Itâs now the sixth day since I started the punishment game.
To be precise, since itâs past midnight, itâs technically the seventh day. In other words, today is the final day.
I plan to visit Rinkoâs house on this last day, but before that, let me recount three stories that happened earlier.
#1. Sora & Annaâs Binaural Banter
"This person is seriously dangerous."
Anna opened the discussion with that line.
It was during an ASMR stream at 11 PM.
Originally, the stream was supposed to have Sora practicing various ASMR techniques, but after the infamous Mimi-Name (ear-licking) incident, Anna opted for a more talk-centered broadcast.
For the record, I wasnât there.
I was borrowing Annaâs VR gear to do a promotional stream for Aces Arise.
So Anna was streaming alone with Sora.
"Why are you bringing that up again�"
"Remember earlier today when Laura and I had lunch at your place, Sora-chan?"
"Since you said you wanted to try out the QU-100 mic, we went back to my house."
"And as a little ASMR practice, I had Sora-chan give it a try."
"Laura-chan had never really experienced ASMR properly before, so I lent her my earphones."
"And then, guess what? This person just went straight into ear-licking!"@@novelbin@@
Mimi-Name LOL
Did she really do it???
She must do this sort of thing with E girls a lot.
This confirms it, Soraâs the main wife.
Why do you get to hear it alone?
Let us hear it too!!!
"Even big agencies donât do Mimi-Name, so why on earth would you do thatâ¦?"
"I-I didnât knowâ¦"
"I just listened to whatever ASMR popped up in the algorithm, and there were so many people doing ear-licking⦠I thought it was a standard thing."
ãAdmitItAlready has donated 1,000 yen.ã
ã"For ASMR streams, Mimi-Name needs to become a regular thing."ã
ãNobleHousehold has donated 1,000 yen.ã
ã"Iâm Laura, and I completely agree with Soraâs opinion."ã
"But, Anna-senpai."
"I saw some Horizon Air VTubers doing it the other dayâ¦"
"Mimi-Name used to be classified as adult content."
"Back then, you could even get your channel suspended for it."
"Really?"
ãOopsItsMe has donated 1,000 yen.ã
ã"There was a time when even karaoke streams could get demonetized, LOL."ã
"Yeah, that did happen."
"But the rules are more lenient now, so itâs not like they crack down on everything like they used to."
"You probably wonât lose monetization for Mimi-Name anymore. Maybe itâll get age-restricted, though."
"Still, some agencies outright ban it."
Especially VTubers with pure or innocent personasâthey donât touch ear-licking.
The same goes for agencies. To protect their image and that of their affiliated VTubers, many completely prohibit it.
"Our company is surprisingly lenient about that, though."
"â¦But doing something like that in a live stream without prior approval could get you in trouble."
"Sora-chan, youâre lucky you got away with it this time because of me."
Thatâs what Anna said.
Hearing this, Sora, sitting beside her, looked surprised.
"Anna-senpai."
"â¦This is the first time youâve actually acted like a senior."
Was this the first time Anna behaved like a proper senior?
Despite her occasional childish antics, sheâs technically still a senior.
This incident happened about a month before Sora purchased her binaural mic.
#2. The MV Song
This story goes back a bit further.
When I visited Inagikaâs house to ask her to cook for me, I offered to spin the Authority Gacha for her in return.
Afterward, as I was heading back to Annaâs place, a thought struck me, so I asked Inagika a question:
"Inagika, if I were to sing a song, what do you think would be a good choice?"
I hadnât yet decided on a song for the MV, so I figured Iâd ask.
Inagika is incredibly knowledgeable about subculture and probably knows more about VTubers than anyone in our sixth generation.
But she misunderstood my intention.
"A song� Oh, you mean for the 6th-gen one-man live�"
That was her reaction.
Come to think of it, only Sora, Anna, Rion, and I knew about the MV plans.
"How do you know about the 6th-gen one-man live?"
"Oh, uh, wasnât it mentioned during the draft watch-along streamâ¦?"
"Laura said she wanted to try doing a one-man live for the 6th genâ¦"
"So that means you watched my draft watch-along stream."
"Uh, well, y-you seeâ¦! Thatâsâ¦!"
"B-But! I was thinking we could maybe decide on a themeâ¦!"
Embarrassed that sheâd been caught watching my stream, Inagika changed the subject.
"You know, like a theme to tie the one-man live togetherâ¦"
"Itâs not necessary, but some people feel it adds cohesion. And it might make song selection easierâ¦"
"So, I was thinking⦠since our group name is AoiS⦠how about 'Youth' as the theme?"
Youth, huh.
It felt like such a conventional theme, but then again, was there really any better alternative?
There wasnât much common ground among the 6th-gen members.
At best, we shared the fantasy-themed VTuber settingsâlike noblewoman, bard, elf, fortune-tellerâbut choosing fantasy as a theme for the songs didnât seem feasible.
I couldnât even think of songs that fit a âfantasyâ theme, aside from maybe opening or ending songs from isekai anime.
In that case, Youth would be a much easier theme to base our song choices around.
"Alright, letâs say the AoiS one-man live is themed around Youth."
Trying out some youth-themed songs in preparation didnât sound like a bad idea.
"Thatâs a reasonable idea."
Later, after Sora and Anna finished their ASMR stream, I told them about the theme. Sora nodded in agreement.
"I think Youth is a good theme. Chel would probably agree too."
"But I donât know many youth-themed songs."
"If we think about it, itâd probably be songs about school life, right?"
"School life, huh."
If thatâs the case, I probably couldnât sing any youth-themed songs properly.
Well, I could sing them, but without any emotional resonance, it would likely come off as robotic.
#3. Visiting Rinkoâs House
After spending all night at karaoke, Anna and Sora were completely wiped out.
Sora went home, and Anna returned to her place, ordered some easy-to-digest porridge, and promptly passed out.
So I headed to Rinkoâs house alone, aiming to arrive by lunchtime.
ã"Hello? Sorry, Laura, but I donât think I can do the collab today."ã
On the way there, I got a call from Rinko.
"You canât do the collab?"
ã"Something urgent came up⦠Iâm really sorry!"ã
"Thatâs inconvenient. Iâm already here."
ã"Huh?"ã
Ding-dong.
I rang the doorbell.
"If you canceled a prior engagement at the last minute, you must have a good reason. And I think I deserve an explanation."
ã"Uh, wellâ¦"ã
"Come out and explain. If you feel bad and want my forgiveness, you should explain even more so."
I hung up the phone after saying that.
Soon, Rinko opened the door.
"Go on, explain. Iâm listening."
"Um, well⦠someoneâs sickâ¦"
"You mean a family member? I thought your family lived overseas."
"â¦Did I mention that?"
"During your Chuseok stream. I wondered why you didnât visit your family, so I looked into it."
For the record, Rinkoâs family relationships were very well-documented on her wiki.
"If itâs not a family issue, does that mean you have a housemate? I thought you lived alone."
I crossed my arms and smiled.
Cancelling plans at the last minute is understandable, but if Iâve made the effort to visit, I expect a satisfactory explanation.
As I stared at her, someoneâs voice came from behind the door.
"â¦Itâs fine, Rinko-senpai. You donât need to cover for me."
The door opened, and an unfamiliar woman stepped out.
Her face was bright red, her hair disheveled, and her pajama buttons slightly undone.
�
"Rinko, donât tell meâ"
"Itâs not what you think."
Faced with such a suspicious situation, Rinko spoke.
"Whatever youâre imagining, itâs not true."
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