4

The following Saturday was my day off, so I lay around the house watching VTuber videos.

Emily Saionji, one of my favorite VTubers—who I’d recently learned was voiced by Elena, a girl from my school—had uploaded a new video, so I quickly went to her YouTube page to check it out.

Emily’s channel was still growing in popularity, but lately I’d noticed a change in the kind of videos she’d been uploading. Just recently, there had been fewer videos where she talked about her personal interests or played her favorite games, and a lot more where she tried out the latest trendy FPS or collaborated with other VTubers.

I was pretty sure that this was some kind of management decision aimed at earning her more subscribers. Personally, however, I thought her old videos were way better. I wanted to see Emily—or rather, Elena—talking about all the things she loved.

Her latest video’s thumbnail took me by surprise. It showed Emily next to a real person: an attractive man in his early 20s. Confused, I clicked on the video, which turned out to be a collaboration between Emily and a “real” YouTuber—some dude called Takaya.

The two of them were just chatting with each other, but, for an Emily Saionji fan, it was painful to watch.

I didn’t know much about the guy, not even whether he was supposed to be popular or not, but even I could tell that he was dumb, unlikeable, and without a shred of delicacy. He was making fun of the way she talked, asking her sensitive questions like, “Do you really like girls? I mean, real girls?” and making distasteful remarks about how her skirt was too short to properly hide her panties.

As a fan, I was furious, and I obviously wasn’t the only one feeling that way. The video had more than two thousand dislikes, compared to the less-than-fifty on any of her usual videos.

One of the most liked comments was this:

Out of all YouTubers, did you really need to collab with Takaya? The guy’s famous for being rude and knows nothing about VTubers! Emily’s producers obviously only care about raking in the views, not about her or her fans’ feelings!!!

I could definitely see why that guy was well-known for his rudeness. A single video was enough to tell. But I could also see what they meant about the producers: this video did have a lot of views, around twice as many as Emily’s other videos. There was also a substantial number of comments, including (many) negative ones that insulted Takaya and criticized Emily’s management.

This looked like a small-scale scandal. As a major Emily Saionji fan myself, I was also mad at Takaya and her producers. But, even more so, I was worried about Emily... and Elena.

I hope this isn’t getting to her too much...

I wanted to know how she was coping with the situation, but, despite having exchanged LINE contacts that day at school, we’d never actually messaged each other. There’s no way I could just message her out of the blue asking about something so delicate.

Unable to think of anything I could do to help, I felt completely powerless. I hoped that I’d be able to find the chance to talk to her at school, but it was a long shot. Students from different school years didn’t really run into each other that often.

“Are you in there?” I heard Kokoro call as she knocked on the door to my room.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come in?” she asked, not waiting for my reply before she opened the door.

Sheesh! What if I was naked in here or something?!

“Wh-What happened?” I asked her.

“Hehe. This one’s going to surprise you. I bought an adult game!”

“Oh—Wait, what?!” I screeched.

You enter a guy’s room all excited to tell him that?! What’s wrong with you?!

“I downloaded it from Amazon with the credit card my dad gave me! It’ll just say ‘Amazon’ on the bill, so he’ll never find out!” she said. Her dad had given her a credit card with a low monthly spending limit to use for herself. She told me that, by buying this game, she had maxed the card out for the whole month. I didn’t know what was more appalling: the money she’d spent, what she was saying, or the fact that she was saying it with such a proud grin on her face.

“A-An adult game, as in a BL game?” I asked.

“No, a normal one! I finally asked Kusumi what his favorite games are! Adult games, that is. Then, I even told him about the fact that I’m a fujoshi, and he was super cool about it! So, since I want to get to know him better, I thought I’d play one of them myself!”

“O-Okay...” I replied, amazed as always by how much effort she was ready to put into things.

“So,” she said, “can you, like, keep me company while I play?!”

“Huh?! Why in the world would I have to do that?!”

“I read your adult doujinshi and stuff, but it’s my first time playing a game like this... It takes some courage, you know? And if there’s something I don’t get, you can explain it to me.”

“Am I the porn professor or something?!”

Why is a high school girl buying adult games in the first place?!

“So... you won’t? But I’ve helped you out with all kinds of stuff...”

“O-Okay then. Fine, I’ll do it,” I replied.

It was true that she always helped me out, and anyway, I just needed to sit next to her while she played a game. It was probably going to be awkward, but that was about it.

“Okay! Come to my room then! I’m going to install it!” she said.

Despite living together, it had been a while since I last saw the inside of Kokoro’s room. And now that I did, it was to play something so lewd...

“Okay! Setup complete! By the way, do you know this game?” she asked.

“Let’s see...”

I looked at the screen, doing my best to stay calm.

The Secret of Gyaru Model Rina Sakurazaka.

I’d never heard of it. I thought the heroine on the screen kind of looked like Kokoro, but I figured that a thought like that would best be kept to myself. Speaking from experience, the title made it sound like this was a niche, extreme kind of game. I prayed that it didn’t involve any weird fetishes, since this was embarrassing enough as it was.

“Kusumi said that this game changed his life! So let’s start!” Kokoro said excitedly.

She was also excited about reading my doujinshi... Could it be that she isn’t just into BL, but erotic stuff as a whole? Not like I’m going to ask her something like that... I don’t want to die quite yet.

We watched the opening, and then the story began. The protagonist, a university student, was riding a train, on the way to attend a lecture.

That girl over there is so beautiful...

He stared across the carriage at a woman wearing a suit.

