From VTuber♂ to VTuber♀ - Chapter 25

Broadcast Observation Day 1. (1)

“…I see. I had no idea.”
“Yeah, so—”
“So I’ll approach you even more actively to help Yeoreum adapt to Japanese culture!”
“Eck…”

How did you come to that conclusion?!

I blinked at Toya, stunned by her completely offbeat answer.
Shouldn’t she be saying something like, “Let’s take things slow and see how it goes”?

I stared at the hand she held out to me, hesitated for a moment, then gently took it.
It felt like I’d been swept up in Toya’s pace ever since we met in person… maybe it was just my imagination.

“I-I’m fine! I mean, I can sleep in the living room or something…”
“There’s only one set of bedding, so just sleep in my room.”
“…I’m okay without bedding. Worst case, I’ll just use my coat as a blanket.”
“And what if you get sick again? I’d be super upset if you did.”

…She had a point.

It was still winter. If I caught another cold, it would be a nightmare.
That fever from last time? Easily the worst I’ve ever experienced.
Just thinking about it made me shudder.
It felt like someone dunked my head into a boiling cauldron or something.

“…Okay. But I’m sleeping on the floor.”
“I told you, there’s only one set of bedding.”
“Ugh…”

Toya didn’t seem like she was going to back down at all.

As I swallowed nervously and hesitated, she suddenly pulled me by the hand.

Wah! H-Hey, don’t just grab me out of nowhere!

Before I knew it, she’d slipped her hands under my arms and hoisted me up.
With deliberate, gentle steps, she carried me straight to the bed and set me down.

“Let’s change and take a bath together, Yeoreum~”

…Of course, what she said next was not the least bit gentle.

—

“Haaahhhh…”
“Aha, ahahahaha! That face was priceless!”

I shouted that I absolutely wasn’t getting in the bath with her, that it was harassment, that I’d sue—
but none of it worked.

To be fair, Toya didn’t physically force me.

It was more like… she persuaded me with words.

Like when she looked up at me with a trembling, teary face.
Or when she knelt in front of me on the bed, crying dramatically.

Seeing her like that made me feel so guilty I couldn’t help but nod in the end.

“But really, you didn’t seem that embarrassed, huh? At first you were all tense with your eyes shut and everything.”
“…I don’t wanna talk about it.”

I turned my head sharply at her teasing.

Just like she said, I had my eyes tightly closed when we first got in the bath together.

Whatever Toya’s thinking, I’m not looking. I’m not opening my eyes—
That was my mindset.

But then… getting my hair washed with my eyes closed was weirdly unsettling.
Even though I knew it was just her washing my hair, I couldn’t see, so it felt eerie.

“Waaah, you’re all soft and fluffy after the bath…”

In the end, I couldn’t stand that odd, ghostly sensation and opened my eyes.

And—nothing.

Literally nothing. I felt no particular emotion at all.

Huh? Why am I… totally unfazed?

I remember tilting my head at the thought, and Toya just burst out laughing.

Maybe it was because I’d become a girl and was now with another girl.
Or maybe it was just Toya—that I didn’t feel anything because it was her.

Thinking about it… I don’t think I’ve ever seen Toya as more than a friend.

A precious friend.
And no one has weird thoughts about their precious friend.

“Alrighty then, time to stream~”
“I’ll just wait in the bedroom. Do your best, To—yAAH?!”

“Where do you think you’re going? Of course you need to be next to me! What if I suddenly collapse while streaming? Who’s gonna help me? You don’t have to talk or anything, just sit beside me!”

Isn’t it normal to ask someone to stay quiet if they’re going to be nearby during a stream?

The way Toya insisted on keeping me next to her made me feel like I was her emotional support plushie.

Well… honestly, she’s not entirely wrong.

I sighed heavily, thinking of the massive pile of medication in my bag.

Will the day ever come when I can walk around without taking any of that?

“Okay, okay! This is my streaming room. What do you think?”
“It’s way better than the one I used to stream in. Oh, did you buy a new mic? Didn’t you say on DigiCord that you were gonna—ah. Um.”

“…”

“…Sorry.”

As soon as I brought up the mic on the desk, Toya’s expression twisted a little.

Right. She messaged me on DigiCord, and I never responded.

Yeah. Ahaha…

I mean, we met in person before I could see the message. And my phone was broken, so I literally couldn’t!

Still, none of that left my mouth.

A fast apology was the only correct answer here.

