Ch 12 - From Now On, I'll Be Your Shoulder to Cry On!

Me and Subaru arrived at the mall, feeling the AC of the whole mall, and we looked everywhere.

"Alright, where to first?" I asked.

"Let's go to the convenience store and look for some chocolate!" Subaru said.

"Alright."

We went there, and we started scanning the selections.

"Hmm...what would be a good thing to pick...?" Subaru asked.

"I bet she doesn't like dark chocolate. That's out of the question." I said.

"Hmm...dairy choco?"

"Yeah. Honestly, I'm a bit worried about her health, but I'm sure she knows how much is too much chocolate. Maybe Toblerone too?"

"Alright!" Subaru said.

"How about we also buy her something? Like maybe she has some favorite snack aside from chocolate? No Gyoza, by the way."

"Hmm...Oh! Let's go to one of the anime shops later to buy her a gintama figure of some sort!"

"Hmm...alright."

'Although Nene might have one of those already, it won't hurt to buy something she could keep.' I thought.

We bought a lot of chocolate, and Subaru paid for it. Before we went to the anime shops though, we had to go to an ATM first.

"You done withdrawing?" I asked.

"Wait. Lemme just do this and...!" She said as the ATM started making the money, and she got it.

"Here we go! Time for me to put this in my wallet!"

"Alright, my turn." I said as I replaced her area, and she got her sling bag to put her money in.

'How much should I withdraw...? Ah, fuck it. 100,000 yen, why not?' I thought.

"Hey, hey. Shiro-kun...!" Subaru said as she pulled on my shirt.

"Hmm? What?" I said as I looked at her.

She moved her right hand's fingers back and forth a bit, and I ducked down to let her whisper something into my ears.

"How much are you gonna withdraw? I just withdrew 20,000."

"Oh? Well, 100,000." I said in a quiet tone and went back to withdrawing.

"E-Eh? Isn't that almost your entire bank balance...?" Subaru asked.

I shrugged.

"Not really. Besides, I need some real money in case certain situations call for it."

"Eh...? That's a lot..." Subaru giggled.

I finally got my money and put it in my wallet inside my sling bag.

"Aight, let's go." I said.

Me and Subaru finally went to the anime shops and we picked one figure. It was unfortunately too much for Subaru's "budget", so I paid for it instead. Poor Subaru. It's her gift but it was my money. I didn't mind though. She did say that she'll pay me back tomorrow, so whatevs.

It was finally lunch time...honestly, I didn't think much of it, until Subaru asked me this question:

"Hey, Shiro-kun. Let's have lunch in the food court!"

I widened my eyes and stopped as we walked along the walkway of the mall.

"W-W-What's wrong...?"

"...Well..." I scratched my head and looked away.

"Hmm...? Oh-A-A-Ah, you know, let's have take out instead! Let's eat back in the Holohouse-"

"You know...just this once..."

"W-What? 'Just this once'...?"

"Just this once...I'll eat together with you in public with my mask off."

'Damn, I mean, I will get some anxiety in my mind, but it's better than having to inconvenience Subaru.'

"Are you sure...? I don't mind eating back there in the Holohouse if it makes you too uncomfortable." She frowned.

"Nah, it's just...I just like keeping this secret of mine to myself." I giggled nervously.

The truth is, though, it gives me anxiety. It reminds me too much of my mom. If she points it out, I will have flashbacks to the past, which is not really PTSD, but it's similar to it. I'll fight it though. We'll see how this goes.

"O-Okay...just tell me, okay? Don't push yourself." Subaru frowned more.

"Yup." I lied.

We finally went to the food court, and we ordered our meal. She ordered A LOT of meat. No wonder her chest is somewhat big. SHE'S A THICC DUCK, HOLOBROS. THICCCCC.

We finally sat down, and we said "Itadakimasu!"

She picked her chopstick up, and she looked at me.

"Well...are you ready to see what's under my mask...?" I asked her.

'I was gonna reserve this for the boys first, but...well, circumstances happened, and this is where I'm at now.' I thought and sweat dropped.

"Ah, y-y-yeah..."

I closed my eyes and breathed out.

'Here goes nothing...' I thought as I pulled my mask down.

When I did, I saw Subaru's facial expression change drastically. It went from her normal straight face to very wide eyes and a bit of a jaw drop. She dropped her chopsticks on her plate, and put her right hand on her mouth. It wasn't too much of a distance, so her chopsticks didn't make too much of a sound.

I got rid of the loops of my mask, and put the mask inside my sling bag for now.

"I know. It looks bad."

"W-What happened...to it...?"

'Fuck, I knew it.' I heard her say the question I feared, and the memories of me fighting against my mom came back. The feelings, the sensations, the anger especially, is all coming back.

I clenched my fists and scratched my lap.

"Don't go crazy, Shiro. Look, there's Subaru, she has some meat there. You ordered meat as well, but you also added vegetables. You took your mask off. You see some people walking by. You also see some people looking at you. They're looking at the scar that's located on your mouth. It's March 2 today, so that means today is a Tuesday..." I thought to myself, and sighed in relief.

"...I'm fine now, Subaru. My anxiety is away...for now." I said.

"A-Ah...good to know..." She said as she got her chopsticks again and looked for her first option to eat.

