Ch 64 - New Acquaintances, Old Faces Pt. 1

The two girls were stunned, not from what Shiro said, but more like from how they would react to Shiro's answer. They didn't know whether to be happy because they were right, or heartbroken because they weren't picked. To think Shiro liked her wasn't a strange thought though, as the two were quite intimate to the point of skinship, but if he really loved her, even if they're not boyfriend and girlfriend now, they would soon become a couple at this rate.

"Subaru-senpai? Really?" Ina asked, holding onto her chest as she felt like she was hanging over an edge. All it would take is one single touch, and she would've cried then and there.

"Really. I can't stop thinking about her. She's just...the cutest, and brightest girl I've ever met. I want to do everything for her."

"Wait...does that mean that the girl that you described back then when we went out was…" Reine intervened.

"Yes, it was pertaining to her."

"I see...but, why did it have to be her? You know, there are other cuter holomembers. Hell, I'd be surprised if the boys didn't have a crush on somebody like Suisei."

"Well, looks are easy. I won't lie, Suisei is beautiful, but tell me, you two. You like me, right?" Shiro asked.

"Y-Yeah." Reine said as Ina nodded.

"What do you like about me, aside from my looks?"

"Well...you're a cool guy. At first, I thought you were quite unapproachable, but you turned out to be quite a funny guy, you can play games well, and you're actually really kind. I mean, I've never met such a selfless guy in my whole life. Not that the Holostars aren't, though. You get my drift." Reine smiled.

"The same goes for me! Matter of fact, I liked you ever since that "#blackmask" vid!" Ina said.

"EURGH-...W-We don't talk about that vid." Shiro shook a bit.

"At first, I was just thankful that you saved our senpais, but the more I got to know you in person, the more I liked you! No, just like how you feel for Subaru-senpai, I also love you!" Ina said.

Shiro stood there, smiling at the two. He liked their courage. It's not everyday you get to see those who are strong with their resolve.

"You two are good girls...but you know that I can't do it, right? I love Subaru."

Shiro sighed and glanced at the two once more before he would call it a day after taking his sweet time outside.

"Let's go back. I've had my fill here. You two must be cold as well."

"A-Ah, yeah! Let's do that!" Reine giggled nervously.

As they went back, Shiro laid on his bed and sighed, staring at the ceiling in the darkness, with only his phone giving light before it would soon turn off.

'Damn, if a lot of them are having a crush on me, I wonder what their reactions will be when they know that?' Shiro thought.

Shiro isn't clueless — he's dense, but he's not stupid. Not all of them will take it nicely, as some might go extreme and cry their hearts out. He knows Rushia loved him that way, but he didn't know if she cried an ocean of tears.

"No time to think about that. Let's see what's up tomorrow."

~April 09, 2021 6:00 AM~

Shiro woke up, and did his usual breakfast routine. In the middle of watching a video of Nijisanji JP, he got a message on his phone.

"Oh? What is this, Old Man?"

The message from Yagoo read, "We have a meeting this afternoon at 4 o'clock. You all might like this."

Shiro was curious about the others' reactions, especially the boys, so he went out of his room.

"...Huh, nobody's here yet."

It was strange to find nobody in the lounge at this time on a Friday. Then again, maybe some of them wanted to sleep in their rooms because they streamed overnight, or they're night owls, which isn't surprising knowing how they're streamers.

Shiro decided to nap on the couches for a while, waiting for somebody to spot him lying down. But then, he heard footsteps coming in the HoloHouse.

"Oh?"

Shiro sat up in an instant, and looked at who stepped in.

It was one of the Hololive employees. It seemed to be a woman with a small push cart. The box had "Handle with Care" written on it.

"Oh? Shiro-san, good morning!"

"Good morning. Is that box for me?"

"Yes! The sender was from Ishijin Kurome. I assume that's your parent?"

Shiro instantly frowned after hearing that, but nonetheless, he sighed, stood up, and walked towards the woman.

"Well, I can take it from here. Thank you very much for sending this!"

"No problem!"

The woman went out and Shiro sat on the couch he was laying on earlier and ripped the tape out.

"...Oh?"

He looked at the whole contents of the box. It was a very nice sight to see for Shiro, arousing some nostalgia.

"My arnis sticks...the replica knives...my past hand wraps...yeah, they're definitely my hand wraps. Stinks like shit." Shiro chuckled.

At that time, somebody also came down the stairs, yawning. It was Korone who wore a thin shirt, and a part of her collar was slipping down her shoulder. Her hair was also a bit disheveled.

"Morning, Shiro-kun." She said in a half-awake tone.

"Morning."

"Oh? What is that?"

"Training tools I had. This is what you call an Arnis stick."

"Arnis stick? Wait, so this is what you use to practice Arnis?"

