The Guy Who Messed Up Is Gradually Doing His Best

“Hey, Notsuchi. This is.”

“Yeah. Taketo, right?”

I’m Oshii Nochi. Since I got my part-time job salary this month, I came to the nearby men’s clothing store to buy some clothes for my favorite netTuber, Kazuya-sama…

I was surprised to see a poster at the entrance of that specialty store with Gouda Taketo as the model. It’s super cool. I want this poster.

I look at Kokoro, she is also staring at Taketo-sama’s poster with a greedy look in her eyes.

I can’t believe it, but this cool person is my classmate and in the same class as me. He’s the closest man to me right now. But he’s also the farthest away.

——I shouldn’t have done something like that.

Even now, if I close my eyes, I remember. Even if I don’t want to remember, it comes back to me. No matter how much it was for my favorite, what a foolish thing I did.

————

——”Kokoro! I found a super cool guy on the internet!”

—— “It’s Sawakaze Kazuya, right?”

—— “Yes, yes, Kazuya-sama. I immediately subscribed to the channel.”

——”Hehe, me too.”

——”Oh, I see. Is that so?”

——”Hehehe.”

—— “Ah, yesterday’s livestream with Kazuya-sama was the best!”

—— “Yeah. You’re really kind, Kazuya-kun. Most guys are so arrogant and self-centered, but you made me swoon.”

—— “I don’t think I can handle other guys anymore. I really like Kazuya-sama. I could watch Kazuya-sama for hours and hours~”

——”Yeah, yeah. Me too.”

—— “Kokoro! Kokoro! I heard Kazuya-sama’s song! You heard it too, right? He wrote and composed it himself. I was so moved that I cried.”

——”Notsuchi too. Actually, so do I. When I hear that singing voice~”

—— “Ah, I wish he would sell it. If he did, I would definitely buy it.”

——”Of course, I’ll buy it too.”

—— “Well then, let’s start working part-time now and save some money. If it gets this popular, they’ll definitely sell it.”

——”Yeah.”

——”Gouda Taketo! Who does he think he is? Telling our Kazuya-sama not to get cocky, huh? You’re the one who shouldn’t get cocky!”

—— “Exactly. Compared to Kazuya-kun, you’re like night and day. Look in the mirror.”

—— “Ah! Remembering it just makes me even angrier! At this rate, I’m going to cancel his registration!”

—— “Ah, I’ve been doing it for ages, and by the way, that guy’s subscriber count is insane right now, it’s hilarious.”

—— “Huh, let me see, ahaha. What’s this, so funny~. Okay, I’ll join in too.”

——”Gouda Taketo, what’s up with that guy, his address got leaked lol. Serves him right for hurting our Kazuya-sama. Sucks to be him.”

—— “Ahaha, wow, Notsuchi, look at this. This is hilarious, some exposure netTuber is getting stoned, lol.”

——”Livestream!? Ahaha, it’s your fault for insulting Kazuya-sama. You got what you deserved.”

——”Notsuchi. The teachers said so too, and they said it would be bad if we got caught.”

—— “It’s revenge for insulting Kazuya-sama. It’s our favorite. We have to do it too.”

——”I…”

——”You don’t have to worry. I’m devoted to Kazuya-sama.”

——”Fine. I get it. I’ll do it too.”

——”Kokoro, are you going to throw that for Kazuya-sama again today?”

——”Of course I’ll go.”

——”Kokoro, shall we go throw that again today?”

—— “Of course”

——”Kokoro, shall we go?”

——”Let’s go”

——”Kokoro, we’re going today too~”

—— “Sure thing~”

—— “Gouda Taketo has fallen too far, and I’ve kind of lost my motivation.”

—— “Yeah, I’m already bored. Rather than that guy, I want to buy clothes for Kazuya-sama, so come with me.”

——”Clothes for Kazuya-kun?”

——”Hey, wouldn’t it be awesome if you wore the clothes we gave you and made a video on netTube?”

—— “Oh, Notsuchi, that’s nice. I’ll do it too.”

