Shine On, Virtual Knight Rayna! (A Vtuber Story)

[Bandresnatch]

In a dark, musty cave of my own making, I collapsed in my gaming chair and wished that I could mute the shouting voices in my headset.

"Shut up. You've got no idea what you're talking about, you cheap hooker," said a tanned, blonde girl with fox ears in a gaudy parody of a school uniform.

"Would it kill you to listen to me for once, you stupid bimbo?!" replied an elegant oni princess, blood-red gemstone-like eyes burning with reproach.

I could only rub at my face as I sat in one of these meetings again. Where nothing productive got done, and these two went at it without a single care for those forced to watch them bicker.

"Please, you two, have some decorum," a magical girl interjected, speaking in a deep, mature voice. "I understand that it's been a trying week for all of us, but calling each other names again is going to get us nowhere."

"Eh, let them scream at each other. This is my favorite part of the day," the sci-fi soldier elf commented casually.

Looking at my monitor, there were six windows open on the online conference. Four of which were occupied by my colleagues – or those in the sphere would call them – my genmates. We were supposed to get along with each other, rely on one another to get through the competitive world of vtubing. But instead, here we were, repeating the same endless arguments in what should've been an important meeting that would decide the direction of our company.

"Now, now, girls, let's put yesterday's problem behind us and figure out our future together." The window beside me lit up. The sole man in the call, his profile picture was that of a chubby, cutesy-looking bird.

"There's no future if she keeps doing as she pleases!" The beautiful oni in jade silks, Hisui, shrieked.

"Oh shut it already, Hisui. As if Miss ASMR over here has any right to tell me off for hanging out with a couple of male vtubers," the gaudy high school girl with fox ears, Kirara, seethed.

"Kirara, how many times do I have to tell you this? It's not about that, it's about you bringing men to a girls' only collab! For our generation's anniversary no less! Do you know how much damage this has caused to mine and Symmy's viewership?" Hisui glowered, an ominous light emitted from her eyes. "And don't you dare make lewd implications about the content I spend days working on for the sake of my fans!"

…Of course, as expected, the two main instigators of drama ignored our pitiful CEO – Burb-san. I stared into my own avatar – a brown-haired knight with horse ears atop her head. Her usual bright green eyes were as dull as a rock. She wore the same weary expression as mine, in her own little corner of the conference call, listening to the constant toxic back-and-forth of insults and accusations.

I was just checked out from the stupid conversation. I couldn't bother with adding my two cents, since these two wouldn't give a damn about anyone else when they really get going.

When did we get to this point? We used to be good friends when we all started together.

What happened to us?

"Heh, if those touch-starved losers freaked out over seeing men on stream, that's not my fault. I can't be blamed for the actions of the mentally deranged weirdoes you court as your audience, Hisui" Kirara huffed. "All I'm doing is for the good of the company, you've seen our numbers, we need to grow if we want to stay competitive in this oversaturated market. It's not like ten years ago where anything goes."

"All for the sake of the company?" Hisui scoffed. "Shove off with that utter nonsense. You're the last person to call anyone a freak, least of all the fans that support our dreams, you fucking control freak!"

"Please, Hisui, don't," the magical girl, ♡Symphonia, said. "Let's dial the name-calling back and–"

"Oh no, Symmy. I'm not letting her get away with this. Not after what she implied about our fans. Are you not upset as I am? I thought that you would understand where I'm coming from, since the both of us work so hard to meet our fans' expectations and fulfill their desires, their needs and wants. They deserve far better than to be insulted by the likes of her."

Symphonia fell silent, her forlorn face looked down to the side. Hisui took it as affirmation to her point and continued.

"If you can't bring yourself to give this smug know-it-all the dressing down she rightfully deserves, then let me do it in your stead. Let me be angry on your and our fans' behalf. I won't let her get away with calling our erstwhile supporters freaks–"

"Woah, hold your horses, bucko," the tacticool elven girl, ELvin_assaUlt said. "Look, I get that you've a lot of issues with our resident stat-obsessed gal, and while it doesn't help that she's very bad at getting her point across, you're letting yourself get lost in your emotions. I understand that you love your fans very much and would do anything for them, which is great, fantastic even! Though, don't you think that's kind of strange in and of itself? I mean, this goes beyond maintaining kayfabe, you're putting yourself way too much at risk by acting parasocial to your fans."

"...What are you trying to say here, El?" Hisui asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm saying that there's more than one way to fulfill your fans' desires, ways that don't involve yourself crossing boundaries, both physical and digital," she replied. "While I'm a firm believer of talent freedom and making whatever content you want, I still think you oughta be careful about playing with fire. I've seen so many girls doing the same things as you are and torching their careers over it. It's not a pretty sight, you know."

She then glanced meaningfully at the meek CEO.

"...Start a vtuber company, they said. It's easy money, they said. It'll be fun and exciting, they said." Burb-san muttered quietly into his mic.

"Yeah, you tell them, El. Sure, you can go pigeonholing yourself into some dumb role, but don't go around forcing other people to follow your self-imposed standards, Hisui." Kirara smirked.

Hisui's model shook with rage. But before she could start yelling at Kirara, Symphonia spoke first.

