My Childhood Friend, Who I Made a Promise To Spend the Future With, Dumped Me... But Ever Since I Started Dating a Beautiful Girl From School, My Childhood Friend Has Been Acting Strange - Episode 28

The live stream had begun.

Displayed on the screen was the image of a virtual streamer—one eerily similar to the avatar Suzuha had previously used.

It wasn’t just a resemblance; the features were nearly identical, as if the design of Suzuha’s avatar had been copied almost entirely.

When she had been active, Suzuha’s avatar had been adorned in blue, yellow, and white. The overall design resembled a penguin, giving it an adorable appearance.

“Huh… No matter how you look at it, that’s my avatar, isn’t it?”

At first, the virtual streamer on the screen remained silent. But a few seconds later, they spoke.

The voice was, eerily enough, the same as Suzuha’s.

Kamiya Suzuha had once worked as a virtual streamer. To prevent people from recognizing her, she had altered her voice.

And yet, the voice coming from the screen was exactly the one she had used back then.

“W-why… Why is the voice the same as mine?”

Suzuha, sitting to the right of Tōma, was in shock.

“Maybe it’s someone doing a voice impression?”
“I don’t know… but they’re speaking so naturally. Maybe they’re using a voice changer or something.”

Still seated, Suzuha stared intently at the computer screen, her expression tense.

“Suzuha is right here. So, without a doubt, the person inside that avatar on screen isn’t her. That means… who is performing as this character?”

That question flashed through Suzuki Tōma’s mind.

Panicking wouldn’t solve anything.

“For now, rather than overthinking it, let’s just watch until the end of the live stream. We might find some clues on the screen.”
“Yeah… That sounds like a good idea.”

Tōma accepted Suzuha’s composed response and decided to calmly continue watching.

What they saw was, without a doubt, Suzuha’s avatar. The voice was also unmistakably the one she had used when she was active.

To anyone watching, it was clearly her.

That’s why the viewers in the chat were all convinced it was her. Not a single comment pointed out anything odd about the voice.

It had been over a year since Suzuha had stopped streaming.

The viewers might have forgotten some details over time.

“Wait… So, everyone believes it’s really me?”
“Yeah, looking at the comments, no one is saying the voice is different.”
“I hate this. I’m right here, but… why do I have to go through something like this?”

Suzuha clutched her head, anguish written all over her face.

If the person she had previously negotiated with saw this, it could turn into a major issue.

But even if she commented now, pointing out that the person behind the avatar was someone else, it was unlikely that anyone would believe her.

“What am I supposed to do?”
“Sorry, I don’t know… But wait, the avatar design itself is almost exactly the same…”
“It’s not your fault, Tōma. But who gave away the rights to my avatar? I never did anything like that.”

Suzuha let out a deep sigh, feeling utterly hopeless.

Meanwhile, on the stream, the avatar had begun introducing themselves.

The information they provided was identical to the profile Suzuha had used.

Everything was the same—not just similar, but completely identical.

It was practically Suzuha’s old avatar brought back to life.

“Suzuha, what are you going to do?”
“What can I do…? Oh! I know! If I find out which company manages this avatar—!”

Her eyes lit up as she quickly grabbed her phone and began searching.

“I found it. Cyber… Task? Apparently, it belongs to this company.”

She had identified the company by checking keywords from the chat comments.

“So, this is the place. Cyber Task, huh? I’ve never heard of them.”
“Me neither. Back when I was active, I never came across this company.”

Since Suzuha had spent over a year in the industry, she was more familiar with virtual streaming companies than Tōma, who was just a viewer.

If even she didn’t recognize the name, the company had likely been established only recently.

“I mean, it makes sense. I quit when the number of virtual streamers was rapidly increasing. It’s not surprising that there are companies I don’t know about. But… if they’re a legitimate company, they should understand copyright laws. If I sue, I should win, right, Tōma?”
“Probably. It depends on how this company obtained your avatar, but in general, you should have the upper hand.”
“Right.”

Suzuha’s eyes regained a glimmer of hope.

“But what’s the next step?”
“Well, their company probably has an official social media account. We could try looking them up.”
“Good idea. Let’s do that.”

Using Tōma’s phone, the two of them searched for the company online.

After entering the company’s name, they found the official account surprisingly quickly.

“This is it. The company name is in the profile.”
“Yeah. In that case, we could try sending them a direct message. Last time, I was dealing with an individual, so there was no response, but this time it’s a company. They should at least reply. Tōma, can I use your account again?”

Tōma handed her his phone.

Suzuha held it tightly with both hands and began typing out a message.

“Alright, this should do it. They’ll definitely realize what’s going on now. Thanks, Tōma.”

She handed the phone back to him.

“Now, we just have to wait.”
“They probably won’t reply immediately. We should finish watching the live stream while we wait.”

The two turned their attention back to the computer screen.

Since this was the first stream, it lasted about 45 minutes before ending.

Not too long, not too short—a balanced duration.

Until the very end, no one in the chat realized anything was off. Many even left positive comments, saying they’d tune in again.

“Ugh… Why isn’t anyone noticing?”

Just as Suzuha was sinking into disappointment, Tōma’s phone chimed.

A message had arrived.

When they checked, it was from the company’s social media account.

The response was formal and businesslike:
“We cannot provide an immediate answer regarding this matter. We will investigate internally and give you an official response at a later date.”

“Figures. It’s already past nine. Just getting a response at this hour is better than nothing.”
“Yeah, but Suzuha, don’t let it get you down. Hey, my sister should be out of the bath by now. Why don’t you take a break and freshen up?”

Tōma’s gentle words were meant to keep her spirits up.

“Alright. I’ll go take a bath.”

She stood up from her chair, flashed him a small, grateful smile, and left the room.