Ch 64.5 - New Acquaintances, Old Faces Pt. 1.5

~~This chapter is all about Shiro doing the Phasmophobia collab with Aruran, Roberu, and Temma, as well as his collab with Rikka in making a songwriting stream. The chapter is optional, but if you wanna see the boys bonding, then please enjoy the chapter!~~

~April 09, 2021 7:00 PM~

"Yo?" Shiro spoke into his mic to confirm the others were in the voice call as well.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" They screamed at the top of their lungs and Shiro took off his headphones for a split second.

"YOU FUCKING DICKS!!" He shouted as they laughed.

"You planned this together, didn't y'all?!" Shiro put his headphones back on.

"Eh?~ What're you talking about?~" Temma said.

"Yeah, it was just a coincidence.~" Aruran added.

"You know, we should start introducing ourselves! Good evening, everyone! My name is-"

"OI! DON'T JUST IGNORE THE FACT Y'ALL RAPED MY EARS WITH YOUR NOISY ASS VOICES!" Shiro cut Roberu off as they all laughed.

"Ow, you know, it's really a good thing I don't put my volume past thirty percent. Otherwise, my ears would've died. I already screwed it up from the countless times I've fired guns in the past. Jesus." Shiro chuckled.

"Sorry! Next time, we'll make it louder, okay?~" Aruran said.

"OH, SCREW YOU!" Shiro shouted as they all laughed again.

"Anyway, time to introduce ourselves!" Roberu said.

The three introduced themselves first, and then it was Shiro's turn. Before he would do his usual rapping intro, he'd clear his throat and drink some water as he knew chaos would ensue soon in the collab.

"Shiro on the mic, Shiro on the beat, Shiro with the-"

"Wait wait wait, how about doing some sort of normal intro for once?" Roberu asked.

"Eh? Oi, this is my trademark, you know? It's not 'Ishijin Shiro' if I don't do it."

"No no, I meant like, just once, you know? It's just gonna be a one-time thing, and you can do it for any other collab from this point onward."

"Yeah. You know, I've never heard you do a normal intro ever since your debut. You just did your 'Shiro on the mic' intro since then!" Aruran remarked.

"Ehh? Do I have to?" Shiro said with a chuckle.

"It's just a one-time thing only! C'mon, Shiro! Do it for the fans!" Temma said.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it." Shiro said before clearing his throat once more.

"Um...Good evening, Privates! It's your Ex-General of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces, your soldier in the rough, it's idol Vrapper, Ishijin Shiro! Shiro-kun is…"

A few snickers and giggles could be heard in the background as the boys realized Shiro bit his intro off of a certain idol within the Hololive roster.

"...still handsome today!~~"

"Oi, YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! THAT'S SUISEI-SENPAI, YOU!" Roberu remarked as everybody laughed, with Shiro laughing the hardest.

"Eh? Since when did we get Suisei-senpai in Holostars?" Temma asked.

"Hoshimachi Shiro, huh? Wow, can't believe we have a handsome idol 'as per usual'." Aruran laughed.

"Well, it does kinda match with my character, since me and Suisei are both pettan."

As soon as Shiro said that, the boys bursted out laughing. He could've sworn all of their volumes peaked at that point, not even their screams earlier could recreate the peaks that their mics caught just now.

"Oi, watch what you say, you idiot! You'd think you're popular enough that clips are being pumped out every second! Aren't you also considering the possibility that Suisei-senpai might watch this exact moment in the archive soon?" Roberu said.

"Don't think so. She's busy singing or something, so…" Shiro said as their laughs started to die down.

"But anyway! Today, we're gonna be playing Phasmophobia, guys! Yay!" Shiro said as they all clapped.

"Now, important question of the year, boys. Who'll die first? I'm thinking Roberu." Shiro said.

"Oi! That's mean to a senpai!" Roberu retorted.

"You know, I also think it's Roberu too." Temma said.

"Me too." Aruran said.

