The Last to Debut
"How should I address you?" Anna asked.
"Address me?"
"You're debuting as part of the 6th generation soon, right?"
"That's right."
"That would make you my junior… I was wondering if it's still okay to keep calling you 'teacher.'"
"Hmm."
I absentmindedly stroked my chin. The hierarchy had gotten tangled. Rion, a 4th generation member, was my cousin. And now Anna, a 5th generation member, was calling me her teacher. If I compared it to the military, Rion would be a corporal and Anna a private? 'From Anna's perspective, it must feel like the tutor she used to have suddenly enlisted as a private.' It was dizzying.
"Though VTubers don't seem to care much about senior-junior dynamics anyway."
That part was rather unique. Celebrities had strict senior-junior hierarchies, but in the VTuber world, even a three-year gap often meant they treated each other like friends. They used casual speech and called each other by name without hesitation.
"You're right. VTubers have especially thin boundaries when it comes to seniority."
"Then just call me whatever feels comfortable."
"Even so, we still show respect to those who debuted earlier. It's like we're all short-timers, but we still acknowledge the generation order."
…I understood what she meant, but why did she know military culture too? Was she actually a reincarnator as well? Her hobbies were suspiciously otaku-like for a girl…
"In other words, you're saying treating me like a senior would be awkward."
"I don't mind personally. But viewers might not like it."
Anna explained that fans could dislike a rookie VTuber who showed insufficient respect toward her seniors. That meant I was supposed to demonstrate respect toward Rion and Anna. This was difficult. I had always been the one receiving respect, never the one giving it.
"Then address me however you like. You can call me Lady Laura or Miss Laura."
"What about Laura-chan?"
"……"
Anna had a good heart, but sometimes she said things that rubbed me the wrong way. Sometimes. …Or perhaps often.
With that, Anna and I decided to keep our distance for the time being. Of course, it wasn't because Anna had upset me. …Well, she had annoyed me a little, but that didn't mean I intended to cut ties. Even if I was a villainess, I rarely turned away someone who liked me. In fact, because I was a villainess, I almost never rejected admirers. It was a common sight in romance fantasy novels. Whenever the villainess criticized the heroine, her followers would always raise their voices in agreement beside her. In that sense, Anna could be considered one of my followers. She had always seemed to like me, and after the last "collab stream," I felt we had grown a little closer.
'Did she realize I'm more charming than her favorite?' That would be unfortunate for Hanabane Rui. Still, being too perfect had its problems. Though I felt a bit sorry for Anna, due to "regulations," I wouldn't be able to meet her for a while.
-"It varies by company. For a certain period after debut, you're only allowed to collab with your own generation."
-"It's not that you can never collab with VTubers from other generations. But every company has similar guidelines on this."
-"The collab restriction period is usually two weeks at the shortest, or about a month at most. Some companies even ban collabs with seniors for up to six months…"
New VTubers faced collab restrictions. There were several reasons, but the biggest was to let them get a feel for streaming on their own. How to perform RP. How to interact with viewers. What tone to use when hosting a stream. The RP issue seemed especially significant. VTubers weren't expected to have great acting skills. Even with RP, it was mostly surface-level. Still, it wasn't their completely genuine self, so mistakes happened during streams.
…There were times when a VTuber's RP and real-life stories didn't match up. It happened especially often when sharing personal stories. Of course, that gap was part of the charm, but RP was still an important element for immersing viewers. That's why the "collab restriction period" existed—so they could get used to RP. It felt like a new recruit waiting period in the military. If you collabed with seniors before getting comfortable with RP, you might slip up. Viewers apparently disliked it when rookies seemed closer to seniors than to their own generation. Some viewers also hated seeing seniors dragging their juniors around. For those reasons, Anna and I agreed to only occasionally voice chat on Discord, and we probably wouldn't meet in VR or on stream for a while.
Instead—
-Ding
[L-Laura! Ah, hello…!]
A voice came through.
"You're here?"
[Ah, yeah! I-I'm here…. U-um, Sora and Chell are…?]
"Who knows. They might not come today either."
