"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll come ahead ah... Naofumi," Raphtalia said, calling me by just my name this time. It seemed to be a little bit of a struggle for her, but she remembered that she didn't need to keep calling me 'Mister Naofumi.'
Also, that title kind of made me feel like I was way older than her- granted, I was older than her, but the age difference wasn't that much! It was like Raphtalia had grown up in a very old-fashioned household or something.
"I certainly hope so," I said. "So, let's start?"
It had been a while since we had done this, just the two of us, and I needed to get some things ready before we set up and started.
I really tried hard not to notice just how good she looked- and the gentle waft of her perfume.
This was strictly business right now- we could move on to other things later. Though hopefully she didn't intend to take those 'other things' too far yet...
This time, Raphtalia was going straight to PvP.
The comments were far more frequent than before, with many commenting on her new outfit.
Was this how it was like to date an actress or idol? I couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance at some of these comments. This was my girlfriend you guys are commenting on!
There were several more donations, and one of them even straight up asked if Raphtalia was dating someone.
Now, normally she would deflect a question like that, but there was something... off about how she answered it.
"Ah... well... no... not really..."
Ultimately, it didn't matter if she lied or not.
Perhaps you would think it was immoral to do so? To lie to our fans?
But, this was just how things were.
Raphtalia was already living a lie when it came to playing the game.
And, this was just showbiz! What was acting, but a lie?
Actors lied all the time to the public- not just about where they were or what they did, but about other things like whether they smoked or not.
And perhaps there would be some backlash if she was found out, but then again- what was celebrity culture but a bunch of drama.
I thought that Raphtalia more or less understood that, but she seemed to be having difficulty following through with it today for some reason.
Not that it impacted things mainly- her performance (in other words, my performance) in-game was fine. And we even went up a rank!
With that, we were more on par with the average streamer and coming closer to where I had been before I had been booted.
It would still likely take a month or so to get to that point though, and by then, we would be taken seriously by other streamers.
Not only that, but if Raphtalia managed to deal with this crossover event with this 'SwordMaiden' character and it ended up being as popular as I thought it would be, she would have more of a fanbase than I did at the time.
I was mostly happy with what had gone on, though afterwards, Raphtalia seemed disturbed by something.
I had made coffee for the two of us, though she had barely taken a sip, staring at the surface of the black liquid as if the mysteries of the universe could be deciphered from reading the ripples on its surface. She was clearly deep in thought.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked her.
"No," she said- but I could tell that there was something up.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. Was this about something I did? Or something about the stream instead? Or just something not related to any of them?
"I uh-" Raphtalia began. She seemed to struggle with what she wanted to get out. "I just don't feel comfortable lying anymore..."
I sighed.
I should've seen this thing coming up.
After all, what we were doing was a lie entirely on its surface. We were pretending that Raphtalia was someone- or rather, something she was not.
No doubt the guilt would catch up to her eventually
If that were the case, there was no point in trying to pressurize her to go on forward with this.
We would just have to end things when it came to the streaming.
However, the conversation moved in a different way than I had been expecting.
"I don't really think it's okay to tell them that I'm not dating anyone," Raphtalia said.
Eh? That was what bothered her? Not the other things?
"I mean, what if we go further and I do get more ah, famous," Rapthalia said. "You know, I might be getting ahead of myself, and I know that Internet fame usually isn't like real fame, but still... how long would we have to hide that?"
Well, I guess for her, it was one thing to hide that we were dating, and another to hide what she was doing while playing.
One was likely just more personal for her.
"If that's the case, tell them you're dating someone next stream," I told her.
"Ah- but won't that mean- I mean, what if-"
"Who cares if we lose subs?" I asked her. "If it bothers you that much, go ahead and tell them the truth."
By this point, while the streaming was fun, I had far more things to look forward to in life.
I wasn't the same Naofumi Iwatani who had gone to that restaurant one day to throw out his old stuff!
There was far more... color in my life now. And one of the reasons for the same was Rapthalia.
Given that, how could I be so selfish as to demand she do something that she didn't want to?
Let her speak her mind- and if it came back to bit her, so be it!
"Ah, is that really alright?"
"Of course it is," I told her. There was not the slightest bit of hesitation in my voice. "IF you want to tell people- go ahead." I then paused. "Just ah, don't mention me by name if you can- that might lead to some real backlash."
