From VTuber♂ to VTuber♀ - Chapter 32

Broadcast Observation Day 3. (1)

“Kontomo~! Did everyone have a good day today?”
– Kontomo!
– Kontomo~
– Kontomo!
– Wow, streaming in the morning today wwww
– Morning Toya is a rare sight 草
– Is Totomo-chan with you today too?

“Yep, of course! Totomo-chan is Toya’s emotional support plushie, so she’s always right next to me!”

Well, she was half-asleep at the moment…
I’m not sure if she’s just naturally bad at mornings, or if her smaller body has made her sleepier, or maybe it’s because her health isn’t the best—but when I woke up, I made sure she woke up with me and brought her along.

Even when she’s completely zonked out, she still wakes up when I do.
It’s kind of… how should I say it…
Super cute?

Even while looking like she’s on the verge of death from sleepiness, she rubs her eyes, yawns with her head drooping down, and still manages to raise it just a little.
It’s so defenselessly adorable it hurt my heart from the morning.

– Isn’t Totomo-chan gonna talk?
– Let us hear Totomo-chan’s voice!

“Hey now, didn’t we say you’re not supposed to ask for Totomo-chan during Toya’s stream? Besides, Totomo-chan’s bad at mornings, so she’s just dozing off next to me right now. See? I can even squish her cheek and she won’t resist.”

Squish—
I smiled widely at the soft feeling on my fingertips.
Puhuhu…! Is this what it feels like to have everything in the world?

I’ve always had energy, but since I started living with Yeoreum, I’ve felt even more energized.
See? People really do need a partner—ahem, a companion human, at least one!

“Mmngh…”
“Waaah! She babbled~!”

– wwwwww
– That’s sleep-talking, not babbling wwww
– Just how much does she see Totomo-chan as a baby? 草
– I thought they were friends?
– So Toya’s the kind of person who treats her friends like babies, huh…
– Actually, isn’t that kind of great? Being treated like a baby by Toya.
– Toya mama~ Feed me~ If it’s not yakiniku today, I’m flipping the table~

Yeoreum, when she’s awake, often gives off a mature vibe—but when she’s asleep, she looks exactly like a little kid.
In short: she’s adorable.
Like a doll, even.

Maybe that’s why I end up treating her like a child when she’s asleep…

“If you flip the table, I’ll make you swallow a thousand needles. Got it?”

– Gasp.
– (shocked Toya emoji)
– A kid flips the table and gets threatened with a thousand needles…
– Isn’t that punishment for breaking promises?! 草
– Toya is literally a demon.
– Sure, the kid’s in the wrong, but a mom who feeds you needles? wwww
– 草
– 草

Ah, that came out wrong. Well, the chat’s enjoying it, so whatever.
Just imagining a clip titled “How Toya Disciplines Kids Who Flip the Dinner Table” made my head spin a bit…

Anyway, the rest of the stream went smoothly—or rather, more than smooth, it was fun.
Usually during chatty streams, I feel like I have to entertain the viewers. But today, I was having the most fun myself.
And that’s because—

[¥1000]
– Just how cute is Totomo-chan ww

“Totomo-chan is super cute~ The cutest in the world! I’m seriously worried, you know? Like, what if people figure out who she is the moment she debuts as a VTuber—that level of cute.”

– That much, really?
– I like the yuri vibes in this house.
– My broken horn… it’s healing…!
– Unicorns who left home, come back… Toya’s safe now.
– Don’t act like she wasn’t safe before wwww
– 草
– 草

—Because I was talking about Yeoreum!

Of course, I didn’t go into any real details about her appearance.
All I said was: “super cute,” “cutest in the world,” “looks like a fairy”—nothing more.
Just in case Yeoreum ever wants to return to the VTuber scene.

“If you ever see someone and think, ‘Huh? That girl might be the cutest I’ve ever seen,’ then yeah, that’s probably Totomo-chan.”

– This person is so confident about her friend’s looks…
– Well, she says she’s beautiful herself, so… ww
– But Toya’s short, right? More like a pretty girl than a beauty 草
– Maybe among girls she’s pretty, but beauty? wwww

“What was that?! Toya’s totally a beauty, okay?! Look! Look! Totally a beauty, right?! See?! SEE?!”

