「How to become a livestreamer… got it…」
The moment I logged out of Tsukuyomi, the first thing that jumped into my eyes was Kaguya at the PC, searching for something. She was happily clacking away at the keyboard—this flashy, blonde Princess Kaguya instantly blowing away the lingering mood from earlier…
「Wait—huh? Why are you still blonde?」
「Eh? That’s bad? Then—here we go! Heya! Heya! Heya!」
Every “heya” made her hair color change. Green, red, white, stripes, marble, and then—
「This is the one, obviously☆」
She ended up back at her original blonde, smugly running her fingers through her hair. The impact was… a bit much.
Am I still in Tsukuyomi? I really did come back to reality, right?
「…An alien completely beyond human understanding」
At this point, I just stopped caring. Forgetting my anger, I buried my head into the reference books at my desk.
Ahh… still, Yachiyo’s live was amazing…
…And I talked to Yachiyo. Even shook hands with her. There was no sensation, no warmth—but somehow, my heart clearly felt the warmth of her hand.
※
「Thank you very much!」
I smiled as I saw off the regulars at BAMBOO café, I immediately dashed over to the next table. Passing orders to the kitchen, clearing empty plates along the way, and even catching every plate Mio-chan sent flying when she tripped—then dumping them all into the dishwasher. Peak time at BAMBOO café was, as always, a battlefield.
…Ahh, this is calming.
Battlefield or hellscape, as long as I don’t hear Kaguya’s shrill voice, I feel ten years younger.
Humming to myself, I got through peak time and slipped into the staff room. After catching my breath on a folding chair, I pulled up my phone’s contacts.
「Grandpa, it’s Iroha. Thanks for the allowance again this month」
「What are you saying? That’s not enough, is it?」
His voice on the other end sounded more worried than happy to hear his granddaughter. The money he sends goes into a separate account, untouched. I feel bad for Grandpa and Grandma, but this is the only way I can protect my tiny bit of pride.
I explained everything to my paternal grandparents and got their support for moving to Tokyo. They were against it at first, but I told them again and again how serious I was until they accepted it.
—If I stay like this, I won’t even know why I’m alive. I want to become someone who can hold her head high in front of Mom… and Dad.
I knew my mother couldn’t stand up to her parents. Abandoned by her own, she deeply respected Grandpa and Grandma, who took my young father from an institution and raised him so well.
I took advantage of that. Otherwise, she would’ve never agreed.
「I’m really grateful. It hit me hard. …I’ve decided my path too, so please tell Mom later」
「Me? Well, sure. Haven’t you talked much lately?」
「Mm, not really. She doesn’t contact me much either. Maybe this distance is just right. Take care, Grandpa. Tell Grandma I said hi」
I forced a cheerful voice and ended the call.
—Missed calls from Mom (5)
I looked away from the screen as I shoved the phone into my bag. My diverted gaze landed on the wall calendar.
One more day until payday.
Somehow, the first semester was already over.
「Alright!」
The moment I got home from work, I slapped my meticulously planned summer schedule onto the wall with a surge of determination. Red letters for studying, blue for part-time work—every square packed like a puzzle. Even I had to admit it was flawless.
「W-what is thiiis～～」
And yet, Kaguya complained in a limp voice.
「My summer schedule. I can’t waste a single day, so don’t interfere」
「Nooo! Play with Kaguya～～～？」
I knew you’d say that.
「Want me to kick you out…?」
I shot her a demonic glare as she clung to my waist, then aimed my eyes at the pile of junk filling one corner of the tiny room. Weird character plushies I’d never seen, toys whose purpose I couldn’t guess, things I didn’t even know what they were…
「Streaming props! They’re all from the 100-yen store, so it’s fine!」
「Streaming? You’re serious about becoming a livestreamer?」
「Of course! To win the Yachiyo Cup, I have to become one first. Look—I've already started streaming!」
She confidently pulled up her PC. A poorly drawn, handmade illustration waved creepily at me.
『Kaguya here! I came from the moon! I couldn’t think of anything to do today, so that’s it! Bye—……huh? Did this stop?』
…The second half switched to a real camera feed.