"...I won't go too much into details, but know that I used to be involved in a huge fight, and this happened."

"Ah, okay...Still..."

Subaru kept looking at my face, and I sweated a bit.

"W-What? Does it look that strange...?"

"...You're actually really handsome."

"...W-W-What the-" I said in English and blushed a lot.

'ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I MEAN, EVEN WITH THIS SCAR?! I MEAN, I KNOW THERE WERE GIRLS THAT SAID THAT TO ME, BUT I GOT THE SAME EXACT REPLY EVEN AFTER I GOT THIS SCAR?!' I thought and blushed more, and my brain started thinking all sorts of things.

"W-What's wrong? You don't normally get that?" Subaru asked.

"A-Ah, no. It's just that...You see, I used to get that from a lot of girls before, but I didn't know that I'd still get that even after I have this." I said as I pointed to my scar.

"Well...it is surprising at first, since that's rather a big scar, but other than that...you don't look too bad. Matter of fact, I could've mistaken you for a model."

"R-Really..? My scar isn't that bad?"

"Un! For real, you look very handsome! I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of girls fell for you!"

"A-Ah...is that so...?" I giggled a bit, and glanced at the people passing by.

"Yeah...still have a bit of anxiety with this." I sighed internally.

"Well, l-let's get to eating, huh?"

"Un!"

I finally picked my chopsticks up, and we started eating. We even talked a bit, and my mind was distracted away from my scar for a while. Amidst the talking, she brought the topic back though.

"Still...why wouldn't you try to show it to the Hololivers? I don't think it's too bad, seriously. You look okay."

"...Well, the thing is, Subaru, scars are permanent, which is obvious, but it fades away as time passes. My scar right now is not blending in just yet....Soon enough though, I am gonna show you guys...just soon. Not right now." I said as I kept eating.

"Ah...I see." She said.

As we kept eating though, I couldn't help but notice Subaru just looks at me differently. I had to ask her that.

"Why do you keep looking at me a bit strange?" I asked.

"Oh? Well..like I said, you're just really handsome." Subaru smiled.

I blushed a bit, and looked away.

"Huh...I see..." I giggled nervously.

'...Ah, here it is. Welp, I CAN'T HELP IT. JUST FUCKING GET OVER WITH IT, BONER!' I thought.

Nature of men: When girls give you compliments, are close to you, are your crush, or anything that can make your heart skip a beat, you get a boner. That's just how it is.

'...Why was I born with a big dick?' I thought as I lowkey arranged my dick so that it's not as uncomfortable and tight as it is right now.

"You know, I think people could mistake us for girlfriend and boyfriend actually, seeing how good you look." Subaru laughed.

"Ah, y-y-yeah...!" I giggled nervously.

'AH, FUCK-...! Yup, my boner just stiffened up in my pants, and it hurts...'

Why do I gotta be one of the horniest people on earth...?

"Well...how about we finish up our meal, huh?" I giggled nervously.

"Ah, alright! I don't want you exposing your scar for too long, 'cause it might make you too uncomfortable!" Subaru giggled.

"Y-Yeah..."

That, and also 'cause my heart might burst if she keeps up the compliments. It's not that I'm not used to it, but...like I said before, I didn't know I'd still get the same reply now that I have this scar.

We finally finished, my boner settled down, I put my mask on, and we finally got out of the mall and rode a taxi towards the printing shop to get Miyabi's shirt. Finally, we rode another taxi towards the school.

"Well, that was a fun date, I guess..."

I looked at Subaru who was smiling while looking out the window, and I recalled what she said to me.

'You know, I think people could mistake us for girlfriend and boyfriend actually, seeing how good you look. Ahahaha!'

'...I-It's not like I like her or anything. We're just friends, okay? I mean, I don't know about friends, but we're not like that!' I thought an blushed while looking out my window and groaned a bit.

But a girlfriend, huh...? Man, I wish I could experience that again...but there's not a lot of girls that fit my standards now. A girl that's loyal, respectful, honest, and disciplined? That's like trying to find a coin that's dropped 10 seconds ago in the ocean with just your bare eyes.

We finally arrived at the school, but as we were walking towards the Holohouse, we saw 3 girls in the mini-park. There were a lot of students walking around this afternoon, so I'm guessing there's either no class, or some shit happening right now. Those 3 girls stood out in my eyes though.

"Oh?" I said.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"That girl with purple hair..." I said as I looked at her, eating her lunch on a bench while frowning a lot as her friends tried to comfort her as they also eat. She's even sobbing a bit, and her eyes are hella red. She's sad as hell....

She needs some help.

"Oh?" Subaru said as she jogged towards the girl.

I followed Subaru's footsteps, and we went near the girl.

"Ano...doushita no?" Subaru said as she knelt and looked up at her face.

"Oh...? Ah, Subaru-senpai..." The purple-haired girl said as she leaned back a bit.

She also looked at me. Honestly, she's a pretty girl. Doesn't look totally Japanese. She either is a half, has some foreign blood in her, or is a foreign girl herself. Her purple hair was also really elegant. Very pretty to look at. She also has heterochromia. Her left eye is blue, and her right eye is purple.

"Oh...? Shiro-senpai as well." She said in English.

