Chapter 124: He’s a super popular mood maker, but I think it’s too difficult for me, a communicator.

[Thread 439: Discussing VTuber Kaino Izumi]

…

13. Suzuha posted on her Twitter that she’s hanging out with Mei-chan.
14. The anti-thread guys pushing the feud rumors must be shocked.
15. 14 << It was a ridiculous rumor from the start.
16. They both said during the birthday live stream that they were insanely busy.
17. Their 3D debut, birthday, and 1st-anniversary events all overlapped, so it couldn’t be helped.
18. 17 << The anti-thread guys don’t care about that at all.

…

39. If it’s Last Stardust, there’s no doubt Mei-chan picked it.
40. 39 << They added the old man in the latest update.
41. I wonder how good Mei-chan is at Last Stardust.

…

83. She’s completely destroying them.
84. People forget sometimes because she jokes around so much, but Mei-chan is insanely good at games.
85. At least in Star Plus, no one can keep up with her.
86. 84 << Even pros have mentioned her skills in BN before.
87. 86 << Seriously? Mei-chan is an even bigger deal than I thought.
88. 87 << A-kun once said that if Mei-chan could consistently use Rina, she could compete on the world stage.
89. Every time this comes up, I realize—she’s crazy talented. She’s great at games, was a super famous illustrator in her past life, has 220K subscribers as a VTuber, and on top of that, she’s an ultra-cute JK. Isn’t Mei-chan’s spec way too high?
90. 89 << Yeah, this is just unreal…

…

121. So Mei-chan is the orange juice type, huh? LOL.
122. 17 years old. That’s crazy young.
123. The way Suzuha takes care of Mei-chan is so precious…
124. This is the pillar and the youngest of the second generation.

…

168. Isn’t this kind of risky?
169. Normally, Mei-chan should be asleep, and Ayakawa Yukari should be the one staying behind.
170. Well, it’s Suzuha, so people probably trust her to handle things.
171. 170 << If that’s the case, Mei-chan could just go to sleep too, right?
172. 171 << She’s the only one who didn’t drink, so she’s probably staying in case anything happens.

…

188. Ah, this is definitely going to blow up…
189. Scandal confirmed.

[Virtual OnTuber Minor Gallery]

[Title: Today’s Suzuha Twitter Compilation]
[Posted by: SuzuIzu]
And you’re telling me SuzuIzu isn’t real? That’s nonsense.
This is the real deal.

[Upvotes: 56 / Downvotes: 1]

Mei-chanLove: At this point, I seriously think they might be dating.
└
: I seriously support this.
└Anonymous: Tapping the upvote button while doing a tap dance in support.

IGiraffeDrew: I’ve been thinking this for a while—Izumi seems really into cheese.
└IGiraffeDrew: Wasn’t her favorite food cheese hamburger steak?
└
: Yeah, that’s right.

[Title: Today’s SuzuIzu Marshmallow Summary]
[Posted by: Anonymous]

Izumi: She’s the embodiment of water, but she doesn’t want to go to the beach, even in summer.

Suzuha: She ran away to the surface because of work overload, but she’s the hardest-working member of the second generation.

Their RP and real personalities seem totally opposite.

[Upvotes: 41 / Downvotes: 5]

ㅇㅇ: So this is what they mean by “birds of a feather flock together.”

Oyabun🔸: Since she’s the avatar of water, she probably doesn’t feel the need to see the ocean.
└ Oyabun🔸: Heaven used to be a black company that made her work overtime every day, but StarFlow isn’t like that, so maybe she just doesn’t think she has a lot of work.
└ ㅇㅇ: That actually makes sense.
└ Suzuizu: So this is what it takes to be a mod, huh?

[Title: Suzuha’s Closing Remarks on Today’s Stream]

[Posted by: uwu]

“You guys kept nagging, so we did an off-collab.

We’re seriously close, so stop making a fuss.

It sucks seeing Izumi go through a hard time because of all the stupid rumors.

So don’t start st again later.

I fking love Izumi.”

[Upvotes: 59 / Downvotes: 3]

ㅇㅇ: Is this real?
└ ㅇㅇ: You think it’s fake?
└ Eighth Star🔹: Surprisingly, if you ignore the harsh wording, it’s actually all true.

ㅇㅇ: This is… gachikoi behavior.

ㅇㅇ: I guess the rumors about them not getting along really got out of hand.
└ ㅇㅇ: If she had to address it directly on stream, then yeah.
└ Don’t Lie: Izumi seems to care about stuff like this a lot.
└ Don’t Lie: There were even theories that the reason she disappeared for a week last time was because of drama.
└ Oyabun🔸: There are tons of idiots spreading those rumors even in this gallery.

The Hell Ahead: On the bright side, at least we got a SuzuIzu off-collab out of it.
└ ㅇㅇ: That’s… actually kind of true. lol

[Title: So This Is Today’s SuzuIzu Summary?]

