Nekomiya Hinata has always been troubled behind the scenes of her streams.
She is a popular VTuber, but her true self is just a small girl who loves games. One day, Hinata receives a big offer from a game company to hold an FPS tournament named after her. She is overjoyed, but behind the scenes, former colleagues and rivals are scheming to bring her down.
Supporting Hinata off-stream is her manager, Aoba Mio. Cool and composed, Mio is actually Hinata's biggest fan and has been silently protect
Hinata's Little War - The Night of Hacking, a World Crumbling Away
The nights in Setagaya were surprisingly quiet, just a short distance from the center of Tokyo.
Hinata sat in front of her gaming PC in the streaming room of her 1LDK apartment on the third floor of her building, preparing for tomorrow's stream. Soundproof panels lined the walls, and roughly forty plushies filled the background. The fridge held energy drinks and convenience store bento. The room had little sense of daily life, but it was overflowing with game software and figures — her small castle.
*(Tomorrow's the practice stream for the new Valtstorm map.)*
Hinata fiddled with her OBS settings, her red twin-tails swaying. The bedhead at the crown of her head still bounced like cat ears even at night. Her 143-centimeter frame was nestled into the oversized gaming chair, nearly swallowed by it.
Day seven of tournament preparation. The Hinata Cup meetings were reaching their final stages. Coordination with Xenogram Games, managing the streaming schedule, and — Koyori.
*(Koyori still hasn't replied.)*
Hinata picked up her phone. She opened her message thread with Koyori. The last exchange was still frozen at that night's "I'm sorry, Hina-chan." No read receipt.
*(Is she doing okay?)*
Something deep in her chest tightened.
Mio had said she was "investigating the area around Nova Crest" and had been constantly on the move for the past few days. Hinata continued streaming alone. In front of her viewers, she acted cheerful. But once the stream ended, she was alone in this quiet room.
*(I'm fine.)*
She told herself that and turned her eyes back to the OBS screen.
That's when it happened.
—*Brrrring.*
Her phone vibrated.
Not a notification. A warning.
"StreamVox: New device login detected."
Hinata's fingers stopped.
*(Huh?)*
She stared at the screen.
"Login source: Unknown device"
"Account settings are currently being modified"
"Deletion command issued for 1,200 archived videos"
"This operation will execute in 3 minutes"
—*What?*
Hinata couldn't believe her eyes.
*(What is this?)*
*(Why?)*
*(I didn't do anything.)*
Her hands trembled. Her fingertips were cold. Her heart pounded so violently she could feel it through her clothes.
Two-factor authentication. She had definitely set it up. No one should be able to log in from a new device without entering the verification code sent to her phone.
And yet.
"Authentication bypassed."
*(No way.)*
*(This can't be real.)*
With trembling fingers, Hinata opened the StreamVox app. The account management screen. There, displayed clearly:
"Pending deletion: 1,198 archived videos"
"Time remaining: 2 minutes 47 seconds"
The countdown ticked on, second by second.
Hinata's mind went blank.
Four years since her debut. She had streamed every single day. The fun times, the painful times — everything was packed into this account. Memories with her viewers, comments, super chat history. All of it.
It was about to disappear.
*(No.)*
*(I don't want this.)*
*(Please don't disappear.)*
Hinata made a call with shaking fingers.
One ring.
Two rings.
"...Hello?"
A low, composed voice. Aoba Mio.
"Mio-san... my account's been hijacked...!"
She could tell her own voice was a mess of tears.
"My archives are all being deleted...! 1,200 videos, less than two minutes left...!"
On the other end of the line, she sensed Mio catch her breath.
"Calm down. Where are you right now?"
"Home...! My apartment...! I was getting ready to stream...!"
"Understood. I'm requesting an emergency suspension from the platform right now. Don't touch anything. Don't look at the screen. Stay on the line and wait."
Mio's voice was as cold and businesslike as always.
But beneath it, there was just a hint of panic mixed in.
Hinata clutched her phone and hugged her knees.