I widened my eyes a bit from that.

"You speak English?" I asked.

She nodded.

"I speak Japanese and English. I'm bilingual."

"I see...say, what's wrong? I'm sorry to bother you, by the way. You just caught my eye."

"Oh, uh...you see...me and my friends went to the arcade yesterday, and we won something from the arcade...Fast forward to today, I lost it..."

Her eyes teared up again and she sobbed while letting go of her bento box. She slightly clenched her fists and she wiped her eyes with her left hand.

"I made sure to put it in my bag, but it somehow got lost as I made my way to the classroom...." She said as she wiped with both of her hands, and her friends started touching her, whether it was her shoulder or hair.

"H-Hey, don't feel bad about it. I can win it again." Her friend from her right side said in Japanese.

"Yeah. Don't cry, please. You're gonna make me cry too if you keep crying...!" Her other friend said.

"Sniff...the most sad part about it is that I didn't win it. It was my two friends that did..." The purple-haired girl said as she looked at me in the eyes.

I frowned just a teeny tiny bit, and knelt on the ground with one leg, just like Subaru did.

"I'm sorry to hear that. That must've been really important to you."

"Yeah...I-I'm sorry to bother you two. You probably might not be able to help with this. It's just...I'm just really sad..." She said, wiping her eyes again and also sniffing.

"W-What did she say, Shiro-kun?" Subaru asked.

"Basically, her friends won something from an arcade yesterday, and gave it to her, it seems. She lost it today when she went to her classroom." I said to Subaru.

"A-Ano...what did you lose, by the way?" Subaru asked her in Japanese.

"Sniff...it was a gundam figure."

Me and Subaru widened our eyes.

"Gundam figure, you say?" I said in English and opened my sling bag.

"S-Shiro-senpai...?" She said.

"Are you talking about...this?" I said.

She widened her eyes, along with her other 2 friends. She, however, was the one with the widest jaw drop.

"Oh my God! I was looking for that the whole time!" She said as she stood up, put her bento box on the bench, and I stood up, letting her grab the gundam figure.

She started smiling, and she wiped the rest of her tears away.

"W-Woah...That really is the G-Gundam figure...!" The purple-haired girl said.

"T-Thank you!" Both of her friends said.

"W-Where did you find this, Shiro-senpai?" The purple-haired girl asked.

"In one of the hallways of the dorm near the stairs."

"S-So it really was lost in one of the walkways!" She said.

She stepped back a bit and bowed.

"Thank you so much for giving me this...! You don't know how much this really meant to me!" She said as she stood back up.

I smirked and chuckled.

"Don't mention it. Just 'cause I'm misogynistic doesn't mean I don't like to help people, especially women." I said.

She giggled, along with her other friends.

"Though, I think you should give credit to Subaru. She picked it up." I said.

"Ah, arigatou-gozaimasu, Subaru-senpai!" She bowed towards Subaru.

"Ah, please don't! Shiro-kun found it, actually! I just picked it up from the hallway! He also said that he'd like to keep it so that he could give it to whoever lost it after everybody was done with class!"

"Still, you picked it up. Not that I wouldn't have picked it up myself, but you gladly took it and helped me keep it." I said.

"Well then, thank you so much, you two!" She said as she smiled a lot and wiped her eyes again, while also sniffing.

"Say...what's your name?" I asked.

"Oh, me? Hehe..."

She looked at me and Subaru as her friends went near her.

"My name is Irys. I like to spell it in all caps with the 'y' being lowercase, but please call me Irys! I-R-Y-S!"

"I see...well, I won't question your last name, but Irys, I hope you'll have a great day today, now that you have your gundam figure again." I chuckled.

"I can't express enough thanks, but...!" She said as she proceeded to pounce at me and wrap her arms around my body.

"W-Wha-"

"Thank you!" She said.

I blushed a bit and blinked twice.

'Holy fuck...SHE THICC, BOI. SHE'S NOT AS THICC AS NOEL, BUT SHE THICCER THAN A BOWL OF OATMEAL WITH CONDENSED MILK! GODDAYUM, BOI!' I thought.

She released me and also did the same thing to Subaru.

"I seriously can't thank you two enough for giving back one of my most precious things ever!"

"Hehe. You're welcome!" Subaru said.

"Well, we'll be going now, Irys. You two girls too." I waved at them.

"Mmm! See you two soon!" She said as she waved back.

Subaru giggled and she pounced at me while wrapping her arms around my arm.

"Oh?"

"C'mon! We gotta give these gifts to Nene-chi, remember?"

I smiled and chuckled.

"Yup." I said.

~~Irys's POV~~

I looked at the two as they went to the Holohouse, and I just thought about how Shiro is actually...different.

"Man...Shiro-senpai is actually kind, isn't he?" I said.

"Yeah...I'm surprised he actually went to us and offered to help, especially by the fact that he even kept that figure just so that he could give it to us." My friend said.

"Hmm...though it's weird. If you're misogynistic, that would mean that you wouldn't like to interact with girls, right?" My other friend said.

"Hmm...well, doesn't matter! I finally got my Gundam figure!"

I looked at it in my hand and smiled more.

"Hey, you guys wanna be part of the Shiro Fan Club after he finally debuts?" I asked them.

