Basement-Dwelling Loser VTuber

Ichibunsha.

One of Japan’s small publishing companies focused on publishing manga magazines and light novels.

The editors and writers belonging to it are well-regarded by those in the same industry, making it famous as a “white company.” Thanks to this, despite its small size, applicants never seem to dwindle.

And so, as the section chief of Ichibunsha, Masiro Minase was currently winning the hearts of many juniors and seniors with her outstanding performance and looks.

“Waaaah!”

She was crying loudly while drinking with her colleague, Shirai Shi Haruto.

“Haa… can’t you just drink quietly…?”

“If you’re a man, you should comfort a girl when she’s crying!!!”

With Masiro’s whining, Haruto let out a quiet sigh.

He had always thought of her as a cool and respectable colleague at work, but seeing her like this in private made him just chuckle.

No. To be exact, the old Masiro was always perfect even in private.

She was the kind of woman who could quietly spark a crush in Haruto’s heart.

But in the last six months, the image of Masiro that Haruto had in his mind had been slowly shattered. Completely destroyed.

The feelings that had quietly sprouted had now transformed into a sense of annoyance, like looking at a bothersome little sister.

Only Haruto knew about this side of Masiro, but the moment he considered it a privilege was long gone.

“I can’t provide comfort, how do you expect me to? How long do you think I’ve spent drinking and hanging out since that day? I think I’ve already given you enough comfort.”

“You’re so cold…!”

Masiro tilted her beer glass while crying.

Watching such a sight, Haruto once again let out a sigh.

“I just don’t get why you’re like this…”

“Why can’t you understand?! The reason I’m crying like this is something everyone on Earth should sympathize with!!!”

“You’re probably the only one who’s so fixated on an intern who worked for just six months. The time you’ve spent lamenting while drinking is probably longer than the time you actually worked together.”

“…Has it really been that long?”

“Yep.”

“I see…”

Of course, Haruto understood to some extent.

In the six months of working closely with Masiro, she adapted so quickly to her first job in publishing that it was unbelievable and showed outstanding performance.

Thinking back on when they immediately offered her a full-time position after her internship, there was no doubt about her exceptional ability.

So, longing for someone like her wasn’t that strange.

In fact, other staff members also occasionally brought her up during conversations.

But even so, Haruto still thought Masiro was being overly dramatic.

“Can you tell me why you like her so much?”

“Huh? Why are you asking such a pointless question?”

Masiro, who had just been whiny, shot a sharp glance at Haruto.

However, he shrugged it off, completely unfazed by her gaze.

There was no way someone who had been drinking with her for six months would be intimidated by Masiro.

“She was beautiful, had a cute personality, did her work well—there was nothing lacking. Isn’t it odd to dislike someone like that?”

As Masiro’s words continued, Haruto pondered over them.

He could acknowledge her beauty. Honestly, it had left him momentarily spellbound when he first saw her.

He could also admit she was good at her job. She handled way more than what was expected from an intern.

But a cute personality? He couldn’t grasp that part.

The Masiro he remembered always had a frozen, cold gaze.

That appearance, which seemed to scream she didn’t want to get close to anyone, made feeling any kind of affection toward her as a person nearly impossible for Haruto, something many employees at Ichibunsha could empathize with.

“Honestly, I think you and others think Minase is weird.”

“…Shirai. Do you dislike her?”

“I don’t dislike her. I actually think she has incredible work skills. It’s just that I’ve never thought we could be friends.”

“…Huh? Why?”

“Why? It can’t be helped. I’ve never even had a personal conversation with her.”

And with that statement from Haruto…

“…Ah. I guess that makes sense. I misjudged things.”

Knowing her personality, Masiro nodded along.

“Misjudged things?”

“Yeah. I realized that Haruto wouldn’t understand my perspective.”

“Hmmm…”

When Haruto sent a look asking her to explain, Masiro smirked and took a sip of her beer.

“You just said that other people might think I’m weird, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Let me guess what those other people have in common?”

“…What?”

“They’re all guys. Right?”

Upon Masiro’s words, Haruto paused to think and quickly realized she was correct.

