Work Text:
“Thank you very much, sir. We all look forward to working with you.”
With a low, polite bow, the CEO of Kagami Industrial, gave his sincerest gratitude to their newest investors. They shook their heads with a laugh, urging him to stand up straight. There was no need to be so formal with them now that they were all partners.
After shaking hands one last time, the investors were led out of the conference room, and Kagami Hayato was finally able to breathe.
He was grateful that his secretary offered to lead their new partners out because Kagami wasn’t sure he could’ve mustered any more small talk as they walked. He had been preparing for weeks for this meeting and thankfully, it went exactly as planned. And the greatest triumph, the words he so loved hearing, were said.
A new product is needed immediately.
If Kagami was like the rest of his coworkers, he would’ve groaned at having to create a new toy on such short notice. But he wasn’t. He loved it, or more accurately, he lived for it. Therefore, as soon as his secretary let him know that the investors had just departed, he rushed out of the room and up the stairs towards his office.
His coworkers tended to mock Kagami’s so-called office. Yes, there were numerous parts of all kinds of toys lying around the room. Yes, there were sketches and drawings of new product ideas taped all over the walls and thrown across the floor. And yes, there were mounds of trashed parts and papers in every corner of the room, but Kagami thrived in an environment like this. Numerous ideas sparked just by stepping into the room. Kagami noticed a new combination of parts just from the way they were placed onto the shelves together.
Of course he had an office that CEOs were supposed to have, mainly because his father insisted. However, Kagami could never feel comfortable stuffed behind a desk someone organized for him with shelves containing certificates and degrees that did nothing for his imagination.
Although he had been told over and over again that there were countless employees who were working at his company to design and develop new toys, Kagami refused to not be a part of it. He didn’t want others to work for him. He wanted to work with them to create something extraordinary.
Therefore, as soon as he stepped into his “office,” he set straight to work. He pushed aside several prototypes laying across his drawing table and took out a blank sheet of paper and began to sketch. Ideas that he shoved to the back of his mind during the meeting were flowing back in full force, making it so that his fingers were flying across the page as he wrote down every last detail.
There was nothing like the feeling of an idea brought to literal life. That by his own hands, he was able to build something from nothing. There was nothing like it, which is why he hadn’t been able to stop ever since he was child. Ever since he clutched his father’s scarlet cloak and insisted on following him to work. That very first moment his father placed a toy in his lap, demonstrating the product he created the day before, Kagami wanted to do nothing more than make one himself.
As soon as he uttered those words to his father, Kagami’s life was never the same. If he was honest, Kagami couldn’t remember most about his life in school after that. But that was the last thing that was on his mind at the moment.
“Perfect!” He raised the sketch high up into the air and immediately called in his secretary for their immediate opinion.
As usual, they simply nodded with a look that revealed they had no idea what they were looking at. “It’s one of your best, sir. But you do know that the second-floor team is also producing their own toy, right sir?”
Kagami didn’t but the more, the better. “That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to see theirs as well. Let them know that we’ll be showing both of our prototypes at the same time by the end of the week.”
“Yes, sir.” With a bow, his secretary left and Kagami began finding the right parts he could take to the engineering lab and begin production.
As usual, when the CEO was in the midst of creation, he was utterly consumed by it. The hours and days flew by as he was constantly in and out of the engineering lab. The closer he was to finishing, the more his need to present it to everyone grew. As a result, when it neared the end of the week, Kagami brought the toy to his office to give it its final touch of paint.
“Finally! Look at this! Can you believe that-”
Kagami stopped mid-sentence as he glanced around the room to find no one there. Only the remains of unfinished or unwanted projects were looking back at him. The CEO slowly lowered the new toy and gazed out the window and down at the shining city below.
It was only in moments like these that Kagami began to undo his top button and run a hand through his neatly styled hair. The bearings of a president slowly began to slip away as he stared at his reflection in the window. An expression of regret was the only thing staring back at him.
