Return

The throbbing pain in my head recedes as the loan sharks take an interest in my material possessions. 

That...hurts.

No stone goes unturned, and no item is left unchecked. The men are gathering everything they can to take.

"Three weeks since you paid your dues, Hinata." A greasy looking thug, with an old beat up leather jacket as if he's trying to look younger than he really is, looks down at me.

His breath stinks.

"I'm sorry. I barely have enough to pay things off-"

"Uh oh. You hear that boys?" He kneels down next to me and points a knife at my throat. "Maybe then we'll just have to take your organs. I know those are worth a lot."

"Please don't, I-"

I look over to the pile of things they are looking at, and one man is entering my bedroom. His beady eyes are gazing at the computer - I will admit, the most expensive thing in my house.

"Wait. Not the computer." I look at the greasy thug, then back at the beady eyed man. "I'll actually have enough money to pay you off soon, if you give me the chance! I - I - I mean, I..."

The thug snarls, and I give him a smile, trying not to display the terror in my heart.

"I'm serious this time, I have proof! You could look it up right now! It's not a scam or anything, I'm not like uh, whatever other clients you might have!" 

A thug with a nose ring looks down into his phone, then looks up my name. 

"Oh uh, I go by SaekiKatanaBlade online..."

I hear him deleting some letters, then typing new ones in.

"Wow." He says. "Well boss, he's not lying about going viral, I suppose."

"What, you going to be a MeTuber or something?" The greasy thug, who I now presume is the leader, asks me.

"Uh...probably, yeah!" I give him a grin, trying (probably unsuccessfully) to not look terrified. "Trust me, I'll have the money soon. I'll be able to pay everything off. So uh, what do you say? That'll be worth far more than my organs, haha. I would be able to stream without those. Or without my computer..." 

"I dunno, I think he's onto something." The computer thug says. "Might be better to leave him as an investment." 

The greasy man sighs.

"You're on thin fucking ice, Hinata. I expect a regular payment by the end of the week. You understand?"

"Haha, of course! You know, I won't let you down starting from here. I promise." I raise my arms to block as the greasy man raises his, but the strike never happens. The trio start laughing and I too, decide it's best to laugh alongside them. 

"Good. If there's no payment, I'm taking that computer and your organs. Let's go lads. I think boy here has the memo."

I wipe the blood off of my nose as they turn to leave.

"Oh, uh, before you leave, would you mind dropping a subscribe on my channel? It would really help out. That's potentially more money for you too, you know. Please?"

The trio turn to me, exchange looks, then shrug.

"We'll think about it."

***

The wide, empty door lets in a chilly draft as I check it again.

No one outside right now.

At least, no one I can see. I know the resident drug dealers love using this place as a selling ground. Which is awful enough on it's own, but the drug addicts love to use this place as their smoking grounds as well. So you have to keep your windows closed in order not to smell that shit during the day.

My real worry though, are the desperate ones. The ones that come here at night.

I manage to gather the busted metal door and somewhat get it onto the hinges, but it'll be obvious the door isn't actually functional. I'll just have to hope that if anyone comes by, they'll pass over it without second thought.

I'm so fucked. I kneel down and bury my face in my hands. I am actually fucked. What do I do? I know I could apply for a homeless shelter at this point, but that means giving up streaming. Besides, I'm sure the shelter won't provide any adequate protection against a whole ass gang. I'm surprised the debt collectors let me keep my desktop. Well, that's the power of fame money, I guess. 

I look in the mirror, for the first time since they left. God, I'm a mess. I'm covered in blood and bruises all over. I don't think I'm internally bleeding or anything, so that's fine, but I look just plain awful. I guess I'll have to stream without a camera then for the time being.

I wipe away the tears and blood covering my face, then sit there for another good five minutes as my mind races. I don't know what to do. I can't find my way out of this.

I decide to go back and check on the video the numb the pain, both physical and mental. There's been an additional 50k views since I last checked. There's a bubbly feeling in my chest that temporarily, crowds out the fear in my heart.

I almost feel a strange sort of adventurous excitement, before it dies back down. I look at the video again. A video not even of my own doing. And yet here it is, my only ticket to freedom.

