Stop! Izumi's Communication Stamina Is Already at Zero!
"Ohohoho! This time, it's yours truly!"
The next person to join was Kurokami-senpai herself. Voice and manner of speaking alone were enough to know her at once. She had said she would do everything she could to make it, so I had wondered if something was weighing on her — but that didn't seem to be it.
"Ah, hello, Kurokami-senpai..."
"Yes! Kurokami Hikari, Miss Izumi's very own senior! First of all, one hundred and fifty thousand subscribers — my sincerest congratulations! Truly remarkable, isn't it?"
"Hehe..."
Thankfully, unlike Miss Utsumi or Miss Aki or Miss Koga, Kurokami-senpai doesn't go in for strange pranks—
"Well. Falling asleep in the middle of yesterday's endurance stream was a little much, I think."
—or so I had hoped.
"Ohohoho! A true villainess lady is obliged to inform her opponent of reality!"
I already knew she didn't mean it. Right after this morning's apology stream ended, a DM had arrived from her.
The same senior who had said all that this morning was talking like this now, and it was nothing but fun. Call it the feeling of watching a brand-new model of tsundere.
"Still, the congratulations themselves aren't a lie, you know? Do keep striving from here on!"
"Th-thank you...!"
Hehehe. No matter how she talked in front of everyone, I knew exactly how gentle she was behind the scenes. And if she didn't want that secret found out—
"My lady. It still isn't ov—"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaah?!!!"
"Waaaaaah?!"
I was still adrift in that little fantasy when a scream pitched high enough to split an eardrum tore through the call.
"S-senpai? Is th-there some kind of problem?"
There was no need to hunt for a culprit. The only person on the call with me was Kurokami-senpai. Even so, no answer came back to my question. When I checked, an icon had appeared on her Misscode profile.
"Uh, um, uhh?"
"E-everyone, let's calm down for a second. S-someone might have just called her away for a moment, right?"
Right. What mattered now was getting a firm grip on the situation and finding an answer. Kurokami-senpai had muted herself out of nowhere in the middle of Dotsumachi. What was a person supposed to do in a sudden mess like this? Hold the line with my improved communication skills until she came back?
"...Ah."
So the moment had come to unveil it — Kaino Izumi's ultimate, closely guarded bit of wordplay, the one I never got to use back in Ashen City. The Iztomo had loved it so much, and I had been sad I never got to bring out stage two and stage three.
"Ahem, ahem.... Then, until Kurokami-senpai gets back, shall we pass the time with the secret w-word gag I prepared...?"
"N-Namikawa-senpai..."
"I'm sorry! Someone called me from outside, so I stepped away! Hohoho!"
What a shame. Just look at the Iztomo, every one of them throwing a fit from the disappointment.
What? It doesn't look like that to anyone watching? No. A strong no is a strong yes. Everyone knows little boys tease the girls they like. This is exactly the same. Pretending to hate it that much is clearly their way of drawing the gag out of me. So today's gag can wait for the membership stream.
"Hmm. But, Miss Izumi?"
"Yes...?"
"I think I need to step out now. Would it be all right if we ended the call here?"
"Ah, yes! It's f-fine. You said from the start you might be too b-busy, so I'm grateful you came at all..."
"...Eh?"
Before I could even answer, Misscode's little chime rang through my ear.
"D-did I hear that wrong just now...?"
The world of VTubers was nowhere near gentle enough for a little escape from reality like that to work.
"Ugh..."
It goes without saying that this didn't mean I disliked Kurokami-senpai. Even so, the mere thought that I still had to meet the members in real life sent the tension flooding in — all the more when that someone was a senior.
Which stood to reason. I had already met every one of my peers in person at least once. For someone saddled with a fear of people she never asked for, the difference between having a face to the name and not was a pretty large one. Even if it was Kurokami-senpai, the senior I talked with more than any other, an offline collab I actually had to do would leave me nervous whether I liked it or not.
Which was why.
"...L-let's pretend I didn't hear that."
Right. She had said it while rushing out, so I simply hadn't caught those words. Nothing to be done. Next time, please speak a little more clearly, senpai.
Ignoring the Iztomo's protests, I carried on with the Dotsumachi.
"Th-then, next person, please come in..."