The harsh lines of her face, the heavy makeup, the pin heels... I can tell. This one’s a sadist. And I love that. Just thinking about being stepped on by those heels while she insults me is such a turn on...

The game has just started! What’s this guy’s problem?!

I’ve never told anybody, but I’m a masochist. Whenever I see a tough-looking woman like that, my imagination starts running wild.

He sure doesn’t beat around the bush... This is a game for hardcore masochists, isn’t it? How did this change Kusumi’s life?! Oh, wait, Kusumi... I thought, as I glanced nervously at Kokoro.

“This protagonist is into some weird stuff, huh?” I commented.

“H-Haha... Yeah...” she said, clicking to read the next line. It was a pretty worrying subject, but I kept on reading in silence.

I’m too scared to turn these thoughts into action. The best I can do is indulge in adult material that caters to my fetish.

The image on the screen changed to show the protagonist on his phone, reading a masochistic eromanga during a lecture.

This guy is dodgy, even by my standards. Why is he reading porn during a lecture?!

Will I ever be able to live my dreams?

After his weird monologue, the next scene began. The protagonist was now walking back to the station.

Me: ‘Huh?! Where is my phone?! I must have forgotten it in the cafeteria!’

He walked to a phone booth and dialed his own number. A fellow student, a girl, picked up and told him that she’d found his phone. The protagonist headed back to the university, to one of the lecture halls, where she was waiting for him by herself.

I’ve seen this girl before. She’s a model, right? That’s why she’s so popular here. Her name was... Rina Sakurazaka. That’s right.

This girl must have been the heroine. Just as the title implied, she wore flashy gyaru clothes, but her character design was of the sweet, cute kind.

As soon as I saw her, my heart skipped a beat. Her makeup was colorful, but her expression was tough. I could feel her eyes piercing right through me. At that moment, I was sure that being humiliated and beaten up by this girl would be the best thing in the world.

This protagonist obviously wasn’t looking for cuteness. He probably only cared about how much girls could hurt him.

“What is this?! This protagonist is a total nutjob!” Kokoro cried.

Hey, you were the one who wanted to play this thing! Isn’t it a bit early to sound so disgusted?

I couldn’t really disagree with her, so I kept my mouth shut. Kokoro, however, continued to complain.

Rina: ‘So... are you a masochist?’

Me: ‘Where’d a question like that come from?!’

Rina: ‘I saw the screen on your phone; you hadn’t locked it or anything. You were reading a manga with a woman punishing a man who was totally into it, weren’t you?’

Rina pulled out the protagonist’s phone, showing him the manga that he’d been reading.

Rina: ‘Do you like this kind of stuff?’

Me: ‘Ugh... Kill me!’

I was so embarrassed that I wanted to die. It was the first time that anyone had found out about my secret.

Wait, so, he’s a masochist and likes being insulted, but now he’s just... embarrassed? Okay?

Rina: ‘You know... I’ve always wanted to know how it feels to bully and dominate a man. I think we can come up with a mutually beneficial solution here.’

Rina, out of the blue, admitted to being a sadist.

Oh, so it’s that kind of game. Both the protagonist and the heroine are huge perverts.

Me: ‘D-Do you mean...?!’

Rina: ‘How many times do I have to tell you? I’ll bully you like the girl in your manga. I’m a famous model, you know? You should be grateful!’

Me: ‘Really?! Would you really do that for me?!’

It’s only been like ten minutes and we’re already at this point?! I can barely keep up with this game!

Kokoro, now totally silent, clicked through line after line.

“A-Are you going to read all of this?” I asked, knowing very well what kind of scene would follow.

“I-I mean, it’s only just started. I can’t really stop right at the beginning, can I? I don’t get it yet...” she said, her shaky voice hinting that she did, in fact, get it.

She probably didn’t want to believe it until she’d seen the truth with her own two eyes. After all, understanding the fetishes in this game would likely mean understanding Kusumi’s fetishes...

As I expected, a sex scene began just seconds later. Since the protagonist and the heroine complemented each other so well, it was hardly surprising. The couple undressed, then Rina took out some rope—where did she get that?—to tie up the protagonist with.

Kokoro, although blushing, was still staring at the screen.

Is she that interested in seeing the naked guy?

Rina: ‘Are you embarrassed? You’re completely naked! Oh, I know! I’ll take a picture!’

Me: ‘Ugh...’

A girl I’ve only just met has made me undress and tied me up like this... Who knows who’ll walk inside the lecture hall?! And she even took pictures! I’ve dreamed about something like this for so long... I’m in heaven...

I’ve never agreed less with anyone in my life.

“I-Ichigaya...” Kokoro, with her face bright red, said, “I think I’ve played enough to tell... This is a game for masochists, isn’t it?”

“Mm-hm.”

If anything, I’m surprised it took you that long to figure it out.

“S-So... d-does that mean that Kusumi is a... you know...?” she asked.

“He’s probably a masochist, yeah.”

“But maybe he likes a lot of different adult games and this just happens to be one about S&M?”

“That’d just mean that he has a whole collection of weird fetishes, including being a hardcore masochist,” I replied.

Kokoro’s red face turned white as she stumbled for words.

“I-I don’t want to believe it! I don’t want Kusumi to be a masochist!”

“Is it that big of an issue? First of all, it was you who asked him to tell you what games he liked, so I think it’s pretty rude to react like this. And if he’s okay with you being a fujoshi, maybe you should let the masochism thing slide.”

I agreed that it was a bit unsettling, and maybe hard to accept, but in the grand scheme of things his fetish was a relatively tame one.

