Collab #2 - Luna and Ren's Chemistry

POV → REN

The day of the collab tournament has finally arrived.

“Alright, chat… You know the deal. 32 streamers, random teams. We either get matched with a pro like LunaZero, or someone who hasn’t figured out the controls yet. Both are possible.”

Chat:

“IF HE GETS WITH LUNAZERO IT’S OVER FOR EVERYONE ELSE.”

“IMAGINE LUNA X REN.”

“SHIP BAIT SHIP BAIT SHIP BAIT”

“Yeah, yeah… The odds of that are like… what, under 5 percent? Relax guys.”

My heart, on the other hand, wasn’t relaxed at all. Getting teamed up with LunaZero meant all eyes would be on us.

I knew her mostly as background noise. My sister watched her religiously. Though, because she usually streams late at night, she mostly watches the VODs and stuff on her JodyTube-Channel. On weekends though… let’s rather not talk about that.

Would working with LunaZero be fun?

Probably.

Would chat behave?

Absolutely not.

The draw started.

Chat:

“RIG IT RIG IT!!”

“RNGESUS BLESS US WITH LUNA x REN”

“IF THEY GET PUT TOGETHER I’M SCREAMING IRL.”

“You guys need to touch grass.” I told them.

The spinning wheel animation started on the event overlay.

Team 1.

Then 2.

3.

“Team 4.” the host announced. “LunaZero… and…

Chat exploded:
“ITS HAPPENING.”

“PLS PLS PLS.”

“PRAYING SO HARD.”

“...Renno!”

The bees in my stomach upgraded to hornets.

For a second, I just… stared at the screen.

Then I laughed. A real one, not the forced streamer type.

“Well… congratulations, chat. You manifested it.”

Chat:

“#LUNAREN CANON.”

“COLLAB OF THE YEAR LETSGOOOOO”

“NO POINT WATCHING OTHER TEAMS NOW.”
“CLIP IT GUYS!!”

A notification popped up at the corner of my 2nd monitor.

[DM – Bratty_Gremlin aka. Sis]

Of course.

I clicked it open.

Sis: OIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Sis: YOU’RE TEAMED WITH LUNAZERO

Sis: LUNA ZERO!!!!
Sis: I’M COMING OVER!

I frowned.

Me: No you’re not, I’m LIVE.

Sis: I’ll be super quiet.

Sis: I’ll sit in the corner of your room.

Sis: PLEASE I NEED TO SEE THIS LIVE.

Another notification overlapped the chat.

[Team 4 voice channel opened]

Focus Ren, you’re live.

I joined the team call.

A mechanical beep. A tiny delay.

I was quite nervous, honestly. But I managed to pull myself together and say:

“Uh… hey. Nice to meet you. Looking forward to the games. Let’s win this!”

Nothing.

Is she muted? No she’s not…

“Luna? You there?” I tried again.

Nothing.

Does she actually hate me? Maybe she’s messaging the host right now to switch teams?

“I think she hates me guys…” I said with an awkward laugh.

Suddenly:

“O…Oh! S-Sorry! Fufufu~! I’m here!”

…

—------------------------------------

As Team 1 played against Team 2:

“Let’s go easy in the 1st round, okay? Team 3 isn't that good. Let’s warm up.”

“Eh? But if we lose, we’re out?” she replied.

“That’s what makes it fun.”

“Fufufu~ You’re a little scary Renno-Senpai!”

Before I could respond, another DM popped up.

Sis: I’m outside your door.

Sis: Open up.

Sis: OR I WILL RING THE BELL… 100 TIMES!”

I resisted the urge to facepalm on camera.

“Alright, chat.” I forced a smile. “While Team 1&2 are still playing I’m quickly going to the toilet. Don’t go anywhere!”

Chat:

“TOILET SPEEDRUN”

“HE ALWAYS DOES THIS BEFORE TOURNAMENTS LOL.”

“RENNO’S PRE-GAME PEE-BUFF.”

I muted my mic, flipped to my BRB screen, and yanked off my headset.