“Thinking about it, she did seem to have a good reputation among the female employees…”

“It’s not that she seemed to have a good reputation; she actually does. Don’t you remember? At the farewell party, all the people sitting around her were women.”

“…That does seem to ring a bell. So, does that mean she dislikes men?”

If that was the case, it would be plausible.

The cold gaze Haruto remembered surely…

“No. It’s not that she dislikes them. How should I put it…? You know those characters in comics who think ‘All men are wolves, so be careful!’ instead of outright saying they hate men?”

“Right.”

“That’s exactly it. It’s not that she hates them, she just tends to keep a distance personally.”

“…Huh?”

Taken aback by such absurdity, Haruto couldn’t respond.

And while he was in that state, Masiro looked at him, parked her head on the table, and started chuckling.

“Sniff…”

Suddenly, she started crying again.

“Waaaaah…! I miss you, Kayanoh-san!!!”

“Seriously annoying…” Haruto muttered, a question sprouted in his mind.

After traveling the world for five months and starting her job search again, she was famous for her cold vibe among men. Yet, with Shirai saying this, there must have been a different atmosphere among female employees.

What, then, was the true personality of Kayanoh Mina?

And why did she start keeping her distance from men?

Having never had a personal conversation, it was natural Haruto didn’t have the answer.

★

“Then let’s move to the waiting room first, Izumi-chan.”

“Yeah….”

After a brief explanation regarding today’s agenda, I followed M-chan into the studio’s waiting room.

The agenda today was certainly with Kurokami, Ayaka, and Kaguya, right?

It felt like this was the first time we were all together like this….

As I was thinking that, M-chan opened the waiting room door for us.

“Ah! It’s Izumi!”

“Wah?!”

As soon as the door opened, Ayaka ran in and hugged me tightly.

Behind her, Kurokami and Kaguya smiled, watching.

“It’s so suffocating, Ayaka…”

“It’s been a while, so just let me do this~.”

“…Didn’t we just have a cover song recording schedule two days ago?”

Ayaka ignored M-chan’s quip and still wouldn’t let go of me.

“Uuuuuu…!”

“Ah?!”

In the end, I had to exert all my strength to shake off Ayaka and hide behind M-chan, frowning.

“I just said it’s suffocating!”

“You’re too much~. Do you hate me, Izumi?”

“Th-That’s not it…”

“If it’s not, then what?”

“Of course, I l-l-likes you… but still, it’s just… it’s suffocating…”

“…Izumi!!!”

“Hyaaaah?!”

Someone help Ayaka!

It’s all your fault! Don’t look at me with those eyes, okay?!

★

In the end, until the recording of the session started, I was stuck being hugged by Ayaka and couldn’t escape.

Earlier, I managed to slip away when she was being careless, but in her current state, the difference in our body sizes made it impossible for me to shake her off.

Though being wrapped up in Ayaka‘s embrace was soft, warm, and she smelled nice, which wasn’t really unpleasant, I just couldn’t shake off that slight feeling of embarrassment…

Anyway, while cramped like that, I listened to various stories from the members and then M-chan asked me something.

“Oh, Izumi-chan. Have you ever felt uncomfortable with our staff or anything?”

“…Huh? I’ve never felt that way even once…”

Though I often felt thankful for how kind and considerate everyone was, I had never felt uncomfortable.

Why was M-chan asking such a question?

“I thought of that when you were running away from Ayaka earlier. You often hide behind me when you come to the studio, right? At first, I thought you were shy, but you sometimes do that even with staff you’ve known for a while.”

…Ah.

“So, we were wondering if we had upset or inconvenienced you in any way. If that’s the case, please let us know; we’ll fix it right away….”

“Oh. That’s not it!”

What’s happening?

I never imagined that because of me, the Star’s Flow staff would have such misunderstandings.

I had actually always been grateful to everyone…

“If it’s not that, then I’m really relieved. But is there another problem?”

As she spoke, M-chan‘s eyes were filled with concern for me, and both Kurokami and the others looked at me with uneasy expressions.

… I guess I have no choice. I have to be honest.

They would definitely understand. Especially since it was me talking.

“Well, um… you see?”

“Yes, feel free to speak.”

“Because I’m a unicorn…?”

“…Huh?”

Oh no.

It sounds like I said something wrong.

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