"I understand. The younger generation has their own approach in entertainment, it would be wrong of me to force my ideals onto you. I can't deny the fact that your concurrent viewers have been growing from simply acting as yourselves." The magical girl smiled warmly, not a hint of exasperation nor anger. "Hisui pushes this angle because she and I share the same dream of being an idol. To prioritize our fans so that we may give them the best service possible. Who will in turn support us with all their being. It's only right that we reciprocate their dedication by becoming our best selves. So please, don't be too harsh on her, she's only thinking of the agency when she does this."

Kirara clicked her tongue audibly. She had the decency to look ashamed of herself at the mild rebuke. Which surprised me, I thought for sure she would keep on arguing. But then again, when Symphonia wanted to make herself heard, she could be every bit as forceful as the others.

"That's not fair when you put it like that, Symmy. Now you're making me look like the bad guy." She sighed. "I'll admit, the viewers I brought in don't mesh well with yours and…Hisui's." Kirara hissed the oni princess' name through gritted teeth. "They're rowdier and prefer a more grounded type of content creator; they don't care for the pageantry of idol-culture."

"Oh, so the new age streamer does get it," Hisui remarked, rolling her eyes.

"No shit, I've seen your and Symmy's numbers tanked because of it, any idiot can see the obvious. It's painful watching your fans dwindle, I get that, but I still think you'll be better off for it."

"And Hisui." Symphonia said firmly, turning to the window next to her. Literally, she was very dedicated to her role, even when the cameras were off. "While I do believe Kirara's methods are...reckless at times, like with this latest incident of her extending an invitation to our anniversary collabs to outside parties, she may have a point about one thing. The degree to which you produce your content worries me at times. Are you sure you want to be that intimate with your fanbase? It's one thing to be a source of comfort, but it's another to trade in affection."

"I'm fine, Symmy," Hisui replied, rolling her eyes. "It's just fanservice, like what you do as an idol."

"If you say so," the magical girl relented. "Know that I'll always lend an ear to you, even when I'm not here anymore."

Like flipping a switch, the vibe of the conference call instantly changed. Both Kirara and Hisui looked alarmed, foregoing their earlier hostility.

I blinked, sitting upright immediately. My model reflected my unease with her drooping ears. She couldn't possibly be implying what I think she is, could she…?

"Not here anymore? What are you talking about, Symmy?" El asked, voicing everyone's unspoken question. The usually carefree girl sounded serious for the first time in this meeting. "Are you thinking of…"

No way. Symphonia was the idol of our group. She loved vtubing the most out of all of us!

I felt my hands clutching at the edge of my messy table.

"A-About that." Burb-san stammered. "Symphonia asked me to hold this meeting today to discuss the future of the company because she is, well, ummm…" His voice trailed off.

Sighing, the magical girl spoke with an air of finality.

"I'm thinking of graduating."

The conference call fell into an eerie silence.

No one dared to speak. I could hear my own ragged breathing. My other self embodied the distraught expression I wore perfectly. Before I knew it, the words tumbled out of my mouth.

"But why? You love being a vtuber with all your heart! This was your dream, you told all of us that!"

Symphonia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Rayna." My heart sank at how guilty she sounded when she addressed me, like she was the one in the wrong. "I'm getting married soon, and as such I can no longer perform my duty as a vtuber anymore."

"Th-That's no reason for you to call it quits, Symmy!" Kirara called out desperately. "There are plenty of vtubers out there still streaming after they got hitched. We're not Internet idols, we're streamers, we don't have to follow these old traditions. Hell, even actual idols these days don't graduate just because they're getting married."

The magical girl, the oldest member of our generation, simply shook her head.

"I won't be able to do my best for my fans, as I'll be prioritizing my soon-to-be husband and our future children over them. I would rather we share one last good memory together than cause a schism and divide them into warring factions. My fans deserve far better than that." Smiling gently at the flashy girl with fox ears, Symphonia continued. "And the company will be alright, Kirara. You've been outperforming me lately in active stream viewership and growth these days. Even when I depart, there won't be a hit to the company's bottom line. Your newly gained fans more than make up for it."

The fires in Kirara's eyes sputtered out at Symphonia's words. Yet, the palpable tension in the call remained. There was one person visibly shaking in her window, fuming with rage.

"Look at what you did." Hisui growled. "If you hadn't invited those men to our anniversary, Symmy wouldn't have thought about quitting. This is all your fault, Kirara!"

"Hey, ease off her. She has nothing to do with this. It's Symmy's choice to get married," El said. "Do you think Kirara mind-controlled her to do that or something?"

"Y-Yeah, she said it was because she's getting married, it's not my fault! I thought, that if, that if I," the gyaru whimpered.

"Thought what?"

"I thought…" Kirara began, her voice quivering. "I thought that if I brought in those guys." Her breathing grew erratic. "I would've stopped you from whoring yourself out to a bunch of parasocial freaks. I did it to stop you from making a mistake. That's right, it's not my fault, it's your fault, Hisui! If you weren't so intent on playing girlfriend to lonely losers, I wouldn't have invited those guys to chase away those creeps!"

"You…! Holy shit, what the fuck is wrong with you?! I didn't ask for your help with my fans! So, don't try to pin your goddamned idiotic mistake onto me, you psycho bitch!"

"You should be grateful to me, you skank! If I didn't filter those creeps from your fanbase, who knows what they would've done to you!"

"I didn't fucking ask!"

"Girl, girls, please, stop," Symphonia cut in. "Kirara, this isn't the time to start another fight. Hisui, stop it with the insults, Kirara's only looking out–"

"Oh please, that clout-chasing psycho only wants to satisfy her ego. She's just jealous of how much my fans shower me with love and adoration, nothing that her sea of casual viewers could ever hope to replicate. Not that they would care to in the first place," Hisui replied haughtily.