"Yeah. These sticks are made out of a type of wood called Kamagong. It's expensive because of how good the quality is, and how rare the wood is."

Shiro handed over the stick to Korone, and she looked left and right, seeing the stick shine under the light. She also rubbed her hand back and forth from end to end.

"It's a bit heavy...how do you use this?"

"Want to see? Let's go outside where I won't hit stuff." Shiro chuckled.

"Yeah! This looks exciting!"

And so, once they went out in the open, Shiro started twirling the stick around as well as doing a few techniques for striking that also involved twirling. It was like watching a warrior in a village swinging around two blades.

"Woah!! That's so cool! So this is what Arnis looks like!"

"Yeah. Well, at least with sticks and long-bladed weapons. Do you wanna try?"

"Yeah, yeah! Please give me one stick!" Korone said as an imaginary tail wagged.

"Aight."

Korone was handed one, and she tried to swing it around. As she did this, Korone looked very stiff as if she was tightening her body as she swung it.

"Hmm...it's heavier than I thought. You're quite strong if it's very light for you."

"That's because I focus more on speed, and I'm quite used to it. You're also very stiff. Try to relax a bit more and move your whole body too instead of just your arms."

"Ah? Okay...but wait, speed? Are you sure these sticks can inflict enough pain, even if they're wooden?"

Shiro blankly stared at Korone for a few seconds, then decided to give her a light tap with his stick to the thighs, which made Korone yelp and jump from the sudden pain.

"Did it hurt?"

"...Yeah." Korone teared up.

"Well, since you look interested in it, wanna spar for a bit?" Shiro smiled.

"EH?! WE DON'T HAVE ANY PROTECTIVE GEAR!"

"Oh, don't worry. You can hit me, but I won't hit you."

"I refuse! I might go a bit too hard and hurt you!"

"Korone…"

Shiro blankly stared at her. "I was literally beaten to a pulp with this when I trained with my mom. Whatever you do, it's not too big of a deal for me."

"But…"

"C'mon, don't you want to have a bit of fun? I also want to see if my skills have gotten rusty. Two birds with one stone, you know? Not a good idea, but I'm a dumbass. Just so long as you don't hit my head, we're good."

"O-Okay, but only because you said you won't hit me!"

"Oh, and one more thing before we spar."

"Hmm? Ah-"

Shiro held Korone's hand and moved it up the shaft about 2 inches.

"This is how you grip the stick. If you do it at the very end, you can get disarmed quickly, and the stick can fly off your hand. That's why you need to put it one hand away from the end."

"Ooh, that makes a lot of sense!"

They got into position, with Shiro holding his stick firmly on his right and ready to strike with his left foot forward, while Korone held hers on her right with her right foot forward.

"Nervous?"

"Well...this is my first time." Korone giggled.

"Okay. Strike!"

Korone rushed towards Shiro and swung her stick to the left. Shiro blocked it with his stick, then held the stick with his left hand, before finally putting the stick against her neck without injuring her.

"E-Eh?!"

"Too fast for you?" Shiro chuckled.

"Eh?! No fair! You can hold the stick bare-handed?! Didn't you say that it's a substitute for a bladed weapon?"

"It's allowed if it's a stick. Want to act like it's an actual blade? Sure. I won't hold it this time. En garde!"

Korone struck once more in the same manner, but instead of blocking for a second time, he quickly spun the stick around hers and used the short end of his stick to hook it. Shiro then grabbed the short end of her stick and pulled it together to disarm her.

"E-Eh?! What happened?" Korone said, still trying to process what he just did to her as she stood there defenseless.

"A disarm. It's a risky one though because it's not that effective since there's an even better one."

"J-Jeez! You're too fast! And I thought fighting like this only involved swinging a stick around! I never knew you could use sticks to do fancy tricks!"

"There are a couple more techniques that I can do, you know? One more?"

"Sure! This is fun!"

Korone, unlike the past two times, took her time finding an opening against Shiro, looking for the best angle. He was just waiting for her to do a thrust or swing so that he could counter her.

"...Actually, Shiro-kun. How about you strike first?"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah! Maybe I can block it!"

"Oh, bad choice of words, Korone." Shiro chuckled as he swung with a backhand to her body slowly, just to give her a chance to block.

"AHAGH!" Korone screeched as she successfully blocked while tucking her shoulders in.

Shiro grabbed the short end of her stick with his palm facing up, twisted it inwards, and struck it with his stick to disarm it from her, then attempted to strike her with both sticks. He stopped right when it was about to hit her as she closed her eyes and put her hands up.

"...Eh? You won't hit me?"

"I told you I wouldn't hit you, right?"

"A-Ah, yeah...I forgot...but wow! You really are amazing, Shiro-kun!"

"Well, in actuality, I think my skills got a bit rusty. I remember being faster than this." Shiro blankly stared at his stick.

