From VTuber♂ to VTuber♀ - Chapter 12

One Day in January — What It Means to Be Family

The part-time job turned out to be better than expected.
No, not just better than expected—it was genuinely great.
I helped out a little and kept the store owner company.
To others, it probably looked like I was getting paid to hang out.
Honestly, I felt guilty about it and wanted to work harder.
…Though every time, Grandma would strongly insist I take it easy.

“By the way, don’t you have anyone to bring from home?”
“…No, I live alone.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Where do you live, then?”
“Ah, not too far! Um, about a 40-minute walk?”

If it were my old body, that’d be less than half the time, but with these short legs, I couldn’t help it.
When I awkwardly smiled at Grandma, who clucked her tongue and shook her head, her expression subtly tightened.
Was she upset about someone this small walking 40 minutes, or was it the distance itself that annoyed her? Either way, one thing was clear—she wasn’t happy.
…What if she offers to take me home? Or pays for a taxi?
She was already so kind, and my brain started spinning up possibilities.

“Well then, why don’t you come live at my place?”
“Eh?”
“It’s close to the store, and we could go together. Isn’t that nice?”
“Ah, haha… I don’t want to impose that much—”
“The only one imposing is me. Young folks always look cute, no matter what. Old folks like me are the ones who get in the way… tsk.”

I wasn’t prepared for that at all.
She’s inviting me to live with her? Why? For what reason?
It hadn’t been that many days since I started working here, and I definitely wasn’t doing that good a job.
They say kindness doesn’t need a reason, but this felt too much.
It was too generous for someone like me.

‘…I should turn her down.’
Living with someone like me wouldn’t help her life.
What if I messed something up?
I didn’t want to cause trouble for the person who had been so kind.
She would probably keep asking anyway. She was that kind.
Maybe I’d have to quit this place…
If I didn’t want her kindness, I could just leave.
Because I didn’t have the courage to say something like, “I’m sorry, but your offer is too much for me,” I chose to run away instead.
Call me foolish—it was true.

But still, but still—

“I…”
“Hmm?”
“Would it really be okay for me to live with you? I mean, I may be an adult, but I look like this, and I might cause trouble, and I’m weak, and I—”

Words tumbled out without structure or coherence.
Anyone would laugh at someone who’d cut off all their past ties begging for this.
But right now, I just didn’t want to lose this warmth.
This was the first bond I’d made since my body changed. I didn’t want to lose it. I wanted to be with her more.
Not to convince her—but to convince myself not to walk away.

“It’s fine. What kind of trouble could a kid like you even cause?”

The warmth of her hand patting my head broke me.
It was the moment I found a reason to live again.

—

“Welcome~”
“Oh, are you the store owner’s granddaughter?”
“Ah, I’m just a part-timer!”
“…Really? You look so young. Are you okay working here?”
“I may look like this, but I’m a full-grown adult. So no need to worry!”
“Well, she’s a sharp one, so don’t worry too much.”

Grandma worked at the convenience store during lunch and from 8 PM.
There weren’t many customers at night, so I didn’t have much to do,
but during lunch, it was fairly busy.

She’d told me I didn’t need to come during the day,
but now that we lived together, I wanted to help more,
so I insisted on coming.

At first, she seemed hesitant.
But before long, she was proudly bragging about me to customers.

“Oh, Yeoreum is here again today?”
“Hello~”
“This is why I stop by during lunch. Here, a little gift.”
“Uh, um…”
“Just take it. Uncle’s giving it to you.”

“…Thank you.”

The issue was that everyone treated me like a child.
I knew I couldn’t expect to be treated like a proper adult looking like this.
But even after knowing my age, people still treated me like a daughter or granddaughter.
It was a bit embarrassing, honestly.

I stared at the snack I’d been handed again with a sigh.
At this rate, even if I brushed my teeth, they’d rot.

‘I have a mountain of snacks at home. When am I going to eat them all?’

If I tried to return the snacks, people would insist I keep them.
If I tried to put them back on the shelves, Grandma would scold me.
Eventually, we even had to set aside a special room just for the snacks I kept getting.

And this had only been going on for a week!

If I said the fridge was full of drinks, people brought more snacks.
If I said we had too many snacks, they brought drinks.

At this rate, we could probably open a second convenience store from our house.

“You’re lucky, ma’am, having a granddaughter like Yeoreum.”
“Of course. I’m so lucky to have a grandchild like her~”
“…”

And before I knew it, I had become her granddaughter.

Why?

Even in front of others, I always called her “Boss,”
and even explained that I was just her part-timer,
but people still assumed we were related.

Some even said things like, “Oh, is this part of the roleplay?”

Even people who knew I was an adult acted like that.
Just how young did I look to them?

“Grandma, how old do I look?”
“Hmm, you’re a bit smaller than my second grandchild.”
“How old is your second grandchild?”
“Don’t know. I’d have to see him to remember. Tsk.”

She answered with a bitter expression.
I shut my mouth.

I must have stepped into something sensitive.

Feeling awkward, I bowed my head.

“…Sorry for bringing that up.”
“It’s fine. I still talk to my eldest grandchild every day.”
“Really?”

Did she mean through video calls?
Wait, no way. Her phone’s a flip phone.
…Does it even have video calling?

To be honest, I’d never seen her make personal calls.
And the calls she did take were usually from her friends or suppliers.

“What are you looking confused about? You should know already.”
“Huh? Me?”

Had someone come to the store once?
I strained to recall, but no such face came to mind.

Nope.
All I could remember were older customers, men and women alike.
I’d never seen someone my age here…

“Right here, see? You’re my eldest grandchild.”
“…Whuh.”

A warm hand gently pressed down on my head.
A scolding gesture, like I should have caught on earlier.

Before I could process the sudden warmth,
her past words began resurfacing in my mind.

‘This here’s my grandchild.’
‘One grandchild’s worth ten sons, you know.’
‘With my grandchild around, I never feel lonely.’

…She really did see me as her grandchild.

Tears welled in my eyes at her kind smile.
I never had a grandmother, so I didn’t know if her words were genuine.
If you’ve never experienced something, you can’t judge it.
So I’d assumed she was just joking when she called me her grandchild in front of others.

“We haven’t known each other long,
but if we’re gonna keep seeing each other,
‘Boss’ sounds too cold for your granny, don’t you think?”

“…Yeah.”

I was so happy with my current life
that I hadn’t even thought about the future—
not even tomorrow.

I just assumed I’d always call her “Boss.”
But clearly, she didn’t like that.
And so, there was only one title left to try.

I rolled the unfamiliar word on my tongue,
swallowed a dry lump in my throat,
and whispered—

“…Grandma.”

That day, I gained my very first family.