[850,000 concurrent viewers] (a national record, still climbing)
"And now... the results."
The MC's voice shook as he went on.
The concurrent viewer count had already broken the national record.
Hundreds of thousands of people held their breath.
The numbers came up on the screen, slowly.
Seira Hououin: 4,250,000 → 4,502,000 (+252,000)
YUICA♡: 560,000 → 837,000 (+277,000)
YUICA, ahead by 25,000.
[The Moment of Silence]
In that instant the stream went completely still.
Eight hundred thousand people stopped breathing at once.
The Captain and I had both lost our words.
"The winner... is YUICAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
A fanfare went off at full volume.
Glittering confetti effects poured down over my side of the screen.
No way. I won? Me?
I actually won.
[The Stream Detonates]
The silence broke, and the stream blew up.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
SHE DID ITTTTTTT
BIG SISTERRRRRRR
IT'S A MIRACLEEEE
i can't believe this
the great comeback of a 36-year-old spinster
biggest upset in history!!!
she actually won
the moment history changed
LONG LIVE BIG SISTER!!!!
captain fan here and i'm still moved
both of them were incredible
THIS is what a real VTuber is
The storm of comments pulled me back into reality.
Right. This is real.
The fact that I had won soaked slowly into me.
I still couldn't believe it.
Me. Thirty-six years of being no good at anything.
I beat the best in Japan.
The Captain stared at her screen without moving.
Looking at her profile, I couldn't sort out what I felt.
I had taken this woman's loneliness for my own.
That's why I wanted her to laugh inside the fight.
But this win might have taken something precious from her—
something she spent five years building.
The silence felt like it might go on forever.
[Yui, Watching]
My big sister won.
She actually won.
The sister who never once stopped putting herself down.
But can she take this win with a whole heart?
Because she's far too kind for that.
Yui murmured, very quietly.
"Big sis..."
----------------
What did I actually get out of this fight?
Numbers? Fame?
No.
Something worth more than that.
I got to fight Seira Hououin, the person, stripped bare and at full strength.
I got my own real face, the one I refused to look at for thirty-six years.
And I got a bond with the pigs that I could never replace.
big sisterrrrr... waaaaah
she's the star of every one of us down at the bottom
my life changed... it really changed
stepped on and glad of it... i might die of feelings
can't see the screen through the sweat, oink
can't say anything anymore... just crying, oin—
glad i'm a pig... really, really glad...
You could tell from the comments that they were crying, all of them.
Happy for me as if it had happened to them.
Not perfect. Nothing but failures. A thirty-six-year-old woman nobody has ever wanted.
I had hated myself my whole life.
Thank you. Because of you lot...
I think I can like myself now. A little.
[Galactic Opera Fleet — Cheer Stream]
Director Furuya sat staring at the screen.
"The Captain lost..."
Luna murmured it.
"Aye. She lost..."
But there was no grief in her voice.
Amane spoke without taking her eyes off the screen.
"She had such a good face on her, though."
"She really did look like she was enjoying the fight."
Kohaku wiped her eyes.
"I think that might be the first time I've seen the Captain fight that... human."
Director Furuya's eyes were red too.
"Five years carrying all that weight on her own. Why couldn't I see it sooner?"
"The Captain lost. So why am I happy about it?"
MC:
"Well! We have just witnessed an enormous upset."
Hikaru Amachi:
"Everyone here is praising both of them rather than the result. It's a wonderful thing to see."
"That said, for a Captain who has run at the front since her debut, this is her first defeat, handicap match or not."
"I'm a performer myself, so I know. It may not be calm in there right now."
"Twenty-five thousand..."
the Captain murmured.
I lost. Perfectly, completely lost.
And strangely enough, I felt light.
Five years of pressure came down with an audible crash.
I don't have to be perfect anymore.
I don't have to fight alone anymore.
"You got me, YUICA... total defeat."
And there was a strange freshness in the way she said it.
How many years since I felt this weightless?
I fought with everything, and I lost with everything.
I made it this far. Isn't that enough?
