Eventually… spring break came to an end.
And the end of spring break means that I’m now a high school senior.
With two weeks having passed, I decided to sneak a glance at my surroundings on the way to school, where the cherry blossoms were blooming brightly.
“Yawn…”
It was early, so there was no one on the path to school. The cool morning breeze wrapped around me quietly, announcing the arrival of spring with the cherry blossoms and the characteristic blue hues of the early morning landscape.
And there I was, walking right in the center of it all, the universe’s number one cute girl JK.
If someone photographed this, wouldn’t it turn out to be an amazing work…?
Lost in such pointless thoughts while walking, the school came into view.
There was no sight of the school discipline committee standing at the school gate or anything like that.
I come so much earlier than them.
I started coming out early because it felt burdensome when everyone’s eyes fell on me as I entered the classroom, but thanks to that, I can say I’ve never been late even once, so it can be considered a good habit.
Passing through the school gate, I soon arrived in front of the classroom.
Click-clack, I heard a sound as I opened the door and stepped inside.
In just a short span of two weeks, there naturally weren’t any major changes.
Our school has the same class and classroom for all three years…
It was just that the number changed from two to three.
But still, as I gazed out the window, I began to feel that something was different.
My last school days.
Of course, I might change my mind later and decide to go to university…but for now, I want to believe that this year is my last.
I feel like that thinking will motivate me to work harder.
Well, even if I try harder right now, how much can I actually do…?
But isn’t this determination to try hard now important?
And I’m sure that by Friday or Saturday, my OnTube channel subscribers will hit 300,000, and I’ll be receiving a gift from Aunt Shia.
I’ve got to work hard so that I won’t be ashamed in front of the channel and my aunt.
“Yeah… let’s do our best…!”
“What’s this ‘let’s do our best’ thing?”
“Gasp?!”
Startled by the voice that came from my ear, I turned around to find Miyauchi tilting her head.
“It’s been a while, Kayanoh!”
“Ah, um… oh, it’s been a while, Miyauchi…”
“So what did your ‘let’s do our best’ mean just now?”
“Well, um… I meant ‘let’s work hard since we’re in 3rd year now’…!”
“I see.”
Miyauchi clapped her hands and smiled at my awkward answer.
“Indeed… we will be graduating soon as well.”
“Ah, there’s still about a year left though.”
“Hehe…”
It was just a common remark, yet for some reason, Miyauchi covered her mouth and chuckled.
“Actually… I never thought this day would come.”
“Huh?”
“I wouldn’t have believed it if my first-year self had been told I would be chatting about such meaningless things with Kayanoh. There’s no way she would’ve accepted that.”
…I couldn’t even imagine it.
Talking to classmates every morning at school, exchanging ‘see you tomorrow’ greetings when going home—such school life was absolutely out of my league.
What was in front of me felt like something gray… something that couldn’t even be called youth.
I thought I’d spend three years not connecting with anyone, living alone as if I weren’t even in the classroom—even while being in the classroom.
It wasn’t scary. I didn’t feel lonely or isolated.
I had already spent over ten years that way, and lived that life in my previous life as well.
But… here I am now.
In Class 3-A of Shiodome Private High School. Kayanoh Mina is here.
“I thought of you as the Ice Princess back in first year…”
…Huh?
“Th-that’s! That was just a nickname Tateyama made up on a whim!”
“Well, that’s true, but the atmosphere back then was indeed like that for Kayanoh.”
“I never was like that….”
“True, it was all a misunderstanding on our part.”
Miyauchi once again smiled softly.
I thought we were having a moment for something touching, so why did it turn out like this…?
As I continued chatting with Miyauchi, suddenly—
“Kayaatchi! Long time no see!”
“Long time no see, Kayanoh!”
“Gah?!”
Someone suddenly hugged me from behind.
With Tateyama waving her hand beside me, it was obviously Onodera.
“Hehehe… Kayanoh, you’re still so small and soft, even after a long time…”
“Eep…!”
“Seriously, you feel just like an uncle…”
I struggled to shake off Onodera, who was casually groping my body here and there, but she didn’t budge.
What is this? I feel like I’ve experienced this recently…
I started to hate my small stature for no reason.
And after about a minute of that, I finally broke free from Onodera.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
“It’s been a while, Kayanoh! It was delicious!”