「Hey, hey, hey! That’s the front camera! Your face is showing!」
So that’s why the views were higher than the quality deserved. Sure enough, comments were flooding in:
『Front cam lol』
『Weren’t you at Yachiyo’s live?』
『Isn’t she cute?』
Too late to fix it now. What bothered me more was the sound playing in the background… what is this dissonant mess?
「It’s a jingle」
…A jingle? As in, that catchy melody meant to leave an impression?
「I made it myself」
Yeah, figures. No way free material would sound this unsettling.
「Wait—how did you make music—ah! My keyboard! Don’t just take it out!」
Just as I feared. My old 61-key keyboard was half-buried in the pile.
「Oh, you can play, can’t you? I couldn’t make it work at all. C’mon, teacher!」
Reading my reaction, Kaguya swept the junk aside and turned it on.
「Huh? Why would I do that」
「Pleasee☆」
Perfect wink. Damn it. She keeps advancing her ways to beg. Even with objects.
「First, chords are—」
I gave in, reaching for the familiar keys—and then—
「Ah…」
Something snapped inside my chest. A memory I’d kept locked away.
『Iroha, music is something you enjoy freely』
Dad’s words. Little me was laughing. Louder than the piano. Dad laughed beside me. So did my brother. Mom too.
When did Mom stop smiling?
Probably at Dad’s funeral. From then on, she stopped showing emotion. I cried as Dad lay like a doll in the coffin. Mom didn’t change her expression once.
—Why am I the only one crying? Isn’t Mom… sad?
When I came back to myself, Kaguya’s expectant eyes were fixed on me.
Music I came to hate. The piano I pushed away. Mom’s changed words.
—Only a handful succeed without form. This isn’t the time to enjoy yourself. Are you going to waste what your father gave you?
No way I’m letting that turn into trauma. That’s exactly what Mom wants.
My hands trembled for just a moment. Once my fingers touched the white keys, they ran freely—like a deer released onto open grass.
「Whoa…」
Music overflowed.
Not from the keyboard—but from me.
Notes led to notes, one after another. With every key press, the weight on my heart crumbled away.
「Iroha, that’s amazing! What is this song?」
The melody I pulled free was one I’d hidden deep in my memories—from when I still loved music.
「La… lala… no one can stop—can’t help but—sing—」
Kaguya sang along instantly. Catching the rhythm, feeling the melody, improvising lyrics.
What a beautiful voice.
A voice that felt like spring wind through my heart.
「Yay!」
Before I realized it, I’d played the whole song. Goosebumps ran over my body. My hands were still shaking—not from fear, but excitement.
For the first time in ages, I truly had fun playing.
「This is insane! You wrote this, Iroha?!」
She jumped around, clapping, eyes shining.
「Be my producer!」
She finished with a graceful spin and dropped a bomb.
「Huh? Producer? Why?」
「Because! The current Yachiyo Cup leader is a three-person group! That’s cheating! I’m alone and only ranked eight-thousand-something!」
She showed me the rankings. She was 8,910th.
「So let’s do it together! If I sing your songs, it’ll totally blow up! A legend starts in this ugly apartment!」
Don’t call it ugly.
「Impossible. Composing takes time—」
—Actually… rearranging old songs might be doable. And it’s fun.
The moment I wavered, it was over.
「Please, Iroha. I don’t want this to end… I want a happy ending… okay?」
Tearful eyes. Sniffling. Hands clenched. A flawless “pitiful girl” act.
…That’s cheating, you know?
Absolutely not! I won’t fall for that! You said you wouldn’t interfere!
But—
「Just a little… is fine」
Those were the only losing words my already-KO’d mouth could manage.
※
And that’s when Kaguya’s quick rise began.
She knew nothing about streaming. So she did everything that came to mind—without hesitation, without embarrassment, without fear of being unoriginal.
「This dance is cute! Kaguya’s gonna try it♪」
Instant execution.
Makeup tutorials. Food reviews. Advice streams imitating Yachiyo.
No hesitation—that was Kaguya’s way.
