Chapter 174

Яｅаđ​ ｏո​ ǨαṫȒҽаⅾɩｎցḈａғе​

**LIVE ON. (End)**

> **- Toya, great job!**
> **- You were amazing today, Toya!**
> **- Honestly, I was really sad when you sang what was supposed to be your last song, but then you kept going for another hour LOL**
> **- I ate so much I feel like I’m gonna explode…**
> **- I drank way too much because of you, Toya LOL**
> **- You worked so hard, Toya-chan!**

My head was spinning.
How long had it been since I last pushed myself to such an extreme?

I rubbed my eyes to clear my flickering vision and took a deep breath.

Maybe I got _too_ carried away.
I couldn’t say how many encore songs I’d sung. Raising my voice so intensely made the time fly by without me noticing.

**“It’s really over now…”**

Year’s end. The close of another year.
Wrapping it up like this meant that this would be a year with no regrets.

Yeah, I did fine. Getting this far was more than enough.

I made a fist to steady the trembling I couldn’t tell was from exhaustion or excitement.
It’s okay. I did my best, so I have no regrets.

**“How long has it been since I had a dream this happy?”**

I felt almost like a sleepwalker.

Like I was floating through midair, weightless.
At any moment I might collapse, but the thread of reason still left in a corner of my mind held tightly to my awareness.

I didn’t want to wake from this dream, so even when it was time for the curtains to close, I kept on singing.
But now, the real end was here.

**“It’s not the end. I’ll just dream this again next time.”**

Naturally, we feel sad when happy dreams end, because we can’t simply reach them in our everyday reality.
Even so, we let go of these dreams and return to daily life because we hope we’ll feel this happiness again one day.

So I decided to let it go.
This moment of happiness would end here. I’d just work hard and wait for the next one to come.

**“Then, let’s call today’s dream finished—”**

But—what if it wasn’t really over?

_Bzzzzzt—_

**“Ah.”**

> **- Huh?**
> **- What’s going on?**
> **- The screen’s glitching.**
> **- It’s not just me? It suddenly went weird?**
> **- A broadcast issue at the last minute?! LOL**
> **- Maybe the server crashed from too many viewers?**
> **- Honestly, the glitchy finale sorta fits the ending vibe LOL**
> **- Hurry up with the final sign-off, Toya, before it completely breaks!**
> **- Maybe the system’s throwing a tantrum because you went an hour overtime LOL**

No, that wasn’t it.

If it had really been a technical accident, somebody would have whispered a warning to me.
And above all, the static the viewers saw was visible to me, too.

It wasn’t an accident. It was something _intentional._

Something unknown, beyond my understanding.

Beyond that unknown stood—

**“Toya.”**

When the screen distortion disappeared, something very familiar appeared.

A girl whose appearance was just like in real life:
White hair, a hint of pink in her red eyes—

—My most precious friend.

**“…Natsu?”**

“I ended up coming out after all… I had so many things I wanted to say, but the moment I got here, I forgot them all.”

A faint smile on her face—
That smile turned my mind blank in an instant.

Wait… Yeoreum? Why is **she**… here?

I reached out and brushed her cheek. I could feel her warmth through my glove.

**“Surprised?”**

“…Yeah.”

Just having you watch was enough for me.
Even if we were separated by a screen, we were still in the same building.

In my head, I imagined your voice cheering among the crowd, and that gave me more strength.

But if you actually come up here on stage—

**“Thanks, Natsu.”**

“There’s nothing to thank me for.”

She smiled softly, then turned her gaze somewhere off in the distance.

Oh, right. Since this really is the end, she probably just wanted to say a quick goodbye.

Haha… Thinking about it, maybe I dragged on too long.

I felt guilty realizing Natsu had to wait an extra hour because of me.
Waiting like that must’ve been tough.

**‘But this live does have my name on it, so maybe I should say at least one more thing.’**

**“Natsu—”**

Right as I turned and called her name—

_~♪_

**“Ah…”**

With that melody filling the stage, Natsu’s gentle humming flowed from her lips.

