Vol 1 Chapter 32 – In the Middle of “No Hands”【Vol 1 – Turning Point】

After breakfast, during the morning. Usually, it’s time for song practice. We start with MalumDiva and play various songs while chatting. But today, I can’t even play the guitar—my hands are stuck inside a leather bag.

“Since we haven’t done the morning check, let’s start with that.”

That, too, had to be handled by Michiru-san.

“Ah, um… now that I think of it, I haven’t checked Tsubuyaitter yet.”

Checking Tsubuyaitter is part of a VTuber’s job—I simply can’t skip it. Even if Michiru-san sees my Tsubuyaitter, there’s no problem at all.

After all, Michi Mama and Akiba Rin are mutual followers, so everything is always completely exposed.

“Hey, you’re using formal language again.”

“Ah, sorry…”

The moment I let my guard down, I slip back into formal speech. Up until middle school I had friends and could speak casually. But once high school began, the differences in build became so pronounced that I couldn’t see my classmates as equals anymore. It might sound harsh, but I was actually scared of them. I mean, some were over 180 centimeters tall—and there was a 42-centimeter difference between us. Because of that, formal speech became ingrained in me.

“Then, let’s try that again!”

Inside my head, I forced myself to strip away the formal language—erasing all the “desu” and “masu”—and reassemble my words.

“Can you check Tsubuyaitter for me?”

After much thought, those were the words that emerged. It was incredibly embarrassing.

“Sure, of course!”

Saying that, Michiru-san booted up the computer she had lent me.

When I launched the Tsubuyaitter app, the notification count was, as expected, over a thousand. Most were alerts saying “you have been followed.”

But there were also notifications for direct messages.

“Ah, there’s a direct message from Tei-kun…”

“Yeah, I wonder what it is?”

Even though it was challenging, I somehow managed to speak casually.

Michiru-san was operating the computer while I just watched.

“Um… ‘To Rin-kun… This is Teikuni. The new song for the Akihaba family is complete. I’m sending you the sheet music for your part along with the backing track. If you’d like, please give it a try’—that’s what it said.”

Michiru-san read the email aloud. Teikuni’s very polite language made me feel reassured.

“I had heard ‘pirate’ and thought he’d be a much scarier person…”

After all, in my mind, pirates were those wielding scimitars and trumpet guns. But Teikuni’s icon showed a burly, scruffy-bearded man holding a short shotgun and a combat knife. It was as if someone had taken the classic pirate weapons from the Caribbean and replaced them with modern ones. Plus, the ship he was on looked unmistakably like a contemporary warship—it was almost laughable.

“Tei-kun is just an ordinarily kind older brother when he’s not on air. But on his broadcasts, he’s a pirate!”

That made him a little different from Ryu-san—and it was quite amusing.

“Anyway, I’d really love to listen!”

“Then, I’ll put your headphones on!”

When I said that, Michiru-san placed a pair of headphones on me. After that, she put on her own.

The video was set to unlisted on YouTube, and when I clicked the URL, the music immediately began to play.

It was a beautiful melody that made the scenery seem transformed. I could almost see a vision of a ship’s captain perched on deck and crew members gathered around a barrel brimming with alcohol. Layering that with the notes from my sheet music, I truly became the pirate songstress. Singing—and even dancing—right next to the barrel was my role…

Only the vocals for the captain’s part had been recorded; I suspect that was Teikuni’s voice. Strangely enough, even though it didn’t initially sound like Japanese, a closer listen revealed that the lyrics were indeed in Japanese. Still, the expression was so beautiful and the skill so impeccable that I was completely astonished.

“You’re as consistent as ever… It really is an uplifting sailor’s song…”

If Michiru-san says so, she must always be creating such refreshing tunes—a musical talent distinctly different from Ryu-san’s. It was truly brilliant.

“But, but… can I really handle a part like this?”

Standing next to the barrel around which everyone gathered meant I had to stand at the very center, singing. In other words, this song casts me as the lead.

It’s a song that starts with the captain’s rousing call, followed by the songstress’s performance, then rounds of call and response with the crew. It feels like a conversation, and it’s incredibly fun.

“I can do it! After all, even MalumDiva is one hell of a challenging song!”

“The difficulty is in a completely different league…I mean, MalumDiva is challenging as a song. But this—it’s more like performance art…”

It’s a bit of a struggle to cobble together casual speech like this.

“Hmm. But we won’t know until we try, right? So, let’s head to the soundproof room!”

With that, Michiru-san led me to the soundproof room.

As a piece of music, it was infinitely easier to sing than MalumDiva. Yet because of its performative demands, I knew I would be tormented by it for an entire month.