Everyone Has Talent. If Only We Could Realize It - Volume 1 Chapter 2.5

Episode 2: Two Talents

“You can sit wherever you like, on the couch or on the floor.”

“Then, I’ll take the sofa… there’s not much space on the floor…”

“Kotatsu at home.”

Akiha settled on the sofa with a disheartened look, while Shika slid into the kotatsu.

“So, Akiha, I’m counting on you. Shika, please lend me your face.”

“Roger. Come here.”

Shika rested her chin on the kotatsu, gazing at Akiha.

Akiha made a displeased face.

“Are you seriously making me do this…?”

“Of course, why else do you think I brought you here? It’s not normal for a shut-in to invite outsiders over. I wouldn’t have called if I didn’t expect him to give his all and make everything work out. There’s no way it wouldn’t!”

“Say such absurd things…sigh. We’re beginners too, so don’t expect too much, okay?”

“It’s okay. I have more faith in you than anyone else here.”

Alas, Shika was right.

With a sigh of resignation, Akiha immediately got to work, one hand on her smartphone and the other wielding the newly bought makeup tools.

“Um, what? First, let’s break down the components of a ‘beautiful woman’. Beautiful skin, the right nose size, double eyelids, eye shape, dark eyebrows, chin shape. Those are the elements that define a ‘beautiful woman’. All you have to do is compare your own face and adjust the differing parts accordingly… Wow, that’s so troublesome.”

Despite her grumbling, Akiha heeded the advice from the online sisters.

“Let’s start with the skin. Excuse me.”

“Okay.”

Akiha leaned over to touch Shika’s face.

“If your skin is flawed, it’s a no-go. But…is this considered flawed? I think it’s normally beautiful, but I’m not sure what the standard is.”

“As expected of my little sister. Her naturally beautiful skin is horrifying.”

“Brother, be quiet. ──For now, let’s start with washing the face.”

“…Hmm. Puff…”

A sprayer misted water over her face, and Shika tightly closed her eyes.

She was then wiped with a tissue and squirmed like a dog getting washed.

“Nyu… it tickles…”

“Don’t move. Hey, overprotective brother, hold your sister down.”

“Ah, okay.”

Following the instruction, I held Shika’s shoulder.

She fidgeted but seemed unable to move much inside the kotatsu. There wasn’t much resistance.

──From there, the process was surprisingly smooth.

After washing the face, prepare it with lotion and emulsion.

Illuminate with a makeup base and finalize the base makeup with powder foundation.

The eyeshadow was subtle enough to go unnoticed.

To bestow a certain charisma and strength to Shika’s droopy eyes, she used brushes and eyeliner to craft a downward gaze.

Though it might seem excessive for a high school student’s daily life, don’t forget to add blush and lipstick to ensure it looks good on the stream.

Even though she was consulting her smartphone, Akiha meticulously and steadily worked on Shika’s face step by step. Shika, initially resistant, seemed to get used to being pampered. I felt relaxed and before I knew it, was comfortably accepting it.

As a final touch, she pinned up her bangs to clearly reveal her makeup-enhanced face.

And with that, she completed Shika’s “face.”

“Oh…”

“Hmm, this is quite something. Didn’t I do a good job?”

I let out a voice of admiration, and Akiha praised herself.

I held a hand mirror (which I had bought today, of course; I didn’t have such a stylish item at home) in front of Shika.

“Ah…”

When Shika saw her reflection in the mirror, her distinctively colored irises widened.

What was going through Shika’s mind as she looked blankly, her expression unreadable? She opened her beautifully glossed lips and touched the mirror surface with her finger, as if to confirm the reality of the reflection.

Was she moved by her first makeup experience? Or perhaps she was envisioning her untapped potential. Or maybe she was simply admiring her beautiful appearance?

As Akiha and I awaited her reaction, Shika finally spoke.

“I don’t remember what my original face looked like.”

“That’s the first thing you say after all that effort?”

It felt like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. It wasn’t that she was impressed or fascinated, she simply paused because she couldn’t recall her own face… That’s typical Shika for you, but even though she’s my sister, I’m astounded by her carefree nature.

“Now that I think about it, I didn’t even look in the mirror during my shut-in days. Even after starting school, I was the one doing all the dressing up for Shika.”

“Really… I knew your personal life was a mess, but is Rakuto taking care of you to that extent?”

Akiha frowned.