"Sure! I mean, he looks like a nice guy. Why would he go through the trouble just to give you this, right?"

"Besides...he is a bit 'boyfriend' material. Not that I like him that way, but you get my point, right?"

I giggled.

"I get what you mean..." I said.

"Man...please, Yagoo, let me inside Hololive...! I hope my audition will be accepted!" I thought to myself.

~~Shiro's POV~~

We finally got inside, but we only saw a few Hololivers. Nene's also not here.

"Oh? Hey, Shiro-kun!" Kaoru said as he ran towards me from one of the couches, along with Kira and Oga.

"Oh?" I said.

"You see, Miyabi, and the others went out for lunch. Roberu, Temma, and Astel went to buy the cake for Miyabi. We all agreed that all of us Holostars shall cut the money so that all of us have a fair contribution to it!" Kaoru said.

"I see. How much should I pay?"

"Oh, not much. 870 yen."

"I see...well, I have 1,000 here. You guys have change for it?" I said as I got a thousand yen out of my wallet.

"Yup! Thanks!" Kaoru said as he snatched it.

"Quickly!" Kira said as he accompanied Kaoru.

Oga giggled and crossed his arms.

"Say, you already got Miyabi's gift wrapped up?" Oga asked.

"Nope, I have it right here."

"Well, better wait for your change, then you can wrap it up. Don't worry, I'm here on the lookout in case Miyabi came earlier than expected." Oga said.

"Alright. Hey, Subaru, mind giving these to Nene?" I said as I got Miyabi's gift out of the bags and gave her the rest.

"Hai! Bye, Shiro-kun!" Subaru said as she ran up the stairs.

I giggled.

"Ah...well, I guess I can finally rest now and do some preparation for my debut...!" I said as I stretched.

"Yeah...now that I think about it..." Oga said as he looked back from Subaru then to me.

"Hmm?"

"You and Subaru-senpai sorta look like a couple, I won't lie."

I blushed a bit and jumped.

"E-Eh...? Really?"

"Don't worry, don't worry! I won't ship you two if it makes you uncomfortable." Oga laughed and put his hand on my shoulder.

I sighed in relief.

"Thanks..."

"Shiro-kun! Here you go!" Kaoru came back with 130 yen.

"Ah, thank you." I said as I got the money.

"Welp, time for me to go to my room now!" I said as I jogged towards my room.

"Remember, we're hanging out in the arcade at 3:30 PM!"

"Yup!" I said.

~Rewind back in lunchtime~

~~Rushia's POV~~

"Itadakimasu!" We said as we started eating our food.

We were at one of the rooftops of the school buildings when we ate lunch. We agreed to do so just so that we could have some privacy. Of course, we could've ate at the mini park, but it would soon be occupied, so we decided to eat here instead.

"Eh...? Seriously, Noel is such a good cook!" Pekora said, looking at Noel's bentou.

"Ah, shucks. That's not true, Pekora!" Noel scratched her head.

"Still, you really are a good cook, no denying." Flare said as she took a bite of her bentou.

"Eh...? You guys have such a nice meal." Marine said.

"Well, yours isn't too bad. Mine is just..."

I just looked at mine. Plain meat and just rice.

"I should've bought more for myself." I giggled nervously and got a piece of meat.

"Eh? Here, Rushia! Have some of mine!" Pekora said.

"Ah, thank you!" I said as I got some of Pekora's food for myself and chewed my food.

"So...I was thinking that maybe we could hang out in the arcade. Like the good old times, you know?" Noel said.

"Hmm...well, I'm okay with that. Rushia?" Marine asked.

"Un! I'm okay with that! Pekora?"

"Well...as long as somebody will accompany me, I'm fine with that." Pekora said.

"Great! By the way, we'll meet up at the same arcade we went to before. Anybody have streams later on?" Noel asked.

"Hmm...oh, I have a stream this 5 PM." Pekora said.

"I have a stream at 6." Marine said.

"Well...I have an Undertale stream this 8 PM...though, when I do hit 1 million subs, I have to stream again." I giggled.

"Ah, yeah. You're gonna reach 1 million subs, right? Man, advance congratulations, Rushia!" Pekora said.

"Yeah, that's quite fast!" Flare giggled.

"Eh...? Nice, Rushia!" Marine said.

"I hope your 1 million sub stream will go well, Rushia!" Noel said.

I nodded.

"Un...so uh...continuing on with the topic, you 2 don't have anything to do, right?"

"Un!" Flare and Noel said.

"Sweet!" I said as I munched more on my food.

~Present time~

~~Shiro's POV~~

"Hmm hm hmm..." I hummed as I added FX to the instrumental of my remix for Calli's song, and played it once more.

Prior to this, I already wrapped Miyabi's gift, and I also tweeted a few puns. I just did Japanese puns only. Here are the puns I made:

"Calli is such a fine girl

Because she's a Rippa

ｗｗｗｗｗｗ"

Comments: So, Calli is a reaper, obviously. The word "rippa" sounds similar to "reaper". "Rippa" means "fine;splendid" in Japanese.

2nd Pun:

"What do Japanese people say in English when they buy something?

