Ch 65 - New Acquaintances, Old Faces Pt. 2

As Shiro and the boys walked with HoloEN beside them, they made their way across the bridge. The boys had their own separate conversation from the girls, but Shiro and Calli were near each other. Around the middle, they decided to quiet down, until Kiara started another conversation; she also looked a bit ticked.

"Say, we go by two generations, right?" Kiara asked.

"Yeah." Shiro replied.

"And we go by our generations, right? Holostars with Holostar members, and HoloEN with HoloEN members, right?"

"Yeah."

"If that's the case…WHY IS CALLI CLINGING ONTO YOU!?" Kiara said with a pout.

"Don't ask me, I'm not the one doing the clinging." Shiro blankly stared at her.

"W-Well...I feel a bit anxious, especially how we all are going to an event where a lot of people might want to dox us, so Shi makes me feel safe…"

"Calli, I'm right here. No need for clinging, you know? You're just 1 literal step away from me." Shiro sweat dropped.

"I-I know, but…" Calli said as she held his arm harder.

"U-Um...Calli? Your previous grip was alright. You don't need to hug me closer." Shiro looked away and blushed.

"Eh? A-Ah, sorry!" Calli said as she instantly let go and looked away while putting her hand on her face.

Seeing this made Kiara's flame inside her heart, which was already a big flame, blaze up into a plain of hellfire. Her emotions were at its max, and she had to vent it out.

"AAAHHHH!!" Kiara screamed as she put her hands on her eyes.

"Somebody's jelly.~" Ame smugged.

"I'M NOT!" Kiara said as her face was the reddest red while fumes came out of her ears and nose.

"Kiara, she's all yours." Shiro looked away blankly.

"S-Shi!"

"Calls, if you wanna cling on me, just hold my arm, but make sure to keep some 'distance'. I don't want some 'watamalowns' up my elbow." Shiro said in a joking manner while blushing slightly.

"O-Okay…also, 'watamalowns'? Is that Marlon Webb?" Calli giggled.

"Yup." Shiro chuckled.

"....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Kiara screamed even more.

'Shiro-kun (Shiro), please do something about this.' The HoloEN and Holostars thought while sweat dropping.

~~Misogynistic Hololiver~~

"Finally! We're here!" Astel said.

"Yeah." Shiro chuckled.

"Say, Shi. Are you excited to see them?" Ame asked.

"I wouldn't say I'm necessarily excited, but I guess it's nice to make their acquaintance. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'd have to meet up and collab with them sooner or later, so might as well take this chance. Also...when'd y'all start picking up that nickname?" Shiro asked.

"Well, it became quite common within HoloMyth after Calli kept calling you that." Amelia giggled.

"Also, you think Gura'll be fine? She seems rather shy."

"I-I'll be fine...I guess." Gura said, looking away while sticking close to Amelia.

"Well, you boys excited to meet your oshis, if you got any?" Shiro asked the others.

"Bro, we're ecstatic!" Roberu said.

"You know, I've always wanted to meet Joe Rikiichi!" Astel said.

"Me too!" Rikka said.

"Hey, a majority of us wanna meet him, you know?" Izuru intervened.

"Well, I guess I'm the only one who's not as giddy then. Guess we'll have fun regardless." Shiro chuckled as they finally stepped inside the building.

"Alright. Now, an important question of the century for the boys. Elevator, or stairs?" Shiro asked.

"Elevator." A majority of them said.

"Aight, good choice, but we all can't fit inside it, you know?"

"I don't wanna take the stairs!" Izuru whined.

"Well, I definitely know I'm taking the elevator." Kira sweat dropped.

"Honestly, I'm fine with both." Oga chuckled.

"I was thinking of taking the stairs. Wanna go with me?" Shiro asked.

"Sure."

"Are you guys gonna take the elevator?" Ina asked Shiro.

"No idea. I'm taking the stairs with Oga. The others here wanna take the easy way."

