NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80
It’s New Year’s Day.
The most important festival in a Japanese year, celebrating the first day of the new year.
In anime, you see friends going to the first shrine visit of the year, and drawing omikuji (fortune slips) to decide their luck for the year, but…
Of course, I don’t get to have such events.
In a way, for me, New Year’s is just part of winter vacation.
Well, it’s not that there are absolutely no differences.
I pay respects to my mom, and I send new year’s greetings to my classmates out of courtesy…
And this year, I had to send new year’s cards to the Star’s Flow members too.
“Mina, are you ready?”
“Yeah…”
…But more than anything, I have to go there too.
I’ve washed up and gotten dressed, but I still feel a bit sluggish. As I step outside with my mom, a rather chilly breeze greets us.
Fortunately, the sky is bright blue.
“I’m here.”
“Welcome, Jia.”
“Oh, hello, sis.”
“Yeah…”
Seeing my sister after a long time, she looked quite exhausted.
Of course, I was used to that feeling every time I saw her during New Year’s.
Well, I recently found out that she was swamped with work during the year-end.
I used to think she was just having fun at year-end parties with her friends.
But is being a model really that busy even at this time of year?
“Are you just going to eat lunch together and head back right away?”
“Yeah. I’d love to go home together, but I still have a lot of work to do…”
We talked as we walked along.
The gray stone path and the surrounding greenery gave a feeling of clear air.
The surroundings were, as expected, pretty quiet.
There were people around, but I guess it being New Year’s meant they were sparse.
After about five minutes of walking, we stopped and quietly looked around.
[Kayanoh Yuzuru]
Then, we started tidying up silently.
My mom scrubbed the grave with a sponge, my sister pulled weeds, and I swept the area with a broom.
“Ahh.”
Once the cleaning was done, my sister lit incense, and I placed strawberry-flavored macarons that Dad liked beside it.
Finally, Mom slowly poured water over the gravestone.
“Phew…”
Then we stood side by side, closed our eyes, and quietly put our hands together.
‘Dad, you may be gone, but I always… love you, Mina.’
Dad was always gentle and kind.
He always worried about me and told me he loved me.
Even when he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, that never changed.
Even as I recalled the memories of my previous life, the first memories of paternal love always warmed me every time I thought of them.
‘Our Mina is quite shy, so I’m a bit worried… I wanted to stay by her side and protect her for life…’
You don’t have to worry anymore, Dad.
I’m really trying hard now.
I’ve made friends and found my dreams.
In fact, there are 150,000 people who tell me they like me.
Isn’t that amazing?
So please stop worrying and cheer for me hard.
I’ll be counting on you this year too.
After finishing my thoughts, I slowly opened my eyes.
And the sky I looked at was still shining bright blue.
“I’m exhausted…”
After the grave visit, once we returned home, I washed up lightly and then threw myself onto my bed without hesitation.
Going to pay respects to the grave definitely tires the body out.
Especially today, my sister barely let go of me right before she had to leave after lunch.
‘Mina doesn’t have enough of…’
Saying that while holding onto me for almost 20 minutes made me even more tired.
Before I knew it, it was 2:30 PM.
The first half of New Year’s was already gone.
Since I have to start broadcasting at 6 PM, I should take a good rest.
It’s an important day for my first broadcast of the new year, so I hope nothing goes wrong.
Thinking that, I quietly closed my eyes.
★
[Kainoh Izumi☆Star’s Flow @KainoIzumi · 11 mins]
Finally revealing the New Year’s outfit today!
It starts at 6 PM, so everyone get hyped!
https://ontu.be/XXXXXXX
#Star’sFlow2ndGen #KainohIzumi #NewYear #NewOutfit
★
[【New Year’s Outfit Reveal】I’ll also read the My Macaron I couldn’t read last time! #KainohIzumi #Star’sFlow]
-─(≧▽≦)>ZumiZumi!
-─(≧▽≦)>ZumiZumi!
Right. Today’s broadcast is important.
It’s not just the first broadcast of the new year, but it’s the reveal of the New Year’s outfit, so it’s significant!
Of course, I know what my New Year’s outfit looks like.
Because Aunt Shia showed it to me the moment she finished designing it.
Honestly, it was so amazing that I couldn’t say a word when I first saw it.
Truly, Toka Mama is a god!
“Hehe…”
If you’re an otaku, you’d totally get it, but isn’t it way more wonderful to see my cute character in a pretty outfit than me wearing it myself?
And in my case, it’s not just some game character; it’s an avatar I can call another me.
I wonder if all the otakus across the country would understand the excitement I feel right now?
I mean, they definitely will.
“Hmm, hmm.”
I lightly clear my throat before starting the broadcast.
As it’s an important one, I can’t help but feel the tension rise.
[Natsune Nanase: Are you okay? If there’s anything tough, just let me know. I’m a senior, so I’ll do my best to help!]
Finally, like usual, I stabilize my mind with my drug.
“KonZumi… Mo, everyone, Happy New Year…! Please take care of me this year too…!”
I started the broadcast.
-HiZumi!
-We’ll take care of you too!
-This year starts with Mei-chan.
Of course, just because it’s an outfit reveal doesn’t mean I show the outfit right away from the start.
