My Oshi's Best Friend: The Ex-Idol in the Seat Next to Me
In the spring of his second year of high school, plain and friendless Isogai Takuto (16) is a secret hardcore fan of the super popular VTuber Himizuki Yui. At school, he tells no one, spending his afternoons watching archived streams. One day, his classmate Kurose Maria, who had just returned from a long absence, catches a glimpse of his phone while picking up his eraser. On the screen is a limited singing stream by Himizuki Yui. Maria's eyes light up.
'Wait... you're a Yui fan?'
Maria's true
My Oshi's Best Friend: The Ex-Idol in the Seat Next to Me - My Oshi is My Only Reason to Live, and the Empty Seat Next to Me
The classroom air hung heavy, suffocating.
Outside the window, club activity shouts echoed, yet the laughter inside the classroom felt somehow distant.
Isogai Takuto sat at his desk, pretending to fiddle with his phone while keeping his ears tuned to his surroundings.
(...I want to go home already)
He muttered that in his heart.
What reached his ears were cheerful conversations from each group. Someone teasing someone else, someone laughing. He knew all too clearly that he wasn't part of any of those circles.
Tokyo Metropolitan Soramine High School.
Located in a place called Minase Ward, west of Tokyo, a twelve-minute walk from Minase Central Station. About seven hundred students. Well, just your average, run-of-the-mill high school.
Takuto was a second-year.
Class 2. His seat was second from the back by the window, and the seat next to his had been empty ever since enrollment.
Apparently, there was someone who never came to school.
But he didn't even know who. In the first place, he hadn't even memorized all his classmates' names.
"...Hah."
A sigh escaped him.
Today, too, no one talked to him. Or rather, he didn't talk to anyone—that was more accurate.
Takuto narrowed his deep brown, droopy eyes and glanced at his phone screen. His black hair had the usual bedhead, a wireless earbud in one ear. He hunched his average build into a slouch, making himself as small as possible to erase his presence.
On the screen was the familiar icon of a streaming site.
—Hizuki Yui.
Channel subscribers: approximately 1.27 million.
The most popular, fastest-rising VTuber in Japan right now.
She could sing. Her voice was amazing. And her laugh was the cutest thing in the world.
Her stream archives were Takuto's only escape.
"...I haven't watched today's members-only singing stream yet."
A whisper so quiet no one could hear.
After school.
The time when everyone went home or to clubs, and the classroom fell silent.
In the empty classroom, Takuto finally felt like he could breathe.
He pulled a spare pair of earbuds from his bag and put them in both ears.
He took his phone from his uniform pocket and opened the streaming app.
—Today's stream was amazing too.
Just as he was thinking that and about to press play—
"Ah."
A voice came from the hallway.
Takuto flinched and hid his phone under his desk.
(What the—someone's still here?)
His heart pounded loudly.
It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong.
But he absolutely did not want anyone seeing what was on his screen.
Because it was...
No, the reason went back three years.
—Spring of his third year of middle school.
Back then, Takuto still had friends. Or so he thought.
After school, he was talking about anime in the classroom.
A series he loved. Merchandise he collected. Voice actors he supported.
He was having fun, so he told his friends everything.
Then, the next day.
On the classroom blackboard, the name of Takuto's favorite anime character was written in huge letters.
Below it: "Isogai-kun's Waifu."
Everyone laughed.
Even the ones he thought were his friends laughed.
"Dude, you seriously like that stuff?"
That voice still lingered in his ears even now.
—Ah, I can never show these people my true self.
That's what he thought.
From then on, Takuto stopped opening up to people.
He didn't make friends.
He went home and shut himself in his room.
He came to enjoy his hobbies—things he couldn't tell anyone about—only in the online world.
That was when he happened to stumble upon Hizuki Yui's stream.
At first, just casually.
But the moment he heard her singing voice, all the strength drained from his body.
Ah, what a beautiful voice.
From then on, he watched her streams every day.
The night he sent his first superchat.
Five hundred yen. For Takuto, it was an amount that required considerable courage.
"Takuto-san, thank you for always watching!"
On the other side of the screen, Yui called his name.
Just that.
Just that alone, and yet the tears wouldn't stop.
—Ah, I'm allowed to be here.
It was the first moment he'd ever felt that way.
...
The voice in the hallway quickly faded away.
Apparently, it was just someone passing by.
Takuto let out a relieved breath and picked up his phone again.
"...That startled me."
He muttered quietly in the empty classroom.
Looking out the window, the track team was running on the school grounds.
—I wish I could be that absorbed in something too.
No, I already am.
It's just that the object of my obsession isn't in reality.
"...Should I go to the AV room?"
He left the classroom and walked down the hallway.
Soramine High's school building was twenty-eight years old.
Parts of it were deteriorating, and the old wooden floor sometimes creaked as he walked.
Listening to those sounds, Takuto headed to the audiovisual room on the third floor.
The AV room was almost always empty after school.
The library occasionally had people, but the AV room had a heavy atmosphere that kept everyone away.
For Takuto, it was the perfect hideout.
Clatter.
He slid the door open.
The curtains were closed, leaving the room dim.
When he turned on the fluorescent lights, they buzzed—jijiji—and white light illuminated the room.
He didn't use the computer next to the teacher's podium.
Takuto sat in a chair in the very back row.
He took out his phone and put in his earbuds.
Pressed play.
—Good evening! It's Hizuki Yui!
A bright, energetic, but slightly childish voice.
Members-only singing stream.
A stream exclusive to members, held only once a month.
Takuto paid 490 yen a month to be a member.
