Chapter 85: I’m done here…

[Utsumi Ayaka: I want to do an offline collab!]

[Kaino Izumi: …Huh?]

[Utsumi Ayaka: I! Want to!!! Do an offline collab with Izumi-chan!!! (°)]

Out of nowhere, I received this DM from Utsumi Ayaka.

Using emoticons to make such an intense request—really?

I’ve been thinking this for a while, but doesn’t Utsumi-chan like me a little too much?

TS (transformed into a girl) heroines are destined to be endlessly loved by everyone around them for no reason.

But since I’ve never had such experiences in my life, I thought that reality was different from novels.

It seems fate doesn’t change so easily after all.

“Hmm…”

Honestly, though, I’d rather refuse.

Utsumi-chan is just too overwhelming.

I appreciate her liking me so much, but how should I put it…

It feels like she’s going to devour me or something…

[Utsumi Ayaka: Suzuhana created the unit “Pure White Ocean” with you.]

[Utsumi Ayaka: Yukari went on a cultural festival date with you.]

[Utsumi Ayaka: And Nekoto played in the “Ashen City” war game with you!]

[Utsumi Ayaka: I feel so left out because I’ve never had a special moment with you!]

[Utsumi Ayaka: I want to do Ayazumi teetee with you!]

But with her saying all this, how could I possibly refuse?

I tried to come up with something, but my communication skills, weaker than a flea’s, couldn’t find a solution.

However, as a 175k-subscriber VTuber who cleared Arcana Shooter Purgatory and ST Cerberus, I found another

way besides refusal.

[Kaino Izumi: Do we really need to meet offline?]

[Kaino Izumi: We just saw each other recently, so why not just do a regular collab stream?]

[Utsumi Ayaka: You don’t want to meet me in real life…? (T_T)o]

But Utsumi-chan was a formidable opponent.

[Kaino Izumi: …When should we meet?]

[Utsumi Ayaka: How about next Saturday?]

[Utsumi Ayaka: We could go on a date outside and then stream back at home!]

[Utsumi Ayaka: On stream, we could just chat and read “My Macarons” together!]

[Kaino Izumi: Where will we meet?]

[Utsumi Ayaka: Should I come to you?]

[Kaino Izumi: …I’ll come to you.]

“Yahoo!”

Ayaka couldn’t help but shout in excitement at Izumi’s response.

Ever since meeting all the second-generation StarsFlow members before debuting, she had been looking forward to this day.

Ayaka had always been the youngest in her family.

She only had two older brothers at home, and her childhood friend—two years her senior—was like an older sister.

While she held the “big sister” role among her friends at school, that was just playful teasing.

In truth, Ayaka had never had a younger sibling, leaving her with an idealized fantasy of what it would be like.

After struggling through various companies as an adult, her childhood friend encouraged her to apply to StarsFlow.

The result? A proud acceptance.

When she first met her fellow recruits before debut, Ayaka realized this was her dream.

Almost all her colleagues were younger than her—except for one.

Among them, Izumi stood out the most.

Sure, her appearance was striking, but what really captivated Ayaka was that Izumi was seven years younger than her at the time.

Of course, Ayaka cherished all her colleagues.

With Yukari, the prickly little sister vibe made it easy to get along, leading to the creation of the Ayakari duo.

Nekoto, with her naturally airheaded personality, evoked a maternal instinct in Ayaka entirely different from what she felt for Izumi.

Suzuhana was almost like the one being cared for, rather than the other way around.

…Even though Ayaka was much taller.

At any rate, six years younger Izumi became someone Ayaka wanted to dote on.

However, Izumi’s extreme shyness and Ayaka’s highly sociable personality were polar opposites.

After the monetization celebration group collab, the two had little interaction.

While Ayaka constantly reached out to Izumi, the latter rarely reciprocated.

First, Izumi grew close to Suzuhana.

Then, Yukari visited Izumi’s high school for the cultural festival.

Even when they played their first shared game, Ashen City, Ayaka rarely had the chance to interact with Izumi.

Ayaka couldn’t help but feel discouraged by the fact, and after hearing that Izumi was going to Hatsumode, she

decided to join, hoping to get closer to her. However, even there, she didn’t make much progress.

At least, going forward, she could be called ‘Ren-unnie’ when they met in person, and she could call Izumi ‘Mitchi’

(三), but that was about it.

Ultimately, the frustration built up and exploded today when she impulsively pushed Izumi for an offline

collaboration.

“I never thought it would succeed like this.”

And even more so, Izumi was heading to her house.

The joy was so overwhelming that Ayaka couldn’t help but smile widely.

But then came the sudden wave of unease.

If this was a forced offline collaboration, wouldn’t it actually cause Izumi’s internal evaluation of her to decrease?