I begin with light chit-chat and naturally transition into the next mood.
Though… I’m not confident in chitchatting like this.
Who am I?
A pro loner “Kayanoh Mina,” who can barely count friends even including my previous life.
In this case, usually, I’d just solve it by saying whatever I want to, but right now it’s New Year’s, Japan’s biggest holiday.
There must be suitable conversation topics for it.
However… the only thing I could say to anyone during New Year’s was, ‘Let’s take care of this year too.’
In other words, that means the chit-chat time before the outfit reveal is a pinch for me.
But…!
[Suzuha Koga: You don’t know what to talk about with people during New Year’s?]
Don’t worry, KoGaemon helped me out with everything!
[Suzuha Koga: Can I be honest?]
[Suzuha Koga: That’s kind of dumb….]
Of course, I had to hear something like that, but….
But I’m invincible having received help from Koga-chan.
“Hey, what did everyone do today?”
-Just at home.
-Visited a shrine since it’s New Year’s.
“I went out for a bit with my family… and, yeah. Oh, my sister was with me too.”
★
“Then shall we slowly show the New Year’s outfit…!”
-Here it comes!
-Heart pounding!
“Alright, wait a moment. I’ll change quickly….”
With that said, I switched the screen to a waiting screen.
And I prepared my avatar in the new outfit instead of the usual school uniform avatar.
The important point here is that I must never show the entire New Year’s outfit right from the start.
I have to slowly reveal it starting from the shoes, amplifying the curiosity of the viewers.
“Haah…. Then, here I go…!”
-Whoa!
The screen that returned showed only the chatroom, and at the top of the screen, my feet wearing tabi and zori peeked out slightly.
“How’s this? Cute, right?”
-Just from this?
-Show us more!
“Haah? I already told you! For girls, the most important thing is empathy… You have to say it’s cute even after just seeing this…!”
-But Mei-chan sometimes says she’s a guy.
-Then is empathy unnecessary?
“Th, that’s…!”
…No way. If I argue here and lose momentum, I’ll be the one at a disadvantage.
These guys are waiting for me to react like this.
“…Huh. That’s why you guys are unpopular.”
It’s much better to just say something like that at times like this.
-Huh?
-I don’t want to hear that from someone who calls her classmates ‘the same-year students.’
-Sudden kusogaki move!
“W-What are you talking about? I have a lot of friends at school! W-I’m a total social butterfly…!”
Unfortunately, that kind of attack doesn’t work on the grown-up me anymore.
Which means it’s a great victory for me.
“Alright, then, shall we continue….”
-This kid just naturally changed the topic!
-Mei-chan has grown!
Next up, of course, was my lower half.
And what I was wearing was, of course, a kimono.
It was red as the base, with a myriad of white flowers painted on it, and at the waist, a gray obi tied in the shape of a butterfly had droplet-shaped ornaments swaying gently.
Additionally, unlike the regular costume, my nails were also painted pink, adding a unique touch.
“Hehehe… What do you think?”
-It’s super flashy!
-It looks like all the flowers are different types!
“Aha, you’re right! Toka Mama said she put a variety according to flower meanings….”
From cherry blossoms to carnations, and lotus.
To eliminate any discord, all the colors were white, but if you look closely, the shapes of the petals and how they were clustered were all different.
“Okay, then for the grand finale, ta-da…!”
-Oh!
-Is this real?
“Hehe…. It’s unbelievably cute, right?”
As I finally displayed the full-body view on the screen, the reaction was explosive, as expected.
And the biggest reason for that explosive reaction was, of course….
-Suddenly fox ears?
-Cute!!!
Rather than a hat, there were black fox ears that were perked up and twitching.
-You have a tail too?
“Of course.”
As I manipulated my avatar in response, a black tail started swaying behind me.
“I’m so cute, it’s totally dangerous….”
-This kid turned into a narcissist, lol.
As expected, since it’s clothing infused with Toka Mama’s spirit, every detail and everything is overwhelming in quality.
Especially the twitching fox ears and the swaying black tail, it was impossible to take my eyes off them.
“Alright, that’s it for the reveal of the New Year’s outfit…! How did everyone like it?”
-It’s super cute!
-Heart attack!
Naturally, not a single irresponsible critic among the Izutomo.
Well, if there were, I’d have kicked them out right away.
“I’m so glad everyone liked it. Then lastly, once more, please take care of me this year as well! I may be inexperienced, but… I’ll do my best…!”
-We’ll take care of you too!
-We’re always rooting for you!
“Then, this has been the New Year’s outfit broadcast! See you all next time….”
-?
-ByeZumi!
-What about My Macaron?
★
[Kainoh Izumi☆Star’s Flow @KainoIzumi · 3 mins]
Sorry, I forgot to read My Macaron (＞_＜)
I’ll turn the broadcast back on at 8:30 PM….
★
[Hikari Kurokami: Izumi-chan.]
[Hikari Kurokami: Would you like to go pay respects together the day after tomorrow?]
[Izumi Kainoh: …Huh?]
[Hikari Kurokami: I thought jumping right into an off-collab might be a bit too much for you.]
[Hikari Kurokami: Let’s meet up in person first.]