After I finished talking to my watchers, I removed the VR visor, turned off the pc, and exhaled in relief. Being Kokoro-chan was very fulfilling, but also very stressful, acting like an anime girl wasn't easy especially at the beginning of a stream. Usually, after a while something clicked and then I just go along with the flow and it became natural, but in the first minutes, I had to force myself quite a bit.

This stream I also felt the satisfaction of surviving the round of 128, it was just the first step, but now I was nearer to my goal, I only hoped Tsukiko survived until I could defeat her personally.

I opened the door to the living room and greeted its emptiness and the poster with a demonic anime girl on the wall.

Wait, that wasn't here the last time.

I looked at the poster more closely and recognized Bel-tan, the leader of the infamous Majin quintuplet, a group of five vtubers that debuted together ten years ago in Virtuastream, one of the biggest vtuber companies, and abandoned it after three years, going indie. Many people hated them at the time, but today, they are all still incredibly popular and all of them are participating in the tournament, I might fight them if they don't drop out before.

Bel-tan was a busty demon girl that was exiled from hell and wanted to use the mortals to obtain the power to return there, she had a fang in one side of her mouth, six horns, and three pairs of wings, she was the most popular in the Majin quintuplet.

“Ohoh, it seems that you're interested in Bel-tan, you have good taste, onii-chan(big brother), do you know her?”

A pest asked me while sticking out her head from the kitchen door.

“I was wondering what the poster of a booby demon is doing in my living room.”

“It's Bel-tan, a vtuber, I bought it this morning. I also bought this after a friend recommended it to me, but I don't know where to put it.”

She rummaged in her bag and took out a small poster with another vtuber on it. I recognized it right away, it was one of the first posters of Kokoro-chan I created, I didn't think you could still find this one even today.

“I don't need that stuff, take it away, also stop calling me onii-chan.”

“Come on don't be so tsuntsun(toxic) with your cute little sister, onii-chan. So, do you want to put it in your room? Look at her cleavage, nice right? She looks very much like your ex-girlfriend, and her personality is also completely your type, cheerful and positive.”

She put the poster right in front of my face.

“It's not like I will like it more if you put it closer to my face, and stop talking in Japanese, I can't understand half of the things you say.”

Of course, I understood everything, but I couldn't let her know.

“Then your room it is, I'll go stick it right now so if you have some ecchi(lewd) stuff to hide you should do it now, onii-chan, then I'll stick her right in front of your bed. So you can wake up while seeing your new waifu(favorite anime girl) every morning.”

I should have put away and hidden all the VR gear but I tried to think if I left anything Clara shouldn't see in plain sight anyway.

Nothing came to mind, but I couldn't help but continue thinking about it even while I replied.

“You can go ahead, I have nothing to hide, and I do not need a waifu, if I want I can just get a girlfriend whenever I want.”

Clara was about to go to my room, but then stopped, looked me in the eyes with a serious expression and her sharp eyes like she was trying to see through me.

“Blake, so you know what a waifu is.”

I fucked up!

Clara kept piercing me with her gaze and continued.

“And it seems you also know what ecchi means, of all things.”

She suddenly wore a smug expression, smiling she walked on me, poked my cheek and said:

“Oooooh, it seems onii-chan found a new interest and didn't tell me. So what anime have you watched? And which is your favorite one? And who's your favorite girl? Come on, tell your little sister.”

My mind started running at the speed of light, trying to find a solution to this terrible situation.

“The context was more than enough for both, it's quite easy to understand that waifu comes from wife.”

Clara looked at me like she was trying to read through me again.

I tried to keep my expression as calm as possible, then she said:

“Is that so.”

She then turned back to her usual expression and continued.

“Well, it's a pity, I thought that you finally found something that interested you, you seemed more energetic these days and you were watching this poster with quite an intense gaze. I think it wouldn't be bad for you to find a passion of some kind, you know? I think anime are a good choice for you, they're a type of fiction that would fit an escapist like you quite well, maybe they would help you figure out the difference between lie and fiction.”

'What the hell is she saying now?'

“I don't have time for that kind of thing.”

“Now you have though, you don't have anything to do before going to bed, right?”

After I ate dinner very fast Clara made me watch an anime about a boy reincarnated in another world and fighting demons with a harem formed with all the little sisters she got with his new family. I already watched it, it was good, of course, I watched it only to use it as reference material.

The following morning was my free day, I told Clara not to disturb me and started a stream before today's match, chatting with the viewers.

After a while one of the moderators sent me a message arrived on one of my socials, it was from Tsukiko, it seemed she wanted to see me in a private chatroom.

