The Secret Broadcast
Right after Anna ended her stream, she sent me a message.
[Teacher, could you please appear on my broadcast?]
"A broadcast? Did something happen?"
[It's not that anything special happened. I just thought it would be nice to record our training sessions and turn them into content.]
"Hmm."
I nodded. Truthfully, I didn't quite understand what Anna was saying. I still didn't have a proper grasp of the streaming industry. What exactly was so great about broadcasting our training together? Having never been a streamer myself, I couldn't see the appeal.
Of course, it was a little pitiful that Anna was being suspected of having a boyfriend. I wasn't sure just how serious an accusation like that was for a VTuber. Still, judging from the scandals involving TV idols, I could make an educated guess. If I appeared on her stream, it would definitely clear up those rumors.
But that didn't mean I had any obligation to go that far. What I'd been asked to do was improve Anna's Labyrinthos skills. Appearing on a broadcast was an entirely separate matter. This wasn't about loyalty or affection. It wasn't a case of "Since you're already doing me this favor, could you do this other thing too?" or "While you're at it, might as well take care of that~". Once you start accepting one request, you might end up shouldering far more than you bargained for. That's why it's important to draw clear lines in life. Otherwise, you're bound to become a pushover.
[I'll pay you an appearance fee.]
"Explain in more detail, if you would."
Anna was fussing over her outfit.
"Ugh… I don't know if this is okay."
Standing in front of the mirror, she kept second-guessing herself. The more she did, the more time slipped away, which only made her more anxious. Just as Lora had guessed, Anna wasn't the type to care much about other people's opinions. She understood basic etiquette, of course. But only to that extent. She would dress in something reasonably presentable, show up to gatherings when expected, and match the mood well enough. Anything beyond that just felt like too much effort.
Living in society meant forming relationships you didn't necessarily want, and knowing how to maintain them was part of adult life. In that sense, she might actually be socially maladjusted. After all, she had barely put any effort into maintaining or developing her personal connections. The only relationships she had were with the other VTubers from the same company. And even those only existed because they were all within the same corporate boundary.
Just like how high school friends drift apart after graduation, and college friends do the same… to Anna, most people were simply "passersby." She didn't particularly mind. A narrow social circle was undoubtedly a fatal flaw for a human being, but Anna had always been the type who found joy in solitude. She would rather live freely—even if it felt a bit empty—than feel suffocated and exhausted among people. That was all there was to it.
And yet…
"…If it were actually a boyfriend, I wouldn't have to go through all this."
Even as she said it, she thought it sounded strange, but Anna stopped changing her clothes. When she really thought about it, most people probably looked like squids in front of that person. That person probably wouldn't even understand the worries of mere squids. After all, she was like a resident of the clouds.
Half in resignation, Anna left the house. But once she was in the taxi, she started to regret it a little. …Maybe she should have picked a better outfit. Didn't she look like a total loser in the reflection of the window? If she'd known this would happen, she would have practiced wearing normal clothes more often. The sigh that escaped her lips melted into the air, and the time she wished she could turn back kept moving forward with the indifferent ticking of the clock.
The place the wheels carried her to was in front of a café. After hesitating several times, Anna took a deep breath and stepped inside.
"Ah."
She spotted her immediately. Even though she was sitting all the way in the back, she stood out at first glance. Just by sitting there, her presence was overwhelming. Her gaze was fixed on a book. That alone created a perfect picture, stirring the impulse to preserve the moment forever.
She had been so nervous before entering the café, yet all her earlier worries now felt like lies. As if enchanted by a snow woman, Anna unconsciously walked forward. Step by step. But when she was still a short distance away, hesitation struck. Sitting in the empty seat across from her somehow felt wrong. Maybe she should wait until the book was finished?
"You've arrived."
But Aurora had already noticed Anna's presence. Lora's eyes lingered on the book a moment longer. As if there was no rush. As if it was perfectly fine to keep Anna waiting. For some reason, Anna felt that she had every right to do so.
Only after reading a few more lines did Lora finally close the book.
"You don't need to order anything?"
"……Ah."