I zoomed in the model so only the face was visible, and the chat exploded with grass.
“Okay, okay, now go back to the original size,” they begged.
Like I’m gonna listen just because you talk to me like I’m a baby!

As I kept bickering with the chat, I suddenly had to use the bathroom.
‘Maybe from drinking so much water while talking nonstop…’

“Ah, I’ll be right back for a bit, okay?”

The viewers bid me farewell with “go pick some flowers~”
“I don’t need a send-off for that, geez!” I shouted in response.

Still, she sleeps so well even with all this noise.
Maybe she’s sensitive to movement but not sound?

I glanced at Yeoreum, fast asleep in the chair, then slowly walked toward the bathroom.

—

In my dream, I had become a VTuber again.
No—more accurately, I had returned to being a VTuber.
Dreams really are magical, huh?

I stared blankly at the unrealistic scenery, then slowly turned my head.
The character on screen moved with me.
A cheerful character with long black hair—ah, now that I look, it’s Toya.

“…I became Toya.”

The chat was in Japanese, so I spoke in Japanese too.
I’m really glad I studied so hard—it’s thanks to that I can speak so smoothly, even in dreams.
Feeling proud of that, I smiled, and the chat began to flood with messages.
Whoa, they’re reacting like crazy.

Maybe because it’s a dream, everything I say gets huge reactions.

“Being a VTuber was so much fun, yeah…”

Maybe I was jealous of Toya.
She overcame her transformation and chose to keep walking the VTuber path.
I couldn’t accept what I’d become, and in the end, I ran away.
If I had thicker skin, if I had even a little courage, maybe I wouldn’t have quit.

…Judging by this dream, maybe I didn’t want to quit after all.

“I wish I could be a VTuber again.”

Now that I think back on it, I really did have a lot of wonderful memories with my viewers.
They’d always welcome me when I showed up.
They’d laugh and enjoy watching me play games.
They’d get hyped when I sang.
They’d cheer me up with teasing when I seemed down.
And on Christmas… they’d tease me for being single—ah, maybe not that one.

“…I miss everyone.”

If only I could go back to those times.
I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the memories wash over me.
I miss them. I want to go back.
Maybe that’s why I had this dream—to meet the people who once looked at me.
But this wasn’t my stream. This was Toya’s.

So that’s why—
That’s why I thought it was time to wake up.

“Hmm? Totomo-chan? You awake?”

“HUH?!?!!”

—Until I heard Toya’s voice right beside me.

—

[Toya might be the mom I never knew I had…]
[(Clip of Toya saying she’d feed a child a thousand needles for flipping the dinner table.JPG)
Toya Mama… Let’s just stay friends, okay?]
ㄴ[LOL]
ㄴ[I’d never flip Toya’s dinner table, but still—if I did, the risk is too high. I don’t want her as my mom lol]
ㄴ[Mama, a thousand needles won’t even fit in my stomach…]
ㄴ[Even one’s dangerous, you know? lol]
ㄴ[(Eat up, Toya cone)]
ㄴ[That’s child abuse, isn’t it lol]
ㄴ[Not abuse—that’s just murder lol]
ㄴ[Why is that cone being used here…]
ㄴ[LOL]

[If you miss Toya’s rare drama queen moments, smash that like button lol]
[If you’d rather see the more chill Toya certified blue pill Totomo-chan, hit like lol
Starting with me]
ㄴ[Like]
ㄴ[Like]
ㄴ[Honestly, I really do want to see what Totomo-chan looks like]
ㄴ[But isn’t Toya also a blue pill?]
ㄴ[ㄴThere’s some evidence she is.]
ㄴ[ㄴPutting the pieces together, she’s probably legit blue pill, right?]
ㄴ[ㄴStill, can’t be sure till the truth comes out.]
ㄴ[So you’re telling me Totomo-chan is legally an adult in a child’s body? ssssssssip… fwooo…]
ㄴ[(pedo-purge cone)]
ㄴ[(pedo-purge cone)]
ㄴ[(ugh, gross Toya cone)]