"YOU GUYS ARE TOTALLY GANGING UP ON ME, AREN'T YA?!" Roberu asked as the three laughed.

~~Misogynistic Hololiver~~

"Alright. Temma, let's go!" Shiro said.

"Why do I have to go with you!?"

The map they picked was the Grafton Farmhouse. Although it's one of the beginner maps, since Shiro didn't play a lot of Phasmophobia off stream, the difficulty was set to Nightmare (It was Shiro's idea), so as much as Shiro could possibly get killed, Temma was just as likely to be the same. The fact that Shiro could take horror games way better than the others didn't really help either in calming Temma down as well.

Shiro brought an EMF reader, UV flashlight and thermometer, while Temma brought a video camera, a flashlight, and a spirit box.

"Stop being such a little baby and move." Shiro snickered.

"Hey! We're in Nightmare difficulty, you know?"

"So? Even in Beginner, you can still get killed. It's just not as dangerous. Now...Becky Huntley?" Shiro said as they finally got inside the barn.

"IDIOT-DON'T BLURT THE NAME OUT JUST YET!" Temma screamed as Shiro laughed.

"Oh, c'mon. This is effective, because we need to draw the ghost out, you know?" He said as he brought out the thermometer and went around the place.

"Okay, so...Temma, wanna split up?"

"NO!" He instantly replied, making Shiro guffaw.

"Bruh, are you that scared? Don't worry, I'm here!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just please get it over with." Temma whined, which made Shiro slightly giggle.

They went around the house, looking at the environment, and Shiro was trying to get clues about the ghost.

"Hmm...oh shit, I forgot, there are lights in this barn." Shiro said as he flipped the switch near the door, making the four laugh.

"Oi, are we sure about letting Shiro take the lead here? You don't think you're being scammed, Temma?" Aruran asked.

"Wait...is Temma basically digging his own grave right now?" Roberu said as they all laughed.

"Oi oi oi, if that's the case, I'm out of here." Temma said as he turned around, leaving Shiro in the dark.

"Hey! KEEP THE FLASHLIGHT ON THE GODDAMN BEDROOM, YO!"

After a couple of minutes looking around, Shiro still couldn't get any activity from the ghost, and he wasn't able to get anything from the equipment he brought either.

"Hmm...no freezing temperatures. Hey, Temma, let's start from the second floor and go back down, but this time, get the spirit box."

"Eh? It's my turn?"

"No, I'll still do it. I'll drop the EMF reader, but you give me the spirit box, so that you can still be my flashlight man."

"...You know, I think Shiro-kun's looking down on you, Temma." Roberu said to which he started snickering.

"Ah, is that so!? Well then, bye, Shiro-kun!~" Temma said as he went away.

"IDIOT! COME BACK! Ah-" Shiro said as the lights turned off when he turned it on.

"Eh? EH? AH! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Temma shook his mouse around, making a mini disco light near Shiro's vicinity.

"The lights turned off." Shiro said as he laughed.

"Wait, they turned the lights off in the bedroom near the storage area. Maybe the ghost is dwelling here. Temma, try to put a camera down here." Shiro requested. "Roberu and Aruran can view it from the feed and see if an orb pops up."

"Ah, I got it, I got it."

Once he set it down, Shiro took out the spirit box, and he called for the ghost's name, and especially with the lights off.

"Becky Huntley, are you there?"

No response yet, so he tried again.

"Becky Huntley, are you there-" Shiro heard a voice from the spirit box, startling Temma and making Shiro widen his eyes.

"Ooh, first evidence! Spirit box. Sweet-" Shiro got cut off as the lights turned back off immediately as he turned it back on.

"AH! That surprised me." Temma laughed.

"Damn, so it turns the lights off sometimes almost immediately, and it also interacts with the spirit box...Roberu, Aruran, is there any feedback on the camera?" Shiro asked as they both went out of the room.