I will (bai)

wwwwwwwwww"

Comments: The "on" reading of Kau (buy) is bai [the reading when it's together with another kanji]. Bai sounds exactly the same as Buy. Baka.

And last pun....

"If Ninomae Ina'nis gave birth to children, she would probably give birth to at least 10 children

Cause she can give birth to Tako

wwwwwwwwwww"

Comments: Tako, in weeb terms, obviously means octopus. The reading of the two kanjis is "Tako" because the 1st kanji has two readings. "ooi" or "ta", and it means "many", and the second has a lot more readings, but one of the most common readings is "ko", meaning "child". Together, it means "many children.

And yes, I know she's human. That's why I said 10, not 50,000+."

The whole song seemed like it was good, and now, I was just writing more lyrics for the song.

"Hmm....Dada dada dada dada cancel me. Hmm...cancel me...comedy-TRAGEDY! Yeah. There we go! Tryna' make my life a tragedy, help my defeat...y'all couldn't even cancel me while I was typing tweets!-YES! IT'S COMING TOGETHER!" I laughed and pressed the Enter key to make a new line in my computer's notepad.

"Alright...! Take a small break, and I shall continue making the lyrics. Man, I'm lucky that I have so many ideas in my head right now! Yeah!" I said to myself as I went to my kitchen counter and drank some water.

I just kept writing lyrics, and once I was done with that, I had a lot of spare time, so I just spent it on maybe playing Tetris, playing Counter Strike, and all that stuff. I just love my PC, bruh. I was kinda horny, but uh...playing games just cut me out of the mood, so I didn't fap today. I'm safe right now.

When it finally hit around 3:00 PM, me and the Holostars met up. Prior to this, we agreed that we had to go in separate batches, since taxis can't fit 13 people in one. My group was with Kira and Astel. We finally rode a taxi, and it started taking us towards the arcade.

"Alright...! Damn, you excited for this, Shiro-kun?" Astel asked.

"Hell yeah. You guys?" I asked Kira and Astel.

"Of course!"

"Say, mind telling us a bit on what games you like playing, Shiro-kun?" Astel asked.

"Hmm...let's see...." I said as I started recalling the first games I used to play.

~~Rushia's POV~~

I smiled, scrolling through Twitter and seeing everybody's tweets.

"Ah...that's very nice." I said as I put the phone back into my sling bag.

I finally arrived at the arcade, and when I got there, I saw Pekora first thing near the entrance.

"Ah, Pekora!" I said as I waved at her.

"A-Ah, Rushia!" She said as she ran towards me.

"It was scary, you know...?! I went early, like I always do, but it's hard being a shut-in, you know?!"

"I get it, I get it." I giggled.

"Let's wait for the others, huh?" I asked her.

"Un!!" Pekora said.

"For now, let's go sit somewhere else!" I said.

~~Shiro's POV~~

"Hmm....well, the other Holostars aren't here yet." I said.

The only ones who haven't arrived right now is Miyabi, Temma, Izuru, Rikka, and Suzaku.

I heard a few of the Holostars' stomachs growling. I know I wasn't one of them.

"A-Ah...sorry. It seems I didn't eat enough for lunch." Roberu giggled nervously.

"I was just thinking of having a snack, and all of a sudden, my goddamn stomach growled! Goddammit!" Astel said.

"M-Me too..." Kaoru held his stomach.

"You know, I could dig some takoyaki right now." Oga chuckled.

I giggled.

"You guys have money though?"

"T-That's the problem...I went here, thinking my money was enough." Roberu said.

"Well, snacks are on me, boys. Let's go to a nearby store." I said.

"E-Eh? Seriously?" They all said.

"How much is your money anyway? I bet you're just holding onto 3,000 yen only. Hell, I'm just holding onto 2,000 yen." Shien asked.

"The hell you talking about, Shien? I'm carrying around 10,000 right now."

"TEN-" They all jumped and sweated a bit.

"Shush." I said.

"W-We're just at the arcade! Not some fancy restaurant!" Roberu said.

"You never know what situations you'll end up in, especially if it's about money."

Like Juice WRLD used to say when he bought sneakers: "What would happen if I didn't bring a card? Broke n***a alert. Broke n***a alert!"

"Anyway, you guys want to get some, or what?" I chuckled.

"Y-You sure you have a lot of money?" Astel asked.

"Mhmm. Why else would I offer to pay for the fare instead of letting us split the money?" I asked.

"A-Ah...I can't understand rich people." They all said.

I giggled a bit from their responses.

"I'm not rich. I'm just filled with money. There's a difference."

'Technically, I am, but uh...yeah, not really rich. You want REAL rich? Pull up an Elon Musk or something.'

Me and the boys went out to get some snacks. Some went for biscuits, and some went for hotdogs or a sandwich. I was one of the latter.

When we finally went back to the arcade, we saw the other boys. So now, Holostars is officially together, and we can start doing whatever we want!

"Hey! We were wondering where you guys went!" Izuru said as he went towards us.

"Sorry. We wanted to have a bit of a snack, so we went to a nearby store." I giggled nervously.

"Ah, I see."

"Well, less time talking, more time messing around!" Suzaku giggled as he showed his tokens.

"Eh? So you guys went ahead to playing, ey? Well, guess I'm gonna have my own fun too!" I said as I went to the counter to get my tokens.