That was quite unexpected, we already did some collaborations together, but we never met alone.

Anyway she was a big shot, so I didn't want to lose a possible opportunity, I told to my viewers that I would talk to her for a little and apologized for going away for a while in the middle of a stream, and passed to Tsukiko's chatroom.

We were both still using our 3d models, her model was a silver-haired girl with a long blue dress with a slit on her right thigh, showing her leg, her eyes were light blue and she was wearing a tiara with a black moon on it.

Her model was very detailed overall, as expected from the number one.

She seemed a bit nervous.

“H-hi Kokoro-chan, it's been a while, isn't it?”

I wore my best smile.

“It sure was, how are you? Are you having fun in the tournament?”

“I'm fine, thank you, I'm having a lot of fun, I've been playing this game for a while so I'm very happy someone organized a tournament for it. I know you have your next match today, I called you here because I wanted to wish you good luck, I can't watch you since I have something to do, but I'll cheer for you in my head.”

'That's it?! I had to leave a stream on its own for this?'

“Oh, I see, I appreciate it a lot, I'm so happy you called me to tell me personally.”

Tsukiko turned on her blushing expression.

“Hehe, I'm happy you appreciate it, you see......... I started vtubing because of you, I was passing a terrible period back then, but you helped me a lot to get through it.”

That's what I hated about her, she was always talking about her real life, her troubles, and her worries, and although she never revealed her identity she said a lot about her in her streams.

Vtubers were supposed to be idols that could surpass human limitations and project a perfect image into their viewers' eyes, but she always covered her image with a layer of humanity and imperfection, I really couldn't get why she was so popular.

She took a deep breath and resumed talking.

“Also, if you don't mind...... what about knowing each other in real life?”

I almost lost my composure when she said that, that was the only thing I couldn't accept no matter what.

“I-it's a little difficult, you see, I don't want to reveal my identity.”

“I won't tell anybody, of course, I will also reveal my identity too.”

“Yea, but, you see, my job is a little particular, I would be fired if someone were to know this, so I don't want to take any chance. It's not like I don't trust you, but you see someone else might hack one of us and ask ransom for not getting me fired.”

Tsukiko seemed a little dejected.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Oh I see, then I guess there's no helping it. Then good luck with your match, I'll be cheering for you, let's do a collab one of these days, alright?”

“Sure.”

We ended the call and I returned to my stream, then, the time for the match came soon.

“Hello everybody, Ao-chan here, we're now in the round of 64 and another exciting match await us, are you hyped?”

Cheers resounded from the audience.

“Now let me present you today's cute contenders:

In the right corner we have the goddess of love, a fair maiden whose cheerfulness lightens up the hearts of we mortals, she wants to reach everyone with her love and she's determined to win this tournament for that reason, here's our first contestant, Kokoro-chan!”

I stepped forward, waving my arms to greet the public.

“Hi guys, let's have fun today.”

Ao-chan continued her presentation.

“And in the left corner we have our second contestant, she may seem petite, but don't let her appearance fool you for her dance moves are as deadly as a blade. She's a unicorn who has taken the form of a girl to live among humans and spread her serenity to those who watch her, greet our second contestant of today, Unicalm!”

She was a small girl with blue hair and eyes, a white dress, and a unicorn's horn on her forehead, her dress didn't reveal much and she didn't have many accessories on her if I had to describe her appearance and demeanor in one word it would be seiso(wholesome). She was an indie vtuber who mainly did ASMR, the relaxing type, not the lewd type, and with time managed to gain a very loyal group of fans thanks to her genuineness and relaxing bearing.

She was one of the vtubers that I didn't appreciate, she never hid anything of herself and showed all of her life to her viewers, sometimes she didn't even use her model. She was like Tsukiko, she didn't hide her imperfection and projected an imperfect image, I wanted to beat her with all of myself.

The unicorn girl stepped forward and said:

“Hi guys, hope you're having a nice, Kokoro-chan, let's have a good match.”

“Yea, let's.”

I smiled at her.

The stage appeared around us, we were now in a clearing inside a forest full of fairies and pixies, it was again my opponent's weapon's stage. Unicalm used the Titania's Veils, a couple of thin silk veils bound to her wrists, they were a weapon good at middle and close range, their moves were also quite good but there was a catch. The moves' execution was quite peculiar, the movements for the specials and ultimates needed to be executed while moving and with very precise timings, just like dance moves.

Unicalm's objective was to gain space to execute her strong moves, and mine was to pressure her so that she couldn't use them, basically, we both had to put the other in the corner and make them stay there.

