The Story About How I Was Fired From My Company and Then Picked up by a Possessive Streamer With Over 5 Million Subscribers - Chapter 61-62

Chapter 61: I Have Nothing… ~Sayaka~

“…Why did I end up crying?”

In the quiet of a night without any light, I sat on my dark bed with my knees pulled up to my chest.

I canceled today’s stream…I wasn’t sure if I could smile properly.

“…Is this a slump?”

I thought I had shaken it off during that recent trip. But…that wasn’t the case.

It started with the comments during the stream before the trip.

One comment in particular caught my eye.

“Aoi-san, can you tell us about the charms of the four rookie streamers of the new era?”

At the time, I answered without much thought, explaining the qualities of each of them.

Their gap-moe, cuteness, nurturing nature…all of them had their own unique charms.

But then…a thought crossed my mind.

“…What about my charm? What’s my individuality?”

That’s when it started. The feeling that I couldn’t smile genuinely during my streams anymore…that streaming stopped being fun.

Eiji-san once told me that my charm was in how I could uplift others and that enjoying streaming was the most important thing.

Back then, I decided to return to my roots and stream with that in mind. But…the moment I tried to start streaming again, I felt scared.

…Maybe I didn’t have a conviction like Kanna-san or Rinmei…Maybe I didn’t have a clear sense of enjoyment or a goal.

I’ve always been like this. I never had something I wanted to do or anything I got seriously passionate about.

Even with streaming, I only became popular by sheer luck. I just made noise, copied others…and that was it.

I had no individuality, no charm…I had nothing.

But before, I thought that was fine. I thought as long as I could somehow make money, save it, and support Kanna-san and Rinmei…that would be enough. But…

…Since Eiji-san appeared in my life…along with the happiness, a sense of unease began to grow.

What if he realized that I have nothing and never watched me again…? What if he left because of me…?

What if I was abandoned…just like those people did…?

Thinking about that, I couldn’t shake it from my mind…I became so anxious…I couldn’t sleep.

Streaming? There was no way I could do that.

“…Lately, my chest feels tight, and I can’t sleep…I need to drink some water.”

In an attempt to calm myself, I got out of my room and headed towards the living room.

But before I reached the living room, I noticed light coming from a room.

“…Eiji-san?”

It was his room. Why was he awake at this time…? I wondered, and I quietly peeked into his room…There, I saw Eiji-san asleep on his bed with his laptop still open.

I quietly moved closer and peeked at his laptop screen.

On the screen…was my stream.

“…Why…?”

As I stood there in confusion, my eyes landed on his notepad. It was filled with notes…about me.

It wasn’t just about my charm or individuality. He wrote down ways to help me grow, to capture more viewers, to give me confidence…All sorts of things were packed into those notes.

“…Eiji-san.”

Why is he going to such lengths for someone like me?

Maybe…maybe I’ll never be able to stream again, yet he still hasn’t given up and continues to help me.

I’m so, so happy…yet at the same time, guilt is gnawing at me.

“…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry, Eiji-san…for someone like me…”

I felt like crying. Not out of joy…but out of frustration at how pathetic I was for not being able to do anything.

But, even so…I couldn’t muster the courage to stream in my current state.

“…Eiji-san…Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san, Eiji-san…”

While quietly calling his name over and over, I closed his laptop and climbed into the bed…His warmth touched my skin directly.

“…It’s warm…I…I don’t want to leave this place.”

…Why have you always been the one to find me? You’re the only one who’s ever watched over me, and that made me so happy.

But…I don’t want you to keep doing things for my sake. I don’t want you to suffer because of me anymore.

“…I need to make a decision.”

I have nothing left…but if I could win over his heart…

“…Eiji-san…Eiji-san.”

If it’s you, kind as you are, you’ll keep looking at me, right? I’m sorry. But…you’ll accept even my selfishness, won’t you…?

“…I love you…ever since that time, I always have.”

That night, I made up my mind.

—

Chapter 62: Something’s Wrong…?