[Posted by: YuriLover]

So basically, Suzuha and Izumi were just doing fine on their own,

but then some dumb rumors about them not getting along started spreading, and Izumi got stressed over it.

Seeing that, Suzuha suggested they do an off-collab.

Then, during the stream, they started drinking, and Suzuha got drunk and spilled everything—

including her feelings for Izumi.

In the end, Suzuha couldn’t hold back her burning passion, pinned Izumi down, and they spent a fiery night together…

Now, they’re actually dating.

[Upvotes: 49 / Downvotes: 9]

ㅇㅇ: What the hell is that final drift? lmao

Suzuizu: I support this.
└ Suzuizu: After watching today’s stream, we all know SuzuIzu is ‘real.’

SpiralBand: But Suzuha keeps saying they’re just business partners.
└ Suzuizu: Dude, business partners can get married too.
└ ㅇㅇ: You really think this is just business?
└ Oyabun🔸: It’s a long-standing tradition for “business relationships” to turn real.

ㅇㅇ: Oh… this is top-tier content.

There Are Two Types of Otaku Who Enjoy Fan Creations.

Those who create them.
And those who consume them.

And in Japan, there’s an event twice a year where both types gather in one place.

[Namikawa Tsubaki: “Izumi-chan, wanna go to Summer Comiket next week?”]

That event is Comic Market, or Comiket for short.

[Namikawa Tsubaki: “Everyone except Nacchan is going.”]
[Kaino Izumi: “Nacchan can’t make it?”]
[Namikawa Tsubaki: “Yeah, she won’t be able to go.”]

“Hmm…”

Comiket is the biggest event for Japanese otaku.

Of course, plenty of women attend too…

But wouldn’t a group of ten people draw a lot of attention?
Especially since every member of StarsFlow just happens to be ridiculously beautiful…

As if reading my mind, Namikawa-senpai sent another message.

[Namigawa Tsubaki: Of course, we’ll split up on the day, but I thought it would be better to go together.]

[Namigawa Tsubaki: And since Rinze, Ichika, and Nekoto are participating on the second day as well, we’ve booked a separate place to stay.]

[Namigawa Tsubaki: If you think of it as everyone gathering to have fun, isn’t it nice?]

[Namigawa Tsubaki: The company also said they would support us.]

[Kaino Izumi: Understood. I’ll go with you.]

[Namigawa Tsubaki: Got it!]

Well, since StarsFlow was opening an official booth at this Comiket, I had already planned to go.
Going together would surely be exhausting in many ways, but it might also be enjoyable….

Wait a second.
Haven’t I only met Kurokami-senpai in real life so far…?

Of course, there hasn’t been a single senior I haven’t talked to before, but….
Meeting Namigawa-senpai, Amatsuka-senpai, Yuzuki-senpai, and Minazuki-senpai all at once…?

Maybe I should cancel now….

[Namigawa Tsubaki: (Address)]

[Namigawa Tsubaki: Meet here by 8 AM!]

[Kaino Izumi: Okay….]

It’s already too late….

“Haah….”

I let out a sigh and held my head.

They aren’t strangers, but meeting people I have no real face-to-face experience with all at once?
This is an impossible challenge for someone like me—an extreme social butterfly but also a communication wreck….

To put it bluntly, it wouldn’t be surprising if I suddenly threw up on the way there.

There’s no choice.
At this point, I’ll have to fake being sick on the day and go separately—

Ding!

[Koga Suzuha: I heard you’re coming too, Izumi?]

[Koga Suzuha: But now you’re scared of meeting the seniors for the first time, so…]

[Koga Suzuha: You’re not planning to fake being sick and come separately, right? (^_<)〜☆]

…Looks like that’s not going to work.
That aside, I’m getting used to Koga reading my thoughts. Isn’t that seriously dangerous?

[Natsune Nanase: I heard about it. You’re going to Comiket too, Izumi?]

[Kaino Izumi: Yes. Namigawa-senpai told me about it, so I decided to join.]

[Natsune Nanase: Then you must have heard, but unfortunately, I don’t think I can go this time. ( ╥ω╥ )]

[Natsune Nanase: I have some personal matters to take care of…]

[Kaino Izumi: I hope we can go together next time.]

[Natsune Nanase: Yes! Let’s definitely go together next time!]

I wonder why.
Meeting Nacchan in real life seems strangely difficult.

It’s already been over a year since I joined StarsFlow, yet I haven’t met her even once.
Apparently, all my fellow second-gen members have already met her except me….

But deep down, there’s a part of me that feels relieved that I won’t be meeting her this time either.

If I saw her in real life, I feel like my view of Nacchan, the one I admire, might change.
After all, what I love is VTuber idol Nacchan.

Of course, I know that eventually, we’ll have to meet, and I do want to talk to her in person.
Still, I wish this fantasy could last just a little longer….
Is that just my selfishness?

And so, the day of Comiket arrived.
As promised, I arrived at the meeting place at 8 AM….

“T-That is, um…. Agh….”

Only to find myself facing the greatest crisis of my life.