VSPO! -The Misunderstanding Channel is a Storm of Love- - The Lovestruck, Spinning-in-Circles Heroine Decides to Stalk in Disguise

Late at night, when even the lights of Shibuya's buildings were growing sparse. The fifth-floor waiting room at Brave Gear's headquarters studio, "Hive," was utterly silent. Towa stood alone in the middle of the now-cleaned room. Her short black bob, not quite reaching her shoulders, swayed slightly in the breeze from the air conditioning. Her large brown eyes were fixed intently on a single thin gray hoodie left on the sofa. "...It's Ren's." She tried saying it out loud. But with no one around, there was no reply. She glanced around, checking her surroundings. No one was there. It was already two in the morning. The director, the manager—everyone had gone home. She was the only one left on this floor now. Towa quietly reached out toward the hoodie. Her fingertips touched the fabric. This was the hoodie Ren often wore during his streams. She even knew that the left cuff was a little frayed. After all, she'd been watching from right beside him for three whole years. She lifted the hoodie. And then, after making absolutely sure no one was watching—she buried her nose in the cloth. She took a soft breath in. It smelled like Ren. The crisp scent of men's fabric softener. And just a faint, bitter hint of something like coffee. The smell of the black coffee he was always drinking during streams. Her heart pounded noisily. Her face felt hot. She could tell herself that even her ears were bright red. (What am I even doing?) Her head understood that. But she couldn't let go of the hoodie. Towa pulled out her phone. She opened the memo app. The light from the screen illuminated her face starkly white in the dark room. She placed her thumb on the screen. 'I'll confess' She typed it, then immediately deleted it. 'After the big collab next month, to Ren' Deleted again. 'I like you. Please go out with me.' The words lined up on the screen. A simple, single sentence. But just how much courage would it take to actually say these words out loud? Towa's fingers stopped. Three years. For three years since their debut, she'd always been by his side. They were called a perfectly in-sync duo, a manzai comedy husband-and-wife act. Every time the comments section filled up with "precious" and "just get married" during their streams, some part of her heart had hoped. But maybe Ren felt differently. Maybe to Ren, she was just a fellow gen-mate, just a work colleague. "...Nobody starts out having that kind of thing." The words slipped out suddenly. That was right after their debut. Towa's streams weren't growing at all, and there were even rumors she might get fired from the agency. She cried alone every night. Unable to tell anyone, she'd hug her knees in the corner of the studio after streams ended. That's when Ren came. Without a word, he held out a game controller. The two of them just kept playing games in silence until morning. As the sky began to lighten, Ren said: "I like your streams, though, Towa." That slightly bashful smile he'd shown then. His somewhat long, brown, unruly hair was all messy from his headset, and his gentle, droopy eyes narrowed like crescent moons. That one sentence had saved her. Towa looked back at her phone. 'I like you. Please go out with me.' This time, she didn't erase the words. She gently hung the hoodie back on its hanger and smoothed out the wrinkles. "After the big collab next month, I'll definitely say it." She murmured it to no one in particular. Outside the window, the neon lights of Shibuya flickered distantly. The early summer night breeze slipped through the gaps between buildings, making a faint sound. The next morning. Towa's apartment, a room in Hatagaya, Shibuya Ward. Morning sunlight streamed dazzlingly through a gap in the curtains. On her bed, Towa stretched with a groan. The alarm clock pointed to 8 AM. Today was her day off. "...Sleepy." She fumbled for the phone by her pillow. Looking at the screen with sleepy eyes, she saw a pile of notifications. A red badge sat on her social media app icon. As a member of VSPO!, checking the official accounts first thing in the morning was a habit. Rubbing her eyes, Towa tapped on Ren's official account. And then— The latest tweet leaped into her vision. [URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT] Tomorrow, I'm doing my first-ever date stream with Mimi! Below it was a photo of Ren and Mimi throwing peace signs. Mimi had a sparkling smile, and Ren looked a little embarrassed. The post time was just past two in the morning last night. The exact time Towa had been clutching his hoodie in the waiting room. "...Huh?" Her voice cracked. She was wide awake in an instant. Her heart started pounding with an ugly thud. "Wha—, whaaaat!?" She leaped out of bed. She dropped her phone. It landed face-up, Ren and Mimi's smiling faces glowing on the carpet. "W-w-w-what does this mean!?" She hugged her pillow tightly. She buried her face in it with all her might. "I was planning to confess after the big collab next month! And isn't tomorrow way too soon!? My Ren is going on a date with Mimi!? And it's a stream!? The kind everyone watches!?" She kicked her legs, flailing them wildly. The blankets became a tangled mess. She picked up her phone and checked the trending topics. 