Something Feels Off About Her Not Being Able to Sing (2)

“I’m home…”

After running into Serin at the agency, having dinner with her, and finally making it back, the sky was already pitch dark. It was around eight o’clock. I’d been out almost the entire day. Tired. So tired. If this were a game, my fatigue meter would be scraping the bottom. I listlessly pushed open the front door.

Like a little puppy rushing out to greet its owner, my younger sister came pattering over and asked.

“Sis, welcome back! Where’s the ice cream?”

“Haah… here. The ice cream you wanted.”

“Hehe, thank you~”

How on earth does she eat ice cream every single day and never gain weight? I was once again reminded of the fearsome power of the sports club members as I greeted Mom and Dad, grabbed some clothes to change into, and headed to my room.

After thawing my body—which had frozen solid in the winter cold—under a stream of hot water, I slipped into a pair of pajamas that felt pleasantly soft against my sensitive skin and energetically dove straight onto the bed.

“Nothing beats being under the covers…”

These days I was doing the bare minimum of exercise in the name of healthy living, but I’m fundamentally an introvert who gets worn out just from moving around. A fluffy comforter really was the best.

Because of my body structure I couldn’t comfortably lie face-down, so I curled up like a shrimp. Having just showered, a pleasant drowsiness washed over me and my consciousness began to drift apart in tiny pieces.

Before I knew it my eyes were slowly closing, and right as I was about to sink into a deep, comfortable sleep—

a sharp “ding” notification suddenly pierced my ears.

“Huh? Hup… I almost dozed off…”

I hadn’t planned on sleeping anyway, so the lights in my room were still on. By the clock it was only nine. Too early to turn in. Whoever it was, that message had saved me.

With my head a little clearer, I retrieved the phone I’d carelessly tossed aside and checked the screen.

It was her…! Well, we had just eaten dinner together and parted ways, so asking if I got home safe wasn’t strange at all, but… she had hugged me so tightly I could feel her body heat. Just remembering it made me feel embarrassed. I’d thought about it several times on the way home, actually.

The unique softness of a girl’s body, the rich scent that nearly short-circuited my brain, and those slightly moist eyes looking down at me—every detail was still vivid.

…Wait. Could I really be as weak to skinship as Serin said?

I shook my head to chase away the heat rising in my cheeks and replied in the most normal tone I could manage.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

In the bathtub… so that kind of scene, huh? I hurriedly erased the mental image of Serin soaking in the tub. Imagining a coworker naked was definitely crossing a line! Even if she brought it up first, there were some things you just shouldn’t think about…!

While I was burying my face in my pillow, tormented by my own conscience, another “ding” arrived.

I nearly had a heart attack at her words. Even if we were both girls, sharing a bathtub was absolutely not happening. Especially not with Serin, who kept saying she wanted to fall in love with me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Who knew what she might try—something beyond the cheek kisses and hugs I’d already suffered.

It was genuinely dangerous.

Luckily the conversation moved on from the bath topic after that. After flailing around for a while I managed to calm down and reply normally again.

It didn’t seem like she had messaged me purely out of boredom. She wanted to ask if she could post the photos we took during dinner on her SNS. When I checked, they were all just pictures of the food, so I told her it was fine.

Now that I thought about it, I remembered being told that posting restaurant food could reveal your location in real time, so you should wait a while before uploading… But did people really go that far? Even if Unimori was popular…

After finishing my chat with Serin, I stared at the ceiling and muttered to myself.

This was my first time becoming a VTuber in this life, and I hadn’t really dived into communities or SNS for fun. The whole “red pill” concept was still a bit vague to me. The boss had drilled into my head that it was something I absolutely needed to know, but even though I understood it intellectually, it didn’t really hit me emotionally.

I was a little curious what kind of talk was happening in places I couldn’t see.

Of course, the boss had said if anyone got caught they’d be folded in half, so I had no intention of looking it up myself…

Still, I hoped the comments would mostly be nice. It would be sad if the comments were full of hate. Wanting everyone to love all of Unimori and not just me… was that being greedy?

“Ugh, seriously…! If anything happens, the boss or manager will tell me! Whatever, I’ll just focus on streaming!”

I stretched both arms toward the ceiling and shouted with renewed energy.

Even world-famous celebrities have antis that follow them everywhere. There was no way a small-time VTuber like me wouldn’t have any. But it was better to focus on the people who liked me. If I got depressed seeing the few hateful comments among thousands of cheers, that would be unfair to the people supporting me.

My job as a VTuber was to make people happy. So for once I wanted to be a little more professional and really set my heart on fire.

“Hm? What now…”

Right then, my phone rang again with another message. I thought it might be Serin again, but surprisingly it was someone else.

“A 3rd gen meeting?”

The sender was none other than Airi. The way she was yelling in all caps probably meant everyone was free from streams at the moment. Still, if Airi was calling, I had to go.

I crawled off the bed, entered my soundproof booth, and turned on the computer. As soon as I launched Buscode and entered the official Unimori channel, Airi—who was already in the voice room—greeted me in her usual cheerful voice.

“Yeah. I was lying in bed until just now. I saw the message and came right away.”