Mom once said the biggest barrier to dreams isn’t lack of talent, but lack of initiative.
Whether that’s true or not—
「Today’s a surprise singing stream! New outfit! New song! Choreography’s not even done but whatever!」
For Kaguya, there were no walls.
And so, while studying and part-time work were slowly invaded, the 『Kaguya・IroP』 streams climbed steadily.
By mid–summer break, they reached rank 280.
Still—
「Not enough! What do I doooo?!」
The greedy princess wasn’t satisfied at all.
Rolling around on a beach mat, loudly expressing dissatisfaction.
We were at the beach—Kaguya, Roka, Mami, and me.
Sun, waves, laughter, normal stupid conversations.
Summer felt… good.
And the alien, as always, was completely absorbed in whatever she wanted to do right in front of her.
※
With backing from two popular influencers, the attention on Kaguya・Iro-P skyrocketed.
That said, all I did was go back to my usual days of studying and working part-time.
Kaguya, on the other hand, seemed to have her streaming motivation cranked to max, and started uploading at an even faster pace than before—actually eating absurdly spicy food, one-bite ehō-maki¹ challenges, firing a homemade plastic-bottle bazooka…
Why is it always weird videos with you?
If I asked something normal like, “Why don’t you just do a singing stream?” then that’d be my loss.
「Then Iroha, you play for me?」
That’s exactly what she’d say. But even if I stayed quiet, stayed quiet—
「Iroha, dinner tonight is beef stew! A-and by the way, if you play the supporting music for thirty minutes on tomorrow’s singing stream, I’ll upgrade it to beef tongue stew simmered for one hundred and fifty hours… so what’ll it be?」
—she’d pull out deals that no human could possibly refuse, which is the problem.
Also, if it takes 150 hours, that’s definitely not making it in time for today’s dinner!
Seriously, for an alien, hasn’t she blended in a little too well?
There’s no way a Princess Kaguya this extroverted should exist.
「Everyoneee, today’s singing stream will have Iro-P playing for us for the first time in a while! If the vibes get high enough, I might take off the costume, so hype it up properly, okay~！」
Don’t just throw in random MC lines like that. I am absolutely not taking it off.
Well, playing along with Kaguya’s singing is fun… but still, entertainment just doesn’t suit me. Watching her sing from the sidelines, supporting her behind the scenes—that feels just right.
「Everyone, do you like Kaguyaaa??」
Kaguya was dazzling.
Even among the glittering Tsukuyomi, she shined brighter than anyone else, entertaining and captivating everyone who saw her. I’d never say this to her face, but I honestly think she was born to be an idol.
Every now and then, our eyes would meet, and—
「Iroha, what do you feel like eating today?」
Focus. Hey—your timing after the interlude is off.
「Ehehe, oops☆ Maybe that makes it a legendary stream?」
──She’s really unfair.
By the way, as for Roka and Mami, they seem to have been completely absorbed into Kaguya’s orbit. The three of them get together and stream games nonstop. Of course, Kaguya knows absolutely nothing about games, so—
「Rokaaa~ Mamiii~ teach me~」
That’s how it goes.
Maybe she didn’t ask me because she was being considerate in her own way. I appreciate it and focus on my studies—but we are living together in a one-room apartment, so there’s no way I won’t hear the stream.
「What’s hot right now is definitely 『KASSEN』! It’s a game you can play in Tsukuyomi, and there’s also a mode called KASSEN where it’s a seven-on-seven battle royale! Today we’re doing the SENGOKU mode, which is basically territory control—and, uh, whoa, sorry, I died」
…Wait, are they explaining while playing? That’s not that kind of game, you know.
「Ahー, me too」
「Huh, even you, Roka?」
Told you so.
Well, it’s got nothing to do with me.
「This is bad, this is bad! Isn’t this cheating? There’s only Kaguya on our side! Whoa—this is hell. I can’t breathe. What button is this? Which one’s attack? Which one’s attack? Tell me! Something came out! Whoa—I won」
You won?!
That’s way too random.
「Ooooh!」
「Kaguya-chan’s talented!」
Stop spoiling her already.
