387 I Hit Myself (3)
Mary Tepes looked a bit dejected.
Third-generation member Masachi Nodo ka approached her to offer comfort.
"But the points you can receive are only up to fifth place."
"Aw, next time you'll do better, senpai."
"...Thank you."
Chat messages like that flooded the screen, but Mary Tepes paid them no mind.
Ever since she had publicly announced her marriage, no one would interpret her relationship with her junior as anything erotic.
People often used the term in that way, but the word "yuri" itself carried a surprisingly broad meaning. How far would one go to claim that an image circulating halfway as a joke on the internet contained "disgust" through a yuri lens, or that the term "yurige" even existed?
The viewers simply wanted to cheer for the heartwarming sight of the VTubers they liked getting along well and comforting each other.
"But you did well."
"Ah, Sion."
Immediately, Sion's character bounded over and stood beside her.
"......"
"......"
And for a moment, silence fell.
What did she want? Mary Tepes made an awkward expression, then shook her game character's head side to side.
If she had been looking at a face, she would have understood a silent stare. But since they were facing each other as in-game avatars, it was hard to read the intent.
"...Aren't you going to thank me for comforting you?"
"But Sion, if I'm the opponent, it's always positive mode."
"That's true, though."
She probably would have said something like "even if I was being tsundere, it would be the best," but Sion was the kind of "Super Tepes" to Han Seoyeon.
Yet the sight of her hurrying over as if she wouldn't miss a chance to hear praise from Super Tepes somehow came across as a little cute, so Mary Tepes couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
'I don't think that's the intention, though...'
The appearance of the legitimate wife coming to claim her territory caused the viewers' reactions to explode quite violently.
Watching those chats shoot up so quickly, Mary Tepes let out a bitter smile.
It wasn't like they had any kind of relationship like that; there was no reason for Sion to feel jealous simply because she had appeared a little close. Especially not when she was getting close to someone as a broadcaster, Mary Tepes, rather than as Ninomae Hitomi.
It would be fortunate if she didn't just shout "I'm happy that more people are appreciating the charm of Super Tepes!"
After all, she wondered if there were even people who existed who felt jealousy. Mary Tepes thought that to herself.
But that was only from Mary Tepes's perspective. Judging by the reactions, it seemed the viewers had already decided in their heads that she had come to reclaim her wife while feeling jealous.
Whether these small details accumulated to build character was not a bad thing, but...
'No, those two are sisters.'
Mary Tepes barely swallowed the words that rose to her throat.
After all, the two had not yet been revealed as sisters. From the viewers' perspective, there was an age gap and they were cohabiting childhood friends.
That alone was enough for Anapro viewers starving for yuri to get their eyes on it, and with Nodo ka's oshi being Maya, there was no way such reactions wouldn't appear.
Strictly speaking, Nodo ka had never once called Maya her oshi. If she had to pick one, it was that she often watched Mary Tepes's streams.
But there were far too many Anathema viewers who didn't take "I don't have any interest" at face value.
Especially in Anapro, there had been similar precedents. ...It might sound like I'm talking about someone else, but it was Mary Tepes herself.
Even though she had answered "There isn't anyone particularly who I can call my oshi" to the question of whether any of the third generation had an oshi, it had become common knowledge among viewers that Rokumondera Aki was her favorite.
After all, it was unreasonable to dismiss fan devotion just because she had learned Ainu just because she started watching Aki's streams.
At the right moment, rather than thinking that Mary Tepes was an overwhelming genius and had more opportunities than ordinary people to encounter folklore materials because her major was folklore, it would be easier to accept that she had simply studied hard with overwhelming fan devotion to learn Ainu.
One might think that even Occam's razor was needed to judge her favorite, but in any case, the way the viewers watching Mary Tepes's streams saw it was mostly like that.
Anyway, from the point that there existed a "senpai who denies being an oshi even though anyone could see it," Masachi Nodo ka had no freedom from this.
Especially if she was in a situation with as much knowledge about Maya's streams as Mary Tepes's, in a suspiciously suspicious way.
If it was simply knowing a lot of personal information, it would be forgivable because they knew each other in real life, but if it was to the point where she knew more from broadcast episodes than she did in real life, that was the end of it.
