Chapter 170

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## **LIVE ON. (5)**

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“Ah, looks like it’s almost my turn.”

“Good luck, Miko-san!”

“Well, I’m _always_ giving it my all. The one who needs to dig deep right now is probably you, Nacchan.”

“Me?”

Why me?

I tilted my head in confusion and looked at Miko-san, but she just clenched her fist and struck a _fighting!_ pose without saying anything else.

What was _that_ supposed to mean?

Before I had a chance to figure it out, Miko-san disappeared through the door.

Left alone in the waiting room, I turned my gaze from the door back to the screen.

Or rather, I _tried_ to.

**Creeeak—**

“…There’s someone here.”

“…Ah.”

Long black hair that reached near the waist.

And that utterly unchanged expression—so familiar it actually felt comforting.

There was no way I wouldn’t recognize her.

Or rather, it would’ve been weird _not_ to.

After all, the person who just walked in was none other than the one who had been singing on stage just a few minutes ago.

“Uh, hello…!”

“Hello.”

“…”

“…”

Honestly, I half-expected a casual tone instead of a polite reply.

But what I got was respectful, formal speech.

Well… that happens. Maybe I had the wrong impression of her.

As I clamped my mouth shut, a heavy silence filled the room.

_This is way too awkward…_

Apparently, for me, the threshold for being able to hold a conversation with someone I just met was… _Miko-san_.

Which meant… Shiro-san was way over the line into awkward territory.

She was already the quiet type to begin with, and having just seen her cool performance on stage made her even harder to approach.

Well, it’s not like I’m here to make friends or anything.

I should just focus on the stage. The performance.

…Not that there was any performance going on during this intermission.

“Um, you sang really well.”

“…”

“Uhh… So…”

I couldn’t take the silence anymore and tried to talk again—but no response came.

Ugh, _this_ isn’t my role! I’m not the one who starts conversations!

Just thinking that I was doing something Inari would do made my skin crawl.

I mean, look at this—she’s so awkward she can’t even answer and is pretending not to hear me!

_Yeah, this doesn’t suit me at all—_

“Did you call me?”

“…Ah.”

As Shiro-san turned her head away from the screen to look at me, I realized something.

It wasn’t certain, but… it felt like she had just been deep in thought.

Relieved that she hadn’t been ignoring me, I opened my mouth to keep the conversation going.

Or I tried to—just as something happened.

**Slide—**

“Ah.”

“…Ah.”

A hand brushed over the top of my head.

Apparently, even Shiro-san didn’t realize what she was doing, and her hand froze in place on my head.

I was _finally_ trying to hold a conversation, and now it got even _more_ awkward…!

The strange sensation of a hand on my head made me instinctively turn away, unable to accept it naturally.

Her hand dropped, and the mood in the room became even more painfully awkward.

_Just hang in there until Part 2 starts…_

More importantly, once Inari returned from hosting Part 1, maybe this awkwardness would ease up a little.

…Though I wasn’t sure even Inari could break the tension in _this_ room.

“Sorry. You reminded me of my little sister.”

“Ah, it’s okay! I’m _really_ used to having my head patted, ahaha…”

I waved my hands in front of me, flustered by the apology.

People make mistakes, right? Sometimes you just accidentally pat a stranger’s head. That’s life!

If we were both obviously adults, it might’ve been weird—but I _do_ look super young, after all.

Wait… little sister?

I’m pretty sure—

“You have a twin sister, right?”

“Oh, you mentioned you were a twin too, Natsu-san.”

“…You knew?”

Since this was Toya’s live show, I figured she wouldn’t know anything about me. Guess not?

Not that I’m _that_ famous. I’m just “that gender-swapped Korean VTuber” at best, right?

Well, I wasn’t about to say _that_ out loud in front of Shiro-san’s serious face, so I kept it to myself.

“Yeah, I know. You show up in the iTube algorithm all the time—”

“Ah.”

“—Because my sister told me.”

Oh, so Shiro-san gets along well with her twin too.

Her expression while talking about her sister was so different, I almost thought she was a completely different person.