Well, still not my problem.
Since it wasn’t my problem, the next day I beat my sleepiness to death with an energy drink and buried myself in studying, when—
「Iroha! Help me!」
She suddenly hugged me from behind and scared me half to death. What is it now?!
「At this rate, Kaguya’s going to have to get married」
What happened in the few minutes I looked away?
「I was doing a creative cooking stream, I think? But then marriage proposals started flooding in, and it was annoying, so I said, ‘If you win at a game, sure,’ and now I’m getting totally cornered. Iroha, fight for me~」
No, that escalated way too fast.
「Nope.」
「It’s 『SETSUNA』！」
KASSEN’s one-on-one fighting game mode. A duel where the first to take two health bars wins.
「I lost one round instantly, and the second is—ah, I’m about to die」
「You’re in a match right now?!」
Crap—I grabbed the controller without thinking.
No, this isn’t because I want to stop Kaguya from getting married. It’s just my gamer spirit refusing to tolerate neglect, that’s all—
「Iroha, did you say something?」
「I didn’t say anything! Take this—sixty-eight hits!」
Iro-P crushed the viewers with an overwhelming twenty-eight-win streak, sparked a small controversy, and closed out the chatting stream.
Alright. Back to studying. If you’ve got complaints, come at me anytime.
And while all this chaos was going on, Kaguya・Iro-P steadily climbed the temporary rankings of the Yachiyo Cup. Along with that came—
「Uhehehehe, so much fuju~ uhehe~」
—the generous offerings from fans.
Furthermore, fuju~ is detected via SmaCons by monitoring users’ pulse and brainwaves, and if their emotions are judged to have shifted positively, the platform pays out accordingly. Which means she’s moved that many hearts…
「Uhehehe, gold coins everywhere~」
She’s getting way too full of herself, this alien.
「Listen, Kaguya. This kind of money is short-lived—just like water」
I tried to warn her, but—
「But it’s legal, riiight~~？」
It is, but it still ticks me off.
「At least clean the room」
I really want her to do something about the ever-increasing pile of streaming junk. The four-and-a-half-tatami apartment doesn’t even have room to stand—barely any room to breathe.
「Eeeh, impossible~ This room’s way too small. Let’s move! I found a really nice place」
「You’re serious about that…?」
「Totally! Oh—but before that—it’s time, Iroha」
「…Yeah」
I know. Of course I do.
I mean, it’s basically all I’ve been thinking about for hours.
「First—big cleanup! Hyahhh!」
Kaguya shoved the junk against the wall like a bulldozer, somehow clearing space for the two of us, then flashed me a peace sign. That’s not cleaning, you know.
After that, she changed into comfortable clothes, stretched, did vocal warm-ups, and fired herself up with a mysterious dance before—
「Alright, let’s go, Iroha」
She smiled like she couldn’t be happier.
Today is Kaguya’s very first solo concert.
Not a usual singing stream, but a real concert—booking a live house inside Tsukuyomi, advertising it, hiring staff, and bringing in an audience.
「…Am I really going too?」
The accompanist was Kaguya’s wish—Iro-P.
She said I could wear the costume, and I’d get properly paid, so I took the day off work—but still, was I really the right person to stand beside her on such an important first stage?
As if melting away my doubts, Kaguya’s smile grew even brighter.
「Come on. I-ro-ha!」
She pulled out a scissors gesture like she was trying to blind me. Hesitantly, I held out my own scissors, touched fingers, then hooked them together—Fox Kiss. A hand sign Kaguya invented. To remember it:
「Peace~ then snip~ then—kon!」
That’s how.
「Kaguya and Iroha’s greetings. For best friends♡」
She said, It was embarrassing—but my nerves eased just a little.
Holding hands, we dove into Tsukuyomi together. When I opened my eyes, the familiar InuDOGE greeted us energetically.
How far is Kaguya going to go?
And why am I walking beside her?
「Five seconds to go!」
The staff’s signal rang out.
The curtain rises.
Enthusiasm rushes in.
I felt like I caught a glimpse of just a tiny fragment of the world Yachiyo sees.
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