"Well, if a majority of us are taking the elevator...I call dibs!" Roberu said as he went into the elevator.

"Oi! I don't wanna move too much!" Kira said, rushing second.

"HEY! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" Astel went after.

"Ahaha...you know, on second thought, I'll be going with you, Shiro-kun." Rikka sweat dropped.

"You girls?"

"We'll...figure it out, I guess." Calli giggled nervously.

Once they were on the fourth floor, they were guided to the function hall where they met up with both Hololive and Nijisanji. It was a sight to behold. Matsuri was hugging a girl while jumping up and down vigorously, which Shiro assumed must've been Hoshikawa Sara, as he found out from clips. Fubuki and a couple other Hololivers were chatting with other Nijisanji talents, and seemed to be getting along just fine. But the icing on the cake for Shiro was Sora, because he could see a good hand of talents lowering their heads as Sora was frantically waving her hands while pleading for them to raise their heads. It was personally amusing to him.

Inside the hall, there was a ton of equipment they could use to enjoy themselves. Karaoke, board games, musical instruments, and a load of other objects for entertainment. Shiro didn't really know how long they'd be staying here, but for the meantime, this would equate to hours of fun.

"Man, there are a lot of us here already. What time is it?" Shiro said to himself, scanning around the room for a clock.

'Around 9 o'clock, ey? Wow, they really were too excited to meet their oshis from the other side.' Shiro chuckled at the thought.

"Yo, Shiro-kun. Don't just stand there. Find your place, man!" Roberu said as the rest of the Holostars came in and sat down somewhere.

Although Shiro heard that, he still stood there, looking at everybody. The sight was impressive, to say the very least. He just loved the atmosphere and chemistry with everybody. Though, he didn't know where to start — he wasn't shy, but he didn't know where his "place" was. If he stayed with the Hololivers, no progress would be made, but if he went to someone who was unfamiliar with him, he didn't know if that talent would be willing to converse with him or would stay silent.

He heard the double doors open behind him, so he looked back, seeing Yagoo come through with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Shiro. It seems Hololive arrived safe and sound." Yagoo gave a few shoulder pats.

"Yeah." Shiro chuckled.

"Why aren't you sitting down and talking with them yet?" Yagoo asked.

"Honestly, I don't know what to do. You could say I'm slightly overwhelmed." Shiro giggled nervously.

The Holostars were clearly flustered, talking to their oshi with a very respectful tone and their back straight. The HoloID were able to converse, but Moona still had to get help from Risu and Iofi, and the HoloCN were surprisingly taken well. Civia and Artia had to translate for the others, but they were able to get some to talk with them.

"Hey, Shiro-kun! Come here!" Fubuki shouted across the room.

This got the attention of everybody, and there was a slight pause, so the room went silent for a few seconds. Shiro wasn't gonna lie, it was sort of intimidating getting unnecessary attention that way, so he was slightly annoyed as well. The scenery made Yagoo giggle.

"You might want to take that call." Yagoo said as he let go of Shiro.

"Yeah, yeah." Shiro sighed as Yagoo went out.

'Well, I guess I was at least able to start somewhere.'

Fubuki happened to be at the opposite end of the hall, and Matsuri, Hoshikawa, and Haachama were there, so Shiro walked through as if he was walking on a red carpet, and it really gave it more of an intense vibe from how everybody was looking at him while chatting with each other. But finally, Shiro got to their seat.

"Excuse me, coming through." Shiro said as Fubuki and a Nijisanji talent scooched as he sat down.

"Alright, before we say anything, I just wanna say it's sorta funny we're sandwiching Matsuri between white-hairs and blondies." Shiro chuckled.

"Ah, now that you mention it, it does seem that way!" Matsuri said as the girls laughed.

"So uh...this is the guy you guys were talking about?" Hoshikawa asked.

"Yup! Shiro-kun, Holostars' virtual rapper!" Matsuri said.

