"V-tuber" a term which gained immeasurable popularity over a span of a year but to me, it is the word which gave me the strength to move on from my past.

I have been a gloomy kid for as long as I can remember. This gloominess turned into thoughts of things better being unknown. I spent most of my childhood with my grandmother as both of my parents were busy working. After I lost my grandmother at the age of 12 my tiny world surrounding me and her was in shambles. My life feels as if it has entered an "Eternal Winter". It felt as if I was faced with one of the strongest blizzards. The world around me was covered with thick layers of snow and ice which took away all the colors and left the world black and white or so as I thought until I discovered him "The person who brought a stop to that everlasting winter" and that is how the first spring after my grandma's death arrived. Fuyumi thought to herself.

Fuyumi is a college student who is living alone in Tokyo to pursue her studies in IT. She is not known by many people in college due to her non approachable tendencies, somewhat natural for an introvert who hates staying around people. Even after trying to be out of people's attention, she was able to make a very few friends.

"She is just a 19-year-old nerdy girl" is what most people think about her but despite her age she's a fairly successful person. No one is aware of the fact that she is the person behind the name "Nameless being". A faceless gaming content creator and streamer who earns a decent amount just for playing two-three matches.

Fuyumi barely attends college, and that day was one of the days she went to attend class. She usually does not get scolded for her absence in the class but this time she had been gone for weeks without notice. That time she was called for by one of her professors who was relatively new and was unaware about her reasons for absenteeism. She had to stay there for some time after the end of her last class for the day. While she talked with the professor, her friend from the same major waited for her along with a couple of her acquaintances. It took Fuyumi a while to explain her condition and the fact that she had already submitted an application regarding it during her admission. The professor apologized and she was let go.

While walking down the hall she crossed paths with a man, wearing formals, who did not seem to be someone from her college. She did not pay much attention to it and went to her friend who had been waiting. It had been sometime since she met her even though they live in the same apartment complex. Her friend told her about the senior she met while waiting for her. She described the senior as "A good looking and tall man wearing a suit".

Her friend explained to her his purpose of visit while they were returning to their apartment complex.

After reaching home Fuyumi felt exhausted. She took a shower and went to bed. After a few days she received a text from Nami, her friend who lives in the same apartment complex as hers, to go out on a dinner with her. Fuyumi did not want to, but she couldn't reject her, so she went along. A few of Nami's friends were also present there.

Fuyumi was not good friends with anyone there. She never contributed to their conversation, nor she ever tried. She did not like crowded and loud places. She just chucked down her food and stayed quiet. She noticed that someone from another table was approaching their table.

The person stood in front of the table and said, "How have you guys been?". Nami replied "Great, and what about you?". He said "Good to hear that, I have been fine as well" with a smile on his face, and everyone started talking with him. He joined them on the table and told them that he had a team dinner with his office colleagues who left earlier. They went for another round but he bailed out somehow since he doesn't enjoy drinking all that much.

Clearly, everyone was frowning over him. But he didn't pay much attention. Everyone enjoyed and Fuyumi was happy that her friend enjoyed herself. At the end of the dinner most of them exchanged numbers with him. When they were leaving, he offered to give them a ride back home in his car.

Fuyumi and Nami left by themselves as their apartment complex was not too far away. It was until she reached home, she realized that the man who sat down on their table was the senior Nami was talking about. Once again, she was too tired think about anything and opted to fall asleep after taking a shower.

Next day was a Sunday and as per usual she went grocery shopping in the morning. As she was looking for some cup noodles in the supermarket, she heard a voice saying, "Cup noodles aren't good for your health, you know.".

She turned around to see a handsome young man who was indeed talking to her. She did not understand why a stranger would be saying that to her. As she tries to escape that place, he calls out and tells her about his observation of the previous night and how she did not say anything to anyone expect Nami.

Fuyumi was taken aback. Before she could figure out who he was, he introduces himself in a polite manner as "Haruma" , a former student of her college. He added “I was sitting right beside you yesterday, how didn't you notice me at all?”

It seemed as if he was interested in her which was not in any bad way but more of something as if he could understand her thoughts. It seemed like she really sparked his curiosity.

"Well... I think you don't find me all that comfortable to talk to considering you haven't said a word to me since yesterday, when we met" he sighed.

It gave off a vibe of a slight disappointment but relief at the same time because it confirmed his idea of her being different from the others who were pestering him to get his number, especially the females of the group.

"It's not what you are thinking. It's more like why a complete stranger would come and talk to me." She exclaimed.

They fell into a moment of silence. Fuyumi's answer was far from what Haruma expected as he anticipated a 'silent treatment' from her.

"I am sorry if that is what you felt. I just don't like talking all that much" Fuyumi said in lenient manner.