"I think the Captain's finally free now... no. Not the Captain. Me. I'm free."
Seira Hououin said it quietly.
"There's... nothing left. I really have burned down to cinders."
"...Thank you, Captain. For fighting me with everything you had."
I meant it.
There had been nothing in this for her but risk.
She threw herself at a rank amateur rookie with her whole strength, and all I could feel about it was grateful.
"Right, then."
The Captain got to her feet and looked slowly into the screen.
There was nothing tragic in her face. If anything, it was clear.
"As promised, from today I am..."
"YUICA♡'s subordinate."
"Huh?"
"I will step down as captain of the Galactic Opera Fleet and hand the chair to my juniors."
The stream erupted all over again.
what? what? what?
japan's number one becomes YUICA♡'s subordinate??
wait, that bet wasn't a joke?
forget an industry earthquake, this is worse
I panicked.
"Hold on a second!"
The Captain, my subordinate?
That's completely insane.
"A promise is a promise. I'm not tearing it up now."
(Yui's point of view)
"The Captain..."
She's the same as my sister.
Terrified out of her mind that nobody would love the real her.
So she protected herself by being perfect.
My sister protected herself by hiding.
The Captain protected herself by being perfect.
But it's the same thing.
A deep thirst to be loved, and loneliness.
(Big sis. Please. Save this person.)
Yui prayed, silently, a small prayer.
-------------
And then the Captain slowly hung her head.
"But... there's something I have to say to my mob soldiers."
Her voice was shaking.
"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."
"I smashed the perfect mask I'd kept up for five years, and crossed blades with nothing on."
"And after all that, I lost. Pathetically."
Five years. Five years the Captain never once cracked.
I threw away the persona, showed them my real face to fight with, and lost outright anyway.
I'm so sorry it ends like this.
"Ha ha. Some best in Japan I turned out to be. Lame, isn't it. It's funny, isn't it."
"I can't even look at you anymore."
The perfect mask. That was the whole reason I existed.
I threw it away and lost, and now there's nothing left.
No reason to exist at all.
"All that swagger, and I'm this weak. You've finally had enough of me, haven't you... mobs."
Seira Hououin bowed her head to the screen and closed her eyes.
There was a deep sadness in her voice.
The stream went silent.
But the comments started moving almost immediately.
had enough of you? don't screw with us
what do you take us for
we boarded this ship to back you for life
we back you including the part where you lose and cry, you idiot captain
a captain who isn't perfect is a hundred times better
you were the coolest you have ever been tonight
you finally turned into a human. welcome back
we watched for five years. we knew you were suffering on your own
not once, not once have we thought you were perfect!
you had a good face on you tonight. it was good to see
nothing changes. don't go despairing on us all by yourself
Big tears welled up in the Captain's eyes.
"You people... honestly..."
"Why do you follow someone like me?"
Her voice was shaking.
obviously because we love you
the perfect captain, the useless captain, we love all of it
thank you for five years. and for the ones after this
we kept going because you were there
you don't have to be perfect. just be honest with us
"You idiots... look what you've done, making me cry..."
The Captain's voice caught.
"Hey. Captain."
My mouth opened on its own, so naturally that it surprised me.
"You've got something backwards."
The Captain lifted her head.
"Nobody was in love with the illusion you built."
"What showed through that perfect mask..."
I let a beat pass.
"...the actual human being. That's what they fell for."
The Captain's eyes went wide.
"That's why you—why Seira Hououin—is the best in Japan."
I stopped there.
She could handle the rest herself.
The light came back into the Captain's eyes, slowly.
"But hey, can I say one thing?"
I flipped into roast mode so abruptly that it startled me.
"I don't want you as a subordinate!"
"What...? What is that supposed to—"
The Captain's face took the biggest hit it had taken all night.
"Why...?"
"Because you're obviously a yandere, and you look like way too much work."
and there it is, the Lady's roast
this is it, this is the stuff. but that's brutal lol
way to demolish the emotional mood!
what is this 36-year-old who can't read a room
she just snapped the captain's flag clean in half
is she tap dancing in a minefield
I kept going, ignoring the sudden racket in the comments.
