Vol 1 Chapter 25 – Ryu’s Invitation【Vol 1 – Turning Point】

Because I ended up blurting out “I love you” to her face, both the night and the morning were pure hell. It was embarrassing enough, especially since there’s only one bed. When I tried sleeping on the sofa, I got an immediate and forceful rebuff.

And then, morning…

Both Michiru-san and I start our day by checking on everything that happened during the night. Being a VTuber means that information itself is a powerful tool. I use my computer while Michiru-san checks on her smartphone.

I do want a smartphone too, but that’s a luxury for when my income stabilizes.

As soon as I booted up my computer, I tweeted a “good morning” to my fans on Tsubuyaitter. That’s when I noticed a notification for a direct message.

On Tsubuyaitter, there’s a whitelist for notifications that had been added without my knowledge. So far, the only name on that whitelist is Ryu-san.

In other words, that direct message was from Ryu-san.

“Hey, Rin! I’ve got a proposition for you—how about we team up for Natsumake? I’m planning to start a music circle. By the way, everyone who sent in their COSMOS accompaniment data is getting an invite. Honestly, with you on board, world domination is practically guaranteed.”

That was the content of the direct message. “Natsumake” is the Manga Market, a doujinshi event held twice a year at the Tokyo Triangle Site. I’d always thought about attending one day, but I never expected to receive an invitation to join a circle.

It’s mid-April now, and Natsumake is scheduled for mid-August—exactly four months away. If I work hard, I should be able to finish about four songs, or five if I include MalumDiva. That would make for an acceptable album.

“Um, Mama…”

I immediately showed Michiru-san that direct message.

“What’s up?”

She leaned over, eyes bright with interest, to glance at my computer screen.

“I’m saying…I want to take part in Natsumake!”

I anxiously waited as she read the message.

“What about the vendor roles… are those outsourced? And can Mama apply too?”

Even though she didn’t say it outright, I understood that she was giving her blessing.

“Eh!? You’re coming with me!?”

More than that, I was overjoyed to hear that Michiru-san would be coming along.

“Of course! Mama wants nothing more than to see Rin-kun shine up close!”

It was so embarrassing—it felt as though she was declaring our Natsumake participation a guaranteed success.

No, I think it really will succeed. Whenever Michiru-san says something will work out, she’s never been wrong.

“Ehehe… thank you. By the way, are the vendor roles outsourced?”

“Yeah, it’s because Tachibana-chan is a bit awkward with people…”

I did get that impression when we met in person. Tachibana-chan and Ryu-san are complete opposites, it seems.

“Right… which means Tachibana-chan isn’t going to be at Natsumake proper, is she?”

“Yeah. You know how Tachibana-chan has those ridiculously huge breasts? That’s her complex.”

Tachibana-chan’s bust is on an almost unbelievable level. They say men in general love big breasts, and I’m sure that’s contributed to her having a hard time…

“Why do guys love breasts so much…?”

“Eh?”

I suddenly realized that my mumbled words had slipped out, and I hastily tried to cover it up.

“Ah! No! It’s nothing!”

After that, I took the opportunity to sort through my direct messages. Most of them were from music-related companies—as usual.

But there were also messages from fans. One, sent by Dedede-san, read as follows:

『To Rin-kun. I’ve compiled a bunch of videos featuring clips of Full Moon, along with ear-copy and cover versions: https://www.utube.com/playlist?list=manngetulist』

Full Moon doesn’t really matter to me anymore. It was a song for Michiru-san, and its purpose has already been fulfilled. I will sing it if Michiru-san wishes, but I have no intention of doing it for anyone else. So I plan to just leave the clips as they are, without filing any takedown notices.

Also, most of the ear-copy videos turned out to be multi-track recordings. Osio-san mentioned that it was difficult—and it wasn’t really meant to be done as a guitar solo anyway.

“Alright, it’s about time! Let’s get some food!”

I stick to a strict schedule for checking these kinds of updates. Michiru-san and I get up at 7:00 AM, and breakfast starts at 8:00 AM; otherwise, we’d end up wasting all our time.

“Okay!”

Breakfast was Egg Benedict—a dish I’m amazed I can actually make, and it was really delicious.