Ch.36 And So, The Girl Took Her First Step

"Yes, yes. Well then, Let's do the usual today too."

"Thank you in advance..."

Early morning.

As I smile back at Sakura, who bows deeply, the two of us start some voice training stretches.

"Let's start around the neck. Focus on stretching each muscle slowly."

We carefully turn our neck while checking for any stiff or painful areas.

"Next, stretch and turn your head to the side, keeping that position for ten seconds."

We keep counting and doing the same for the other side for ten seconds.

"Okay, next is tongue training. Stick your tongue out as far as you can, and keep it there for ten seconds."

"...Just the tongue?"

"You want a french kiss?"

"Your eyes are cold!"

"Ahhh!" Sakura cries out and stepping back, but I urge her on, doing a full range of tongue training, breath control, and voice training.

"Well then, let's actually try singing. Be sure to pay attention to the natural voice you're bringing down from the falsetto."

"Y-yes."

Sakura timidly puts on her headphones.

Her cheeks were still flushed, as if she hadn't completely gotten over her embarrassment.

I understand. I was also agonizing over the shame when I still use "ore".

For people who don't go to karaoke, singing in front of others is too much of a hurdle.

"――――♪"

Sakura's singing voice echoes through the room.

I know this is way too late now, but soundproofing the entire room is such an impressive thing to do.

The CEO's power is amazing!

"ーPhew. ...I- it's done."

"Good job. Yes, you've improved a lot. You're great. You did a great job."

"R-Really?"

Her face lights up with joy.

"Yeah. I'm not just flattering you, so don't worry. I recorded it so why don't you listen to it for yourself?"

"Eh? Th-that seems a bit embarrassing..."

"Ok, play."

"Wait aー!"

It was an expected reaction, so I tapped play as soon as I suggested it. 

At first Sakura covered her ears, but seemed more curious than anything and she ended up just making a pose.

"Uhh, have I actually improved...?"

"You can't tell yourself?"

"Yeah"

Well, when you listen to a recording of your own voice, it usually sounds like a completely different person.

"I got something for you! Here's a recording of Sakura's singing voice from two and a half months ago, before you started voice training."

"Eh, waitー why do you have that?!"

I dodge Sakura as she jumps at me with her face bright red.

"This is the best way to really feel your singing voice improve. I recorded it in anticipation of this day."

"Ugh, I have a bad feeling about this."

 Hmm?

"You don't like your bad singing voice being played?"

"W- what else is there?"

"You should look at it positively. You've grown so much since then."

I tap play after i said that.

What started to play was Sakura's singing voice before she started voice training.

The pitch is off, the throat is not opening, she's clearly breathing too much, and she's singing in her neutral voice - hmm, a zero!

Sakura's reaction upon hearing this was,

"Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-!"

She's totally shocked. Lol.

Once again, I play the latest recording.

I think this will make it feel even more beautiful.

"See? You've improved a lot, haven't you?"

"This is... my song...?"

She reacts like a plain girl who just learned how to wear makeup.

"How do you feel? Have you gained some confidence?"

"Uh, yeahー somehow."

Sakura nodded, her mouth lolling.

I nodded with satisfaction at her response,

"Well then, let's announce the concert."

"pardon?"

Clink... Thump.

I fired up the AR camera and started guerrilla streaming.

◇◆◇

[Live Announcement] Futaba Ouka's Live Concert Framwork [Prisma Arc/Alpheria Linker]

"Hello~"

"Wait a minute!"

: wha

: What's going on suddenly?

: I was about to say "Guerrilla stream tskr" but my ears died instantly.

: I don't mind being killed by Sakutan.

: A criminal like you should be Sakutan's nourishment.

: That's so harsh lol

As soon as I started streaming, leaving Sakura behind, I was pushed down with a thud.

The momentum was like that of a baseball player doing a head slide.

 "Ugh," I let out a cry.

"Ouch, ouch. What's wrong, Ouka? Do you want to be pampered by Alpheria? I guess there's no other way. Come here. Let me give you a pat."

"That's not it! What is this?! What's with the title?!"

My shoulders were shaken violently.

Sakura's eyes, as seen on the livestream through the AR camera, were spinning.

"Well, as the title suggests, it's your live concert."

"Live?! Me?!"

: What, seriously?!

: Sakutan, are you finally going to sing live!?

: Oh, I heard you were getting some intensive singing training from Alphery.

: She did mention doing a concert a long time ago.

: Woohooooo!

: That's what I've been waiting for!

: But I never thought they would make the leap to a live concert.

: But it's hilarious that the one doing it is hearing about it for the first time.

"It's not a laughing matter! Why is this happening?! I thought it would be a normal song stream!"

I did say you were going to do a concert, but I didn't say when.

"Ouka has been working so hard. I wanted to give her a stage to shine."

"I, I don't want that...!"

Lol.

"...L-live concert is that thing, right?"

"Hummu. It's the one I did on my debut stream."

"No way, no way, absolutely impossible! It's way too early for someone like me to suddenly do a concert!"

Sakura, now Ouka, shook her head with such force that you could even see an afterimage.

I guess this child thought it would take more steps beforehand.

"That is up to me, your master, to decide. And so, I hereby declare that as of today, you have safely passed the test."

"But, but, but! I, you see, there are schedules and stuff!"

