Atem overhears his coworkers talking about "oshi-katsu"—supporting your favorite person—and immediately decides he wants to experience this wonderful modern culture for himself.
Unfortunately, being a former king creates one unexpected problem: everyone feels worthy of his admiration. Is it still "oshi-katsu" if you want to encourage the entire kingdom?
After accidentally building a shrine dedicated to... himself, interviewing employees like a researcher, and turning fandom into a philosophical debate, Atem seeks help from Yugi.
Yugi offers the simplest possible answer.
"Why don't you just make Kaiba your oshi?"
It sounds perfectly reasonable.
Kaiba, however, soon discovers that being enthusiastically supported by the man you love is far more dangerous than any duel.
Especially when that support includes collecting your portraits, displaying holograms of you in the bedroom, publicly announcing to the entire company that you are his favorite person, and becoming so overwhelmed by the "real" you that every ordinary date feels like meeting a celebrity.
A story about love, logic, and the unintended consequences of taking modern culture far too seriously.
This is a translation of an original work on Pixiv.
Original Title: 愛と理論 24 王、推し活をする
Original Author: 葉人(@Hathor₋yuki)
Personal site: https://prideshipping.sakura.ne.jp
Coffee in hand after lunch, Atem found himself listening in on the cheerful chatter of employees nearby.
"Fan activities have been keeping me so busy lately~"
"Right!? Having someone to root for just gives you the will to live!"
Fan activities.
The unfamiliar sound of it made Atem blink.
The moment he returned to his desk, he opened a search.
A few minutes later, Atem sat with perfect posture and arrived, quietly, at a conclusion.
"Fan activities… they are 'the practice of making one's heart dance and drawing vitality from it.'"
That definition made his chest stir—the chest of a king.
"What a remarkable culture. To illuminate people's hearts, to become sustenance for daily life, to give them strength…"
Atem nodded, deeply.
And in the very next moment, he had already decided.
"Right then. I'll take up fan activities."
His expression was more serious than anything he wore going into battle.
Who Atem's 'oshi' would turn out to be—the answer was almost embarrassingly obvious. Only Seto, sorting documents in the next room, hadn't noticed yet.
'Atem resolved to set out on a journey to find his oshi. (He has not yet set out.)'
Seto was reviewing materials in his office when the door swung open with considerable force.
"Seto, I've decided to take up fan activities."
Seto's pen stilled. He looked up, slowly.
Already, at this stage, nothing but bad feelings.
"…Fan activities, you say."
"Yes. Fan activities are a magnificent culture—they make the heart dance, provide daily vitality, and bring benefit to the spirit. Seto, I intend to show you their value as well."
Atem said it with a beaming smile.
Seto pressed his fingers to his temple and replied in an extremely measured voice.
"…That concept does not apply to you."
"Why not."
"It's obvious that you are the one being fanned over, not the one doing the fanning. On a global scale—and, incidentally, on an afterlife scale as well. Presently and continuously."
Atem's eyebrow twitched, slightly, and he pushed back.
"I want to participate in fan activities. To esteem someone, to set one's heart ablaze, to draw vitality from it—I want to experience that beautiful practice."
"Give it up."
"I decline."
Not a trace of hesitation.
On the contrary: a firmness had settled in him that was distinctly, unreasonably, royal.
Seto leaned back in his chair and exhaled, deeply.
A depth of tedium sufficient to make A.R.E.S. quietly fade out of the room.
Atem folded his arms and began to think, seriously.
"What is an oshi… Respect, admiration, attachment, fascination. A presence so powerful that merely perceiving them fills the chest with heat. In other words, 'one who strikes the heart with force.'"
"I've been telling you that's what you are to the world."
But Seto's words went unheard. Atem declared, with resolute eyes:
"Right. I'll find my oshi."
Seto had the distinct sensation of sliding right out of his chair.
"You're going to look for one now? Hold on—where are you going."
"I'm setting out on a journey to find my oshi."
"Don't wander around the building."
