"Did we decide on playing a game?"
Sora tilted her head in response to my question.

Inagika slowly shook her head.
"We haven’t decided yet... I don’t think we have to play a game..."
"Is that so? Still, I would prefer it if we played a game."

I made my stance clear.

While I had watched a few collab streams before, non-gaming streams generally fell into two categories: variety shows or simple talk shows.

Both formats required strong conversational skills.
Talk shows, in particular, leaned heavily on the participants' ability to engage in dialogue.
Variety shows, on the other hand, demanded a wider range of abilities—such as planning, hosting, and execution.

'Looking at our 6th gen... either option feels a bit tricky.'

I wasn’t well-versed in hosting variety shows. Even within EYEAI, few VTubers specialized in that type of content, and in the VTuber industry overall, there weren’t many who focused on variety-style programming.

Venturing into unknown territory wasn’t the best strategy. But a pure talk show felt out of place for our group since we were still awkward with one another.

From what I had seen in other VTuber broadcasts, silence during a stream quickly became dull.

Given how likely it was for our 6th gen members to leave dead air, I thought using a game to fill those gaps would be a better idea.

"I don’t mind playing a game..." Sora said hesitantly.
"Then, Inagika, why don’t you decide on the game?"
"M-Me?!"

"Yes." I nodded.

It was obvious Sora didn’t have much experience with games, and Chell only seemed to play a limited selection of games.
As for me, I had probably played more games than Inagika, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to choose based solely on my preferences.

I enjoyed games that required a high level of control. But if we tried making Sora play something like Labyrinthos, she would definitely fall behind.

Inagika, being more knowledgeable about a variety of games, was likely the best candidate to choose.

"But... if I pick the game... what if no one likes it?"
"Then make a list of a few games and post them in the group chat. Surely one of them will appeal to us?"

I glanced at Sora and Chell. Both nodded, showing no objections.

"Alright... I’ll give it a try..." Inagika mumbled, her voice barely audible.

After we finished eating, it felt like the usual next step in gatherings like this would be to head to a café or maybe a karaoke place.
But I wasn’t holding my breath.

'...There's no way this group would go for a second round.'

Sora glanced at her fellow 6th gen members.

One seemed impossible to read.
Another looked like they would flee if someone even mentioned karaoke.
And the last just wanted to go home and play games.

'I wouldn’t mind going to a karaoke place, though.'

Still, with this group, it didn’t seem like much fun. It was probably better to just go to a solo coin karaoke place later on.

Part of her hoped someone might suggest karaoke, but of course, no such suggestion came.

"Shall we wrap it up, then?"
"I’ll be heading off first."

Chell was the first to respond to Aurora's casual suggestion to leave.

Chell had been so quiet that it took Sora a moment to realize she had spoken. By the time Sora registered it, Chell was already standing with her burger tray in hand, ready to leave.

"Goodbye."

With a polite nod, Chell tidied her tray and exited the burger joint, as swiftly as she had stood up.

Seeing this, Inagika also rose from her seat, a little hesitant.

"Well, I’ll get going too... I have to catch my bus..."
"Alright. Let’s talk more in the group chat."
"O-Okay..."

Inagika hurried out, while Aurora calmly finished her meal.

She wasn’t in a rush.
Every action of hers was graceful, even down to folding her burger wrapper into a neat rectangle... who does that at a fast-food joint?

"Shall we head out too?"
"Oh, sure..."

Sora found herself waiting for Aurora to finish.
It wasn’t intentional, but leaving her behind didn’t feel right either.

She hadn’t meant for it to end up just the two of them, but in any case, Sora followed Aurora’s lead.

After cleaning up her tray, throwing out her straw, and dumping the leftover ice in her cup, Sora noticed something.

"...Where’s your tray?"
"My tray?"
"Forget the tray... where are your handbag and parasol?"

"Oh."

Aurora’s surprised expression softened as she covered her mouth with a hand.

"You see, noblewomen always move about with their hands free."
"You already said that... You’re not just forgetful, are you?"

"I told you. I’m not used to carrying things myself yet—"
"Wow... You’re more high-maintenance than you look..."