Although Kagami didn’t remember much outside of working with his father in this building, he sometimes wished he had. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have friends at school and spend time with them afterwards. He simply wasn’t focused on anything but his next creation. As soon as the teacher finished lecturing, out came his sketchbook and various toy parts. Before he knew it, the bell rang and he was off to see his father.
Later in high school and college, Kagami had classmates he studied with and talked to, but as soon as class was over, so was their time together. At the time Kagami didn’t think anything of it, but now? Now he seemed to think of it too much.
Of course he spent a lot of time with his coworkers and formed bonds, but as soon as they clocked out, Kagami was left in this room filled with abandoned dreams.
Seeing as the night sky was pitch black and the surrounding skyscrapers were illuminating the streets below, Kagami knew that none of his coworkers were still around anyway. Therefore, he simply set the toy down on the table until it could be displayed tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow, Kagami could begin to change. Maybe tomorrow, it will be different.
Because he was so excited to meet with his coworkers, Kagami arrived at work much earlier than everyone else. As soon as his secretary called to let him know that the others were ready, he was already out the door and headed for the elevator.
By the time he arrived at the conference room, his coworkers were already seated with coffee in their hands. “Good morning, Shachou!” They all immediately rose when he entered to bow. He politely bowed in return before sitting down across from them.
“Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice. Even though the investors allowed us a month for a new product to present to them, I couldn’t seem to wait.” They all chuckled, understanding how their president was like. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing your results. If you don’t mind…”
Kagami could have stayed in that room for the rest of the day talking about their products and brainstorming future ideas that would spawn from these. However, it had to come to an end eventually.
“Is it alright sir if I take a picture of these two and post it on our social media?” One of the engineers asked with a nervous smile as she fiddled with her phone case.
Kagami paused in confusion. “We have a social media account? Since when?”
The engineer froze in panic before rushing to explain. “I-I started it a month ago. I-I swear I asked for permission first and I would never post anything harmful or unreleased. This would only be a preview, I promise!”
“No, that’s fine.” Kagami insisted. He wasn’t upset in the slightest, in fact, he was thrilled. This was the perfect idea to show their products to the current generation of children. Kagami wanted nothing more than for their hard work to be shown to everyone. “I think it’s a brilliant idea. Do we have many that are interested and follow our accounts?”
The woman pursed her lips in thought as she flipped through the accounts. “For just starting out, yes, we’re doing pretty well. As long as we keep posting and getting the word out, I’m sure we can pull in plenty of more customers.”
“That’s great! I think we should-”
“Excuse me, sir.” Kagami turned to find his secretary at the door with a phone in their hand. “I’m sorry to interrupt but your conference call is about to begin.”
“Oh of course, thank you for reminding me.” As he bid his coworkers goodbye, he couldn’t stop thinking about what that engineer just showed him, but he didn’t know why. He could feel like he was on the edge of something but couldn’t grasp it yet. And it continued to plague his thoughts until late at night when he was lying in bed.
He reached for his laptop to play some music to unwind after the long day but froze when he glanced at the suggested videos. There was a video of a man talking about t-shirts he made and reviewing the process as well as how they turned out. Kagami couldn’t believe that there were so many views and comments. The next thing he knew, he was clicking on one suggested video to the next. Numerous people reviewed their creations ranging from apparel to carpentry to technology, etc. It never ended, and each was just as fascinating as the last.
The unknown idea hanging just outside of his grasp was finally in the palm of his hand, and he wasn’t going to let this dream go.
After asking the engineer in charge of social media, he was directed to a coworker of hers that was more experienced in posting long videos online. He was extremely kind and helpful from the start and demonstrated how to set up the various equipment Kagami would need as well as ordered the same equipment for Kagami to use by himself. After Kagami started to feel overwhelmed, they decided to practice being filmed first.