"Come off it," El said, rolling her eyes. "If anyone's insecure about her fanbase, it's not Kirara. That girl has worked herself to the bone to get the numbers she's pulling now. You've got no right to sneer at her."

"El, you're not helping the situation." Symphonia snapped her attention to the elf. "Please don't recklessly take sides if you don't have anything better to say–"

"Symmy," Kirara's cold voice cut like a knife, interrupting El before she could reply to Symphonia. "I respect you for what you've done for me and Rayna, but stay out of it. This has been a long time coming. That slut needs to get called out for once, because all she's been doing is throwing a bitchfit when I was doing her a favor!"

"Fuck off bitch! I know how to handle my fans, I don't need your sanctimonious ass to intervene!"

The argument between the two headstrong girls devolved further from there. It was one slur off from being a spirited debate on anonymous image boards. I covered my face as an oppressive cloud of melancholy settled over me. Every now and then, I could hear either Burb-san or Symphonia trying to get a word in. Even El chimed in, but none of her comments really did anything to stop it.

It was pointless, Kirara and Hisui were at each other's throats, they couldn't give an ounce of care about the rest of us anymore. Rayna's live2d model simply watched the chaos unfold. My other self, my reflection was just there, a blank stare to match the emptiness inside me.

I felt hollowed. Detached. As if nothing mattered anymore. The end was inevitable.

"This was such a waste of time. Everyone keeps arguing and talking past each other. It just never ends. Why did I bother joining this agency to begin with?"

All of a sudden, Kirara and Hisui paused their insults to look at me, look at my avatar – Rayna. El blinked, and Symphonia looked down to the side. Burb-san's profile picture lit up, but I could only hear an exasperated breath from his mic.

I looked at my model and realized that her lips were moving.

My lips were moving.

Oh.

"Maybe you're right, Rayna. Clearly, it was a mistake on my part underestimating what it takes to run a vtuber agency," Burb-san said. "A smarter man than me would've been able to stop you girls from getting to this point. I think we should close this chapter on our life together. Do it before it gets any worse."

"...Eh, boss, you're not doing what I'm thinking of, right?" El said, shakily. "Come on, it's just one graduation, we can still–"

"Fuck it, it's over." "I think it's for the best." Both Kirara and Hisui spoke at the same time. They glared at each other before huffing away. After a moment of silence, Burb-san continued.

"It seems like some of you girls are keen on the idea too. After Symphonia graduates, let's just dissolve the agency and part ways from there. No point in facilitating a toxic work environment. Sounds like a plan, yeah?"

Another suffocating silence blanketed the call. One that was broken when Symphonia nodded her head slowly.

"I believe this is the best course of action. If the rest of the girls can't work out their differences, forcing them to stay together will only cause more issues in the future," she said, her face crestfallen. "If you'll excuse me, I have a stream to prepare for, so I'll be taking my leave. Goodbye, everyone."

Her window closed out as she left. Kirara and Hisui both looked at me with worry. However, when the two headstrong girls caught sight of the other doing the same thing, they clicked their tongues in the exact same manner before leaving the call too.

"So, if the agency's actually crashing out soon, what's going to happen to our character IP rights?" El asked nervously. "I really like this model, boss, she's the best one I've piloted. She captures my chill gamer vibe real well. It would be a darn shame if everything goes to waste when you close the doors for good."

Burb-san exhaled sharply. "I'll think about it later. We'll have another meeting to discuss our dissolution. I'll figure out what to do with everyone's IPs then."

Our CEO didn't speak any further on the matter. Even through his cartoonish profile picture, I could tell the subtle changes in his voice. How hollowed his words were.

"R-Right, haha…" El's model's eyes darted off to the side. "Rayna, ummm, are you sure about this? It's not too late to reel it back, you know. We're just venting and all that, so we shouldn't really be jumping the gun."

I think she was trying to comfort me in her own aloof El-ish way, but I was so done with everything I didn't bother to humor her attempt with a reply.

"I'll just go and prep for my stream too. Umm, see you guys around? Yeah, see ya."

With that, it was just me and Burb-san in the call. We didn't share a single word as we sat silently in mourning of what had been. Of what might've been. And how we should've stopped this when we had the chance to.

"I'm so sorry, Rayna." Burb-san's tired voice drew my attention. "It's all my fault this happened. I should've put my foot down when Kirara brought up her proposal. At the time, I thought the overall growth would be good for the company, that it could smooth out any damage it would've done in the short run. El, her, and you got the boost, more viewers, more engagement. All the things you girls deserve for working so hard. But I didn't consider the damage to Hisui's brand, and Symphonia's by extension. Their fanbases have lost trust in us, in me. I don't think it would be right for me to keep this agency going when I couldn't see the obvious."

I remained quiet at that. Burb-san was always the worrywart, constantly second-guessing himself, whether he was doing the right thing for us talents. He judged that the gain in views was ultimately a good thing for the health of the company, but in the end, it lit the powder keg between Kirara and Hisui. Their irreconcilable differences became too much, and we kept breaking apart.

"S-Sir, it's not just you," I said. "I thought meeting new people would be fun. I didn't think about Hisui's position at all, and let it happen. I…I–"

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done." He waved me off, refusing to let me take any sort of responsibility for the latest blow up. "It's not your job to vet your genmates' suggestions in the first place, it's mine."

