Ryuuto and the VTuber

“S-sorry, Iwasaki-kun, I didn’t mean it!” Watson started apologizing profusely. “I slipped and accidentally opened the door, which collided with your head. And I couldn’t leave you unconscious in the hallway, so I brought you here to rest–” she was slightly frazzled at this point, but I could tell she was trying her best.

That makes more sense logically–

“I see…thanks for taking care.” That’s right, she’s interested in a medical career, so this was pretty in line with her skill set. I lifted my hand and felt what was keeping the ice pack to my head: a neatly wrapped bandage, not too tight yet not too loose. “You did a good job with the dressing–”

“Thanks, I learned that in high school from volunteering,” she replied, her mood rebounding slightly.

This being the second time I’m sitting in one of my floormates’ dorm rooms has to be some sort of anomaly.

As I recollected more of what transpired before I fell unconscious, a few questions had popped into my mind. One thought at a time, Ryuuto, you’re lucky already that you’re not concussed or anything….maybe just take a breather.

I let my gaze wander around the room, similar to Lafon’s room in size and arrangement. Posters of several video game characters. My attention was once again drawn to her desk, which housed quite a powerful-looking desktop computer – the ones with LEDs and tempered glass casing so you could see the components. A large monitor too…couldn’t really tell what was on the screen though. Quite a large microphone, too.

If I had to estimate, the cost of those electronics combined would be at least… ¥200,000…. Gaming setups are no joke!

“That’s a cool computer setup…looks professional with the microphone.” I looked around at the door, seeing the foam panels. Those must’ve been the items from her online shopping.

“Oh, that,” she laughed awkwardly. “I guess it’s hard to explain it another way–’

She got her phone and started typing something, and after a couple of swipes and taps, she showed me the screen. A video channel…

The video started playing, showing a virtual avatar with brown hair and cat ears. Looks like a VTuber setup– the online streaming scene is quite popular in Japan, especially with VTubers, with some as popular as IRL idols with their own agencies and sponsors.

I read the video title as well and the channel name: ChocoNyan….

“What is up, chat, another beautiful day– how’s everyone doing!?” Yeah, that was pretty much Watson’s voice, but with a lot more…confidence?

“Is that you?”

“Yeah–” she nodded. “I started around senior year in high school and then during the gap year.” She placed the phone on the table as she got up, and I continued to watch.

“That’s neat…live-streaming huh,” I pondered, looking at the screen with increasing curiosity. On the right side of the screen was an overlay of her chatters typing messages, emotes, and everything. I can barely read some of them before they disappear off-screen, and there are so many of them. “Your chat is going pretty fast, you must be popular!”

“Not really,” she fidgeted. “They like to type a lot….I think the last stream I had was about….two thousand?”

“T-two thousand!?” Two thousand viewers?! That’s a lot of people watching! Isn’t that like…the top .1 percent of streamers?

“I mean…there’s streamers with like hundreds of thousands of viewers, so compared to them it’s not that much.” That’s like saying, compared to billionaires, being a millionaire isn’t that much!!

“Anyways, that’s impressive…” still curious about the screaming and raging I heard earlier… “Sounds pretty stressful though.”

“It's actually really fun,” she then realized and laughed. “Oh, you mean the shouting and that…how do I say…”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to put you on the spot,” I redirected. The screen kept playing as the virtual avatar looked around happily… She does sound quite cheerful. I moved the screen a bit, and the screen scrolled to the recommended videos.

“ChocoNyan mald… malding…compilation?” I said quietly as my hand automatically tapped it. Malding? I don’t recognize that word at all. And it has three hundred thousand views?

The video changed to her playing a MOBA-type game. Her teammate…is standing in the distance as she dies, I assume…

“Hey, you see the enemy over there? Just go ahead AND PRESS E YOU DUMBASS—” Ah…that’s quite a gamer reaction.

“ChocoNyan shaped like a chocolate bar WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CHOCOLATE BAR RUDE ASS MOTHERF–” Chocolate bar?