“I can’t!” she immediately replied. “It’s not that I think masochists are disgusting or anything, but if I’m being honest, I like more... aggressive guys, you know? I can’t imagine dating a boy who likes to be dominated...”

Oh, that’s what she meant.

If the problem was that their personalities didn’t match, then there’s not much that could be done about it. Now that I actually thought about it, most of the characters popular with girls were closer to being sadistic than masochistic. Maybe that was a thing.

“I have no choice! I have to ask him directly! Like, ‘Why did you enjoy this game so much?’”

“And what are you going to do if it turns out that he’s simply a masochist?”

“Well then... Even if he’s handsome and kind, I don’t think we’d be compatible. And that would also mean that he wants me to do things like that to him, right? I don’t want to get paranoid or anything, but doesn’t this Rina girl kind of look like me a little bit?” she said, blushing again.

So she noticed...

If I had to be honest, I personally thought that a masochistic virgin was better than a womanizer.

Kokoro messaged Kusumi, who responded after a couple of minutes.

She looked intently at the screen.

“So?” I asked. “What did he say?”

“The message that I sent to him said, ‘I was curious about that game you were talking about and tried looking it up. It looks very unique. I was wondering what you like so much about it.’”

“Okay...”

“And then he replied with, ‘That game is like all my dreams come true in one place!’”

“I-I see...”

He spelled it right out for her...

“Ugh. So I got my hopes up for nothing... again,” she mumbled to herself, with no light left in her eyes.

“Does that mean you’re going to call it quits with the guy?!”

“I’m going to keep talking with him normally as a colleague, but... If he messages me on LINE again I’ll just try to end the conversation as quickly as possible.”

R.I.P. Kusumi.

I felt for him, but he deserved it. It was way too early to disclose his weird fetishes...

＊　＊　＊

Unfortunately, come Sunday, I was on the same shift as a certain masochist.

It was pretty obvious while we were working that Kusumi was under the weather, and I even heard him sigh a couple of times. It was probably because Kokoro’s messages had become so cold, but I felt too guilty seeing him like that to not do something about it.

“Y-You look pretty beat up, Kusumi. Anything troubling you?” I asked him

“Haha, it’s nothing really... Heart-chan has just stopped replying to my messages...”

“Oh... Is that so?” I replied. I obviously couldn’t tell him that I already knew about this from “Heart-chan” herself.

“She asked me what my favorite adult game was, you see? And I honestly replied with the name of a hardcore maso one. I wonder if I shouldn’t have...”

“Of course not!”

He may look handsome, but on the inside he’s just a virgin loser. Why am I feeling a bond with him?

“You can’t just tell a girl that you’re super masochistic. Unless you already know her well or she’s a huge sadist to begin with, that’ll just creep her out,” I told him.

“I guess you’re right... but I thought she was a sadist...”

“H-Huh?”

“I hadn’t spoken much with her yet, but she looked like the tough, aggressive gyaru type. Just my type! Can’t you imagine her insulting men and bossing them around?”

I... can. Let’s say that your prediction wasn’t totally wrong.

More than anything, I was impressed by how he’d managed to find that out about her despite the agreeable, soft-spoken way in which she presented herself at the café. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t exactly a sadist.

“From the second I laid eyes on her, I thought that maybe she would be the one to give me some of that sweet pain!”

“B-But why Heart-chan? Couldn’t you go for another tough-looking girl? Like Iroha. She’s definitely a sadist,” I said.

“Could be, yeah. But I have a younger sister, so I’m not really into younger girls. And I like gyaru...”

“I see.”

In short, Kokoro looked like the perfect fit for him.

“In any case, you should probably keep that kind of fetish to yourself, at least until you’re dating,” I told him.

“I wish I’d known that earlier. From now on, I’ll wait to tell girls until I’m one hundred percent sure that they’re into sadism.”

“Th-That could be a good idea...”

You’re going to tell them either way, huh...?

“Thanks for the advice,” he said. “You’re a cool guy. Hey, wanna add each other on LINE?”

“Oh, sure,” I replied.

For some reason, Kusumi was warming up to me.

After our conversation ended, I noticed Mashiro’s heavenly singing voice echoing through the café. Once again, the customers had been showering her with stage requests, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect than the voice of an angel in my ear as I worked.

“That was ‘Lemon,’ for Mr. Hiramoto! Thank you for the request, master! Next up is one of our new maids, the cuter than cute Heart-chan!” I heard Mashiro announce. Surprised, I turned my head toward the stage.

“I-I’m Heart-chan, and th-this is ‘Hitorigoto.’ Thank you to Mr. Takeda for requesting it. This is my first time doing a stage request...”

Kokoro, visibly shaky, stood on the stage and started singing the opening to a popular anime. Someone had paid to listen to her sing, so I was happy for her.

Despite the nerves, she was actually a good performer and had a surprisingly cute singing voice. She was almost as good as Mashiro, but with an important difference: she stood almost completely frozen to the spot for the entire song, without even a hint of dancing. Not a wiggle. Not a wave.

“She’s so cute...” Kusumi said, entranced by Kokoro’s performance.

“I’m happy you’re getting some eye candy while you work, but am I going to get my order by the end of the day?” Sasaki, the dude who always sat at the counter, commented sarcastically. Kusumi hurriedly went back to cooking.

“Th-Thank you very much,” Kokoro said as she left the stage, and it was then that something caught my eye. A customer, probably the man who had requested the song, had walked up to her, putting a hand on her back.

“You did great!” he said.

In any other setting, this could easily have been taken as a friendly gesture. However, in our café, touching the maids was prohibited.

