Chapter 99: Izumi Isn't Just a Guest — She's a Colleague

Had I always been this frail?

Flat on the floor, that was the only thought I could manage.

"Haa... haaah... hnn..."

I wanted to catch my breath, but my heart was slamming around like it had lost its mind and refused to leave me alone. I was tired enough to want to fall asleep right where I lay, and yet, paradoxically, the exhaustion only left my head clearer. The weather was still plenty chilly, and even so my whole body was already soaked through with sweat.

"Izumi. It's the next stage now, so you have to get up..."

Aki, for some reason, didn't look tired in the slightest. She was perfectly fine. She had to be doing a harder workout than I was, and yet aside from a faint sheen of sweat she looked exactly the same as she had before Ring Training started.

"J-just a little— just a little longer, can't I rest...?"

"But you've already rested for two whole minutes..."

Aki had no idea how a person's heart worked. Maybe she was a robot. Airheaded to a suspicious degree, and not the least bit worn out after a workout like this. This could be an AI plot to conquer humanity....

"I really— I really can't anymore..."

And so the Ring Training, which had run for a total of one hour and twenty-one minutes, ended with that surrender.

"Water. Here, Izumi."

"Th-thank you..."

I drank what Aki handed me, then quietly turned my eyes toward the chat.

Fortunately, it didn't feel like anything was about to go wrong. Which only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠made sense. All we'd done was exercise.

"Then shall we chat a little and wrap up...?"

"Y-yeah, let's..."

There was no way I could start some other game in this state. Aki would be perfectly fine, of course, but I was honestly so wiped that even small talk felt like too much. I just wanted to rest. Still, we had to close the stream out properly.

"That's not it. M-chan and Suzuha did say that really was too much, but... we met like this because Nekoto just wanted to play with Izumi. That's all."

"Mm. So Nekoto apologized properly, too."

"H-honestly, I didn't really think it was something I... n-needed an apology for..."

Well, thanks to all that I'd gotten to see Aki like this, so if it was a good thing, maybe it was a good thing. I'd worried she was a completely different type from the rest of our cohort and that I'd end up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠making the same old mistakes, but thankfully nothing of the sort happened at all.

"Eh?"

"Mm. Watching you, you really are cute."

"Th-that's not— I-I'm always the same?!"

"Denying reality isn't good, Izumi."

H-had I really been doing that? On stream, wasn't I always the ultra-outgoing life of the party, dropping casual speech on anyone without a second thought? This couldn't be. The biggest shock I'd had in ages. I'd thought all that experience meant I'd grown, and it turned out I still had a long, long way to go.

"Anyway, Izumi is cute. Personality, looks, all of it. Completely Nekoto's type."

"Fweh?"

"If this were a game, Izumi would definitely be the heroine Nekoto romanced first."

"Th-that kind of line is a little... dangerous, I think...?!"

"But I mean it."

The airheaded remark, tossed out like it was nothing, threw me into a panic—but thankfully chat caught fire in a good way.

That said, people had been calling me a Demonic Woman a lot lately, but no matter how I looked at it, wasn't that Aki and not me? What she'd just said was basically an outright come-on. And she wasn't even aware of it. If this were a manga, someone like me would just be an extra, the ordinary one who gets pulled in by a person like Aki. Of course, I had the distinction of being a gender-bent pretty girl, so that would never actually happen!

"Izumi's charm, the way Nekoto sees it? Hmm..."

Aki murmured that, then turned her gaze on me—fingers covering her mouth, eyes half-lidded and perfectly blank. It felt like she was taking me apart piece by piece. A shiver ran down my back, but running wasn't an option.

"First, your personality is cute.... You're small, but big.... And your body is soft..."

"W-w-wait a second...?!"

The praise was so blunt that I panicked and tried to stop her.

I looked at the chat and changed my mind. Thinking about it, the otaku who watched VTubers lost their minds over business yuri. Even if it wasn't sincere, they adored it just because the situation played out that way. Aki had a past life of her own, so of course she understood that better than I did. Which meant I shouldn't react too loudly here. The mood would turn strange.

"Heh, heheh..."

"Hehe.... This is a privilege you only get as a fellow Stars Flow member.... Feel free to be as jealous as you like."

"Eep!"

But actually feeling me up was a little—?!

"Then it's about time to end.... Good night, everyone. That's what this is..."