"That's true. It's true that if you want to do a concert, you need to reserve a studio and talk to the backstage staff. Especially if you're a Vtuber."

"That's right! I think it's a shame to ask an employee to do something unreasonable! And mom is also--"

She thought she can counter my argument, but.

"Have you forgotten that I was the only one doing the prep work for that debut stream, from the sound to the spotlights to the camera work?"

I handled the behind-the-scenes work perfectly for this moment.

In the first, I've already talked to Mitsuki about it a long time ago.

"Ugh. Y- you high spec monster...!"

"My voice, face, body and specs are all Tier SSS afterall."

"It's increasing! ... What about the soul?"

"It might smell like an old man."

I nodded with a solemn look on my face.

"That hasn't changed... Maybe you like that phrase?"

"Yeah. Don't you think that's the perfect phrase for me?"

I think it's a phrase that a TS girl would say.

"No, no matter how you look at it, you've skipped too many steps, and I think it's still too early ru."

"I can easily imagine you putting it off indefinitely ru."

"Stop copying me!"

(TL note : they both ended their sentence with しまする(shimasuru) so i had to add "ru" at the end cuz otherwise the convo won't make any sense)

Hmm. That's quite an expected reaction.

Well, a girl like Sakura is the type who gets really intimidated when it comes to the real thing.

Or rather, she actually said, "If I don't force myself to create an opportunity, I'll just keep putting it off. I have to get myself to do what I want to do."

"Ouka"

"Look look," I said, pointing at the comments section.

: Ah, I guess it was too difficult to do it all of a sudden?

: It's unfortunate, but it's not right to force Sakutan to do it.

: Yes. Sakutan's feelings should come first.

: Don't worry, Sakutan.

: We'll always be waiting

: Or rather, isn't it Alphery's fault for bringing it up out of nowhere?

: That's right.

: Apologize. Apologize. Apologize. Apologize. Apologize.

: ...It's okay, Alphery. These guys are Sakutan's fans, but they should be your fans too. They won't suddenly attack you. So calm down--

: Alpheria : "Getsu〇 Tensho!!"

: Gwaaaaaah!

"I'm sorry for getting carried away, but let's read the situation better, okay?"

That's why this is my channel.

There are too many chimpanzees who love Heisei-era jokes here.

I love it too though!

ー Anyway.

"You have good listeners. The people who care about you are the people from Yotsuba group, right?"

"Y-yes. I recognize, some, of them..."

Her mouth parted slightly as if to release some tension.

"Do you like them?"

"Li-?!"

*Bofun* Ouka's face turned bright red.

"W-w-w- what are nyu suddenly saying?!"

"I want nyu to answer me properly."

"I saId stop colying me!!"

Sakura waved her hands.

I keep staring at Sakura.

Sakura, who realized that I wasn't joking, turned all flustered.

"...I like, like, like..."

"Like?"

"Like... Iーーー don't, hate them"

She looked away and spoke while trembling.

…Well, I guess I'll let this one pass.

"Why?"

"B-because, even though there are more Vtubers than there are stars, they still ended up choosing me."

Come to think of it, the total number of Vtubers is greater than the number of comedians.

It's like the amount of stars.

"Before I became a Vtuber, I was no good. I didn't like studying, I hated doing hard work without any results, I was not good at talking to people, my cousin was so talented that I felt inferior, and when I saw successful people I wanted them to be unhappy... To be honest, I thought I would spend my whole life relying on my mom."

Ouka begins to pour out her feelings bit by bit.

Her mother, Mitsuki, is probably listening to this stream as well.

“But then I became a VTuber. Little by little… it was really slow, like a tortoise, but I was able to have relationships with people…”

Ouka glanced at me and said,

"I was able to grow thanks to my genmates and Aria... I was able to like myself, even if it was just a little bit. But, but, it was definitely everyone in the Yotsuba group who gave me the push I needed, who gave me the courage."

After seeing my live concert, Sakura said, "I want to be like that."

She also added: "Then everyone in the Yotsuba group will be happy too."

 That's Ouka's origin.

It was a sincere expression of her feelings towards the listeners who were the first to discover "herself."

"Of course, I know that it's because of Prisma Ark. But I'm always grateful to everyone who chose me out of all of them."

: Sakutan...!

: I actually cried.

: I'm happy to support Sakutan from the bottom of my heart. Truly.

: I started crying.

: I'll support you for the rest of my life, Sakutan!

 Yeah, I'm tearing up a little too.

Mitsuki must be bursting into tears.

I came up behind Ouka and gently placed my hands on both her shoulders.

"ーIf that's the case, you should do it all the more. Just put your current feelings into a song. A song that comes from your heart will transcend the realm of skill and will surely reach your fans."

To give her a push.

To make her take a courageous step.

 There was a few seconds of silence.

I noticed that Ouka's atmosphere had changed.

"Everyone... I'm still not very good at it, and I might just disappoint you, but even so ー will you listen to my song?"

Their reply was-

Well, I guess it would be a bit rude to just say it.

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TL note : if you find anything i could improve on, please do let me know in the comments, thanks!

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Author's note :

We've finally reached the end of the first arc.

It was a long journey...

There were a lot of things I wanted to do, like other perspectives, or bulletin board episodes, but I just didn't have the space to include them.

Personally, I'm taking the first arc as a tutorial.

After this, the node will be released and the degree of freedom will increase dramatically, so I will do my best.

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