Chapter 87: ,Popular kids can’t understand…

“Hello, Izumi.”

“…Huh? K-Koga?”

“Yeah.”

Koga casually sat next to me by the kotatsu, as if it were completely normal.

…It’s already almost 10 PM, so how did Koga end up here at this hour?

“Yuika-nee. Coffee’s fine, right?”

“Yeah.”

While I was still flustered and unable to grasp the situation, Utzumi handed Koga a coffee and sat next to her, while

Koga drank the coffee and seemed completely at ease, flipping through TV channels with the remote.

“Ren, do we have snacks at home?”

“There’s none. We should go buy some. Want to come with me?”

“It’s fine if we don’t have any. We have some mandarins, so we can eat those.”

Koga quietly peeled a mandarin while Utzumi brought over coffee and joined her at the kotatsu. After a moment of

thought, I slowly spoke up.

“Uh, um… Koga, how did you end up here at this hour…?”

“…Huh? What’s wrong, Ren? Didn’t I tell you?”

“We were supposed to meet tomorrow, though. I was going to mention it then.”

“Aah… I see. You didn’t know.”

“What… what do you mean?”

Koga and Utzumi stifled their laughter, clearly finding my confusion amusing.

“Izumi, you know this is a mansion, right?”

“Y-Yeah…”

It’s a brand new 1LDK mansion, after all. When I first saw this place, I was impressed by how nice it was for someone to live here alone.

“If it’s a mansion, then there must be people living next door, right?”

“…I guess so?”

“That’s me.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m the one who lives next door to Ren.”

Hmm. So, Koga and Utzumi’s explanation means…

“K-Koga and Utzumi are childhood friends, then…?”

“Yeah. Our parents have been close, so we’ve known each other since we were little.”

Thinking back, there were many signs that Koga and Utzumi were close. Like when Koga teased me during the first

group collaboration, or when they both came to the Hatsumode event. And when we were talking not on air, Utzumi

always called Koga by her real name. I thought that was just part of Utzumi’s great social skills.

“I was already living here, but Ren wanted to try living alone, so she followed me here.”

“What are you talking about? Yuika-nee was the one who said this place was nice and told me to come!”

“You were so wishy-washy, so I just told you.”

The two of them raised their voices a little, but it didn’t seem like they were really mad at each other. It was just the

kind of casual conversation that only close friends can have.

…Something I never got to have with that person until the end.

“Well, since we live next door, we visit each other when we get bored, like today.”

“Mostly, I go to Yuika-nee’s place, though.”

“Back in the day, I used to visit your house all the time, so now you have to come to mine.”

It’s not so surprising that childhood friends live next door, but the fact that they’re both in Starzflow is pretty amazing.

“Then did you both apply separately to join Starzflow?”

“Huh? Oh, no. When I was working at a company, it was really tough. I didn’t have any success with my hobby

broadcasts… Then Yuika-nee told me Starzflow was recruiting second-generation members, so I applied too.”

“I already knew the limitations of being a solo VTuber, so if I was going to try again, I wanted to join a company.

When I heard Starzflow was recruiting VTubers, I thought it would be fun to do it together. After all, we both did solo

streams before.”

“Aah…”

Come to think of it, Koga and Utzumi had accounts from their previous lives. Koga used to do talk shows based on

her experiences as an underground idol, and Utzumi did ASMR streams.

“But, don’t you two rarely get involved together…?”

Koga and I are often together, and Utzumi is frequently paired with Akabane or Aki. Given they’re childhood friends,

I would think it would be more beneficial for them to get involved together.

“I see. Well, if we see each other every day, it’s okay to show that we’re close, but it might not be the best idea to get

entangled in it on a broadcast.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way.”

I see.

If we’re seeing each other every day, it’s fine to show that we’re close, but it might not be the best approach to get

involved in it on a broadcast.

Being a VTuber, or more precisely, doing an online broadcast, requires constantly showing new things.

If we’re already used to each other, it might actually be harder in that sense.

“So, did Koga-san come today to see Utsumi-san, like usual?”

“…Something like that.”

“That’s a lie! You came to see Izumi, didn’t you!”

