27 Being a manager is tough

"Well then, I will make you the most popular Vtuber on the internet one day."

The word came out of Anemachi's mouth as she looked at Miko who was still in disbelief. Her face was filled with tears and mucus as she tried to recover from the shock she had. Anemachi's appearance wasn't in her plan.

"W-why are you here?" Miko gulped as tears trail down her face.

"Of course I will be here for you, idiot."

'God, I'm really stupid." Meanwhile, Anemachi was scolding herself for her own carelessness.

It could have turned out badly if it weren't for Anemachi's timely intervention. She really messed it up this time.

Her original idea was to quietly climb through Miko's window on the second floor and appear before her, showing up as a hero before Miko's eyes. She remembered seeing it happening before in a certain Korean drama, and without thinking much, she decided that it would be a cool thing to do. At least, it looked cool to her.

But she didn't expect that her disappearance would be the last straw for Miko.

And when she finally climbed the old pipe up towards Miko's window, Miko was already holding the knife in her hand. Thus panicking, without many options, she used her body to crash into the window and entered her house. And at the last moment, she held back Miko's knife with both her hands.

The strength exerted on the knife was stronger than she had expected. The moment her bare hand gripped onto the blade, it ripped through her skin and into her flesh. But she managed to stop it, and that was what mattered.

She doesn't have the confidence to save someone from a stab wound.

Although it doesn't mean that everything was well.

"A...nemachi..." Miko's mind, nearly broken from the rollercoaster of emotion, tried to form a sentence, "Y-your hand..."

Anemachi's hand was now barely recognizable from its previous self. It was used to typing on the keyboard for weeks, not on tough menial works. And now, the soft hand was badly wounded, no doubt scars will be left after this.

Miko felt a deep pain in her heart that she never thought existed. It was something even worse than what she felt when her boyfriend broke up with her.

"It's alright." Anemachi forced a smile on her face to comfort the girl before her, "It's not that bad."

"B-but, your hand!"

Miko, again overwhelmed with emotions, cried out loud. Anemachi's hand was still holding the sharp knife tightly, not letting it go, "Let it go please, it's hurting you!"

"Sure. But you gotta promise to not do anything stupid again, alright?"

"Yes, yes, anything! Please!"

Miko begged the girl before her desperately. Her heart was torn apart after she saw what she had done to Anemachi. If it weren't for the position she was in, she would have to kneel down on the floor already to beg her.

"Alright then." Anemachi's comforting voice continued, "I will let the knife go then."

"Tsk..."

As Anemachi slowly pulled her hand away from the knife, another wave of pain came in as her injury was exposed to the air. She instinctively closed her eyes as she endured the pain.

It hurt more than she had expected.

"Anemachi!"

Miko's hand reached for Anemach's waist as she seemingly lost her strength. Her whole body falling forward and into Miko's body, unable to support her support her own weight, she had to rely on Miko.

"It's alright, I'm fine...Mind helping me to patch up the wound?" Anemachi responded as Miko lowered her head, "It will be troublesome if I lose my consciousness from the bleeding."

At this point, it was as if her palm was burning from the contact of air with her wound. She could very well get an amputation if this wasn't treated properly. Infection wasn't something to be ignored.

"Yes! Yes! L-let me get the first aid kit!" Miko's trembling arm helped Anemachi to find balance before leaving, "Please rest, I will be back immediately."

And as Miko left the room in hurried footsteps, Anemachi found a small chair in the living room to sit down on. She then turned her eyes on her bloody hands.

"..." Suisei wouldn't like this.

Anemachi doesn't want to imagine the scenario where Suisei realized what had happened here.

She carefully laid both her hands on a small table beside her, hoping that her blood would start to coagulate. With the pain fading away slowly, She noticed the mess that both of them had created. A broken window, a floor stained with blood, a house smell of sweat and tears. It was quite a house to be in.

Anemachi calmed her heart down.

She admitted she was scared when Miko tried to stab herself.

A person could again die before her very eyes.

Anemachi's fist clenched subconsciously as she ignored the pain that was shouting for her to stop. The clenching worsened the wound once again. But Anemachi didn't feel anything.

She was angry at herself for allowing this to happen. She had failed her duty both as a manager and a friend.

And now, she won't let it happen again.

Miko's situation was unusual. In particular, her boyfriend's attempt to frame Miko and possibly doxxing her was out of place. It wasn't something that one will just decide to do. Moreover, he won't get anything much out of Miko this way.

If Anemachi was Miko's boyfriend instead, she would choose to blackmail Miko secretly, for money or for sex. There was no need for him to handle things publicly and expose himself. Hololive has plenty of methods to make sure that he will suffer from his consequences. Japan's law existed after all. This will just end up causing harm to both sides.

That means, someone must be directing him to frame Miko, and promise him that they will back him up from the aftermath.