"I don't want you as a subordinate, but..."
The words that came to me were suddenly embarrassing to say out loud.
Words I had never once said in thirty-six years.
But I could say them now.
"Um... if it's all right with you..."
My heart was hammering.
"Please be my friend."
The moment it was out of my mouth, I felt my life change.
A friend.
I want to stand level with this person. I want to talk to her more.
That was the truth of it.
The stream went quiet.
The Captain looked startled too.
"What? A friend...?"
"Yeah. Be my friend."
I nodded.
"Ha ha... what even are you. You are honestly, genuinely, far too much fun."
The Captain smiled, slowly.
"Well. Nothing for it."
Not used to any of this, apparently, she said it with her cheeks going red.
"Then... I'll be your friend."
And in that moment—
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
FRIENDSHIP ACQUIRED
pfft, YUICA♡ is way too funny lmao
crying harder than i ever have in my life
hag x hag, so precious
what even is this happy ending
strongest friendship in history, born tonight
just get married already
so precious... these two
Eight hundred and fifty thousand viewers were on their feet.
"Nice to have you, friend."
I held out my hand.
"Likewise, YUICA."
The Captain smiled and gripped it back.
Warm.
So this is the warmth I'd been reaching for all thirty-six years.
Watching all of it through tears, my sister Yui murmured quietly.
"That's my sister... She really is the best."
The next day—
Every outlet and news site going was carrying the result of the match of the century.
"Last night's stream, Seira Hououin versus YUICA♡, recorded eight hundred thousand concurrent viewers—"
"It goes on record as the largest individual stream in the history of Japanese VTubing."
"Online media are calling it 'the birth of a Joan of Arc for the digital age.'"
"Several broadcasters, publishers, and film studios are reportedly making moves."
"'A thirty-six-year-old woman changed her life on the internet.' Social media is full of people moved by the miracle comeback."
An education commentator:
"Perhaps we have entered an age where saying what you really mean, and meaning it, moves people more than effort or youth."
"At any age, from anywhere, a person can change. Last night proved exactly that."
An executive at a long-established VTuber agency (industry insider):
"Two women broke the industry's unwritten rules and turned the whole value system of VTubing on its head."
"From selling a character to competing as a person. This will be a major turning point."
Reading the news articles, I was shaking inside.
"I have done something outrageous." The reality of it kept piling up on me, far too late.
Then a message arrived on my phone.
Let's meet up in real life sometime. Just get some barbecue and talk like normal people. —Seira
I smiled and wrote back.
Sounds good. You're paying, though. You're the best in Japan. —YUICA♡
You're the older one! You damn gloomy shut-in! Worst friend I've ever had. Fine, I'll pay. —Seira
Yui was laughing beside me.
"Big sis, something about you has changed."
"Has it...?"
I looked out the window.
"I hid for thirty-six years... but I think I've finally become the real me."
Because I'm not alone anymore.
The screen was showing a subscriber count of one million.
It moved me less than I thought it would.
Because what I got was worth more than numbers.
The story of imperfect me has only just begun.
Next time—into a new arc.
---------Afterword-------------
Thank you, as always, for your support.
I have finally finished telling the story of Misaki and Seira's fight, and their meeting.
Thank you so much for staying with it to the end.
For many of you, this may feel like a natural place to pause.
If you feel like it, I would be very grateful for comments telling me your impressions of the story so far, your ratings, or the scenes that stayed with you. They help enormously as I work out where to take it next.
Anything at all, however small, is welcome.
In fact, everything up to here is only "Chapter One." The moment thirty-six-year-old Misaki finally found her real self is also the beginning of her real challenge.
Her friendship with Seira in particular carries important meaning across the story as a whole.
The relationship between those two plays a major role in Chapter Three.
From here, Misaki heads into a story of much larger trials and much larger growth, not only as a VTuber but as a person.
I hope you will stay with the second chapter of a life that starts at thirty-six all the way to the end.
To everyone who has read this far: thank you, truly.
And please, do keep reading.
From all the pigs