"Really? S-Shiro-san, I'm Hoshikawa Sara! I hope you'll take care of me!" She said, holding out her hand.

"W-Wha-? You're fine with a handshake?"

"Is it not okay? I'm sure they said that you're influenced a lot by western culture, and that you're not too fond of Japanese traditions." She said with a slight sweat forming on her forehead. It seemed like she was starting to retract her hand out of embarrassment.

"A-Ah, no. I'm fine with it, actually. It's actually kinda strange when a Japanese person holds out their hand for a shake, but...yeah, let's get along." Shiro said, giggling nervously while shaking her hand and bowing a bit to show respect to a senpai. Her hand was slightly cold and sweaty, so he assumed she was nervous.

"Oh! You guys said he'd be a bit colder!" Hoshikawa said.

"Yeah, even I'm surprised! Shiro-kun, are you warming up to girls now?" Matsuri asked.

"Oi, if you're talking about my trust issues, don't go gossiping about shit, alright?" Shiro blankly stared.

"Don't worry, don't worry! We meant it as a compliment!" Haato said.

"Now, how about we properly introduce ourselves, huh? I'm Hoshikawa Sara! In case you haven't noticed it yet or didn't know, I'm close with Haachama and Matsuri-chan from Hololive! I mainly stream games, but I also do chats! I can also sing, and once sang with Haachama on stage on her birthday! We both sang 'Turing Love'! Well...that's all for my introduction!"

"That's quite a mouthful. Well...I'm Ishijin Shiro, Holostars' Vrapper from the label called V-R.A.P.P. So yeah, my songs are mostly rap, and I can also freestyle."

"So I've heard! You know, I've been liking your songs lately. I'll admit it's quite 'vulgar'. Like, do you really like sex that much?" Hoshikawa smugged while covering her face.

"Hey, it's very common in rap, you know? It's not exactly new in hip-hop, especially if it's Japanese." Shiro blankly stared.

"I'm also amazed at how you freestyle in both English and Japanese, and I've seen a few clips translating your English freestyles. I-If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to, you know, maybe hear you freestyle live for us?"

"Oh, really? Well...I can do that, but I don't wanna disturb everybody…they seem to be having a nice time chatting." Shiro giggled nervously.

"Oh, so it's fine if they're not chatting, right?" Hoshikawa asked.

"Eh?"

Haato and Hoshikawa looked at each other, and Fubuki and Matsuri also looked at Hoshikawa, before nodding and smiling.

"Guys! You all know Ishijin Shiro, right? He's gonna freestyle for us today!" Hoshikawa cupped her hands together, and her voice rang throughout the hall.

"O-Oi! You idiot! You didn't need to do that-"

"Eh? Shiro-kun's gonna freestyle? Hey, Riki-chan! You definitely need to hear him freestyle! It's awesome!" Roberu said.

"Hey, a freestyle? Oh, you guys reaaaally need to hear it! This is gonna be good!" Iofi shrieked.

"Ah yeah, how about we listen to Shiro-kun freestyle, Mito-chan, everybody? He's really good, from what I heard!" Sora giggled.

Shiro looked around to see everybody starting to talk about him, and he couldn't help but give in to the pressure, so he sighed.

"Fine, fine. I'll freestyle for ya. Jeez, you didn't have to stop everybody's conversation, you know?" Shiro scratched his head.

"Everybody, I apologize for causing a bit of trouble here." He bowed slightly before getting his phone.

After saying that, everybody instantly made incoherent noises to which Shiro could only pick up bits and pieces here and there, saying along the lines of, "Ah, no! It's fine!" Shiro did feel a bit guilty and embarrassed for doing something like that. Though, doing a freestyle was something he loved as a performer, so he might as well take the chance.

"Alright...I think I found a good beat. Though, before I freestyle, I wanna have a word to inspire it, so give me a random word, Hoshikawa."