Heaving a sigh, he continued. "However the dice fall, I'll make sure you're taken care of at least, Rayna. I'll put in a good word for you in the CEOs channel. You've a lot of potential, I'll not see it be dragged down by my mistake." There was a hint of determination in his weary tone. "Don't let the fallout of your first agency color your experience going forward. Vtubing is a wonderful medium where everyone can connect with one another without prejudice holding them back. Where everyone can be who they want to be, and let their personality shine through. You still have a long road ahead of you, Rayna, you can come back from this little stumble on the way."

…I didn't know what to say, so I let the silence linger. I knew that he was trying to cheer me up, to tell me that I still have a future as a vtuber. That my time in this agency didn't matter, that nothing that happened here would affect me in the long term. Like the excitement I felt when I first passed my audition and got accepted, how happy I was to discuss the designs of what would become Rayna with Symphonia, the gratefulness I felt when Hisui gave me advice on how to interact with chat, the relief I had as Kirara helped me with the direction of my content, or the fun times collabing with El. These precious memories, these feelings would amount to naught.

Like fallen snow on a spring's night.

Everything would just fade away in the next morning.

I…could only hang my head in resignation. Plastering a small grin on my face, I said.

"Thank you, sir, for looking out after me. This was the best time of my life."

I left the call before he could make a response. Taking off my headset, I threw it at one of my monitors. I trudged myself to my messy bed, past the hanging wall scrolls, and collapsed on the dust-filled mattress. The platoon of pony plushies and gathering of empty plastic water bottles greeted me. I laid there unresponsive, with the beat of my heart providing me company. Tears poured out unbidden, wetting my pillows. I couldn't muster up the strength to hide it anymore.

The buzzing of my phone on my desktop reminded me of something urgent. I quickly rolled off my bed and rushed for it.

Right, I still have a stream scheduled for today.

But looking at my reflection in the phone's blank screen, at how puffy my eyes were, how dull the green in them became, my messy, unkempt waist-length black hair with split ends everywhere, I wasn't in any shape to perform for my fans.

They deserved better.

Sitting on my chair, I announced the cancellation of my stream today and pushed it back to tomorrow, citing a 'health emergency' on my Rayna account on Z. Then, I swapped to my private account and browsed through my follower's list. There were only Kirara, Hisui, Symphonia, and El's alternative accounts, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I dared to skim through their pages, to see if they had said anything about today's disastrous meeting.

Symphonia's, as usual, was bereft of anything besides pictures of her corgis. Not to mention that she was streaming right now too. I turned to one of my monitors, where the magical girl was playing one of those very difficult management games, all smiles and laughs, not a single trace of despair or frustration on her animated expressions.

She was a true idol, I wished I could be more like her.

Kirara and Hisui were in her chat, cheering her on and putting up a show of still being friendly to one another. But on the flipside, they vagueposted about dealing with a…shitty friend, and doomposted about their future. I had also noticed that these two have unfollowed each other on their alts.

My heart sank at that.

And El…she didn't say anything on the alt that followed mine. I checked her MiTube page and found that she had moved her stream back by several hours. Tabbing out of that window, I went to the anonymous image board, and checked out the /comp/ thread. There was a certain poster talking about how she hoped she would get to keep her model if her company theoretically imploded.

I replied to her, agreeing with the sentiment.

With my obligations done, I tossed my phone onto my nightstand and trudged back to my bed again. I glanced at my wall scrolls, seeing the bright cheerful face of my idol, my oshi, Eden, the one who inspired me to follow in my dream, and wondered where it all went wrong.

"...What would you do in my shoes?" I asked the inanimate merchandise. As expected, she replied with a silent smile and an energetic pose.

With the message received, I didn't care to be awake anymore, even if that meant staying in the same sweatpants and track jacket combo for the fifth time in a row this week. I closed my eyes and muttered one last thing before I was ready to move on to the next day.

"I wish we could go back to the way we were."

I loosened my grasp on consciousness and prayed that today was just a bad dream, and that I would wake up and everyone would still be smiling and laughing, in the way only friends could.

But it was a fantasy, and there was nothing in reality I could do to change that.

Nothing to do but to lose myself in sleep's embrace.

.

..

…

….

….. ..ke .p!

There was a weight on top of my head.

…y.a

Something hard and pointy pecked at my forehead.

Ray.. wa.e u.!

I groaned, swiping at it lazily with my arm.

"Five more minutes," I mumbled.

"Sorry Rayna, but we don't have five more minutes, you need to wake up. Now!" Burb-san's voice ordered.

"Hu whaa whut?" I babbled intelligently. My eyelids fluttered as the piercing light stung my eyes. I shielded them out of reflex with my hand. A hand that was covered in brown leather and shining steel…

"Good, you're awake, Rayna! I thought you were a goner when you got backhanded by that ogre," Burb-san continued. I looked around, there were trees and rocks and dirt everywhere, a strange gaping formation in the treeline, and my CEO was nowhere to be seen.

So, where was his voice coming from…?

The steel sword and shield laying on the ground caught my eyes, however. Something about them seemed familiar to me.

Blinking, I felt a sense of dread creeping up my spine. Something wasn't right, last I recalled I fell asleep in my bed, in my dirty room, in my parents' home, in a city, far away from any wooded area.

"Where am I…?" I asked.

