Cram it!

[Career Mission <Nico Nico Ni~!> complete!]

[You have obtained the skills: <Talent Scouting>, <Manager's Eyes>, and <Feminine Charm>]

[Please confirm the details in your attributes page.]

[Great success! You have managed to charm over a hundred individuals with your streaming! +100 Achievement Points]

[Congratulations! Your fans have donated to your Streamlabs account! +20k Yen]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The moment the stream ended, I jumped out of my chair and rolled around the floor. "Oh god, why!?"

The cutesy voice. The girly mannerisms. The flirty words.

It would have been one thing if I was just watching it. But I was freaking forced to do it! Every word, every action!

"$@#$! $#@#$! $#@$! And I still can't even curse! @#$@ you system!"

[Note: An idol cannot speak crudely.]

"I'm not a goddamned idol! Argh!"

Damned reincarnation gods. If I ever had the chance to smack them across the head, I was going to do it. Making me act like this...

I shivered and then slowly stood up. "I hope nobody ever finds out..."

One and done. That was it. I wasn't going to do anymore streams like that even if it killed me-

[Note: Failing to stream once a week will result in a Punishment Game.]

"$@#$@! Just go %#$# me right up the @@# why don't you? Argh!"

I turned back to look at the monitor.

The stream was over, so the chat and the YouTube streaming setup was gone. But my room was still being mirrored, and my actions were still controlling 'Azura.'

Unlike the cutesy girl that was streaming earlier, she looked pissed off. A harsh and cold beauty that looked completely fed up with the world.

[Note: Gap moe has been deemed to be very effective in-]

"Shut the #$@# up already about that! Dammit!" I stomped over to the desktop and turned everything off. After that, I chucked the phone in my drawer. "#$#%. How am I supposed to explain this to Dad anyway?"

That guy never came into my room when I wasn't around, but he loved to troll me by barging in randomly on the weekends.

He claimed it was to make sure I was studying but-

Wait. Studying...

"Oh crap!"

I pulled out my phone to check the time.

9 AM. Monday.

I groaned and then grabbed some clothes out of my closet before running to the bathroom. "Dammit, Dad! You're supposed to remind me about this #$#@!"

Since it was the summer before entrance exams, I had cram school. And today was supposed to be my first day.

"%$#%! Nothing's going right!"

[Note: A new gacha banner has been added. Please, examine the new items at your leisure.]

"Not helping!"

-VI|IV-

"Yo, Kimura-san! Still struggling to put on muscle?"

I adjusted my bag around my shoulders and then scowled at the person calling out to me. "Shut the hell up, Ren. Not all of us are blessed with bodybuilding genes like you."

A tall young man with messy brown hair. Like me, he was wearing a school uniform, mostly just a white dress-shirt and jeans, and carrying a bag over his shoulder. But unlike me, the guy was ripped. Chiseled muscles without a shred of fat, a face with sharp features that left no ambiguity about whether he was a guy or a girl...

In short, a guy who I wished I looked like instead of this skinny and girly body that kept getting passes from guys with every new year.

Oh yeah, and that guy's name was Ren Kanryo, my childhood friend.

Ren laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. "Give it time, Kimura-san. I'm sure that you'll hit puberty soon."

"I can only hope." I muttered and then took a look around.

The cram school wasn't that far from my house, so I managed to make it on time.

...Well, on time enough to catch the chronically late Ren so that I wouldn't be showing up alone.

"Oh yeah." Ren looked at me and said, "You're not the type of guy to be late, Kimura-san. Did you get harassed by men along the way again?"

"Please don't remind me."

Ren shook his head and said, "I still think you should let me walk you home. I can't have my best friend get involved in awkward situations like that."

"And get into another misunderstanding that I'm your girlfriend and get harassed by the girls instead of the guys? Yeah, no."

"Ah." Ren nodded and placed his hand on his chin. "Right. That did happen..."

I sighed and said, "If you really want to help me out, go help me find some good protein powders or something. That workout regime you gave me helped me get stronger, but I didn't build any muscle."

"I can do that." Ren nodded and said, "I think Dad's importing some from overseas. I'll ask him about it and bring some tomorrow."

"Thanks Bro." I smiled and said, "You're the best."

Ren blinked and then let out a sigh. "It's because you act like that guys think you're a girl, you know."

"Shut up! I was born this way, okay!" I blushed and looked away. "Dammit! Now you're making me feel weird. Aaargh. Whatever. We're going to be late." I started running off.

Ren laughed and started running too, matching my stride. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Teachers never get mad at you anyway, Kimura-san."

"That's because they're all perverts."

I shivered at the memories of middle and elementary school. The number of times that our female teachers looked like they wanted to take me home with them or where the male teachers had to pointedly look away during gym class...

"Mm... I guess so."

Running through the city, crossing intersections... And then we arrived in front of a shabby building tucked in a commercial district. Cracked concrete, a plain white sign with the name <Happy Days Cram School>, and a wooden door with peeling red paint...

I paused and then pulled out my phone to check the address. "...You think this is the place, Ren?"

Ren frowned and checked his phone as well. "...It should be. I don't hear anyone though..."

"...Hah." I stuck my phone back in my pocket and said, "Stupid cheap Dad. Couldn't you have at least paid for a normal cram school?" I shook my head and walked towards the door.

Ren walked behind me and said, "You know, you could have just-"

"For the tenth time this month, I am not borrowing money from you. Especially since I still owe you for my phone."

Ren waved it off. "It's fine. You help me study anyway."

I grabbed the door handle and looked back. "If we get scolded, I'm blaming you."

Ren laughed. "Fine, fine. But then you have to help me with math again."

"Deal." I nodded and then took a deep breath. Afterwards, I swung the door open-

"Gah!?"

-And a young woman sitting at the desk fell to the floor.

I ignored her for a bit and looked around. At least, that was the plan. But the moment I set my eyes on her, an obnoxious light blue window popped in front of my eyes.