"Good morning, everyone!"
"This is Nyamu! Nya-mu, nya-mu~!"
"Today, I'm visiting Enoshima!"
Holding a selfie stick, a mature and charming young woman smiled brightly at her phone's camera.
With her free hand, she made an adorable cat-paw gesture.
Although she looked like an ordinary college student, she paid no attention to the curious stares of the tourists around her.
After all...
For Wakaba Yūtenji, this had long since become routine.
Yūtenji Wakaba.
A beauty-content creator.
Nyamu was her online alias.
She had gained a decent amount of popularity on video-sharing platforms, boasting a fanbase roughly twice the size of Guitar Hero's.
Her content mainly focused on makeup products and beauty tutorials aimed at women.
Recently, however, she had begun experimenting with other types of videos.
Enoshima had been incredibly popular lately.
Nyamu had come here both to gather footage...
And, more importantly, to ride the wave of hype.
After filming her opening greeting,
she finally lowered the camera and looked around.
Then her eyes lit up.
"Oh?"
"Well, well... what do we have here?"
she murmured.
She pointed in a certain direction, and the camera followed.
Four girls.
One boy.
All carrying musical instruments.
It was none other than Bai Qiu and his group.
Nyamu immediately resumed recording.
"Everyone, look over there!"
"Those people seem to be in a band."
"They all look pretty young—probably still students."
"Nyamu is actually pretty young too... Oops, getting off topic."
"But..."
A mischievous smile spread across her face.
"One guy leading four girls..."
"That's a rather unusual band lineup, isn't it?"
She paused dramatically before grinning at the camera.
"Could this..."
"...be what rock music is all about?"
At that very moment,
she had already come up with the title for this episode.
Four girls with completely different styles. One handsome boy.
A band guaranteed to spark discussion.
Perfect clickbait.
This video was bound to attract tons of viewers.
Time to farm some traffic!
Coming back to herself,
Nyamu put on a secretive expression and whispered to the camera.
"By the way..."
"Here's a little secret just for you."
"Nyamu is planning to enter the music scene soon!"
"Surprised?"
"Hehe."
"Guess what instrument I'll choose!"
After saving that clip, she muttered to herself,
"Oh, right."
"I should also run a giveaway."
"I'll pick a few people who guess correctly and send them some lipstick or something."
For a popular content creator,
holding regular giveaways for likes, shares, and comments was practically essential.
It also created opportunities for sponsorships and promotional deals.
Although...
most participants never actually won anything,
they still happily joined every giveaway.
Just as Nyamu was imagining her follower count skyrocketing—
and her bank balance rising just as quickly—
someone suddenly tapped her on the shoulder.
She frowned slightly.
Turning around, she was ready to see who had interrupted her grand audience-growth plan.
Instead,
she met Bai Qiu's scrutinizing gaze.
It was Bai Qiu.
After leaving the four girls of Kessoku Band, who were watching with equal parts curiosity and confusion,
he had quietly walked up behind her.
Their eyes met.
For an instant,
a trace of surprise—and embarrassment—flashed across Nyamu's face.
But she quickly concealed it.
Nothing I can't handle.
Bai Qiu was also slightly surprised.
If it weren't for the obvious difference in height and hair color,
he would have thought he'd run into Takamatsu Tomori.
Their faces looked unbelievably alike.
Seeing Bai Qiu momentarily distracted,
Nyamu seized the initiative.
"Is something the matter, sir?"
"You were recording just now—"
"Wait!"
"Let me guess."
She interrupted him with a smug smile.
"Hehe."
"You were so captivated by my beauty that you couldn't help yourself, weren't you?"
"But sorry."
"I'm not interested in dating at the moment."
She even let out a regretful little sigh.
"Sorry."
"Not even remotely."
Bai Qiu answered calmly.
"...Really? Not even a little?"
"You're awfully full of yourself."
"Looking down on Nyamu?"
"I happen to be—"
She was just about to reveal her online identity.
"Please don't interrupt."
Bai Qiu shot her a flat look.
"If I'm not mistaken..."
"Your video just now included us, didn't it?"
"Th-That must be your imagination."
"No."
"My companions saw it too."
He pointed toward the four girls of Kessoku Band behind him.