"Kontsuba! This time it's finally me, I say!"
"Ah, hello, Namikawa-senpai..."
"Yeah. It's been a while, Miss Izumi!"
"Oh, is it finally our turn?"
"Hi, Miss Izumi!"
"We've been staying all this time just so we could call you!"
"Everyone's too loud!"
"Uh, um? Huh...?"
The call was, somehow, incredibly loud.
"Um, s-senpai? There are an awful lot of v-voices around you..."
"Ah, yeah. I'm with Hina, Ichika, and Rinze right now. We all got together for the first time in a while today. Natchan and Hikari headed back a little earlier."
"I should have left a while ago too, but I stayed so I could call Miss Izumi! Normally this would be about the time I was asleep on the train, you know?"
"Then just go to sleep."
"I told you I can't. I even told Miss Izumi originally that I couldn't come. Right?"
"Ah, that's right. Th-thank you, Yuzuki-senpai..."
"It's fine. For a cute junior, this much is nothing!"
"Oh, right. The truth is, we meant to invite the entire second generation, you know? But you had your 150k celebration stream, and M-chan said it would be too hard on you, so we met among ourselves. Don't get the wrong idea, okay?"
"I keep saying we should have just called the whole second generation and done the celebration stream together. Even M-chan said that would probably be fine, didn't they?"
"Hah?! Are you saying I did something wrong? No — of course it would be wonderful if we could, but realistically my room isn't big enough to hold that many people!"
"Uh, uweh, uhhh..."
The seniors' conversation crashed into my ear without a single pause.
"No, that's why I'm saying if we'd just booked one big room..."
"And what were you going to do if that threw off the celebration stream..."
"We weren't even sure Miss Izumi could come in the first place, so there's no point saying all this here..."
"...Hehe."
I checked out.
"Then we'll head out! Sincere congratulations on 150k, Miss Izumi!"
"I hope we get to collab next time."
"Congrats on 150k! Byebye~."
"Sincere congratulations on 150k!"
Ding!
"...Hah."
The Misscode chime bored straight into my ear, and my mind snapped awake again.
"I-is it over...?"
It felt as if some tremendous storm had torn straight through. If I were still the me from before I grew, I never could have endured it. I would have fled halfway through the call. No question.
"A-as expected, I'm amazing..."
"Sh-shut up! From now on, I-I'll join too..."
Just as Miss Koga had said, I couldn't keep turning my back on Dotsumachi forever. From next time on, if it was at all possible, I would join no matter what.
"Then the l-last one is..."
Ding!
"Haa.... Ah, uh, hi, N-Natchan..."
"This is the first time we've talked like this, Izumi!"
"Y-yeah..."
Since we stopped playing Ashen City, I hadn't spoken with Natchan on our own. Of course I could have been the one to reach out first — but how could I possibly dare speak to Natchan first? That would be sacrilege.
"Mmm, obviously, first of all: seriously, congrats on 150k! Just like you always have fun watching my streams, I've been having fun watching yours too!"
"Heh, hehe.... Thanks."
As expected, congratulations from Natchan hit different. If congratulations from the other members were congratulations in the plain sense of the word, then congratulations from Natchan were... how should I put it. The feeling of being acknowledged. My self-esteem surged until it was fit to overflow.
"Th-the reason I was able to not give up is because, on th-the first-anniversary stream, N-Natchan said she'd keep shining in front of me...!"
"Ah. Wh-when you put it like that, it's a little embarrassing, haha..."
"Hehe..."
"Ahem! Then I'll keep cheering you on! You remember I said you'd become an amazing VTuber, right?"
"Ah, uh, yeah. Of course I remember.... At the second generation's g-group collab..."
"Yeah, that one!"
As if I could ever forget. I still play it back twice a day.
"I meant what I said back then, so keep doing your best, okay?"
"O-okay. I definitely will..."
"Yeah. And searching for Oceanus together in Ashen City was fun, so let's definitely collab again next time. I'll get going, then. Congrats on 150k! Byebye~. Matanatsune!"
"M-Matanatsune...!"
Ding!
"Ha, haa..."
All the strength drained out of my body at once. So this was what happiness was.
"Haaaa..."
The world really is beautiful.
That... probably isn't happening for the rest of my life.