Fuyumi definitely didn't like being told about what she ate. She barely gets time to cook when she has to attend events and college. An emergency stash of cup noodles won't hurt now, would it?

Haruma felt chills down his spine. He could feel that he might have offended her in some way but there were too many things which could be the reason. He stepped back to figure out the cause when Fuyumi started walking away.

She said "Now... Don't mind me. I would me on my way and if you really want to have a conversation we can talk while I pick the rest of the things. I am especially short on time today."

Haruma's face lit up. Even he was unsure of the reasons.

They did not have anything to talk about in the first place, so they started to talk about their majors in college.

Haruma told her about his office too. She was impressed by his knowledge about certain things and most of all, his position at his job. She could tell that he excelled at his field of work which did not seem obvious to her due to her 'not so good sense of judging people'.

Fuyumi left the market after her shopping was done. She had to stream that day to make up for the rest of the week. She walked and walked when a sudden feeling came rushing to her. Emotions she has long forgotten. A sense of nostalgia. Upon reaching home she was filled with emotions that she couldn't explain, nor could she figure out the reason for feeling that way.

"That voice...... that way of talking...... it felt oddly familiar." She muttered to herself. "What is this feeling? I can't actually pinpoint it...”

As she was trying to figure out about her feelings which were all over the place, she thought to herself “I have never felt this way or at least for these past few years. Talking to strangers never left this kind of impression on me before.”

That day she sat in front of her PC with all kinds of questions in her mind. She streamed for hours on end as usual, but something was surely different about her. She handled her internal thoughts as though she had been doing that for ages. Even at the end of the stream no one could tell if anything was wrong with her.

Fuyumi does not get close to any person on her own. She believes human connections are meaningless. The only thing it brings is “pain”. Some one loses a precious person every day then why do people long for these connections, even after being aware of it. Still, she managed to get a few friends on whom she could rely on.

A few days passed by, she started to attend college more regularly. She had been busy attending events up until now either it be online or offline. She goes back to her normal life pretty soon and the thoughts of that day in the supermarket disappeared as if they never existed in the first place.

They first encountered eachother in April, the spring season. Time flew by and it was almost summer. While everyone was planing to go to the sea shore on their vacation, Fuyumi was busy preparing for an E-sports tournament taking place in a different region. She managed to get in a team last winter and this tournament was going to be a big opportunity for them. She had been putting a lot of effort for this tournament so as to get sponsorships. Being in a team may not seem a big deal but adjusting your play style for others and everyone helping eachother to bring out everyone's true potential is really difficult. Most teams disband within a month or two. Also not many teams get recognition early in the game but for Fuyumi's team it was not like other typical teams. Fuyumi has a great influence in the industry so she has the image of being arrogant which is not true at all but it did cause troubles in the past.

Fuyumi's friend Nami and others made plans together to go to the beach but Fuyumi refused Nami at once when Nami offered Fuyumi to go with them. She came up with an excuse because most of you could say non of her acquaintance know about her career. Fuyumi always says she does “Free-lancing” which only aligns to one part of her actual job and that is, being an 'independent worker'.

The holidays approached and soon most of the students left for their vacations. Some went to visit their parents and some went to trips while a lot of them tried to get internship. Fuyumi's day-to-day life didn't change much. Wake up - Stream - Practice with teammates - Sleep. She did go outside on Sundays to go shopping for groceries.

Soon the day of the tournament was arriving. Most people show their faces when the tournament gets telecast but Fuyumi hides her face with a mask and a wig. She always asks the telecasting team to not to show her face often and it is one of the criteria for her to show up in events such as this.

Time flew by quickly , Fuyumi arrived there 2 days early for all the test runs and also to get used to the new set up. Most of the teams arrived on the same day. The tickets for watching the tournament live in the venue were all sold out a day before and finally the most anticipated day arrived, the day of the Tournament. The venue was filled with people. One-by-one all the teams were introduced. The match for the first round started. Only the top 6 teams will get in among the 16 teams who came to compete from different regions.

After intense battle the 6 teams were chosen and Fuyumi's team got in with the 2nd highest points. They started preparing for the next round in which only 2 teams will get a chance to compete. Fuyumi's team was newly formed but had the coordination needed for a team to perform well. They entered the 3rd round with a breeze. The finals were to be done the next day. They all went back to their hotel and were exhausted. They had a small party with snacks and drinks for qualifying in the Finals. Then they discussed strategies for the next day and everyone went back to their rooms.

The next day, they had a ceremony where the teams were being introduced. The stage simmering with lights and focusing on each player when they are introduced. When all the lights were focused on Fuyumi for her introduction she saw a familiar face in the audience. She wore a mask and a cap still her facial expressions were visible. She was in a dilemma for a few seconds.