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What exactly was Ibuki’s job?

Ever since we started working, I had never really paid much attention to her profession. But after showing up unannounced at her place the other night and clearly causing a lot of trouble, I found myself seriously thinking about it for the first time.

I knew she worked from home, but if she had simply been in a meeting, she wouldn’t have panicked like that. She could have just told me she was busy and to wait until later. But the fact that she rejected me so strongly just from barging into her room meant she was doing something beyond what I could comprehend with my typical office job.

Had I caused some catastrophic damage? Had my interruption led to some massive financial loss?

“…Didn’t she mention something about being a ‘weetoober’?”

I vaguely recalled hearing that word before. Pulling out my phone, I typed it into the search bar. Modern predictive text was impressively intuitive—it suggested the correct term even with my half-baked input.

“virtual wetuber?”

As soon as the results popped up, it all made sense.

Ibuki was a WeTuber.

Even someone like me, who barely followed online trends, knew about WeTube and its content creators—people who made videos or streamed for a living. With enough popularity, they could make absurd amounts of money, far beyond what an average person could dream of. And Ibuki… was one of them.

That explained why her tax numbers last year made zero sense when I helped her file them.

Now that I understood her job, I felt even worse. I had completely disrupted her work.

I had heard that people in this industry lived in constant fear of scandals. What if my reckless intrusion had caused some serious damage? If it resulted in financial losses, Ibuki probably earned more than enough to support me multiple times over—meaning the damage could be far beyond what my meager salary could ever cover.

If that happened, would I have to sell my body just to make up for it?

“…No, first things first—I need to apologize.”

No matter how much I worried about worst-case scenarios, the first step was obvious: I had to show sincerity and apologize. Ibuki probably wouldn’t forgive me, not after how she reacted that night, but even so, as an adult—no, as her best friend—I had to take responsibility for my mistake.

This time, I wouldn’t repeat my blunder. Before visiting Ibuki again, I made sure to ask first. I wouldn’t barge in unannounced and cause her trouble.

After getting her approval, I arranged to visit her place this Saturday.

“Excuse me.”
“Welcome… Wait, what’s with those dark circles under your eyes? And you look kind of run-down. Did something happen after all?”

As soon as I entered Ibuki’s house, she immediately pointed out the bags under my eyes.

Work had been crazy busy lately, sure, but more than that, I hadn’t been able to sleep, terrified that I had caused Ibuki some unthinkable trouble.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”

I gently pushed past Ibuki, who was eyeing me with concern, and made my way to the familiar living room. Normally, walking down this hallway felt comforting, but right now, I felt more like a condemned prisoner walking toward her fate.

“Do you want something to drink, Yukino?”
“No, I’m good. More importantly, you sit down too.”

Ibuki seemed a little awkward, too. Well, considering what I had done and what we were about to talk about, I could understand why.

“Uh, yeah. So, what did you want to talk about?”

After sitting down, Ibuki gestured for me to speak. She probably wanted to get her grievances out as soon as possible, but it seemed like she was giving me the floor first. Maybe it was out of kindness, so I wouldn’t freeze up when the money topic came up.

“Well…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really sorry about the other day. I just showed up out of nowhere, and then I… I ended up interrupting your work.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I should’ve explained my work to you, to begin with.”

I nervously started speaking, but Ibuki responded with a smile, as if it were nothing.

“Sure, I was a little flustered, but nothing major happened, so don’t worry about it.”

It wasn’t until she said that that I realized what she meant. Could it be… she was trying to shoulder all the blame herself?

Since I was born, a girl named Yamagami Ibuki had always been within my sight. That’s why I could kind of imagine her actions. She truly believed that it was her fault for not explaining things properly, and that she should take full responsibility for everything. If the person involved had been a stranger, she probably wouldn’t have acted this way, but in this case, it’s me. If the damage amounted to several million, she might have thought it wouldn’t be possible for me to pay it back, so from the beginning, she focused all the blame on herself.

“Ibuki…”
“More importantly, I’m sorry for hastily kicking you out back then. Looking back, I should have explained things in a low voice or turned off the mic for a while.”

To make sure I didn’t feel guilty, Ibuki made up a casual story and spoke while laughing. I couldn’t forgive myself for making her do something like this.

“Ibuki… it’s fine, I’ve really thought things through and researched everything.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Ibuki tried to feign ignorance, so I showed her what I had prepared in advance.

“First, here’s my savings account book. It’s not much, but I want it to be used to cover some of the losses caused by what I did. And, look at this too.”

I showed her my account book with my modest savings. Since this small amount might not be enough, I opened up the next option for repayment.

“What’s this?”

Her voice, tinged with slight anger, made me nervous, but I continued without hesitation.

“This is a summary of my plans to work at night. I can’t repay the money working as I am now, so I’m thinking of starting in the sex industry.”
“Wha—what are you talking about all of a sudden?!”
“Well, I’ve already picked out some places where I could work. I haven’t contacted them yet, but there are some where I’m sure they’ll hire me, so don’t worry. Even if it’s not a high-class place, I’ll still earn more than a regular office job, so I think I can repay it quickly if I try hard.”

Depending on the establishment, some places that include full-service activities could earn as much as 1 million yen per month. Even though I was resistant to giving my first time to someone I didn’t know, I couldn’t afford to hesitate anymore.

“I’ll pay for it properly. So, Ibuki, don’t carry everything on your own, just tell me.”
“…Yukino.”
“How much is it, really? Don’t hide it, just tell me.”

I know I was probably unreliable, but I couldn’t stand the thought of causing trouble for the person I cared about and then pretending like nothing happened afterward. I wasn’t thick-skinned enough to do that. If Ibuki had to take on my debt, I wouldn’t want to live anymore.

Ibuki must have finally gathered the resolve to talk to me, as she opened her eyes, which had been shut for a while, and took the materials I brought.

“I don’t really understand what you’ve been talking about, but there’s no way I’m going to accept something like this!”

Saying that, Ibuki stood up and tore the materials in her hands to pieces.

“Do you think I’m so useless that you’d have to sell your body if something happens?! That’s impossible! Never say you’ll work at a night job again!”

With that, Ibuki grabbed both my shoulders and shook me, looking genuinely angry. I was left speechless and couldn’t find the right words for a while.

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