Chapter 163

Ｒｅａｄ ｏｎ​ ＫａｔＲｅａ​ｄ​ｉｎｇＣａｆｅ

**Meeting the Guest (1)**

> [Who do you think will appear during Toya’s live concert?]
> [When the neighbor does a live, all sorts of people show up. Will it be the same this time?]
> ㄴ[V-Spe is a small company, so probably not…]
> ㄴ[As long as Nagisa and Inari show up, I’m happy lol]
> ㄴ[I personally think Natsu might appear ㅇㅇ]
> ㄴ[If Natsu shows up, I’m throwing a feast lol]
> ㄴ[same]
> ㄴ[same]
> ㄴ[same]
> ㄴ[I wish Miko would show up…]
> ㄴ[ㄴMiko’s too big of a star. She wouldn’t show up~]
> ㄴ[ㄴWhat do you even expect from V-Spe? They only have the first gen lol]
> ㄴ[ㄴIs Ichinose Natsu supposed to be Josoro Void or something? lol]

—

“A guest appearance?”

“Yeah, some other affiliated VTubers agreed to make a special appearance.”

“…I see.”

Totally unexpected. Other company talents appearing?

I tilted my head in confusion, but nodded. It made sense.

Even for Toya, singing and dancing alone for over an hour would be tough.

…Or maybe not? It’s Toya. I feel like she _could_ pull it off.

“Actually, it’s thanks to Inari. She has a lot of connections.”

“Yeah, that makes sense…”

Inari gets treated like a clown sometimes, but it’s exactly that clownishness that helps her get along with people.

Unlike me, who basically only collabs with Toya and Inari, she’s done plenty of collabs with other agencies and indie VTubers.

“‘So you better thank me, dumb Toya!’ —she said that. It was… extremely annoying.”

“Ahaha…”

Toya spoke like she was really bitter, so I gave an awkward laugh.

Well, everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

“So, is the guest list all set?”

“Mm, pretty much? I was honestly shocked at how famous some of them are.”

“Really? How famous?”

“That’s a secret~”

Even from me?

She held a finger to her lips as she said that, so I puffed out my cheeks in a pout.

Still, I guess it’s not bad if it’s meant to be a surprise.

_‘I did my best to prepare too…’_

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was enough.

But since others were appearing too, I started to feel a bit anxious.

Still, I think I did everything I could without regrets.

I worked hard. I gave it my all.

“Aren’t you nervous, Toya? I’m super nervous.”

“Honestly, I was, up until a few days ago… But now it’s more like: I practiced so much, I’ve got no regrets!”

“…That sounds familiar.”

“Hm?”

“Oh, nothing.”

They say friends start to resemble each other, and I guess this is what they meant.

Anyway, it was good that Toya didn’t seem overly nervous.

“Oh right, Inari messaged earlier saying, ‘Wanna meet up today?’”

“Pfft, out of nowhere?”

“Yeah. I think it’s about the guest who’s coming soon.”

Toya’s uncanny Inari impersonation made me giggle as I nodded.

It would be weird to have a guest go onstage without meeting them first, after all.

It’d probably be more comfortable for both Toya and the guest to meet beforehand.

“Want to come too, Yeoreum?”

“Me? Sure, if you’re going, I’ll go.”

Meeting new people is always tough, but if I’m with Toya, I’m not worried.

It’s like having a strong ally by my side—nothing to fear!

And no way Inari would introduce us to someone weird… probably.

“Yeoreum, you know what?”

“Huh? What?”

“I actually don’t really like being around strangers either.”

That _Toya_? That thought popped into my head for a second, but then… yeah, makes sense.

She’s always with me, so I didn’t really notice—no, actually, the fact that she’s always _only_ with me kind of proves that she’s like that.

So it’ll be two familiar people and one stranger…

Okay, that’s double the reassurance! Even if I don’t know them, I’ve got numbers on my side!

—

“You’re soooo cuuuuuute~~~~♡♡♡♡♡”

“Ah, ahaha… thank you…”

“Tadaa~ This is the one and only honored guest who’ll be appearing in Toya’s 1M subscriber concert! Miko-san~!”

First impression? Honestly, exactly like Inari.

