Surprise Apology
"What'd you do today anyway?"
"I wanted to post notices too, but my schedule changes every day, so it's kinda hard to keep up."
It was a hobby stream, sure, but I was always grateful to the people who watched. Without viewers, I'd probably have turned on the stream, rambled to myself for a bit, lost interest, and quit at some point.
"Sorry, sorry. I'll try to post 'em from now on."
This was on me, so I bowed my head low. You can't strut around just 'cause it's a hobby stream—doing that in situations like this makes you no better than treating viewers like emotional trash cans. I wanted to build a bond with them.
Not like we're all buddies or anything, but it'd be nice if we clicked over our shared hobby.
That's how I'd set the stream vibe from the start. Sure, it wouldn't stop anime fans from fighting, but whatever.
Anyway.
"So, what should we do today?"
I hadn't really planned anything. My stream was basically otaku talk anyway—no need to prep content. I'd accidentally brought some over the past, but that was special; the default was winging it.
"To continue, we'd need at least some ad deal from Ink Stage. No reason they'd allow it otherwise."
You have been temporarily kicked from the channel.
There were always those types who mentioned it outright. They knew I hated that stuff but kept bringing it up.
If you say it so blatantly, I have no choice but to ban you.
If the convo drifted there unconsciously while streaming, fine. But starting with "Let's do geld cup!"? Tough. The genre could get intense quick.
Thinking that, I glanced at Yuu sitting beside me.
...How do girls do that pose?
She was squatting with her legs tucked under her butt. Looked uncomfortable to anyone, but her face said otherwise. Amazed, I cautiously ran the translator.
Yuu shook her head vigorously. She really seemed to be enjoying watching from behind. I'd figured her personality meant she'd pull something shady back there, but nothing. Kinda surprised me. Maybe I'd judged her too harshly.
"Let's read some other manga then. Last time we barely scratched it, so this round, no review comments—just speed through the plot."
I didn't comment that much solo either, but the manga had so much potential I got nosy without realizing. Streaming probably egged it on too.
After that, I loaded up Ink Stage and started digging for buried gems.
Swipe swipe.
How long did I browse? Plenty looked fun.
"These look decent for starters."
Yeah, these days every plot twist has been done, so artstyle matters a ton. Even trash stories can hook you with dopamine hits or killer visuals.
Pondering which to start with—
Tap tap.
Yuu popped up beside me, pointing at one.
"..?"
I stared blankly—what? She pointed at Overedge again.
She wants this one?
...Well, Yuu probably reads all the mid manga anyway.
She'd know what's good.
"Alright, Overedge first."
Yuu plopped into that uncomfortable pose on the chair, staring at the monitor like she was gonna read along. How good could it be? I was getting hyped too.
With that, I binged Overedge up to chapter 15—
"...This is serialized?"
I was shocked. Not by quality or fun—shocked at how boring it was.
What the hell. I trusted Yuu's pick. So shocked, I muted the mic and asked her.
"...Is this fun?"
Her innocent reply:
"Eh, first time for me too."
Oh.
She didn't know—it just looked fun, so she suggested it.
"...Got it."
Couldn't blame Yuu. It was one of my initial picks anyway.
As I went to resume—
"...Sino-san, mad..?"
Yuu looked at me apologetically.
"Nah. I chose it."
This level was average mid anyway. Plot made no sense. Trash pacing. Art saved it, barely.
Seriously, I could do better.
Daydreaming about serializing in Japan for real, I unmuted.
"Next one then."
Leftovers:
Hmm. Predictable, yeah, but time to kill—worth a peek. That's the fun of mid-mining.
Familiar plots, familiar art, familiar twists.
Been there myself.
No need to trash it. Everyone needs time to grow.
With that, we dove into I Loved in the No-Confession Zone, chatting as we went.
"Setting's kinda fun, at least."
Chatting setting—
"Atchoo!"
A small, clear sneeze from right beside me.
Hook chats flooded in.
"Friend's next to me right now, so bear with it. Looks like she caught a cold."
"Not a girlfriend, don't worry. Just a friend who came to check out the stream."
Chat reaction was better than expected. Made sense—I'm no girl or pro streamer; who cares who's beside me?
Subconsciously stuck on Suihwa's streams maybe.
Thinking of her made me hide the fact a girl's here instinctively.
As tension eased—
"Sorryyy..!!"
Yuu, who'd been gauging my mood, launched a sudden apology.
...Was that a smirk tugging at her lips? Nah, just my imagination.