I looked around, but none of the full-time employees were present, including the manager. As they had to care for more than one café, it was a relatively frequent occurrence. The only other male staff member at the café, besides myself, was Kusumi, and he was too busy cooking to notice. I had to do something.

Unsure whether I was even allowed to speak up about this sort of thing, I left the kitchen and walked toward Kokoro.

“E-Excuse me, sir,” I said, addressing the customer, “it’s against the café’s rules to touch the maids...”

“I-Ichigaya...?!” Kokoro looked at me, shocked. Mashiro was also looking at me, equally surprised.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry,” the customer said, rolling his eyes. As unpleasant as he sounded, at least he didn’t get mad at me and actually took his hand away from Kokoro.

I thanked him and hurried back into the kitchen.

After work, I left the café and walked to Akihabara station, ready to ride home with Kokoro as always.

“Oh, there you are,” she said when she saw me. “Don’t you get thirsty after work? It’s super hot in that kitchen. Here, have this.”

She handed me a bottle of iced tea that she had probably bought from a vending machine.

“I... Thank you?” I said, taking it.

“Hey, erm... thanks for today,” she said as we walked toward the platform.

Wait, did she buy me this to thank me for speaking up to that customer?

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s just, you know, since the manager wasn’t there...” I said, slightly embarrassed.

I glanced at her, and noticed that she was blushing.

“I almost couldn’t believe it. I would never have expected you to do something like that,” she said.

“Huh? Well, I guess so.”

“But I’m really, totally grateful,” she said.

Seeing her thank me like that, with such a shy look on her face, was making me blush too.

“Oh, by the way... I talked with Kusumi today,” I said. “He looked beat down, but he’ll probably be fine.”

“R-Really?! I mean, I think he’s a nice guy, so I hope that one day he finds a good... well, a bad girl to make him happy,” she said.

While I agreed with her, I also knew that it wasn’t exactly common to find a girl “bad” enough to meet Kusumi’s very particular standards...

＊　＊　＊

The following weekend, I was on the shift starting from 2 p.m. Being a Saturday, there were lots of customers even though it was still early in the day.

Kusumi was working with me until three, which made things much easier, but when his shift ended, I would be running that busy kitchen all by myself.

Despite being new and still relatively unknown, the café seemed to have no lack of customers. I guessed that must be a good thing though, at least in terms of business.

“Welcome back, meowster!”

Another group of customers walked through the door, greeted by one of the maids. I casually looked over and... my jaw dropped to the floor.

One of them, who at first glance looked like a girl, was actually a cute boy. One that I knew very well, in fact: Takeshi Aisaki.

I never told him where I work! How did he find out?! And he couldn’t choose a worse time! Nishina’s on shift too! He’s going to find out that she’s an otaku!

“Would you like to be seated at a table or by the counter?”

“Hm... I think we’ll get a tab—” the man who was with Ai was in the middle of his reply when I rushed to interrupt him, under the guise of saying hello to my friend.

“Ai!”

“Huh?! Kagetora?!”

If he’s so surprised, surely that means he just came here by coincidence? Well, he does come to Akihabara a lot, so it’s not that much of a stretch...

“So this is the maid café you work at? What a coincidence! And whoa, someone actually hired you! How unbelievable!”

“That’s kinda rude... A-Anyway, Ai, why don’t you sit at the counter? It’s empty, so you can chat with me as much as you want,” I said.

“What? Why would I want to see your mug after coming here to chat with maids? And as a paying customer, no less! That’s the worst offer I’ve ever heard!”

“You—” I started rebutting him, offended.

“But, oh well, I guess you’re going to be lonely over there all by yourself, without me to keep you company. Might as well sit by the counter. Do you mind, Honda?” Ai asked.

“No, doesn’t really matter to me,” his friend replied. I took a good look at this Honda, an overweight man probably somewhere around his late thirties.

Why is Ai coming to a maid café with this guy? H-He’s not getting paid to go on dates with that man... is he? No, no. That can’t be. He may be cute, but he’s still a boy. No man would pay to go on a date with a boy. I need to think straight...

“By the way, Ai, I’ve never met your friend...”

“Oh, this is Honda. He’s a cameraman. We met at a cosplay event today, and we decided to check out the new café.”

“Oh, I see. Please follow me,” I said, leading the two to the counter and giving them coasters and menus.

“Ai’s Rina Kagura cosplay today was stunningly cute! Wanna see?” the man said, excitedly taking out his camera.

Cute?! Th-This man is totally going after Ai, isn’t he?!

He turned on the camera’s display and showed me a picture of Ai cosplaying as the VTuber.

“You should have seen all the people surrounding him! He was one of the most popular cosplayers at the event!”

“That’s a lot of skin he’s showing...” I said.

“I know, I know. He’s so sexy you wouldn’t believe he’s a boy, right? I’m sure all the other cameramen still think he’s a girl!”

Did this old pervert just call Ai sexy?! Is he trying to get in bed with him or something?!

“What’s the matter, Kagetora? You look pale,” Ai remarked.

“Oh, nothing...”

As disgusted as I was by the man, right now he was a customer. I had to be polite.

Why am I even mad, like this is some sort of love triangle? We’re just three ordinary men! A triangle of men! No love involved—at least not on my end! Calm down, Kagetora!

One of the maids approached the counter.

“Sorry for the wait. May I take your orders?” she asked them.

Oh no! I despaired. It was Kokoro. My effort to have Ai sit at the counter was in vain...