As a joke, Hoshikawa blurted out "Sex!". It got a loud response from everybody as they laughed or dropped their jaws from Hoshikawa's boldness. Hoshikawa herself also seemed to finally see how embarrassing it was after blurting it out herself, but just to double down and because he thought it was good enough for material, Shiro chuckled and chose it.

"Oh, 'sex', huh? Alright! We're going with that!" Shiro said as he started the beat. The beat he chose was a beat called "JAWS" made by MTC Beatz

"WAIT, NO-" Hoshikawa started laughing.

"Hey, shush! I already picked the word! Now, shush!" (Shiro snickers and holds phone and bops head to the beat while others are also bobbing their head to the beat)

"...Getting money like I'm getting checks."

"Hella big, and scary. I got claws like a Rex."

"Bitch hella horny, so she hit me with a text."

"Oppai to manko shashin wo totta. [Sent a pic of her boobs and her vagina.] She wants sex! Ey!" (Hoshikawa Sara claps while being flustered)

"Shiro on the mic, ore rap shiteiru zone. [I'm rapping in the zone.]"

"Sekusu shiteiru nara kimochii dome. [Having sex feels good as it hits the dome.]"

"Shitara, yobidashi yada. [When I'm having sex, don't call me.] If you hit my phone…"

"'AH!~' Sono oto kiiteru yo. ['Ah!~' That's the sound you hear.] Uh." (Hoshikawa Sara screeches in embarrassment with the others also getting flustered)

"Hikikaesanee yo. 'Sekusu' tte susumeta. [I ain't going back, you suggested that I rap this word.]" (Shiro points at Hoshikawa)

"Ima, hazukashikunatta? Fuzakeruna! [Now you're embarrassed? Don't you dare call me absurd!]"

"Uh. And when I have sex, I love biting."

"But don't you dare bite my dick while we're sixty-nining." (Hoshikawa and Haachama laugh as they hear the last word)

"Give me another word, Hoshikawa. Please."

"Waado nihongo ni itte mo ii. [You can also say it in Japanese.]" (Hoshikawa says rapper)

"...rap 'bout rappers?"

"Well, V-R.A.P.P.'s talent gon' tell you who's the master." (Points at Hoshikawa)

"Ki ni shinai, furiistairu no rappu shiteru wa sanpo. [Don't mind it. Freestyle rap is a walk in the park.]" (Does a walking gesture with hands)

"Fan no minna shiteru, ore ga hoka no rappa yori saikou. [All the fans know I'm better than the other rappers.]"

"But I am not so conceited. I gotta give credit to all of my homies."

"One of them is the grim reaper. Shoutout to Calliope Mori." (Points to Calli as HoloEN cheered)

"When I kill the beats, like my eyes, it goes RED."

"I be a menace. Leaving rappers messages on 'read'."

"Calliope's album, Your Mori, was sick. And now-"

"She getting all that money, and her songs made some hits. Ey."

"...Come off the top when I'm rapping. I'm lyrical when I go hard, uh."

"Yeah. Killing these rappers, and burning the tracks. I'm leaving it charred, uh." (Hoshikawa starts dropping her jaw at Shiro's fast flow)

"Yeah. Kore wa orijinaru no flow [These are original flows.]. You know I got art, uh."

"Yeah. Virtual Rapping At Peak Performance. Ore wa monsta. (I am a monster.)"

"Japanese rappers zutto raimu ga nai. [Japanese rappers, they don't really got rhymes.]"

"Monogatari ga aru, demo aato shinai. [Yes, they have a story, but they don't have any art.]"

"While the English rappers, they be overflowing with words."

"But they're mumbling and tumbling. It's fucking absurd."

"That's why I mix it up. Japanese with English, uh."

"Saikou de saikyou no rappa. Ore ichiban. [The best and strongest rapper, I'm the number one.]"

"Raimu ga bakuhatsu shiteru like a bakudan. [Rhymes exploding like a bomb.]"