"You're at the Murky Forest with the rest of your adventuring party, of course," Burb-san answered. The weight on top of my head shifted as something jumped off from there, and hovered right in front of me.

It was a chubby, cutesy-looking bird. A very familiar one at that too…

The sight of it was impossible. Certainly not in real life. Because I had just seen it before I went to bed, when I was on my computer, sitting in that awful argument with my genmates. Watching as the owner of that profile picture did nothing to prevent the meeting from escalating.

"Is there something funny on my face, Rayna?" The physical form of the bird avatar of my CEO cocked its head at me, and I couldn't believe my lying eyes and ears.

So, I did what any normal and sane person would do in this situation and screamed.


AN: Ohai there, welcome to my shoddy attempt at writing a long form. I appreciate you guys stopping by and giving a piece of your time, means a lot to me! Anyway, I'll be aiming to release a chapter once per week on Monday. Hoping to get to something between 3,000 to 5,000 words. Hoping doing a lot of the heavy lifting, hahaha....

But just for today, I'll release another chapter to close off the hook (totally not because this was originally as one chapter lol)

 

[Bandresnatch]

"Rayna, are you okay? Why are you screaming? Are you in pain?" It asked in concern, speaking with the same cadence, the same deep voice, even the same tone Burb-san would use when he was fretting over everyone's mental well-being.

Which only intensified my screaming.

"Oh no, oh dear." It started flying around in a panic. The more it spoke, the more I couldn't deny it any longer. Because there was absolutely no way this was happening.

"It'll be alright, Rayna," the bird said as it landed on the ground right in front of me. "Don't you worry, as you girls' mascot it's my job to look after you all." It turned slightly to the side and began rummaging through its…chest feathers? "I might have just the thing to make you feel better!"

My scream died down as curiosity overtook panic.

I shouldn't be entertaining this thought at all, but the evidence was staring me right in the face. It was just impossible, my CEO was a human, a bona-fide human, like literally everyone else on planet Earth. A businessman that I've met in real life too! There was no way this talking mascot-like bird was him, no way. Only in a dream could a bird that had the exact same voice as my CEO be talking to me.

However, something in my gut told me that my instincts were right.

Catching my breath, I ventured a guess.

"Burb-san?"

The mascot bird stopped whatever it was doing and turned to me.

"Yes, that's me," he spoke in relief, energetically flapping his tiny wings. "Phew, here I thought you might've gotten some head trauma. Good thing that you're ready and able. We should–"

"What adventuring party?" I asked, feeling my head spinning. My body was aching in weird places too. Like I had been tenderized like meat. I felt around my midsection and winced from the pain when I touched a particular spot on my abs.

Burb-san suddenly squawked in alarm. "Oh no, you do have head trauma! This isn't good. Okay, Rayna, you've to get up and find the others, then we can regroup and figure out what to do next–"

The sounds of explosions rocked the clearing, whipping the winds into a frenzy. Which were then followed by new but very familiar voices…

"Goddammit, Hisui, were you trying to kill me with your spell!?"

"No, you were just in the way, Kirara. Do try to keep up."

"Girls, please, now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves."

"As much as I like to watch you guys go at it, I prefer to watch from a safe distance. I don't want to get caught in ground zero in one of your blow ups!"

The foliage at the edge of the clearing rustled. A flurry of footsteps grew closer. I could feel the vibration of the ground too.

"Ah, they're coming." Burb-san turned around. "And here I was worrying that they couldn't fend off the ogre by themselves–"

Suddenly, four girls emerged from the treeline. Four very familiar faces, yet they were ones that shouldn't be possible either. These faces were never meant to be real, after all. They were just fictional 2D avatars.

I recognized the gyaru foxgirl, oni princess, magical girl, and tacticool elven soldier on sight. My mind said otherwise, but my heart knew to be true.

…Were my genmates supposed to be my adventuring party?

I rose to greet them, despite the dull throbbing emanating from my head and muscle aches throughout my body.

But before I could call out to my friends, a giant green ogre crashed through the treeline. Crimson tribal tattoos covered every inch of its skin, powerful, rippling muscles bulging beneath the surface. A mighty horn jutted out of its forehead. Its yellow eyes were horrible to look at, freezing me in place with a hateful glare.

"Oh no, you guys lead the ogre here! While Rayna is having memory issues too!" Burb-san squawked out in panic.

"What!?" Kirara and Hisui squawked simultaneously.

"Rayna, save us!" El shouted as she sped up, holding a sci-fi-looking rifle. What was I supposed to do?! I was just some streamer who barely touched grass!

When Symphonia met my petrified gaze, her face hardened. She immediately pivoted on her heel and faced the ogre, with her fists raised.

"Kirara, Hisui, go help out Rayna. I'll keep the ogre distracted," the magical girl said…in her performance voice. High pitched and squeaky, not at all deep and mature like her actual voice. She then leaped up, leaving a small crater behind as she engaged in a dangerous duel with the monster.

It initiated with a straight jab, aiming to crush her in one blow. However, the magical girl expertly ducked beneath it and threw in a punch of her own at the joints in its elbow. Without an ounce of hesitation, the ogre lashed out with a quick swipe from its other hand. Symphonia grabbed onto the still outstretched limb and used it as leverage to vault herself over, dodging the deadly claws of the ogre by a hair's breadth. Using her newly gained momentum, she launched herself forward and landed a kick right in the monster's jaw. It glared menacingly at her as she delivered another kick to propel herself away from its bonecrushing grab.

