There hadn’t been any real plan for the livestream in the first place, so there wasn’t much prepared.
In fact, there was nothing at all. All she had was a smartphone and a long Bluetooth selfie stick.
But with her innate sense, Memcho immediately got the livestream ready.
She quickly settled on the title, [Late-Night Shibuya Street Date with Kaoru Kamiki★], because she wanted an intuitive title to boost views.
She asked Kaoru to take off his hat and glasses, quickly fixed her own makeup, then opened a map app and checked the route they’d be walking together through the streets.
After quickly figuring out a simple dessert cafe they could stop by halfway through, she stuck close to Kaoru’s side, raised the selfie stick high, and checked the frame.
"..."
Watching Memcho smoothly set the concept and finish all the prep on her own, Kaoru found himself looking at her in a new light.
From his old experience filming an unscripted drama with Producer Sojiro, he knew this was by no means an easy situation.
And yet the 22-year-old YouTuber handled the difficulty all by herself and got everything done as efficiently as possible.
"Okay! Phew! K-Kamiki...!"
"Just call me Kamiki."
"H-Huh!? R-Really? You want such a casual, zero-distance way of addressing you-"
"Do you dislike it?"
"N-no!!! Kamiki, sir, Mr. Kamiki! Uu- uuu-! Don’t cry, Memcho, your makeup will come off!!"
Memcho stamped her feet, then pulled herself together again and explained the filming concept to Kaoru.
Kaoru had already roughly guessed the concept from watching her prepare beside him, so after hearing her quick and concise explanation, he nodded again.
To someone else, it might have looked like a helpless livestream with no script, but it was far easier than holding a fan signing in front of hundreds of people.
"A-and also, you absolutely cannot tell anyone that I’m a 22-year-old adult! I-I actually set the concept as an active high school girl, so if people find out..."
Memcho’s pitiful explanation came out in a tiny voice, her face red enough to burst from embarrassment.
Kaoru didn’t press her further. He just smiled and told her not to worry.
And then, at last—
"Helloooo~~~!!! This is MEMcho’s Twinkle livestream~★ And today’s surprise guest is none other than-"
"Hello. I’m actor [Kaoru Kamiki]. I’m very excited to appear as the guest for a late-night Shibuya street date with Memcho."
The historic livestream began.
- Huh? No way, right?
- Yo, [Kaoru Kamiki] just showed up on some tiny YouTuber [MEMcho]’s livestream?
- Wait, I just passed there with my girlfriend earlier. What the hell?
- Yo, it’s real??!!! It’s seriously the real Kaoru Kamiki!!!!!!!!!!
- Don’t tell me Ai-chan’s going to appear too?!
- A date? Did you get permission from your wife first?
- Shibuya residents, evacuate immediately. The fans are coming.
It took only five minutes for Twitter and the internet communities to explode, and for Kaoru, Memcho, and Shibuya to completely take over the trending topics.
"Have you been to Shibuya before?"
"I had a drink with some of the drama’s castmates at an izakaya earlier. Not often, but I do come sometimes."
"R-Really? C-could I ask who you were drinking with?"
"Hmm. Ms. Aragaki Satomi, Mr. Suda Ryusei, Mr. Kitamura Kento, and the director-"
"Eeeh?"
Aragaki Satomi, one of Japan’s top actresses, and the hottest rising stars in the acting world right now, Suda Ryusei and Kitamura Kento!
Unlike Kaoru, who mentioned them casually, Memcho completely failed to keep her expression under control, and her eyes shook wildly.
The livestream chat was no different.
- Holy shit
- Let me join too!!!!
- I want to pour the drinks
- Where did you eat?
- Look at Memcho freaking out www
- At Kaoru’s level, that kind of drinking party lineup is nothing, huh?
- I saw him earlier at an izakaya www Thought they were filming a drama wwww
- I can’t see well because Memcho’s bangs are in the way, but isn’t that a bandage? Did she get hurt?
Just like the livestream viewer count, which had already passed 30,000 and was heading toward 40,000—
Murmur murmur—
People began gathering around Kaoru and Memcho.
"Kamiki-san!!!!"
"I’m a fan!!!"
"Who’s that girl next to him?"
"She’s a YouTuber! Memcho! Memcho! Search her up!"
Luckily, it was a weekday night rather than a weekend, so an overwhelming crowd didn’t form. Still, Memcho looked flustered as she glanced around at the unexpectedly large number of people gathering.
But Kaoru calmly waved, and even asked people to keep order so no one got hurt.
He also patted Memcho’s shoulder to keep her from getting scared, smiling reassuringly.
Thanks to that, she managed to steady herself and looked at her smartphone before asking her next question.
"S-so, what kind of drama are you appearing in this time?"
"This drama is about forensic specialists and Metropolitan Police detectives..."
