??The next morning. Hikari dragged herself out of bed at the sound of her alarm, looking like a literal corpse.

  ?With her failing eyesight, the dim morning room was nothing more than a thick fog. As her fingers fumbled across the chabudai table searching for her smartphone, I used my nose to slide the device right into her hand.

  ?"...Huh? The screen is on even though it didn't ring."

  ?Hikari squinted, peering at the screen from point-blank range. There, in bold letters, were the words we had poured our hearts and souls into the previous night: "Upload Complete."

  ?"...What!? Is this YouTube? It’s... posted...?"

  ?Shock washed over her face. Naturally. While she was asleep, a video had been released to the world from her own phone without her knowledge.

  ?"No way, did I do this in my sleep...? Hige, what did you do?"

  ?As she shot me a suspicious look, I simply yawned as if to say, "I haven't a clue," and pretended to groom my "thief-stache" in front of the mirror.

  ?Hikari panicked and tried to delete the video, but her finger accidentally brushed the play button.

  ?On the screen, there I was, screaming while shaking my ugly mustache, and Kira, tapping the keys with her awkward, trembling paws.

  ?"...Ahaha!"

  ?Hikari burst into laughter despite herself.

  ?"What is this? Hige's face is way too close. And Kira is trying so hard... Pfft, it’s almost nostalgic. It’s like the weird dances he (Mikio) used to do whenever I was feeling down."

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  ?Keeping her eyes on the screen, her finger moved away from the delete button.

  ?"...Fine. I’ll keep it as a souvenir. It’s not like anyone's watching anyway."

  ?With shaky hands, she began typing into the description box. It was a monologue—a "prayer" addressed to no one in particular.

  ?[Description]

  I don't have the power to fix the future for these little ones. But they brighten my fading world with their sounds and laughter. A producer with a thief’s mustache and a pianist with disabled legs. This is the record of our quiet resistance.

  ?She muttered a small "Okay," and left for work.

  ?Then, evening.

  A weary Hikari returned home and casually picked up her phone.

  ?"...Wait. I have... a lot of notifications."

  ?She squinted at the screen. The view count was "2,100." Compared to the "12" views from this morning, it was an unbelievable leap.

  ?"What...? Two thousand? Two thousand people watched this? ...No way, there are comments too."

  ?『What's up with this mustache cat? LOL』

  『The way the piano kitty tries so hard with its legs makes me cry.』

  ?For the first time in a long while, a small spark of light flickered in Hikari's eyes.

  ?But immediately after, Hikari opened an email that had just arrived and buried her face in her hands. It was a cold, formal notice from her temporary staffing agency.

  ?"...I knew it. They're not renewing my contract."

  ?A de facto firing under the guise of "concerns regarding operational capacity."

  ?"Only one month left... Can I even find another job by then? With these eyes...?"

  ?The phone slipped from Hikari's hand.

  The tiny hope of 2,100 views was being swallowed by the massive reality of "zero income" in one month's time.

  ?(...Tch. I expected this, but it’s still a blow.)

  ?I peered down at the fallen phone and glared at my own "thief-stache" reflected on the screen.

  Two thousand isn't enough. Within a month, I’ve got to add three or four more "zeros" to that 2,100.

  ?[Preview: Chapter 7]

  ?No contract renewal. The time limit is closing in.

  As Hikari despairs, Hige shapes his next "Flash" of inspiration.

  The overseas animal advocacy community reacts, and the view count finally hits the 10,000 mark.

  ?"Kira, next time, it’s not just the piano. Hikari, I need your 'voice'."

  ?The second arrow aimed at turning a small buzz into a total explosion.

  And then, finally—the night of the miraculous 100,000 views arrives!