'Holy box!', When she heard that familiar name, the smile on the face of the sound engineer lady froze.
'Supplements, huh! To be secretly doing virtual streaming in private and then getting doxxed offline by a handsome younger junior I know, this kind of situation… At the very least, let it happen ten years after I quit the internet.'
'No way, I absolutely can't admit it!'
'After all, judging from Kaito-kun's tone... he is just a bit suspicious. Even he isn't too sure about it himself.'
'He's definitely trying to bait me. Yes, that's got to be it!'
"Hmm... never heard that name before~", PA-san tilted her head with a deliberately innocent look, putting on the finest acting performance of her life, even her tone had just the right amount of confusion, "Why? Is she a friend of yours?"
Kaito gave her a deep look.
Although the sound engineer lady's concealment was quite thorough, and her expression was well-controlled, the panic that briefly flashed in the depths of her pupils was still keenly caught by him.
Besides...
Otokagi Alto, such an obscure and awkward phrase, most people, upon hearing it for the first time, would find it difficult to even identify what characters it consists of.
After all, there are plenty of homophones. For example, a certain Miss Kita Ikuyo, who prefers to remain anonymous, suffers greatly from this.
Her surname, Kita, is pronounced the same as 'to arrive,' and her given name, Ikuyo, sounds like 'to depart.'
Put together, 'Kita Ikuyo' sounds exactly like: I'm here, I'm leaving.
It makes no sense.
The sound engineer lady's acting seemed perfect on the surface, yet she had subconsciously treated Otokagi Alto as someone's name.
'Should I say this is a case of "a single slip may cause failure"?'
"On… what 'Alto'?", Ijichi Seika looked on, a bit baffled, unable to make heads or tails of what sort of cryptic exchange the two were having.
PA-san hadn't told anyone about secretly working as a virtual streamer. Her public explanation was that she was ("hosting online salons with many international friends on trending topics,") which, while basically translating to 'streaming as a virtual avatar playing games,' still sounded pretty convincing.
Besides, this black-haired, straight-laced big sister already had a dignified and graceful appearance like a Sengoku-period princess, even her hairstyle was the traditional hime cut, so ladylike it couldn't be more ladylike.
That's why the tsundere manager had never doubted her story, let alone suspected that her most trusted friend and assistant was secretly a double-duty high-tier streamer in both the gaming and emotional advice categories, under the handle 'Otokagi Alto Official,' and had quite a lot of fans.
"No, it's nothing," Kaito shook his head, not choosing to dwell further on this topic.
The sound engineer lady's behavior clearly showed she didn't want anyone knowing about her virtual identity, so given that, there was no need to expose her secret in front of Manager Seika.
"Really?", Manager Seika's eyes kept darting between the two, full of suspicion, feeling like there was definitely some sort of secret going on between them.
'Could it be that in some corner I can't see, the two of them has already made contact before?'
'Damn it, we are supposed to be like sisters, yet you went and made a move behind my back?'
'No way, I've got to question PA about this later!'
'After all, Kaito-kun is the guy that Nijika likes…'
'As her concerned big sister, I have a duty to drive away all the sneaky cats trying to steal the fish.'
'That's right, I am doing this all for Nijika!'
The sound engineer lady had no idea she was already being targeted by the tsundere manager. Seeing Kaito drop the topic, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
'Phew, that was close.'
'Now, I should be safe for a while... right?'
Seeing that Seika still seemed reluctant to let it go, she quickly changed the subject, "Since Kaito-kun is here to see Nijika, you should hurry upstairs, so they don't have to wait too long."
STARRY was a studio built in a basement. Aside from being prone to flooding during rainy days, it didn't have many flaws.
Upstairs was a normal apartment building, and the Ijichi sisters lived there too.
Since PA-san had said so, of course Seika couldn't refuse. She just wanted to send Kaito away quickly so she could interrogate this guy thoroughly. She nodded and handed him a set of keys, "This is the house key, eighth floor, just go right in when you reach the door. No need to change shoes. Nijika and the others should all be in the bedroom."
'She handed me the key just like that?'
'Isn't that a bit too trusting, Manager?'
Still, Kaito didn't decline. It's not like he was going to do anything weird. He could just hand it over to Nijika later.
———
The apartment building, while old-looking, had full amenities, including an elevator. The eighth floor was just a moment away.
Finding the Ijichi nameplate, Kaito had just inserted the key and opened the door, ready to call out for Nijika, when a familiar female voice came from the kitchen first, "Big sis? Are we opening up the shop now? Sorry, Bocchi, Ryou, and I will head down right away."
Then, a girl with a yellow side ponytail came out from inside, holding a freshly poured glass of water in her hand.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was, since the weather had been getting hotter lately, and since they were at home, surrounded by girls, Nijika's outfit at the moment… was a bit on the cool side.
A white sports bra, paired with light gray hotpants, and nothing else.
Although normally he'd sometimes think Nijika was still a kid with her flat chest, 'Looking at her now, she is actually pretty stacked?'
'Sure enough, breasts are like sponges, squeeze hard enough, and something will come out.'
"K-Kaito-senpai?", Nijika froze for a moment, "What are you doing here?"
"Because I heard about Kita's situation, so I came to check on things," Kaito paused, then added, "Manager Seika also gave me the key to your place. Here, I'm giving it back."
"Ah... oh, okay, please come in first," Nijika nervously took the key, her cute face suddenly blushing red, clearly realizing that her current outfit wasn't quite fit for receiving guests.
But she didn't act overly shy about it. After all, back in Hoori Town, she'd been through even more embarrassing situations, 'No need to get all flustered now.'
"Bocchi and Ryou are in the bedroom, I'll take you over... wait!", Just after taking a couple steps, Nijika suddenly remembered something and quickly stopped.
But she was a second too late. The bedroom door not far away had already opened, and Sleazy Ryou walked out listlessly.
"Manager, is that you? Honestly, I've caught a cold and have a fever... I might not be able to help out with work today…", As she spoke, she suddenly stopped mid-sentence, blinking her brilliant golden eyes.
She locked eyes with Kaito, then her gaze dropped slightly, pausing for a second on the fair, exposed skin of the girl who was only wearing panties.
—Pin Drop Silence—
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