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

Chapter 96: Rinmei Is Tough

After saying goodbye to Yusuke, Rinmei and Haruka walked to school together. Today, without her noisy sister around, Rinmei felt both a bit relieved and a bit lonely.

While she was thinking about this, they reached the point where the school came into view. People began to whisper and watch them—especially Rinmei. She ignored the stares and moved forward, while Haruka walked through the crowd a bit nervously.

This wasn’t unusual for Rinmei at school. Everyone already knew her as Scarlet, and since she had gained even more attention as a singer online, people often tried to approach her. However, her reaction to this was…

“…Move. You’re in my way.”

“…Excuse me?”

With an overwhelmingly cold response, she looked past everyone around her, showing no interest in them at all. After seeing this several times, Haruka felt that Rinmei could be a bit kinder.

They entered their classroom, 1-C, and headed toward their desks as usual…

“…Oh, it happened again.”

Rinmei sighed loudly, her exasperation echoing across the room. Haruka felt a mix of anger and guilt in response. In front of them, Rinmei’s desk was once again covered in hateful graffiti, most of it aimed at her singing.

“…I’m sorry, Rinmei-chan. It’s my fault they’re targeting you…”

“…I don’t care. I’ve already dealt with much worse things online. Honestly, what bothers me is that I have to clean it up.”

Looking around, they saw many of their classmates pretending they didn’t exist. A typical person might be hurt by this treatment, but Rinmei had endured much worse bullying before she became known online. This level of mistreatment didn’t faze her at all.

Taking the special wet wipes that Eiji had prepared for her in advance, she began cleaning her desk, the graffiti vanishing as if it had never been there.

“That’s amazing… Rinmei-chan, what are those?”

“…They’re special wipes from Eiji… He said he used them a lot at his previous job… They’re really convenient; I recommend them.”

Though her expression didn’t change, her eyes seemed to sparkle with satisfaction. Seeing this, Haruka smiled wryly and took a wipe to help clean Rinmei’s desk.

“But still, I can’t believe everyone’s ignoring this… It makes me so mad!”

Haruka could relate to Rinmei’s frustration. Before, she had ignored Rinmei’s mistreatment out of fear of being targeted herself. But after experiencing similar treatment and becoming friends with her, she felt anger toward those who refused to help.

Noticing this, Rinmei calmly spoke with a slight hint of appreciation.

“…I told you to keep your distance. I decided to handle this myself… But I’m glad you feel that way. Thanks.”

“R-Rinmei-chan…”

“They’re really the worst, aren’t they?”

Footsteps approached, and Haruka shrank slightly, recognizing the group of students coming toward them.

“Oh, the wannabe ‘party girl’ is here…”

“Ha! It’s your own fault, you know? You’re the one bothering us by just being here. Why don’t you quit coming to school? Though, I guess you already know how that feels, don’t you?”

Her sneering laugh echoed through the classroom. No one in class dared oppose her—not even Eiji, the usual troublemaker, who avoided meeting her gaze.

They knew better than to oppose her. But while the class stayed silent, Rinmei focused on organizing her bag, as if nothing were happening.

“…Haruka, can I ask you something?”

“Huh? W-What is it, Rinmei-chan?”

“…I forgot my math book today… Can we share?”

“Y-Yeah, of course…”

“…Thanks. Oh, and let’s go to the bathroom… I really need to go.”

“Uh, w-what? Alright, but… huh?”

Haruka hesitated, confused by Rinmei’s calmness, but followed her to the bathroom.

“What’s up with you, huh? Can’t you hear me?”

“…What’s with that sparkle-name girl?”

“Wh-What?!”

With that single jab at her biggest insecurity, the party girl froze. Her friends, the entire class, and even Eiji, all looked at Rinmei in shock.

But Rinmei didn’t care. She had already decided not to pay attention to people like her and to enjoy her school life as much as possible. She saw them as if they didn’t exist.

“…I’m looking forward to your lunch today, Haruka… What’s in it?”

“Uh, um… I think I made fried fish today…”

“…I love fish. Haruka, you’re the best. I love you.”

“Uh, thanks…?”

