Chapter 61

"Ugh..."

The day after the overnight recreation, there was a holiday combined with the weekend.

Taking advantage of this, I was thoroughly rotting.

I laid out a futon in the living room, lounging around while watching TV, snacking while lounging, lounging, lounging, lounging...

"You're being incredibly lazy."

"Cut me some slack, I'm really tired this time..."

My physical fatigue was already gone, but my mind hadn't fully recovered. I could have really died this time. It's not something you can easily get over.

Also, for some reason, I've had heartburn. It's getting better, but the nausea is a bit tough.

"I had Shiro and Nia check it out, but there was nothing wrong. It must be stress, I guess."

After the battle with the Black Dress, I felt like I had swallowed a pebble or something, but Shiro's sonar detection and Nia's spirit thread endoscopy found nothing. It must have been my imagination. And this discomfort is probably due to stress.

"Ugh..."

"Ugh..."

As I was thinking about this, Rin had somehow joined the lounging alliance. Welcome, Rin. Let's welcome you. Lounging, lounging, lounging...

"Phew..."

Still, when I think about it, there were many things to reflect on from this battle. Using the 'God's Little Knife' without fully understanding the opponent's moves was a mistake.

I was being complacent, thinking it would somehow work out.

I need to reflect. Reflect while enjoying this hard-earned holiday. Potato chips are so good.

"By the way, where did Shiro, Nia, and Uru go?"

"I saw them go into the bedroom upstairs. They seemed to be having fun."

"I wonder what they're up to. I don't think it's anything sinister with Shiro and Nia around... but it's still a bit concerning."

I want to peek, but that would be bad. And I'm too lazy. I don't want to move from the living room today.

"Maybe I'll just browse some videos. Apparently, Vtubers are popular these days, so I might check them out."

"What's that?"

Kuro seemed interested and peered at the computer screen I was operating.

"Is this an animation someone made?"

"It's a bit different. It seems to be a CG video controlled by regular people. Kind of like a mascot, I guess."

"Hmm, interesting."

Surprisingly, Kuro was interested in Vtubers.

"Recently, I've been inspired by an old friend's way of life. I thought I should actively learn about the world to reflect on my own existence."

When I asked, it turned out that a friend he hadn't seen in a long time had become an entrepreneur, which caused a lot of changes in his mindset.

He seems to know a lot about history and yokai affairs, but I know more about youth culture. If he's interested, I'd love to teach him, especially about otaku culture.

"Aegre Malmelos with Kainitt's Fraise and Ilfrontonto..."

Looking at Rin, she was intensely watching a cooking show with ingredients I'd never heard of. She doesn't seem interested in our culture at all. What are those dish names? I'm a bit curious.

"'Dance with me' means a dance video, right?"

"Exactly. People often title their videos with 'Let's try to ~' or something similar. Wow, there are even Vtuber dance videos. Anything goes these days."

When I tried watching one, the quality was impressive. It was like a full music video, professional work.

"Hmm? What's this...?"

"What is it, Kuro... Oh!!?"

The video links had thumbnails of other popular Vtuber dance videos, and one of them had a familiar figure.

"Is this Uru!?"

"The view count is over 100,000."

When I played the video, it was indeed Uru. Uru was jumping and dancing to the music. The dancing wasn't great, but the video editing and song choice showed a lot of skill, making it worth watching.

Also, Uru can be on camera.

"The uploader is... 'Genuine Spirit,' well, that's accurate."

The comments showed that it was quite popular.

"Recent CG is amazing! It looks so real!"

"What's the name of this song?"

"The video editing is insane, it must be the work of a pro."

Various reactions were posted.

There are only three videos so far, but they seem to be getting a lot of attention. It seems everyone thinks Uru is the latest CG.

"What should we do about this..."

Probably, Nia did the filming and editing, Shiro chose the songs, and Uru did the acting and planning.

The internet can be scary, but I don't want to discourage their new hobby. If something goes wrong, Nia seems capable of handling it.

Most importantly, if they're having fun, that's the best thing.

"Alright, we know nothing, we saw nothing. Let's go with that."

"Agreed, everyone has their own hobbies."

Kuro seemed to have a similar thought and accepted my answer.

"Hobbies..."

After that day, Kuro started to mutter "hobbies..." in a meaningful way. He probably wants to have a hobby.

If he shows interest in anime or manga, I'll welcome him with a smile.

If that happens, it would be fun to invite Shizukanae to go to an anime event with the three of us. But then, I'd have to introduce Kuro to Shizukanae. Wait, Shizukanae probably knows about my situation from Soji, so she might know about Kuro too?

This is getting complicated. I plan to talk with Soji and the others about our abilities, so I might ask about this too.

While thinking about all this, the first day of my peaceful holiday passed by quickly.

Ugh, this heartburn is so painful...