"Awww, I love him!" Rinku squealed.
You've said that about every NPC we've run into so far, Muni thought, deadpan. Maybe inviting Rinku along to have a little gamer girls' night wasn't the best idea after all. Honestly, how?! I have the WORST luck!
It should've been the perfect plan—a brilliant brain burst from the one and only VJ Only—and yet, Rinku threw her for a loop with her innocent obliviousness. Now, instead of getting to show off to Rinku all she knew about this new video game of hers, she was sitting on the other end of a voice chat, on the other side of the screen, silently seething with jealous over… a tiny cluster of 8-bit pixels.
"Oooh! Oooh! Hey, hey, Muni! By the way! Can we get married in this game?!" Rinku suddenly asked, eyes shining.
"Wh-WHAT?!" Muni reared back, heart thundering in her chest, racing at a million miles an hour. "I- I- I- mean, uhh, uhhh…" The gamer girl tugged at the collar of her pajamas nervously, gulping. Technically yes, marriage is a mechanic in the game, and in multiplayer…
She couldn't even bring herself to finish the thought, even though it was a subconscious part of the reason why she'd chosen this game to introduce to Rinku. Rinku, meanwhile, barreled on, blissfully unaware of Muni's inner turmoil.
"He just called me cute and pretty!" she gushed, and Muni's stomach twisted violently again.
"He what?" Her voice was tight, strangled.
"Yeah, yeah! Go up to him and click on him!" Rinku encouraged.
Muni's lip curled. Do I have to? Ugh… I mean, I don't really have an excuse to NOT talk to him, so… It's not like I'm doing this JUST because Rinku I asked! I'm doing this because this is MY video game, so I'M supposed to be the leader and guide here!
Muni pushed her avatar forward and clicked on the NPC. The text box that popped up beneath him read, "Hello, Ms. Only! You look lovely today!"
Muni was sorely tempted to choose the mean answer. "Hey! Keep your eyes to yourself!" But instead, she forced herself to click the friendly response. "Have you looked in a mirror lately? You're quite handsome yourself!"
The gamer girl wanted to gag. It was the dumbest, cringiest pickup line she'd ever heard. This would NEVER work on a real person!
"See, Muni, see?!" Rinku asked excitedly as a small heart suddenly appeared over the NPC's head before vanishing into the air. "You leveled up in friendship points with him!" Ok, so maybe the cheesy pickup line wouldwork on somebody…
Then again, this is Rinku Aimoto we're talking about here… It wasn't that Rinku was a flirty or romantic person—far from it—she was just far too friendly for her own good. What others would see as obvious flirtation she saw merely as a compliment, wishing to return it in kind. If the NPC called her beautiful, cute, and lovely, she would gladly call him handsome!
"But you can't be serious about marrying a guy you just met?!" Muni complained half-heartedly. This wasn't even one of the main NPCs!
"Well, I guess I just wanted to try something new!" Rinku said, tone cheerful and innocent. "You know, usually it's always you and me who're partners, so I was wondering what it would be like to be with someone else in this game!"
Gah! I think I just took like 100 damage points from that! Muni physically recoiled again, wincing as she leaned back in her chair. On the one hand, Rinku had just called Muni her partner, which made Muni's heart swell. On the other hand, Rinku had just said she wanted to try something different this time around, which made Muni's heart wilt. And to top it all off, there was all the emotions Muni was feeling at thinking about Rinku and romance… And being jealous of that cluster of 8-bit pixels on her screen.
"Ugh. Come on, Rinku, let's go! Our next quest is at the town square anyway!" she sighed impatiently, brushing past the NPC.
"Ok!" Rinku was more than happy to chase after Muni's avatar like an overly-excited puppy.
Muni sighed again, but she was secretly glad to be leaving that particular NPC behind. If only the monsters in this game could actually interact with the NPCs outside of dungeon-crawler and monster-raid events, she thought idly.
ooo
"Hello, hello, everyone! The brightest star in the galaxy, Space Idol Lumina Ichihoshi, has officially entered the chat! Now, let's get this very extra super special live stream party started!"