For a high school student, 490 yen was significant.
But for this stream, it was cheap.
—Today, I want to sing something a little special for everyone!
Yui on the screen was smiling.
Takuto's lips naturally curved upward.
"...Cute as always."
No one was listening, so he could say whatever he wanted.
This was why he couldn't stop.
Yui's song flowed deep into his ears.
Ah, I really do love this voice.
Takuto closed his eyes and soaked in her singing for a while.
...
He finished watching the stream just past six in the evening.
Takuto glanced behind him, confirmed no one was there, and quietly left the AV room.
He changed his shoes at the shoe lockers and walked out the school gate.
The mid-May wind was lukewarm and slightly unpleasant.
But he didn't hate it.
Stopping by the convenience store "Everymart" on his way home was part of Takuto's daily routine.
The Soramine High School branch.
The place he went every morning to buy rice balls.
After school, he sometimes bought a drink on his way home.
The automatic doors opened, and the entry chime played.
"Welcome—"
It was Saegusa, a part-time college student.
Probably around his second year of university.
He had brown-dyed hair and about three piercings in his ear.
He was tall and looked like a player at first glance, but he was surprisingly friendly and a good guy.
Takuto frequented this convenience store not just for its good selection.
It was also because Saegusa didn't bother him unnecessarily.
"Oh, Isogai-kun. Late again today, huh."
Saegusa poked his head out from behind the register.
"...Yeah, a bit."
Takuto gave his usual curt reply.
"School boring?"
"...It's normal."
"Normal, huh. Well, high school's like that, I guess."
Saegusa laughed and set down the cardboard box he was holding.
Takuto headed to the drink section.
Sparkling water. He'd go with that today.
When he brought it to the register, Saegusa grinned and pointed at something.
"Isogai-kun, you know about this?"
What he pointed at was a large poster pasted near the store entrance.
On it—
"Hizuki Yui Limited Merchandise Campaign Now Underway!"
Those words.
Takuto's heart leaped in an instant.
"...Eh?"
His voice cracked.
"Oh, so you do know. I had a feeling you'd be into that kind of thing, Isogai-kun."
"N-no, that's not..."
"No need to hide it. I used to be an idol otaku myself."
Takuto's eyes widened at Saegusa's words.
"Seriously?"
"Totally. I used to go to underground idol lives all the time. So I get how you feel."
Saegusa gave a thumbs-up and smiled.
"...Um, when did this go on sale?"
Takuto asked, his eyes still glued to the poster.
He hadn't known about this campaign.
How had he missed it?
"Starting today. It's one of those random draws for limited clear files. Limited quantities, so you should come first thing in the morning."
"First thing..."
"Well, even if it sells out, it'll probably take two or three days. But if you definitely want one, tomorrow morning's your best bet."
"...I'll definitely come buy it tomorrow."
Takuto's voice was so serious it surprised even himself.
Saegusa grinned.
"Nice, that look in your eyes. That's the look of an otaku doing oshi-katsu."
"...Please stop."
Embarrassed, Takuto averted his gaze.
He bought the sparkling water and left the store.
Outside, the days had gotten longer—it was still bright.
The sky was a strange color, like orange and purple mixed together.
"I need to wake up early tomorrow."
He just needed to get to school by 7:40.
If he was stopping by the convenience store, he'd need to leave home by 7:20.
...No, maybe he should leave even earlier.
Because this was limited merchandise.
The opponent was the super popular VTuber Hizuki Yui.
There had to be plenty of fans around here too.
"...I can't afford to lose."
Takuto clenched his fist tightly.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, he sensed someone ahead.
A little further down the school route.
From beyond the corner, someone was walking toward him.
No, not walking toward him, exactly.
A single female student slowly crossed the road.
—Long black hair.
The wind blew, and her hair swayed softly.
Fleeting, he thought.
Those were the only words that came to mind.
A slender body. Pale skin. A downcast profile.
She didn't seem to notice Takuto, staring straight ahead.
—Is she... singing?
Her lips were moving faintly.
She was humming something.
That voice rode the wind and reached Takuto's ears, just barely.
"...!"
His breath stopped.
What is this voice?
He had definitely heard it just now.
A faint melody.
And for some reason, it overlapped with Hizuki Yui's singing voice.
—No, wait.
There was no basis for that.
But it was similar.
No, not just similar...
Takuto couldn't move, as if he'd been bound by invisible chains.
The female student turned the corner and disappeared from view.
"...What? Who was that just now?"
His heart jumped again.
This time, it was a different kind of jump from the limited merchandise.
What is this?
Why does she bother me so much?
Takuto stood there for a while.
The wind blew again.
Where her hair had swayed, now only empty air passed through.
That singing voice clung to the depths of his ears and wouldn't let go.
"...It's just my imagination."
Takuto told himself that and started walking.
But somewhere in his head, he kept thinking.
—Who was that girl just now?
—Why did she seem to overlap with Yui?
That night.
To get to the convenience store first thing in the morning, Takuto set his phone alarm thirty minutes earlier than usual.
On the screen was his wallpaper of Hizuki Yui.
Looking at it calmed his heart a little.
"...Tomorrow, I'll definitely get the merchandise."
And one more thing.
That singing voice he couldn't get out of his head.
Was it really just his imagination?
Holding onto that unanswerable question, Takuto burrowed under his futon.
—School again tomorrow, huh.
...What a drag.
But there was a little something to look forward to.
His oshi's merchandise.
And maybe, just maybe.
The identity of that girl.
Two anxieties and two expectations swirled together in his chest.
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