So as Kagami sat at a table with an old toy he created in hand, the man had the camera ready to film. When he raised his thumb, Kagami bowed to the camera. “K-Konnichiwa minasan! H-How are you today? My name is K-Kagami Hayato, hajimemashite. I-”
“Okay we’re going to stop there.” The man interrupted with an amused grin. “You know you don’t have to be so formal, right? The people viewing your videos are because they want to. Because they like you. You don’t need to waste time on that, so let’s try again, okay?”
That wasn’t what Kagami was thinking. He had always been raised to talk to others politely no matter how long or short he knew them. It was simply natural for him, but he trusted the man’s advice and tried again. After stuttering and stumbling over his words in an attempt to remain calm, they decided to try again tomorrow.
When Kagami returned home later that night, he began to research influencers, streamers, and anyone who posted videos regularly online. While scrolling through articles, he found a blog that advised beginners to start with recording live instead of worrying about multiple takes and editing and talking to a camera.
After reading through the directions, Kagami did just that. Although he didn’t have the latest webcam yet for his computer, he ran thorough checks of it as well as the mic and wifi before clicking on: Go live . Once he saw that the light indicated he was being recorded, Kagami smiled at the camera before nodding in bow and introducing himself.
“K-Konnichiwa minasan. I’m Kagami Hayato of Kagami Industrial, haji-” he broke off as he remembered what the man advised. “Y-Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.” He pulled out the toy he was carrying before and even though he stumbled at the beginning, his love for his creations took over and he couldn’t stop until he saw that someone commented in the chat.
He almost jumped out of his seat in excitement. It was only a simple hello, but it meant the world to Kagami. There was someone out there in the world watching him right now, wanting to know about him and his products. Kagami couldn’t describe what the feeling arising inside of him was, but he knew that he didn’t want to stop until he figured it out.
As a result, he began to stream live every night after he finished at work. He reviewed a different product every night and even though he only had a couple viewers, it began to grow. Slowly but surely, Kagami was showing the world what he treasured most. He was planning to continue like this until his first viewer and subscriber commented one night about a company called Nijisanji.
I can send you a link later if you like, but I think you should apply. You can reach a larger audience, especially if you collaborate with someone.
Kagami had never heard of it before so he quickly looked the company up. After getting lost on their website, he apologized to his viewers before signing off and researching more about Nijisanji. After understanding what a virtual streamer was, he watched one person after the next. Before he knew it, it was late into the night and he’d seen almost every single member.
Maybe it was because he was so sleep deprived, but Kagami clicked on the link to the application of becoming a vtuber and started to fill it out. There was no guarantee he would ever be accepted. There wasn’t even a guarantee that his application would be looked at because it was so close to the deadline. But he filled it out anyway. Without waiting for the instant regret to take over, he clicked submit.
He couldn’t stop himself, not when he saw how well the vtubers got along. Not when he listened to how they talked and spent time together outside of their streams. That their friendships didn’t end when the camera shut off. They had something more.
As Kagami was headed towards Nijisanji headquarters, he was still in utter shock. He still believed that he was in a very long but very realistic dream. Nijisanji accepted him. They wanted him to become one of their vtuber members, even though he filled the application out when he was barely even conscious. With every step he took, his disbelief as well as his excitement grew.
Although he talked with the Nijisanji employers during interviews over the phone, he was finally meeting them in person. However, he was most excited about meeting the other two vtubers that were chosen to debut alongside him. They told Kagami the two women would be his “debut-mates.”
Debut-mates, Kagami thought with a wide grin, nothing sounds better.
As he was racing through the streets of the crowded city, he continued wondering what these girls were like. If they could become good friends like Kagami hoped, or if they would choose to stick to themselves like some streamers do. While lost in thought, Kagami tripped over some debris in the road and the toy he was holding fell out of his grasp.
