Chapter 2: The Viewer’s paranoia

A couple hours pass, and I arrive home and take a quick cold shower.

“That was an intense workout as well as ‘that’ incident with Natsuki-senpai’’ I thought to myself as I changed into my clothes.

I lay down on my bed and opened up Towch, and my face lightened up. Shizuka-chan just started streaming. I quickly joined the stream and started to watch her.

"Hey everyone, Shizuka-chan is here. How is everyone doing? I hope we are all having a great and positive day’’.

The people in the comments are replying and reflecting the positive mood Shizuka-san is emanating.

''Glad to hear everyone is doing well,” her beautiful 2D model smiles. “You’ll never guess what just happened today. I was unexpectedly approached by some orcish delinquents, and I was nearly abducted.”.

“HUH!? SHIZUKA-CHAN WAS ALMOST ABDUCTED? WHO WERE THESE FRICKIN’ BASTARDS?”.

The comments flood with instant concern.

“But I was thankfully saved by a knight in shining armor, just as they were going to lay their filthy hands on me.”.

“Awww, I wish I was there to sav-... wait, hold on a sec. That’s strange. That whole situation sounds a lot like what happened earlier with Senpai." I quickly realised.

I pondered for a bit to myself, “Hm...“ I deny the thought, “Nah. There’s no way a highly regarded person such as Natsuki-senpai would be Shizuka-chan. No less a streamer." I keep my phone running, lost in thought. Is Senpai really Shizuka-chan? I stare at Shizuka-chan's live stream, then start to drift off to sleep.

The sun rises, and I wake up still feeling tired and confused. I couldn't get any sleep thinking about last night. I get up and start to get ready for school, hoping it can help distract my mind from the situation. I have my breakfast, then leave to go to school. On the way, I look up at the blue sky. I am stuck in thought again: “Could just be a coincidence. Maybe it was just a similar incident that happened. There could be no way our school’s princess is Shizuka-chan.

“Yo Katsu what's up? You look lost in thought. Did something happen?’’ Minori says this while walking beside me unexpectedly.

“AHH! You scared me. When did you get here?’’ I shout

“Dude, I was calling your name three times; what's going on in your mind?’’ Minori replies

"Ain’t nothing much’’ I say to him as we both enter the school grounds.

As we both enter our classroom, Tanaka-san jumps and hugs Minori.

“Good morning, Minorii. Did you sleep well?’’

“Yes, I slept great, Yuii-chan,’’ he replies back.

"Morning Nagano You look like a zombie. Did you get any sleep?’’ Tanaka-san says

“Morning Tanaka-san, Nah, not much. had something bugging me the whole night’’

. Both look confused, but then start to flirt amongst themselves again. I leave them be and head towards my desk. I sat down on my seat and looked outside the window, hoping for another peaceful day.

I get through my lessons, and it's finally lunch time.

“Going to eat in your secret spot again’’ Minori says sitting in front of me.

“Yep, it's the best place to have my lunch instead of seeing you guys feed each other,’’ I reply in disgust.

I get my lunchbox from my bag, and then suddenly the whole class starts to cause a ruckus of whispers and comments: “No way," "What’s the princess doing here?'', “Omg, our princess is here, but why?’’ I look up, and at the entrance, I see Natsuki-senpai, accompanied by students from other classes.

“Huh? Why is Senpai here?’’ I think to myself.

“Hi, I'm here to speak to Katsu Nagano. Is he here?’’ she gently says.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes point towards me. “ME!? Why me?’’ the whole class starts to whisper, “Huh, why Nagano?’’ “Is he in trouble?’’ “It should have been me’’. I suddenly start to feel uncomfortable, I stand up and say, "Here, Senpai, I’m here. Do you need me?''

She enters the classroom and walks towards my desk. “Yes, Nagano-kun... Do you want to have lunch with me?’’

“EHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!??’’ the whole class exclaimed, "huh, why would Senpai ask me out for lunch’’ I agreed, and then I started to follow her while still being followed by her worshipers. “Can you guys give us some privacy?" Natsuki-senpai asks the other students following us; they all agree, and we head towards the rooftop.

We arrive at the rooftop and ask, “Where shall we eat our lunch?" Senpai asks me

"We can eat at the secret spot where I usually eat,” I reply back.

So we went to the back of the building and sat down and had our lunch, but for some reason I felt like I had lost my appetite after being stared at by the whole school.

“What’s wrong? You’re not hungry." Natsuki Senpai asks me

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"No, not really. Anyway, Senpai, did you need something from me?” I ask her.

She puts her chopsticks down and says, “Yes, I just wanted to thank you for saving me yesterday; if you weren’t there, I would have been in danger.”.

“No need to thank me, Senpai. I'm just glad you're safe. It would have been bad if something happened to our school princess,” I say to her.

"You really are a good person, Nagano-kun, but even if you still say no, I’m going to make sure I thank you properly.”.

“Come to think of it, Senpai, why were you at the alley?” I ask her.

"Oh, I was following an adorable cat trying to pet it, and without realising I ended up in the alley,” she replies back, feeling embarrassed. This was the first time I saw Senpai like this. “Wow, even Senpai is still a girl after all,” I thought to myself.

“This spot is a great place to have lunch in peace. Do you come here often, Nagano-kun?” Natsuki-senpai asks me

"Yes, this is where I usually have my lunch and watch my favourite streamer, Shizuka-chan,” I replied back.

All of a sudden, I noticed that Natsuki-senpai looked a bit surprised. Did I really hit the nail there? "Oh, she’s your favourite streamer; I didn’t know you liked watching her, Nagano-kun, " she says.

"Yes, I love watching her; her positivity and her smile just make my day, and it’s because of her energy that I keep going on in life,” I quickly explain. "Wait, Senpai, do you know who she is?’’ I ask.