Shika mentioned it matter-of-factly, as if it were the most natural thing.

“Yeah. I leave everything to my brother. I don’t use mirrors.”

“They’re crazy… these siblings are something else…”

“The five-seven-five rhythm. Beautiful. Pleasing to the ears, well done.”

“No, how you praise it, weird.”

Akiha looked disgruntled as Shika gave a thumbs up.

Actually, Shika seldom praises the sound. It was a moment worth being proud of, but Akiha likely didn’t know. She might be happy if I told her, but it’s too much trouble, so I’ll leave her be.

Akiha sighed and reached into the unopened bag.

“Now that the face is done, I’d normally adjust the hair a bit more and pick out clothes with taste…but I think we’ll opt for something different today.”

“Why?”

“Because when you’re watching on a smartphone during a stream, it’s common for the camera angle to be a bit off-centered. If you were on TV, you’d need to adorn every inch of your body in case the camera zooms out, but if you’re just aiming for views on a stream, showing just your face is fine.”

“Is that how it works? I often see streams and videos that show the whole body.”

“Those are dance videos or fashion videos like LOOKBOOK. They do it because it’s relevant content that requires showing the entire body. For simple chatting and ‘I tried singing,’ you don’t need to show your whole body.”

“Huh, I see.”

I suppose you could say that about Akiha. You might think he’s just a mercenary making money off others’ talents and popularity, but he’s actually accumulated a wealth of knowledge.

“So, I’m heading home now. I’m really tired.”

“Oh, thank you, Akiha.”

“Are you?”

Shika expressed his gratitude in a sluggish voice. The way he weakly waved his hands exuded a relaxed vibe, but Shika himself was genuinely grateful, even if it was just his usual lack of muscle strength showing.

“Do you want to eat something before you go? It’s my treat as a thank you.”

“Eh, what should I choose? By the way, what’s on the menu?”

“Seafood flavor and chili tomato flavor, take your pick. We also have red and green udon noodles.”

“Cup noodles!? It’s not homemade!?”

“There’s no way I can make homemade food. To begin with, we don’t even have the ingredients, let alone a knife or cutting board.”

I never use them.

“I guess I had a good time with that… Ha, well, it’s fine. I’ll eat when I get home, so don’t worry about it.”

“I see. See you tomorrow at school.”

“Ugh… Ah, that’s right.”

Akiha, who was heading towards the entrance and waving languidly, turned around and said,

“Don’t forget to remove your makeup after you finish streaming.”

With those parting words, she left.

──Honestly, it was a big help.

Later on, I found out that you have to wash off makeup after applying it. Shika and I, lacking such knowledge, would have probably never removed our makeup and left it on if Akiha hadn’t advised us.

It was a day filled with gratitude towards Akiha for everything.

By the way, the stream featuring Shika’s transformation immediately yielded great results.

[Number of views] 1328 [Number of likes] 105 [Amount of coins donated] 0 yen

[Number of registered users] 79 people

On the first day, the views only reached 178 overnight, but by the end of the stream, it had surpassed 1,000.

The likes also exceeded 100. We haven’t earned much money yet, but considering the disaster of the first day, it’s a luxury to even hope for this much.

The comments, though not numerous, were fairly positive.

“It’s cute, I like your voice, you’re good at singing, I’ll follow you,” and so on. It was reassuring to see many positive comments.

Truth be told, I was worried about malicious viewers appearing, as I had experienced with “Seeker.” I was prepared to delete any harmful anti-comments with administrator privileges. But fortunately, those concerns were unfounded.

Is it because there aren’t many anti-fans on Ichihachi Live, or because the view count hasn’t reached the level where anti-fans start to appear? It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason, but regardless, I’m relieved it all ended safely.

Compared to Shibuya Erio, which has over 300,000 views, this number is still just a fledgling.

However, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. From here, we can start steadily accumulating views.

Dreaming of a safe and stable unemployed life, my eyes sparkled at the thought, and I listened to Shika’s stream.

“Brother. Is this start of tuna? Big fatty tuna?”

“Of course, that’s impossible.”

“Gah…”

“That reaction is outdated.”

Even though the numbers have increased, we’ve only just escaped the bottom. I don’t know the causal relationship between the number of views and the living expenses paid, but I can’t feel secure unless I break into the elite group consistently generating over 50,000 views.

Getting carried away and doing something foolish would be akin to raising a giant death flag.

Acting carefully is super important.