If this hypothesis was true, then it would explain the sudden rise of trolls in Miko's comment recently. Heck, maybe it will even be linked to Miko's breakup in the first place.

But whatever the truth, she would help Miko, no matter how challenging it was.

This time, however, Anemachi might have to rely on someone else, someone she really doesn't want to contact for a good reason. She preferred to keep things as lawful as possible, so that will be the last resort.

Still, she had to find the culprit first. She can't fight a war without knowing who's the enemy.

"Anemachi!" A certain voice brought her back to the reality she was in now, "Give me your hand."

Anemachi looked back. It was Miko with a first aid kit in hand. She was now clearly much more clear headed, able to speak clearly. Yet when she took a closer look at Anemachi's bloody hand, Miko couldn't help but be filled with a strong sense of guilt.

"I-I will help you bandage it up, alright? I...It will sting a bit, so please endure it."

As Miko managed to finish the sentence without bursting into tears, and with the confirming nods coming from Anemachi, she toughened up her heart and sprayed the bottle of disinfectant on Anemachi's hands.

"Ah-" The pain intruded once again. The burning feeling was almost unbearable. Anemachi bit her lips to prevent herself from making too much noise.

She doesn't want to make Miko more guilty.

"Just, for a little more, okay?" Miko however didn't get fooled by Anemachi's acting. Her frowning was hard to hide, "I will try to be gentle..."

"I'm...Fine, don't worry."

"..." And the atmosphere turned silent as Miko let the disinfectant's do its thing on her hand.

"...Don't do this anymore alright?" A soothing and soft voice entered Miko's ears.

"...I won't," Miko promised.

Miko was obviously much better in her bandaging than Anemachi. After disinfecting the wound, unlike Anemachi's way of just wrapping the bandage till all the wound was covered, she took care of it in a seemingly more professional way.

"Here, it's done."

And with one last cut from the scissor on the leftover bandage, both Anemachi's hands were properly patched up.

"Thank's Miko." Anemachi moved her hand around. The wound still hurts but it's more bearable now. Most importantly, the bleeding stopped, "Feel much better now."

And the two came to an awkward silence.

"Thank you for saving me." Miko said after a moment of silence while still kneeling on the floor, "I-I..."

"Don't worry about it," Anemachi responded.

"..."

"I will make sure it works out in the end, don't worry."

"...How?"

Miko raised her head. She couldn't helped but felt the despair over her situation.

"It's okay actually, Anemachi. I can just quit this job after this and find a new one. It's not that big of a deal."

"But that isn't what you want right?"

"..."

"Don't worry. I'm someone who keeps her promise." Anemachi instinctively reached out her hand to Miko's head, wanting to pat it. But she pulled back after she remembered her hand's wound.

"I have my way. For now, just rest for a week. I will let you know what to do once I settle everything."

"...Alright."

"And this time, trust me alright? I won't leave you."

"...I will."

"We can go through this together. But I need your trust in this matter."

"I trust you, as I say."

'So, be with me, alright?' Miko looked up at Anemachi's face who showed signs of tiredness.

"Miko, you really are a kind girl, do you know that? But you've always had the problem of blaming everything on yourself. Sometimes, things happen simply because something was just not meant to be."

Anemachi continued to talk with Miko who remained silent. Or perhaps, she was just talking to herself. She was tired after the many shenanigans,

"So, you don't have to feel too guilty alright? Try your best, and if it fails, it's still alright."

"The world is big. It is big enough to tolerate your failure, big enough for you to find what you love."

"You say you love Vtubing right? I'm glad. That means that you have found your dream, and I'm happy for you."

"That's why, let me help you, let me be together with you in this journey."

"A journey alone is quite lonely, don't you agree..."

The girl eventually fell asleep on the chair, her long hair spread all over the chair. Her body needed some rest.

Miko then proceeded to carefully carry Anemachi onto her bed in both her hands, allowing her to sleep comfortably. In the end, she covered Anemachi with a blanket.

Miko looked into Anemachi's face who still had small scratches caused by the broken glasses. However, the scratches don't affect the beauty of Anemachi that she never mentioned or cared about.

So, Anemachi will stay with her right?

Miko closed up to Anemachi's sleeping face. Her sleeping like this was cute and oddly attractive.

But she never thought that Anemachi would show a tired face like that. Anemachi had always been so reliable in front of her. Perhaps, she was also scared about what could potentially happen.

Anemachi was still human before.

"Thank you..."

Miko sunk her face into Anemachi's chest. Anemachi's unique smell flooded into her nose. It's oddly comforting.

"I don't have anything to give back."

"But even if this sounds selfish."

"If you are listening, God. Please, let her be with me from now on."

The girl said a prayer to the Gods as she too sunk into the same dream Anemachi had.

But fates were a cruel thing.