"You recently held a joint fan signing too, right? How was that?!"
"I was happy to meet the fans. My wife was very happy too. And..."
Even without a prepared script, Memcho and Kaoru exchanged questions and answers in perfect rhythm. Thanks to that, the livestream reactions were at peak intensity.
"Ugh-"
"Tired? Here, give it to me. I’ll hold it."
"Eh?! No, it’s okay-"
Seeing the short Memcho struggle to hold her arm up high so she could stay in frame, Kaoru took the selfie stick from her instead.
The two of them chatted as they walked and eventually arrived at the small dessert cafe.
After asking the startled cafe owner for permission following Kaoru’s sudden appearance and the crowd that had gathered, they ordered drinks outside rather than inside the shop, received them, and started walking again.
"Phew!"
After gulping down her drink, Memcho felt like she was walking through a dream and couldn’t quite collect herself.
There were so many people, Kaoru Kamiki was right beside her, and the livestream viewer count had already shot past 40,000 and was heading toward 50,000 and 60,000.
Only a few hours ago, she had been struggling just to survive as a tiny YouTuber.
She had never imagined that she would end up seizing such absurd luck and leveling up in real time.
That was why, while she was spacing out as she walked, Kaoru bent his head to look at her and said with a smile,
"You’re doing well."
"Ah... yes!!! Please, give me the selfie stick! I’ll hold it!"
"Hahaha, it’s fine. It’s not heavy. And you’re still a young [student], right? Adults should handle it."
"......"
Memcho’s eyes trembled at the word [student], but Kaoru didn’t notice.
He didn’t know the full story yet, but since everyone’s life is different, it was wise not to judge too quickly.
At the very least, the longing and desperation in Memcho’s eyes were not the kind of emotions a naive little girl would show.
"Do you like [aa] or [ttaa], Kamiki-san?"
"...What’s that?"
"Huh? It’s short for iced Americano and hot Americano... Ah, you haven’t heard that before!?"
"......"
- Kamiki-kun has always been kind of an old man at heart
- There are people who don’t know aa and ttaa?
- Oh dear, boss www If you don’t know that these days, the young ones will make fun of you~
- Maybe Memcho isn’t actually a high school girl!
- Are you looking down on ttaa?
- Yep, if you like ttaa, go to bed, old folks.
- Doesn’t aa upset your stomach?
For a moment, Kaoru’s gaze went cold, and the livestream chat also plunged into a full-blown hot coffee vs. iced coffee debate.
As Memcho continued the late-night street date with a drink in hand, she glanced at her smartphone screen and said when the battery dropped into low-power mode,
"Phew! It looks like the battery’s running low, so I’ll have to wrap up before we can finish the full route I planned! It’s already 10:20."
The battery was really just an excuse.
It didn’t show on screen, but Memcho was sweating so much her makeup was starting to run.
There were so many people, and she was basically running a livestream from the ground up while also being nervous, so she had completely worn herself out.
Seeing that she had reached her physical limit, Kaoru nodded and signaled that they should end the livestream.
Memcho, now filled only with the desire to rest, waved at the smartphone and shouted,
"Bye, everyone~! MEMcho’s Twinkle livestream ends here! Thanks for coming, everybody~★"
"Thank you for watching with us."
Kaoru waved toward the smartphone, and the livestream ended.
Feeling how quickly the time had passed, Memcho panted with an utterly exhausted face. It was such a difficult broadcast that she never wanted to do anything like it again.
The crowd that had gathered like clouds had also thinned out a lot, having grown tired from the heat or gone home, though there were still quite a few people left.
"Good work, Memcho. You handled the whole thing really smoothly."
"Eeh- th-th-thank you... Heh-heh-"
"You should take a taxi home. I’ll pay for it."
Startled by Kaoru’s words, Memcho waved her hands frantically and said,
"N-no! Just having you appear was more than enough, so I can’t possibly take taxi fare too-"
Kaoru pointed at Memcho’s forehead and gave a snort of laughter.
"Don’t make me the bad guy."
"Hwaah-! Thank you so much..."
Really, it was just an excuse. She desperately wanted to throw herself into a taxi right now and go home to rest.
After telling the gathered fans that he had to head out, Kaoru left the spot, put on his hat and thick-rimmed glasses, and walked with Memcho toward the roadside.
They headed to the curb together. There were still people following them, but far fewer than before.
After all, the livestream had ended in only about thirty minutes, not even an hour, so no matter how fast the SNS buzz and word of mouth spread, there was a limit to how many more people could arrive on the scene.
Kaoru glanced at Memcho, who was wiping sweat from her face with a tissue, and asked casually,
"What kind of videos do you upload, Memcho?"
"Haa... huh!? Ah, um... beauty videos and fashion... I upload them with a high school girl kind of concept..."