I went to the door, cracked it open, just enough to see a pair of excited eyes.

“Finally!!” my sister whispered, slipping inside like a trained spy. “Do you realize what kind of history is being made right now???”

I shut the door, pressing my forehead against it for a second.

“If I actually need to pee in like 20 minutes, my viewers will think I’ve lost my mind.” I muttered. “Thanks, little gremlin.”

“No problemo.” she said, doing a mock-salute. “Emotional support, free of charge!”

“No talking, no noises, no weird waving if I glance over. You’re a ghost.”

She mimed zipping her lips and throwing away a key.

—---------------------------

The 1st round was about to start.

I looked at the 2 characters we chose. I’d picked my usual role and character. Luna had locked in a support with heavy utility.

“Interesting pick. You sure you’re okay healing my dumb mistakes all game?”

“Fufufu~ I like support roles.” she replied. “I don’t mind cleaning up after people.”

“That sounds like you’re neglecting yourself.”

It was silent for a moment.

Then, an awkward chuckle.

It tugged at something in my brain.

Didn’t I… hear that laugh somewhere before?

“Ren?” she asked.

“Hm?”

“You went quiet.”

“Sorry… Just thinking about how much trash I’m gonna talk if we win this whole thing.”

“Fufufu~ Confident.”

“Always. Let's make it real.”

The countdown hit zero.

Game on.

—------------------------------------------

We won the 1st round.

Not easily. But cleanly. A few well-timed plays, some clutch healing from her, one ridiculous flank from me that had chat screaming. The synergy was… surprisingly good.

“Nice.” I said as the victory screen flashed. “You carried that.”

“Ehhhh? No way. You got the kills.” she protested.

“Because you kept me alive.” I leaned back in my chair. “I like this division of labor. I do stupid things, you fix them.

“Fufufu~ That makes me feel like your babysitter.”

“Chat already thinks I need one. You’re making their dreams come true.”

Chat:

“TEAMWORK!”

“LUNAREN SWEEP?”

“MOM AND DAD ENERGY”

I chose to ignore the last one.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my sister silently flailing her arms, trying not to squeal. She caught my glance and clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture that clearly meant: “Please marry her.”

I pretended not to see.

—------------------------

Round 2 was messier.

Our opponents had cracked aim but the communication skill of 2 toasters… which somehow made them terrifying.

I died. Repeatedly.

“Senpai died again~” Luna sing-songed.

“I’m gathering information.”

“You’re collecting deaths. You’re feeding them.”

“You’re enjoying this, huh?”

“Maybe~”

Chat loved it:

“LUNA BULLYING HIM IS THERAPY.”

When it mattered, she clutched. In the final fight, I watched in amazement as she kept both enemies away from the objective at exactly the right moment.

“Holy… Nice! Did you plan that?”

“Fufu~ Who knows?”

“She did not plan that.” I told chat.

—---

Between matches I noticed something. Every now and then, her responses lagged. Not from ping.

Like her mind was somewhere else.

“You okay over there? You sound… I dunno. Distracted.”

“Eh?” she jolted. “S-Sorry! I’m fine! Just a bit overwhelmed, maybe. Big event, you know?”

I could hear the forced smile in her words.

I recognized that tone.

I’d used it for years.

“Don’t worry about it. If it gets too much, just tell me. We can always throw and blame lag.”

“Fufufu~ That’s terrible sportsmanship, Senpai.”

“Chat would probably still believe it.”

Chat:

“IF LUNA SAYS IT WAS LAG I’LL BELIEVE IT.”
“SHE COULD SAY THE EARTH IS FLAT AND I’D BE LIKE ‘OK’.”

“MY QUEEN CAN DO NO WRONG.”

I rolled my eyes. “See?”

From the corner, my sister lifted both thumbs silently.

—----------------------------

We made it to finals.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the pressure now. This WAS about 2 million yen for a good cause. I’d love to decide where this money goes.

“Last one. You’ve got my back, right?” I said with my leg bouncing under the desk.