“Here you go, Eiji-san. Say ‘ahh’♡”

…Right now, I feel a huge sense of unease. No, I’m sure Kanna-san and Rinmei, who are sitting right here, feel the same way.

The reason for that…is, of course, Sayaka-chan.

If I’m not mistaken, she’s looking at me with heart-shaped eyes, offering me food…She’s never done something like this before. What on earth happened…?

“Hey, Sayaka…don’t you think you’re getting a little too close to Eiji-san? He seems uncomfortable,” Kanna-san says, trying to reason with her despite the overwhelming confusion.

“Huh? That’s not true. It’s just your imagination, Kanna-san~,” Sayaka replies, clinging to my arm and completely disregarding Kanna-san’s words. Normally, this would lead to a fight, but for some reason, the strange intensity Sayaka is giving off is overpowering everyone.

“Sa-Sayaka? It’s hard for me to eat when you’re this close…”

“…Am I bothering you?”

“No, it’s not that…”

What now? All I did was ask her to move a little because it was hard to eat with her so close…Why is she acting so strange?

“I get it…You’re saying I can’t stay with you, right? But…but I live here too! So please…don’t abandon me…”

“…Okay. You can stay close, so let’s just have breakfast.”

“…Really? I’m not bothering you?”

“Y-Yeah, you’re not bothering me, it’s fine.”

“…Phew, thank goodness…If Eiji-san hated me…I don’t know what I’d do.”

Shivers ran down my spine at her words.

Without caring about my reaction, she pressed her whole body against mine and hugged me tightly.

“…Eiji…what’s going on with her?”

“I…don’t know…”

Last night, I fell asleep watching Tenharu Aoi’s video, and when I woke up this morning, this was the situation.

She greeted me with a much more seductive “Good morning♡” than usual, and since then, she’s been glued to me, even during breakfast.

I have no idea why she’s changed so much…

“Eiji-san, don’t look at Rinmei. Look at me instead,” Sayaka suddenly demanded.

“Wha—!?”

She forcefully turned my face toward her with her hand. Her cheeks were puffed up in a sulky expression, but…for some reason, seeing her like this didn’t feel right.

“From now on, when you’re with me, you have to look at only me, okay? I’ll be watching you and thinking about you all the time, too…okay?”

“…O-Okay.”

“Hehe, good.”

…It would be bad to provoke her right now. I nodded toward Kanna and Rinmei when Sayaka wasn’t looking, and we somehow managed to get through breakfast until it was time for Sayaka to go to school.

◇

“…Phew…What the heck just happened?”

After Sayaka left for school, I sat down on the sofa, trying to figure out what had just occurred.

…It’s probably not a good idea to bring up streaming with her right now. She hasn’t posted any videos recently…Should I assume it’s related to her streams?

There were signs…if I think about it. She talked about her worries during that trip.

Maybe those concerns were a lot bigger for her than I thought…Should I go back and watch her streams? I have time now…

“Good work, Eiji-san…You really shouldn’t push yourself too hard,” Kanna-san said, interrupting my thoughts.

“Oh, Kanna-san, thank you for the tea,” I replied, taking a sip from the cup she handed me.

…Yeah, this is the best thing to help me relax.

“…It’s about Sayaka, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. She suddenly changed like that. I don’t know what to think…Do you know anything?”

“…I don’t know everything, but there’s something I need to tell you.”

Kanna’s expression suddenly turned serious. Seeing her like that, I felt a strange tension rising.

“…What is it?”

“…It’s about our background.”

“…Our background?”

This was the first time I’d heard it directly from Kanna-san…about the three of them, their background.

“…The three of us…we’re orphans. We were either abandoned by our parents or never had them in the first place.”

“…Kanna-san, all of you?”

Now that I think about it, it’s not such a strange story. Before I came, the housekeeping was done by someone else…It makes sense that their parents never showed up.

“…But Sayaka’s situation is a bit more complicated.”

“…Sayaka’s?”

…What? Why does this make my chest feel tight?

That uneasy feeling…was confirmed by Kanna’s next words.

“Sayaka’s parents…died in an accident a few years ago.”