“Ahaha…”

If she had actually come, she probably wouldn’t have noticed me thanks to Serin. I swallowed the urge to say that and gave a safe reply instead. I didn’t mix in any self-deprecating jokes about other people’s business. That was one of the mature conversation tips I’d learned after my little sister spanked some sense into me.

While I was chatting with Airi, the other 3rd gen members trickled in one by one after seeing the message. Third to arrive was Shura, fourth was Karen, and the very last—naturally—was Priya.

She was right. Since she hadn’t given any advance notice and just told us to come immediately, we couldn’t really complain about anyone being late. Serin had probably been in the middle of her bath when she got the message too. This was the best speed possible. None of us, including me, blamed her.

Karen, who had been quiet, spoke up in her usual indifferent tone, clearly wanting to get to the point.

The conversation had completely derailed… With even Serin—who owned a cat—joining in, the original topic had flown off into the sunset. I stayed quiet, watching the chaos, and didn’t jump in. I had never owned a pet in either life, so I had nothing to contribute. I was jealous, though. I wanted a cat too.

What did catch my attention was that Karen had gone completely silent, as if she were angry. Well, she had said she needed to feed her lizard, and everyone was ignoring her to talk about something else. It made sense she’d be upset.

While I listened to their endless chatter with growing anxiety, Airi finally seemed to remember Karen’s words and hurriedly steered the topic back on track.

So she hadn’t been angry—she’d just stepped away for a moment to feed her pet. I was impressed by Karen’s extremely logical decision.

Airi seemed to decide that the small talk had gone on long enough. She gave a cute little cough and finally brought up the real reason with a serious tone.

“Oh, so that’s what this is about.”

“Mm… It is about time.”

It seemed the reason Airi had gathered us today was to organize a group collab. It was true we had never all appeared together even though more than a month had passed since debut. Her argument was reasonable.

When I thought about it, she was the only one who could take charge like this. Karen and Priya still had that awkward rift between them that hadn’t been fully mended, and neither Shura nor I had the guts to lead all five of us. So naturally, the only person who could make the suggestion was the one who got along with everyone.

I felt a new wave of respect for Airi, so I gathered my courage and added my support.

“I-I’m in favor… I think it’s right that the five of us should collab at least once…”

Shura also voiced her support for the collab. Airi must have been moved by our words, because she let out a teary-sounding cry.

“Ahaha… Okay~”

“What?! Th-that’s…”

Unlike Shura, who answered calmly, I was thrown into a panic. When she said “kisses,” the cheek kiss I received from Serin during our date immediately came to mind. That said, it wasn’t like Airi and I couldn’t share a little cheek kiss, but still. She probably wasn’t actually planning to do it. Even knowing that, it wasn’t easy to stay calm!

While I was stuttering, unable to form a proper response, Serin suddenly cut in and declared boldly, as if challenging Airi.

“What cheating?! We’re not even dating!”

It was just yuri business—a concept where we acted like we had feelings for each other. There was no reason for me to be criticized here. Besides, she shouldn’t butt in like that! People were going to misunderstand!

Maybe because she didn’t know about Serin’s declaration that she wanted to fall in love with me, Airi simply treated it as a joke and asked me with a sly laugh.

“No, I don’t hate them…”

“Why are you reacting like you’re shocked?!”

W-wait… They were coming at me all at once and my head was spinning… I clutched my forehead in front of the computer and collapsed onto the desk. Even though this was just voice chat, it felt like I was losing energy as if I were actually streaming.

Karen, who clearly didn’t want to get involved in this kind of talk, took a step back and asked Airi in a calm voice.

The meeting finally returned to its original purpose: deciding what content to do for the collab. Five people playing a game. Just like Airi said, the odd number felt a bit awkward. Most popular party games were for four players, and splitting five people would make it two and three. Maybe we should invite the boss and make it a three-on-three… The thought actually crossed my mind.

While everyone was tossing out ideas, Serin, who had been quietly thinking, cautiously spoke up. What she said was so shocking that every single person in the meeting jumped.

“Wait…”

“Eh?”

Sing. The voice channel, which had been nonstop chatter until now, fell into an awkward silence in an instant. Everyone had been deliberately avoiding the topic, yet the person at the center of it had brought it up herself. The shock was so great that even Karen—who had been pressing Serin at the agency earlier—let out a flustered voice.

Wait, is she okay? Can she sing again now?

She used to sing so well. If she could sing again, there was nothing more wonderful, but… What if she had forced herself to suggest this because we had cornered her earlier? It might turn out worse than if she simply didn’t sing at all.

She had seemed fine when we parted ways at the agency, right? No, I don’t know! She’s really good at hiding her true feelings! Has she really recovered? Serin, can I trust you on this?!

While I was anxiously watching the situation unfold, Airi seemed to regain her composure and continued, trying to hide her bewilderment.

And just like that, we decided on our first 3rd gen group collab for Friday, four days later. The content would be a five-person karaoke stream… So that was what she meant by “mustering courage.”

I genuinely had no idea what was going on anymore.

Still, the only thing I could do right now was believe in Serin. I quietly prayed that nothing would go wrong during the broadcast.