"I won't wander."
That particular declaration carried strange confidence.
And so, without having taken a single step, Atem's quest for an oshi had already dropped a new source of disruption into Kaiba Corporation.
Atem set out on fieldwork within the company to understand what an 'oshi' truly was.
A.R.E.S. offered supplementary data through the device, unhurried:
"Internal survey: 83% of employees have participated in fan activities."
The employees, rattled by the sudden royal interrogation, nonetheless launched into their accounts with enthusiasm.
"Live concerts are my lifeline! I keep all my silver streamers carefully stored!"
"I have an acrylic stand of my oshi on my desk!"
"I check my oshi's social media every morning before coming in!"
Atem took notes, nodding seriously throughout.
"…I see. An oshi is a presence that gives vitality to daily life. And fan activities are 'the practice of gathering the oshi's symbolic objects and cherishing them'…"
Seto, listening nearby, frowned faintly.
"That last interpretation is wrong."
But it didn't reach Atem.
Atem's thinking had already entered the action phase.
After returning home.
Rather than ordering online, Atem discovered software that allowed him to draw his own illustrations and produce acrylic stands from them—and he mobilized the Kaiba mansion's printer and A.R.E.S. to produce one on the spot.
He placed the finished acrylic stand in the bedroom with great pride.
Seto came home, saw it, and went still.
"…What is this."
"An acrylic stand. I was told it's the entry point for fan activities."
Seto picked it up between two fingers and examined it from various angles.
"…This thing with an inexplicable sense of familiarity, this conceptual something—could this possibly be…"
"It's a tomato I drew."
In the Royal Artist's distinctive style, the acrylic stand—which could have been a tomato, a sun, or some unsettling sphere—gleamed in the bedroom with quiet radiance.
"Why are you a fan of this."
"I was taught that you should start with the form."
Seto put a hand to his forehead.
"If you're starting with the form, at least draw a person. Though I suppose that would come out the same."
From the next day onward, the bedroom began to show signs of transformation.
· Atem's photobook
· The bridal magazine special edition
· Kaiba Corporation's PR pamphlet
· Atem's beauty care feature issue
· An article about Atem going clamming
"When did you go clamming?"
"I have no memory of this."
"Fake news. A.R.E.S., delete it."
"Understood."
Seto glanced at the collection.
Everything Atem could naturally acquire turned out, inevitably, to be something Atem himself was involved in.
And he had been convinced this was fan activity, carrying item after item into the bedroom.
Before anyone noticed, one corner of the bedroom had taken on the appearance of a shrine to Atem himself.
Seto said, in an eerily calm voice:
"…Atem. Who exactly are you a fan of."
"I'm doing fan activities."
"Name the subject."
Atem considered this with deep gravity.
"…An oshi is, by definition, 'a presence one cannot help but root for.' But looking at these items…"
Atem placed a hand on his chest and murmured, puzzled:
"…Something's wrong. I feel no surge of vitality."
Seto said it quietly.
"That's because you're not a fan of anyone. At most, you're a fan of yourself."
Atem's eyes opened wide.
"…I see. There's a strong possibility that an oshi is someone 'other than oneself'."
"Obviously."
Atem looked around at the mountain of self-related goods piled in the bedroom and nodded, quietly.
"…An oshi is someone 'other'…"
Seto half-lidded his eyes and nodded.
"Took you long enough."
Atem paid no attention and pressed his hand to his chest, declaring in a serious voice:
"Right. I'll be a fan of someone else."
The words were quiet, but carried not a trace of hesitation.
The direction of that sincerity was, as ever, extraordinary.
The next day.
Atem descended upon the company and began searching for an 'oshi' candidate.
But Atem's standards were, in every sense, royal.
The gaze he turned on each employee was entirely earnest.
"You've been building toward a small goal, day by day. Remarkable."
"You were downcast yesterday, but today you're facing forward. That takes resilience."
His praise was pitched so high that the same words, coming from a king, became life's golden wisdom.
