The Story About How I Was Fired From My Company and Then Picked up by a Possessive Streamer With Over 5 Million Subscribers - Chapter 122-123

Chapter 122: Hospitalization

“E-Eiji…! Eiji! Wake up, Eiji!!”

After the party-goers left, Eiji lay bleeding from a knife wound, and Rinmei’s desperate cries echoed throughout the building.

Haruka stood frozen, staring at his figure in shock.

(It’s… my fault. I… I brought this on him… on Yusuke…)

Just as her spirit was about to break, the sound of sirens reached her ears from outside. That sound brought her back to her senses.

“This sound…! Rinmei-chan, an ambulance! I’ll go outside and guide them!”

“Eiji! The hospital people are here now! So please… please… don’t die…”

As Rinmei spoke, she pressed a torn piece of her own clothing tightly against the wound to stem the bleeding. Watching this, Haruka sprinted outside to do what she could.

(…Yusuke!)

A few days passed. The case of Rinmei’s disappearance had been reframed as a gang conflict between the notorious Kitsune and Tanuki factions of the underworld.

The main perpetrator behind her kidnapping, the party-goer, was still missing. The police were investigating, believing the suspect was linked to the incident, and were tracking her down.

And now, at the hospital…

“Rinmei-chan…”

“Haruka…?”

Rinmei, who had been rubbing her eyes and stretching to shake off sleepiness, turned toward her.

“Um… how’s Yusuke?”

“…Still unconscious… He hasn’t woken up yet.”

“I see…”

Around Eiji’s hospital bed, not only Rinmei but also Shiina and Sayaka—both with tear-streaked faces—sat holding his hands as they dozed off.

“…Lots of people came. The Abel staff, Eiji’s parents…”

Hearing this, Haruka felt a heavy guilt weighing down on her, and she nearly dropped the bag she was carrying.

“…I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Rinmei-chan…! It’s my fault Yusuke is like this…!”

“…I’ve told you so many times. Haruka, it’s not your fault. The one at fault is… me.”

“Rinmei-chan, you didn’t do anything wrong!!”

Haruka’s voice rang loudly through the hospital. Embarrassed by her outburst, she quickly averted her gaze.

“…This isn’t the time to be saying such things. Wait here; I’ll prepare some food.”

“…Thank you.”

Haruka took out apples from her bag and skillfully began peeling them with a knife.

“…Hey, Haruka.”

“Y-Yes?”

“…Eiji… he’s going to wake up, right?”

The anxiety in her voice was evident, making Haruka pause for a moment.

“He won’t die, right? He’ll cook for us again, right? He’ll listen to lots of songs with us, right? And we’ll… together again… ugh…”

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay, Rinmei-chan… Yusuke isn’t someone who gives up easily. He absolutely… won’t die.”

Suppressing her own emotions, Haruka embraced Rinmei tightly. Rinmei, unable to hold back her feelings, began to cry into her arms.

(…It’s okay… It’ll be okay… Right, Yusuke?)

Looking at Yusuke, still peacefully asleep with an oxygen mask, Haruka’s worry deepened.

After Rinmei cried herself out, Haruka offered apples to Shiina and Sayaka, who had woken up. The three of them then left to return home.

Though many people had been by Yusuke’s side earlier, now there was only one high school girl left in the room.

“…It’s just the two of us now.”

Haruka hesitated briefly but then pushed away her unease and gently took his hand.

“…Hey, Yusuke? Do you remember? Back before I moved away.”

“Those were good times… Playing with you, getting excited watching your streams… When you said you were quitting streaming, I got so upset… There are so many strange memories.”

…I still want to talk to you. Just once more… I want to hear your voice again.

Overflowing with emotion, she couldn’t hold it back any longer.

“…Please… I’m begging you… wake up… Yusuke…”

—

Chapter 123: Consciousness

“Ugh… uuu… Eiji-san… Eiji-san…”

“K-Kanna-san…”

Inside a wrecked house, Kanna had collapsed in tears in the living room.

Rinmei, who had been silently watching, and even Sayaka, who had been crestfallen earlier, could do nothing but observe her despair.

“…Kanna, I’ll leave some food here. It’s something Eiji made… We’ll leave you alone for now.”

With that, Rinmei guided the still-dazed Sayaka out of the living room.

“…Eiji-san’s… food…”

As Kanna moved her hands away from her face to look at the table, she saw an assortment of dishes, simple yet comforting.

They were meals Eiji had made for her to eat when they couldn’t dine together during her livestreams.

Each dish was wrapped in plastic, with a cute sticky note that read, “Please heat this before eating.”

“…Eiji-san… Eiji-san…! Ugh… haa… haa…!”

The sight of those dishes stirred Kanna’s heart even more. If only she had stopped him back then. If only she had gone in his place. Such regrets replayed endlessly in her mind.

“…Haa… haa… Don’t leave me… Don’t leave me behind… Please…”

Memories of her past trauma resurfaced—being abandoned and forgotten by her parents. The painful recollection consumed her.

“Eiji-san…! Eiji-san! Please don’t leave me! Don’t leave me alone!! I’ll fix all my flaws! I’ll be a good girl! So, please…”

—Don’t die.

Her anguished scream echoed throughout the house as she broke down crying again.

“Kanna-san… She’s so distraught…”

“…I’ve only seen her like this once before. It was when Eiji quit streaming.”

Listening to Kanna’s cries through the door, Rinmei and Sayaka felt their hearts ache.

“…This can’t go on.”

“Huh? Sayaka?”

With a determined look, Sayaka took a deep breath and slapped her cheeks hard.

“…Alright! Let’s stream!”

“W-What? Sayaka?”

“Come on! Rinmei, help me out. Today, I’m doing a collaboration stream with Scarlet and Amepare Aoi.”

“…Are you okay with this…?”

“Well, it’s not okay exactly, but I have to keep going! If I don’t, Eiji-san would just laugh at me.”

With that, Sayaka placed her hand gently on Rinmei’s head and patted her soothingly.

“Don’t get so down. It’s going to be alright. Eiji-san will come back. I’m sure of it.”

“Sayaka…”

“For now, let’s leave Kanna-san alone. She probably needs some time to herself. Meanwhile, we’ll keep doing what we always do. Okay?”

“…You’re so weird.”

Despite her sister’s unpredictability, Rinmei felt her spirits lift slightly.

“…Alright. Let’s make today’s collaboration a singing stream.”

“What!? Again? That’s the only type of stream we ever do together! Can’t we mix it up a little?”

“…No. Besides, your collaborations are always popular. You should keep doing them.”

“They’re just laughing at me, aren’t they…?”

Determined to uplift themselves, the two headed to their room to prepare for their stream, holding onto their belief that the person they cherished would return.

“Ugh…”

My vision blurred as countless bits of information poured into my head.

What… what’s going on? Where am I? And… my stomach really hurts…

Amid the confusion and the sensations I was trying to process, I realized something. Someone was holding my hand.

Turning my gaze, I saw a girl with glasses resting her tear-streaked face against my hand.

“…Haruka-chan?”

“!! …Huh?”

She reacted strongly to my voice, her tearful face frozen in shock as she spoke my name.

“…Yusuke-san?”