Chatting with Haruka, the two left the now silent classroom.

Oh, and one more thing… Rinmei is tough right now.

—

Chapter 97: Advice

“…Hmm. As expected… today’s lunch from Haruka is excellent… very good.”

“Th-that’s good to hear…”

Haruka let out a wry laugh, remembering what had happened earlier.

Now, all the classes for the day were finished, and it was lunch break. The two of them were eating their lunch on their usual rooftop.

Haruka was laughing awkwardly because of the actions of the “pari-pi” (party people).

In the morning, that girl, upset that Rinmei ignored her, had been causing trouble for the two of them.

She had stolen their textbooks and notebooks, thrown trash at them, and even tried to use violence to get Rinmei’s attention.

However, Rinmei had easily dealt with all the bullying, whether by using Haruka’s textbooks, avoiding the trash, or even fighting back with her fists.

Her actions had shocked the entire class, including Eiji, and many of them started avoiding Rinmei because of how intense she was.

“Hey, hey, Rinmei-chan? Are you really okay? After being bullied like that…”

Haruka asked with a little concern. She was sure that if she were bullied like that, her mind would break, so she couldn’t help but worry about Rinmei.

However, contrary to Haruka’s worries, Rinmei didn’t seem to care at all.

“…Nothing really?”

“R-really…?”

“…But, dealing with them is annoying. Sometimes I wish I could do something about it.”

“I see…”

Seeing how Rinmei didn’t seem to care, Haruka admired her resilience and strength of heart.

After finishing Haruka’s lunch, Rinmei opened the lunchbox her family member—Eiji—had made for her.

“Ohhh!” Rinmei exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the contents of the lunch. She immediately took a bite of one of the side dishes.

“…Mmm, Eiji’s cooking is delicious… the best.”

“…Eiji.”

When Haruka heard that name, her expression changed. Rinmei was too focused on eating to notice.

“Hey, Rinmei-chan, that Eiji person… wasn’t he doing streaming before?”

“…You know about that?”

Rinmei was a little surprised. She never thought anyone other than her family knew about Eiji’s streaming past.

“Yeah. I watched his videos once a while ago.”

“…Really? Are you a fan of Eiji?”

Rinmei asked happily in her mind, but Haruka’s expression wasn’t bright. It seemed strangely cloudy.

“…I… I don’t know, honestly.”

“?”

Rinmei noticed something strange in Haruka’s face, a strong sense of hostility.

Just as Rinmei was about to ask about it, the door to the rooftop opened. Looking toward it, she saw a blonde-haired boy—Eiji—standing there.

He didn’t expect to find anyone, let alone Rinmei, and quickly looked away awkwardly.

“…Who’s this?”

“Huh?! You can’t even remember someone’s name properly?!”

Eiji reacted overly strongly to Rinmei’s words. Haruka gave a wry smile at their exchange and observed them both.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m eating lunch here… No reason other than that.”

“Eh, is that so?”

“…And you, what are you doing?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation.”

Eiji answered roughly and moved a little, lying down with his eyes closed. Haruka realized that he was skipping class.

But Rinmei didn’t understand that.

“…Why are you lying down there? You’re going to get dirtier.”

“…”

“Such a strange person.”

“…You… I’ll make sure to beat you up later.”

Veins were popping from his forehead as he grew visibly angry. He didn’t expect to be insulted just for lying down. And when it came from someone he hated most, his anger grew even stronger.

Haruka, sensing the situation, quickly grabbed Rinmei’s arm.

“L-let’s go, Rinmei-chan! We shouldn’t bother Kuzu-hara-san!”

“…Wait… I haven’t finished my lunch yet.”

“…Hey, Kou, wait a bit.”

Eiji’s words stopped Rinmei, who was trying to eat quickly.

“…What?”

“I want to talk to you. This is a good opportunity.”

“…Eh?”

“…What’s with that reaction?!”

Eiji got up, yelling at her because of her disgusted expression. Haruka, seeing their conversation, felt it would be best to leave them alone.

“Well… I’ll go back to the classroom first. See you later.”

“…Should I not go?”