Chapter 125: Memorizing people’s names is incredibly difficult.

The meeting place was at Tsubaki-senpai’s apartment.

Originally, we were supposed to meet in front of the StarsFlow headquarters, but to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, it was decided that we’d meet at Tsubaki-senpai’s apartment, which was the closest to the headquarters.

“Umm…”

Even though it was summer break, I still had the habit of waking up early to be the first one at school, so being late was never an issue for me.

I arrived at Tsubaki-senpai’s apartment at exactly 7:55 AM.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the doorbell to her unit.

Ding-dong!

After a brief moment, the intercom crackled.

[Yes. Tachibana speaking.]

“Ah, um, th-this is K-Kayano….”

“Welcome, Kayano-chan!”

As soon as I responded, the front door swung open, revealing a beautiful woman with pink hair styled in twin buns, greeting me with a warm smile.

“Th-this is our f-first time m-meeting… I-I’m K-Kayano M-Minami….”

“Yep! I’m Tachibana Madoka. But maybe you’re more familiar with my name as Namikawa Tsubaki? Looking forward to getting along!”

“A-ah… y-yes… l-looking f-forward to it….”

After exchanging greetings with Namikawa-senpai, I stepped into the living room.

“Oh? Is that her?”

“Yep! This is Izumi-chan!”

And just like that, I found myself in the greatest crisis of my life.

I’ve always had a very limited social circle.

Sure, I’ve gotten pretty close with my fellow members in StarsFlow, but that doesn’t change the fact that my social skills are lacking.

And having a small social circle comes with a significant downside—

“Nice to meet you, Kayano-chan.”

“A-ah… yes….”

I’m terrible at remembering names.

It took me over a month to memorize even Miyauchi-san’s and Tateyama-san’s names back at school.

And now, I had to memorize multiple names all at once.

This wasn’t just a crisis—it was pure hell.

So, the senpai currently standing behind me, playing with my hair, was Namikawa-senpai….

The one sitting on the far left with short brown hair was Amatsuka Hina…. Or was it Hinatsuru Mikoto?

The one in the center with long blue hair was Yuzuki Rinze …. Her real name was Tsurumi Mai, right?

And the one on the far right with a side ponytail was Minazuki Ichika …. Her real name was… Hagane Shiki, I think?

Did I get it right? I hope so.

If I got them wrong, I was in big trouble.

At Comiket, we had to use our real names instead of our VTuber names.

If I slipped up, it would be a complete disaster.

“Kayano-chan, your hair is so soft! What kind of hair products do you use?”

“A-ah, I d-don’t use… a-anything….”

“No way! That’s impossible!”

…Wait, something feels off.

“This makes no sense… Is this the power of youth?”

“U-um, N-Namikawa-senpai?”

“You should start getting used to it now. Call me Tachibana.”

“A-ah, o-okay… T-Tachibana-senpai….”

“Yep!”

“U-um, w-where is e-everyone else?”

As far as I knew, everyone except Nacchan was supposed to go to Comiket together.

But it was already close to 8:30 AM, and aside from the senpais here, no one else had shown up.

“Hmm? Oh, did I forget to mention? The others already left earlier.”

“…Huh?”

So, this was how it was.

Koga, Akabane, Utsumi, Aki, and Kurokami-senpai would be taking Koga’s car.
Meanwhile, Namikawa-senpai, Amatsuka-senpai, Yuzuki-senpai, Minazuki-senpai, and I would be riding in Yuzuki-senpai’s car.

And the reason for this arrangement was…

“We haven’t had a chance to meet and talk with Kayano-chan separately yet, right? So we thought this would be a good opportunity to get to know each other better.”

Apparently, that was the reason.
In other words, I now had to travel with four senpais I was meeting for the first time.

Which meant… I was facing the biggest crisis of my life.

My stomach churned—I felt like I was going to throw up.
Sitting inside the moving car, I was seriously struggling with that thought.

But don’t get me wrong.
It wasn’t because I was getting carsick or anything like that.

“Kayano-chan, are you really not using any beauty products?”
“Uh, um… I, uh…”
“You’re this tiny, but your chest is big? Isn’t that weird? Kayano-chan, can I touch them?”
“H-Huuuuh…?”
“Mikoto, if you obsess over things like that, it makes you look bad.”
“What?! That’s easy for you to say, Shiki! You’re big! Do you even know how it feels to be flat?!”
“Haha… Everyone’s really lively. They must really like Kayano-chan.”
“T-Thank… you…?”

The first-generation senpais I was meeting for the first time today—except for Yuzuki-senpai, who was driving—were all incredibly high-energy.

As someone with extreme social anxiety, I had no chance of keeping up with them.

This was definitely strange.