… She was actually keeping up with it, blow for blow. How was she doing that?! Symphonia wasn't an actual magical girl, was she?

Kirara turned around and yelled, "Symmy, wait, don't fight that thing by yourself! It's way too strong for you alone!"

"Kirara, trust in our leader." Hisui put a hand on the fox-eared gyaru's shoulder. "She can handle herself fine for now. There's someone else that urgently needs our help." The oni princess glanced towards me meaningfully.

A look of realization crossed Kirara's face as she followed Hisui's sight. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she nodded grimly and rushed over to grab my weapon. Leaving Hisui to retrieve the large shield laying on the ground.

The blonde gyaru then handed me my sword while the oni princess strapped the shield onto my left forearm. I was stuck in a daze, unable to voice my questions, like what the heck was going on, why we were cosplaying as our vtuber selves, what that ogre thing was, how in the world was Symphonia fighting it, or even what had I smoked to be having this crazy dream. Burb-san was saying something to them, but my brain was just too fried to listen.

Until skinsuit-clad fingers snapped at my face, bringing me back to reality. Or fantasy, dream, whatever this was.

"Yo, Rayna, look alive. This is no time to be confused, even if you got a bump on your head. You've gotta go and fight that ogre or we're super fucked," El said.

"Wh–"

Another boom, more frenzied wind whipping up my long messy brown hair. The ogre's strikes were growing sharper and faster as it roared in anger. Symphonia's frilly outfit began to tear from just the sheer force of the monster's glancing blows alone.

El turned around and cringed. Symphonia's tiny fist met the ogre's. The magical girl grunted as she was pushed back, digging deep furrows into the ground.

"Shit," El cursed, shouldering her rifle. "Get your head in the game, Rayna. Symmy is going to get pulverized if you're just standing around gasping like a clueless moron!"

…Symmy was going to die?!

Before I knew it, I took off running. Kirara and Hisui let out gasps of surprise when I charged past them and into the fray.

I raised my shield up like it was the most natural thing in the world as I crashed into the ogre's side. The ogre grunted from the impact as it staggered, giving the magical girl enough of an opportunity to disengage safely. She gave me a look of gratitude as she took up a fighting stance beside me.

"We'll do it like usual. You keep the monster's attention, and I'll back you up," she said in a hurry. I nodded out of reflex. Blinking, I turned to her with furrowed brows.

But before I could open my mouth to ask what she meant by the usual, my ears stood up in alarm and I braced myself, catching a strong punch from the ogre on my shield. A tremendous impact ran through my body, heels digging furrows into the dirt as I stood my ground.

Good God, that was heavy! I didn't know how I withstood that! I could feel the force of its attack nearly turning my arm into jelly.

The ogre looked past me for a moment, casting a baleful glare at the three girls behind me. It tried to sweep me aside but I dug my foot in and refused to budge a single inch. The raging monster growled in frustration and reeled back its fists for another blow.

Symphonia immediately rushed to its exposed flank and rained down a barrage of lightning-quick jabs, each picking up a cloud of dust. But the ogre weathered all of her attacks and swung its other fist at the magical girl.

"Symmy!" I yelled out in a panic.

A crimson beam of light colliding into the ogre's face, catching it off-guard. Aside from a smoking patch of skin, it looked none the worse for wear. It hissed out in annoyance and resumed its swing. However, several paper talismans flew to cover the offending limb. For the first time in the fight, the ogre looked confused before the charms crackled with unknown energy and erupted into spectral chains that held its fist in place.

"Sorry Rayna, I can only deal chip damage to this stupid thing!" El shouted, as she fired more laser beams from her rifle. The ogre scanned the clearing with its unmarred eyeball, quickly jumping from me and to the other girls. The gleam of intelligence in its hateful gaze sent a chill down my spine.

"Kirara, what are you waiting for? I can't keep holding it in place much longer…!" Hisui said, her refined, elegant voice strained from the pressure. The ogre's immense strength started to snap the ethereal chains one by one.

…Putting aside the ogre, Symphonia throwing down with her bare hands, El firing off her laser rifle, and Hisui casting magic with her talismans all but confirmed it to me.

I've been reading too many fantasy novels.

"Yeah, yeah, I've, like, so got this," Kirara said, in her false valley girl accent. She held her sheathed katana in a drawing stance and…vanished.

There was the sound of rushing air, and the next thing I knew, she hung in the air upside down, flying over the ogre's head, with red liquid drenching her glittering blade. An act that completely defied all logic and laws of physics.

According to her lore, Kirara was a gifted swordsman from another time, who became enamored with social media and modern technology, and lost the drive to hone her style as a result. It was no wonder that she could deliver that impossible slash with ease.

But that didn't kill it. It had moved its neck slightly beforehand, letting its horn be shaved off instead of taking the decapitating slice.

It smirked, breaking the last chain on its fist. My stomach dropped, and I saw the look of horror etched on Kirara's face as the ogre changed target. She was still falling through the air, her options to escape severely limited. Symphonia kept pressing her attacks, boring into the monster's side with everything she's got. El fired more from her rifle, beams of light flashed by rapidly. Hoping to shift its enmity.

The ogre shrugged off both the elven soldier and the magical girl's attacks like they were mosquito stings.

"No!!!" Hisui screamed out, fear for the gyaru's safety apparent in her voice. "Get out of there!"

But all Kirara could do was to brace for impact with the flat side of her katana.