'RenMimiDate' It was already ranking. The excited voices of fans flowed in like a waterfall. 'No way! So excited!' 'Mimi-chan is way too forward lol' 'I have a feeling this will be a legendary stream' Deep in Towa's chest, something tightened painfully. Ren is being taken away—those words flashed through her mind. "...No, he hasn't been taken yet. But..." Her voice trembled. Her plan had crumbled audibly before it could even begin. Thirty minutes on the bed. Towa tossed and turned relentlessly. Facing right, facing left, onto her stomach, onto her back. Her pillow had already fallen to the floor. Her mind was a mess. (What do I do? What do I do? At this rate, Ren will...) But what could she even do? The date was tomorrow. She was just a fellow gen-mate. —Just then, she suddenly looked up. A screenshot of her first collab with Ren, taped to the wall. A photo from that day, the two of them laughing while playing a game. "...I'll tail them." She sat bolt upright. Her eyes were completely dead serious. A face that had thrown caution to the wind. "That's right, I'll just tail them! I'm just going to watch the date! It's not a crime! Probably!" She rattled off the words rapidly, as if trying to convince herself. She threw open her closet with force. Pushing aside the clothes on hangers, she rummaged toward the back. "I'm sure it's here somewhere... Found it!" She pulled out a long, straight black wig. It was something she'd used for some stream project ages ago and left lying around. It was a bit dusty. "And this, and this!" Black sunglasses she'd bought at the hundred-yen shop. A white face mask meant for cold prevention. And then, a floral-patterned dress she'd bought online and never worn once. The price tag was still attached. 12,800 yen. "A whole day's worth of part-time job pay... Oh well!" Carried by momentum, she put everything on. She pulled the dress over her head and put on the wig. She put on the sunglasses, put on the mask—and stood in front of the mirror. "...Who is this!?" She couldn't help but retort at her own reflection. A full-body floral dress, a long black wig. Black sunglasses and a white mask. It screamed suspicious. "But it's fine as long as I don't get caught. As long as I don't get caught." She checked the detailed route for the date stream on her phone. Starting at 2 PM today. The location was— "Café La Maison de l'Étoile in Minami-Aoyama..." She looked it up on a map app. A three-minute walk from Omotesando Station. A stylish French café. "Their pancakes are famous... wait, that's not the point!" She examined the map of the surrounding area. There was a boutique across from the café. If she kept watch with binoculars from the fitting room, it should be perfect. Towa pulled binoculars out of her drawer. A slightly nice pair meant for birdwatching. She never imagined a day would come when she'd use them like this. "Alright, preparations complete!" She drank a single cup of coffee in the kitchen. She tried to calm down, but it didn't help at all. Standing at the entrance, she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror. A floral dress, a black wig. Sunglasses and a mask. "...Isn't this a crime? Isn't this stalking?" Belatedly, her rationality caught up with her. "If I get caught, is my streaming career over? Or more like, will I just get reported to the police normally?" Her eyes met those of her reflection in the mirror. Behind the sunglasses, her own eyes looked terribly desperate, and a little like she was about to cry. (But—) What surfaced in her mind was, after all, Ren's smile from three years ago. "I like your streams, though, Towa." That voice, a little embarrassed. Those kind, droopy eyes. "...If I like him, I'll regret it more if I give up without doing anything." She clenched her fist tightly. "I'll definitely regret it!" She stuffed the binoculars, her phone, and a portable battery into her bag. Her wallet, and a personal safety alarm, just in case. A notification popped up from the weather app on her phone. 'Possible sudden shower this evening.' But this was no time to worry about that. She opened the front door. The humid summer air flowed into the apartment hallway. Just then—her phone pinged. A new tweet from Ren's streaming account. 'I'm a little nervous about the date with Mimi today. But I'll do my best to take a new step forward!' Towa's heart made that ugly sound again. "...A new step forward, what does that mean!?" Her eyes tearing up, she gripped her phone tightly. Her face, as she jumped onto the train bound for Omotesando, was covered by sunglasses and a mask, hidden from everyone. But only she herself knew that beneath the mask, she was biting her lip hard. And so, the desperate mission of the most pitiful stalker in VTuber history was about to begin. Outside the train window, the early summer sunlight streamed by, glittering. Inside Towa's chest, anxiety, jealousy, and then—just a tiny sliver of hope—were all mixed up in a jumbled mess.

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Episode 1

Name: VSPO! -The Misunderstanding Channel is a Storm of Love-
Author: Novelia

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