“Huh?!”

…042?

“I wanted to talk with Izumi a lot today! After all, we already planned to hang out tomorrow!”

“Since we’re hanging out tomorrow, it doesn’t matter if we talk now, right? And how does that make it sound like you

came here just to see Izumi?”

“Usually, Yuika-nee doesn’t come to my house, but if she came today, it can only be for that reason!”

“Th-there’s no other reason, you know? I just came because I feel bad since you always come to me…”

“When did you start thinking like that?”

It feels like I’ve opened a can of worms…

…I don’t know.

I should just sleep.

I’m already tired, and with the warmth of the kotatsu, I could fall asleep right now…

“Is Izumi asleep?”

“Yeah. Sleeping under the kotatsu, she’s going to catch a cold…”

“Lay out a blanket in the room. I’ll wake her up and take her there.”

“Okay.”

Ayaka immediately stood up, went to the room, and laid out a blanket, while Suzuka gently shook Izumi’s shoulder to wake her up.

“Izumi, the blanket’s ready in the room, so go sleep there. You’ll catch a cold if you sleep here.”

“Ugh… It’s too much trouble. I want to sleep here…”

“Quickly.”

“Okay…”

Together, they helped Izumi, who was stumbling in her sleep, to the room and laid her down, then Suzuka and Ayaka

returned to the kotatsu.

“Since Izumi’s asleep, do you want to have a beer, Yuika-nee?”

“Sure.”

It was already past 10 PM, but that didn’t matter to them.

They were both used to drinking late into the night, as it was already a part of their routine.

“Sigh…”

“Why did you really come today? You said you’d come tomorrow at first.”

“…I told you already. I just came because I was bored.”

“Really? I thought you came because you didn’t want Izumi hanging out with anyone other than me!”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

At Ayaka’s words, Suzuka let out a soft laugh.

“I just… came because I was worried.”

“Worried? What is there to worry about when you’re with me?”

“I don’t know.”

Despite Ayaka’s probing, Suzuka just shook her head, not answering.

No, she couldn’t answer.

Ayaka was her younger sister, someone she had known for over 20 years.

If she made up a story, Ayaka would catch on immediately.

But just as Suzuka was quick to catch on, Ayaka, who had been with her since childhood, was equally sharp.

“Well, it’s true that you came because you were worried about Izumi, right?”

“…I can’t deny that.”

“You’ve always been like that since we were kids.”

“That’s true…”

“By the way, Yuika-nee, you never liked people teasing Kiro, right? Izumi teases him quite a bit, but seeing you care

this much is a little surprising.”

“Well, since it’s someone cuter than me doing it, I don’t really think much of it.”

“She’s taller than you, though.”

“Tch.”

When Suzuka lightly tapped Ayaka’s shoulder, Ayaka burst into laughter.

It was a joke and response that only made sense because they were comfortable with each other.

“When other people make comments about height… it feels kind of malicious. But with Izumi, I didn’t feel that at all.

She’s just… so pure.”

“So, that’s why you liked her?”

“Yeah.”

“Izumi’s in trouble. If Yuika-nee gets possessive, it’ll be tough for her~.”

“Huh? If someone heard that, they’d think I’m really like that!”

Of course, Suzuka knew.

She was aware that she sometimes had a tendency to be a bit possessive with people around her.

But she didn’t think it was to the point of being difficult for anyone; in fact, she thought it wasn’t that bad.

“I’m really glad I joined Starple. Everyone’s so nice.”

“Yeah… I hope we can all last a long time together.”

“Sigh…”

After getting up in the morning, eating with Koga-san and Utsumi-san, and walking around outside until 3 PM, she

returned home and felt like her whole body was screaming.

She was glad she had already canceled her dance lesson yesterday.

If she had gone in this condition, she probably would’ve passed out halfway through.

How is it that those two, who are older than me, can move around so much?

I really don’t understand the popular crowd…

By the way, Koga-san and Utsumi-san were childhood friends.

I’ve heard about people working with close friends, but it felt so surreal to realize that they were the people next to me.

If there had been an opportunity, would I have worked alongside those two in the future?

…Well, it doesn’t matter now.