3

2

1

Fight!

I started with a high kick, looking to punish her if she did a special right away, but Unicalm dashed backward. I leaped forward and kicked again, but she did one of her specials while going backward. I was about to dash again to get in her face, but I recognized the move and blocked. Energy exploded from Unicalm, it was a defensive move that would have sent the opponent to the other side of the stage if it hit and still sent you a bit away if you blocked. Unicalm's trap has failed and now she was very close to the corner.

I used Shadow Spirit, one of my specials to send a projectile towards Unicalm, making her stay in place, I then dashed forward and went right in front of her, now she had to guess if I wanted to grab her or strike her, and I used a jab.

Unicalm dashed back and avoided my jab, like this she would have avoided most of my strikes and the grab, she could have either jumped, avoiding the grab and potentially make her air-dash over me, putting me in the corner and forcing me to use a Shadow Leap to get away, but any strike would have hit her.

Since the jab was fast she didn't have the time to punish me and now she was in the corner. I started pressuring her, trying to break her block, using Shadow leap would put me in the corner and bring me close to fill the gauge, so I had to rely on my normal moves.

When an enemy blocked, you would slip a bit further away from them so that you had to step forward again, those were the moments where they could try to hit you and reverse the situation.

During one of those moments, I tried to dash towards her and grab her, but she read me, dashed back, and then hit me with her forward kick while I was recovering from the miss. This move was made to push the enemy away and I fell a short distance away, it wasn't much, but it was enough for her to use a special.

And she did use one, she advanced while dancing and hit me while I just got up. I blocked, but her move was made to break blocks, stunning the enemy for a few instants, she followed with normals and did a combo, pushing me further back.

She did the same thing again and I had to dash back, giving up more ground. I tried to punish the move, but she danced again while going back and used the force explosion, forcing me to stay still.

I waited for her to finish, and then dashed forward, I expected her to use a dance, but instead, she dashed forward too. I tried a last-second jab, but she was faster, she grabbed me, doing a good amount of damage, then broke my guard again and used a combo again, and now I was in the corner.

I used Shadow Leap right away, and now Unicalm was in the corner where I was, but now the hunger's gauge was almost full.

I restarted the pressure, but Unicalm wasn't losing her cool and didn't allow me any hit.

Then, after I slipped a bit away, I dashed forward, then dashed back again and attack with a heavy slash, trying to make the opponent dash and trying to catch it, but it didn't work.

Unicalm stayed still, and then she used her low heavy slash to make me fly in the air, then she followed with one of her dances, hitting me while I was flying and dealing massive damage, she followed with a low kick and then her ultimate, truly a beautiful combo.

I was almost dead, I tried to go for a Hail Mary, I dashed forward, then instead of striking I used Shadow Leap, I appeared behind her and hit her successfully, then did a decent combo, surviving.

Unicalm then started to pressure me again, I used shadow feint this time, the gauge would fill in an instant, but if I landed Umbras' Bite, my grab ultimate that reset the gauge, I would still have a shot.

But Unicalm dashed back, and then finished me with one of her dances.

I lost the first round.

I got up, I was quite upset, but I couldn't show it on my face, so I only made an embarrassed laugh and said:

“Good game, Uni.”

“Yea, good game Kokoro-chan.”

I was quite nervous though, I didn't want to lose to someone like her, I trained myself hard for this tournament, sacrificing hours of sleep, all to make my ideals prevail, if I lost it would mean to me that their determination was stronger than mine and that the faith in my dream wasn't enough.

I couldn't let that happen, I had to show that I had faith in my own idol.

If I lost I would go to the lower bracket, the one for losers, it's not like I would be eliminated right away, I would still have a chance to win, but the tournament was still long, I couldn't throw away my position in the upper bracket right away.

I steadied my mind and concentrated, I listened to the cheers from the public, my heart started beating stronger and stronger, all that people were basking in the light of Kokoro-chan, I wanted to continue to do so and reach even more people.

“Are you ready Kokoro-chan?”

“I'm ready.”

The stage now was Umbra's Dungeon, my weapon's scenario, a dimly lit underground cave with a huge circle at its center, imprisoning Umbra, an evil god that tricked mortals into hosting him in their souls, giving them the power of the shadows, and then slowly devoured them.

3

2

1

Fight!

I jumped and dashed in the air, Unicalm did a high kick, but I was already in the air, I attacked her from above and then used Shadow Leap, I did a decent combo and got back some of the hunger, this match started well.