“D-Don’t say it like I’m food…”
I caught my breath and attempted a timid protest, but Onodera just responded with a smile.
“…We’re already seniors now!”
Ultimately, my protests quietly faded away, and the conversation topic smoothly transitioned.
After all, a loser with communication impairment like me can’t defeat an ultra-popular gal…
★
[Kainoh Izumi☆Star’s Flow @KainoIzumi · 6 min ago]
Starting the 300,000 subscriber endurance stream at 9 PM!!!
Please take care of me!!!
The waiting is over here! >> https://ontu.be/XXXXXXX
★
[【300,000 Endurance Stream】 300,000 is already in sight! So I’ll read MyCarons! Also, there’s a big announcement, so stay tuned!!! #Star’sFlow#KainoIzumi]
-─(≧▽≦)>ZumiZumi!
-─(≧▽≦)>ZumiZumi!
-Already 300,000…
“Hooah…”
Today is Friday.
And today, I will… probably finally hit 300,000 subscribers.
When I initially debuted, I thought, “I’ll probably reach 300,000 subscribers sooner than I think.”
It’s likely influenced by one of my hobbies, web novels, but the most fundamental reason is the VTuber profession.
When I investigated this profession a while ago, there were reports that big corporate VTubers skyrocketed to 500,000 subscribers in just a few days.
Of course, back then, the VTuber market was much larger than it is now, so I know that fact.
But with memories from my previous life, I thought, “Could it be the same for me?”
Well, now I understand how far-fetched that dream was.
And upon realizing how unrealistic that dream was, the number of 300,000 subscribers seemed to take on more significance.
The real-time subscriber count showed 297,381.
To reach 300,000, I needed an additional 2,619 subscribers.
It might seem like a number I could obtain quickly, but I already knew how difficult that would be.
The amount of people needed during the 150,000 subscriber endurance stream was around 9,000, and it took about seven hours.
When looking just at the numbers, it seems like 1/3 of that, but the time wouldn’t drop so significantly.
If you plotted subscriber growth on a graph, it skews more towards a steady decline, despite doing endurance streams.
Initially, during the 150,000 subscriber endurance stream, I had drawn extra attention by falling asleep in the middle of it, making it easier to accomplish.
So I chose tonight, Friday at 9 PM—when I could stay up without any issues.
I chugged down a lot of coffee that I despise, so there was no worry about dozing off.
“Haa…”
With that, I took a final deep breath and started the stream.
“C-Cooonzumi…! The mood-maker, Izumi is here!”
–HaiZumi!
★
I’m so sleepy.
Like, unbelievably sleepy. I drank coffee, so why do I feel this way?
But it’s only just past 1:30 AM.
Of course, this already means I’ve been streaming for over four hours…
-If you’re sleepy, feel free to take a break.
-How about we wrap it up here for today and continue tomorrow.
My supportive Izutomos, who know my usual life patterns, were telling me to take a break, but I quietly shook my head.
“Um… the last time I fell asleep during this, so… this time, I want to go all the way…”
Currently, the real-time subscriber count was 298,659.
1,300? My head felt too fuzzy to do the math quickly, but in any case, just that many more needed to reach 300,000.
-Why not announce the big news now?
-I’m worried you might break down at this rate ~(>_<~)
The ones who usually seem to enjoy tormenting me, in such moments, were genuinely showing concern for me.
That fact made me strangely happy, almost bringing a smile to my face.
“I don’t want to… This announcement… it’s for the 300,000 special… yawn… but first, I’ll get to the next MyCarons…”
[HiZumi!]
[Congrats on hitting 300,000 in advance!]
[Can we get married as a 300,000 special?]
[I’ll prepare the marriage registration forms!]
“I won’t… it’s a crime to want to marry a JK, you know…?”
Even when I keep refusing, these sorts of MyCarons just keep coming in.
There’s no need for this kind of determination in life, you guys…
-Even JK is fine if you have love!
-Ah, Mei-chan may be a JK, but she’s not just a JK!
-No matter how sleepy you are, this kind of thing is to be immediately refused…
“I-I really like you guys… but…”
No matter what, marriage is out of the question.
Yeah. That’s how it is, so you all know, right…?
-Huh?
-?
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
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