19 Old friend meet again

It's another day in the office, where Anemachi was again dealing with much more paperwork. Yet, this time, she has a personal office.

She managed to clean the hellhole out within a week with the help of some other staff. Though she did have to call in a small truck to the office, to rid of the useless waste that was there. And after sweats and many curses, she finally moved in.

Lacking a budget for furniture, Anemachi resorted to a simple fan for ventilation. A wooden table painted with white emulsion that she picked up in a sale served as her workplace. The size of it was enough to hold a laptop with extra space for other miscellaneous things, mostly files. A cheap lamp that Anemachi brought herself illuminated the dim room on her table. It was simple but cute.

"At least give me some money for an extra chair, this damn sweatshop." Sitting on an old, metal chair that was left accumulating dust days ago, Anemachi grumbled.

She swore that she will buy a gamer chair as soon as she received her first salary.

"Knock, knock, may I come in?" A female's voice penetrated through the wooden door.

"Yes, come in please." Responding back, Anemachi lifted her eyes from her laptop.

The screen of her still filled with spreadsheets and opened emails, she was busy.

Door opened and revealed to be Miko who still had her cute handbag with her. She was wearing a casual blouse. Her eyes, wandering about the new office she was in, were curious.

"Morning Anemachi. Oh wow, you have a new office huh? Though it's quite empty it seems." Miko said.

"The management didn't give me enough funds at all. What do you expect otherwise?" Rolling her eyes, Anemachi was still grumpy about it. "Anyway, why are you here? Don't you have a stream later? Don't tell me you went into some trouble and wanted me to fix it?"

Though it may sound weird, Hololive talents don't need to come to the office that often. They only came for meetings and 3D live streaming which doesn't occur often so Miko's sudden arrival was unexpected.

"What do you mean by that? I can come here even without a specific reason!" Hearing Anemachi's assumption, Miko's face turned red. "Don't make me sound like someone who is always in trouble!"

"You are though." Murmuring to herself, Anemachi decided to hear her out. "So, what is it?"

"Hmph! Miko is unhappy now, she requires someone treating her to lunch before her anger can be quenched." Miko decided that she needed compensation for the harm that Anemachi did.

"Hmm, what is your parent's number again? I remember I kept it in the personal information file…It would be a shame if what you did weeks ago is revealed. " Anemachi resorted to blackmail.

"You can't just access my information like that! That is a crime!" Miko fights back.

"Go report to the police then, I promise that your parents will be happy to know their daughter almost bled to death."

"Huh, so it's (Number is censor)-"

"AHHH, SORRY SORRY!" Giving up, Miko began hugging Anemachi's body from the ground, begging. "Don't let them know please! They will kill me if they find it out!"

Miko's hand clinging onto Anemachi's skirt, tears welled up in their eyes, knee on the floor. She was moments away before her emotion burst out and Anemachi won't want that happening in her office.

"I'm joking, don't take it seriously." Looking at the girl behaving like this, Anemachi had a headache. "Come on, you know that I'm not that kind of person."

"...You could be terrifying at times." Miko said with a small voice. However, Anemachi managed to catch it.

"What did you say, dear Miko-san?"Standing up from her chair, Anemachi slapped her table.

"I saved your life, helped you organize your messy schedule, and even brought you food when you are busy streaming, and what are you saying now?" Anger burning from within her, Anemachi, though smiling, has no happiness within her. "Looks like my effort so far hasn't been appreciated by a certain someone huh?"

"YAHH!!" Covering her head with both her hands, Miko, filled with fear, tried to protect herself from the demon lord. "D-don't eat me please!"

Hand closing onto Miko's head, Anemachi...Boinked her.

"AH!" Miko suffered 999 damage and fell into confusion.

"Come on, what is it? I have work to continue." Sitting back in her chair, Anemachi continued. "Just spit it out, I'm busy."

"Okay okay, Anemachi-san, you need to be more gentle with me you know?" Lifting herself up from the floor, Miko was still unhappy but finally went into the topic. "I managed to talk to Sora-san early today, and we had a great time together. So I want to ask whether it's possible to arrange a collab between us two."