"Y-You used to be faster than this? Y-You're too amazing." Korone sweat dropped.

"Well, I guess I should put this into my room now. Did you eat breakfast yet?"

"Nope! How about we do it together?"

"I'm not comfortable putting down my mask in front of everybody just yet, and besides, I'm done eating. I'll just accompany you."

"Eh? No fair!" Korone pouted.

They went through the day doing their usual thing, as well as Shiro and the others congratulating Izuru on reaching 100k subs, and once it was four in the afternoon, Yagoo started the meeting.

"Alright...you all may be happy to hear this…"

"Yeah?" They all said as they leaned in.

"...We're having a meetup with Nijisanji!"

"A-A meetup!?" Sora asked with a big smile.

"I tried talking with AnyColor, and we were able to talk about whether it's okay for the talents to get more familiar with each other. We're taking small steps, and starting with those in Japan only first, but we plan to give more in-real-life interaction with the other talents and get along to further improve the relationship between all talents. Face to face interaction is the best, no? Of course, this is gonna be kept confidential. Who knows what kind of 'drama' the 'fans' can stir up?"

Everybody looked at each other, already talking about their excitement about meeting their oshi on the other side and wanting to do a lot of fun activities with them. However, Shiro was more concerned than he was delighted. He wasn't against it, but there was one detail he wanted addressed.

"Shiro? You seem a bit out of place." Yagoo looked at him.

"...Yagoo, are you sure this is between Hololive and Nijisanji?"

"Yes. We asked our cybersecurity team to keep this as confidential as they could, and make up a false schedule of what we'd be doing on that day."

"Are you really sure? Are there logs? If so, are the cybersecurity staff also taking care of this?"

"Yes, there are logs, and yes, the staff are taking care of it."

"You didn't disclose this to any third-party?"

"No. Whatever negotiation happened, it happened between the two companies only."

"Where did you even get to discuss this?"

"In the AnyColor Inc. building."

"Who else was with you? Any bodyguards? Any staff that happened to be in the meeting aside from the CEO and the board?"

"T-That's a lot of questions you're asking, Shiro-kun. I'm sure Yagoo has it under control-" Sora got cut off.

"I'm being thorough, Sora-senpai. I don't want 'unnecessary attention'." Shiro said with a bit of tone behind his voice, making Sora stiffen slightly. It also radiated to the others.

Yagoo sighed and said, "Look, Shiro. I know you're being cautious and just looking out for all of us and Nijisanji, but don't worry, we're not careless. I just hope you all won't do anything stupid once it happens, like taking off your masks in public, or saying something that could reveal your identities."

Shiro looked down for a while, before looking back at Yagoo and said, "...Okay. I'll trust you with that."

"That's the spirit. Anybody else who objects to this idea?"

"Nope!" Sora said.

"Hey, it's my dream to interact with all of Nijisanji in real life!" Matsuri said.

"Maybe now, we get to see Joe Rikicchi in real life!" Astel said.

"Well, it certainly is quite a thing if us ID can also get to experience it, you know?" Iofi said.

"What about you, Shiro?" Roberu asked.

"I mean, if you all are down, I'm down too." Shiro chuckled.

"Sweet! Jeez, you had to tense up the damn mood there, you little brat!" Roberu wrapped his arm around Shiro's neck and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" Shiro groaned as the boys laughed.

"Well, looks like we're gonna be stuck in the Holohouse again." Civia said in English and giggled nervously.

"Oh, if it's okay with you, HoloCN, we'd also like to invite you over." Yagoo replied in English.

"Eh? Really? B-But we're the CN branch. Only Hololive knows what happened. There's no way that...we won't get 'unnecessary attention'." Civia said, looking away.

The others stopped their chatters and looked at the two.

"Oh, I've already talked to them about it. Although I can't assure that all of Nijisanji will be friendly, since some might've hated you for it, I've already told Tazumi-san about it. He'll be sure to disclose it and say that you do not have ill intentions, in the case that you all accept my invitation."

"Well...you guys?" Civia looked at the others.

"I mean...if what Yagoo said is true, then I'll accept. But still I'd be in the backlines. You four?" Artia asked.

They looked at each other, waiting for the other to state their reason.

"I mean, I can't speak Japanese well, but I wanna make more friends!" Echo said.

"Me too." Yogiri said.

"If you all are going, I'm going too." Rosalyn said.

"As long as you guys are fine with it, I also want to go!" Doris said.

"They accept it, Old Man." Shiro said to Yagoo.

"Ya. Goo. Also, they do? Ah, I forgot you can speak Chinese too." He chuckled.

"I can sorta speak it. There's a difference." Shiro blankly stared.

"As expected of Shiro! You're a very reliable person, aren't you?~" Civia said.