After he gained his footing, he bent to reach for it, but someone else picked it up instead. “Wait, that’s my-” He broke off as he made eye contact with the person. She was a petite, adorable young woman with differing shades of black and white hair parted in the middle in pigtails. She had striking dark-pink, to the point it was almost red, eyes with delicate features and a warm smile. She wore a frilly black and white dress with matching black and white tights that mirrored her hair. Although she appeared very young, she had an aura about her that was not of this world.
She picked up Kagami’s toy with fascination gleaming in her eyes. “This is so cute. I’ve never seen it before. Hakache, what is it?”
Hakache, which Kagami assumed was a nickname, was the young woman standing next to the one with his toy. Her hair was a shining white with a tint of an icy blue at the ends, and her eyes were a startling scarlet. She wore a lab coat hanging off the shoulders of a school uniform and a belt with various mixtures hanging from it.
“It’s obviously a toy, Yorumi. Even you should know that.”
Yorumi let the last comment slide as she began to poke and prod at the toy. “So then you have one of these, too, Hakase?”
Hakase sighed with a small smile as she tried prying the toy from Yorumi’s hands. “No but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell just by looking at it.”
“But-”
“It’s alright, a lot of people wouldn’t know what it is.” Kagami blurted out. The girls stared at him with questioning expressions. Kagami just couldn’t help himself when it came to toys after all. “M-My father made this for me when I was very young. It was only for me so he never created another one nor sold it.”
Yorumi’s eyes gleamed with wonder as she looked over Kagami again. He tried not to adjust his red, peaked cap for the hundredth time that morning. He looked exactly like his father. He was donning a dark brown suit with a matching button-up shirt and tie with a blood-red cloak on top that matched his cap. It was the uniform of a Kagami Industrial CEO.
Only now in front of these two did Kagami think it was a little much.
“Your father makes toys?”
“As do I.”
“That’s so-”
“Yorumi,” Hakase interrupted with a pointed look. “We don’t have time for this. We’re going to be really late.”
Kagami couldn’t help but feel disappointed, but he wasn’t going to hold them back because he was also going to be late. “Before you leave, you can take my company’s business. You can come by anytime and I can teach you how if you want.”
“I already can with magic-”
“ Yorumi .”
Before Kagami could ask what she meant, Hakase handed over the toy and grabbed Yorumi’s arm as they sprinted down the street. Kagami hoped that he would see those two again one day. He just had the feeling that they could get along well.
He didn’t expect to be meeting them again so soon.
After just making it on time and talking with the employers, Kagami was led to another room and introduced to his debut-mates. It was none other than Yorumi and Hakase. They all stared at each other with wide eyes and parted lips. Yorumi was the first to recover as she bounded over to him with a bright smile.
“See Hakache, magic is real.”
Hakase shook her head with a proud grin. “That would be science. Plus, I think this is more like fate, which is even less likely than magic.”
Fate, magic, Kagami didn’t care what they called it. All he could focus on was that he knew this was right. This was supposed to happen. Therefore, with a low, sincere bow, Kagami introduced himself. “My name is Kagami Hayato, I’m the CEO of Kagami Industrial, pleased to meet you.”
The other two bowed in response, introducing themselves as well. “I’m Yorumi Rena, an idol magician.
“And I’m Hakase Fuyuki, a high school student.”
The Nijisanji executives excused themselves to leave them time to get to know each other. The minutes and even hours flew by as they each learned about one another. Although Kagami remained formal and the girls teased him about it, he’d never felt more comfortable. He was right about that feeling from earlier. They were going to get along very well.
“I’m actually very nervous about it.” Kagami blurted out as they were discussing their debuts. “I’m not very experienced so I’m worried about how it will go. You both look so excited and confident about it. It’s admirable.”
Hakase and Yorumi both stared at him in surprise before looking at each other. Hakase was the first to break the silence. “Actually, we’re nervous too. Nijisanji is getting really popular, which means more people will be watching. I’m worried if anyone will even be interested in watching mine or if they’ll get bored. All I do is conduct science experiments.”