"You actually talked to Sora?" Surprised at Miko's initiative, Anemachi spoke with a louder tone. "I thought I would have to intervene, but it seems like I underestimated you."

The conversation with Miko was still fresh in her mind. Anemachi still had trouble believing in this introvert who had left her comfort zone.

"Well, I take it in mind what you say that day...And I think you are right." Blushing, Miko was embarrassed at what she was saying. "I wanted to make new friends too, and Sora is a good person."

"Ah." The realization of her influence on Miko came to Anemachi.

'I didn't expect that girl to listen to me actually.' Thinking in her mind, Anemachi knew how hard it was for a person to change their habits, moreover personality.

She was, after all, still pretty much a stranger to Miko. Well, maybe more than a stranger.

"Don't worry about it, you can discuss with Sora about the time and content to stream, I will handle the rest for you." Determined to not let Miko down, Anemachi with a smile encouraged her. "Meanwhile, you can learn some tricks and tips from Sora..he is your senior after all."

"Oh, thanks then Anemachi." Receiving confirmation from Anemachi, Miko breathed a sigh of relief.

She was afraid that Anemachi would refuse her request, despite the unlikely chances of it. Anxiety doesn't build on fact and logic after all.

"I'm glad to have you as my manager, Anemachi-san." With a smile on her face, Miko said, feeling grateful.

"Stop the flattering. I'm not that great." Waving it off, Anemachi continued. "I will contact you in a few days, just discuss with Sora about the content and let me know."

She was only fulfilling her job as a manager while trying to help Miko out. She didn't have great ambitions like the others.

"I will suggest a gaming stream to test the chemistry between you two, but a normal chatting stream will be fine too."

"Anyway, wanna have lunch together later? My treat." Looking at the simple girl before her, Anemachi launched an invitation to her. "Let's fill our stomachs before we get into work. Ramen sounds good."

"...Unn. " Pausing for a while, Miko nodded with her head, smiling.

'I'm glad to have Anemachi-san as my manager after all." Miko thought. Anemachi left the office and walked before her. The Vtuber truly was happy.

'I wanna achieve my goal too.' Clenching her hand into a fist, Miko thought of someone. "I will prove to him, I'm not a failure like he said."

Meanwhile on the other side, a black haired girl with ponytail was wandering around on the street. Her hand was holding a card and she was searching for something.

"Ahh, why is it so hard to find it?" Grumbling, the girl under the hot sun wasn't feeling well. "You will definitely need to compensate me after I find you."

Feet moving, the girl followed the card after spending another 30 minutes. She reached a place, a small condominium.

"So, this is where she is living now huh?" Curious, the girl noticed the lack of human presence. "Guess she is working now...Why did I even choose this time to visit her in the first place?"

Questioning her decision, the girl decided that waiting here till night isn't the best option. Looking around, she tried to find anything that she could kill her time with. Preferable somewhere pleasant with some refreshment. Amber eyes scanning, she found a cafe nearby and decided to chill there till the night came.

Though she was glad that she had the sense to take a day off beforehand, knowing that it won't be easy to find this girl.

Drinking a cup of latte that she ordered, she dazed off. Her mind was wandering in the seas of memories with scenes of that day still replaying.

"She... doesn't have much time left in this world." Sobbing of the mother can be heard across the phone, herself was not much better, in denial.

After all, she was too young, too sweet, too cruel to her…

Even now, she still has trouble accepting that fate has been so cruel to this girl. But that's why she needed to find this girl now before it's too late.

And soon, night fell and the girl took off to the same place again. With slow footsteps, she wondered how the girl was doing till now? The girl had always been wary around people, yet somehow, the girl tends to attract people. All for different reasons.

Even herself had to admit, she could sometimes see the girl more than a friend despite being the same gender.

Anyway, she reached the door now.

"Knock knock." With two quick knocks, the girl decided to give her a surprise.

"Who is it?" Hearing footsteps from the inside, a pink haired girl shows her face from the crack of the door, it's Anemachi.

"Hello." It was a simple greeting. The girl was satisfied at the surprised face of Anemachi. "Miss me?"

"M-mio!?"