"U-um, excuse me! I'd really like to end the stream now?!"
I begged the screen for help.
In thirty-six years of life I had not panicked like this since job hunting.
No. This might be worse.
YUICA♡, you okay?
end it? you literally just started...
yeah, something's definitely off
Bad. This is bad. At this rate they'll figure out I'm not my sister!
This is an emergency. Until I work out how to stop it, I have no choice but to fake being YUICA♡ — my sister.
Question to self: how does a thirty-six-year-old spinster imitate a soft, pretty twenty-nine-year-old that men fall for?
Answer: if I knew that, I would not be in this mess!!
"Um... e-everyone, good eveniiing♪"
There it is. The best fake voice of my life.
I gave myself goosebumps saying it. So this is what dying of embarrassment feels like. But needs must.
oh, she sounds like the usual YUICA♡ now?
still something a bit off though...
new mic? did she change her gear?
Okay. I pulled it off, for now. ...I would like to believe.
But nothing about the situation had improved.
If anything, the comments kept multiplying.
YUICA♡, what are we playing today?
no game streams please, you're bad at them
give us some fan service!
get your face closer!
[Super Chat: 300 yen]
Message: hey, talk in a sweet voice
Ooooh... so this is a Super Chat? Huh, the comment changes color.
Also. A sweet voice?
Hold on. What the hell is a sweet voice!
This guy wants baby talk from a thirty-six-year-old spinster?!
Screaming on the inside, I did my desperate best to keep up.
"Um... thank you all for coming again today..."
I threw in a clumsy wink and what I sincerely believed to be the sweetest voice I had ever produced, trying to ride it out. The demands in the chat only escalated.
call me big brother
cuter, please
say you love me
Huh? Big brother? Say I love you?
What is wrong with these people.
I'm thirty-six over here. I might actually be older than you!
Or are you all men past forty? What are you even saying.
But... I absolutely cannot let them find out I'm the older sister.
I hardened my heart and decided to humiliate myself on a scale unmatched in my life so far.
"B-big... brother..."
Aaaaaah! I said it! A thirty-six-year-old spinster just said "big brother"!
The words coming out of my mouth were so gross I genuinely almost threw up.
The chat, however, was thrilled.
THERE IT IS
YUICA♡ you're the best!
she's kinda sexier than usual!
The viewer count was climbing fast. Thirty... fifty... eighty...
Hey. Hey, hey. Hold on.
Wasn't my sister the one complaining she still couldn't break a hundred concurrent viewers?
Current count... one hundred and forty.
I just hit a number she couldn't reach in two years?!
While I was busy having extremely complicated feelings, the comments got worse.
show us your chest
Excuse me? You want to see an avatar's cleavage?
tell us the color of your panties
Huh? Is she even wearing any?
sexier voice
strip for me
Hold on a second, you!
My face was draining of color. On the screen the avatar was going pale right along with me.
What is... what on earth is this.
My sister put up with this for two whole years. Day after day, forcing a smile at comments this vile.
want Super Chats? then give us some special service
wanna meet up sometime? give me your address
[Super Chat: 500 yen]
Message: I'm paying you, so give us more
Paying me? What? Who does this guy think he is...
Frustration came welling up from somewhere at the bottom of my body.
And my hands started to shake.
Endure it. Just endure it, Misaki Tanaka! Thirty-six years of living seriously (by in-house standards) — show me that self-control!
strip, ugly
it's just a drawing, it doesn't cost you anything
try harder to be likeable
"Excuse me?"
Thirty-six years of frustration, stacked up as the eldest daughter.
And more than anything, I could not forgive them for mocking the character my sister had worked so hard to raise.
don't "huh" me. smile, ugly
Snap.
Something gave way. My anger went past its boiling point.
"You disgust me... Who the hell do you think you are."
huh?
YUICA♡?
what's wrong?
The chat went dead for a second. But I had already completely lost it.
"Strip, smile. Shut the hell up."
"Say I love you? What part of you deserves that?"
that's harsh... that hurts!
"Shut up! Just die, you pig!"
YUICA♡, let's calm down a little
"Shut up! I'll really deck you!"
Ah. I snapped.
Thirty-six years of it, piled up. The unfairness at work, the unfairness of my life, the unfair exclusion from the romance market.
All of it came pouring out, right there, in that one moment.
Bit late to pull the old "I'm not even mad" gag now, isn't it.
Whatever. I don't care anymore!
What's done is done! Sorry, little sister!
And then...
Lady YUICA♡! roast us more
honestly, thank you!
please insult us more!
somehow this version is better!
a new model of VTuber has arrived!
Huh?
The chat was filling up with comments of pure delight.
The viewer count was exploding too.
A hundred and fifty... three hundred... five hundred... eight hundred?!
pure idol turned sadist VTuber, born tonight
everyone it's a festival! spam it everywhere!
a villainess VTuber, huh. this'll sell
the gap with the old her is killing me!
Why?! Why are they happy?!
I stared at the screen, sitting in a situation that had left my comprehension entirely behind.
"Hey, quiet down or I'm ending the stream..."
The most guileless thing possible came out of my mouth.
That set the chat off even harder.
that confused face is the best too
a natural-born sharp-tongued Lady
my lady, thank you for tonight
The viewer count had passed one thousand.
The number my sister set as her goal and never managed to reach. In one hour.
And then it hit me properly.
What have I done.
Forgive me, little sister.
But... just a little, it felt amazing.
(To be continued)