And Atem himself was, in any case, troubled.
"For one who is a king, cherishing all people is a given. But when it comes to 'rooting for' someone specifically…"
He said it and tilted his head at his own words.
He had arrived, with painful clarity, at the fact that a king's scope of protection—far too wide by nature—was fundamentally incompatible with the concept of fan activities.
His red eyes turned upward toward the ceiling, and he reached a quiet conclusion.
"This won't work. Every last one of my people becomes someone I should cheer for. If everyone is my oshi—that isn't fandom. That's governance."
The employees weren't literally his people, but they fell, in Atem's classification, somewhere close to 'lives under his care'.
Seto stood with a hand on his hip and sighed.
"That's exactly what I told you. Fan activities don't suit you."
But Atem did not give up.
Atem paid a visit to the turtle game shop and presented his problem in earnest.
"…Partner. I need to talk."
Yugi came at once. Seeing Atem's grave expression, he straightened up instinctively.
"What happened? Did the high priest ditch a meeting?"
"No. I don't have an oshi."
"……Huh?"
"I don't have an oshi."
Yugi let go of his cards. He blinked several times, then pressed a hand to his forehead.
"…So, um… you've started fan activities?"
"It would seem so."
"'It would seem so'…?"
Atem gave a concise account: the tomato acrylic stand in the bedroom, the self-shrine situation, the problem of all his people becoming oshi candidates.
Yugi was silent for a few seconds, then buried his face in the table.
"What even is this…!?"
Atem continued, straight-faced:
"An oshi, by definition, is 'a presence one instinctively wants to root for, unconditionally'—correct? But all my people are someone I should cheer for, which means everyone becomes an oshi, which causes the concept to collapse…"
"W-wait a second. Why are you talking about fan activities like it's national governance…?"
"Isn't it?"
"It's not!"
Yugi waved both hands, trying to brake Atem's runaway theory.
But once the door to Atem's logic was opened, it took a while to close.
The hybrid of love and theory was simply too powerful.
"Fan activities are difficult."
"No, normally it doesn't turn into this kind of dense philosophy…"
"Then, partner. Tell me the criteria for choosing an oshi."
"Huh? Um… it's more of a feeling, isn't it…?"
"A feeling…? A selection method with low reproducibility…?"
"Can you not demand reproducibility from fan activities. You don't need statistics either. 'I root for them because I like them'—that's all there is to it."
Atem folded his arms again and nodded with serious eyes.
"Because I like them… like… love… Love is an emotion that resists systematic explanation…"
"I said don't turn it into theory."
Yugi shouted, half-crying, half-laughing.
But this conversation, exhausting as it was, wasn't something he actually disliked.
There was something endearing about the way Atem was trying, with everything he had, to understand.
'This person's royal earnestness is getting in the way of being a fan at every turn.' That was the thought that crossed his mind.
Yugi made up his mind to offer the most reliably uncomplicated option available.
He thought it through carefully, humming to himself, and presented the safest, most foolproof choice.
"…Then why don't you just be a fan of Kaiba-kun. He's close by, easy to root for, and above all—it won't be hard for you, right?"
Atem's eyes went wide.
"Be a fan of… Seto…?"
"Yeah. He's strong, he's capable, he's a safe pick as an oshi. And most importantly—he's not one of your people, is he? Given your position as king, and his standing, and, well, various other things, worldwise."
Atem closed his eyes quietly, thought deeply, and when he opened them, something certain had settled in his gaze.
"…I see. Seto is worthy of being rooted for."
"That's… quite something to say so boldly…"
"…No. A blind spot. I can't believe I missed it."
"A blind spot…?"
Atem closed his hand into a quiet fist.
"Yes. Seto is valiant, full of brilliance, a man who moves forward carrying both effort and pride. He deserves to be rooted for. Right then. I've decided. I'm going to be a fan of Seto."
An utterly unshakeable declaration.
Yugi leaned back in his chair and felt the strength drain from his knees.
