“Ubee~”

The day after the Recreation Lodging is a compensatory day off that combines with the weekend for an extended break.

And that’s great. I am uselessly useless right now.

I’ve spread my futon out in the living room. My stomach grumbles while watching tv, it also grumbles while I am snacking, goro goro, goro goro…

“You’re surprisingly languid.” (Kuro)
“Overlook it for me. I’m seriously tired right now…”

The exhaustion from my body has already passed, but my heart still hasn’t recovered. One wrong step and I really would have died this time. This isn’t some simple matter I can just change how I feel on.

Also, for some reason, I’ve been having heartburn. I’ve already healed, but I’ve been having this slight feeling of nausea.

“I’ve had Shiro and Near examine me, but they didn’t find anything wrong~. It must be stress after all.”

I felt like I swallowed a stone or something after the battle with the black dress, but neither Shiro’s echolocation nor Near’s spirit thread gastrocamera found anything. It was probably just my imagination so this discomfort must just be stress.

“Ubee~”
“Ube–”

While I am having such thoughts, Rin joins the grumbling alliance without my noticing.

Welcome, Rin. Now for the warm reception.
Goro goro, goro goro…

“Fu~”

At any rate, thinking about it again, this battle has a lot of points to reflect on. Using [Divine Knife (kamui makiri)] before getting a proper grasp on my opponent was a mistake. Having the thought “It’ll work out somehow,” somewhere in my heart made me careless.

I will reflect, and while reflecting, I’m going to celebrate this break I earned. Potato chips are gre–at.

“Thinking about it, where did Shiro, Near, and Urd go?”
“I saw them in the bedroom up on the second floor, zo. They seemed to be doing something fun.”
“What could it be? If Shiro and Near are there, then I doubt they are up to any mischief… but still, now I’m curious.”

I want to take a peek, but that would be in poor taste, and too troublesome. Today, I don’t want to move from the living room.

“How about letting it go and just looking up some videos? V-tubers seem to be popular these days, so how about watching some of them?”
“What are those?”

Is Kuro interested? He’s peeking at my computer screen as I look some up.

“Is this… an anime someone made?”
“It’s a bit different. These seem to be CG images someone manipulated onto a screen. It’s like wearing a costume, I guess?”
“Ho–, people can think up some interesting things.”

Kuro is surprisingly interested in V-tubers.

“Recently, I’ve been inspired by an old friend’s way of life. So as to reevaluate my way of being, I’ve decided to proactively learn about the present state of the world.”

I ask him about it, and apparently, a youkai friend he hadn’t met in a long time has become a businessman, which has made him reconsider his values. While he’s knowledgeable about history and the mystical, I am more familiar with youth culture. If he’s interested, then I’m totally down for teaching. We’ll focus on otaku culture.

“Aegle marmelos and frézier kainit, garnish the îles flottantes…”

I glance towards Rin and find her focused on a cooking program using unique ingredients I have never heard of. Doesn’t look like she has any interest in this culture over here. I mean, what’s the name of that dish? I’m a little curious.

“Does, ‘I Tried Dancing,’ mean a dance video?”
“Yeah, yeah, apparently a lot of people are adding, ‘I Tried~’ to videos of doing something. Something like, ‘oh, so a V-tuber wants to try dancing?’ Well, anything is possible.”

I give it a look, and the quality is astounding. The P.V. is perfect. This is the work of a pro.

“Mu? This is…”
“What’s wrong, Kuro…Hm!!?”

The video has thumbnails linking to other popular V-tubers trying out dancing, but one of them looks familiar.

“That… Urd?!?”
“The number of views… seems to have exceeded 100 thousand.”

I play the video to take a look and yep, it’s Urd. She is dancing to some music while both flying and jumping around. A great dancer she cannot be called, but the video editing and choice of the song are perfect. They make the video worth watching.

Or rather, Urd shows up on camera?

“The account name is… [A Legit Spirit]? Well, that actually is the truth.”

Looking through the comments, she seems to be quite popular.

“CGI is crazy these days! That totally looks real!”
“What’s the name of this song?”
“This video editing is brutal. It’s absolutely a professional crime.”

Various impressions fill the comments section. Only 3 videos have been posted so far, but they seem to be getting plenty of attention. Or rather, everyone thinks Urd was created by the latest CG.

“What… should I do with this?”

If I have to guess, Near takes care of the video editing, Shiro selects the music, and Urd the planning and dancing. The world of the internet is scary, but I don’t want to deny them a hobby they are putting that much effort in to. Furthermore, even if something goes wrong, I have the feeling Near will be able to resolve it without any trouble.  But more than that, if those three are having fun, then that’s all that matters.

“Alright, we don’t know anything, we never saw this. Let’s go with that.”
“You’re right. Everyone has their own interests.”

Kuro seems to have come to a similar opinion and agrees with my proposal.

“A hobby…?”

Starting that day, Kuro can be seen profoundly muttering, “A hobby…” I get the feeling he wants a hobby.

If he’s interested in anime and manga, then I would be more than happy to introduce him to it. It might be interesting to also invite Shizuka-san to Ani◯ito as a trio. Although to do that, won’t I have to introduce Kuro to Shizuka-san? Ahre? Speaking of Shizuka-san, she might have already heard of my circumstances from Souji, so maybe she already knows about Kuro?

This is getting confusing. I am planning on talking to Souji, Shizuka-san, and Akari-san about special abilities sometime soon, so maybe I can confirm all this then? 

While thinking about that, the 1st day of my restful break passes in a flash.

Uegh, such painful heartburn…

---

T/N: No, Kosuke, don’t worry, you did not eat a rock.  Let me reiterate that for you, you did not eat a rock.

~Lyfe

<57. Boy Scouts… are Seriously Incredible
59. The Letter From Kami-sama>