After the Stream Ends
Eight o'clock rolled around, and Ruru's stream went live.
Today's stream—her Christmas Eve broadcast—was a support room for no one else but the second-generation members' debut live.
Maybe to match the cheering-room concept, Ruru unveiled a brand-new model.
It was one wearing a headband that said HAPPY HEAVEN and clutching a lightstick.
"Hehe~ I got this ready just for today! So? Isn't it pretty?"
"Looks so weeb! I am a weeb! Happy Heaven's number one stan!"
Whether it was genuine desire to cheer her juniors on with all her heart, Ruru looked absolutely delighted.
I watched her fondly, yet my mind drifted back to Lua from earlier—the unfamiliar sight of her resting her head on my shoulder and admitting she was a little tired.
I couldn't help worrying. Was she pushing herself too hard? Forcing a smile through sheer willpower?
Even as the thought crossed my mind, seeing Ruru laughing so brightly and full of energy gave me strength of my own.
Right. Lua was toughing it out, so I had to keep it together too.
I gave my cheeks a couple of firm pats and fixed my eyes on the screen.
On screen, Lua—no, Ruru—was chatting about Happy Heaven.
"How's the song? It's so good! Like, seriously seriously good!"
"Not as good as our song, of course, but still great! Depending on taste, someone might even like Happy Heaven's more!"
Sweet Mare's first song, Sweet Dream, was perfectly tailored to VTuber fans' tastes. It was a love song with a fast tempo, addictive hooks, and just enough anime-opening energy. Plenty of people had gotten into the group through that track alone.
For the record, Ruru handled the rapid-fire sections. Mei's vocals were so outstanding that there wasn't much choice in the matter. Aris took a dedicated rap part, which meant that among people who only listened to the song, pure Ruru solo fans were pretty rare.
Of course, I liked Ruru's part the best. That bright, bubbly energy was pure Ruru, you know? Calling it the cutest section wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"My favorite member? Well, Elia's super earnest and sweet~ and the others are all adorable too! They're all my precious cute juniors! I'm the senior here! Hehe~"
"Ahem! I am the senior! How many elegant, pretty seniors like me are there in the world, huh?"
"Grrrr…!"
Under the chat's merciless assault, Ruru started grinding her teeth. Even that was unbearably cute—what was I supposed to do about it?
What else? Keep buying Ruru merch and dive deeper into the fandom, of course.
And while I was at it, I should clip this part too. It was gold. Ruru getting roasted by her viewers—over the word "senior," no less. Nothing could be more delightful.
"It starts right at nine on the dot. Anything you're curious about?"
"To the question about meeting them in person~ I've only briefly met Elia. Can't talk about real-life looks though~ You red-pill people wouldn't want that either! And even though it's a repeat question, the song was amazing~"
Ruru answered every single viewer question diligently—duplicates included.
Maybe that was why people loved her so much.
Cute? Great streaming sense? Amazing model control? Nice voice?
All solid reasons, sure, but the biggest one was probably the way she treated her fans. That personality that embraced almost everyone except the real toxic ones, that earnestness.
That was Ruru's strength, and the reason we all loved the person behind her.
Just in case, I checked Aris and Mei's streams too. Their viewer counts sat around a thousand each. Ruru alone was pulling roughly three thousand.
Classic Ruru. Completely different weight class all by herself.
"Tomorrow's stream? It's on the schedule, but it'll be at night! Why would I leave my beloved little offerings~?"
Ruru giggled, and the fans melted over the phrase "my beloved little offerings," gushing with pure affection. It was a fun relationship, and a strangely heartwarming one too.
But that was that…
It was about to start for real.
I grabbed some popcorn and settled in to watch Ruru's stream. Before long, the debut stage finally began.
Honestly, a debut stage depended far more on company power than on the individual VTuber. Money for the model, money for the stage, money for the choreography—everything cost money. So as long as the VTuber could sing well, their job was basically done. A lot of them even pre-recorded the vocals and just played them back.
In other words, all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the performance. It was called a support room, but really it was just a place to watch the debut stage together.
That said, knowing it in your head and acting like it were two different things.
What do I mean?
Step one: raise the lightstick.
Step two: cheer.
Putting your whole heart into that feeling of support was how you actually enjoyed it.
"Ha! Ppy! Hea! Ven! You! Got! This!!"
On stream, Ruru was doing pretty much the same thing. I couldn't bring myself to shout those exact words, but I still tried to match her energy as much as possible—at least by waving an imaginary lightstick along with her.
Anyway, the debut stage started, and I became certain of one thing.
Sweet Mare's upcoming first anniversary.
That anniversary was going to be something truly worth looking forward to.
I couldn't even begin to guess how much money they'd made or how much they'd reinvested.
Seriously. Fantasy Live was the best.
"Ah, that was great."
Once the stream ended, Ruru closed it cleanly. After roughly two hours of cheering, she clapped and ended the broadcast in a hurry. I stretched my arms high overhead and started reviewing Lua's footage.
The official editor would handle the reaction clips, so my job was everything else. The playful back-and-forth with chat, the way she listened to the song and muttered that it might actually be better than theirs out of pure jealousy—those would make solid clips. And the little humming she did during a short break also seemed like good short-form material.
Another bumper crop of Shorts today, I was thinking, when—
Ding!
CocoaTalk suddenly chimed. I opened it on my computer to check who it was and felt a small jolt of surprise.
Lua had messaged me out of nowhere.
What was I doing, she asked.
Watching your stream and resting, yeah.
At that reply, Lua must have been speechless, because she started typing and deleting over and over.
What on earth was she trying to say that required that much rewriting?
I kept staring at the screen with that question in mind, until—
A completely baffling message landed.
Right now? At this hour? It was already eleven at night.
It was startling, sure, but if Lua was calling, of course I was going.
I sent a full five y's, and Lua must have found it funny because she replied with "hahaha."
I rummaged for something decent-looking, threw on clothes that seemed passable, and headed outside.
I waited in front of Lua's apartment building. After a moment the elevator started moving. Before long the doors opened and Lua stepped out.
She was wearing loose, rumpled winter pajamas.
She walked over to me and gave a tiny little wave.
"Hi."
She was smiling, but she looked utterly exhausted.
"…If you're that tired, you should've just gone to sleep."
"Don't wanna… Hwaaaah…"
She let out a huge yawn, then tilted her head slightly and looked at me.
"Want to walk for a bit?"
"Going for a stroll or something?"
"Yeah… I just want to walk a little."
Lua started walking beside me, and I fell into step with her.
The night wind was cold. Why on earth had she come out dressed like that?
"Here, put this on."
I shrugged off my padded jacket and held it out to her.
The second she saw it, she broke into a bashful little smile and started putting it on.
"…It's warm."
Somehow, she looked ridiculously cute. At the same time, a hint of mischief flickered in that smile.
"You sweat a lot, huh, Jinwoo."
"……Just give it back."
"Aww~ Why~"
In that moment I was certain.
Lua hadn't been fully acting as Ruru. Ruru was just the version of Lua where that tiny mischievous streak inside her got turned all the way up.
Lua Im. Kuroa Ruru. Yeah, that checked out.