"Hey, wait up, Shiro-kun!" Kira said.

"Ah, dammit. OI! WE GO TOGETHER, NOT SEPARATED!" Astel said.

"Welp, they're eager. Let's go, everybody!" Roberu said.

~~Rushia's POV~~

"I won't lose to you...!" Pekora laughed as she held the steering wheel and turned to her right.

"Me neither...! I'm gonna get the first place, Pekora!" Flare said as she bumped into Pekora in the racing game.

"Oi, no fair! No bumping!" Pekora said.

"You bumped into me more than I bumped into you! Fuzakenna!" Flare laughed.

"Go go, Flare! Go go, Flare!" Noel cheered on as she stood behind Flare.

"Pekora, you can do it! You can do it, winning rabbit!" I said.

"I'm rooting for whoever the winner is! Go go, Flare! Go go, Pekora!" Marine said.

"Hrrngh...!" Pekora said.

"Oh c'mon...! Let me get the 1st place...!" Flare said.

They both were almost at the finish line in the game, and they were about neck and neck. Really, they were right next to each other's car when they were stepping on the gas.

"Hrrrngh....Ah!" Flare and Pekora said as us 5 looked at the results.

"...Ahahaha! It seems you're too weak, Flare! Ahahahaha!" Pekora laughed while putting her right hand to the left side of her mouth while looking at her with her face facing to her right.

"Shut up, you damn usagi!" Flare said, and we all laughed.

"Eh?~ You're getting salty over a loss?~" Pekora said.

"I was so close, you know?!" Flare said as she just laughed it off.

"Ah, better luck next time, Flare!" Noel said.

"Damn, Pekora's luck really is the best out of all of us." Marine said.

"Are you saying I won because of luck?!" Pekora asked.

"Un." Marine laughed, and soon, all of us except for Pekora laughed.

"Oi, I have skill, you know?!" Pekora whined.

Noel, Flare, and Pekora went somewhere together, and me and Marine went somewhere together as well. We did a good amount of games, and we also did interchange with each other, like at times, me and Pekora would go together, and even sometimes, Marine and Flare together.

Amidst the playing, I needed to pee, so I asked Marine to accompany me. We both peed in our respective stools, and then we flushed the toilet.

The tap started running when I turned it on, and me and Marine started washing our hands. At this time, it was just us two alone...

"H-Hey, Marine...?" I asked as I was rubbing soap on my hand.

"Hmm...?"

"I-I've been thinking about something in my mind for a while now..." I said as I started rinsing my hands.

"Okay. Spit it out." Marine said.

"Well...you see, we haven't been spending time lately, right?"

"Yup."

"And we also haven't been talking to each other too much about our plans together recently, right?" I said as I turned the faucet off and whipped my hands downwards.

"Un."

"Well...I have a question..." I said as I got a paper towel and started drying my hands up.

"Okay, mind telling me the question?" Marine asked as she also finished drying up her hands and was about to wipe it with a paper towel.

"Well...remember the last time you said you 'loved me'...?" I asked her as I looked down and frowned a bit.

Marine slightly widened her eyes, and she slowed down wiping her hands.

"Y-Yeah...?"

"...Be honest right now." I said as I put the paper towel in the garbage bin.

I looked at her in the eyes and clenched my fists.

"Do you still love me like before? Or have things changed now...?" I asked.

Marine frowned a bit, and put down her hands for a while.

"W-Well....you see, Rushia..." She scratched her head with her right hand and looked away for a bit.

When I saw that, my heart slightly tore apart...no, it was hanging by a thread when I saw that.

'I knew it...she said that for show...I was never loved like that by her...it seems love never even existed in the first place...all it is is just to satiate your lust...' I thought.

I grabbed my right hand with my left hand, and clenched my fists more.

"You see, Rushia, I've been meaning to tell you this. The thing is, I wanted to-"

"I-It's fine. You don't need to tell me, I get it." I said.

"N-No, Rushia, let me finish. You don't understand. The thing is-"

"I don't understand...? I DON'T UNDERSTAND...?!" I shouted as I looked at her in the eyes.

Marine stepped back a bit as I stepped forward once and my eyes started to tear up. I also clenched my fists a lot, to the point where I felt like I could rip somebody's head open.

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND?! MY LOVE!" I shouted.

Marine gasped a bit and widened her eyes.

"R-Rush-"

"I'VE BEEN HOLDING BACK FOR THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANNA GO TO CONCLUSIONS YET! I THOUGHT THAT MAYBE YOU'VE BEEN REALLY BUSY, OR THAT YOU HAD VERY IMPORTANT MATTERS TO DO, WHICH I WILL ADMIT IS TRUE! BUT...BUT...!"

I started sniffing and sobbing, my tears started going from my eyes down to my chin, and my heart felt like it was being pierced by a 1000 daggers per second. At this point, I couldn't even care anymore. I just wanna see Marine eat dirt full of dead bodies and worms.

"NOW I KNOW THE REAL REASON! YOU DON'T LOVE ME, DO YOU?!"

"Y-Yeah..." Marine said as she stepped once towards me, and I widened my eyes.