"Nothing yet, as far as I'm aware....OOOHHHH, SOMETHING MOVED! SOMETHING MOVED, WHAT THE HELL!?" Roberu shouted while Aruran let out some noise too.

"Yeah! I think it was an orb!" Aruran said.

"Eh? Really? That makes things damn easy!" Shiro chuckled. "So that leaves us with...the notebook, and the dots thingy for the evidence. Alright. Aruran, can you please come to the barn and pass us the notebook?"

"Eh?"

"Oh, no need to go inside, just leave it at the door or something. Though, make sure it's inside the house, and not outside. Who knows if the ghost just might close the fucking door on us." Shiro laughed.

"A-Alright...hopefully I don't die." Aruran said as Roberu giggled.

"Bruh, you won't die. You're just gonna be outside."

"Yes! Shiro-kun, I love you!~ I don't have to sacrifice myself!~" Roberu teased.

"Shut up, ya scaredy puss. I'm about to switch ya with Aruran. I may be lower-leveled than some of ya, but I'm not afraid to rebel against my senpais."

"THIS BRATTY KOUHAI OF OURS-SERIOUSLY, YOU TALK TOO MUCH!" Roberu remarked which made the three laugh.

"Ah, really, Shiro-kun? You'll switch me with Roberu?" Aruran asked.

"No...well, not yet, anyway." Shiro said, making them all laugh again.

"OH, I'M TOTALLY GONNA LET THE GHOST EAT YOUR ASS!" Roberu shouted.

Aruran dropped the notebook at the entrance, went back to the truck, and Shiro went to pick it up.

"Okay, so...here...and we just play the waiting game." Shiro said.

"...WAH! Oh, it was nothing-WAHHH! IT'S A GHOST!!" Temma screamed.

"What?! Where?!" Shiro asked.

"Ah, it's gone, it's gone."

"Okay, wait. Are you sure? It's not on a hunt?"

"I don't know, man! You think we can put a crucifix in there? Actually, did something pop up in the notebook yet?"

"Nope. I feel like we might not get the crucifix in time anyway, especially when the room seems to be on the second floor. Just hope it don't hunt our asses down right now."

"...Oh! The notebook's got scribbles! So...that means the ghost is a Mare!" Shiro laughed in triumph.

"Eh? That was fast! Sweet! Let's go home!"

Just as Temma said that, they heard a big boom to their right.

"Eh? AAAAAHHH! RUN!!" Temma said as both him and Shiro ran down the stairs.

"RUN, BITCH! RUUUUNNN!!" Shiro said in English.

"DON'T LOOK BACK! DON'T LOOK BACK!"

"Okay, so at least we know that it was a Mare-AH, FUCK! I'M DEAD! NOOO!" Shiro ended his sentence in English.

"Eh? Shiro-kun?"

"I'll be the sacrifice! Just get out, Temma!!" Shiro said.

"NOOO! SHIRO-KUUUUN!!" Temma shouted as he came back for Shiro.

The whole entire scene enacted by Temma and Shiro made Aruran and Roberu laugh uncontrollably due to how anime-ish it sounded. It almost sounded like those shonen animes where a character sacrifices themselves as the MC tries to run back to save their friend.

"RUN, YOU IDIOT!"

"Ah, okay." Temma said, ending that dramatic scene anticlimactically, which made the other two laugh even more to the point their stomachs hurt.

"OI! YOU HAVE NO REMORSE?!"

"You told me to run, so I did." Temma guffawed.

"YEAH! THAT SCAMMER OF A GHOST HUNTER DIED!" Aruran shouted.

"OH, I'LL HAUNT YOUR ASSES DOWN AS A WRAITH, YA HEAR ME?!" Shiro shouted.

"But anyway! We at least found out it was a Mare! Actually, should we leave Shiro-kun behind?" Roberu asked.

"HAH! SIKE, BITCH! I'M IN THE TRUCK!"

"Aww, welp. Great work, everybody!" Roberu said as the others followed up with the same words.

