Vol 1 Chapter 73 – The Akihaba Mythos【Vol 1 – Turning Point】

The days that followed were very peaceful. Four months had passed since my debut, and though it had been very busy, things felt like they had calmed down a bit. The time I spent just relaxing with Mama also increased. Our conversations increased, too.

My daily routine begins with turning down Ryo.

From there, the financial compensation aspects, like the percentage of the singing royalties, are listed in detail. Incidentally, it’s 4%. Apparently, singing royalties are normally 1 to 3%. Considering that, I can tell Ryo is trying to bring me into his agency even if he has to stretch his budget a bit.

The moment I send that, my phone rings. I gave Ryo my phone number.

The reason I’m refusing has nothing to do with money.

“As long as you call me ‘Rin-chan,’ Ryo, I will never join! I’m your actual older brother, you know?! If you were a healthy brocon, I could forgive it! But you look at me with those kinds of eyes, don’t you, Ryo!”

“I just don’t know what you’re saying anymore, Ryo! Anyway, as long as you don’t stop that, I will absolutely not join your agency!”

Saying that, I hung up on him.

I’ve been doing this every day recently.

But, to put it another way, it means I intend to join if he stops. Because Ryo is an important little brother to me. I’m a bit of a brocon myself, too. Though my orientation is a healthy one.

So, the fact that Ryo needs me makes me happy in itself.

The reason I haven’t cut ties with him, even after being told things like this, is because I love Ryo.

“Haaah, I wish the Ryo I know would come back soon…”

I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling.

“You’ve had a long day, Rin-kun… I wonder what’s gotten into Ryo-kun?”

Suddenly, I thought that maybe it was a mistake to think of it as him “returning.” Elementary school is the period when the concept of romance begins to bud. A precocious kid will start to explore the idea of a relationship between a boy and a girl around that time. And then they play at being boyfriend and girlfriend. Ryo had been looking at me with those kinds of eyes since back then. So, it came along with his awakening to romantic feelings. In other words, he’s been like that from the start.

“Ryo… Why did he become so creepy…”

No matter how much I like Ryo, it’s brotherly love, so I don’t want to let it develop into playing boyfriend and girlfriend. In the first place, I’m not a girl. If he’s going to get a girlfriend, I want it to be a girl.

“But you’re not pushing him away, are you?”

“Yeah. Even as he is, he’s a really, really important little brother to me.”

He really is important. Because, when I just wouldn’t grow up, the only one who ever gave me any affection was Ryo. So, I don’t think the fact that I love him will ever change, no matter what he does.

“Fufu, your love runs deep too, Rin-kun!”

“Not as deep as yours, Mama!”

Besides, if I’m being honest, right now, I like Mama more than Ryo. I don’t even want to think about a situation where I’d have to choose, but if it came to that, I’d probably choose Mama.

That’s when I had an idea.

“Mama, would you pretend to be my girlfriend?”

Having said it, I became incredibly nervous.

“Okay! Then, first up is a date!”

But my offer was accepted so easily. And Mama, fired up, began preparing for our date.

But why is it that, no matter how I look at it, her preparations look like she’s getting ready to go to the hospital…?

“Huh? You don’t find it weird? You’re my Mama, right?”

“Mmm. While I am a Mama, I’m also an Onee-chan, you know?”

Anyway, that was bothering me, so I asked about it first.

The answer that came back was one that took advantage of the contradiction born from treating a VTuber’s Mama as a real Mama. Mama is actually the third VTuber of the Akihaba family. She has two older brothers. Mama was born from Mama. Birthing yourself is something I think could truly only happen in the world of VTubers.

“Ahaha, I don’t even get it anymore!”

Because the family structure is just too complex. You can’t make it into a real-life story.

“In the beginning, the mother had no body. She gave birth to two children, and upon seeing them, she desired a body, and so gave birth to her own. It’s kind of like a myth, isn’t it?”

“Like an Akihaba myth?”

“Yep, someone wrote this on my fan thread. The Akihaba Mythos, they call it!”

“Ahaha! Then the Akihaba clan are all gods!”

But I do think it’s a mystical story.

“By the way, what’s the title of your fan thread, Mama?”

My fan threads call me a songstress, a monster, a block of talent, and so on.

“It’s called the Akihaba Mythos thread?!”

“Your name isn’t even in it!”

I said, and laughed. But it seems that is, without a doubt, Mama’s fan thread. I took a peek later, and on 7chan, Mama has been deified. That’s because, if you include her viewers, she is the Mama to far too many people.

There, Mama was said to be the incarnation of Izanami in this world.