“Oh? Have we met before?” Ai asked, scanning Kokoro’s face with interest.

“Hm? You do seem familiar...” Kokoro replied, frowning back at him.

“Ah! I know!” Ai exclaimed, finally realizing who she was. “You’re Nishina, from school! But... why do you work at a maid café?!”

Even though she wasn’t in the same class as us, Nishina was popular enough for anyone at our school, including Ai, to recognize her face.

“F-From school?!” she parroted, spinning around to look at me.

“Yeah...” I said, since it was too late to lie about it. “He’s a friend of mine, Takeshi Aisaki. He’s that crossplayer I talked to you about.”

“The one from that selfie you showed me? Oh my God, he’s even cuter in person!”

“Aren’t you just the tiniest bit worried that someone from school knows you work here?” I asked her with a forced smile, appalled by the lack of nervousness she was showing.

“Well, he’s your friend, right?” she asked rhetorically before turning back to Ai. “Aisaki, was it? Could you keep the fact that I work here a secret? I wouldn’t want other people at school to find out, if you get me?”

“Oh, sure. No problemo. I really wouldn’t have expected you to work at a maid café though!” Ai replied, crossing his legs and leaning against the counter.

“What...? Huh...?” I muttered, confused by how casual the two of them were about the whole affair.

That’s it?! That’s her reaction! Now I feel like an idiot for trying to keep her secret!

Kokoro took their orders, and, after I’d regained my composure, I got started on their drinks.

“What brings you to Akihabara today?” she asked them—a pretty standard line for a maid to use to start up a conversation with customers. I was impressed at how much more natural her small talk sounded compared to when she’d started.

“We were attending a cosplay event in Odaiba, and thought we’d stop by here on our way back,” the middle-aged pervert replied.

“Oh, a cosplay event?!” she asked, genuinely interested.

“Yeah, take a look here—I took some sweet pictures,” the overweight creep said, showing her some shots from his camera.

“Wow, your Rina Kagura cosplay is sooo cute!” she squealed to Ai. “Actually, one of the cosplays I like doing is a VTuber too! You know, Yumeno☆Saki!”

“You cosplay?! Wait, you’re an otaku?!” he asked her.

“Yeah, of course! Why would I work in a maid café otherwise?” she said, being surprisingly honest with Ai despite having met him for the first time literally minutes ago.

“Huh, I think you’d look great doing more grown-up characters too. More beautiful and less cutesy, if you know what I mean,” Ai said.

“Oh, I wouldn’t fit that kind of stuff. And look at you! You’re more beautiful than most girls I know! What other characters do you cosplay?”

These two are really chatting about cosplay. Life sure is unpredictable...

When the cameraman left his seat to use the restroom, Ai addressed both me and Kokoro at the same time.

“It’s not a coincidence that you two both work here, is it?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“Well... I’ve been keeping it a secret, but...” I said, finally telling him about how the two of us had met at that otaku matchmaking party and had decided to help each other find dates. Of course, I didn’t mention the fact that she lived in my house. That was a little too much information, even for Ai.

“I’m sorry I never told you... but she told me not to tell anyone she was an otaku, you know,” I apologized to Ai.

“Whoa, that sounds like the plot to some anime! Amazing!” he replied.

“Ah! That guy is coming back! We can’t let customers know about this, get it?” I asked him nervously.

Ai, understandably, still looked like he needed to process everything he’d just learned.

We continued chatting casually as I worked and they finished their meals.

“See you two at school then!”

“Y-Yes... See ya...”

“Please come back soon, meowster!”

Finally satisfied, Ai and his “friend” left the café.

I met Kokoro at the station, like always.

“Your friend is so cute! He really looks like a girl! And he’s super approachable too!” Kokoro told me excitedly.

Wait... Does she... like him? I haven’t heard her talking about a guy like this in a while now...

“But didn’t you say that you don’t like cute-looking boys?” I asked her.

“Huh? Yeah, no duh, I don’t like them as boys, but I think we’d be great cosplaying friends! He’s so cute that talking to him doesn’t feel like talking to a boy, you know? So I don’t get nervous at all.”

Someway, somehow, she had a point.

“I wonder if he knows any handsome cosplayers...” she said.

“Are you really trying to use a friend of mine just to get a boyfriend? Anyway, as far as I know, he only knows cameramen like the one at the café today, and girl cosplayers,” I explained, forming my opinions based on what I knew from following Ai on Twitter.

“Too bad... You know, you’re lucky you found Mashiro. You don’t have to constantly look around to find dates, like I do...”

So she’s really decided not to give Kusumi any more chances. And since he’s the only young, attractive guy at the café, I guess she doesn’t have all that many options left...

The next day, I crashed onto my desk to get some sleep before first period.

Between school, my job at the café, what little housework I did, and my late-night gacha gaming, I’d been completely exhausted. I was sleeping at school way more than usual.

“Kagetora!” Ai woke me up.

“Hm?” I thought he was going to call me out about our meeting yesterday, but that wasn’t it.

“Nishina is asking for you.”

“Huh? Okay...” I said, still groggy and slightly confused.

I looked at the door at the back of the classroom and saw Kokoro standing out in the hallway. Many of the boys in my class were stealing glances at her. It was the first time she’d come to talk to me with so many people around, so I wondered what had happened.

“She said she wants you to bring your bag,” Ai parroted.

Weird as it was, I did as I was told. I grabbed my school bag and I walked out into the hallway, where I met Kokoro. I could definitely feel people staring at me. Seeing me of all people speaking with the Kokoro Nishina would definitely raise some eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Come with me!”