"You know, it's ironic how you say 'great work', Roberu, when your only job was to look through the camera as the truck acted like a safe haven."

"Hey! At least I fulfilled my role, you know!?"

"...YAY! IT WAS A MARE!" The boys cheered as their mission was successful.

"Wait, I just realized something." Roberu said.

"Eh?" The others replied.

"You know how Shiro asked who would die first?"

"...Okay, look." Shiro said as he went close to Roberu. This led to the others laughing hard.

"It's for the sake of entertainment, okay? The fans need content, we're entertainers, we gotta do stuff like that, right? I didn't mean it."

"Yeah, yeah. Noob kouhai."

"Shut it, wussy I-stayed-in-the-truck senpai!" Shiro shouted.

The four would proceed to play for a few more times before ending the stream. A lot of funny moments happened there, and ultimately, they gained some levels and got a lot of money, in exchange for dying many times.

~April 10, 2021 9:00 AM~

"Shiro on the mic, Shiro on the beat, Shiro with the heat, everybody, thanks for coming to my stream! Yeah, and you know I got the heat, bro. What's my name? Ishijin Shiro!" He clapped.

"Everybody, we have Rikka hereeee!" Shiro said as Rikka clapped and cheered, before proceeding to play random guitar chords out of the blue.

"Ahaha! Yeah, before we get into the stream though, and I'm sure that those of you who are Hololive fans, and especially Holostar fans too, know Rikka, just for those who don't, introduce yourself, Rikka!"

"Okay! So uh...Helloroid! I'm Rikka from Holostars, your two gigabyte of memory capacity android. I hope you'll take care of me!" Rikka bowed a bit, and the introduction made Shiro laugh.

"Alright, alright. What about some stuff that you do?"

"Well...I play some music, I know how to play guitar, and I'm also good at Tetris!"

"There we go! Nice, so everybody, with Holostars' holoroid here, we are gonna be making a song! So, we're starting from scratch. No practice, no planning beforehand, we literally have no idea how to start this stream."

"Yeah, I don't even know why I'm here." Rikka giggled.

"Oi, you idiot, the title of the stream literally says what we're supposed to be doing right now." Shiro commented as Rikka giggled more.

"Well, should we start now?"

"Yeah, let's go! So uh...first off, what kinda mood do you want for the song?" Shiro asked.

"Hmm...honestly, I don't know." Rikka said as he played an F chord.

"Alright, lemme give you a few options. You want an upbeat song? A slow song? You want something energizing? Something sad? Actually, let's start with just the first two. Upbeat, or slow?"

"Hmm...how about upbeat?"

"Sweet. Say, what song do you think can serve as a reference?"

"Hmm...honestly, I have no idea right now." Rikka laughed, and Shiro followed. "I'm very sorry, I didn't prepare at all for the stream except for bringing my guitar."

"Nah, it's okay...Actually, I'm an idiot. I should've connected my MIDI keyboard to the computer. Hold up."

Shiro got his 61 key MIDI keyboard, put it on his desk, and connected the wires.

"Say, I just noticed how fancy your keyboard is. What do these squares do?" Rikka pointed.

"Oh, those are the drum pads. Basically, I use this software that lets me program it so that I can just play music live while recording, and these pads can let me play drum sounds when I press them. Though...right now, I didn't assign it to anything, so it'll play nothing." Shiro chuckled as he finished his business with the wires and opened FL Studio.

"Eh? This looks really complicated." Rikka giggled.

"When you have to produce music, mix it, and master it all by yourself, it is quite a hassle. But hey, it's fun once you get the hang of it." Shiro chuckled once more.

"Alright...Okay, Rikka. Important question of the stream, what key do you want me to be in?"

"Eh? Uh...D! Choose D!"

"Minor, or major?"

"Minor!"

"Alright...actually, I'll do D# minor. Why not?"

Shiro started playing around while Rikka also did his own chords. The two were making a songwriting stream, but they haven't inputted anything yet on the notepad as to what key they were officially in, what the song's BPM was, as well as the structure of their song.