Tears wouldn't stop.
*(Please.)*
*(I'm begging you.)*
*(Don't disappear.)*
—*Ping.*
A notification sound.
"Account has been temporarily suspended."
"Deletion command cancelled."
Hinata stared at the screen.
*(It stopped.)*
*(It stopped for me.)*
The strength drained from her body.
"...Hinata."
Mio's voice came through the phone.
"The emergency suspension made it in time. Your archives are safe. But two-factor authentication was broken. This is not a normal incident."
"...Yeah."
Hinata's voice was still trembling.
"Today's stream is cancelled. Understood? Absolutely do not stream. Stay quiet."
Mio's voice carried a force that brooked no argument.
But.
Hinata shook her head.
"...No. I'm streaming."
"What are you saying?"
"I have to explain to my viewers. What happened to my account. If I just stay silent, it'll turn into even weirder rumors."
"I'll handle that. You rest."
"You don't understand, Mio-san!"
Hinata's voice came out louder than even she expected.
"It's my account! My stream! If I don't protect it, who will!?"
The other end of the line went quiet.
"...In your current state, you can't stream."
Mio's voice was cold.
"You're crying. Your voice is shaking. What do you intend to explain in that condition? You'll only make your viewers worry."
"Even so...!"
"Hinata."
Mio's voice dropped slightly lower.
"Your stream isn't just yours. It's Stellar Link's flagship. With the Hinata Cup coming up, you can't do a strange stream right now."
*(Flagship.)*
*(My stream is just a flagship to them.)*
Something cold settled in Hinata's chest.
"...Fine."
Hinata said it quietly and hung up.
The room was silent.
Only the low hum of the PC fan droned on.
Hinata sank to the floor where she was.
*(What just happened?)*
*(Who did this, and why?)*
Tears welled up again.
—*Ding.*
Her phone rang.
From Mio.
"...Hello?"
"Check social media."
Mio's voice was stiffer than usual.
Hinata opened social media as instructed.
There, she found—
—Nekomiya Hinata, early debut streaming accident.
Screenshots were being spread everywhere.
Hinata's breath stopped.
Shortly after her debut. A personal letter had accidentally appeared in the background of her stream. Part of the address written on it had been visible on screen for just a moment.
That accident.
The stream had been stopped immediately, and the agency had handled it. It never became a major issue. But Hinata still dreamed about it even now.
Those images were flooding social media at this very moment.
And worse — they had been maliciously edited.
The address portion was circled in red.
"This is Nekomiya Hinata's address"
"Easy to identify"
"A careless streamer who brought it on herself"
"Not a poor girl who got doxxed — an idiot who doxxed herself"
Hinata's fingers trembled.
"...This is wrong. The full address was never shown. It was only part of it."
"I know. But the images being spread have been edited to make it look like the address was confirmed. This isn't your fault. Someone is doing this deliberately."
Mio's voice was calm.
But.
Hinata's eyes kept taking in the slanderous messages flooding her feed, one after another.
"Is Nekomiya Hinata stupid?"
"She's not cut out to be a streamer"
"Cancel the Hinata Cup"
"This girl's been getting too cocky"
"Let's destroy her"
Hinata dropped her phone.
It landed on the carpet with a soft thud.
"...Mio-san."
"...What?"
"What am I supposed to do?"
Hinata's voice was thin, as if it might vanish at any moment.
On the other end of the line, Mio faltered for just an instant.
"...All you need to do until dawn is follow my instructions and stay calm."
Mio's voice was as cold as ever.
But.
That voice was trembling, just a little.
Hinata didn't miss it.
*(Mio-san is scared too.)*
*(She's angry for my sake.)*
Hinata picked up the phone from the floor.
"...Okay. I understand. I'll stay quiet."
"Yes. I'll contact you again in the morning."
The call ended.
Hinata wrapped herself in her futon.
A pitch-dark room.
Only her phone screen lit up occasionally, showing new notifications.
Her subscriber count was dropping.