“What? Where to? Homeroom is going to start soon...”

“It doesn’t matter as long as there’s nobody around! Like, the toilet!”

“What?! You want me to go into the girls’ toilet?!” I asked, astonished.

“Yeeeah, I guess that won’t work... Let’s go this way then,” she said, pointing toward the stairs at the end of the hallway. I followed her as she ran up them to the stairs’ landing, where we were safe from prying eyes.

What’s wrong? Why are we doing this?

“You got them mixed up!” she said, taking a lunch box out of her bag and shoving it in front of my face.

That morning, Kokoro had prepared both of our lunches with the leftovers from the previous day’s dinner. Since the two boxes looked identical, I’d just taken one off the table without thinking too much about it.

“But they have the same stuff inside, don’t they?” I asked.

“They’re totally different! Mine has less rice in it!”

Way to make a huge deal out of nothing...

“Sure, sure... Here ya go, have the one with less rice,” I said, taking the lunch box out of my bag.

“Quickly! I don’t want to be seen with you!” she urged me.

That was when we heard the voices of two girls coming toward us.

“Jeez, girl. That guy’s like, totally the creeps, you get me? Figure I should block him?”

“The dude from the party? But you said he was a catch!”

“I know, buuut I went on a date with him, right? And he was like, ugh. So annoying. Like yeah, you’re handsome, I get it, but maybe chill out a little?”

“Oh no!” Kokoro jolted with fear. She exchanged the lunch boxes in our hands faster than any magician could have.

Noticing her, one of the girls called out, “Kokoro? That you, honey?”

The two girls were probably Kokoro’s friends. One of them had dyed brown hair and a ton of makeup on her face; the other had black hair and a more reasonable amount of makeup. They both looked like stereotypical popular girls—a population I had very little contact with.

Since they both still had their school bags on their shoulders, they’d probably only just gotten here. Between how little they worried about being late and the conversation I’d just overheard, I could work out that they weren’t exactly model students.

“Morning. Whatcha doing here?” the one with the brown hair asked Kokoro, looking me up and down curiously. As our eyes met, my nerves took over my body. I wasn’t used to interacting with people like these.

“I, uh, er...” Kokoro was lost for words.

“And who’s that?” the girl asked casually, continuing to stare right at me.

“Haha! Kokoro, with this loser? Better call the weird-police!” the one with the black hair added, staring at me.

Kokoro, meanwhile, was glancing over at me, sweating bullets.

“This is, w-well—” she began.

“Your boyfriend? Yeah, as if!” one of the girls said.

“Not in a million years, right?” the other one followed.

They’re basically saying that I’m too unattractive to be her boyfriend?

Kokoro had taught me a lot about clothing and styling my hair, but I only put her advice into practice when going on dates and such. At school I just wore my uniform, and my hair looked exactly like it did when I got out of bed. All in all, I couldn’t really disagree with the girls’ opinion, but being told that so casually made me both angry and mortified.

“No way!” Kokoro said, sounding almost disgusted at the idea.

Thanks, yeah. Not like I have feelings or anything...

“What’s with those lunch boxes then?” the brown-haired girl asked.

If she realizes that we’re living together, that’s going to be a huge problem!

“Did you, like, make matching bento and bring him one?” she then said.

“Huh?” Kokoro replied, caught off guard by how absurd her friend’s guess was.

I guess you wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that we’re living together just because we have the same lunch boxes...

“Whaaat? That’s not very Kokoro. You like that guy or something?” the one with the black hair asked.

“No! Not at all! This is just a coincide—” Kokoro started to explain again, but she was interrupted by the bell.

“Let’s go!” Kokoro told her friends, and they hurried toward their classroom. After watching them leave, I walked silently back to my own.

I was relieved that those slutty-looking girls hadn’t figured out that Kokoro was living in my house, but I was still offended by what they’d said about me.

If there was any chance of gaining the respect of that kind of girl, a guy would have to take care of how he looked even when going to school and make way more friends than I had... but the former sounded like too much work and the latter sounded impossible.

Anyway, I don’t care about what people think of me at school. I’ll find my cute otaku girlfriend somewhere else and be completely happy, I thought to console myself.

Later that day, during lunch break, Ai and I were chatting in the cafeteria.

“You know, I still can’t believe what I saw yesterday. You working with Nishina in a maid café?! Now that’s a laugh!” he said.

“Shhh! Don’t talk about that here! She doesn’t want people to find out that she’s an otaku, or even worse, that she works as a maid!” I whispered urgently.

“Oh, that’s right. Still, who knew you’d be able to become friends with a girl like that? She’s way more popular than you could ever be.”

“We aren’t really friends or anything... Anyway, do you always go to cosplay events with cameramen like that dude from yesterday?” I asked him.

“Why? Is that weird?”

“I think he likes you... a bit too much.”

“Oh, that? I don’t mind. He can be creepy at times, but he’s a good guy and a great photographer. There are people a hundred times worse than him at that kind of event,” he replied.

Cosplay events are scarier than I thought...

“Oh, damn!” Ai said, looking at the time on his phone. “I have a student council meeting soon! I gotta go, see ya Kagetora!”

He ran out of the cafeteria and I was left all by my lonely self eating yesterday’s leftovers.

A few tables away from where I was sitting, I noticed a familiar face. It was Elena, eating with her friends. As I looked over at her, our eyes met. She’d probably already noticed that I was here.

I really wanted to ask her about that Emily Saionji video and how she was dealing with the backlash after she collaborated with that jerk of a YouTuber. I was worried that the fans’ reactions might have hit her too hard. However, of course I couldn’t just up and make my way into a hoard of pretty girls.

