Hamburgers and Hidden Gazes
Truly close classmates. [When you realize it, you're always searching.] [For the definition of happiness, or a place to cast away sadness.] [From the moment you're born until your life ends.]
With wireless earbuds in, Sora pressed both hands firmly over her ears. If this were home, she would have buried herself under a headset, but there was no way she could have hauled something that bulky all the way here. It felt like settling into a world separated from reality. As if her body were slowly sinking into the melody, once she shut out her vision completely, it almost seemed as though nothing existed in this world except the song.
"Haa… I've calmed down." Sora let out a breath. Music really was the best. It was both a drug and sex. 'Am I actually mentally weak…?'
She had never once thought of herself as mentally fragile throughout her life. Yet watching her mood ride a roller coaster these days, she felt it might be worth seriously examining the durability of her mental state. The one saving grace was how quickly she recovered. No matter how depressed she got, listening to a few songs and singing a few more usually helped. Of course, right now her classmates were waiting, so one song was her limit.
Sora quickly washed her hands and stepped out of the restroom.
"You're here?"
She came face-to-face with Oh Lora, who had been waiting idly in front of the restroom. Looking around, there was no sign of anyone else.
"Alone? Where are the others?"
"Indeed. Inagika said she needed to call her family for a moment. Chell said she would wait outside."
Rion apparently had things to organize as well—contract documents for monetization signed today, or recording the things they had discussed. And so Oh Lora and Sora were left alone together.
'I've gotten a bit used to it now…'
She had glanced at her face without thinking in the meeting room earlier, but after seeing it continuously, she seemed to have grown somewhat accustomed to Oh Lora's features. Even so, she worried that if she let her guard down her eyes would drift again, so Sora deliberately looked away.
"Huh? Where's your parasol?"
That was when Sora noticed. Oh Lora's hands were empty.
"What happened to the parasol? And you were carrying a handbag too, weren't you?"
"You have a good memory. As you said, I did bring both a parasol and a handbag today."
"That's not what I asked. Where did you put them?"
"It seems I left them in the meeting room."
So Sora and Laura returned to the meeting room together. When they opened the door, the handbag sat exactly where Oh Lora had been seated, as if it belonged there.
"Of course. You left it here."
Laura nodded a couple of times and walked right back out of the meeting room—without picking up either the handbag or the parasol that had been on the floor. She simply closed the door and returned.
"? Why did you come out empty-handed?"
"Oh my, I seem to have made a mistake without realizing."
Laura gently touched her own cheek, looking troubled.
"Noble young ladies are meant to keep their hands free at all times. We entrust trivial items to our attendants and move about with nothing but our own bodies. That is the usual way, is it not?"
"…So? What are you trying to say?"
"I am still not accustomed to carrying things like parasols myself."
"……"
That sounded like complete nonsense… Was she joking? …But she did not seem like the type to joke around.
'Did she really grow up in a wealthy household…?'
That kind of atmosphere clung to her. If she claimed to be the daughter of some high-ranking person, Sora would have believed it. Yet if she truly came from such a family, she would not be working as a VTuber… In any case, there were countless things about Oh Lora that did not make sense.
"Haa…"
Sora shrugged and walked back into the meeting room. She gathered the handbag and parasol, then placed them in Laura's hands.
"Oh my, thank you."
Laura smiled brightly.
…She was disgustingly beautiful.
Perhaps because it was Sunday, most restaurants were closed. Or maybe it was because this was a business district. There had been various opinions among the sixth-generation members about where to eat lunch, but then—
"How about hamburgers…"
Inagika, who had barely voiced any opinions until now, suddenly suggested it.
"You like hamburgers?"
"Yeah, I eat them pretty often… And they're doing a collab product right now…"
"Collab?"
"Yeah…"
According to Inagika, it was a collaboration with Blue Record. If you ordered the collab set menu, you would receive a coupon usable in-game and a photocard.
"Let's go with hamburgers."
