VTuber RP Is Not a Concept - Chapter 108

Department store, 7th floor, by the sunny window seat.

The restaurant was quiet. Perhaps because it was late for lunch, there were few customers and only soft music flowed in the background.

Warm plates were placed one by one in front of the four of us. There was a light buttery aroma wafting from the lasagna, smoked chicken salad, pasta, and steak.

I briefly set down my glass of water and spoke.

“Haru.”

“Why?”

“You know you were a bit strange today, right?”

“What do you mean? I was completely the same as usual!”

Koharu attempted to stab a pickle with her fork but missed twice.

“Stop playing coy. Why was that?”

“I told you I wasn’t strange! Maybe you misjudged me because you wore your sunglasses for too long?”

“Wasn’t that right? You kept saying you’d help carry my stuff, stayed right by my side, and kept talking to me?”

“That’s just because I like you, unnie…”

Seeing Koharu’s voice become quieter, Sara let out a light sigh.

“Ha. See, I told you not to act up, Yuna.”

Immediately, a counterattack could have happened, but Koharu gazed interestingly at her plate of pasta in silence. And I didn’t miss the light exchanges of glances between Karen and Sara.

“What are the three of you talking about?”

Sara shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, silly Yuna ended up giving everything away…”

“I’m not silly…”

Koharu muttered, but no one responded to that.

“So what was it?”

Sara hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“It’s just… We wanted to have a little mood change together, but actually, we came to see you.”

“Why us?”

This time, Karen quietly opened her mouth.

“These days… you’ve been a bit busy.”

She seemed to choose her words carefully.

“Over this and that, there have been a lot of things to worry about. With the broadcasts and personal matters too. So… we thought it might be better if we just had fun together, like it’s no big deal. That’s what I was thinking.”

Sara nodded her head.

“Prying or comforting you isn’t really your style, right?”

“And that’s why we didn’t say anything and dragged you shopping!”

Koharu raised her head and said.

“It was a perfect plan, but I ended up… getting caught.”

So, it was that the members had found out that my parents were not home. It meant a continuation of that day. Recently, there had also been some controversies involved.

To keep calling a war hero who has gone through all sorts of battles a girl… Just as those words were about to slip out of my mouth, I held back.

Right now, this kind of greeting seemed more fitting.

I quietly took off my sunglasses.

And, with a clear smile, I looked at the three pairs of eyes.

“Thank you.”

After a brief silence, Koharu raised her voice first.

“Eek… My heart almost dropped, unnie!”

She clasped her hands over her heart as if she were about to drop her fork, dramatically taking a deep breath.

Sara frowned and looked away.

“Hey, hey! Don’t smile like that. If someone who usually doesn’t smile that much does, it’s…”

Karen sitting next to me silently picked up my sunglasses. And slowly pushed them toward me while saying.

“…I think you should wear these again.”

The tips of Karen’s cheeks were faintly flushed.

“Here… It is still a public place, after all.”

I smiled again at that remark and received my sunglasses.

After that, we continued our meal with small conversations.

Before I knew it, the warm plates had cooled down, and there was only a single strand of leftover pasta lonely on the plate.

Koharu straightened up and said.

“So when is our next gathering? The hotel stay we talked about before?”

Karen picked up the conversation.

“The beach is out of the question, and crowded places aren’t allowed either— so we decided on a hotel.”

“Right, right. Cho-eun unnie’s secret must be our top priority!”

Koharu exclaimed excitedly.

“Let’s not keep doing Yuna-like things. We shouldn’t even say Cho-eun’s name loudly!”

Sara interjected urgently.

“Eek… I’m sorry, unnie! But what’s a Yuna-like thing?”

While Koharu was reprimanding Sara – as the smallest and weakest member among them – Karen gave a small, awkward smile and said.

“But we still haven’t set a place, and we haven’t really prepared anything either, right? Let’s get on this now.”

Sara gently patted her shoulder in response.

“Sure. Let’s reschedule the date… And we have to prepare swimsuits too.”

“…Swimsuits?”

Feeling a sense of foreboding, I asked softly.

“Of course.”

Koharu’s eyes sparkled.

“We’re going to a hotel stay, so wouldn’t we go to the pool? That’s part of the hotel stay.”

“Right. Ria, you have a swimsuit, right?”

When Karen asked, I should have just lied. If I had just passed it off with “Yeah, I have at least one,” nothing would have happened. Normally, that’s what I would have done.

But today – I let my guard down a little.

“No. I don’t have any.”

Thanks to the goddess’s arrangement, the clothes that already existed in my house – somehow, swimsuits were not included.

The heads of the two people across from me simultaneously lifted.

“Really!?”

“Huh? None?”

Koharu smiled, looking rather mischievous.

“Uh-huh… Then you can’t just pass it up, can you?”

“Yeah. It just so happens we’re at a department store. We can go right now.”

Karen nodded her head vigorously.

“No. Didn’t you all say you were tired? I’ll buy it later separately.”

I hurriedly tried to stop them, but Koharu shot up and said.

“No, no! After eating, I’m no longer tired.”

Karen next to her was subtly crossing her arms. …It feels like I’m being taken along with them?