Kagami understood her completely. All he did was create toys. His coworkers had been trying to get together to play various online games so that he would be prepared. However, he was still anxious about it.
“I’m nervous, too.” Yorumi admitted with a shy smile. “So let’s do our best, okay? We’re debuting separately, but we’re still a group. So let’s watch each other’s streams, even if we’re the only ones watching.” Kagami and Hakase both nodded in agreement. He couldn’t have asked for better people to debut with.
“Let’s practice before, too.” Hakase suggested, to which they all agreed. “Hay- Mr. Kagami, we can help you set up.”
“Please call me-"
“Shachou!” Yorumi interrupted with a laugh, and although Kagami usually didn’t like being only addressed by that at work, he didn’t seem to mind it now.
“Would that be okay with you, Shachou?”
Kagami nodded but before they were about to call it a day, Kagami remembered what the employers talked with him about earlier. “Oh, I guess I should practice performing my song as well.”
“A-A song?!?”
Under such constant persistence, Kagami finally gave up after a couple days and agreed to let Hakase and Yorumi listen to him practice at Nijisanji’s studio. He was supposed to perform his original sound and post it after he debuted. Because he was so tired that night he applied, he didn’t think twice about not clicking on the option of singing and performing as part of his career.
After putting on the headset and listening to the instruments begin, Kagami began to sing quietly before screaming with everything he had in him. He was completely lost in the song as he sang and screamed to the lyrics he wrote years ago when he thought no one would hear them. Now the world would, and for some reason, that made him scream even louder.
When he finished, he stared back at Hakase and Yorumi, nervous to know how they would feel about his song. Was it too loud? Could they even understand what he was saying? Was it too harsh on their ears? Should he not go through with it-
“That was amazing!” Yorumi cried as she and Hakase opened the door to the recording room. “I want to sing like that! You have to teach me how.”
Kagami was surprised to see Hakase’s eyes gleaming with excitement as well. “It was a really cool song. I didn’t know you could sing like that.”
“Thank you-”
“We should sing together!” Yorumi suggested and Hakase immediately agreed. “You have to teach us how to sing like that with you.”
“R-Really?” Kagami never expected this. They really liked his song that much? They really wanted to sing with him? …. How did he get so lucky to have friends like this?
“We’re a group, remember?” Yorumi added with her hand outstretched to Kagami. “If we’re going to stream together, we should sing together, too, okay?”
“Okay.” Kagami replied as he shook her hand with a bright smile.
“What should our name be?” Hakase asked and as they all pondered over it, Yorumi was the first to come up with the perfect suggestion.
“CEO… CEO..” She kept mumbling until she clapped her hands. “We should abbreviate it like that. SMC- Scientist,” she pointed at Hakase, “Magician,” she pointed at herself, “and CEO.” She finished as she pointed at Kagami. “SMC. Oh! We should add to it, so instead it’s SMC-gumi.”
“Perfect.”
As they all began discussing songs they would sing covers of together, the anxiety from earlier about debuting faded. He was about to be introduced to a whole new world with all kinds of possibilities to meet people like them. He wanted to collaborate with many vtubers and learn how to play all kinds of games with them. Also, perhaps he’d be able to share his love for toys with them. The opportunities were endless.
Therefore, when the night came for him to debut and he watched as the light indicated that he was live, he made sure he gave his viewers the brightest smile.
Kagami didn’t know then just how much his life changed in that instant. He was going to become a popular vtuber and have the chance to become friends with a vampire that liked to wear sweats and stream all day. He’d also meet a famous host who said the silliest things, as well as meeting a shut-in demon researcher that he couldn’t help but tease. But most of all, he was going to form groups with so many talented people.
Before any of that could happen, Kagami smiled at his viewers and began to introduce himself. “ Konnichiwa, minasan. This is NIJISANJI-affiliated Virtual Liver and Kagami Industrial Representative Director, Kagami Hayato…”