Mari Tomari is a VTuber who uses a voice changer to play a cute girl, but inside, she's a nearly thirty-year-old man named Mario. Tonight, she's streaming, throwing poison at her audience while raking in superchats. But the moment the stream ends, his smile vanishes.
"Ah... I'm exhausted."
In the corner, fiddling with her phone, is Yuki—his childhood friend and manager. She's the only one who knows Mario's true face. She's watched over his "real self" since they were kids.
"Good work. Your cl
Behind the Bunny - Late-Night Visitor and the Footprints of the Vanished Girl
The intercom's chime pulled Mario back to reality.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a little past one in the morning. Who the hell would come at this hour?
(That Bunny Hunter again, is it?)
The thought made his legs stiffen. Last night's call—that voice, so much like the leader of Noctalia who was supposed to have vanished three years ago—was still clinging to the inside of his ears. "Help me." "Noctalia isn't over yet." He hadn't slept a wink since.
The intercom rang again.
"Mario-kun, you're in there, right? It's Rapu. Open up."
A frail voice came from beyond the door.
"Rapu...?"
Mario peered cautiously through the peephole. Standing there was, without a doubt, Rapu-chan. Her bright brown twin-tails floated faintly under the dim hallway light. Her large amber eyes wavered anxiously. Her usual streaming headphones hung around her neck, and a wristband—a remnant from her Noctalia days, she'd said—was wrapped around her left wrist.
He unlocked the door and opened it just a crack.
"...Thank goodness. You're here."
Rapu-chan let out a small breath of relief. Her face was pale, as if the usual brightness had been a lie.
"What are you doing here at this hour? Did something happen?"
"I want to talk. Inside. ...Can you call Yuki-chan too?"
Her voice was on the verge of fading away entirely.
Mario let Rapu-chan inside and contacted Yuki. Within thirty minutes, Yuki came rushing over. Her shoulder-length black hair was slightly disheveled from running. Her gentle brown eyes looked back and forth between Mario and Rapu-chan.
"Rapu-chan, are you okay? You don't look well."
Yuki sat down beside Rapu-chan and took her hand. Rapu-chan's fingers were cold as ice.
The three of them sat down on the floor of the cramped one-room apartment. Inside the room lined with soundproof panels, only the low hum of the refrigerator echoed. Outside the window, the city of Tokyo glittered, refusing to sleep.
The silence was heavy.
"...Rapu is going to talk about three years ago, okay?"
Rapu-chan said, as if forcing the words out.
"The Noctalia video deletion incident. That night, Rapu was there. I watched all the archives disappearing."
Mario's heart leaped violently.
The Noctalia video deletion incident. Three years ago, in the dead of night, the archives of every member of the VTuber group "Noctalia" were deleted all at once. That incident was what made Mario a VTuber. Because of that incident, Mario chose to live as "Tomari Mari." And Mario had always believed that he himself had caused it.
"...You were a witness?"
"Yeah. Rapu was a member of Noctalia too. ...But I wasn't out front. More like behind the scenes—support, I guess."
Rapu-chan clutched the wristband on her left wrist tightly.
"That night, Rapu saw someone operating the admin panel. Deleting the archives, one by one. ...That wasn't you, Mario-kun."
Mario thought his breathing would stop.
"...What?"
"You didn't do anything, Mario-kun. Rapu was watching. Back then, on the other side of the screen, you were crying. ...Rapu knows. How much you cared about Noctalia."
Tears spilled from Rapu-chan's large eyes.
"But Rapu couldn't say it. I could never say it. ...Because it would mean betraying that person."
"That person...?"
Yuki asked quietly.
"The person who deleted the archives. ...The person who protected Rapu. That night, when Rapu was panicking, that person made an escape route for me. Erased every trace of Rapu. ...That's why Rapu can still keep being a VTuber now."
Rapu-chan continued, her voice trembling.