I had to do something…! But what? Was this fantasy going to become a nightmare right in front of my eyes?

"Rayna, use your sword. Call upon your sword!" Burb-san cried out.

The world seemed to slow down. The whirring of plasma, barrages of fists, and screams of panic grew distant. The beats of my heart became drums in my ears.

Right, my own lore! If Symphonia was a real magical girl, El a futuristic soldier, Hisui an oni princess who could wield magic, and Kirara a talented swordmaster, then I was a knight.

A knight-in-training, who defended the weak and innocent with my shining sword and shield!

I raised my sword high in the air, and my lips moved by themselves.

"Shine on!"

A brilliant line shone from the steel of my blade. The ogre's eyes were drawn to it in an instant. It shifted target again and pummeled against my shield with earth-shattering strength. I gritted my teeth and held my ground.

It hurt so bad.

But the alternative was so much worse.

I could take it, if it meant nobody else was going to get hurt.

Like a mad beast, the ogre didn't let up its onslaught. With each blow against my shield, every muscle and tendons screamed at me. I refused to yield, however. Pushing past the pain I locked my knees in place. The very ground shook, fault lines spread out like spiderwebs from my feet. Blasts of air buffeted through the clearing.

Every punch rattled my bones. Every hit I took I felt like I was being run over by a truck.

But…

So long as my sword shone brilliantly in these woods, I won't back down from a foe!

"Head's up, Rayna!"

A sci-fi-looking rifle, El's rifle, was suddenly thrown at the ogre's face. Sparks of energy arced through it. It glowed a crimson hue as my instincts screamed at me. I listened to them this time and ducked my head below my shield.

An explosive beam ripped through the clearing. Plumes of dust billowed outward. The strong stench of burnt flesh hit my nostrils, and I nearly gagged. But I held strong, because the ogre was still pounding against my shield.

Less of an onslaught, and more of the exhausted tail end of a rush.

I dared a peek, and wished I hadn't. The ogre was still very much alive, but its face was a pulpy mess. One of its eyes was… eww, it looked dripping egg yolk. This dream of mine was getting too much, just like one of those LiveCrashOut vids that escape containment. I wanted to throw up right then and there, but I had to hold strong. Its remaining eye was glued to my shining sword.

Mustering my courage, I struck the dying monster with all I had…and my sword bounced from its thick hide.

Right…

Rayna was a defender of the people, she possessed boundless courage and vigor, but still lacked the power to subjugate monsters. Which was why she was a knight-in-training, she had much to learn from her friends. In other words, I was a pure tank, in this…adventuring party.

The glow dimmed, and my knees buckled. Alarmed, I looked up into the ogre's ruined face. Its sole remaining eye brightened with clarity, realizing its precarious predicament. The tide was turning, and not in its favor. It stumbled back in a daze, giving me room to breathe. Then a trail of glittering stars swept past its legs.

"Leave the slashing to me, hun," Kirara said as she appeared beside me, flicking crimson rivulets off her glittering katana. Her fluffy tail swished back and forth as she twirled her blade and sheathed it dramatically.

And in that instant, the ogre's blood spilled forth like geysers from the back of its calves. It collapsed onto its knees, its mighty arms stopping itself from falling prone.

"...Behold the chains that bind the forbidden titan down to the earth – Promethean Prison!"

Ethereal chains burst from the ground, wrapping around the ogre's arms. The monster's limbs were forced apart, forcing its downed body into a pose reminiscent of a prisoner awaiting execution. It screamed and thrashed wildly against its restraints, but this time these chains held.

And then, paper talismans floated above it, circling around like vultures. They came to a stop as beams of lights shot out and weaved into a pentagram. The magic circle shone brightly, washing away the weight on my shoulders as I watched it over from a distance.

I could feel it by instinct. The battle would soon be over.

Symphonia came down like a raging meteor. She passed through the magic circle, accelerating even further until she was just a pink and blue blur. I blinked, and held my shield up as a shockwave rolled through the clearing, knocking trees over and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Coughing, I closed my stinging eyes. A gust blew past me and cleared the area of the obfuscating cloud. Opening them back up, I surveyed the clearing. Kirara was to the right of me, waving a hand over her face. El had gone prone, covering her head. Hisui held out a talisman, with Burb-san sitting on her shoulder. A barrier of sorts that had protected them from the sheer force of the magical girl-shaped comet.

And Symphonia stood in the center of the newly formed crater. She stared silently into her closed fist. There was no trace of the ogre left, only a brightly glowing gem remained where it once stood.

I breathed a sigh of relief and keeled over to the side.

Amazing…! I could get used to dreaming this kind of fantasy, even if it meant getting into more of these scary encounters. I got to know how it felt to have actual supernatural powers! It was awesome!

"Looks like our knight-in-training is all tuckered out," Kirara said, kneeling by me and poking at my abdomen with the butt of her sheathed katana. "Wonder whose fault that is?" She glanced meaningfully towards Hisui.

"Yours, obviously," the oni princess replied, walking up to me. Her fluttering kimono looked as beautiful as butterflies in flight. "If it hadn't been for your recklessness, we wouldn't have attracted the attention of the King Ogre."

"Hey now, the guild, like, posted a bounty for that eyesore, so I thought why not kill two stones with one bird by hunting it on top of our spider extermination job."

"...We didn't accept the bounty for the King Ogre, so we won't get paid for its defeat."

"Oh."

