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 - A stage with a total budget of 80,000 yen—miracles come after the scream.
The smartphone screen glowed in the dark room, a rectangle of light.
Isogai Takuto lay curled up on his futon, staring at the screen. Displayed on it was the fan club contact address for Hizuki Yui. An address he had registered with determination back during the first anniversary event.
(*If I press this, something might change.*)
His thumb trembled over the send button.
Shinozaki's message kept spinning through his head.
*"Tomorrow, after school, come to your classroom and give me your answer in exchange for Maria's IOU. Depending on your answer, I'll leak her streaming account and her family's home address online."*
(*Maria's address, leaked online.*)
(*He's serious.*)
(*I have to do something.*)
Takuto gripped his phone. The screen showed a row of thumbnails from Hizuki Yui's stream archives. The smile that had healed his loneliness every night. That clear, transparent singing voice.
"Yui-san... might be able to help."
His hoarse voice dissolved into the dark room.
But.
He remembered what Maria had said.
*"I absolutely don't want Yui to know. About my illness, about losing my voice, and also..."*
She had started to say "and also," then stopped.
Maria's face at that moment. On the verge of tears, but trying to smile, and in the end, she had just looked down.
(*The thing Maria least wants anyone to know—I'd be telling it to Yui.*)
(*That wouldn't be protecting Maria.*)
(*It would only hurt her.*)
Takuto pressed his phone against the futon.
A dull thud.
"Damn it..."
His voice trembled.
He looked at the screen again. The contact address was still displayed.
He couldn't press it.
He was afraid to press it.
If he pressed it, he would be betraying Maria.
But if he didn't, Shinozaki would take Maria away.
(*What should I do?*)
(*How can I protect Maria's voice?*)
(*How can I do it without hurting her?*)
The answer was nowhere to be found.
Takuto greeted the morning without a single minute of sleep.
The sky outside the window began to lighten. Birds were singing.
Takuto got up from his futon and picked up his phone. The screen showed Hizuki Yui's contact address, though he didn't remember opening it.
(*...No.*)
(*Before relying on Hizuki Yui, I need to do what I can do myself.*)
Takuto took a deep breath.
Then he dialed the number for Café Lumina.
Three rings.
"Hello, this is Café Lumina."
A low, calm voice. It was the owner, Takano Seiichi.
"Ah, um! I—no, I'm Isogai from Tokyo Metropolitan Soramine High School! Um, I'd like to rent your stage for the whole day today!"
His voice cracked. Embarrassing.
A few seconds of silence on the other end.
"...The stage? You're a student, right? Planning to do a live show or something?"
"No! I need the stage, no matter what, for someone important to me! Please! I'll pay! Twenty thousand yen—no, even thirty thousand!"
Takuto practically shouted, not giving him a chance to refuse.
More silence.
"...Hmm."
Takano's voice seemed to soften just a little.
"I don't know the details, but hearing that voice, I can tell you're serious. All right, I'll lend it to you. The rental fee is twenty thousand yen with a student discount. Can you pay in advance?"
"Th-thank you so much! I'll bring the twenty thousand yen right now!"
"Got it. Be careful on your way."
After hanging up, Takuto opened his desk drawer.
He picked up an envelope inside.
His entire savings: eighty thousand yen. Everything Takuto had, painstakingly saved from his convenience store job and allowance.
He pulled out twenty thousand yen and put the rest back in the envelope.
(*What can I do with this?*)
(*I don't know what I can do, but I have no choice but to try.*)
Takuto gripped the envelope and rushed out of his room.
The morning air stung his cheeks with its chill.
He ran along his usual route to school. Past the convenience store, across the intersection, toward Café Lumina in front of the station.
He stopped in front of the shop and took a deep breath.
When he pushed open the glass door, Takano Seiichi appeared from behind the counter.
Takano Seiichi was thirty-eight years old. True to his background as a former musician, he was a tall man with stubble and a rugged presence. The walls were decorated with old record jackets, and the shop smelled like an old-fashioned coffee house.
"Morning. You must be Isogai-kun."
"Good morning! Um, here's the rental fee!"
Takuto held out the twenty thousand yen with trembling hands.
Takano looked at his hand and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"...You've really got some fire in you. I don't know what's going on, but don't do anything reckless."
"Thank you. ...Um, I'll be using the stage."
Takano nodded silently.
Takuto looked around the shop.
A small stage. A microphone stand. Speakers. An old piano.
Here, he would bring back Maria's voice.
(*I don't know if I can do it.*)
(*But I have no choice but to call Hizuki Yui.*)
(*The person who can save Maria's voice is surely the person Maria most wants to see.*)
Takuto took out his phone.
He sent a message to Maria.
*"After school, please come to Café Lumina in front of the station. I have something important to talk about."*
Sent.
He waited to see if it would be marked as read.
It wasn't.
(*Will she come? I don't know.*)
Takuto gazed out the shop window.
The morning light was illuminating the town in white.
Takuto stepped onto the stage.
He stood in front of the microphone.
He checked the height.
(*Here, I'll wait for Yui.*)
(*Maria will come here too.*)
(*After that...*)
All he could do was pray.
After school.
The interior of Café Lumina was quiet and still.
Takuto sat in a chair in front of the stage, staring at the door.
*Clink.* The doorbell rang.
He jumped to his feet.
"............"
Maria was standing there.
Long black hair. Pale skin. School uniform.
Maria looked at Takuto and tilted her head.
She couldn't speak. So she showed Takuto the memo screen on her phone.
*"Why did you call me here?"*
"Maria... you came."
Takuto's voice relaxed with relief.
Maria gave a small nod.
Takuto guided Maria to a chair in front of the stage.