Shiro decided to pick Gbmaj7, just because he liked how the chord fitted his hand rather than what sound it produced, and he played in a jazz-like manner, striking the chord in a swingy way. Once he switched a key down — Fmin7 —, he noticed something.

"Oh?" Shiro blurted.

"What happened?"

"Hey, Rikka. You know the F sharp major 7 chord?"

"Ah, you mean this?" Rikka did a certain hand shape. "Wait...no, that's the F major 7 chord, if I remember correctly...Eh?"

"Wait...try this." Shiro rearranged his fingers, and Rikka strummed again. "Ah! There we go!"

"Ooh...wait, hold up. I think I'm cooking something." Shiro said, going back to the keyboard and playing some chords. Gbamj7, Fmin7, Gbmaj7, and the following chords filling up the fourth bar, Bbmin7, Abmin7, and Gmin7. He also played the same chord progression but switched the third chord with Ebmin7 to see how that sounded.

"Oooh. Hey, Rikka. How'd you like the sound of this chord progression?" Shiro said, playing the same chords, but in one go.

"Woah! I actually like it!"

"Right? Damn...you know, try saying something over these chords." Shiro asked.

"Eh? Like freestyle singing or something?"

"Yup! Improv, you know what I'm saying? It doesn't matter if you mess up. Let's just cook up some ideas."

"Okay, um…" Rikka looked at Shiro resetting back to the first chord before attempting to freestyle something.

"...Sekaiteki, mokuhyou da (Worldwide, that is our goal).~ Bokura agaru yume wo tsuikyuu shiteru (We will pursue our dreams).~" Rikka got his guitar and also strummed along with the chords too. "Sekaiteki bokura no mokuhyou da (Worldwide, that is what we're aiming for).~ Agaru yume wo tsuikyuu shiteru (We're pursuing our dream of going up). Sora e~ ikou (Let's go to the sky!). Ibasho da (It's where we belong).~ Nanimo tomerarenai (Nothing's gonna stop us).~"

"WOOO!!! Ey! You need to remember what you just said. Hol' up, I think I remember the notes. Let me play it here real quick."

"Okay, okay. Say, can I borrow your keyboard for a bit? I'll see if I can copy what I just sang right now…" Rikka said as he went close to me and typed the lyrics.

"Hmm...Okay, A flat, and…"

Shiro played the melody of Ab, Gb, F, and Eb, so he got the starting melody at least. However, when he played Db, F, Ab, and then a higher octave of C, he realized he was playing a different song, and one that was very popular.

"...Uchi ni kizutsukete shimattari.~" Shiro sang as he snickered while looking at Rikka. It seemed he also started to get what Shiro was playing.

"Ushinattari shite hajimete okashite tsumo wo shiru.~ Modorenai yo, mukashi no you ni wa kirameite mieta to shite mo.~ Ashita e to arukidasanakya.~ Yuki ga furishikirou tomo.~"

Shiro and Rikka sang the whole pre-chorus and chorus of Hakujitsu by King Gnu. They were really having fun singing the song even though Shiro unintentionally played the notes and started jamming with Rikka. Even the fans were vibing with them, and didn't point out that they were going off topic.

"HELL YEAH! HIGH-FIVE!" Shiro shouted as the two high-fived.

"Oh man, that was fun!" Rikka laughed.

"We may have gotten a bit off-topic there, but hey, what's wrong with a little fun, am I right?" Shiro giggled.

"This is like...one of those moments in song composing where you do something that resembles a song, and you just have fun and play it before going back to what you were doing. We just did that!" Rikka remarked.

"Yeah, I know. It was hella fun!" Shiro said as they both laughed and clapped.

They both went back to composing, tried different ideas, Shiro helped Rikka with his lyrics, and they did a few dry runs after the whole song was done. Rikka didn't expect they'd be done so quickly, so he complimented Shiro, but Shiro also gave a compliment to Rikka about how he was giving Shiro ideas constantly, so they were able to synergize to create a song in under an hour. He even produced it on FL Studio, although he put the basic effects only as they didn't plan on releasing it, so there was no need to go fancy.