In real time.
923,412.
923,198.
922,977.
The numbers kept shrinking.
Hinata buried herself in the futon and cried, stifling her voice.
Her small body shook.
*(My place is disappearing.)*
*(The place that matters to me.)*
The numbers kept falling all night.
—The next morning.
Hinata, having barely slept, headed to the Kanade Building in Shibuya.
Her eyes were swollen. Her skin was rough. Her red twin-tails had less energy than usual.
The 7th floor of the Kanade Building, where Stellar Link's headquarters was located.
She passed through the automatic doors at the entrance.
The receptionist, Sonoda Yuki, looked at Hinata's face and her eyes widened in shock.
"Hinata-san... are you okay? You look pale..."
"...I'm fine. Thanks."
Hinata forced a smile.
But Sonoda's expression remained worried.
As Hinata walked down the office hallway, the staff and talents she passed all averted their eyes.
One male staff member, about to make eye contact with Hinata, hurriedly dropped his gaze to his phone.
Two female talents, as Hinata approached, whispered something to each other and quickly walked away.
*(They're avoiding me.)*
*(Everyone is.)*
Hinata's chest throbbed with pain.
She entered the break room, the "Mofumofu Lounge" — a room she had named, lined with cat cushions.
A new talent was there.
Hinata couldn't remember her name. A young girl who had just debuted recently.
The new talent looked at Hinata with a slightly hesitant expression.
Then, timidly, she spoke.
"...Nekomiya-san, is it true that your address really got leaked?"
Hinata's body froze.
Asked directly to her face.
*(That's wrong.)*
*(The full address was never shown.)*
*(It was only part of it.)*
Hinata put on a smile.
"That's not true. That was a small accident from a long time ago. My address was never actually identified."
"...Is that so?"
The new talent smiled, looking relieved.
But her eyes still held doubt.
*(She doesn't believe me.)*
*(No one believes me.)*
Hinata heard something inside her chest snap.
*Crack.*
Small, but unmistakable.
"Well, I should get going."
Hinata left the Mofumofu Lounge.
Walking down the hallway, she opened her phone.
New posts were flowing through social media.
An anonymous account claiming to be a "former colleague inside Stellar Link."
—Nekomiya Hinata is completely isolated within the agency.
—Her smile is all fake, just for streaming.
—No one actually likes her.
Hinata's feet stopped.
*(Former colleague?)*
*(Who?)*
*(Why would they write something like that?)*
The post was spreading at an alarming rate.
Thousands of retweets. Tens of thousands of likes.
The comments were filled with cruel words.
"Knew she had a bad personality"
"Nekomiya Hinata's smile always seemed fake from the start"
"If she's isolated, that says everything about who she is"
Hinata gripped her phone.
Her fingers turned white.
*(That's wrong.)*
*(I don't smile because I want everyone to like me.)*
*(I smile because I love streaming.)*
*(Why do I have to be denied even that?)*
Tears blurred her vision.
Hinata ran to the manager booth.
Mio's desk.
Her long, blue-black hair was tied back neatly, and she wore black-rimmed glasses. Her profile was fixed on the computer screen, staring intently.
"Mio-san... help me..."
Hinata rushed to Mio's side.
Mio slowly looked up.
Her deep indigo eyes caught Hinata's tear-streaked face.
"...I told you not to look at social media."
Mio's voice was cold.
"But... my place is disappearing...!"
"Your place isn't social media."
Mio stood up.
"Your place is your stream. I'm sorry I couldn't give you anything beyond that."
Mio said it curtly and turned her back to Hinata.
"I'm going to analyze the hacking. I'll be away from my desk."
"Wait...!"
Hinata's voice didn't reach her.
Mio left the manager booth.
Hinata stood there alone.
*(Even Mio-san left.)*
*(I'm alone.)*
*(I'm alone again.)*
Hinata collapsed to her knees.
—Night.
Hinata was in her streaming room at home.
In front of her PC.
She opened the streaming software.
*(I'm
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