“Does your sister watch a lot of VTubers too? I usually watch short clips… you know, for study or… that sort of thing.”

“Similar, I think. In a lot of ways.”

She said that while glancing at the top of my head again.

As if surprised to find another perfectly pat-able head right in front of her.

Apparently, unlike Shiro-san, her twin was shorter. Maybe even shorter than _me_—though… probably not?

I couldn’t imagine anyone shorter than me existing in real life.

Just from their model alone, I’m pretty sure she’s taller than I am, yeah.

“Good luck.”

“Th-thank you. I’ll work hard on my stream!”

“I meant the live stage, not your stream. But good luck with that too.”

“Ah, yes!”

She’s so kind—_really_ kind!

Shiro-san may look cold on the outside, but she’s warm on the inside.

The way her face lit up when talking about her sister—it was surprisingly relatable. We had more in common than I expected.

Come to think of it, a lot of people have been cheering me on today.

Even Shiro-san, who I’m meeting for the first time.

_Did I really look that nervous?_

Well… I _was_ nervous. But not because of the stage. It’s just hard being alone with someone I don’t know.

…Or maybe not? Was I actually nervous about the stage too?

The way I see myself and the way others see me might not always match.

**[Alright! Opening the second half now with our first act—Kitsunemonogatari! Let’s go!]**

“Ah, it’s Inari.”

Even though she’d just finished hosting the first half, she was still bursting with energy. I was honestly impressed.

She’s so young. I envy that stamina.

Even though we’re the same age, my energy levels are _ancient_ by comparison.

Anyway, the second half is finally starting.

_Now there’s only half left…_

Just half left before it’s my turn to go on stage.

As soon as I thought that, my heart started pounding again.

Whether it was from nerves or excitement—I wasn’t sure.

But I _was_ sure that this kind of nervousness was the good kind.

After all, if it weren’t, there’s no way I’d be smiling just thinking about it.

—

**[Nagisa’s hosting Part 2.]**

**[(Nagisa introducing herself during intermission.MVI)]
Her voice gets me every time… it’s so beautiful T_T**

ㄴ[Nagisa’s voice is really something else…]

ㄴ[Wish there were more people in the world with voices like Nagisa’s.]

ㄴ[ㄴIt’s special _because_ only Nagisa has a voice like that, lol]

ㄴ[Toya’s live doesn’t even feel like just her solo show anymore, and that’s what makes it even better.]

ㄴ[ㄴTotally. Between Inari and Nagisa, their presence is amazing lol]

ㄴ[Nacchan?]

ㄴ[ㄴNacchan’s probably cheering super hard backstage, so it’s all good~]

ㄴ[ㄴIs she like the cheer captain or something LOL]

ㄴ[ㄴWho knows, maybe she’ll show up at the end for a surprise.]

ㄴ[ㄴNahhh, no way lol]

ㄴ[Honestly, I _want_ Nacchan to show up. Just make it a full V-Spe day.]

ㄴ[ㄴCome to think of it, Nacchan _is_ one of the VTubers on break today, so she _could_ appear.]

ㄴ[ㄴTrue lololol]

**[Inari takes the stage the moment Part 2 starts LOL]**

**[(Inari singing Kitsunemonogatari as the opening song of Part 2.MVI)]
She must be exhausted from hosting the first half—she’s amazing lol**

ㄴ[Youth really _is_ a gift…]

ㄴ[She sounds a _little_ winded, but for someone who just MC’d an hour? She’s shockingly fine lol]

ㄴ[The song’s great too.]

ㄴ[ㄴEveryone knows V-Spe songs go hard lol]

ㄴ[ㄴThey didn’t all debut as singers, but somehow they’re all _really_ good at singing (lol)]

ㄴ[ㄴIsn’t Toya basically the ultimate case of overqualified? She sings that well and didn’t even debut for singing lol]

ㄴ[ㄴMeans she’s got lots of other talents too.]

ㄴ[ㄴTrue. Still, I kinda wonder what would’ve happened if she _had_ debuted as a singer.]

ㄴ[ㄴLike Toya doing weekly singing streams or something lol]

ㄴ[ㄴJust imagining it makes me happy lololol]

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