She looks at me nervously. “Ah, yes, I have seen her on my phone... Not like I have an interest in Vtubers. She just pops up whenever I go on social media.” She anxiously answers.

“Is that so? I highly recommend her as a must-see Vtuber if you eventually become interested.” I kindly suggest.

"Uh, okay, then,” she stammers.

I start to regain some appetite and begin to eat my meal. After a while,we finish our lunch and both say, “Thank you for the meal’’ then Senpai looks at me and says, "Thank you, Nagano-kun, for having lunch with me; it’s great that i get to know more about you’’ she says, smiling, “but I still haven’t paid you back for yesterday”.

”You really don’t have to do that, Senpai; I just acted as any person would," I say, trying to sound cool.

"Oh, but I insist,” Natsuki persisted. “Is there anything you would like from me, Nagano-kun?” she asks.

I think about the next response as wisely as possible. "Well, actually, my grades are not that great as of now, so I would really like some tips for studying since you have the highest grades in our school’’ I reply

"Hmm, oh, I know. How about I help tutor you instead? We can have a study session at my place,’’ she says earnestly.

My mind went blank. “Did the school princess just ask me to come over to her house and tutor me?'' I thought to myself “No, I can't do that senpai; that's asking for too much. Advice would just do’’ I quickly replied back.

“don't worry. This is what I insist on. This is the least I can do for you,’’ she says, looking at me with a bright smile.

I sigh defeatedly, “Alright then, Senpai. When should I arrive at your house?”

“We could go together straight after school if you want,” she suggests.

"Umm, after school, ok then. I have training a bit later on today, so it should be okay,” I tell her.

“So it's settled; we’ll study together at my house after school; see you later, Nagano-kun,” she says while heading back to her class.

Lunch break ends, respectively, and we get on with the rest of our lessons as per usual, but this time with much more eyes on me because of my interaction with Natsuki-senpai. “I still can’t believe this is actually happening right now. It almost feels as if I'm dreaming. Is Natsuki-senpai really Shizuka-chan?” All these thoughts occupied my mind for the rest of the school day.

The final bell rings, but as I pack my stuff, Minori hastily stops me for an interrogation. “Yo Katsu. I did not know you were on ‘that’ type of terms with another person. More so, a girl. AAANNNDDD even more so… THE SCHOOL’S PRINCESS!? What even happened between you two?”.

“I’d rather not answer that question. You’d probably react too much for your own health and die on the spot,” I refuse to properly answer.

"Aww, but I really want to know." Minori mumbles

“Me too!” Tanaka-san abruptly barges in.

“AH! What’s with you two scaring me out of nowhere? But I’m sorry, I prefer not to talk about it,” I say.

‘’So mean, hmph,” they simultaneously pout.

I finish packing up and leave the classroom,heading outside to meet Senpai, just like she asked.

“Nagano-kun over here." I see an arm waving for my attention from afar. Suddenly, the other students look at me and say, “Huh, why is the princess waving to him?" “Why would our princess wait for him?” “It should've been me, not him,” causing another commotion and making me stand out again. I walk towards Natsuki Senpai. “I’m here, Senpai. Sorry to make you wait." “No worries, let’s head towards my place now,” she replies with a bright smile. "Ok, senpai," I answered, feeling very nervous.

After following Senpai, we finally arrived at her house. “Wow, I thought you lived in a castle, Senpai,” I said to her.

"Princess is just a nickname at school; it doesn’t mean I’m actually a princess, " she replies, laughing.

As we enter, she says, “You can go upstairs,into my room; it’s the first room on the left. I’m just going to get us some refreshments to have while studying.”

"Ah, ok,” I replied. It suddenly hit me. Me? In Senpai’s room? A girl’s room? Just us together? I get flustered for a bit, then come back to my senses. “Shizuka-chan is my only true love,” I mumble to myself. I head upstairs and enter her room. Everything looked normal to me except upon closer inspection… I see her computer setup. It resembles way too much of a streamer’s setup, no less a professional one at that. Those absurd thoughts invaded my head again about Natsuki-senpai being Shizuka-chan. It’s just so much of a coincidence for it to be this way that I’m starting to feel a bit paranoid about it. I brush those thoughts off again and get ready to study and take down notes from Senpai. Natsuki-senpai enters the room and sets down the refreshments in the middle of the table. She gets her stuff out eventually, and we start our study session.

“Let's begin the study session, shall we? '' Senpai says enthusiastically

And so we start the session. “So what subjects do you need help with in Nagano-kun?” She asks me

“Maths, it’s one of my weakest,” I reply.

“Maths that should be easy to teach, ok, then let’s start, " she says confidently.

Soon, time passes, and I start to get tutored by our school's princess. After a while into the session, Natsuki stands up and says, “I'm going for a toilet break. You keep up the good work’’

"Ok, Senpai I will, " I replied back to her. She leaves the room and says, “Phew, that was nerve-racking. I still feel nervous." I sigh,

I instinctively start to look around the room a bit more until I notice the shape of a small notebook sticking out from her pillow.

“What could it be?” I thought to myself. “Should I take a look at it? But that’s an invasion of Senpai’s privacy. Still, a quick look won’t do any harm,” I conflict with myself. I finally give in, and I gently take the notebook and open it up to a random page. So many dates, times, and names of past and future streams—streams? Wait, hold on, I recognise these. Isn’t this Shizuka-chan’s live stream timetable? I gasp in definite realisation… Akari Natsuki, our school princess, is my favourite streamer, Shizuka-chan!? Just as I come to the conclusion, the door creaks open, and Natsuki-senpai enters without worry until she sees what I have in my hands, and she freezes in place.

“Uhmm… Natsuki-senpai, are you... Shizuka-chan??