Aren’t VTubers supposed to be introverts?
The kind of people who can’t talk at all in real life but suddenly become the loudest voices on the internet?

Now that I think about it, even among my fellow second-gen members, there wasn’t a single person who was socially awkward like me.
And on top of that, every single one of them was a beauty.

What is this?
StarsFlow, you guys…
Could this be some kind of trap meant to destroy me?

Maybe they figured out I was a guy in my past life, so they lured me in with a honeytrap of beautiful women and are now exploiting my social anxiety—

“Kayano-chan, you said you liked uncle-type characters, right?”
“Ah, yes. I like them.”
“Then don’t you think the best uncle heroine is Charlotte-chan?”
“…Minazuki-senpai, do you think so too?”
“Ah, yeah. But right now, I’m not Minazuki, I’m Hagane…”
“Right! Charlotte is definitely the best match for Satoru-ojisan! She was the one who first connected with him, and even their names are similar?! This is totally fate at work!”

StarsFlow, what is this?!
To assign such a kind and understanding person as my senpai—
Are you guys actually a gathering of angels?!

At this rate, I have no choice but to devote my life to serving them…

“Pfft! Kayano-chan, the way you act on stream… It was all real, huh?”
“…Huh?”

As I passionately rambled on, Namikawa-senpai suddenly hugged me from behind.

“W-W-Wait, huh?! Uhhp…!”
“Aaah~! Being this cute should be illegal, you know?!”

Then, Minazuki-senpai joined in and hugged me too.

“Why is Kayano-chan a second-gen member? Can’t we just make her an honorary first-gen? I’ll take such good care of you, okay?”
“That’s a great idea, Madoka. I’ll make sure to suggest it to the company next time!”

W-Wait a second…!

“Shiro, have you always been talking to a girl like this all by yourself among the first-years? You greedy guy!”

“Right? If she’s this cute, you should’ve introduced her to us. You’re so mean!”

“Ugh…!”

“Wait, you two! Kayano can’t breathe!”

“Ah, sorry!”

Just as I was about to suffocate, Amatsuka-senpai saved me.

…People say that being buried in a woman’s chest is a man’s dream, but it turns out that’s not true at all.

After arriving at the Tokyo Big Sight, the venue for Comiket, we met up with the group that had left earlier.

As expected of Comiket, the sheer number of people made it difficult to move, but by following Amatsuka-senpai’s guidance, we managed to navigate relatively smoothly.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Y-Yuika-mama….”

“Huh? K-Kayano, what’s wrong?”

“I-It was so exhausting getting here….”

“A-Ah, I see….”

Koga really is the best.

Her presence alone is healing me.

Just before we arrived, the seniors had been toying with me like a doll, and I was completely drained….

And among the group that had arrived earlier, for some reason, there was also Yuuto-ojisan, whom I had seen every time I visited Kurokami-senpai’s house.

“Ah, hello.”

“Greetings.”

I know he’s actually a really kind person, but… that scar near his eye still makes me flinch a little whenever I see him.

“Uncle! It’s been a while! What brings you here?”

“Haha. I heard that the young lady would be attending, so madam instructed me to accompany her for security.”

“Ohh, I see.”

The other seniors seemed quite familiar with Yuuto-ojisan, as they approached him and chatted naturally.

“I’m sorry, Kayano. Did he scare you?”

“N-No, not at all….”

“I told my mother that I was just going out with some friends, but she worries too much….”

Kurokami-senpai sighed, pressing her hand to her cheek in a dramatic fashion, like something out of an old-fashioned drama.

“I didn’t want to be a burden to everyone.”

Despite her words, Yuuto-ojisan’s presence was actually a great help right now.

We were a group of ten women, all of whom were stunningly beautiful.

Naturally, we were drawing a lot of attention.

But with Yuuto-ojisan standing among us, he seemed to exert an invisible pressure on our surroundings.

I could feel numerous eyes on us from a distance, yet no one dared to approach.

“Alright, let’s start moving. We can’t just stand here forever.”

After a brief chat, we all nodded in agreement at Amatsuka-senpai’s words.

“Like Madoka probably mentioned, moving as one big group is too difficult and disruptive, so let’s split up. Since Shiro’s new to Comiket, he’ll be with me….”

The groups were decided as follows:

Amatsuka-senpai, Kurokami-senpai, and Yuuto-ojisan.
Me, Namikawa-senpai, and Koga.
Yuzuki-senpai, Akabane, and Aki.
Utsumi and Minazuki-senpai.

“Ah, everyone. Just in case, I’ll share my email address with you. If anything happens, contact me immediately.”

After exchanging contact information with Yuuto-ojisan, we split up to explore the exhibits we wanted to see.

“Shall we check out that area next, Yuika?”

“Sounds good.”

And then—I saw it.