Very extra super special live stream? Muni's ears perked up, even her bunny-ear headband bouncing on her head because of how quickly she looked from her sketchbook to her computer.
"That's right, fellow Earthlings, space cadets, space travelers, astronauts, cosmonauts, and all other life forms terrestrial and extraterrestrial! Tonight, I'm going to be playing a brand new video game that a very extra super special guest requested of me! It'll be a real Gaymer Girls' Night! Now, everyone please give a wonderfully warm and starry welcome to…!"
"Hey, hey, everybody!"
Muni's jaw dropped as a second screen suddenly popped into existence right beside Lumina's.
"Oh my gosh, everything's just so exciting that it's… HAPPY AROUND!" Rinku Aimoto hopped up out of her chair and spun around, hand smacking her computer camera. "Oh, oopsie!" she chuckled sheepishly as she tried to readjust the device. She wasn't quite able to get it fully back to its original position, so she was still at somewhat of an angle.
Muni's eye twitched. A stream that she once was looking forward to had suddenly become a very personal form of torture as she spent the next half-hour watching Lumina and Rinku play the very game she introduced Rinku to.
Is this cheating? Because this kinda, sorta feels like she's cheating on me! Muni pouted and crossed her arms, but she could not bring herself to turn off the stream. Not now that she knew that Rinku was there. Even though Rinku was playing with Lumina, Muni still wanted to stick around just to say that she was spending the night with Rinku too. Stupid, lucky Lumina…
"Aaaand… that's a match, folks!" Half an hour after Rinku first joined Lumina's stream, Lumina's proud voice cut through the video game sound effects as she emerged triumphant from their little battles. Because the game they were playing had a multiplayer mode, of course PVP was part of the stream's events, but Rinku was even more creative than that. She eventually issued a challenge to Lumina that they ought to see who could clear the most dungeons the fastest. Once again, Lumina emerged victorious despite being even newer to the game than Rinku, but while an ordinary gamer might've been disbelieving—or even outraged and embarrassed—Rinku only seemed awed and filled with respect for the V-Tuber.
"Wow, Lumina! You're awesome! Astonishing! Astounding! Amazing! Astronomical!" Rinku clapped as the GAME OVER screen appeared on her end of the stream. Lumina raised her chin proudly, both eyes glowing golden like twin suns.
"Why thank you, Rinku, you aren't too shabby yourself! You say that you're new to this game too, but your combat skills are improving so quickly!"
"Awww, thanks Lumina!" Somehow, Rinku's smile got even wider.
Any wider and it's gonna rip her face in half! Muni sighed, bitter and irritated. Rinku wasn't the only one with a GAME OVER screen flashing in her mind. Poor Muni felt like the biggest loser of the entire stream, and she wasn't even playing! Is this just gonna turn into a giant compliment-off?!
"But really, there's someone else I gotta thank even more!" Rinku continued, and despite herself, Muni's ears perked up again.
Oh, great, who is it this time?!
"The reason I wanted to do this stream is because, like Lumina said, I wanted to polish my combat skills! Because the person who introduced me to this game is way better than I am, so I thought it would be a nice surprise for next time when we played, if I was able to improve secretly!"
"Wow, this person is certainly lucky to have you on their team!" Lumina observed, and Rinku nodded so hard her whole face became a blur.
"She's my very bestest friend and most favorite person in the whole entire world! No, the galaxy! No, the UNIVERSE!" Rinku threw open her arms again, but she managed to refrain from jumping up and spinning around. "Now, I don't know if you're watching this, but… if you are, this one's for you, Muni Ohnaruto! Thank you so much for showing me this awesome game, and I can't wait to play with you again soon… partner!" Rinku looked directly into the camera and winked and flashed a thumbs-up.
Lumina began speaking again, but by then, Muni's brain had gone blank. I… I… I… think I just took like 100 damage points from that…
For a second time that night, a giant GAME OVER screen flashed in her brain. She slumped back in her seat as a smile even bigger than Rinku's slow spread across her face. Maybe she wasn't the stream's biggest loser after all. Achievement Unlocked: Universe's Best Partner!
AN: Wasn't planning on posting this on National Coming Out Day, but the calendar happened to align!