From the way she introduced herself as a "forgettable YouTuber" and kept stumbling over her words, it seemed her views weren’t doing very well.
The YouTube market had long since become a battlefield. If her views weren’t coming in, that meant the limits of her concept were obvious—it wasn’t carrying even half of Memcho’s charm.
If she didn’t have the appeal to hold onto the viewers who had gathered because of Kaoru’s appearance, then in the end she would just return to where she started.
Kaoru scratched his eyebrow and said, looking at Memcho,
"My case and your situation are different, so I’m being careful here, but the reason I originally decided to upload the twins’ videos to YouTube was because of the psychology of people who can’t resist babies."
"Ah-"
Kaoru casually held up his right hand, spreading his thumb, index finger, and middle finger for Memcho to see.
"I remembered a marketing theory I heard in a liberal arts class at university. The 3B theory. Babies, beauties, and beasts. They’re the kinds of things that naturally open people’s hearts and heal tired minds."
"..."
"For someone like you, Memcho, you’re already a beauty. Being a baby is obviously impossible, so that leaves the last one..."
"Y-yes!? N-no, I don’t really think I’m a beauty or anything...!"
"Haha. Human eyes are all the same in the end. People want to look at things that are prettier, cooler, and better."
"S-so... if I use that 3B theory too... do you think I could become much more successful than I am now?"
At Memcho’s question, Kaoru remembered something Director Gotanda had once said.
No matter how good the ingredients are, whether the result becomes garbage or a Michelin three-star meal depends on the skill of the person cooking it.
Kaoru answered with a smile instead of words, as if telling her to find the answer herself, then took a business card and two 10,000-yen bills from his wallet and handed them to Memcho.
"Eh? I-I’m really fine! You don’t have to give me anything... Huh? Why a business card...?"
[Ichigo Production / Saito Miyako / Executive Director, MCN Division]
It was the new department Miyako had confidently persuaded President Ichigo to launch not long ago.
Kaoru was thinking of Miyako, who was aggressively recruiting talent as she pushed a new future-facing business centered on managing SNS influencers and YouTubers.
"It’ll help with your work, Memcho. When you have time later, contact them and tell them I gave you the card."
"E-eh!? T-thank you..."
Kaoru smiled as Memcho accepted the business card and bills with both hands, then opened the taxi door for her.
For the greatest actor to be this kind and even help with her career—
The joy of having the days when she had pushed her dream aside and struggled against reality rewarded all at once was so intense it was impossible to describe.
Memcho clutched the business card and the bills tightly in both hands, tears welling up as she bowed her head in gratitude.
"Thank you! I won’t forget this kindness. I’ll definitely repay it!"
"Yes. I’ll look forward to it."
Memcho wiped away the tears that kept streaming down her face, sniffled, and got into the taxi. Kaoru quietly closed the door for her.
It was absolutely not because he wanted to send Memcho home quickly and go rest himself.
However—
Just before the taxi pulled away, Memcho suddenly remembered something and hurriedly rolled down the window.
"K-Kamiki-san!"
"Yes?"
"M-my name is fine if you call me Memcho, but actually, I never told anyone because of a secret... I don’t think you’d be curious or anything, but I... I want to be a little greedy one more time, so... could I tell you?"
Memcho was careful, worried that other people might hear. Kaoru approached with his usual indifferent smile and bent down.
After glancing around like a thief, Memcho covered even her mouth with both hands and said in a tiny voice,
"My name is [Nishiwaki Yumemi]!!! Please remember it!? Okay!? Don’t forget it!!! M-maybe I’ll ask you later!?"
Kaoru’s blue eyes shone as he nodded, remembering her name just as she wished.
Like a lovely name that meant "dream," he hoped that Yumemi’s [dream] would come true too—
Yumemi bowed again, her face red with embarrassment, and thanked him once more.
She kept her face pressed to the window and couldn’t take her eyes off Kaoru until the taxi pulled away and disappeared into the distance.
A 22-year-old high school girl YouTuber with tears trembling in her eyes like Puss in Boots... someone who could still show such impossible charm even in the moment she vanished.
Kaoru laughed, watched the departing taxi, then turned and hurried toward the bakery.
-
As soon as he got home, Ai and the three siblings came running out to greet Kaoru.
"Kaoruuuuuu-!!!"
"Papa!"
"Daddyyyyy~!"
"Fatherrr, Dad!"
"Whoa!"
Kaoru stretched his arm far away to keep the cake from being smashed in a disaster, then gathered his wife and two daughters into his arms.
Aqua, who had received the cake from Kaoru, watched the reunion between his mother and younger sisters with a smile.
After showering and hearing the whole story from Ruby—
"It was total chaos! Mom got a call too, and we got calls too! Everyone was asking if it was really Papa!"
"It was reported in a lot of articles too. Here."