"Don't make this more complicated, please." Shiro groaned a bit as Civia and Artia laughed.

"Well, if that's the case, then I guess this'll be easier to execute than expected."

"Eh?" Everybody said.

"The day after tomorrow, at 11 AM. What do you say?"

"Not early? Oh wait…I forgot streamers have fucked up schedules and not all of them are active, like this one brunette Vtuber who goes 'Wasshoi!'." Shiro blankly stared away.

"Hey, that's insulting!" Matsuri said.

"I didn't mean it as an insult, it's a fact. You should be more like Oga." Shiro smugged while shrugging.

"SHIRO-KUN!!!!" Matsuri pouted with a tick on her head.

"Now now, settle down. That's why I said 11 AM, since rush hour is a factor, and they all should be ready to go and can come earlier than expected. Us Japanese can't risk being tardy."

"Where's it gonna be held?" Sora asked.

"In the AnyColor Inc. Building."

"Eh? Minato City, ey?" Shiro said.

"Do you all have other questions?" Yagoo asked.

"I do!"

"What is it, Risu-chan?"

"Do we wear some sort of 'disguise' to hide our faces?"

"Ah yes. Well, the number one disguise is to wear a mask, like Shiro. However...if you all went in a group, that'd be too suspicious. That's why some of you shall come up with your own disguises. Whether you choose to wear a hoodie, glasses, a hat, or anything you think can conceal your identity, it shall be up to you!"

"Well, I'm sticking with mine. I ain't got a choice, it's like a part of me now." Shiro chukled.

"Is that all, everyone?"

Everybody went silent for a while, waiting to see if somebody else had questions.

"If there are no further questions, this concludes the meeting."

~April 11, 2021 7:00 AM~

"Yo, you guys done?" Shiro said, knocking on Astel's door.

"Hold up, man! We're not a soldier like you who's just ready on the go!"

"I wasn't rushing ya, dimwit. I was askin'." Shiro chuckled.

"Hey, Astel! Where's your comb?" Miyabi asked.

"In the drawer!"

"Man, they are excited." Shiro chuckled again and went to the lounge.

"I didn't know you'd make a good model, Shiro-kun." Korone said.

"Yeah. You look extremely handsome today!" Sora said.

"Well, I did do some modeling before as a teen, but I just wanna look neat. I really hope I don't stand out as much with this." Shiro sighed.

"That's not true! You look absolutely stunning!" Rushia said.

"That just makes it worse, contrary to what you believe."

Shiro wore a white shirt with "nandemo (whatever)" written on it, wore a black zip-up hoodie, a fanny pack going across his body, light brown skinny jeans,and white and dark gray Nike air zooms. On his left wrist, he wore a G-Shock with a black strap.

"Still, couldn't you have worn anything else other than a hoodie for the top?" Suisei sweat dropped.

"I like hoodies, plus it helps conceal my face if I look down. Wearing a denim jacket or a long-sleeved polo would probably only make me stand out more."

"That, and also if somebody were to grab me as we walk there, I can quickly get rid of it. I shouldn't be thinking of scenarios like these, but when all of Hololive and a majority of Nijisanji is coming, the risk of something bad happening isn't completely zero, especially when diehard weebs exist." Shiro sweat dropped.

"Oh, and I have to say one thing, Shiro-kun. Are you gonna bring some sort of weapon?" Botan asked.

"Eh?"

"A weapon! Like a knife or a gun?"

"No."

"Really? If I remember correctly, the security team there will check your items. I'm sure they'll do the same even if we're guests."

"...Okay, fine." Shiro sighed and took out the pocket knife in his sock.

"Eh?! You really did bring one?!"

"Look, you can never be too sure if some extreme weeb comes to the building and tries to harm the employees, or maybe, just maybe, some robbers or terrorists?"

"What is this, an anime? What are the chances?" Botan laughed and patted her legs.

"Err, I'm a soldier, okay? I'm part of the gray area that hasn't adjusted well yet and can sorta blend in with society." Shiro blankly stared.

"Well well well, aren't you strong? Just use your fists."

"Well...there's a reason why I have G-shock watches." Shiro said, going back to his room and returning his knife back to his collection of weapons.

As he came back outside, the Holostars were also there at the lounge.

"I see you guys have dressed up well." Shiro smiled.

"Yeah. You look good too! Oh? Man, you would've looked better if you had a denim jacket! That looks good too though." Astel said.

"Thanks, but I can't really risk my identity being seen. I'll just be that background character." Shiro chuckled.

"You say 'background character', but that face is something that can rival male Japanese models, you know?" Astel patted his shoulder.

"Is everybody good now?" Sora asked.

"I think so." Shiro replied.

"Well then, as agreed, we shall go by two generations, and have a 2 minute delay so that we're separated! See you all there!" Sora said as she waved along with the others as they walked out the building.