—— “Right? It seems that Kazuya-sama has set up a personal office, and since the address is listed there, let’s decide together and send it there.”

——”Yeah.”

——”Hey, hey Kokoro! Did you see Kazuya-sama yesterday? He was super cool!”

——”Hmm, Notsuchi. Good morning! It was the one where Kazuya-sama was dancing, right? Of course, I saw it!”

————————

Currently, the account of the exposed netTuber who most shamelessly mocked and did whatever they wanted to has been deleted.

Because they were hated by people everywhere, it became rumored that someone complained and they got banned. Also, there were whispers that they got caught by the police…

“Let’s go inside, Kokoro.”

“Uh, um, yeah.”

If I stand in front of the store without going in, they’ll think I’m suspicious. I actually intended to buy it at the shopping mall I usually go to, but… could I somehow do something about the poster of Gouda-sama?

“Wow~”

“Taketo-kun’s poster…”

There are lots of posters inside with Taketo-sama as the model. It seems there was more than just the one outside. Nice. Oh, but since there are so many, I kind of hope I can get at least one.

Of course, if asked who my favorite netTuber is even now, I would answer Sawakaze Kazuya.

But if I try to consciously think of him as the opposite sex, it inevitably becomes the nearby man. In other words, he became my classmate, Taketo-sama.

It’s a selfish thing to say, but I’m really worried about Taketo-sama right now.

It seems like Kokoro is the same. Two days ago, Taketo-sama came to school and received a bento from another girl, but actually, we had made bentos and brought them too.

But I couldn’t get close. Everyone is watching. They think, “You’re different.” We didn’t listen to the teacher’s warnings, threw stones, and bragged about it like it was a great feat. It’s true, and everyone we invited resents us for it. But my heart is honest.

Because he is completely different from the arrogant persona he showed on netTube. It’s not just that he looks different because he’s lost weight, but also the atmosphere he exudes, the way he interacts with girls, and his choice of words. The way he looks at people, everything is different.

He must have been acting when he appeared on netTube. The real him is who he is now. I understand that now.

That kind of guy…

I shake my head as if to dispel the dark, sinking thoughts. And what comes to mind is…

——That time he was playing basketball was incredibly cool.

Every time he did a jump shot, his toned abs would peek out, and it was sexy. I almost ended up with a nosebleed like the teacher.

“Welcome. Are you looking for something?”

While I was looking at the samurai posters with Kokoro, a beautiful shop assistant who looked like a model called out to us.

“Um… because he was my classmate…”

Kokoro is nodding along next to me.

“Oh, is that so? Hehe. What Taketo-kun is wearing is from my newly launched brand ‘Motivate.’ Pretty nice, right? Of course, there are other brands too, so take your time to look around.”

As soon as she said that, the clerk seemed like they were about to head back to the register, so I hurriedly called out to them.

Because even the customers who came in later are flocking to the Taketo-sama poster. No way, that poster is ours.

“Um, um!”

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

“Um, could I please have one of those posters?”

It’s unrelated to clothes, but I said it anyway.

“Ah, I want one too.”

“Hmm, these posters here are not for sale.”

The store clerk apologized, saying “I’m sorry.” After that, after negotiating and negotiating, I bought two sets of clothes and got one poster each.

I will send one outfit to Kazuya-sama along with Kokoro. Attach a simple message saying, “We always support you.”

And then, one more outfit is for you, Taketo-sama. I really want to apologize. I want to tell the truth. But I can’t. I’m too scared to say it. If I do, he’ll definitely hate me. I don’t want that. So at least…

————

Ding dong!

“Who is this?”

“Package delivery!”

Huh, something arrived, but did I order something? With a question mark floating in my mind, I received the package and quickly checked inside.

“Two outfits? I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before… but they’re cool. Hmm, a message? What does it say? ‘We always support you.'”

——…

Scary. What do they mean by “We always support you”? It’s terrifying. Just when I thought that another message popped up.

“Ah, ‘do your best,’ huh? I see, I see. They’re talking about appearing in a netTubers video. I was surprised.”