I started pressuring Unicalm, but she blocked everything, I managed to do some cheap damage through her block and push her near the corner, but after I slipped away, as I was about to restart the pressure, she dashed towards me, used a grab and put me in the corner she was in before.

'Damn.'

Then she started pressuring me, I suddenly had an idea. I used Shadow Feint, then dashed back, Unicalm, confused, continued to be on the defensive.

I then used Shadow Spirit and as soon as the projectile was cast, I canceled the animation with Shadow Projection, my last special move. This move cost less than the other special and launched me in the air, allowing me to air-dash two times.

I dashed upon Unicalm, surpassing her, then, one instant before the projectile hit her, I dashed at the other side. In the game, regardless of where the projectiles were, all attacks are blocked by blocking in the direction of the opponent, which meant that she had to block towards me, even if the projectile was on the other side.

But this time, she was swayed by my movement and didn't change the direction in time, getting hit by the projectile. I attacked by above and then did a combo on the ground, but I had to do a strong combo to regain as much hunger as I could.

I used my low heavy slash to make Unicalm fly, then with my high heavy slash, I launched her towards the wall, making her bounce and then hitting her with my high slash, then used high kick, low slash, high slash, and then low slash.

I regained a good amount of hunger and did good damage, but this combo was particularly difficult, I risked quite a bit by attempting it.

I gained some distance, then did the same thing again, but this time, Unicalm blocked, This time though, I didn't attack either. I landed and then used Umbra's bite, grabbing Unicalm, summoning a huge monstrous mouth from my shadow, and biting her, regaining all the hunger.

I then restarted the pressure, but using all my specials, Unicalm fell soon after.

I won that series 4 to 3, Unicalm was quite strong, I had to use new strategies every match, but in the end, I did it, I was the one shining brighter after all.

I watched Unicalm showing her dejected expression while she was having a brief speech in front of the viewers.

'Another one out.'

My heart was beating slowly, I could barely feel it.

I then said goodbye to Unicalm and talked for some time with my viewers, my heart started beating a bit faster.

--Helen's point of view--

I was still dizzy from talking with Kokoro-chan, this morning I finally managed to find the courage to ask her to be my friend, it took a lot of courage for me to do it, but she refused.

It was for her work though, so it couldn't be helped. She had enough of a following to leave her job and only live from vtubing, so maybe I would have another shot in the future.

I would definitely ask her again, she seemed willing to know me after all.

Kokoro-chan almost seemed something unreachable for me, just like an idol, but now that I was famous too, I had the chance to meet her in person, I felt so lucky.

I wondered how she was, she must have had the same personality she had on stream, but I wondered if she resembled it in appearance too, her model was relatively realistic after all.

While I was thinking all this I arrived in front of Clara's home, or her brother's, actually.

I knocked and a brown-haired girl opened right away.

“Hi there, Helen-chan, wanna come in?”

“Y-yes, hi Clara.”

I entered the apartment, the living room was quite empty, the only thing on it was a Bel-tan poster.

I didn't see her brother anywhere, I was a bit nervous about him, Clara said he had the same age as me and I hadn't talked to a boy for a while now. I actually preferred for us to meet somewhere else but Clara insisted on meeting here.

“My brother is doing something in his room right now, probably using his computer, he should finish in a bit.”

“I see.”

We then sat on the sofa and talked for a while, after a while our conversation drifted towards Kokoro-chan, as I was talking passionately about her, she looked at me with a strange expression, like she was penetrating me with her eyes like she was trying to grasp something.

“Clara, did I say something strange.”

She suddenly returned to her usual carefree expression.

“No, it's just that I remembered I attacked the poster you recommended me inside onii-san's room, do you want to sneak in for a bit to see it?”

“Wait, I don't think we shoul-”

“It's fine, it's fine, just come with me.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me up, towards her brother's room, her face seemed a little nervous, I guess she was nervous too.

She was about to grab the handle, then hesitated, looked at me, and closed her eyes.

Her expression for an instant became very serious, she then took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

What I saw astounded me. The man that I saw inside the room was Blake, my ex-boyfriend, the person that hurt me the most in my life and made me distrustful towards other people, he was wearing headphones, a VR visor, and using the controllers, controlling a vtuber avatar. And the avatar I saw on the screen was none other than Kokoro-chan, my idol.

I remained still for some time, trying to understand what was going on.

When the truth breached through my brain I felt my world fall apart, everything that I believed to be beautiful suddenly turned ugly.

I fell on my knees, then sensed my senses disappear, as I was about to faint I heard a female voice.

“Sorry, Helen.”

Then everything became black.