“Where are you AIMING AT?! Bro, give the controller back to your brother,r you are NOT COOKING”

“AAAAAH JESUS CHRIST WTF WAS THAT….devs you are SICK FOR THAT!” Jumpscares are quite frightening…

“You absolute degenerate FU—”

Watson whisked her phone back and closed the app, her cheeks bright red. Like, the Watson here is a sweet, polite, mildly shy girl from Canada — and then there’s the VTuber who, not in a demeaning way, is very unhinged.

“I guess that explains it,” I exhaled, a couple of laughs escaping my mouth as Watson looked on with increasing embarrassment. “Chocolate bar…”

“Ahah…that…” she grinned. “A running gag in my chat, and in-character I would mald at chat for saying things like ‘flat as a cutting board, chocolate bar, vertical cliff…”

As she rattled on about that, I wondered for a bit. Is her chat full of middle schoolers? Anyways, I feel like someone like Lafon would not be very happy with that sort of gag—it is a bit hilarious, though.

There’s that word again. “Mald?”

“It’s like a mix of being mad and balding, like you’re so angry you start losing hair and stuff–”

“Oh….” I can’t imagine someone going bald from being enraged—it does happen in shows and the like.

I feel like I’ve learned more about this world of streaming from Watson than I would have otherwise. Add that to the cosplaying world, and electromagnetic physics…. Is this what they meant by a college education? Is that what I’m paying for?

Wait, I can’t say that since I’m not actually paying anything – even for housing.

I started to get up, a bit lightheaded at first, but eventually was able to get to a full standing position. Watson came over with a slightly worried expression, as if I was about to collapse again.

“You feeling okay? Don’t push yourself–”

I nodded. “Thanks, I think I’m better now….or at least good enough to get back to my room and rest.” How long was I even out for? I took my phone out of my pocket and checked the time: it was almost 5 am. So…two hours.

“I was out cold for two hours, sorry if I made you worry." 

“I was a bit worried at first…” she giggled, “...then you started snoring so I felt relieved and let you sleep it off.”

I suppose that’s one way to determine I wasn’t in grave danger. 

Watson and I said our goodbyes, and I finally made my way to my dorm. Eggs in hand, of course; Watson had kept them in her mini-fridge while I slept. 

Once back in my room, I could see the balcony window now getting lighter as sunrise approached. 

Ugh, and I have an afternoon shift today at the bookstore.

Do I even go ahead and watch that movie I was planning on watching….and the ramen too…

The answer was yes. With eggs…I have no idea how those eggs survived, but they made a damn good ramen.

***

“Iwasaki-kun…Iwasaki-kun!”

“Huh–oh…sorry Tachibana-senpai,” I grabbed the books from the box and handed them to her to restock. Containing the urge to yawn at that moment took all my concentration. Now that my sleep schedule has been officially wrecked, I am in a state of undeniable exhaustion.

I mean, I could only really blame myself for staying up to watch the movie and ramen, which transformed from a late-night meal to an early breakfast. The ‘nap’ I had taken in Watson’s room did keep me awake during that time, then the mid-morning nap until I had to get ready for work.

And now I was, for lack of a better term, cooked.

I don’t usually drink caffeine, but something like that could really help me out now.

“Looks like you didn’t sleep much last night–” she noted, placing the last of the books on the shelf.

“You could say that,” I replied, a small yawn escaping with my last breath. I glanced over at her, and I was not fond of the smug grin forming on her lips.

“Oho, must have been a fun–”

“Nope–” I interjected. “In fact, I still have a slight headache from that door–”

“Door? You okay?”

“Yeah–” Wait I can’t disclose last night’s events– “I banged my head on my dorm room door and that was an annoying pain for the night to have." 

“Aw…poor thing,” she paused. Sorry, Tachibana, this is for Watson’s sake! As we made it back to the office, she went over to the manager. “We finished restocking, Iwasaki-kun and I are going out on a break!”

“Sounds good!” the manager replied, waving at us as he returned to his computer. 

A break?

“Let’s go!” She got hold of my sleeve and whisked me towards the shop exit.

“Where are we going?”

She pointed to the right as we exited the bookstore. “There’s a cafe down the street, you’re in need of a little pick-me-up!”