The V-tuber Who Became Obsessed With Me

ETHAN’S POV

The moment the accusation left my mouth, I knew there was no taking it back.

"I know you had something to do with it."

Outwardly, I held his gaze without flinching. Inside, my pulse was racing so hard it felt as though my heart was trying to force its way through my ribs.

Every instinct I had was telling me this was a mistake.

I was standing in the home of Katsuro Arashigumi, a man whose name carried enough weight to make powerful people choose their words carefully. If he decided I had crossed a line, I doubted anyone in this room could help me.

Himari certainly seemed to think so.

I could still feel the brief tug on my sleeve when she’d tried to stop me.

"Ethan... don’t."

There had been real fear in her voice.

Not for herself.

For me.

For a moment, I almost listened.

Then Kuro’s face flashed through my mind.

"Promise me you’ll get him out ."

I’d given him my word.

If keeping that promise meant standing in front of the most intimidating man I’d ever met and asking questions no one else dared to ask, then so be it. Whatever happened after this was a price I’d already accepted.

I had expected anger.

I had expected the guards to throw me out.

I had even prepared myself for something worse.

Instead, Mr. Arashigumi laughed.

It wasn’t loud or mocking. If anything, it sounded like the quiet amusement of a man who had stumbled across something he hadn’t expected.

"I owe you an apology, Mr. Crux."

For a second, I wondered if I’d heard him correctly.

He studied me with calm, measured eyes.

"When we first met, I mistook you for an ordinary young man."

His gaze never wavered.

"I was mistaken."

The faintest smile touched his face.

"I admire conviction."

For reasons I couldn’t explain, those words unsettled me more than a threat ever could.

He gestured toward the seating area.

"Sit."

No one hesitated.

Anna took the nearest sofa, Himari settling beside her. Susan sat opposite them after a brief glance in my direction, and I lowered myself into the remaining seat, careful not to betray how tense every muscle in my body had become.

Only after we were seated did Mr. Arashigumi incline his head toward the hallway.

"Ayumi."

The maid appeared almost immediately, pushing a polished wooden tea trolley into the room. She stopped beside the table and bowed before stepping back.

The aroma reached me before the tea did.

It was unlike anything I’d smelled before. Fresh, earthy and surprisingly sweet.

Mr. Arashigumi picked up the ceramic teapot himself.

"This," he said as he poured the first cup with practiced precision, "is Gyokuro."

He spoke the name with quiet fondness.

"One of Japan’s finest green teas. Shade-grown, hand-picked, and expensive enough that most people never learn to appreciate it."

He watched the pale green liquid settle in the cup before adding, "Good tea rewards patience."

Only then did he look around the room.

"Does anyone drink tea?"

"I will," Anna answered.

He nodded once and poured her a cup.

"A sensible choice."

His attention shifted to Susan.

"And you, Miss ?"

She smiled politely.

"No, thank you. I’m more of a coffee person."

"A pity."

There wasn’t a trace of judgment in his voice.

"Coffee wakes the body."

He lifted his own cup.

"Gyokuro wakes the mind. It sharpens concentration and reminds impatient people that not everything worth having can be rushed."

His eyes rested on me for the briefest moment before moving on.

I couldn’t tell whether the remark had been directed at me or whether I’d simply imagined it.

"And you, Himari?"

"I’ll have some, Ojiisan."

His expression softened almost immediately.

It was subtle, but impossible to miss.

For a moment, the man sitting before us no longer looked like the head of one of the country’s most influential families. He looked like nothing more than a grandfather sharing tea with his granddaughter.

He placed the cup in front of her himself.

As she accepted it with both hands, she glanced at me and gave the slightest nod.

Take it.

I understood.

"I’ll have some as well."

Mr. Arashigumi poured my cup without a word.

The porcelain was warm in my hands, the tea a vivid shade of green unlike anything I’d ever seen.

No one reached for their cup immediately.

The silence lingered, not awkward but deliberate, as though even conversation moved at Mr. Arashigumi’s pace inside this house.

Only after taking his first sip did he set the cup down and look at me again.

"Now then, Mr. Crux."

His voice was as calm as before.

"Tell me about your friend."

I set the teacup back onto its saucer and met his eyes.

"My friend’s name is Jade."

Katsuro gave a slight nod, inviting me to continue.

"He was supposed to leave the country yesterday morning. I drove him to the airport myself. I watched him check in, hand over his passport, clear security and head toward the boarding gates."

I paused, replaying the memory in my head.

