Episode 91 – Just Senpai Kouhai

“I guess I’m old enough to have a drink with Nagi kun.“

Senpai sounds as nonchalant and interminable as she did back then.

The two of us had come to a bar about ten minutes’ walk from the station.
Of course, it is an introduction from senpai

“Though senpai are more senpai than me. ……”
“Hmm? That’s a funny thing to say.”

senpai is rolling ice cubes around in a rocks glass, gazing blankly at the scene. I wonder if Kotoha is the only person I know who looks this good with alcohol.
Senpai has become even more beautiful than she was in high school.

“And how did you know about this place ……?”
“I can only do so much for a change~. Oh, and of course I’ll pay for it.”
“I’ll pay for it, of course!”
“I make a lot of money, you know~, being a Vtuber is pretty profitable.”

I don’t know how much a Vtuber’s annual income is, but I can imagine it’s a pretty dreamy amount.
I mean, I don’t think “Nagare Asuka,” who is at the forefront of the Vtuber world, would be able to fit into an ordinary salaryman’s amount of money.

“Oh, but Nagi kun, you must be making a lot of money, too~. You know, you seem to be quite successful, right?”
“Senpai, did you know that? ……”
“Oh, didn’t the president tell you? I offered Nagi kun to do it myself.”

I can’t help but look behind the scenes at senpai who smiles innocently. The two of us here are not just seniors and juniors in high school, but the person who dumped me and the person who was dumped. The one who dumped me probably doesn’t think anything of it, but as the one who was dumped, it’s difficult for me to maintain composure.

So, to prevent that from being dug up, I wander around and touch the outside of the core with great care and attention.

“When did senpai know I was, you know, writing songs?”
“Since when? I’ve known since the beginning.”

The beginning. What do you mean by beginning!?
Senpai has always been short on words, which is oddly troubling.

“When you say first, do you mean since …… I haven’t done it under that name yet, ……?”
“Yes, that’s right. When you were uploading your songs on YouTube, I thought, [Oh, this voice is Nagi kun’s].”

I was kind of happy to see senpai say so.
I was strangely embarrassed that she remembered me and my voice. I wondered if I still liked her.

I felt an uncool emotion appear within me and change the subject.

“Was senpai already a Vtuber at that time?”
“I started when I was 20, so I guess I wasn’t doing it very subtly yet.”
“I-is that so….”

Ha, I can’t keep talking. …… I thought I would never be alone with senpai again, so my hands are sweating. By the way, my back is soaked.

“Perhaps you are nervous, Nagi kun?”

As if she could see right through me, Senpai tilted her face slightly and asked me.
Her hair tilted softly, and a fruity scent invaded my nose.

“W-well ……”
“Well, what are you nervous about?”
“Oh, well, a lot of things. ……”

Senpai were always like this. She knows the answer, but she tries to get the answer from my mouth. I really think she has a bad personality.
She’s definitely an S. ……

“On the contrary, Nagi kun, did you know I was doing V?”
“Of course not.”
“When you saw my face just now, you looked surprised as if you were looking at a dead person.”

I think that is indeed not surprising. How many times in your life does it happen that a Vtuber you know is someone you know?
No, I don’t want it to happen more than once in my life. I can’t handle it.

“But you didn’t recognize my voice or something?”
“I thought you sounded like her, but I wouldn’t have guessed senpai was a Vtuber.”

When I honestly said what I thought, senpai smiled with a happy face.
Her cheeks seemed to be a little flushed, perhaps from the effects of alcohol.

“….well?”
“Nooo, nothing?”

nothing? It was not the face of that. It was a look that said, “Go ahead and ask me a question,” with lots of chuckles.
And it is my bad habit not to leave her alone when she makes a face like that.

I asked her again, and this time she responded with a heckling smile.

“Nooo, I’m so glad you remembered me.”
“!!”

My heart beats faster and my face gets hot. I feel my heart pounding. I can’t look at senpai’s face properly.

But calm down ……. senpai say this kind of thing to everyone. I was told something like this in high school and I misunderstood and was rejected.
Don’t repeat the same mistake, Nagishiro Rin. You’ve grown up since then.

‘Well, that’s …….I had a connection there in high school, so I do reminisce from time to time.”
“What do they remind you of?”

But these things are not for me.
I dig a solid grave and put myself at a disadvantage.

“Like, memories from high school? Clubs, anything like that?”
“Anything in particular?”
“No, you know… ……. Like, when we were borrowing and lending books, or talking.”
“When it was just the two of us?”
“That’s right………..it wasn’t ……  Please don’t say strange things!”

No, you have it right. That’s all I can remember.

Still, our relationship has already ended. No, in the first place, from senpai’s point of view, it has not even begun.

“It doesn’t matter to senpai…..”

I feel the thorn in my words unconsciously, and I fall into self-loathing.
It is because I am such a narrow-minded man that I was rejected by senpai. I could not match senpai.

“We’re just senpai and Kouhai.”

The smile fades from senpai’s face, as if she did not expect to be told such words.
She looks surprised and her mouth is gaping open. I feel my heart tighten at the sight of her face.

“Is…..it really that?”
“Eh?”

But senpai started to say something unexpected.

“I’ve been thinking about Nagi kun for the past four years, okay?”

I wonder if she is drunk. She closes the gap between us, and her smooth hand touches my leg.

“Sen….Pai!?”
“Hey Nagi kun”

From there, the voice stuck to the mousy ear.

“–try it out, go out with me?”