Sighing, Sora picked up Aurora’s tray, handbag, and parasol.

Before she knew it, she had cleaned up Aurora's tray as well.

'How did I end up like this...?'

"Thank you kindly."
"...Geez."

Aurora’s smile was so radiant that it drew a sigh out of Sora. Now she understood why Rion had sighed earlier.

They stepped outside.

The sun was still scorching, a stark contrast to the air-conditioned interior of the restaurant. The sudden wave of summer heat had Sora sweating already.

Aurora opened her parasol and began walking.
For some reason, Sora found herself walking beside her, even though her own destination was in the opposite direction.

"Are you heading home too, Aurora?"
"That’s the plan."
"What are you taking? The subway?"
"I’ll hail a taxi."
"Where do you live?"
"Near the ○○ Post Office. Do you know it?"

"That’ll cost around 20,000 won by taxi, won’t it?"
"Will it? I’ve never paid attention to taxi fares. ──Is there something you want to say?"

...Something to say.

Sora opened her mouth but didn’t speak right away.

It was strange. She must have had a reason to follow Aurora this far, but now she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

At first, she had felt threatened by Aurora.
She didn’t like how someone who didn’t know much about VTubing had entered the 6th gen.
She thought that by leading Aurora, she’d gain some popularity for herself.

But things seemed to be going horribly wrong.
She had hoped to assert her superiority in real life, if not through streaming, to boost her self-esteem.
Yet here she was, just sneaking glances at Aurora’s side profile.

"Aurora, you should wear sunglasses."
"...What?"

Aurora blinked, clearly caught off guard.

It made sense—Sora herself hadn’t expected to say such a thing.

"You look exactly like your character model. What if fans recognize you?"

"Rion mentioned that before as well. That’s why my character design is more flamboyant."
"Yeah, 99 out of 100 people wouldn’t recognize you. But if just one person does, you could be in serious trouble."

Sora rummaged through her bag.
She found a pair of sunglasses. It was unusually sunny today, so she had brought them just in case.

She hadn’t thought she’d end up using them like this.

"Here."

Sora placed the sunglasses on Aurora’s face.

A sundress and sunglasses.
It seemed like a mismatched combination, but Aurora pulled it off effortlessly.
Even with her eyes hidden behind the lenses, her features were so strikingly beautiful that it hardly mattered.

Sora knew it the moment she saw her.
Aurora could make anything look good.

"These aren’t very stylish, are they?"
"Is this really the time to care about style? You already attract enough attention—just wear them."

"You’re right about that. I suppose being beautiful does have its downsides."
Aurora chuckled softly.

"Was that all you wanted to say?"
"Y-Yeah... It was really bothering me, but now I feel relieved!"

"I see. Thanks for the sunglasses."

Aurora gave a small shrug and continued walking, moving further away from Sora.

She glanced back and waved lightly.
"I had fun today. Let’s meet again soon."

Without waiting for Sora’s reply, Aurora disappeared into the distance.

Her figure grew smaller and smaller, until even the parasol was out of sight.

Only then did Sora mutter under her breath.
"...Unbelievable."

She wasn’t sure what was unbelievable, but it was.

Later, when Sora got home, she saw that her channel had reached 10,008 subscribers.

Unbelievable.

"Hmm... It doesn’t feel right for a noblewoman to receive charity."

I folded my arms, staring at the sunglasses on my desk.

They weren’t particularly expensive, but they weren’t cheap either.

"Perhaps I should repay her with a gift."

I pondered for a moment, and the image of Sora struggling through her Rave the Diver stream came to mind. She had been terrible at the game.

A game would make a fitting gift.
It was common for VTubers to exchange games, often suggesting 'stream-worthy' titles to one another.

"I know just the games for Sora."

I booted up my computer and gifted a few games to her account.

【Party Play Time 1, 2 & 3】
【In Last 1, 2 & 3】
【Teddy's Pizza Parlor series】
【Alien: Isolation】
【Biotic Hazard RE: series】
【Biotic Hazard 7 & 8】