"B-But Rushia, you see, I was thinking that maybe we should actually-"

"BREAK UP! THAT'S THE WORD, RIGHT?! WE SHOULD ACTUALLY JUST BREAK UP! 'CAUSE YOU NEVER LOVED ME! EVEN THOUGH I LOVED YOU BECAUSE ALL THE MEN I'VE MET NEVER TREATED ME RIGHT, YOU LOOK AT ME THE SAME WAY THEY LOOK AT ME, DON'T YOU?! THE ONLY THING I'M GOOD FOR IS JUST BEING A SLUT FOR MEN, FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY, OVERWORKED TO DEATH, RIGHT?! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! HOW ABOUT YOU JUST DIE IN THE PITS OF HELL?!" I shouted as I ran out of the bathroom.

'I...I seriously don't care anymore...God, please end my misery and just kill me...I don't care anymore...I seriously don't....' I thought.

I started recalling all our memories together. The first time she said that we should act like girlfriends, the times we would go out on dates, and I also started thinking back to Hololive. Remembering my fans, friends, and everybody that was precious to me.

'I don't even care if the Holostars will rape me....just do what you please. I'm just nothing but a toy...! Only serving to please whoever would like to play with me!' I thought.

"R-RUSHIA!" Marine shouted.

~~Shiro's POV~~

"Damn, we did a lot, didn't we?" I giggled as I flexed my tickets to the others.

"Eh?! Damn, that's a lot!" Roberu said.

"You could buy a plushie with that many tickets!" Oga giggled.

"Well, I think I'd like to do one more game, cause I'm planning to get myself a-" I got cut off as I heard some shouting within the arcade.

I widened my eyes, and even the boys did.

"Where the hell did that come from?" I said to myself in English.

I put my tickets into my sling bag real quick.

"Yo, did you guys just hear a scream right now?" Roberu said.

"Y-Yeah-" Temma said as he got cut off by another shout.

I listened closely to it.

"...Rushia...?" I said to myself as I tried to walk towards the source.

I also saw a couple people looking at where the source of the sound is coming from.

"What the hell is going on, for real?"

I heard a couple more shouts, and saw a couple people piling up near...the bathroom...?

"Eh...?" I said as I went closer to the bathroom.

"H-Hey, what's going on?" Aruran said as he went to my back.

"I don't know, Aruran." I said.

"Hey, is that...Rushia-senpai?" Roberu said in a quiet tone.

"Definitely. It sounds exactly like her-"

"BREAK UP! THAT'S THE WORD, RIGHT?! WE SHOULD ACTUALLY JUST BREAK UP! 'CAUSE YOU NEVER LOVED ME! THE ONLY THING I'M GOOD FOR IS JUST BEING A SLUT FOR MEN, FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY, OVERWORKED TO DEATH, RIGHT?! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! HOW ABOUT YOU JUST DIE IN THE PITS OF HELL?!" I heard in the bathroom, before I finally saw a little girl with green hair in a black dress run out.

"R-Rushia...?" I widened my eyes as I looked at her face for a split-second.

She was crying...immensely. Her tears looked like it could flood all of Japan in just a week. Her fists were clenched very hard. For a small body, it looked like she could rip open a skull.

"R-RUSHIA!" Marine shouted as she chased after her.

"S-Shit!" I said as I gently pushed the other Holostars out of the way, and chased after the two.

Rushia pushed the door open violently, Marine went out, and I went out last.

"M-Marine...!" I shouted as I went up to Marine.

"Hah...hah....hah...hah..." Marine said as she finally stopped and held her knees while panting really hard.

"W-What happened to Rushia...?!" I asked her.

"I don't know! But she's running away!" Marine shouted.

"..Don't worry. I'll take it from here." I said as I tightened my sling bag's strap, and I started running after Rushia, making sure not to knock down anybody as I run into them.

'I knew something was up. Something about a relationship between Marine and Rushia, recalling what Rushia shouted from the bathroom....

She needs help.' I thought as I clenched my fists.

"Goddammit, she's a bit too far...! I should've chased after her immediately!" I said to myself in English before I went into an intersection. I looked left and right to see where Rushia went, and I luckily saw green hair within a crowd in the opposite street when I looked to my right.

"Ah, for fuck's sake, the pedestrian crossing light had to go red after Rushia crossed it." I said in English as I kept running on the sidewalk.

Fuck it! If it's for Rushia, I'll break the fucking rules!

~~Rushia's POV~~

I didn't care who I was about to bump into, nor do I care if anybody fell when I bumped into them as I ran, but I just ran...as fast as I could towards my "comfort place".

Even if I had asthma, even if I'm not that physically fit, even if I had a weak body, I didn't care. I just wanted to be alone. All alone by myself as I just cry my worries out until the next day in the pier.

"Hah...hah...hah..." I was sweating and tearing up a lot, even adding in a few sniffs as I ran. Honestly, this is the most intense I've ever ran.

'S-Shit...! I need my inhaler...!' I thought as I searched through my sling bag while having very watery eyes, and I touched on something that was similar to an L-shape.

"Hah..hah..hoop...!" I pressed the canister down as I inhaled the incoming medicine from the inhaler, and continued running towards the pier.

My heart was beating so fast from all the running and crying that I possibly might die before I even reach the pier....then again, that is what I want. To die and forget everything.