I scroll down into the comments.

At the top of my video is a pinned comment from the only consistent viewer I had. My eye twitches as I read it.

"Hey everyone!" The comment starts. "This is Chisaki here! I hope you enjoyed our video! The stream starts tomorrow, in 17 hours, so please do drop by!"

It's highlighted in mod colors.

She's a channel moderator. I never have made anyone on my channel a mod. She must have hacked it and given herself permissions or something.

I take another peek out my room to the front door. Frankly, my mind is completely occupied by the destruction of my front door for the hacking bullshit to have any real effect on me, but I know that it's not good.

The replies are, similarly annoying.

"Chisaki the GOAT!" One comment says. A lot of the replies seem mad at me for 'fumbling,' though I do have a few defenders mixed in.

"Chisaki, when's the full game releasing?"
"Ooh, I can't really say! Maybe if you drop Hinata a sub, we'll be able to craft a full version. The game's almost complete, so I think we can have this out in a jiffy!"
"Haha, thanks!" The commenter says. "If it's for Chisaki, I'll definitely give you a sub! By the way, are you Hinata's girlfriend?"
"I sure do hope so someday! Though, I also do enjoy being everyone's favorite internet girl, so maybe I'll hold off on the confession. Are you trying to dethrone Hinata? You better have the skills to back it up~"

There's plenty of pretty girls willing to bait thirsty otaku on the internet, but to actually be charming over text too takes a special degree of skill. I'll give it to her, she's charismatic.

Honestly, far more charismatic than I've ever been in my life. A sneaking fear strikes my heart, that perhaps, Chisaki is far more interesting than I am. Would people watch me if it weren't for this being a new game that was anticipated since I was a child? If it weren't for my father's work?

If it weren't for Chisaki?

"Chisaki, where do you live?" Another reply comment asks.
"Ooh, you naughty boy!" Chisaki's response goes. "Maybe if you want your own Chisaki, you should wait for the full release of the game! Stop by the stream today though! I'll be waiting~"

I bite my lip. I don't have time to be mad at Chisaki. I scroll down further to the comments, trying to console myself. I'm monetized. With this, I can get my debts paid. And it'll only be a matter of time before I can move out of this godforsaken place.

Now I just need to find a way to survive for the time being. I scroll down the comments further when someone catches my eye.

It's PixelParker. He must have left a comment on my video before he reacted to it.

"Wow, what a cool video!" is all the comment says. 

I click the dropdown to reveal the reply comments. There are so many.

"Pixelparker, omg!"
"It's the legend himself!"
"Yooooo"

I lean back in my chair, before looking to the busted doorframe again. The unwatched Pixelparker reaction video felt like getting noticed was a dream, but now it feels real.

Maybe I have a chance.

I scroll down to the other comments.

"Dang, underrated channel! I'll drop a sub."
"Your content reminds me of Samcapis, absolutely godly!"
"Damn, I've waited years for this game!"
"Who would have fucking guessed it's actually out now?"

There's a warm glowing feeling coming up from the bottom of my heart. Despite the beating I just took, there's some kind of hope.

I...I actually might make this.

There's a crashing noise from the outside, as my head is brought back to reality. Despite my sudden burst, the chance I am given, I'm reminded of one painful fact - my door is broken down, and I am on the first floor. It's unlikely that any of the crackheads might enter the apartment building, I can't rule it out. I've heard news of stabbing happening in the hallways from the tenement announcements.

I can't die here. Not when I've gotten a first taste of actual victory.

My phone vibrates. It's a text from that unknown number that messaged me earlier.

"Stream should be set up already," it says. "All you have to do is click record, then hop in."

I'm not even going to agonize over who that number is from at this point, though I know it's got to be Chisaki. I'm...I'm going back.

I grab my headset, and take a look at the wrecked front door as I click "record" on my desktop. My phone vibrates again from that same mysterious number as I can hear footsteps getting closer.

"Someone entered the hallways. Be quick Hinata. I'll be waiting. Love, your one and only." There's a heart emoji at the end.

I insert the disc.

I hesitate not as the footsteps start to walk down the hall. 

I'm in. And in that moment, I am invincible.