The only real difference was that, unlike Inari, she didn’t immediately jump in and hug me.

If Inari was aggressive in a pervy kind of way, Miko-san just felt like a girl who _really_ liked cute things.

…Wait, in that case, they’re not really alike at all.

“Wah~ Miko-san~!”

“Ehehehe, I didn’t expect someone to recognize me~”

“Well, you _are_ super famous.”

A name any active VTuber would know.

Wondered how someone like her could be friends with someone like Inari—but when you looked closely, they actually had a lot in common.

Also, she didn’t have much of that usual gap between stream personality and real-life self.

Not in appearance, but in personality.

“So, how did you end up knowing someone like—_ahem_, how did you meet Inari?”

“Nacchan, did you just say ‘someone like Inari’?!”

“R-redact that! Redact redact!”

I quickly dodged behind Toya to escape Inari lunging at me.

Note to self: Be careful with your words, Han Yeoreum. Inari gets strongest when excited.

“Pfft, this is great. So familiar somehow!”

“…Familiar?”

“Well, there’s a girl on our end just like Na—_ahem_, just like Natsu-chan.”

“Ah.”

I think I know who she means.

Inari calmed down faster than expected in front of someone new, so I gently stepped out from behind Toya.

It felt rude to just hide behind her the whole time in front of someone I’d just met.

“Natsu-chan, sorry, but can I say something?”

“Um, sure… I don’t mind.”

Not sure why she was saying “sorry,” but since it wasn’t _Inari_, I decided to allow it.

She didn’t look mean or anything, after all.

“You’re so tiny, Natsu-chan.”

“…Yeah, I hear that a lot.”

Honestly, I wasn’t _that_ small—but I heard it so often that I’d gotten used to it.

I mean, it’s not wrong.

Look—small hands, small feet, short height. There’s nothing big about me.

“Ehh, don’t feel bad! I know a set of twins who grew taller even after becoming adults!”

“…Really? For real? _For real?!_”

“Wah?! I-I wasn’t expecting you to jump in like that… ahaha…”

But how could I not?!

If that was a lie, I’d curse her for sure.

You can’t just reignite a hope I already gave up on, only to say it’s a joke!

“If you’re lying, you’ll have to eat a thousand needles!”

“Ah, ahh? U-uh… well, it’s true, so it’s fine, but you’re kinda scary, Natsu-chan.”

“Ah.”

I let go of the bit of her sleeve I’d grabbed and took a step back.

That was reflexive.

Anyway, since Miko-san agreed even with the “thousand needles” threat, a bit of hope sparked inside me again.

Time to drink more milk. And I’ve been exercising, so I’ll definitely grow taller.

Definitely!

“I’ve never seen Natsu this happy before…”

“I thought she didn’t care about her height, but she must’ve kept it bottled up~”

“You’d understand if you had _my_ height, Inari.”

“Still, even if I wanted to be as tiny as you, I can’t.”

“Grrr, don’t tease me!”

With that hope rekindled, I lost all resistance to height-related teasing.

As Inari cackled and teased me, I lunged at her, playfully swinging my fists, and she responded with a smug, creepy grin.

She pulled her mouth into a wide, sharp arc, narrowing her eyes like a creepy middle-aged perv.

Oh, right. Inari _likes_ being attacked like this.

“Escape complete~”

“Gah! Toya! I finally had a chance to hug Nacchan! How could you betray me like this?!”

“I’ve always been on Natsu’s side, so it’s not really betrayal.”

“Oh, true.”

Just as Inari reached for me, I was suddenly lifted into the air.

All of this happened in what felt like less than a second.

Probably took longer, but it felt instant.

Whew… I’ll have to be even more careful around Inari. Never let your guard down.

“Pwahaha…!! You guys are so much fun!”

“…Sorry for showing you such a mess, Miko-san.”

“A mess? Not at all! Watching cute girls be all silly and playful is literally the best thing in the world!”

I gave an awkward smile as Miko-san giggled playfully.

Cute girls, huh… “bishoujo”…

Honestly, aren’t we all a little too old to be called _girls_?

But I wasn’t about to say that out loud, so I bit my tongue.

Sure, let’s go with it.

At least on the outside, we all look like we qualify…