"I can't say that person's name. If I do, they'll be caught. ...To protect Rapu, that person carried everything alone. That's why I can't say the name. I'm sorry, Mario-kun. I'm sorry, Yuki-chan."
She covered her face with both hands and broke down sobbing.
Mario was stunned.
(So I... wasn't the perpetrator?)
Three years ago, that night, Mario had been in a fierce conflict with the Noctalia members over something. And after the incident, everyone around him suspected him—"You did it, didn't you?" Mario himself had convinced himself that the group fell apart because of him.
No, he thought.
The moment he thought it, he felt something overflow from deep within his body. It was anger. It was sorrow. And it was a tiny bit of relief.
(I didn't do anything.)
That fact slowly, but surely, loosened the chains of guilt that had bound Mario for three years.
"...Rapu-chan, thank you. For telling us."
Yuki gently rubbed Rapu-chan's back. Her voice was calm. But in her eyes dwelled the same deep sorrow and quiet anger as Mario's.
"Yuki-chan, I'm sorry. Rapu kept it hidden all this time."
"Don't apologize. I understand how much you suffered, Rapu-chan. ...But it's okay now. We're on your side."
Still holding Rapu-chan's hand, Yuki turned toward Mario.
"Mario. You might be a victim. ...No, that's not it. You're a victim who was framed."
Yuki's words pierced his chest.
"...Yeah."
Mario finally managed to say just that.
For a while, the three of them sat in silence.
Then, Mario's smartphone buzzed briefly.
He looked at the screen. It was a direct message from an unknown account.
"Tonight, I'll expose your true voice to the world. Look forward to your stream."
The sender was Bunny Hunter.
"...So it's come."
With trembling hands, Mario held out his smartphone to Yuki.
Yuki glanced at the screen and pressed her lips together.
"...As I thought, they're targeting tonight's stream."
"What do we do? Cancel the stream?"
Rapu-chan lifted her tear-soaked face and asked anxiously.
"We're not canceling."
Mario said it in a voice so clear it surprised even himself.
"If we run, we're playing right into their hands. Besides, Usa-chan doesn't run."
"...Mario."
Yuki gazed at Mario with worried eyes.
"It's okay, Yuki. You're here. And Rapu is too. ...I'm not alone, am I?"
Mario forced a smile.
Just then, Yuki's laptop made a small sound. She looked at the screen with a start.
"...Mario, look at this."
Yuki turned the laptop screen toward Mario. It displayed a complex list of logs.
"The unauthorized access to the voice changer yesterday. I traced the source IP address again, in more detail. ...And I found that the same IP planted a remote-control app on your smartphone too."
"What? On my phone too?"
"Yes. Your location data, your microphone, your camera—all of it was being accessed from this IP. ...In other words, you've been under surveillance this whole time."
Yuki's voice was low and trembling.
"No way..."
Rapu-chan clutched her own smartphone, her face pale.
"But thanks to this, we found a foothold. This IP address is being broadcast from a rental office in the city. The location is... here."
Yuki opened a map app and pointed to a spot.
"Mario. Bunny Hunter's base might be here."
"...A rental office, huh."
Mario stared intently at the address displayed on the screen.
"Rapu will go check it out! Together with Mario-kun!"
Rapu-chan stood up energetically.
"No. It's too dangerous. ...Besides, you're a streamer. Your face is known. If the enemy is there, you'll be in danger too."
Yuki restrained her calmly, but with a strong tone.
"...I'll go. Alone."
Mario said quietly.
"Mario-kun...!"
"I'm the one who takes the least damage if I'm found out. ...No, actually, the damage would be huge. But I can't drag you two into this. Besides, this is my problem."
"...You're going to carry it alone again?"
Yuki looked at Mario with sad eyes.
"I'm not carrying it. ...I'm just going to investigate. If anything happens, I'll contact you right away. So you stay here and wait for me to come back."
Mario looked straight into Yuki's eyes.
"...Understood. But don't push yourself. If anything happens, run immediately. You're not alone."
Yuki said that and squeezed Mario's hand tightly.
