I was walking home by myself for once. No Minori talking next to me. No, Natsuki-san walked with me today. Only the silence and me. Even though I wasn't scratched, I still felt strange. As if nobody else realised that the earth had moved a few degrees.
And I had a gut feeling that things would only get stranger from here. I finally arrived home and opened the front door, kicked off my shoes, and stepped inside. The familiar scent of home soy, dust, and whatever Shiori had microwaved last hit me all at once.
"I'm home," I muttered.
Not even two seconds later, Saori peeked out from the kitchen. "There he is!" she shouted like she was spotting a celebrity. "Our undefeated champion has returned!"
Before I could process that, Shiori came sliding into the hallway in her socks, phone in hand, eyes wide with excitement. "ONII-CHAN! YOU'RE VIRAL!"
I blinked. "What?"
They practically dragged me to the living room. Saori sat me down while Shiori shoved her phone in my face. On the screen: a grainy but very real video of me at the courtyard, effortlessly dodging Hayato's grabs and me throwing him to the ground.
Comments were exploding under it.
"Yo who is THIS guy?!"
"Main character energy fr."
"Well executed seoi-nage but it could be better"
"Haha, is this 20 years ago? Settling stuff with fists"
I buried my face in my hands. "This cannot be happening."
"Oh, it's happening," Saori said proudly, arms folded. "My little brother's finally being recognised for how cool he is… Again"
Shiori bounced on the couch. "You're trending over many schools! People are calling you 'Courtyard Crusader!.' Someone edited the fight to have background music and slow motion too!"
I was at my breaking point. I took a deep breath, picked up my gym bag, and left the house, racing to the gym to get away from the craziness. I arrived at the gym, hoping for some peace and quiet. The familiar scent of sweat and rubber mats was strangely comforting.
Coach Yuto spotted me right away and straightened up.
"Hey, Katsu! Long time no talk. How've you been?"
I gave a tired smile. "Hey, Yuto-san. Been better, honestly."
He nodded knowingly. "Yeah, I heard things got pretty wild at school lately."
I sighed. "You could say that."
Yuto pulled out his phone and grinned. "Saw that fight video on social media. 'Courtyard Crusader,' huh? You're kind of famous now."
I groaned and dropped my bag with a thud. "Not you too. I was trying to keep a low profile."
He laughed. "Too late, man. The internet's already got you. But have you been practicing again?"
I rubbed my forehead. "Great. Just what I needed. And no. It just happened out of habit."
I began my workout, concentrating on my arms trying to forget what happened today, after dropping my bag near the bench. First, three sets of bicep curls, each with ten reps, until the muscles burn. Then, a few tricep dips, completing twelve reps while maintaining mental stability and muscles screaming. After that, I tried to maintain excellent form as I performed three sets of 10 reps of hammer curls.
After watching quietly for a while, Yuto-san leaned against the wall and said, "Hey, Katsu, how well do you know judo? You made some excellent movements back there.''
I stopped mid-curl and wiped my brow of sweat. ''In my younger years, I practiced judo for a time, quite seriously.'' I said
Curious, he nodded. "So why did you stop?"
''I stopped because I didn't want to commit. Simply put, life became more complicated. things I don't want to discuss.'' I replied.
Coach looked at me knowingly but didn't say anything. '' Fair enough. But those skills have been well retained if you have stopped the practice."
I shrugged a feeling of unease. "I guess some things stay."
I stretched my shoulders and extended my arms once my workout was done. It was a good aching in my muscles. The type of pain that let me know I had accomplished something important. After wiping off the last of my sweat with my towel, I threw my gym bag over my shoulder.
I said, "Thanks for the company, Yuto-san."
He waved lazily at me. "Be careful, Katsu. Also, please don't wait too long to visit the next time.
I then walked out of the gym with a nod of promise. I was walking home by myself as the sun began to drop, turning the streets a gentle orange. Although the air was quiet, my mind wasn't. Everything that happened lately was surreal. The courtyard fight, the ridiculous nickname, the stares in the hallway, the social media chaos. I was just some guy trying to live a quiet life. I was accidentally becoming the school's surprise main character.
I looked to the sky.
What would my life have been like if I never helped Natsuki-san that day? Would I still be blending into the background, quietly watching the world pass me by?
Then, my phone buzzed.
[ Notification: Shizuka-chan is about to go LIVE! Click to join the stream!]
I stopped walking. A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips. I stopped moving. A little grin pulled at the corner of my mouth. I'm glad I saved her… because without that moment, there'd be no more Shizuka-chan and honestly, her streams… they saved me first. They were the reason I could laugh again. The reason I pushed forward. I reached home, opened the front door, and called out, "I'm back!" I opened the front door and stepped inside, the scent of home-cooked food and laundry detergent instantly washing over me.
"Welcome back, Onii-chan!" Shiori called from the living room, practically bouncing on the couch.
Saori-nee peeked around the corner from the kitchen with a sly grin. "Hey, Katsu. Did the Crusader have a good level-up session at the gym?"
