Chapter 16: The Signal Fire for the Final Showdown

[Preparing for the Final Round — The Galactic Opera Fleet's Side]

"What is the Captain thinking?"

Director Furuya had his head in his hands.

"Blowing her own persona wide open... She always told us it was her job to protect the illusion."

"But Director, sir."

Luna stared at the screen, worried.

"That just means the Captain is desperate too, methinks."

"This is Seira Hououin we're talking about! The best in Japan! And she's getting desperate against some amateur rookie?"

"That YUICA girl. It's like she's coming at you with a live blade."

Amane nodded, running her eyes over the analytics from the second round.

"You can feel it even from over here. Something about her that leaves the Captain no choice but to go all out."

"Yeah⭐︎ that girl's no joke."

Kohaku was watching the Captain with a seriousness she almost never showed.

"The Captain, fighting this scrappy. I've never seen it before."

"But."

Luna looked at the Captain on the screen.

"She's got a wonderful face on her, she has. Like she's enjoying herself."

"Enjoying herself... you say?"

Something complicated crossed Director Furuya's face.

"Five years at the very front, having to be perfect the whole time. I can't imagine what that weighs."

Amane said it under her breath.

Kohaku smiled quietly.

"But there's no way the Captain loses⭐︎ The more cornered she is, the more incredible she gets."

"Aye! We believe, and we watch over her. Our Captain!"

[Preparing for the Final Round — Misaki and Yui's Side]

"Big sis. This is really the last one."

Yui said it quietly.

Five minutes until the stream went live. I kept taking deep breaths.

"Thank you... Yui."

"You've got a good face on. You don't need any more advice from me, do you."

Yui laughed a little.

"Yeah. I can do this... probably."

"Hah, that is so you, big sis."

"Huh? What is?"

"Every time you go to do something, you say 'probably, probably' like you're scared of it."

"Do I... I guess. God, that's such a gloomy-loner thing to do."

"But you always see it through anyway. Every single time."

Yui took my hand.

"You'll see this one through too. It's fine. I'm the one who knows that."

"...Thank you, Yui."

I meant it from the bottom of my heart.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"Same to you."

Yui put her arms around me.

"I'm so glad you became a VTuber, big sis."

"You hid yourself for thirty-six years, and now you're finally shining."

"Just getting to see that makes me happy."

"Yui..."

"So go and enjoy it as hard as you can. Don't think about anything else."

Yui clapped me on the shoulder.

"...Okay."

I lifted my head and got myself ready.

"I'm off, then."

"Go get them, big sis."

With my sister's voice at my back, I went to the last fight.

[Final Free-Talk Battle of the Overtime Round — 520,000 concurrent viewers]

"And HERE WE GO! The overtime round from hell! One free-talk match, with a VTuber's pride and her subscriber count on the line!"

As the MC howled, YUICA♡ and Seira Hououin faced each other.

"Mr. Amachi, the final showdown at last..."

Hikaru Amachi:

"Honestly? At this point I care less about who wins than about being allowed to watch these two forever."

"Meaning?"

Hikaru Amachi:

"Across two rounds, both of them have stripped off the persona, the staging, all of it, and gotten more human by the minute. You almost never see a fight this beautiful."

"True, the mood is nothing like it was at the start."

Hikaru Amachi:

"What will they lose, and what will they gain, once this is over? I have a feeling something is about to come out of it that has nothing to do with winning or losing."

Just then both channels' subscriber counts began appearing on screen in real time.

Current subscriber counts

Seira Hououin: 4,250,000

YUICA♡: 560,000

MC:

"Look at that gap. It's hard to believe how well YUICA is holding up against the Captain. This really could go either way right to the end..."

Hikaru Amachi:

"On pure technique in a free-talk battle, the Captain plainly has the edge. But I expect YUICA will throw technique away and make this a fight of souls."

MC:

"Yes, I get that feeling too. And I want to watch it happen."

Seira: "So you came, Landmine Princess. Getting flamed is your specialty, isn't it. Then let's call this the 'Gates of Hell.' A fitting way for you to go out."

YUICA♡: "Right back at you. Captain of a magnificent battleship? Sorry, of a ghost ship drifting through the galaxy. You've got the menace down, I'll give you that. Shame there's nothing but cinders inside."

Seira: "Hah. Big talk from a thirty-six-year-old love doll. You're about as painful to watch as a woman strutting into her thirty-sixth matchmaking party."

YUICA♡: "That line's good, put it on your own headstone. And anyway, that military coat of yours is the outdated one. Still dragging the Cold War around with you?"

The Captain grinned at that.

MC:

"Ooh, sparks from the opening bell! The listeners are losing their minds!"

Hikaru Amachi:

"Neither of them is guarding anything now. No calculation, nothing staged, nothing fake. Their real selves, against each other. To be present for a moment like this is everything a commentator could ask for."

MC:

"And now, the rules of the VTuber world's free-talk battle, where soul slams into soul!"

As the MC shrieked, numbers started blinking in the top right of the screen.

Current subscriber counts

Seira Hououin: 4,250,000

YUICA♡: 560,000

"The rules could not be simpler!"

"Take turns! Spin your words on the spot! Speak yourself, and cut your opponent down!!"

"Diss her! Bare your soul! Drag the listeners into it! All of it is fair game!"

"When the clock runs out, it's over. And at that moment..."

"Whoever has gained the most subscribers is the winner!"

"In other words, whoever seizes the mood and the momentum of this room becomes the champion of this match!"

"Hit her with your own words! Scream! Lay yourself bare!"

"—And now."

"BATTLE... BEGIIIIIIN!!!!!!!"

—The outcome of the final battle goes up tonight.

(It got too long, so I split it. 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️)