Even Chell, who had been silent until now, chimed in. Since Chell's main content was usually Blue Record streams, she seemed to have considerable interest in the photocard.
There were no other alternatives, and Sora herself was curious about what the collab felt like. And so the sixth-generation members headed to the burger place. They ordered five collab set menus, and Rion packed one of them to go.
"Then enjoy yourselves, just the sixth generation. …I need to head back to the company."
"Oh my, is something the matter?"
"It's not that something happened, but since I'm already here on the weekend, I should get some work done…"
Rion spoke with a sigh in her voice. Most VTubers streamed regardless of weekdays or weekends, and apparently there were quite a lot who streamed from daytime onward on weekends. Because of that, it was common in this industry for staff to come in on weekends as well.
"It'll probably take me a while to finish up. You can't drive, can you, sis?"
"Have you ever seen a ducal daughter drive a car herself?"
"Ugh, there you go with the concept again… Fine. I'll take the car when I leave work, so you figure out how to get home."
With that, Rion left the store carrying the packed hamburger. She really just paid for the food and left.
'Maybe she wants us sixth-gen members to get a little closer?'
After all, they were going to do a group collab soon. Rion probably wanted them to show the viewers that they were on good terms with one another.
Hmm… Was that even possible?
"Ah, that's the coupon for Blue Record… And that's the photocard…"
When Sora fiddled with the items they had received with the collab set, Inagika spoke up.
"The coupon is for the game, right? What's the photocard for?"
"It doesn't really have a use. It's just like a souvenir…"
"I see. It looks like a different character than the one on your photocard."
"There are four characters in total, and you get one at random each time you buy a collab product…"
Inagika continued speaking, stuttering a little. Her posture was slightly hunched. She looked perpetually withdrawn, and her forward head posture was noticeable. Her base appearance was not bad, but she was far too timid. A person's beauty was supposed to come from their posture and mindset as well, and Inagika was severely lacking in that regard.
'Still, she talks more than I expected.'
She seemed a little excited. When Sora had first met her, she had barely spoken, but perhaps she had grown used to the current atmosphere. Her words were flowing quite well now. However, upon closer observation, Inagika never spoke to anyone except Sora. She still seemed to find Sora intimidating, and Chell's reactions were not great either.
"……"
Chell remained silent. She was not as striking as Sora, but she could still be called beautiful. Depending on the person, some might even think she was the second-prettiest among them. An icy, cold atmosphere lingered on her face. Because of that, she had a unique presence that was quite charming. Yet she was utterly emotionless. It was not just her expression. She showed no reaction whatsoever to the conversations or actions of those around her. It was as if she were only focused on the task right in front of her. Even while Sora and Inagika were chatting about various things, Chell simply chewed on her french fries with an uninterested expression.
'She shows up to every gathering, though.'
At the very least, she was participating in form. She seemed to have that much social awareness. Still, with how little she spoke, it would not be easy to become close to her.
And finally, there was Sora. Sora had been staring at Oh Lora's face the entire time. Tap, tap, tap. She had not touched the hamburger in front of her, nor the french fries, and was simply holding the straw in her mouth. While sipping her cola, her index finger had been lightly drumming on the table since earlier. Her face looked lost in thought as she gazed at Oh Lora. She had been watching her ever since the meeting room, yet it did not seem like she had any particular business with her. The fact that she was so quiet, unlike her usual personality, made it seem as though she were wrestling with some serious concern.
'Jealousy? Hmm, probably not. It does not feel like jealousy.'
There was no hostility in her eyes. Rather, it seemed as though she felt some kind of interest toward Oh Lora. Sora's emotions were hard to read. The only certainty was that she was so focused on Oh Lora that she paid no attention to Inagika or Chell. She had seemed like she wanted to take on a leadership role among them, but at this rate…
'Can we even pull off a collab like this?'
Eating together did not seem likely to make them any closer. It felt as though they had gathered a group of people who were inherently difficult to get along with. After thinking for a moment, Oh Lora opened her mouth.
"By the way, what game are we going to play for the sixth-generation collab stream?"