Koharu’s voice confirmed my feeling,

“Great! Let’s capture you and take you with us!”

※※※

A little later, at the 3rd-floor sports & leisure brand store.

The moment we stopped in front of the swimsuit corner, I felt my expression hardening.

“Wow~ The lines here are nice. There are many pretty ones too!”

Koharu’s eyes sparkled already.

“There’s everything from simple to flashy.”

Sara crossed her arms and scanned a display.

Karen had already turned her attention toward the bikinis.

“Let’s pick something a bit flashy since there won’t be that many people around, right?”

“That’s not right.”

I quickly raised my hand to stop them.

“I’m not wearing a bikini. Absolutely not.”

“Ew~ Why not?”

Koharu came very close to me.

“You have to give Ria unnie a chance to see the swimsuit fanart in person! And with your figure, it would be a waste not to wear a bikini!”

“I have no obligation to recreate fanart.”

I spat coldly, but already, the three’s eyes turned into warriors holding up bikinis.

“Hmmm… Let’s at least try it on first. It doesn’t have to be a bikini.”

Karen spoke rapidly.

“Exactly! Try on other things, and try on a bikini too. You might unexpectedly like it!”

Koharu agreed, and Sara picked one from the display she had been rummaging through.

“This one feels more like a bodysuit than a swimsuit, right? Let’s go with this first.”

“…Okay. I’ll try it on.”

The moment those words came out of my mouth, the three of them lifted their faces simultaneously.

“Really?”

“…Yeah. But,”

I raised my hand.

“I’m not showing it. I’ll try it on alone and come out.”

“Wow, then let’s go to the fitting room! Come on, unnie, let’s go!”

Koharu almost seemed to grab my arm happily.

“But doesn’t there need to be at least one person to check on you inside?”

Sara casually tossed in. Why is this unnie acting like this too?

“Oh, right. It seems two aren’t allowed, only one can go in with you.”

Karen, apparently having asked the clerk already, interjected with a straight face.

“…You really don’t need to check, though?”

I lowered my voice.

“And whoever it is, just try coming in. Really.”

“Then let’s make it fair!”

Koharu rolled up her sleeves.

“Rock! Paper! …”

“Wait a minute.”

I stopped my companions.

“Are you guys really… really planning to come in?”

“No, unnie~”

Koharu laughed playfully.

“We’ll just open it and say, ‘Wow~’ and, ‘As expected, it’s unnie!’ and then leave right away. Just a polite appreciation.”

“…Appreciation is the issue.”

“Then let’s pick out swimsuits first!”

Sara and Karen handed me the clothes they were holding. Bikinis were included among them.

“Just try it on. If it doesn’t suit you, we’ll drop it too.”

I slowly received those swimsuits.

The thin and smooth fabric that touched my fingertips felt lighter than expected.

I could hear the three of them whispering outside.

“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors again!”

“You keep throwing a little late.”

“That’s strategy!”

“No conscience, probably.”

I let out a sigh and opened the door.

“I warned you. If you come in, you might see something terrible.”

I closed the fitting room curtain and hung the swimsuits one by one on the hooks inside.

I started by trying on the least burdensome design.

Simple monokini, tube top style, one-piece type… I stood in front of the mirror one by one to try them on.

This much is fine.

While the exposure wasn’t little, I thought I could endure it to some extent.

The last one remaining.

It was a black bikini.

The material was thin and elastic, and the strings were the thinnest possible.

After a brief hesitation, I changed into it, thinking I would just check.

And— I looked in the mirror.

…This is definitely not it.

I felt like I was just standing there wearing underwear in the mirror.

At that moment, I sensed a presence outside.

Someone cautiously approached the door, and then, faintly, a whispering voice was heard.

“Um… Did you put it all on, Cho-eun unnie?”

It was Koharu.

“I’m not opening it.”

I answered sharply and clearly.

After that, silence again.

Then, a sigh from Sara mixed with her voice.

“See? That’s why I warned you.”

“Still, at least I tried…!”

I could hear their footsteps fading away, mixed with a little regret.

I looked at the mirror again.

The straps resting on my shoulders felt too light, and the thing that was supposed to wrap around my waist remained only a thin line.

My b*tt was more than half exposed, and my chest could barely be said to be covered.

Ultimately, I decided on a swimsuit with a larger surface area and came out.

I couldn’t stop Karen from buying a bikini in my size with her own money during checkout, but I could just not wear it when the time came.

※※※

The mood was slowly shifting towards going out to a café.

Karen mentioned the underground parking lot, and Sara was stretching, saying her feet hurt. Koharu was still excited.

I quietly walked behind them, adjusting my sunglasses.

The floor was shiny, and our figures were faintly reflected beyond the glass of the store.

That was when I felt it.

…The flow of the air changed.

Behind my shoulder, a gaze that did not align with the light.

A lens that slightly trembled in the oblique angle. The angle of a finger too obvious reflected in the display window.

Ordinary people wouldn’t see it. But I— I couldn’t overlook things like that.

While I was walking nonchalantly, at some point.

I lightly set my right foot on the railing by the wall.