Of course, when Mary Tepes asked about that point, she said she had only done it as family, but... that was Mary Tepes's thought that if she had watched the broadcasts that much, she must be her oshi.
Honestly, it only seemed like she was hiding it because she was embarrassed to say that family was her favorite.
"Oh~ What are you all talking about~?"
And because she couldn't stand it, the one who approached them was Maya.
Unlike when facing in 3D modeling, in the game everyone had the same height, so there was no oppressive feeling, but the strangely sluggish atmosphere remained.
"Maya-senpai said that Nodo ka is her oshi!"
"W-what? No! What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!"
"Ah~ I heard the story. The third-generation junior is targeting me~"
"Unnie, what kind of nonsense are you saying?!"
"Nodo ka, the honorific...!"
The term "unnie" was not so unusual as to be strange, but it was not common either. In Korea it was used often, so there were cases where "san-san" in Japanese was translated as "unnie-oppa," but in Japan it was an expression that was rarely used unless it was a blood relative or a relationship close to that.
Even so, the combination of childhood friend and cohabiting partner had already produced quite a few pair fanarts, and adding the unnie honorific made it a yuri hat trick.
At this point, it was almost better to just reveal that they were sisters, wasn't it? She had even thought that far.
The fact that she had known her since childhood, the cohabitation, and the unnie honorific were all means that carried persuasive power.
'Well... it would only make it more chaotic, though.'
Of course, she only thought it. After all, even if the truth was revealed, half the viewers shouting "te te te" would definitely react with "sister yuri kiyoooooot!"
For those viewers, the wall of blood relation was no problem at all.
If it was a mother-child relationship, there might be some hesitation, but at most being sisters, the viewers would be happy to treat them as seasoning.
"Anyway... What is our next match?"
"Hmm~ It seemed like it was said to be a duel."
"Ugh, is it PVP?"
Soon Mary Tepes's expression darkened. Even after becoming a vampire and her physical stats skyrocketed, PVP was still a high wall for her.
After all, the combat system itself was quite simple, so the weight of psychological warfare and timing was quite high.
Moreover, since it wasn't a free-for-all but a one-on-one match, she couldn't avoid psychological warfare.
"I'll leave this to the other teammates...! I can absolutely do it! Before my turn comes, please get 4 wins for me!"
"I'll try."
"I'll try, Sion~"
The one saving grace was that depending on the match flow, her turn might not even come.
Since the captain was Tachibana Rin, the last order in reality was decided by skill at sixth place. Of course, the one who had taken that glory was Mary Tepes.
'Even if I lose once, I can win before my turn comes!'
That was the hope Mary Tepes held.
...Of course, most such hopes were destined to be shattered.
×
Current score was 3-2. If she were the one in front, it would be good, but unfortunately it was the other way around.
Considering it was a best-of-five, her own defeat would lead directly to the team's defeat.
In that tension, Mary Tepes swallowed hard.
"I'll go, Sion."
"Yes. Please go."
A voice of encouragement came from behind. In response to that, Mary Tepes gave a small smile.
"Kyaa?! Why are you in this room?!"
...And after turning her head, she yelped in surprise.
"No, since it's like this, I thought I should cheer directly..."
"You could have said it in advance and come in?!"
"But I wanted to see you react cutely..."
"After all, that's the purpose, right?!"
After shouting like that, Mary Tepes, Ninomae Hitomi, let out a deep sigh.
"Ah, it's not just the tension that was released, but the whole body is relaxed..."
"Sorry."
Han Seoyeon said it in a voice that showed no remorse at all and hugged Hitomi's shoulder.
"Win and come back."
"I don't have the confidence, but I meant to do it in my heart."
"...If I win this time, I'll fulfill any play you want at night."
"......That word is not to be taken lightly!"
Mary Tepes's motivation suddenly surged.
"Here, I'll give you paper, so write down what you want in advance."
"...Hehe. Ehehe."
Heat surged through her entire body and the vampire's blood activated. Her fangs sharpened a little sharper than usual, and wings sprouted from her back.
"That's the reason. Please watch my broadcast again later."
"I won't kill you. I just want to give the character a respawn experience..."
It was a very disappointing situation for the opponent, but Mary Tepes was completely sincere right now.
'One hundred percent... no, one hundred and twenty percent of the power of Super Mary Tepes...!'