Just as I was busy wallowing in my own powerlessness, I saw the girls from Elena’s table getting ready to leave.

If she leaves the cafeteria, I’ll really have no chance to ask her... I thought, but then I heard her address her friends.

“I want to pick up some snacks first. I’ll catch up to you later, okay?” she said.

If she stayed behind by herself, this would be the perfect chance to talk to her. Our eyes met again, and she began walking toward my table.

“Hello, Ichigaya,” she greeted me with a smile.

“M-Minami!” I said, surprised but happy that she would actually come and talk to me. “It’s been a while! I-I’m still watching all the newest... you know what!”

I knew that Elena’s VTuber identity was a secret to be protected at all costs, so I tried not to mention her videos in a way that anybody else could understand.

Now that I think about it, there’s no way I can ask her about her last video here at school, can I?

“Th-Thank you...” she said.

“Actually, there’s something that I wanted to ask you... but maybe this isn’t the right place, is it?” I asked.

She looked around, seeing that there were still quite a few people hanging around in the cafeteria.

“Say... are you busy today after school?” she asked.

“Huh?! N-No, I’m free!” I replied, bewildered by what I assumed that question meant.

“A-Actually,” she said, “I wanted to ask you about something too... Something that has to do with that. Could you spare some time for me then, if that’s all right?”

“O-Of course! I don’t know if I can be of any help, but I’d love to!” I replied immediately.

She wants to ask me something about her videos? She considers me a reliable person that she can ask?! Yeah! Awesome! I’m so glad I’m not on shift today!

“Thank you so much! And as for the place... I think it would be better to use the room where we talked last time. If we lock the door and keep our voices down, nobody will hear us,” she suggested.

“Sure! That sounds good.”

I knew that she was taking these precautions because she needed to keep the VTubing a secret, but the idea of being locked up inside a small room with her still freaked me out.

“So, four o’clock, same room as last time. Okay?” she asked.

“Okay!”

“Thanks again!” she smiled brightly, before we both returned to our classrooms.

Minami wants to ask me about her videos... That’s unexpected. It must have something to do with that latest tragedy of a video, no doubt. That’ll be perfect, since I wanted to ask her about it too. Hmm, but maybe I do have an idea why she’s relying on me... I’m probably the only one at school who knows about her secret.

That day, after class, I told Ai that I couldn’t stay and chat with him as I usually did. I reached the science lab’s storage room, the place where Elena and I were to meet, just before four.

“Ichigaya...?” I heard a voice whisper from inside the storage room. I opened the door and saw Elena, already waiting there.

“Please come in,” she said.

After I was safely inside, she stuck her head out into the hallway, checked that nobody was there, and then locked the door with the two of us inside. I could only imagine how weird it would seem if somebody saw the two of us going inside a tiny room together. Elena was also well-known at school for her mixed heritage and nondescript entertainment job, which made it even worse.

Keeping my cool in this situation wasn’t easy.

Elena took out her phone and chose some music. “If I put this on full volume, nobody will be able to hear us,” she said. Surely music blaring out of the storage room would just attract unwanted attention, but I guessed that it was still better than our conversation being overheard.

“Thanks for coming,” she said.

“It’s nothing!”

“I just wanted to ask about something. It’s been on my mind for a while...”

“Go ahead!”

“You already know I’m a VTuber,” she told me with a serious expression on her face. “And I’ve always had fun making videos. I just did whatever I enjoyed doing and the viewers seemed to like that as well...”

I agreed—as a viewer, the videos where Emily Saionji was just having fun doing what she loved were always the most entertaining ones.

“But now,” she continued, “the management is forcing me to play popular games that I’m not really interested in. They’re also making me collaborate with other YouTubers, and that sort of thing... I don’t mind other VTubers, but I had to do this video with a real-life YouTuber, and—”

“I know who you’re talking about. I wanted you to ask you about that too,” I said.

“You watched it?” she asked, looking both shy and flattered. “So, you know, my company wants me to focus on what’s ‘trendy’ so that I get more subscribers. I agree that growing my following is important, but the videos that they’re having me make are just so disheartening... I’m sorry I can’t be more specific, but I signed a contract...”

“I agree with you one hundred percent!” I said. “To be honest, I already thought there was something weird going on with your recent videos... So it’s the company’s fault, not yours!”

“Something weird?”

“Hmm, the older videos were just more... fun. The ones where Emily played games full of cute girls, chattered away about the pairings, and you know... had fun too.”

She seemed surprised by my words.

“I liked the collabs you did with other girl VTubers, but the one with that guy was just... shocking. Why would they force you to do that? Emily’s fans could never enjoy something like that, and I say that as a fan myself.”

“Ichigaya...”

“S-Sorry! I might have been too blunt.”

“Not at all! I’m just so happy that you care so much about Emily Saionji!” she said.

“A-Anyway... I think that the best thing about Emily is how enthusiastic she is about what she does. Fans like me just want to see you enjoying yourself. So you’re absolutely right! Your company is messing everything up.”

What kind of idiot is in charge of deciding what videos Emily has to make? Doesn’t he know anything about her?

“Th-Thank you...” she said, staring at the floor.

Did I creep her out by being too enthusiastic?

“I’m so glad you agreed to speak with me!” she said. She looked up at me, smiling with a hint of embarrassment.

“Huh?! N-No, I’m sorry I couldn’t give you any useful advice...”

