The next morning, it was Saturday.
Walking through the sparsely populated campus, I arrived at the lab, which was empty as usual, and as I started organizing the scattered documents, I recalled my exchange with the Professor last night.
Despite the limited hours an undergraduate student can work on campus, the reason I’m here working without pay on a holiday isn’t because I’m diligent, but simply because if I left this place alone, the Professor would create a jungle with no place to step. It’s my style not to push tasks to the next week.
There was also the fact that I had time to kill until my other part-time job in the afternoon.
That job is just a stone’s throw away from the lab, so it was on the way.
“Eeeh, I have to pose again…? Everyone’s being so pushy right after my return! But since it’s my first stream in a while, I’ll give a little something extra for everyone who came!”
I kept my hands moving while taking in the high-pitched voice flowing through the lab with my eardrums.
No matter how many times I tidy up, it’s back to this state by morning.
It’s honestly disheartening, but I’ve already given up…
The Professor apparently has a magazine interview this morning.
Or rather, that means the Professor has been cooped up here working since last night.
Seriously, when does she sleep…?
Isn’t she shortening her lifespan too much…?
After that incident, we went to the police station, explained the reasons for the arrest and other things, and after finishing all the procedures, we were told the details about Mayuki-kun’s stalker, and various things came to light.
By the way, this was information that normally couldn’t be released, but we got it privately through the Professor’s connections… that’s how it went.
It’s difficult to get the police organization to move for a case that may or may not happen, but apparently, it’s a different story after a culprit has been arrested red-handed.
It’s in moments like these that I realize the power of the name Shirasagi Reika.
The stalker was, just as Mayuki-kun had said, his homeroom teacher.
To be precise, he was an art teacher at Yamabuki University Affiliated High School.
The culprit stated that due to being bullied by girls in his student days, he developed a distrust of women, and eventually, his sexual preferences became warped, to the point where he could only get excited by boys with feminine faces. I think that in itself is pitiful, but that doesn’t mean his actions this time can be forgiven.
He tried to contact Mayuki-kun using the direct message function on RootSpeak, but when there was no response, he mistakenly thought he was being ignored, flew into a rage, and resorted to things like secret photography and putting things in his mailbox.
Friction born from the differences in intergenerational communication due to the spread of SNS.
Coincidentally, that matched the Professor’s analysis.
However, no matter the reason, the fact that a teacher terrified a student does not disappear.
Every time I recall Mayuki-kun with tears in his eyes, my anger towards the stalker resurfaces.
“Heave, ho…”
I dispose of the paper scraps accumulated in the shredder, finish sweeping up the dust bunnies rolling on the floor, and take a breath.
“My type of woman…? An attractive person, I guess.”
To lift my spirits even a little, I listen to the lab’s wireless speaker.
As usual, what’s playing at high volume is Kamimura Mayu-chan’s free talk segment.
I see, so his type is an “attractive person.”
A person more attractive than Mayu-chan. Someone like that barely exists. It’s a checkmate…
While thinking that, just as I thought “Alright, that’s done, maybe I’ll make some coffee…”, the ill-fitting lab door rattled open.
“I’m back… Oh. It’s gotten quite clean, hasn’t it.”
“It didn’t ‘get clean’, you just made it dirty, Professor. Please use it while keeping it clean.”
“Everyone has things they’re good or bad at.”
“I’d rather not hear that from the person who makes the mess…”
The Professor, parrying my words, starts taking off the suit she was wearing.
“Oh, I thought for sure Mayuki-kun was here… but it’s just you, Himari?”
“Huh? It’s been just me from the start… Why Mayuki-kun?”
“Last night, as we were parting, I invited him to ‘come visit anytime from now on.’ He seemed relieved and said he would come to thank us right after he finished explaining everything to the police. When I told him the lab is open even on Saturdays, he said he would come tomorrow.”
“Is this the finest play of the year!?”
I threw aside the broom I was holding and raised a triumphant fist pump high in the air.
The thought that I might be able to see Mayuki-kun again made my joy show on my face.
“Isn’t it about time he arrived?”
“An urgent matter!?”
Which means I have to finish cleaning up quickly.
I grabbed the broom I had thrown aside again.
“Besides, I heard a voice. I see, it was the speaker.”
“Ah, sorry for using it without permission.”
As I tried to disconnect it, the Professor said, “No problem.”
She came over to my side and peeked at my smartphone.
On the screen, the “cutest crossdressing streamer ever” was smiling.
“Older or younger? No no, it’d be bad if someone my age said they like younger people!”
The Professor, seeing the smile on the screen, said this without changing her tone of voice at all.
“Fumu. Good to see Mayuki-kun is doing well.”
“…Pardon?”
Not understanding what the Professor was saying, I glanced at her profile.
“What, you haven’t realized yet?”
The Professor then looked at me with an expression of genuine surprise.
“Nakamura Mayuki-kun and the streamer ‘Kamimura Mayu’ are the same person, you know?”