I finally arrived there, and I saw the bench where I usually sit on everytime I come back here to relieve myself from stress.

"Hah..hah..hah...!" I said as I got my inhaler again and pressed down on the canister, inhaling the medicine, and then I put it back in my sling bag.

"Hah...hah..." I sniffed one more time, before finally realizing that I can take a breather, and I dug my face into my hands, crying my heart out while muffling my cries as much as I could.

"Why...?! Why does life have to be too hard...?!"

"I'm having a hard time trying to balance my life between getting money by being that guy's toy just to save up enough money for dad's operation, and also trying to be a Hololiver, streaming for all the fandead...! I've also been balancing my normal life with love life...! But...I can't believe Marine would try to dump me like that...!"

"Sob...fuck my life..." I wiped my eyes, and looked at my hands, seeing it shaking a bit, and then I saw my fists curling into a ball.

"...maybe I should be like those girls in those NTR eromangas where I succumb and just become their onahole, slowly falling in love with dicks..."

'Yeah...'cause at least that guy only picked me, and nobody else would suck his dick or something...'

".....Rushia...!" I heard a voice to my left.

"H-Huh?" I looked forward, and looked to my left, seeing a guy with white hair and red eyes running towards me.

"Ah..of course, the misogynistic Holostar. Maybe he's just gonna worsen things. Well, fuck you Shiro-kun." I thought to myself as I stood up, clenched my teeth, and then, as best as I could, try to run past him.

~~Shiro's POV~~

"...Oh, fuck me." I said to myself as Rushia stood up and tried to run towards me...well, at least it looks like it. I know she's gonna try to run past me, so I had to run faster, and make sure I catch her in time.

"...Hrrr...AH!" I shouted as I caught her in my arms, and grabbed on tight while bending down a bit to adjust to her height.

"Let...GO!" She said as she freed one arm and tried to punch me.

"G-Grr...! Rushia, stop it!"

"Let go! I'll call the police!"

"Oh, you don't know what type of shit I did to chase after you! I'm just trying to help you!"

"Can you stop it?! You don't know what I'm going through!"

"I do know what you're going through...!! Just let me help you!"

"You can't do anything!-"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, RUSHIA, COULD YOU JUST FUCKING LISTEN TO ME?!" I screamed.

The people around us looked at us, and Rushia widened her eyes, standing still as possible.

"Hah...hah...Grr...!" I let go of her, and held her shoulders with both of my hands.

"I don't even fucking care if I made a scene. At least Rushia isn't the only one who made a scene."

"A-Argh...!" She said as I tightened my grip on her shoulder.

"Do you even know how worried we were when you ran off like that?!"

"W-Who cares?! All I am is just an onahole that's only good for pleasing men! I don't have any freedom! I just only stream for everybody, and that's it! Other than that...n-nobody cares if I get raped or something...-"

"I DO!" I said.

Rushia gasped and widened her eyes as she looked at me.

"Rushia, you're not an object. You're a person! You have rights and privileges!"

"Still, why would you come to help me...?" She said with soft eyes and looked like she was about to cry.

"Because..."

I hugged her, and dug her face into my chest, making her widen her eyes a bit.

"...I care about you."

Rushia gasped a bit.

"W-What do you mean...?"

"Heh. The hell you think that means? It means that I love you."

"L-L-L-L-L-Love...?!" Rushia jumped a bit and blushed.

"Oh...hehe. Don't get it twisted. It's a PLATONIC type of love."

"A-Ah...I see."

"...Say, how about we both sit down, and talk about it?"

"Y-Yeah..."

We both sat down at a bench, and we both looked at the people walking by, continuing their business.

"...S-Still, why do you care about me...?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" I asked as I finished sending a message to the boys that I'm in a pier. I sent them my location via LINE, and told them to DM the 3rd Gen my location and to tell them that Rushia is with me.

"Aren't you misogynistic...?"

"Yeah...but lemme tell you something, Rushia..." I said as I wrapped my arm around her.

"E-Eh...?"

"I truly am an ex-soldier. I was enlisted in the army when I was young. My reason for becoming a soldier was to help people. Even after becoming misogynistic...it doesn't mean I won't help people, especially women."

I looked at Rushia.

"When I saw your face when you played Takayan's music in the classroom, I knew something was going on with you, and it seems I was correct when I saw you running with tears in your eyes." I smiled.

"I...I see..." Rushia said.

"...It's okay, Rushia...I know you're still hurt...I don't know what's going on with you, but...just cry your heart out. It's bad to keep it in, according to science." I giggled.

Rushia's eyes started to tear up again, and she couldn't help but dig her face into my shirt and hug me tight. She sobbed her heart out. I felt so many vibrations coming from her voice going through my body. It felt really funny, but I think my love for her made me numb to the funny feeling.

"That's right..." I said as I put my hand on her head and caressed her hair like what my mom did before whenever I would cry and hug her tight. Rushia also gave off a similar scent to my mom. A scent that only a woman would give when you smell her up close, and provides comfort.

"Good girl...just let the pain go away."

"T-Thank you...Shiro-kun...!" Rushia said in a muffled tone.

"...From now on, I'll be your shoulder to cry on." I patted her head.