Nazuna Haname is the 'pure and innocent' idol of the popular Vtuber group 'Eclipse Palette.' But she has a secret she can't tell anyone: she's genuinely, hopelessly in love with her groupmate, the flashy gyaru Vtuber Kaname Grace.
During a live collab stream, Nazuna accidentally blurts out her true feelings. Not as a joke, but with a bright red face and streaming tears, she confesses 'I love Kaname-chan!' in front of thousands of viewers. The chat explodes. But instead of outrage, fans go wild:
Nazuna Haname Can't Tell a Lie - Late Night Infiltration of Corundum Tower! The Truth Hidden in Erina's Secret Locker
The darkness of night had dissolved into the room at Corpo Hanamizuki.
The soundproof panels on the walls swallowed every noise from outside, leaving the room in complete, utter silence. On the floor, the screen of her discarded smartphone buzzed once more—*bzz, bzz, bzz*.
Haname Nazuna sat huddled on the tatami, knees drawn to her chest, staring at that screen.
Her face, a tear-streaked mess, was illuminated by the pale glow of the LCD. The tears she'd been shedding until just moments ago had nearly run dry. Her damp cheeks stung with a raw, prickling pain.
A message had come from Kaname.
*"I'm coming over now. There's something I need to talk to you about."*
The instant she read those words, Nazuna had bolted for the front door. Barefoot, she'd raced down the cold hallway and flown down the stairs.
But.
Outside, there was no one.
Just a streetlamp, casting its lonely light on the empty lot in front of the apartment building. A lukewarm night breeze stirred Nazuna's hair. Only the sound of insects rang out, unnaturally loud.
(*Kaname-san...?*)
She wasn't there.
She wasn't anywhere.
Nazuna looked at her phone again.
It wasn't a mistake. The message from Kaname was definitely there. But—now, it was already too late.
Call blocked.
Even when she tried to call, the line wouldn't connect anymore.
"...Why?"
Her voice trembled.
She said she was coming. She said she had something to talk about. And yet, once again, she'd been rejected.
(*Am I really that much of a nuisance?*)
(*To Kaname-san, are my feelings really that heavy a burden?*)
Nazuna leaned her back against the apartment wall and slowly slid down into a crouch. The cold, hard feel of the concrete seeped into the soles of her bare feet.
"...Everything's over now, isn't it?"
Expelled from Eclipse Palette, hated by Kaname. Her place as a Vtuber had vanished completely.
In this world, there was nowhere left for her.
—Just then.
*Bzz-bzz-bzz-bzz-bzz.*
Her phone vibrated again.
Nazuna stared blankly at the screen.
This time, it wasn't a message. It was an incoming call.
The name displayed on the screen was—
"Hikawa Shizuku."
A member of Eclipse Palette. A talent who had debuted as a refined, elegant Vtuber, and Nazuna's senior. She was always cool and collected, not the type to reach out on her own.
(*Why would Shizuku-san be...?*)
With trembling fingers, Nazuna tapped the call button.
"...Hello?"
*"—Nazuna-chan!? Oh, thank goodness, you picked up...!"*
Shizuku's voice was nothing like her usual calm demeanor. She was out of breath. It was an urgent, desperate voice, as if someone were chasing her.
*"I'm at the agency's back entrance right now. I don't have much time, so I'll be brief."*
"Huh? Shizuku-san, what are—"
*"I felt I had to tell you the truth that Erina-san is hiding. About the real culprit behind Kaname-san's—behind the Celestia Shock."*
Nazuna's heart gave a violent lurch.
"What... do you mean?"
*"I was Kaname-san's one and only peer from the same generation. When the Celestia Shock happened, I was the closest to her. Kaname-san isn't at fault. She just sacrificed herself to protect the other members."*
Shizuku's voice spilled out in a rapid-fire rush.
*"The real information leaker was—a male manager at the agency named Kiryu. He exposed Lunatic Circle's internal information out of personal spite. But that fact was covered up. Erina-san concealed everything."*
"...No way."