“That’s not the case! I was worried that maybe the company was doing the right thing and I just couldn’t understand them... but after hearing what you said, I’m more sure about how I feel. You’ve given me the courage I needed to talk to management about changing their minds. Thank you very much!”

“Oh, but I just gave you my opinion as a fan...”

Of course, I was more than happy that my words had been useful to her.

“Now that I think about it, there’s this one video of yours that I absolutely loved!” I told her.

“Hm? Which one would that be?”

“The viewer Q&A! When you talked about your favorite anime, games, and all that, it was so entertaining to hear about all the games you love—and that every single one has yuri couples in it! I could really tell how serious you were!”

“Oh! I had so much fun making that one!”

“And it was hilarious when someone asked you about your ideal man and you just replied, ‘Either a tomboyish girl or a cool, beautiful girl,’ like it was the most obvious thing in the world! Your ideal man is a woman! Hahaha! I’m sure all the other VTubers were taking note! You’re so good at playing the part of a yuri lover!”

Elena suddenly averted her gaze, shifting about as if uncomfortable.

“Did I say something wrong?” I asked.

“I-I’m not... I’m not playing a part.”

“Huh?”

“I think... I might like girls... for real,” she quietly said, still avoiding my eyes.

“What?!”

Did she just come out to me?! How am I supposed to react?!

“Actually, there was something else that I wanted to talk about apart from my videos... and it’s this. I never told anyone in real life how much I like yuri, but, when I told you, you were really supportive. After that, I decided that I wanted to tell you,” she said. I was dumbfounded.

“I-I’m sorry I said something so weird all of a sudden,” she apologized.

“Not at all! I’m happy to listen to whatever you want to talk about!” I said, and she started explaining further.

“I think I realized around middle school, or even grade school. I’ve always fantasized about characters that I liked falling in love with each other. But I noticed my fantasies were always about pairs of female characters. The first time was probably when I watched Magical Fighting Girls Milky 5, with Marika and Kaoru...”

“Oh, Milky 5?” I said. “That show’s turned loads of people into otaku! I know it was supposed to be a kids’ show, but I think a lot of adult otaku watched it too. And if I remember right, Marika and Kaoru being in love with each other was canon, which is why there’s so much yuri doujinshi about them. Kaoru was popular with girls, wasn’t she? Being the cool type and all...”

“Y-You know?! You understand? Yes! I became an otaku because of it too! And I also realized how much I loved yuri. I was still little, but I was madly in love with Kaoru.”

I, too, watched that anime back in the day, as a grade schooler. In particular, more than the protagonist, I liked the tsundere girl with the long black hair. She was my first two-dimensional crush.

“After that, I started watching more and more anime with female couples. I’ve never been interested in boys, neither in anime nor in real life, and I’ve never really wanted a boyfriend...”

“So, are you... a lesbian?” I asked.

“I... don’t know. All the fictional characters I like are women, but when it comes to real life, I’ve never fallen in love with anyone, man or woman. Maybe I can’t feel attracted to men, maybe I can. I’m not sure. But I can’t talk about this with my friends, and certainly not with my parents, so I’ve kept it to myself all this time. It must have been a nuisance to listen to something like this, when we don’t even know each other so well. I’m very sorry...” she said, her eyes full of remorse.

“No, no! It’s not a nuisance at all!” I immediately replied. “Maybe, you know, it’s just a question of time. Actually, I’ve never had a girlfriend either and a lot of my friends have never even had a crush. Most of them have never dated anybody, actually.”

I thought of the only two people I could call friends: Ai and Kokoro. Neither of them had ever had a girlfriend or boyfriend, so that was two for two.

“R-Really? All of my friends already have boyfriends, so I thought I was weird for never falling in love with anyone...”

“That’s because all of your friends are super popular! We’re still in high school, so there’s no need to hurry.”

“I see...”

“If, one day, you fall in love with someone, then you can start worrying about confessing to them... whether they’re a boy or a girl,” I said.

I was doing my best to shut off the part of my brain that wanted to fantasize about Elena romancing another girl so that I could provide a half-decent answer. Not that I was in any position to give advice about romance to other people...

“Thank you,” she said, smiling ever so slightly. “Not only did you listen to my problems, but you also cheered me up. You’re right. I shouldn’t worry about not having fallen in love yet. I feel so much better now!”

“I’m glad to hear that!”

“I didn’t know that just talking with someone could make me feel so much lighter. I know I keep saying this, but thank you again. And actually, just knowing that there’s someone in my school who enjoys my work and understands the things I like gives me so much courage,” she said.

“M-Minami, I—”

“If it’s not a problem... could I come to speak to you whenever I need advice?”

“O-Of course! Anytime! I don’t know whether listening to what I have to say will do you any good though.”

“Really?! Thank you! You’re the only one I can be so open with, despite having so many things to worry about. I’m really grateful,” she said.

I’m listening to Emily Saionji saying that she can only rely on me... I’m so happy I could die.

After that, she and I walked to the station together.

After I got home, I received a LINE message from Elena, thanking me.

Having a cute girl counting on me made me happy enough, but the fact that she was the very same VTuber I loved was even better. It was a dream come true for an otaku like me.

It must have been hard for her to keep all those worries bottled up inside without anyone to speak to. I was glad that she managed to open up to me, and I was ready to help her as much as I could, as many times as I needed to.

Of course, if she was a lesbian, then I’d have no chance at dating her. Granted, that wouldn’t change much even if she was heterosexual, but thinking that it’d be one hundred percent impossible made me a little sad. But sure, I’ll admit it. Thinking about it in this way was very egotistical of me.