"Wait here for a bit. Soon... probably, someone should be coming."
Maria looked puzzled.
Time passed.
Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes.
The door didn't open.
The light of dusk began to stream in through the window.
Takuto checked his phone over and over.
The only way he had to contact Hizuki Yui was through the fan club address.
Last night, in the end, he hadn't been able to send it.
No, that wasn't right.
To be precise, he had sent it.
This morning, before heading to the café.
*"To Hizuki Yui-sama. I have a request. Your best friend, Kurose Maria, has lost her voice. Today, at Café Lumina in front of the station, could you please sing something for Maria? Please help her."*
It was an embarrassingly desperate message.
But.
No reply came.
As far as he could tell from her streams and social media, he couldn't even tell if it had been read.
(*Yui isn't coming.*)
(*Do a fan's feelings never reach an idol?*)
(*Or does that contact address not actually exist?*)
Takuto's hands trembled.
At that moment.
Takuto's phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
It was from Shinozaki.
"Planning to ignore me? Isogai-kun."
A phone call.
Takuto held his breath and pressed the answer button.
"Maria's IOU and her family's home address... I've already leaked them online. Come to the classroom right now. Depending on your answer, you might still make it in time."
"You bastard...!"
His voice shook.
"Ah, and one more thing. Maria-chan's former groupmates seem to be heading to your school too. Rio, Natsuki, Hina. Poor things—they're dying to see Maria-chan. So, what will you do? I'll be waiting in your classroom."
"Don't screw with me... don't screw with me...!"
Takuto forced the words out.
"You have two choices. Hand Maria-chan over to me, or watch everything burn. Not much difference either way, really. Well then, I'll be waiting. Savior-kun."
The call ended.
Takuto stood frozen.
His legs were shaking.
His vision was slowly blurring.
(*I can't do anything.*)
(*Maria's address has been leaked.*)
(*Her former groupmates are coming to the school.*)
(*Hizuki Yui isn't coming.*)
(*I couldn't do anything.*)
Maria tugged at Takuto's sleeve.
When he turned around, Maria's eyes were brimming with tears.
With trembling fingers, she typed on her phone.
*"Takuto-kun is suffering because of me. I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I'll just... go somewhere far away."*
Tears spilled from Maria's eyes.
A voiceless "I'm sorry" moved on her lips alone.
Seeing Maria like that—
Something deep in Takuto's chest burned hot.
(*No.*)
(*I'm the one who should apologize.*)
(*I said I'd protect her, and I couldn't do anything.*)
(*All I could think of was relying on Hizuki Yui.*)
(*But the truth is...*)
Takuto climbed onto the stage.
He gripped the microphone.
His fingers trembled.
His breathing was ragged.
(*There's no BGM.*)
(*No audience.*)
(*But Maria is here.*)
(*That's enough.*)
Takuto squeezed the microphone.
His feelings for Hizuki Yui and his love for Maria tangled together in his head, a chaotic mess.
(*The one I need help from isn't Yui.*)
(*I'm the one who's going to save her.*)
(*With my own voice, I'll save Maria.*)
Takuto inhaled.
"Give me back your voice—!!"
A scream that felt like it would tear his throat apart.
Maria flinched.
But Takuto didn't stop.
"I love Maria—!!"
"I love you! I love you! More than anyone in the world! I love you—!!"
His voice went hoarse.
His throat burned with pain.
But he couldn't stop screaming.
"Even if you can't speak! Even if you can't sing! I'll stay by your side! So! So... let me hear your voice!!"
Takuto's voice was a mess of tears.
Maria pressed both hands over her mouth, crying.
Large tears rolled down her cheeks and fell to the floor.
And then.
Maria's lips trembled.
"I... love... you too..."
A faint voice leaked out.
Takuto gasped.
Maria touched her own throat, eyes wide with shock.
"I love you... too..."
A trembling voice.
But it was definitely Maria's voice.
"I want... to stay by Takuto-kun's side... longer..."
Maria smiled through her tears.
Her voice was thin, as if it might vanish at any moment, but it was unmistakably Maria's voice.
"Maria... your voice... it came back..."
Takuto dropped the microphone and jumped off the stage.
He ran to Maria and wrapped his arms tightly around her small body.
"Maria... Maria...!"
"Uu... uuu... Takuto-kun... my voice... it came out... maybe I can sing..."
Maria buried her face in Takuto's chest and sobbed.
Tears wouldn't stop falling from Takuto's eyes either.
The two of them held each other there, in front of the small café stage.
At that moment.
*Clink.*
The doorbell rang.
Takuto looked up.
Against the backlight of the setting sun, a figure emerged.
Long black hair. Pale skin.
A woman as slender as Maria—no, even more delicate—with an air of mystery about her.
Takuto felt as if time had stopped.
(*That's...*)
The woman was crying.
She stood there, tears streaming down her face.
"Maria..."
Takuto's mind went completely blank.
(*Hizuki Yui... in person...?*)
Hizuki Yui approached Maria with unsteady steps.
Maria lifted her face from Takuto's arms.
"Maria... I've been searching for you. Ever since that day... I've been searching for you..."
Yui's voice was the same as the one he heard in her streams.
But now, it was trembling, broken by tears.
Maria looked at Yui's face.
"...Yui."
Her voice came out.
Right now, Maria's mouth had definitely spoken Yui's name.
Yui threw her arms around Maria.
"I wanted to see you... I've wanted to see you for so, so long...!"
"Yui... me too... I wanted to see you too...!"
The two clung to each other, crying.
Takuto could only stare at the scene in a daze.
(*Hizuki Yui really came.*)
(*My message reached her.*)
(*And she came.*)
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