“…Huhh?”
Pardon?
What do you mean?
As I stood frozen with my mouth agape, the Professor delivered the finishing blow.
“There’s a two-shot of you and him up on his RootSpeak, isn’t there?”
“What did you say…?”
“Why don’t you know?”
I immediately switched the stream to background playback, logged into the account I had completely neglected, and navigated to the official account of ‘Kamimura Mayu’.
“It’s true, it’s posted… It says, ‘First time with no makeup now. On a date with senpai’…”
“I tell you all the time, don’t I? To always keep an eye on influencers’ SNS. In the first place, don’t you check the accounts of streamers you like as a hobby?”
“I was tired yesterday, so I went home and fell asleep right away…”
I groaned at the Professor’s point and looked at my phone again.
My brain still hadn’t quite caught up with reality.
The photo, which had an incredible number of mentions, was definitely one of the 80 shots we took in rapid succession at the cafe. The number of likes and shares was also insane.
My… the two-shot of me and Mayuki-kun… is being seen by a ridiculous number of people…
Wringing out my brain, which felt like it was about to burn out from panic, I inadvertently raised my voice.
“P-Professor, you knew!?”
“Of course. He’s a prominent influencer with 800,000 subscribers on various streaming sites and 200,000 followers on RootSpeak. Naturally, he’s a subject of my research.”
“B-But, his voice and everything was completely different…”
“Well, when you’re that cornered, your voice tone is bound to drop.”
‘Kamimura Mayu’s’ streams are lively with a neutral, high-pitched tone.
Mayuki-kun at that time was frightened from beginning to end, and there were no scenes where he raised his voice, but…
Not convinced, I pressed closer to the Professor, who had an innocent look on her face.
“When did you realize!?”
“When? It was from the very beginning. He himself has stated that he attends a high school within the prefecture. From the fact that his usual streaming times are from evening to late night, it was certain he was in a full-day school, and despite being someone who streams year-round, he takes breaks for three periods a year, totaling about six weeks. In other words, his high school has a trimester system, and it’s likely those break periods are for tests.”
“It’s true, I did think it was strange that there were periods where he’d suddenly take a break…”
“Because about the only full-day school in the prefecture that still uses a trimester system is Yamabuki Affiliated. Oh, and also, it caught my attention that when he was showing his closet in a past video, there were no blazers or gakuran-style uniforms to be seen. Yamabuki Affiliated High School allows students to wear their own clothes.”
“Just in case, I confirmed it while you were out shopping,” the Professor says.
I wish you hadn’t confirmed such important information while I was away!
“Besides, you don’t even need such a roundabout deduction. If you just break down his name, you’d figure it out immediately, wouldn’t you?”
At those words, I finally realized.
Nakamura Mayuki.
If you take the first and last characters.
Kamura Mayu.
“What kind of older person do you like? Hmm, let’s see…”
On the smartphone screen, the crossdressing boy laughs cheerfully.
“A smart person. And, I like strong people. Strength of heart, and physical strength too… Strong people are attractive, right?”
My interactions with Mayuki-kun flash back in my mind.
“Ah… Ah…!”
Hugging the tearful Mayuki-kun.
Taking a two-shot together.
His cute reaction when I whispered in his ear.
And subduing a middle-aged man right in front of him.
All of that was with the influencer I admire, Kamimura Mayu…?
“Aaaaah!?”
My scream echoes through the sparsely populated school building.
My blood felt like it was about to boil, and I instinctively covered my face.
And then, with timing so perfect it seemed planned, the sound of the lab’s sliding door echoed.
“Hello, Reika-san! …And, Himari-san.”
Eyes with thin eyeliner, white skin with foundation blended in.
Glossy lips coated with lustrous lipstick. A small face, unbefitting of a man.
Girls’ fashion that doesn’t feel unnatural.
Standing there was the ‘Kamimura Mayu’ I should have been used to seeing—but was seeing for the first time.
A series of overwhelming shocks hit me, and I couldn’t help but repeatedly open and close my mouth.
What broke the momentary silence was a vibrant voice, completely different from yesterday’s.
“Thanks to you, I was able to stream for the first time in a while! It’s all thanks to you both!”
Thank you, Kamimura Mayu—Nakamura Mayuki-kun—bows his head.
At this surreal sight, I squeezed out a trembling voice.
“Were you really… Kamimura Mayu-chan…?”
“You realized, didn’t you, Himari-san.”
The ‘cutest crossdressing streamer ever’ who had suddenly appeared before me, beamed with the smile he usually only showed on screen, and continued.
“I’m happy… By the way, um. This is sudden, but I… have something I’d like to ask you, Himari-san—”
“W-What… is it…?”
I somehow manage to move the corners of my stiffly frozen mouth, putting life back into my trembling lips as I ask.
The influencer who had jumped out of the screen, without breaking his alluring demeanor.
Uttered words I never could have predicted.
“To you, Himari-san, am I an attractive person?”