The chords were Gbmaj7, Fmin7 (2 counts), Gbmaj7 (1 count), Fmin 7 (1 count), Ebmin7, Bbmin7, Abmin7 (1 count), and Gmin7 (1 count). A constantly moving and complicated chord progression, but it was the best to give it that "Japanese pop song" vibe to it. Their BPM was about 146, and the final key of the song was Eb minor, which was also called D# minor — the one Shiro picked.

[Chorus: Rikka]

"Sekaiteki bokura no mokuhyou da. Aga-[Worldwide, that is what we're aiming for. We're-].~"

"-ru yume wo tsuikyuu shiteru. Sora- (-pursuing our dream of going up. To the-).~"

"-e ikou. Ibasho da. Nanimo- (-sky, we go! That's where we belong. Nothing-)~"

"-tomerarenai. (-can stop us now.)~"

[Verse: Shiro]

"...Nothing can stop us."

"Going to the top. Yeah, nothing can stop us."

"Shining like the stars, we're beaming in the night. 'Cause we're-"

"-over the spotlight, gleaming so bright."

"Wake up, practice all of the songs."

"Wake up, express all of our thoughts."

"Make up compositions like bombs."

"Exploding, booming up to the stars."

[Pre-chorus]

(Rikka)

"...Tooku...tsuki wa (The moon...is far away).~"

"...Soredemo, aidoru ni naru (Even then, we'll still be idols).~"

(Shiro)

"...Yeah. We're gonna be idols."

"Aim up high. We are gonna get our title."

"Started off as a couple hollow stars."

"And now we're going live, we're Holostars."

[Chorus: Rikka & Shiro]

[Rikka}

"Sekaiteki bokura no mokuhyou da. Aga- [Worldwide, that is what we're aiming for. We're-].~"

"-ru yume wo tsuikyuu shiteru. Sora- [-pursuing our dream of going up. To the-].~"

"-e ikou. Ibasho da. Ima ga- [-sky, we go! That's where we belong. And now we're-]~"

"-tsuki made massugu tonderu! [-flying straight for the moon!]~"

[Shiro]

"Sekaiteki bokura no mokuhyou da. Aga-[Worldwide, that is what we're aiming for. We're-].~"

"-ru yume wo tsuikyuu shiteru. Sora- (-pursuing our dream of going up. To the-).~"

"-e ikou. Ibasho da. Nanimo... (-sky, we go! That's where we belong. Nothing...)~"

"...Nanimo tomerarenai. (...Nothing can stop us now.)~"

"Whoo! Rikka, we fucking killed it!" Shiro said as the two high-fived.

"That was amazing! Man, never would I have thought we could make that in under an hour!" Rikka pointed at the screen.

"We worked fast! Though, sadly, it seems we're gonna have to end the stream here. Do you have any final thoughts for the stream?"

"Well, first, I'd like to thank Shiro-kun for giving me the chance to collab with me!"

"Aw, thank you, it was hella nice to get you on here as well, for real."

"Second, I really enjoyed the songwriting stream. It was sooo much fun, seriously."

"Yeah, we jammed out a lot with the songs we accidentally played." Shiro said as the two laughed.

"Alright! For me, I really enjoyed the stream, I loved making the song with Rikka. Sadly, unless we both agree to flesh out the song more, this won't be released, so we apologize for that, Privates. However! We had a lot of fun, you guys definitely seemed to enjoy what we cooked up as well, so...with that said, it's time to say our goodbyes!"

"OtsuRikkaaaa!" Rikka extended it for as long as Shiro would do his outro.

"Shiro on the mic, Shiro on the beat, Shiro with the heat, everybody, thanks for coming to the stream! Yeah, and you know I got the big dreams. Privates, I'mma see you all in the next stream!"