When Aqua showed his phone, even the tweets were full of question marks, from wondering what connection a rookie TikTok creator and YouTuber could possibly have with him to how she’d suddenly started broadcasting together with the actor colleagues he had been drinking with.
Come to think of it... while stopping by the bakery, he’d checked his phone and found ten missed calls from Satomi, so he’d already sent her a short explanation by message.
"So! She wasn’t some runaway teenager after all, just an adult? Well, she did look really young on the broadcast! I guess Papa could definitely have been fooled, huh?"
"You didn’t have to push yourself to appear on the livestream..."
Ruby and Aqua said as they looked at Kaoru.
Kaoru, who was gently stroking Ame’s head as she dozed in his arms, smiled warmly and said,
"I wanted to do it. I definitely made some mistakes too... but I felt like I wanted to help."
"Eeeh...!"
Ruby had recently been exchanging messages with Akane and saw her honest feelings about how it still felt like a dream to be in the same agency as Kaoru, and it gave her a strange feeling.
That annoying green-pepper exercise girl probably felt the same way, even if she didn’t say it.
Ruby, who had inherited some of Ai’s instincts, suddenly had a strange thought and narrowed her eyes, stroking her chin.
'Papa... kind of feels like a tall benefactor, doesn’t he?'
There was definitely a feeling that Kaoru had also had a hand in Akane and the green-pepper exercise girl passing the Stani-On audition...
And that YouTuber called [Memcho] too, probably...!
'He’s surprisingly soft-hearted, Papa is! Hmph— he could just think about our family, and that would be enough. Hehe! But I do love that side of him too, too much!'
"Ugh!"
"Mmm~ big brother~☆"
Since Ame had claimed Papa’s lap, Ruby yielded it and instead snuggled into the arms of the brother she adored, rubbing against him.
Even with Ruby clinging to him, Aqua didn’t get angry. He smiled like he was used to it and patted his little sister’s head.
Kaoru watched the close twins with proud, affectionate eyes and said in a low voice,
"I hope Aqua and Ruby grow up to be good people too, people who help others when they’re having a hard time. That’s Dad’s wish."
"Hehe— yes~!"
"Yes, Dad."
After finishing his conversation with the twins and laying Ame down on the bed, Kaoru went into the bedroom, confirmed that his wife was in the bathroom, and sat on the bed to check his smartphone.
Memcho’s YouTube livestream had caused a literal upheaval.
There was a flood of posts from citizens who had watched the livestream on the spot in Shibuya, and Memcho’s TikTok and YouTube subscriber counts, which had once been nothing to speak of, exploded like a nuclear blast.
Even as he watched, the subscriber count was rising by a thousand at a time in real time.
"Hah."
Now that Yumemi, the rookie TikTok creator and YouTuber, had seized a great stroke of luck, whether she could use that luck to climb even higher from here depended entirely on her own ability.
Kaoru turned off his phone and lay down on the bed, tired.
Like the introvert he was, he quietly took some time to rest and settle his weary mind—
Tap-tap-tap.
Then came his wife’s light, cheerful footsteps—
Swish— rustle!
Thunk!
She lay down on the bed, came over to Kaoru’s side, and hugged his solid body tightly, as if she were holding a doll.
Kaoru quietly opened his eyes and gazed at his wife’s starlight-bright eyes, sparkling and shining.
Smack.
"Why?"
"Heheh-★"
"Hm? Why?"
"Mm-hm~ nothing. It’s nothing."
Acting as if she didn’t know anything while rubbing her face against his chest, his wife made Kaoru smile softly as he hugged her close and whispered,
"You seem like you have something to say."
"Eh? Mm-hm~ no~"
Smack.
"Will you tell me? I’m curious."
"...If you do it one more time-"
Smack-smack.
"Twice."
"Pffft— idiot Oru! You’re impossible!"
The child, thumping his chest, pulled the blanket up to her nose and gave her honest opinion with sparkling eyes.
"...That’s why!"
"......"
It was a long story, but to sum it up: the livestream was fun, but honestly, seeing you laughing and chatting right next to her made her jealous!
Embarrassed by her own words, she hid under the blanket, then peeked out with those starlit eyes and sparkled cutely.
At that sight—
"Mm. Fine."
"What is?"
"Utscha—!"
"Kyahhh~!"
Kaoru stretched out his long arms, wrapped her up in the blanket and all, and kissed her forehead before whispering in his low voice,
"I’m tired. I’m going to sleep holding you all night. Even if you need the bathroom, I won’t let you go, so be prepared."
"......"
Using his wife’s pounding heartbeat and trembling breath as a lullaby,
and keeping the dazzling starlight eyes in his sight until they slowly closed and disappeared from view,
Kaoru brought the long, long day to an end.
I love you.
Good night, Kaoru.
His wife’s sweet voice settled in his ears like a lullaby.
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