"…I wonder how Kaiba-kun will react…"
"He's a worthy rival. There's no problem with being his fan."
"Well, going all-out about it is a problem, I think… you're overthinking this with logic…"
'He could just let love carry him through, like he always does.'
That murmur from Yugi didn't reach Atem.
Because Atem had already begun incorporating "what fan activities are" into a new theoretical framework.
Fan activities, constructed by a king through love and theory.
The first subject: Kaiba Seto.
Yugi had nothing but a sense of impending chaos—but, as expected, he decided to leave Atem, lightly, in Seto's hands.
That evening.
In the living room of the Kaiba mansion, Atem stood before Seto, spine straight.
"Seto."
"What."
"I've decided to be your fan."
Seto went still for just a moment—
then looked at Atem sidelong.
"…You consulted Yugi, didn't you."
"How did you know."
"Because it's the choice you'd be least likely to make on your own."
Atem nodded with pride.
"As expected of my partner. In any case—starting today, I will root for you with everything I have."
"…I won't tell you to stop, but I have nothing but bad feelings about this."
Seto's instincts were, as a rule, correct.
This declaration would become the opening act of what would later be known as the 'Fan Activity Incident Files', drawing in all of Kaiba Corporation.
Atem moved through Kaiba Corporation with the unhurried grace of a king—which he was—with one purpose: to collect images of Seto, his 'oshi'.
The company was saturated with traces of Seto: monitors, posters, technical manuals, PR materials, even commemorative panels in the company history display.
The employees were startled at first, but when Atem explained that it was fan activity, most of them accepted this with a strange sense of understanding.
"Atem-san, this is an old interview recording, but…"
"Much appreciated. It will help me understand Seto's journey."
Atem received the video data with the benevolent smile of a king bestowing a gift.
The employees, bewildered by the peculiar situation of the King being a fan of the President, ultimately concluded that 'well, there's nothing wrong with the president being rooted for'—and official materials began arriving at Atem's hands one after another.
And that evening.
In the bedroom they shared, a framed photograph of Seto—composed and quietly striking—had been placed on display.
Atem arranged it with the careful reverence one might show a work of art, and nodded with satisfaction.
Seto walked in.
"…Atem. One day, and it's already come to this?"
Seto stared at his own face, reproduced across the entire wall.
His expression was nearly blank—but deep in his eyes, the words 'beyond comprehension' were blinking on and off.
"Fan activities."
Atem answered without wavering.
"Having decided to root for you, I must first build the environment. Love and theory alike—foundations matter, don't they?"
"…I have no objection. But the leap in your reasoning is extraordinary."
Seto's brow creased, faintly.
But he didn't deny it.
Because one look was enough to see that Atem was decorating with genuine enjoyment.
At that moment, the LOVE-OS on the desk glowed softly.
"Solid visions are effective for fan activities. Would you like to project a life-size image of Seto-sama?"
"A sound theoretical proposal."
"Hold on, Atem, it's not theoretical—"
Before Seto could stop him, Atem had already activated the solid vision.
A pale blue light swept through the room, and a three-dimensional figure of Seto appeared—as if he were actually standing there.
The real Seto, looking at the projection of himself being fanned over, lost his grip on comprehension entirely.
"…Atem. What exactly is the emotion with which you're showing me this?"
"Pride, reverence, and a faint happiness."
Said with a straight face. Seto blinked.
The urge to object was there—but something else, quiet and warm, lit in his chest instead, stronger than the objection. A warmth that defied theoretical explanation.
"…No complaints. But I can't keep up with the logic."
"Don't worry. I understand 'something'."
"Explain that 'something'."
Atem smiled and shook his head slowly.
"Explaining it would break the theory."
"Then what is the theory?"
Only Seto was at a loss. Atem was as calm as still water.
The next day.
A circle of fan activity discussion among the employees.
In the break room, a group of female employees were deep in conversation.
"Lately it's become a thing to buy a cake and celebrate your oshi's birthday."
