where everyone saw me sing for the first time and was moved to tears. I was supposed to hear With skill like this, why haven't you done a singing stream until now?!
There was no way I was bad at singing. I would admit that a faintly beat-deaf streak was still in there somewhere, but wasn't my voice—and my singing—charming enough to sail right over that? As expected, the Iztomo had far too many abuse-faction types. Trying to torment me even on a broadcast like this. Well, they were still the precious viewers who watched me, so I supposed I would let it go!
After the first song, and a simple little showcase of the model, the segment the company had prepared was... a blindfolded guess-the-object game. You know the one. The bit you sometimes see on TV, where celebrities cover their eyes and stick a hand into a box to guess what's inside.
Of course, the me of right now didn't need a blindfold. I was already wearing an HMD, so I couldn't see what was in the box in front of me anyway. They had even laid a pitch-black filter over the view inside the headset, so I truly couldn't see a thing. My avatar was definitely wearing a blindfold right about now.
"Heh heh...."
Scared? As if. I had watched this kind of game plenty of times, so I already knew. What they usually prepared was a pile of things that weren't anything at all. The blackout alone was what made a nothing-object feel frightening.
But who was I? A middle-aged guy with a mental age all the way up in his forties; a 198,000-subscriber, 3D-model-owning VTuber who had cleared Arcana Shooter: Purgatory and ST on attitude alone—Kaino Izumi. Something of this level could never make me afraid. It would only be some kitchen thing anyway, a ladle or a spoon. They had probably hoped, just in case, to see me trembling with nerves, but too bad for all of you! Nothing to be done about it, was there? Their opponent was me.
"O-okay, th-then shall we start...? Time limit's about a m-minute."
The moment I said it, a sound at my ear announced the start of the game.
"Hup...."
Still, just in case, I would start slow—right hand in, checking the object with my fingertips. I lowered my hand carefully, and tok, I felt myself touch something. How to put it. A slightly soft feeling. Thinking that, I brought my fingers to rest against it, slowly.
"...Huh?"
It was something warm. Slightly soft, and warm when you touched it. A hand warmer, maybe? But there was none of that crinkly feeling hand warmers have.
"Mmm. Wh-what even is this...?"
I had one minute. If I didn't get a feel for it soon I was in trouble, so I put my remaining left hand into the box as well and started feeling the thing over. Soft, warm, and the shape—how to put it. Like it split into several branches out from a center...? And there seemed to be two of them? It felt familiar, and yet I couldn't tell what it was at all. Not being able to see with both eyes was incredibly inconvenient.
Then a loud ding! rang in my ear. The signal that less than thirty seconds remained. Which meant now was truly the time to guess—and unfortunately, I had no feel for it whatsoever. There seemed to be a little split gap somewhere in the middle.... Should I try lifting it? On that thought I raised the thing just a little, and underneath it I felt something else, long and thick. No—not thick. I could wrap one hand around it easily enough.
"Hnn...? A-a wrist, maybe...?"
The instant I said it—grab!—something seized my wrist, hard.
"HYAAAAAAAH?!"
Startled, I screamed and tried to fling the thing away, but whatever had hold of my wrist was far stronger than I was, and it would not come off. It was pulling me into the box?!
"L-let go, please let go?! Eeeeeek?!"
What was this?! I tried to rip the HMD off, but both hands were caught in something, so that was impossible too.
"I-I don't want this! Hnn—?!"
And so, to the very end, I never figured out what it was.
"Waaaaaah...!"
"Aah?! I-I'm sorry!"
In the end, I went and cried—on my 3D debut broadcast, of all places. For the record, the answer was both hands of our general manager, M-chan.... They said that the moment I caught on that it was a wrist, they suddenly wanted to play a prank. So mean.