Nazuna was at a loss for words.
Kaname wasn't at fault.
Kaname had sacrificed herself to protect everyone.
*"In Erina-san's office, in her personal locker, the internal investigation documents from that time are sealed away. The password is—I happened to see it once before—it should be Kaname-san's birthday. April 17th. 0417. Erina-san hid the truth to protect Kaname-san. It's twisted, but in her own way, she was trying to protect Kaname-san..."*
—*Click.*
The call suddenly cut off.
"Shizuku-san!?"
Nazuna shouted into her phone. But there was no response anymore.
Kaname wasn't at fault.
Erina had hidden the truth.
The evidence to corroborate everything was inside Erina's locker, in Corundum Tower.
(*I—*)
Nazuna gripped her phone tight. Her fingertips trembled. Just moments ago, they'd been cold with despair, but now, hot blood coursed through them.
(*I have to go.*)
Nazuna rose to her feet, still barefoot. Returning to her room, she opened her closet and pulled out a black hoodie. She pulled the hood down low, hiding her face. She looked almost like a burglar.
"Meow."
Mochi mewed, sounding worried.
"Mochi, I'm going out for a bit. Be a good girl, okay?"
Nazuna gently stroked Mochi's head. Then, clutching only her phone, she dashed out into the darkness of the night.
—
1:00 AM.
Even the Scramble Crossing in Shibuya had only sparse foot traffic now. The quiet of the deep night enveloped the city.
Corundum Tower loomed against the night sky like a gigantic black shadow. Most of the windows on its eighteen floors were dark, dully reflecting the moonlight. The automatic doors at the main entrance were sealed shut, with only a faint security light leaking from within.
Nazuna circled around the tower.
Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might leap out of her mouth.
(*The back entrance... the service entrance for cleaning staff... where is it?*)
Shizuku had mentioned it. *"The back entrance for the cleaning staff is sometimes unlocked."*
Nazuna made her way to the rear of the building.
There, she found a small iron door. Unlike the grand entrance at the front, it was utilitarian and inconspicuous. She gently placed her hand on the doorknob.
—*Click.*
(*It's open...*)
Her heart gave an even bigger lurch.
After checking that no one was around, Nazuna slipped her body through the gap. As she closed the door, the sounds of the outside world cut off completely.
Absolute silence.
The air inside the building was cool and still, carrying a faint smell like disinfectant. At the far end of the long corridor, the green glow of an emergency light floated dimly.
(*The twelfth floor... Erina-san's office.*)
Holding her breath, Nazuna headed for the stairs. With every step she took, the rubber soles of her sneakers made a tiny *squeak* against the floor. Even that sound felt unnervingly loud, and a cold sweat trickled down her back.
She climbed the stairs.
Each step, each step—it felt like ascending a gallows.
When she reached the third floor—
—*Thud, thud, thud.*
She heard the sound of regular, rhythmic footsteps from above.
A security guard.
In a flash, Nazuna darted out into the third-floor hallway and opened the nearest door.
"Restroom."
She dashed into a stall, closed the door, and locked it. Killing her breath, she crouched down on top of the toilet seat.
*Thud, thud, thud.*
The footsteps drew closer.
They passed through the third-floor hallway—and then, slowly, faded into the distance.
(*...Haaaaah.*)
Nazuna let out every last bit of air in her lungs. Her legs were shaking. Her hands were shaking, too.
(*What I'm doing right now... it's insane.*)
A crime.
A full-blown crime.
But.
(*For Kaname-san's sake, I can't afford to get caught!*)
Nazuna clenched her trembling hands into tight fists.
(*I'm going to prove that Kaname-san wasn't wrong. I'm going to let everyone know the truth.*)
Her resolve just barely managed to outweigh her fear.
Leaving the restroom, Nazuna began climbing the stairs once more.
The ninth floor, the tenth, the eleventh—and then, the twelfth.
The floor of Prism Gate Productions.
The office that was so bustling during the day was now as silent as a graveyard. The standby lights on the monitors placed on the desks glowed in the darkness like countless tiny red eyes.
