Hololive HQ. Monday morning. The building is noisy as usual. Papers fly around, two V-Tubers are fighting in the hallway with glowing powers. Yukio sits calmly at his desk, face flat as ever.
Yukio (Internally): It's quite peaceful today. A chair gets thrown across the hallway behind him, hitting a wall and exploding into splinters. … Really peaceful.
He clicks through Hololive's internal network. While scrolling, he notices a strange entry labeled "XVBX-1012."
Yukio (Internally): What's that? Looks suspicious.—Click. Delete.— Probably some hacker junk.
He scrolls further and notices the schedule section. It's completely empty.
Yukio (Internally): Huh. No upcoming events? What are the other managers even doing?He clicks "Create" and begins typing, arranging a new fun event for the talents. That should do it.
He pushes his chair back and stands up, heading to the restroom. Behind him, debris from the fight flies by, but he casually sidesteps it without looking. A-chan is screaming at the two V-Tubers to stop fighting.
Yukio (Internally): …Normal Monday.
He approaches the restroom doors, one marked with a male icon on the right, female on the left. He pauses.
Yukio (Internally): Wait. Isn't the male's supposed to be on the left? …Eh, must be some stylish interior design choice.
He pushes open the door.
Suisei (whispering maliciously from a corner): Heh… good, he fell for it. I switched the icons. Once the girl inside sees him, he'll get fired.
Inside the restroom, a female worker is sitting on the toilet, scrolling on her phone. She hears the door creak.
Worker: Hm? She looks up, sees nothing, shrugs and goes back to her phone.
Yukio (Internally): That was close. If she had seen me, I'd already be dead. …But who would even pull this prank?
He glances left and sees Suisei's blue hair peeking from the hallway. She hides instantly.
Yukio (Internally): …Of course it's her. Dealing with her is going to be troublesome. For now, I'll ignore it.
One hour later. The chaos has settled. Everyone is back at their desks. Suddenly A-chan walks out, her voice loud and serious.
A-chan: Everyone! Who created this new event in the system?!
The room goes silent. The V-Tubers glance at each other, confused.
Yukio (Internally): …I could say it was me, but she looks way too serious. Did I mess up? Doesn't seem like it.
Marine's Talent Manager suddenly raises her hand.
Manager: I made that!
Yukio turns his head, eyeing the girl with a blank stare.
A-chan: Really? Excellent work. This event idea is one of the best we've had in months! Everyone, give her a round of applause!
The entire office erupts into clapping and cheering. Everyone except Yukio.
Yukio (Internally): … Oh well. Expressionless. He just goes back to his paperwork, ignoring the applause around him.
Later that evening. Yukio walks home alone under the city lights, his pace steady.
Yukio (Internally): She took the credit. Doesn't matter. I don't need recognition. At least Hololive benefits. That's enough.
He adjusts his bag strap and keeps walking.
Yukio (Internally): Four more days until Friday. Let's survive them.
Chapter ends with Yukio walking down the quiet street, the sound of his footsteps echoing.