Episode 2: Saturday's Shock

It was the middle of the following day, Saturday afternoon, and I was seated at a booth in a cafe, looking up last night's Little Miss Troublemaker on my phone.

"Good morning Tokyo-ooooo! It's your favorite gyaru gal, Rika here. Coming to you live from my new apartment. Yayyy!"

I paused the video as I scrolled down to read the rest of her profile.

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ✉︎ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

Name: Rika Amane, AKA Rika Riot.

Personality: Unapologetically Gyaru and proud. ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

Age: 17

Height: 5 ft 6.

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ✉︎ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

From her cover photo, I noted she was naturally attractive. Long blonde hair, large green eyes, and a tiny cute smile.

Her favorite types of outfits, as evidenced by the rest of her profile, were primarily a mixture of flashy clothes that tend to show off a bit of skin.

She had six million followers on Nunusta, four million subscribers on Zwitch, and six hundred thousand daily viewers across all her live streams.

Well, she definitely had quite the online presence.

"And are you sure she's the same chick from last night? The one that's now your new neighbor?" my friend Kenji asked, sipping from a juice box as he peered over to look at my phone.

"I'm not sure," I replied, scrutinizing one of her images. "I didn't really see her, more like I overheard. But the voice definitely sounds similar."

I scrolled back up to the video I was watching. I glanced at the time stamp. Five hours. This girl, if she really was the one from last night, had kept me awake for nearly five hours.

"Well, there was news from days back when she made the announcement that she would be switching things up and moving into a suburban neighborhood, so she most likely is the one. But why didn't you head over to her place this morning? To find out if it really was her."

"I tried."

I reminded Kenji of what had transpired that morning.

Shortly after getting out of bed, I stormed over to her apartment and knocked repeatedly on the door. There was no answer. I repeated my set of knocks again, trying so hard to keep my frustration from boiling over and simply slamming my fists against the door. But there was still no answer.

In hindsight, I should have understood that a popular streamer like her didn't have to worry about actual commitments, since she was essentially making a thousand yen even when she was asleep, so she didn't have to worry about waking up early to do stuff. But when I continued knocking on her door with no reply, a man dressed in a black suit suddenly appeared from nowhere.

"Basically, he was part of her security detail, and he asked me to stop what I was doing, or he would have to use force," I said as I concluded the story to Kenji.

"Okay, I see." Kenji finished up his juice box and dumped the empty carton on the table. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he continued speaking. "You do know what you must do now, right, Sota?"

"Yeah, report her to the building manager if she refuses to tone down the noise," I said. "Unless she ends up bribing him or something, I'm sure he can kick her out for..."

"Pfft!"

My friend had launched a slap at my face, but he was unable to make contact. I caught hold of his wrist mid-motion.

"Um, what do you think you're doing?" I asked calmly.

"Trying... to... slap... you..." he responded, struggling to pull his hand free. I intentionally intensified my grip as punishment.

"I can see that," I replied. "But why?"

"Because... it seems your brain isn't... working properly at this very moment... I wanted to reset it by knocking some... sense into... you. Who the hell, in their right mind, would want to get rid of their very hot, very... famous neighbor? Especially when she is one of Japan's most followed celebrities? Have you gone mad, dude? Also, can you please let go of my arm? It's starting to hurt a little?"

I did as he asked. Just then, a group of girls walked by our table, giggling as they stole glances in our direction. I recognized most of them. They went to our school.

"Hey there, Sota."

"Hi, Sota."

I managed a reluctant wave just to satisfy the social expectation of being a nice person. I wasn't interested in any of them. I just didn't want to come across as rude.

"Seriously, dude. You know how many guys will kill to be in your position right now?" Kenji asked, massaging his wrist where I had grabbed hold of him.

"And what position is that, exactly?"

"Oh come on, you jerk, are you really gonna make me say it, huh? Well, you're tall, and ripped, and handsome, you consistently get good grades and are at the top of the class. I mean, those girls just practically threw themselves at you, and you didn't even flinch. When are you going to forget what happened between you and Sakura Jima and move on from the pain and hatred bro? You have a freaking celebrity living right next door, you're telling me you're not the least bit interested in that?"

I got up from my seat, having already finished my cup of iced tea. As usual, Kenji was being Kenji, talking nonsense.

"I need to get going," I told him.

"But we haven't even ordered yet. I skipped lunch and came out here to help you with your problem because you said you were paying."

I took some money from my pocket and handed it to him.

"There! Satisfied? Now see you later."

The rest of the afternoon was sufficient time for me to do something productive, instead of wasting time talking about girls with Kenji. I had invited him out here to help me identify my enemy number one, and now that he had done so already, there was no point in sticking around.

But, just as I was about to leave, a thought crept into my head. I stopped and turned.

"Oh, and I would appreciate it if you keep this whole thing, you know." I placed my index finger over my lips. The last thing I wanted was for the students at my school to find out a celebrity, like her, was secretly living next door. If that were to happen, my place would become a tourist attraction, and I would never find peace and quiet ever again.

Kenji was reluctant about my demands at first, but later accepted once I agreed to help him get a girl's number. Of course, I wasn't actually going to do that. But I didn't have to let him know that.

After leaving the cafe, I went back home. I changed into my sweats for the gym, and when I stepped outside, I still couldn't find her. I was expecting to run into her outside her apartment, as I wanted to avoid walking directly up to her door and knocking on it again. I couldn't see them, but I was sure her security detail was close by. Most likely, they were residents in the apartment complex across the street. And after spending a few minutes just waiting around, I ended up leaving when she didn't show.

Before I knew it, it was past evening. I was back from the gym, and I had showered for the night. I had kept an ear out the entire time, but I didn't hear any signs that indicated she might be in. Maybe she had headed up to some celebrity get-together on a yacht or something, and would hopefully shoot all the content she wanted over there. I prayed that by the time she returned, she would be too tired to do anything else.

Amen.

I finished up dinner and headed to the living room table to eat. However, before I could take the first bite...

"Hey girl, yeah, I just got back. Yeah, it was maji fine. For realsies, the party was so lit, uba levels awesome! You did good, girl, really. Yeah, I'm about to head in now. Alright, catch you later girl. Kisses."

I heard the sound of her keys sliding into the lock. That's when I sprang into action. I immediately let go of the spoon and bolted for my front door. This was my chance. If I could just catch her outside, talk to her, get her to tone down the volume of her late-night streams, then everything should be fine. She seemed like a reasonable person. We might potentially even be able to live as neighbors if she agreed to my demands.

I didn't want much. Just peace and quiet. But when I reached outside, I only got a glimpse of her blonde ponytail disappearing into her apartment. I had just missed her. Or maybe not.

I rushed forward with the intention of catching her before she closed her door, but a figure I didn't see before suddenly stepped out of the darkness with a flashing object in its hand. It was one of her security details again, a woman with short red hair and a black suit.

She was fast. I didn't even see the exact moment she thrust the taser she was holding towards me. I just felt myself losing consciousness as a shock traveled through my entire body and I fell to the ground.

Again, all I wanted was my peace and quiet back.

Why was I being punished for that?