Erina's office was at the very back of the floor.
Nazuna walked carefully, making sure her footsteps made no sound.
The office door was open.
A triple-monitor setup sat imposingly on Erina's desk. Now, all three screens were sunken in black. Beside them—a tall, gray steel locker stood alone.
The personal locker.
Nazuna stood before it.
It wasn't locked.
(*In here... the truth is in here.*)
With trembling fingertips, she touched the locker's handle. The cold sensation of the metal transmitted through her fingers.
A small dial lock.
Nazuna placed her fingers on the dial.
Kaname's birthday was April 17th.
"...0, 4, 1, 7..."
*Click.*
The lock opened.
She opened the locker door. The hinges gave a faint creak.
Inside, there were several neatly arranged files and a tablet device. And, resting on top of them all—
*"Celestia Shock Internal Investigation Report [TOP SECRET]"*
A thick file bearing that printed title lay there.
Nazuna picked it up.
It was heavy. Substantially heavy.
As if the weight of the three years of suffering Kaname had endured, sealed away in here, had been transformed directly into this heft.
She opened the pages.
*"Regarding the Identification of the Information Leak Route"*
*"Interview Investigation with Suspect A: Kaname Grace (at the time)"*
The report clinically documented, over and over, how Kaname had testified, "I did it." But her testimony contained too many contradictions, and even the investigator had noted their doubts.
She turned the page.
*"Regarding the True Information Leaker"*
There, it was written.
*"The involvement of our company manager, Shinichiro Kiryu, is strongly suspected. It is highly likely that Suspect A (Kaname) made a false confession as a scapegoat in order to protect the personal information of a former colleague (a talent belonging to Lunatic Circle)."*
Tears spilled from Nazuna's eyes.
"...Kaname-chan... I knew it... you..."
She wasn't at fault.
She had borne everything alone, protecting everyone.
Turning the page further—there, a handwritten memo by Erina herself was tucked inside.
*"To protect Kaname, I will bury Kiryu's involvement in darkness. I will absolutely protect her career. No matter the sacrifice."*
It was Erina's handwriting—meticulous, yet somehow trembling.
She had known the truth.
And yet, she had framed Kaname as the "perpetrator." But that was, in her own way, a form of "protection."
(*How twisted can you be...*)
Nazuna felt a wave of nausea rise up.
But at the same time—she also felt the deep-seated pain in Erina's heart.
To protect her talent, Erina had killed her own personal feelings and played the villain.
(*But that's... that's just wrong.*)
Rubbing her tear-blurred eyes, Nazuna took out her phone.
She launched the camera.
With trembling hands, she photographed the pages of the file, one by one.
*"Regarding the True Information Leaker."*
*"Erina's Handwritten Memo."*
Everything was evidence.
(*Kaname-chan... I swear, I'll tell everyone this truth.*)
(*At tomorrow's final stream, I'll lay it all bare.*)
(*Then, no more... I won't let Erina-san, or Aria-san, or anyone else speak ill of Kaname-chan anymore.*)
—That was when it happened.
*Thud, thud, thud.*
From down the hallway, she heard footsteps.
The security guard.
This time, they were getting closer and closer.
Nazuna's heart froze solid.
She returned the file to the locker, clutched her phone, and looked back toward the office door.
(*It's no use. I won't make it—*)
The footsteps were right outside the office now. The beam of a flashlight crawled along the hallway through the gap in the door.
In a panic, Nazuna slipped her body under Erina's large desk.
She curled up into a tight ball and clamped both hands over her mouth. The sound of her own heartbeat was so loud she felt she'd be discovered just from that alone.
*Click.*
The sound of the door opening.
The flashlight's beam slowly licked across the room. It crawled along the walls, illuminated the monitors, brushed over the locker—and then.
Right beside the desk, it stopped.
(*I've been found—*)
Nazuna squeezed her eyes shut.
"...No one's here."
A low male voice echoed in the room.
"Must've been my imagination
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