Izumi, who was notoriously shy, made that possibility very real.

Ayaka fidgeted nervously, tapping her foot, but no clear answer came to her.

“OO….”

In the end, Ayaka asked for help, as she always did when she hit a wall—she reached out to her older sister.

[Kaino Izumi☆Star’s Flow @Kainolzumi. 8 minutes]

This weekend! I’m doing an offline collab with my fellow trainee, Utsumi-chan! Please look forward to it!

https://ontu.be/XXXXXXX

#Star’sFlow2ndGeneration #KainoIzumi #UtsumiAyaka

[Utsumi Ayaka☆Star’s Flow @UtsumiAyakaᆞ3 minutes]

Finally doing an offline collab with Izumi-chan! I’ll be reading My Caron on the stream, so please support!

https://ontu.be/XXXXXXX

#Star’sFlow2ndGeneration #UtsumiAyaka #KainoIzumi

★

The meeting time with Utsumi-chan was at 5 PM.

Considering that I had dance lessons earlier in the day, I couldn’t avoid being a little late. However, Utsumi-chan

expressed her disappointment, wishing to meet earlier and go on a date.

Speaking of dates, it reminded me—while in Korea, when you say “date,” it typically means spending time with a

romantic partner, but in other countries, it’s surprisingly common for friends to call just hanging out a “date.”

But since I immediately think of a romantic date when I hear the word, I always get startled when I hear stories like this.

“Ahh….”

I dragged my exhausted body after the dance lesson and arrived at the meeting spot in front of the Hachiko statue at

Shibuya Station at 4:53 PM.

And as expected, the area around the statue was bustling.

It was Saturday evening, and since the Hachiko statue was one of Shibuya’s most popular meeting spots, there was

no way it was quiet.

Already physically drained, the thought of having to be in such a crowded place was exhausting.

What if I collapse here?

Please hurry and get here, Utsumi-chan…

I started mentally chanting the Heart Sutra, hoping to calm my nerves.

“Mitchi!”

Around halfway through the Heart Sutra, Utsumi-chan appeared, smiling brightly, grabbing my left hand, and

bringing me back to my senses.

The time was exactly 4:55 PM, five minutes before our scheduled meeting time.

“Did you say you’d leave right after your dance lesson? Did you arrive early?”

“Ah, no. I just got here too…”

“Thank goodness. Then, shall we go for dinner? I made a reservation.”

“Yes, Uta…”

“Mitchi?”

“…Ren-unnie.”

“Yep! Let’s go!”

We went to a well-known Kobe beef yakiniku place in Shibuya.

I was planning to pay my share, but Utsumi-chan refused, saying, “At times like this, the older sister should pay!”

Free meat is the best.
So delicious.

“Anyway, thank you so much for coming today.”

“Ah, well… Yes, I’m grateful you called me like this…”

“Honestly, I was a little worried. Since Mitchi is so shy, I wondered if you’d hate me for inviting you like this…”

“Ah, no, I-I don’t hate it.”

“Thank goodness.”

When Ayaka heard my answer, she smiled slightly.

Honestly speaking, it was incredibly overwhelming, but there was absolutely no way I could hate it.

After all, I knew well that Ayaka was a kind person.

Even during the call before the collaboration for the monetization celebration, she had defended me when Koga-

san’s pranks were getting out of hand, and whenever I got into trouble, Ayaka was always the one who worried about

me the most.

How could I dislike someone like her?

Besides, with such a beautiful and sexy woman liking me this much, any guy who doesn’t like her must be seriously messed up.

“Actually, I really wanted a younger sibling. All I have around me are older brothers and sisters…”

With that, Ayaka began to share her story.

I happily ate the yakinikku Ayaka had grilled for me.

I’ve heard all the stories, so there’s no problem, right…?

[[Chit-chat] Ayazumi Off Collaboration! #UtsumiAyaka #KainoIzumi #StarsFlow

-X|0|0|…

-(≥▽≦)> Zumi Zumi!

“Are you nervous?”

“Ah… a little.”

But honestly, I wasn’t as nervous as when we did the first group collaboration, or when I met Akabane-chan or did

the off-collab with Koga-san.

After all, I’m the 175,000-subscriber V-Tuber who cleared Arcana Shooter: Purgatory and ST Cerberus with attitude.

I’ve definitely grown.

And more than anything, before I start my stream, I look at the frame with Natchan’s words of encouragement…

“…Huh?”

Wait a minute, this is Ayaka’s house.

There’s no frame with Natchan’s words of encouragement.

“…U-Um, I think I’m mistaken, Ayaka…”

“Izumi-chan…? Izumi-chan?!”

I’m done for…