I sighed, dropping my gym bag with a dull thud. "Can you not?
Shiori laughed. "Come on, your new arc is being well perceived by the fans!"
I shook my head and walked slowly up the stairs. I took a quick bath to rinse away the sweat and the tension from social media, then I threw on a baggy shirt and joggers and collapsed at my desk. I brought up the usual website as my PC came to life. Perfectly on time.
[ LIVE NOW: "Chaos Café: Collab Night!" with Shizuka-chan and Charlotte]
A rare collab stream.
Charlotte, another VTuber with a huge fanbase of her own, was Shizuka-chan's biggest rival and their collabs were famous. Friendly banter, surprise games, meme energy through the roof. Whenever these two streamed together, it practically guaranteed trending clips and overloaded chat scrolls. As soon as the stream started, I leaned back and watched their familiar routine unfold.
"Oi, Shizu-bot! You didn't ghost me this time," Charlotte said, grinning through her animated avatar.
"I didn't ghost you," Shizuka-chan replied calmly. "You just moved the collaboration time without telling me."
"It's called a pro-gamer move, look it up."
I couldn't help but chuckle. These two always played like enemies, but everyone knew they were close friends behind the scenes.
"This time," Charlotte said, "we're reacting to the most viral clips of the week. Funny stuff, cool stunts, totally cursed moments, shitposts you name it. We're watching it."
Shizuka jolts "Oi Lotte-Tan, that isn't an idol-like language".
Charlotte bursts into laughter.
"My fellow gen mate is always looking out for me. That's why I love her".
Shizuka's avatar pouts respectively.
They went through a few clips first: a guy falling off a rail during parkour, a cat sneezing and knocking over a tower of mugs, someone doing a dance challenge while their grandma smacked into the background. It was light, dumb fun. Exactly what I needed. Then I saw it.A username in chat: KzAs_senpai. I blinked. "...Kanzaki-senpai? Seriously? You didn't even try to hide it."
The next clip began before I could process it, and I almost choked. it was...Me. Courtyard. The fight!!!. Hayato-senpai getting folded in HD, full cinematic edit, dramatic music, slow motion on the final throw. It was the exact clip that had gone viral.
"WHAT THE HELL," I shouted.
Charlotte's reaction was instant. "WAIT—what is this?! This guy just took out that pretty boy like he owed him 10000 yen!
My soul left my body.
Shizuka didn't say anything at first. Just silence.
Charlotte noticed. "Yo, Shizu? You alive? You went quiet."
"Oh, sorry," Shizuka said after a moment. "I was just… reading chat. I didn't watch it properly."
Charlotte smirked. "Right. Sure. So what do you think of this mystery crusader? That whole sequence was kinda wild."
Shizuka paused. "I'm not a big fan of fighting violence."
Oh no. I felt like just jumping off a cliff. It hurt more than when I was struck in the ribs while exercising.
''However'', she added quietly, almost too softly for the microphone to pick up, just as I was about to be disappointed again "…but he looked pretty cool."
I blinked. ''Did she just… say i-i am c-cool?'' I felt like all my prayers had been answered and I was ready to go to the afterlife.
Before I could overthink it, Charlotte read the title out loud. "Okay hold up, the description reads' Kurosawa Hayato vs Katsu Nagano..'' ''Katsu Nagano'' she said my name again.
"Is that—?" She stopped. Completely.
"Huh? What is it?" Shizuka-chan asked
Charlotte blinked, then waved it off. "Nothing. I thought I saw something weird. Anyway! Let's move on to the next clip!"
As the stream played on in the background, I sat there in stunned silence, trying to process everything. The fight. The fame. The streamers reacted to my name like I was some next lord of a land.
I rubbed my face with both hands. "So much for my side character days now".A single tear shed from the corner of my eye, dramatically trailing down my cheek. I looked up at the ceiling like a tragic hero in the final act of a drama.
"Rest in peace, background NPC me," I muttered,I lay there, eyes fixed on the ceiling, the glow of my monitor still faintly lighting the room behind me. As I stared up at the ceiling, my chest tightened and that one memory, the one I'd buried deep beneath layers of sarcasm and solitude, started clawing its way back up. The sound of a crowd faded. The flicker of the stream disappeared. And I was a kid again. Back in that school hallway. Back in that moment.
"I have something to tell you" I muttered under my breath.
I approached her. The name stayed silent in my mind, like my brain was protecting me.Still, I remembered every detail.
"Will you… go out with me?" I'd asked, holding out a paper flower I'd worked on all week.Her eyes hadn't even flickered.
"Why would I ever date someone like you?" Sharp. Cold. Cruel. But somehow… still familiar. "You're gross."
I blinked and I was back in my room. Staring at the same ceiling. The weight in my chest was still there.
"If I start thinking I'm important again…" I whispered to myself, voice dry, "...the same thing's going to happen."
The thought hung heavy in the air, a warning I couldn't ignore.
Guess I'll just stare at the ceiling a little longer. And like that I finally calmed myself to sleep.