"S-see you all next time..."

I ended the stream and checked the clock on the computer. 5:40 p.m. It hadn't even been two hours, but if you measured by how tired I was, it felt like I'd streamed for nearly five. I was ready to swear I would never touch Ring Training again.

"You're heading out now, Izumi?"

"I-I should, shouldn't I..."

Even if I caught the subway right away, it would definitely be past seven by the time I got home. Mom was away on a business trip, so nobody would be there when I got back, but still—I felt like I ought to be home before night fell.

"Want to have dinner together before you go...?"

"...Huh? Ah, th-that's..."

"I'm good at cooking, so you can look forward to it."

This had already been decided as eat-and-then-leave, hadn't it?!

"If there's something Izumi wants to eat, you can say whatever you like."

"Th-that's..."

I was in the middle of being invited, entirely one-sidedly, when a voice came in.

"Sis, I'm home."

How had it come to this?

"Sis, come on! There's a guest right here!"

"Saying it that cool doesn't make being rude any less rude!"

My plan had definitely been to go straight home the moment the stream ended.

"Oh my, oh my. Izumi, was it?"

"Auh, y-yes..."

"Our Ruka.... Or would Nekoto be easier for you, Izumi?"

"I-it's f-fine, it's fine..."

Why was I still in Aki's house? Why was I about to eat dinner with Aki's family? My poor brain couldn't sort any of it out.

"Hehe.... Our Ruka is always saying how much she likes the people she debuted with at the company. I'd been wanting to meet one of them, and now that I have, I can see why!"

"I-Izumi. I'm sorry our sister always seems to be causing you trouble.... Please look after her."

"Auh, th-that's not it at all. If anything, I'm the one who's a-always causing tr-trouble..."

Maybe Aki's personality came from her mother. Aki's mother was incredibly soft-spoken and kind. Her little sister was the complete opposite, and yet they looked so alike you could almost have called them twins, which left me with a slightly strange feeling.

"Where's Dad?"

"He says he won't be able to get in until around lunch tomorrow."

Dinner's side dish was stir-fried pork and bean sprouts that Aki had made herself. She hadn't been lying when she said she could cook. It was genuinely delicious. The problem was that the situation around me had me so tense I couldn't really taste it.

"Hehe. Our Ruka's a little airheaded, isn't she, Izumi?"

"Th-that's... right...?"

"So she always thought it was only natural to be by herself, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but she says everyone at the company now is wonderful. You have no idea how happy that makes me, as her mother."

"Everyone's kind, so every day is fun. Right?"

"Auh, y-yes.... E-everyone's really n-nice..."

"She especially said it felt like she'd gotten an incredibly cute little sister in you, Izumi, and that she liked that."

"Mm. Izumi is cute."

"...Sorry for being the little sister who isn't cute!"

"Haruna... is a wonderful little sister, so I like her."

"I-is, is that how it is?"

In the end, I never managed to properly join the conversation, right up to the last moment. At my communication level, talking with a cohort member's family was still impossible. How on earth had Akabane managed to chat so naturally with Mom last time? I couldn't understand it. And as for Aki's little sister—she really was a siscon after all.

"Oh my, oh my. It's gotten quite late. Why don't you stay the night?"

"Ah, b-but I'd be a b-bother..."

"It's really all right. It's been so long since my sister brought a friend home."

And just like that, it was settled.

"...Sorry."

"I-it's okay..."

Out of nowhere, I was staying the night at Aki's house. And the place I'd be sleeping was her little sister Haruna's room. I said that was too much of an imposition no matter how you looked at it, and that I'd sleep in the living room, but Haruna insisted she could sleep with their mom for once and gave the room up. Mom was away on her business trip and wasn't home, but just in case, I texted her anyway.

...And that was how I ended up in the pajamas Aki had lent me, lying in bed beside her.

The sudden night away sent nerves rushing in. It was the hour when I'd normally be getting sleepy, when my eyes would start to close, and yet my mind was perfectly clear. Aki wasn't saying anything either. She was just staring at the ceiling.

...How had it come to this?

I was still turning that over when she quietly turned her head toward me.

"Izumi. There's something I'm curious about. Can I ask?"

"Ah, yes.... I-it's fine."

I gave a slow nod, and Aki looked at me with those expressionless eyes and said it.

"Izumi. Why did you become a VTuber?"