"That was the last time anyone saw him."

"You searched for him?"

"I searched everywhere I could."

"And the authorities?"

"They reviewed the airport records. According to them, he never boarded his flight."

Susan leaned forward. "He didn’t leave the airport either. It’s like he disappeared between security and the boarding gate."

Katsuro listened without interrupting, his fingers resting lightly around his teacup.

When I finished, he remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"Perhaps your friend lost his nerve."

I frowned.

"Flying brings out irrational fears in many people," he continued. "Particularly in young men. They possess remarkable confidence until the aircraft door closes."

A faint smile touched his lips.

"Perhaps your friend saw the plane and decided he preferred the ground."

His gaze settled on me.

"Unlike you, Mr. Crux. You appear willing to walk into places considerably more dangerous than an airplane."

Anna’s lips curved into the hint of a smile.

I couldn’t return it.

"With respect, sir, Jade wouldn’t disappear without telling us."

"I see."

He lifted his cup and took another measured sip before setting it down again.

"And you’ve concluded that I must somehow be responsible."

"I think you’re the only person capable of making someone disappear that cleanly."

Himari shifted beside Anna.

"Ethan..."

There was quiet caution in her voice, but she didn’t try to stop me this time.

Katsuro acknowledged her with the briefest glance before looking back at me.

"You’ve come here believing that certainty is the same as proof."

"I came here because I ran out of places to look."

For the first time since we’d arrived, something softened in his expression.

Not sympathy.

Understanding.

"An honest answer."

He folded his hands loosely in front of him.

"I make it my business to know almost everything connected to my granddaughter. I know who advises her, who works alongside her, who wishes her well and, more importantly, who does not."

His eyes drifted briefly toward Himari before returning to me.

"But this Jade..."

He shook his head once.

"...means nothing to me."

"I know nothing of his disappearance."

His answer came so naturally that, for the first time since Jade vanished, doubt crept into my own thoughts.

What if we really had the wrong man?

The question escaped before I could stop it.

"Are you sure?"

The room seemed to grow still.

No one spoke.

Katsuro looked at me for several seconds before carefully placing his teacup onto its saucer.

The soft click echoed through the silence.

"Mr. Crux."

His voice remained as composed as ever.

"I told you earlier that I admired your conviction."

"I meant it."

"But do not mistake my respect for permission to question my integrity."

I straightened instinctively.

"You have asked whether I am lying."

He held my gaze without the slightest trace of irritation.

"No."

"I do not lie."

He let the words settle before continuing.

"There are occasions when I choose not to answer a question because the person asking has no need for the answer."

He offered the faintest smile.

"That is very different from lying."

His fingers rested lightly against the arm of his chair.

"This, however, is not one of those occasions."

"I genuinely know nothing about your friend."

The certainty in his voice was unsettling.

There was no hesitation.

No defensiveness.

No attempt to convince me.

He spoke as though the truth required no performance.

"A man’s reputation is built over many years," he continued. "It can be strengthened by wealth, influence or power, but none of those survive once his word loses its value."

He looked at the cup in his hand for a moment before meeting my eyes again.

"A liar spends his life wondering whether people believe him."

"I have never found that to be an enjoyable way to live."

The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

"So I simply don’t lie."

Silence settled over the room once more.

I searched his face for the slightest crack.

A flicker of uncertainty.

Anything.

There was nothing.

Either Katsuro Arashigumi was the greatest liar I’d ever met...

...or he was telling me the truth.

Neither possibility brought me any comfort.

He leaned back into his chair with the same composed ease he’d shown since we arrived.

"I understand why you came here, Mr. Crux."

His voice carried neither approval nor condemnation.

"If our positions were reversed, I suspect I would have done the same."

That wasn’t the answer I’d expected.

"But allow me to offer you one piece of advice."

His eyes sharpened, though his expression remained calm.

"When a trail disappears completely, it is usually because you’ve begun following the wrong one."

I felt my grip tighten around the teacup.

"If I were responsible for your friend’s disappearance..."

He smiled faintly.

"...you would not have needed to ask."

No one challenged him.

Not Susan.

Not Anna.

Not even Himari.

Because every person in that room understood exactly what he meant.

And for reasons I couldn’t explain, I believed him. Not completely, not without doubt, but enough to realize that we’d walked into the lion’s den expecting to find our answer.

Instead, we’d walked out with an entirely new question.

If Katsuro Arashigumi wasn’t behind Jade’s disappearance...

Then who was?