Only then did she realize. Right, this was a café.
"Perfect timing. Here, take this."
Lora held something out to Anna. It was a pager. And it was vibrating in real time.
"…Um, this is…"
"It's a pager. It vibrates when the drink or food you've ordered is ready."
"No, I know what it is, but…"
"Oh? Then go ahead and pick it up."
Lora smiled sweetly.
"Ah, yes."
Anna headed to the counter. While she was there, she ordered something for herself as well and brought back the black tea and snacks Lora had ordered.
"…Wait, aren't you using me a little too naturally?"
Anna was dumbfounded.
"Did it offend you?"
But with just those few words, spoken with a smile, Anna found herself swallowing her breath.
"Ah, no… I didn't dislike it."
"Really? That's a relief, then."
"Ugh…"
She felt like she wanted to say something, but in the end, Anna couldn't utter a word. Even though she'd been treated unreasonably, strangely enough, she didn't feel offended. In fact, she might have even felt a little pleased… It was a very peculiar feeling.
"You said you'd like me to appear on your broadcast, correct?"
Lora naturally brought up the topic. Then she stared at her intently, as if inviting her to speak freely. Their eyes met. Those eyes seemed like they could swallow you whole. For a moment, Anna thought her heart had stopped. She'd never thought of herself as dense. She wasn't particularly perverted either. Yet for some reason, whenever she stood in front of Lora, she felt dizzy.
In the end, wanting to get close to an attractive person must be human nature.
"…Teacher, you knew from the beginning, didn't you?"
She spoke as if exhaling a breath that had been trapped deep in her lungs. Lora tilted her head with a perfectly calm expression.
"My, your sentence is missing a subject. What exactly are you referring to?"
"The fact that I'm a VTuber. …Do you know? You've never once called me 'Sojin,' Teacher."
"That's true. To me, you've always been 'Anna' from the very start."
"…So you really did know."
"Isn't that obvious? If you wanted to hide your identity, you shouldn't have used the name Rion, at the very least."
…Well, she had a point.
"Then… did you pretend not to know for Senior Rion's sake…?"
"Wouldn't pretending to be clueless be much more fun?"
This person really is quite wicked. Anna let out a small laugh.
"Anyway, there are two things we need to discuss today. 'What kind of broadcast we'll do' and 'Whether we'll actually do the broadcast'."
"I understand the former. What about the latter?"
"If you're going to appear on my stream, I thought it would be best to get Senior Rion's permission first."
"I'd rather not. Since I'm already pretending not to know, can't we keep it a secret from Rion and just do the broadcast?"
"She'll find out eventually."
Rion was going to quit being a VTuber soon and switch to working as a manager. And right now, Anna was the only one who knew that. The other VTubers probably had no idea. Rion wasn't the type to openly talk about her personal situation, and VTuber retirements were usually kept secret until right before the announcement. It was similar to submitting a resignation at a company. You might casually mention it to close colleagues, but you didn't go around broadcasting it to everyone.
The reason Anna knew about Rion's upcoming retirement was because Rion was currently acting as her manager.
'It feels rude for me to be the one telling Teacher that Senior Rion is retiring…'
Anna considered revealing the truth to Lora but decided against it. She felt it was something Rion should say herself. In any case, while Lora knew that Rion was a VTuber, she apparently didn't know about the manager part. At least not yet.
Given her job as a manager, Rion would definitely watch Anna's streams. Even if she couldn't watch live, she'd check the archive later. And then she'd find out that Lora had appeared on Anna's broadcast. Not only would the fact that Rion had been a VTuber be revealed, but even her career change to manager would no longer be a secret from Lora.
That was the weight behind Lora appearing on Anna's stream.
"Then let's do it this way."
Lora spoke as if something had just occurred to her.
"The content should obviously be Labyrinthos. Since you've gotten quite used to the Magic Engineer, it would be good to try a different character now."
"That sounds good. How should we structure the broadcast?"
"At the beginning of the stream, you should start with a bombshell reveal."
"…A bombshell?"
Anna tilted her head in confusion.
Shiroki Anna has posted a new stream announcement.