"Oh, I get that. My oshi is—"
Into that circle, Atem arrived with the bearing of a king.
"Is this a fan activities discussion?"
"Oh!? A-Atem-san. Um, no, that is—!"
"Don't worry. As it happens, I've started fan activities myself."
Several employees froze.
"…Who are you a fan of?"
Atem placed a hand on his chest with quiet dignity and answered:
"Kaiba Seto."
"The president!?"
The break room shook as if struck by an earthquake.
Atem continued, in an unhurried voice:
"Seto is worthy of being rooted for. His effort, his will, his strategy, his spirit—all of it is remarkable. Fan activities, as I understand them, are the practice of nurturing the flame in one's heart. I root for him theoretically."
"T-theoretically…?"
Atem nodded with a gentle smile.
"Love and theory are not mutually exclusive."
The employees murmured among themselves—'that's sacred', 'we've ended up in a remarkable timeline', 'I wonder if the president is all right mentally'—and Seto, having caught the noise from a distance, appeared at the edge of the room.
"Atem… what did you say this time."
"A report on fan activities."
"You don't need to report it."
But the tone of his voice carried the same faint tremor as the day before—something that resembled, just slightly, being pleased.
The day after Atem had publicly declared to the employees that he was rooting for Seto.
Seto sat quietly beside Atem and put a question to him directly.
"…Atem. You started fan activities to 'draw vitality' in the first place, didn't you. I'd like to confirm whether the original purpose is being met."
Atem placed a hand on his chest, raised an imaginary penlight, and nodded.
"Yes. To make my heart dance and draw vitality—that's the goal. And in practice, being a fan of Seto is… exceptionally stirring."
There was not a trace of exaggeration in those words.
On the contrary, the weight of the King's dignity made them land with truth, and something warm touched Seto's chest.
"…I see. Then the purpose is being fulfilled?"
"However."
Atem lowered his gaze, just slightly.
It was a fragile gesture—not the King's, but a single person's.
"Perhaps because I immersed myself so deeply in the projected image… when I face the real Seto now, my heart pounds far more than it used to."
"…Pounds?"
Seto folded his arms and considered.
For the logic-minded Seto, Atem's current state was interesting—but not something that could be left alone.
Atem continued.
"The projected Seto was perfect as an oshi. But the real Seto is… far more intense. Simply being near you makes my heart restless. Is this a side effect of fan activities?"
"A side effect… you really do…"
Seto pressed a hand to his forehead.
Endearing—but the logic simply didn't hold.
And yet Atem's gaze was entirely serious.
Somewhere confused, and yet somehow pleased at the same time.
That blended expression was, for Seto, fatally endearing.
"…I see. So you're saying you've become nervous in front of the real me."
Atem affirmed it, quietly.
"Fan activities are a fearsome thing."
"Is there no other way to put it."
Seto drew a breath and spoke as if arriving at a decision.
"It can't be helped. The only remedy is to get used to spending time with the real me."
"Get used to it…?"
"Rehabilitation. Recalibrate nerves that were over-stimulated by fan activities, using the real thing."
Seto took his arm and stood.
"Come on. We're spending today together. Starting with lunch."
Atem went red immediately.
A faint warmth reached even his ears.
"…Just the two of us?"
"That reaction is exactly why the rehabilitation is necessary."
Seto didn't realize it himself—but his voice was full of gentleness.
Atem's reaction was something he found unbearably dear.
Atem thought for a moment, then raised his eyes.
"…All right. If that's what you say. …Walking alongside my oshi. Perhaps that, too, is a form of fan activity."
"It isn't—but fine."
Seto smiled, a little awkwardly.
Meanwhile Atem placed a hand on his chest and took a slow breath.
As a result of fan activities, Atem had become vulnerable to the real version of the person he was rooting for.
And Seto found himself helplessly drawn to that.
Lunch that day proceeded with Atem tense throughout, and Seto quietly helping him along.
Exactly like a first date between two people in love.
Yes. The two of them were walking the path of love and theory—one step at a time.