It seemed the dream… wasn’t over yet.

—

**[So it’s finally over LOL]**

**[(Toya giving an exhausted closing speech)]
If you’re a fellow “virtual otaku” who used up all their energy watching Toya’s live, click ‘like’ LOL**

> [I’m in, LOL]
> [Maybe that extra 1-hour encore was part of the plan all along?]
> [She did it so smoothly, it sure felt planned.]
> [Bow before the Queen of V-Spe.]
> [(Toya worship emote)]
> [(Toya “King of V-Spe” emote)]
> [No matter how you think about it, singing that long is crazy…]
> [She must’ve used a substitute or something LOL]
> [Toya is both god and invincible…]
> [How did she ever have vocal cord nodules?!]
> [She’s basically got steel vocal cords now LOL]
> [It was so jam-packed and fulfilling that I feel stuffed…]

—

**[Wait, what’s going on?]**

**[(Screenshot: Natsu appearing on stage)
(Video clip: Gentle melody and soft humming)]
Seriously, what is this?!**

> [?]
> [LMAO]
> [DAMN IT, I KNEW IT!! (x5)]
> [Hail Summer! Hail Summer! (x12)]
> [All these other VTubers are singing—so she wasn’t about to skip it LOL]
> [(“Natsu: I can sing too…!” emote)]
> [I never imagined the mod would show up LOL]
> [Wasn’t she just here for closing remarks? LOL]
> [Nacchan, I love you. (x5)]
> [Nacchan is a goddess…]
> [But is she actually allowed to sing?]
> [Just that humming alone was already a huge win LOL]
> [Even if she just lip-synced to a track from iTube, I’d still take it LOL]

—

**“The day we first met~ ♬”**

> [- Huh?]
> [- Nacchan LMAO]
> [- She’s actually singing?!]
> [- Let’s go, Nacchan!!]
> [- So this is what we were waiting for LOL]
> [- I zoned out for a second and missed the humming…]
> [- 草]
> [_(Toya waving a lightstick emote)_ x3]

You could call this my **first stage**—
In other words, it really _was_ my first ever.

But even though it was my first time, my heart stayed perfectly calm.

**“So this is what a stage feels like.”**

Once upon a time,
when I was still Han Yeoreum, I’d prepared for a performance—maybe it felt like this too.

Contrary to all my worries, the voice pouring from my lips was steady.
Why wasn’t I nervous?

Of course, I already knew the answer.

**“…Toya.”**

I glanced at Toya, who wore an expression like a child who just found a present under the Christmas tree, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

**“I still remember that day ♪”**

We were so awkward at first.
We spoke about so many things, shared so many memories—♪

> [_(Inari waves lightstick)_]
> [_(Toya waves lightstick)_]
> [_(Nagisa waves lightstick)_]
> [Wait, isn’t this the song that was uploaded to iTube?]
> [No way the one who commissioned it was Nacchan?? LOL]
> [It’s so much better than the AI version…]
> [So Nacchan wasn’t a Vocaloid after all…?]

Writing the music was tough, but writing lyrics wasn’t that hard.
I just had to jot down what happened between Toya and me—
and that was enough.

**“I wanna stay with you forever~♬”**

I poured all my thoughts, feelings—my entire self—into this song.
I can’t say I sang it better than the AI cover using my voice,
but I filled it with all the things the AI couldn’t capture.

All the emotions, the memories, the hopes that rose up whenever I thought of Toya—I poured them out on stage.

**“I’m totally fine.”**

I can still give more.

My voice, resonating out of the speakers, didn’t just fill the practice room—it filled the entire venue.

A steady heartbeat, neither rushed nor sluggish.
Even as I lifted my pitch and projected my voice, my breathing never faltered.
I inhaled, exhaled, with lungs full of air—
and watching me intently—

**—was you.**

**“And that alone…”**

—was enough for me to be **Han Yeoreum**.

Today,
yesterday,
like back then—like the moment we first met—

Tomorrow,
and the day after that,
and ten years from now too—

Until the final day we spend together,
I’ll keep going, again and again and again.

Fables