“Yes, Senpai~!”

“If I throw now, you’re allowed to flame me.”

“Fufu~ Tempting.”

The opponents were terrifying. Not because their aim was better (it wasn’t), but because they got lucky with the draw. They know each other. They played this game together A LOT. Therefore their coordination is way above ours.

“We play slow. Poke, poke, back out. No hero plays unless we see a real opening.” she said, totally locked in now.

“Understood!”

The 1st round, we lost.

2nd round, we adapted and won.

3rd round… was chaos.

I overextended (again), got caught (again), and somehow lived (barely), because she burned down everything to save me.

“Sorry. That was dumb.”

“It was. Don’t do it again.”

“Noted.”

I did it again.

“I almost threw that… Thank you!”

“Babysitter duties~”

“Guess you really are.”

“Then I want a raise.”

“Talk to my agent.”

Chat loved it:

“THE BANTER IS SO NATURAL HELP.”
“I SHIP IT YOUR HONOR.”

And then… in the last seconds of the game, I hit a flank and took out the main damage dealer. She followed up immediately, freezing the other player.

“GO, GO, GO!” I yelled.

We rushed in together.

Victory screen.

My chat exploded so fast my eyes couldn’t keep up.

“THEY DID ITTTTT.”

“LUNAREN CHAMPIONS”

“MARRY ALREADY.”

I leaned back, looking at the ceiling, laughing.

“We actually won.” I muttered, half to myself.

“Yes… We did.” There was a warmth in her tone I hadn’t heard before.

The host hyped us up, teased our chemistry. I gave the usual answers, thanked the sponsors of the event and so on.

Then it came to the decision… where the prize-money would go. Surprisingly, Luna wanted me to decide. I hadn’t thought about it properly.

“Is there a way to tell you the exact organization later? I do have something particular in mind, though.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I’d like to donate the money to an organization that supports single mothers. It’s something deeply personal to me, and I know how much even a tiny bit of support can mean… Of course, only if Luna is fine with that.”

There was a brief pause.

“Yes… I think that's a wonderful cause.” she said softly. Almost not in her streamer voice at all. It sounded like she’s about to cry. It tickled at something in my brain again…

“Then that settles it!” the host boomed. “Thank you all for playing, and a HUGE congrats to our amazing winners.”

The tournament was over. Luna and I talked for a bit about special moments from the tournament, then we muted and both ended our streams.

After both our streams were over, I unmuted again.

“Hey… Good work today, really.”

“You too…” she said. Then, softer: “Thank you… for taking care of me.”

I blinked.

“Taking care of you? You carried pretty much all those fights.”

“I don't mean ingame.”

“Huh?”

“You know… because of you… I forgot to be scared for a little while.”

My chest clenched.

I wanted to ask, Scared of what?

Scared of who?

But the questions got stuck in my throat.

Instead: “Anytime, seriously. If you ever want to play again… no tournament, no pressure, just let me know.”

There was a tiny pause.

“...I’d like that.”

We disconnected.

My sister sat in the corner, hugging a cushion, eyes wet with unshed tears.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m not. You are.” she sniffed.

“I literally watched you wipe your face.”

She ignored me, pressing the cushion to her chest dramatically.

“That was… So GOOD… THe gameplay, the banter, the EVERYTHING!! Onii-Chan, if you don’t end up with her, I’m disowning you.”

“I thought you wanted me to end up with my pregnant neighbor. So which love-route do you want more?”

“Both.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does… just a feeling.” she said, voice surprisingly calm now.

I snorted.

—----------

Luna’s words still echoed in my head for a while.

“I forgot to be scared for a little while”

I knew that feeling.

The relief of forgetting.

The heavy feeling when the game ends and reality creeps back in.

For some reason, the idea of her facing that alone didn’t sit right with me.

But there’s nothing I could do. I didn’t know her.

I looked at the wall that separated Yuna’s apartment from mine.

Maybe I couldn’t help Luna.

But there was someone I could.