"Allow me to explain," the boy named Fohl said with a sigh. "My sister's always been a big fan of yours-"
"Tell me though, why'd you stop streaming?" she asked, genuine concern in both her voice and her eyes. "I always looked forward to watching your content!"
"Okay, before I answer that," I said to her. "How did you find me in real life? And why were you stalking me?"
"Oh, about that..." she said nervously. "I mean, the clues were there if you looked closely enough. One time, you went to go answer the phone in another room regarding a delivery, and you mentioned your address. I only got about half of it from that, because the rest was inaudible..."
I groaned. Had I really been that careless?
"And then, once, while you were adjusting your camera, the reflection outside your window came on something you had in the background- and I could just make out the name of your apartment from that! Once I had that, based on the scenery outside your window, it was easy enough to get a rough estimate of which floor you were on, and following that, it was a simple matter of waiting outside your apartment to find out where you lived!"
"Whoa- this girl is one dedicated and experienced creepy stalker," Shindo said.
"Hey!" Faul said belligerently, slamming a hand on the table. "How dare you say that about Atla?!"
"Well, what do you expect me to say? She's literally been watching and tracking Big Bro with more attention than the CIA would give! I don't think you can argue about the 'stalker' part!"
"Yeah, well, you can't say that she's 'creepy' can you?!"
"I'm gonna go ahead and say that she is given how obsessed she was!"
"Are you seriously implying that my sister is creepy?"
"Why imply it when it's obvious that that's the truth?!"
"Hey- take that back! My sister is nothing but adorable and any man would be lucky if she was stalking her!"
"Shindo, please sit down," I said to my brother. This conversation was getting nowhere.
"Ouch!" Fohl said as he was smacked behind the head by Atla.
"Don't slam tables wherever you go, understood? You'll end up damaging Rocketboy's table," Atla said. "And then who's gonna pay for it?"
"Yeah, but he's... insulting you..." Fohl said.
I sighed. Did this guy really have a sister complex? I had heard of such things in anime and otaku forums, but I didn't think such things existed in real life, of course.
"So, why exactly go through all this trouble?" I asked her. I had heard of famous people, particularly idols, being stalked by an over-obsessed fan, but I was hardly a drop in the ocean that was the Internet, and I didn't think I had enough notoriety to attract one myself.
"Your streams were the best!" Atla said. "They literally saved my life!"
"Huh?"
"Atla, you're getting ahead of yourself," Fohl said. "Look, my sister, about three years ago, suddenly started becoming weak. She used to play on the girl's soccer team, but then couldn't after she started getting short of breath. We thought it was nothing at first, but then... she collapsed one day. It turned out that she had leukemia- and there was a time when we weren't even sure she was going to make it." All of this seemed to shut Shindo up. "Thankfully, she did manage to pull through in the end, but she was in rehab as much as just four months ago... she only just started to become well enough to go to school."
"All those times I was in the hospital though," Atla began. "It felt so lonely and so hopeless at times, but then, one day, my brother left me a phone to sue to entertain myself, and by chance... I came upon one of your streams. I saw how much fun you were having, and there was just a charm to your voice that I couldn't explain! So, I watched them nearly every day, even when I was vomiting from the chemotherapy. I think I might've even lost hope one day- but then you mentioned you were going to be doing a long stream in two days... it lasted nearly twelve hours..."
"Ah, when the 'Dimension Wave' expansion came out," I said, remembering the stream.
"I kept going... just because I thought that I wanted to see your next stream," she said. "And finally, I did start getting better. I wanted to see you again, but... then you just stopped uploading! For several months! I couldn't figure out why, but when I got stronger, I was able to find you in real life."
"Atla, you were never alone- I was always there with you," Fohl said.
"Yes you were," Atla said. "But you couldn't be there all the time. And it was so lonely sometimes at night... but I got through it! And, I've been watching you- wanting to ask why you stopped, but I couldn't find it in me to actually face you. Every time I tried, I got nervous and backed out."
"I see," I said. I had no idea that my streams had had that kind of impact on anyone, and part of me would've been happy at the thought, but at the same time, this was a huge headache for me. "Well, you have to understand that I stopped because I was kicked off the platform for reasons beyond my control. I'm sorry, but if you wanted me to keep streaming, that's just something that can't happen anymore."
Atla shook her head. "That's alright then, if it was beyond your control, it can't be helped," she said. "Besides, I wasn't following you to see if you'd start streaming again. I was following you- because I love you!" She exclaimed this and Shindo buried his face in his hands, while Fohl looked flabbergasted.
"Sis, what're you saying?"