Shrinking back a bit, I offered a sincere apology.

“Sorry for disappearing and not answering your messages.”
“It’s okay. Thanks to that, I got to see you in person—and now you’re here in Japan with me.”

Alright, prep time is over!

With a flourish, Toya put her hands on her hips and sat down at her computer, patting the seat next to her.

She wanted me to watch… right beside her? Seriously?

…Can’t I just watch from behind?

“Oh, is the chair too tall for you? I’ll lift you up.”
“That’s not what I—woah!”

Before I could even finish, she just picked me up and plopped me down in the chair.

Toya’s way too good at lifting me now!

I gave her the most annoyed stare I could muster, but she was already focused on setting up her stream.

Sigh. Well, what can I do? Gotta be the mature one here.

As I sighed and shook my head, I reminded myself to take this as a learning opportunity:
What’s it like when a Japanese VTuber streams?

My heart started to flutter with curiosity.

“Going live now?”
“Yeah. I’ll stay quiet.”

I nodded at Toya’s question.
If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s staying quiet.

She smiled and clicked the mouse.

At the same time—

[The stream has started.]

—The broadcast began.

—

[Toya’s finally back!]
[We’ve been waiting forever lol]
ㄴ[She started with a full-on dogeza the moment the stream began lol]
ㄴ[That was a full-power dogeza… so rare…]
ㄴ[No one said she was naked lol]
ㄴ[Her voice sounds super energetic now. Maybe she got a good rest?]
ㄴ[Rested really well, huh? Like… really, really… well?]
ㄴ[ㄴYou piece of—]
ㄴ[ㄴLOL]
ㄴ[So you’re saying Toya sounds better because she went and had fun with Han Yeoreum?]
ㄴ[ㄴShut up shut up shut up shut up shut up—]

[Someone special…?]
[(Clip of Toya saying she was happy to meet someone important in Korea)]
“Toya was the most important person to me… But I wasn’t important to her? Is that why she ruined my V-tuber life? Who is this person she met in Korea? Where is Han Yeoreum?! MOD COME BACK I’M LONELY I CAN’T WAIT ANYMORE—”
ㄴ[?]
ㄴ[Are they a Toya fan or a Yeoreum fan? LOL]
ㄴ[Han Yeoreum really does leave a trail of chaos…]
ㄴ[All the unicorn Toya fans are raging LOL]
ㄴ[Yeoreum used to be in the “safe zone,” but now that they’ve met in person? Disqualified instantly.]
ㄴ[And Toya extended her break too—tons of suspicious signs.]
ㄴ[Toya, who built her brand on “pure girl” energy, goes to Korea and comes back… “impure”? LOL]
ㄴ[LOL]
ㄴ[LOL]

[Did you just hear a voice from beside her?]
[Isn’t someone with her? I thought she lived alone?]
ㄴ[Is that Han Yeoreum next to her??]
ㄴ[Seriously, is Yeoreum there?]
ㄴ[You abandoned your fans to hang out with a VTuber buddy in Japan? How arrogant, Han Yeoreum…]
ㄴ[Isn’t this more like the fans abandoned Yeoreum?]
ㄴ[Yeoreum got burned by a Korean small agency and ran off to a Japanese small agency lol]
ㄴ[Wait, is Yeoreum joining V-Spe?]
ㄴ[But V-Spe doesn’t even hire male VTubers, right?]
ㄴ[They only have like 3 active talents anyway LOL]
ㄴ[This is less a small agency and more like a tiny one…]
ㄴ[Info) Han Yeoreum was the only VTuber in ST.]
ㄴ[Still more active streamers than most, though lol]

[I don’t think that’s Yeoreum next to her.]
[If it is Han Yeoreum, I’ll track him down myself and kill him.]
ㄴ[LOL]
ㄴ[Come on, the guy just came back after being MIA…]
ㄴ[ㄴWait, who are you trying to kill here?]
ㄴ[ㄴWait, who exactly?]
ㄴ[ㄴ…Are they threatening Toya now? LOL]
ㄴ[ㄴPlanning to abduct national hero Han Yeoreum, drag him to Japan, and feed him Japanese food?!]
ㄴ[ㄴLOL]
ㄴ[ㄴThere really are some insane people out there LOL]
ㄴ[ㄴ(Han Yeoreum main heroine meme)]
ㄴ[ㄴ(Han Yeoreum main heroine meme)]

—