The blonde and the redhead even waved cheerfully in their direction.
"And your selfie stick is still pointing where we were standing."
"...Ahaha."
Nyamu laughed awkwardly before lowering the selfie stick.
"So..."
"I'm going to have to ask you to delete the parts that include us."
"Well..."
Nyamu looked away, trying to laugh it off.
"You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"I do..."
"...have a problem!"
"Hm?"
Bai Qiu raised an eyebrow.
You actually dare to object?
"Do you need me to recite Tokyo's Public Security Ordinance and the Citizens' Privacy Protection Act for you?"
"...Eh?"
Nyamu blinked.
This guy... isn't easy to deal with.
Changing tactics, she asked in a negotiating tone,
"I'll blur your faces."
"Would that be acceptable?"
That had been her original plan anyway.
Even though she intended to use them to generate traffic,
she still had her own principles.
"No."
Bai Qiu shook his head without hesitation.
"Why are you rejecting it so decisively?!"
Nyamu protested.
"I'm not sure I trust you."
"What happened to trust between people?"
"Who knows?"
"You might end up using some weird clickbait title."
"...Eh?"
"How did you know?"
Nyamu asked in genuine surprise.
"I knew it."
Bai Qiu sniffed theatrically.
"I could smell it."
"...Smell?"
Nyamu looked puzzled.
Tilting her head, she raised her arm and sniffed herself twice.
"There's nothing wrong."
She was wearing an expensive perfume she'd received for a sponsorship.
"It's the smell..."
"...of money corrupting the soul."
Bai Qiu smiled.
"Hey!"
"So..."
"Hand it over."
He held out his hand.
Reluctantly,
Nyamu passed him her phone.
After deleting the footage containing Kessoku Band,
Bai Qiu tossed the phone back.
"Hey, hey!"
"Be careful!"
Nyamu complained.
She was just about to demand an explanation for his sarcastic jab...
But by then,
all she could see was Bai Qiu walking away into the distance.
Back with Kessoku Band,
Bai Qiu was greeted by four very different expressions.
Amusement.
Curiosity.
Confusion.
Nervousness.
"What?"
he asked,
though he already had a good idea what they wanted to say.
Nijika smiled and finally broke the silence.
"So..."
"Turns out you're the type to immediately make a move when you see a girl you like, huh, Aki-kun?"
Wait... why does it look like I was flirting with her?
Bai Qiu quickly denied it.
"No."
"Nothing like that."
Nijika and Kita exchanged a glance.
Neither looked particularly convinced.
Yamada Ryo, quietly eating her sea-salt ice cream, suddenly commented,
"How cruel."
"You abandoned four adorable girls..."
"...just to flirt with some woman outside."
Nijika's face immediately reddened.
"W-Wait, Ryo..."
"You can't say it like that."
Bai Qiu sighed with a helpless smile.
"She was recording a video."
"We happened to end up in the shot."
"And she intended to use the footage."
Hitori Gotoh quietly nodded.
"I saw it too."
As someone with severe social anxiety,
Bocchi was especially sensitive to the gazes of strangers.
After Bai Qiu explained everything,
the girls all wore expressions of sudden realization.
Kita glanced toward Nyamu, who had already begun re-recording her video, and said softly,
"I think she's actually a creator I follow quite often."
"In that case..."
"You should spend more time following Guitar Hero instead."
Bai Qiu replied casually.
Hitori Gotoh's body trembled.
Please don't follow me...
Please don't...
"I already follow both."
Kita replied with a bright smile.
-------------------
The fully completed English PDF of this fanfic is available on my Patreon shop for readers who want to support me and own the full story at once.Just grab the PDF and binge-read the entire fanfic from start to finish without waiting for updates.
I've also uploaded some new fanfics based on reader requests.If you're interested and would like to support my work, feel free to check them out and grab a copy on Patreon.
Recently uploaded fanfic titles:
" Game of Thrones : Heroic Invincible System "
" Rock Girl Won't Let Me Go "
" Villain: Suppressing the Protagonist and Stealing the School Beauty "
" Cartonist in Doraemon "
" Swallowed Star: Heaven-Defying Comprehension, Joins Chat Group "
" System Rewards Iron Body "
"A Summer Night Tainted by Love"
Patreon.com /Ramzane