[I-I see…! Laura, are you… going to play games today too…?]
"No, I was thinking of having a meal."
I checked my phone. The delivery app was open. Judging by the rider's location, the food would arrive soon.
[I-I see! I was also thinking of having dinner…! I-if it's okay, could we eat together while on call…?]
"Do as you like."
[Then wait just a moment! I'll go get something to eat…!]
Thud thud thud. I could hear Inagika's hurried footsteps through the speaker as she ran off. What a mess.
-"Until debut, try to interact with your generation as much as possible, sis."
-"Especially since this generation has one fewer member than usual. So we need to show we're much closer than other generations."
Rion had said that. That's why lately I'd been keeping the voice channel open. There was also the group chat Sora had made, but the atmosphere wasn't very conversational. Even when messages appeared, they were mostly superficial. But whenever I stayed in the voice channel, someone would eventually join. Sometimes Sora would drop by. Chell came in often but never said a word. Inagika came every single day.
[L-Laura, what are you having for dinner…?]
"Pasta."
[You like pasta…. I-I'll remember that!]
Then came the sound of "slurp slurp." Apparently Inagika survived on konjac jelly for at least one meal a day. Lately, the person I talked to the most was Inagika. We were often alone in the voice channel, and every time, she was the one who started most of the conversations. The reason was obvious. Inagika wanted to get closer to me.
[H-how's debut prep going…?]
Inagika stuttered slightly. Since we were talking online, I couldn't see her face, but I could easily imagine her expression. She was definitely nervous. Thinking back, Inagika had always been like that. From what I'd heard, she didn't have many friends. Maybe she had none at all. Yet her desire for friends was strong, and without much social skill or confidence, just starting a conversation must have been difficult. In that sense, I might be Inagika's first friend.
"Honestly, I don't think there's much to prepare for a stream."
I said. Was there really a need to introduce myself further? I'd already appeared on Anna's stream a few times, and not long ago I'd done a clarification stream. Viewers probably already had an idea of what kind of person I was.
[Laura's probably fine…. B-but you still shouldn't skip prep entirely…. It's important to upload your profile and schedule, and to make viewers look forward to your future streams….]
"Then there's even less to worry about."
My profile and schedule were already prepared. I just had to post them on stream. That left only building anticipation, and that wasn't a problem either. I was an object of envy, and my mere existence was content.
[I'm jealous…. I wish I had as much confidence as Laura….]
"It's truly unfortunate that I can't share it even if I wanted to. What can I do? In your next life, make sure you're born as Duchess Aurora."
[I'll try…. B-by the way, you're last in the debut order, right?]
"That's right."
Sora, Chell, Inagika, then me. That was the order.
-[…It's better if Laura goes last. If you go first, our impressions will be too weak.]
Even covering the sky with your hand couldn't hide the sun. After just a few exchanges, Sora had sensed my intensity and placed me last in the order. Being exceptional was simply inevitable. Sora had apparently wanted either first or last. Inagika, on the other hand, strongly opposed going first.
-[I-I want to go before Laura…. That way, even if I make a mistake, everyone will forget it easily….]
So Sora was first, Inagika third, and I was last. Chell, who hadn't voiced any opinion, automatically became second.
[O-on debut day… do you want to all gather together…?]
Inagika suggested.
"You mean in real life?"
[Not like that…! I'm not ready to meet in person yet…. Besides, we'd have to be at home to stream anyway….]
"True enough."
[Just all gather on Discord…. I thought it would be nice to watch the streams together and chat……]
Inagika mumbled. Come to think of it, I'd only gotten close with Inagika so far. I still wasn't close with the other two. Especially Chell—I still couldn't get a read on what kind of person she was.
"Alright. Let's do that."
[Th-then, could you… ask for me…? It's hard for me to bring it up……]
She probably couldn't order food herself, so she wanted me to do it instead…. It wasn't particularly difficult, so I posted the message in the group chat on Inagika's behalf.
[Rion, introduce me in my place.]
[…What? Me?]
Aurora summoning her manager right from the official debut stream. Watching her, Sora muttered.
"…Is she crazy?"