"Freestyle improvising, I won't go unfinished, yuh. Bitch, I'm fucking-"

"-RAD! Ey. Hoshikawa's wearing white with the shirt that's-" (Points at Hoshikawa's outfit)

"-PLAID! Ey. Got the ponytail, and the plaid is red and-"

"-BLACK! Ey. She be matching Haato cuz you two are wearing-" (Points at Hoshikawa and Haato)

"-RED! Ey. Said it's Hoshikawa, so I'm rapping for this-"

"-BRAT! Ey. I'mma go to this direction, maybe I'll get-" (Walks towards Holostars' vicinity)

"-inspiration just to spit for freestyle innovation."

"Bitch, I'm ethereal. Can't nobody come and find me."

"Minna, sawagu kure [People, make some noise] for those in Nijisanji!" (Nijisanji talents cheered as Shiro gets more hype)

"Uh. We're in Minato, I'm getting the-"

"-follows, I'm such a role model, I'm going full-"

"-throttle. Lyrics are tricky."

"Shouts to Nijisanji's Ricky." (Rikiichi drops jaw slightly and claps with a smile along with the Holostars cheering)

"Kare da to omou (I think this is him). When I rap, you know I really try."

"Sitting next to Holostars. His model's like Pennywise. His-"

"-voice sounded familiar. You know I'm stacking green, my G."

"Ooku hito no oshi ga Rikki [A lot of people like Ricky]. Loved by many, see."

"Think of Nijisanji? Ricky's one of the epitomes."

"All these rappers clowns, but they ain't like Joe Rikiichi."

"But never forget the daisenpais (veterans), 'cause they are Vtubing's pioneers." (Music starts to fade away and end; Shiro walks towards Sora and Mito)

"Tokino Sora and Tsukino Mito, the two goddesses sitting right in here."

"Even if I went and rapped acapella, I will not stop freestyling here."

"Shoutout to Sora and Mito, they really jumpstarted the rest of our careers."

"Doumo arigatou, Sora to Mito-senpai. V-Tubing tensai, uh. [Thank you very much, Sora and Mito-senpai. V-Tubing geniuses, uh.]" (Mito mouths "sugoi!")

"Omaetachi no hyouban ga baacharu no sekai ni dekai, uh. [Your reputation in the virtual world is big, uh.]"

"Never forgetting Kizuna Ai, and Kaguya Luna, y'all know the great minds."

"Paying my homage to all of the finest. I'm ending the free with this line."

"Let's go." (Does a peace sign pointing downwards while walking back to Fubuki)

Everybody cheered loud and gave applause for Shiro as he did a giggle from the live performance he just did for them. For Holostars, HoloEN, HoloID, and HoloCN who were able to witness him first at the school's cafeteria before, they knew how his freestyles would go and were still amazed by it regardless, but for everybody else who had witnessed it right before their eyes live, it was a very novel experience.

"Woah!! Shiro-kun, that was very amazing! How did you do that?!" Hoshikawa screamed.

"Practice, baby." Shiro snickered as he sat back down.

"Wow! Just wow! You were so amazing with your freestyle, just 'badara-daraba-karada-habada', and you thought of that on the spot?! How does your brain work?!"

"Told ya, it's practice."

"Eh?! I'm starting to believe you have a computer in your brain! Like..." Hoshikawa was left speechless while Shiro giggled at her reaction. He was even happier that everybody actually enjoyed the freestyle. It was evident from the way they tried to imitate Shiro right after he sat down.

"That was the first time we witnessed you freestyle in real life! Seriously, you're too talented! Will you do that soon in 3D?" Fubuki asked.

"Yeah, definitely. You know, I could do more freestyles like that soon if you want." Shiro chuckled.

"Eh, really?! I'd be happy too!"

Everybody went back to talking with each other, but whatever conversation they had earlier, the topic changed to Shiro's freestyle, talking about how somebody could actually do that and how it's a rare talent among all artists, let alone Vtubers. Though, they did go back to their original topics soon once the hype died down after a couple of minutes.