Her hand was warm. That warmth stirred Mario's heart.
(Ah, I'm not alone.)
He could feel it from the bottom of his heart.
"Rapu will help too! Rapu will distract everyone with a stream! Rapu will put on a flashy stream so Mario-kun can move freely!"
Rapu-chan said forcefully, wiping her tears.
"...Are you sure you can handle that? Bunny Hunter might target you too."
"Rapu has decided not to run anymore. If Mario-kun is fighting, Rapu can't just hide. Besides, Rapu's streams are a bit extreme. Perfect for drawing the antis' attention, right?"
Rapu-chan grinned mischievously. There were no tears left in that smile.
"...Extreme? What are you planning to do?"
"It's a secret! But I'm sure it'll be interesting. ...Oh, but Yuki-chan, please don't get too mad, okay?"
Rapu-chan winked at Yuki.
"...Oh, Rapu-chan, honestly."
Yuki shook her head with a wry smile.
(...These guys, they're really reliable.)
Mario thought that as he looked at the two of them.
After that, the three of them held a late-night strategy meeting.
Yuki looked into the vacancy status of the rental office and worked to insert fake reservation information so Mario could enter alone to investigate. Rapu-chan devised a plan to draw the antis' attention with her stream.
"Mario. This is the map of the office. And this is where the emergency exit is. If you run into anyone, don't hesitate—run from here. Got it?"
Yuki handed Mario a hand-drawn map. Her handwriting was meticulous and very easy to read.
"...When did you even draw this?"
"While you were out, I do everything I can. As your manager, that's a given, isn't it?"
Yuki said that with a serious face.
"...Thanks."
Mario put the map in his coat pocket.
"Alright, I'm going."
Mario headed for the entrance.
"...Mario."
Yuki gently grabbed the hem of Mario's clothes from behind.
"...Be careful. I'll be here waiting until you come back."
Yuki's voice was trembling.
Mario didn't turn around, but gave a small nod.
"Yeah. I'm off."
With that, Mario dashed out alone into the Tokyo night.
——
The rental office was on the fourth floor of a multi-tenant building.
Mario received the key at the front desk using the fake reservation information Yuki had created. Despite it being the middle of the night, only one sleepy-looking young man sat at the front desk.
He took the elevator to the fourth floor.
The hallway was dim and dead silent. A single fluorescent light flickered irregularly.
(Here, huh.)
Mario stood in front of the designated room.
One deep breath.
He inserted the key and turned it.
A small click.
He slowly opened the door.
The room was pitch black.
He carefully aimed the flashlight beam into the room.
No one was there.
In the center of the room was a single simple desk. Against the wall stood a steel rack, empty, looking forlorn.
(...Already cleared out, huh.)
Mario stepped into the room, staying on guard.
The air was cold.
Something was placed on the desk.
It was an old smartphone.
The screen was cracked. On the back was a logo he recognized.
Noctalia's logo.
"...Why is this here?"
With trembling hands, Mario picked up the smartphone.
It was cold.
He tried pressing the power button.
No response.
The battery was completely dead.
(Is this a trap? Or a message?)
Still gripping the smartphone, Mario scanned the room once more.
No one was there.
But there were definitely traces of Bunny Hunter here.
And there were remnants of Noctalia.
(...I'll take it back. If Yuki analyzes it, we might learn something.)
Mario tucked the smartphone into his coat's inner pocket and left the room.
——
When Mario returned to the apartment, Yuki and Rapu-chan were asleep, huddled together on the sofa.
Their sleeping faces were utterly exhausted.
(...I worried them.)
Mario entered the room without making a sound.
On the table were rice balls, wrapped in plastic—probably made by Yuki.
Looking at them, Mario felt a warmth spread gently through his chest.
(...I'm home.)
He murmured it in his heart.
——
The next morning.
Mario was awakened by the shrill sound of the intercom.
"...What the hell, first thing in the morning."
He looked at the clock. It
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