/vt/ - Virtual Youtubers

>>1974497
>>1978759
>>1979596
It was another day at the hololive office. You were just an average salaryman working as a technician, helping the girls with their streams with various tech support and also helping them optimize their streaming experience. Because of this, you interacted with many of them on a daily basis. Secretly this was the reason you wanted the position, but you always kept your professional face on when working with them. It was interesting to see their other sides outside of streaming, but one of them took your interest.

Looking over, you saw the fidgeting girl Minato Aqua sitting on her bed. She had called in earlier about a problem with her streaming equipment, so Hololive HQ had sent you to solve the issue. As you fiddled around with the various settings of her computer, the shy girl kept her eyes on you while she twiddled her thumbs. You had tried to make casual talk with her, but the poor girl was so socially awkward that any attempt to speak to her would lead to a few whispers and a blush so red that it looked like she had a fever. This was the case of anyone outside of her own family and her friend Murasaki Shion. You’d exhausted almost every topic to try and get the girl out of her shell, but nothing had worked. Asking about the weather, things she liked outside of streaming, or her social life were just a few things you had tried asking. You sighed as you turned to face the girl, asking if she could show you where her router was.

“Y-Y-Yes!” she blurted out as she stood up from the bed and rushed to the door of the room. But as she did this, she moved so fast that she ran full force into you and fell downwards. As Aqua fell to the floor, she hit her head on the side of the bed and then fell face first onto the floor. You rushed to aid the fallen pink and blue haired girl as she rolled on the ground.

“Owww…” she moaned as she rubbed her head. You asked if she had any ice packs in the apartment's freezer and she shook her head, saying that they were cold Red Bulls instead. The girl’s social awkwardness seemed to subside as you rushed to the kitchen and grabbed one of the cans and brought it to her. This was another one of Aqua's tendencies that she was known for, being a complete airhead that gave her the title of ‘Baqua’. Upon returning to the room, you were met with the sight of Aqua curled up by the side of the bed, holding her legs to her chest and sandwiching her head between her knees.

>>1752233
Your phone buzzes once again as you let out an exasperated sigh. Your friends give you a concerned yet understanding look, nodding to you as they lean back into their seats, enjoying their drinks as the conversation is once again put on hold. Of course, it's from Aqua. It's the fifteenth one in the past thirty minutes. Asking where you were, and when you were coming home, if there were any other girls with you, etc. Oh, this one asks you to pick up more ketchup on the way home. That's important. Giving a polite response to Aqua, you assure her you'll be home soon. You omit the part where you want to tell her that if she'd just leave you be, this would be over a lot quicker, but you know that'd just lead to things you really don't want to deal with. Pressing 'send', you pocket your phone, apologizing. While they insist it's fine, it's not hard to tell that they think you're dating a crazy woman. Worst part is, you're beginning to believe they aren't wrong.

You've been heading out with work companions more and more lately. It's been a blast...for everyone but Aqua. You live with her, so it's not like you slink off somewhere to be with other women, but whenever you mention you want to go out, she always pouts and lets out a low 'neeee' of disapproval. You always promise to spoil her a bit when it's over, and that normally gets her to relax. But even if she lets you go, she does this! Groaning internally, you take a deep drink of the mug in front of you. Ice cold root beer. +1 Morale. The evening continues like this for the next hour or so, needing to stop every so often to appease Aqua. Sheepishly, you excuse yourself, leaving early. You're embarrassed more than upset. A long talk is in order, later...

You head to the supermarket. Despite being...not angry, but peeved at Aqua, she did request you pick up more ketchup. The girl goes through it so quickly you need a bottle at least once a week. Browsing the aisles idly as you lazily make your way down to the condiments, you look at some of the different brands they have on display. Store brand, Heinz, Hernz, Hunts, Annie's, Fanny's...it never really occurred to you how many of these there were. Which one did she like again? You blink, memory short circuiting after examining the different bottles until they all subconsciously blend together. Cautiously, you reach for Annie's. The phone in your pocket vibrates. Retracting your hand, you sigh, pulling your phone out to see what Aqua needs now.

'No, not that one! Get Heinz! Annie's is gross!'

You stare at the phone in awkward silence. Slowly, you look around...but you're alone in the aisle. With a huff, you roll your eyes. Tapping a few buttons, you dial Aqua's number, not even bothering to put the phone up to your ear. Some cheery pop song - one Aqua herself participated in, judging from the vocals - blares in the aisle next to you, drawing an excited yelp from the other side. Bingo. Making your way to the other side, you see a woman in a pastel pink hoodie and surgical mask, desperately tapping at her phone screen. With a sigh of relief, she finally manages to quiet the ringing...to jump in fear as she sees you. Your eyes narrow. You've seen this woman before.

On more than occurrence, even. Hell, she was at the restaurant you were at earlier!

"Aqua?" You ask. The girl shrinks. "Are you serious? Have you been following me?"
"I-I'm sorry," the woman says, very poorly putting on a masculine voice. "You must have me confused with someone else."
"Yeah, right," You say, furrowing your brow as you close the distance. The girl seems to be terrified. "Just a coincidence that I called you and your ringtone started going off, right? Have you seriously been stalking me?"
"S-Sir, please, you're frightening me! I don't know who you're talking about!"

Fed up, you reach up, tugging the hood off the girl...revealing a head of blonde hair. You freeze.

The girl screams before running off crying, thoroughly terrified. You swallow anxiously. Running back to grab the bottle of Heinz, you quickly make your way through a self-checkout before security descends upon you.

You awkwardly shuffle home, incredibly embarrassed and almost guilty. You work through the busy crowds of the main street - one of the fastest ways home on foot - as it's early on a weekend. 7:30PM. Coming up to a cross walk, you wait with a group of others for the indicator to change so you can cross without risk of isekai.