"Yes. Oh. You put us all in danger with your dumb antics. Once again, because you thought you were, in your own words, hotshit." Hisui crossed her arms under her chest, glaring down disappointingly at the fox-eared gyaru. "And, it's kill two birds with one stone, you stupid ditz."

Kirara rapped the side of her head with her knuckles and playfully stuck her tongue. And Burb-san squawked in fright, hopping away from the peeved off oni princess and flew close to me.

Hisui sighed. "You are so unbelievable. If I were the team leader, I would've kicked you out of the party long ago for your constant idiocy."

"Awww, love you too, Sui-chan! I always knew you'd have my back!" Kirara jumped up and threw herself at the oni princess' shoulder. "That's why you're, like, my bestie in the whole wide world!"

"If you're my 'bestie' I wouldn't need any enemies." Hisui glared at Kirara, but she made no move to extricate the foxgirl from her personal space.

"See, two pods in a pea already!"

"...You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

Their banter continued back and forth, without any real heat in their exchange. I let go of my breath. Relief flooded through me. Even as adventurers, these two girls were the same genmates I knew.

"Those two can be such a handful at times," my…CEO? Party's mascot? lamented. A fond note entered his voice. "But so long as they keep it to japes and jabs, I think they'll be fine."

I nodded weakly in agreement. Kirara and Hisui had always been standoffish around each other, but they came through when it really mattered. Just like back then, before they drew battle lines and drafted the rest of us into their conflict. When we were still friends and able to look past each other's flaws.

"I wish we could stay like this forever…"

"Eh, constant bickering isn't exactly my cup of tea, even if it's just bantering," El said as she sat beside me, watching the fox-eared gyaru high school girl and oni princess make snappy comments at the other's expense off to the side. "I think this bit of theirs is growing stale."

I shook my head. "It could be worse. They could seriously hate each other."

El's ears twitched, eyes widened in surprise. "They don't?!"

"If they truly hate each other, would they still bother being in the same gen?"

El adopted a thoughtful look and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I can see the logic. They could always quit the party." I winced at that. El then turned to the chubby bird hovering to the other side of me. "How about it, Burb-san? What do you think of our favorite beauty and the beast duo?"

"I'll reiterate, so long as they can keep their bantering to just that, it'll be fine," he answered. "I wouldn't want to force them to change on my behalf."

"Spoken like a true mascot." El chuckled. Burb-san rolled his eyes before flying over to Symphonia as the magical girl climbed out of the crater.

Why were we an adventuring party in a fantasy-like world anyway? Because we were in the same generation? I guess I could see the logic in that. That was how dreams worked, right? Take a bunch of familiar things and faces and voices together, shake it all up until it makes sense, and voila.

Breathing deeply, I shook my head and pushed myself back up. But my noodly arms were too weak to prop myself up, so I was fated to flop like a fish out of water.

"Woah, careful there, Rayna," El said, catching my fall. She then propped me up against her shoulder. My long horse-like ears drooped down over her chest.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"No problem!"

"Are you two alright?" Symphonia called to us, as she marched over to me and El, with Burb-san sitting comfortably on her head. He inspected the gem with his wings and proceeded to…shove it into his chest? And it just disappeared in there.

The sight of it left me lost for words, it didn't make a lick of sense! But it seemed to be exclusively a me-problem, because no one else looked bothered by it. Heck, El carried on with Symphonia's question without even acknowledging what Burb-san had done.

"Yeah, Rayna is just a limp noodle right now. You can pick her up and toss her around like a doll." The elven soldier poked my cheek. I flicked at her face with my ears, which responded to my will as if I had them my entire life. This dream was really convenient like that.

El merely chuckled and dropped her offending finger.

"That's not alright at all, El. Rayna needs healing," Symphonia said as she stopped in front of me. Even standing at her full height, the magical girl only came up to my neck. "Here, let me see what I can do for you."

Clearing her throat, she started singing a familiar song. The OriSong she made for her fans for their three-months celebration. I hummed along to its cheery beat, full of hope and gratitude for the future spent together with close ones.

A warm, fuzzy feeling radiated through my aching muscles and overtaxed tendons, the sharp pain fading away. Yet, my eyelids grew heavier still. I nearly dozed off on El's shoulder, almost falling for the temptation of sleep.

As soon as she finished her song, Symphonia touched her throat and frowned. "I must've exerted myself more than I thought." Shaking her head, she gave me an apologetic smile and bowed. "I'm sorry, that song should've energized you instead of making you drowsy."

I was about to respond, but a yawn escaped from my mouth instead.

"No worries, Symmy," El said, waving her off. "A catchy lullaby is fine, too." She patted my head, and I grumbled in protest. "Our knight-in-training could use some rest anyway. She earned it after tanking that King Ogre, don'tcha think?"

Symphonia's heterochromic eyes darted to me. "Certainly so."

"Perhaps a break is in order," Burb-san said, flying off from the magical girl's head. Looking around, he continued. "With a little bit of clean up, this makes for a nice camping spot."

"Did someone say camping?! Count me in!" Kirara shouted, causing Hisui, who was still in her grasp, to flinch. "Oh, sorry about that, Sui-chan, forgot you were, like, there, teehee."

The oni princess rolled her gems-like eyes. "No, you didn't. Anyway, it would be night time long before we could even get back to the city. Staying here is probably for the best, who knows if we'll come across any other clearing on the way out of the Murky Forest."

"In that case, I'm gonna go and scout our surroundings. Have to make sure there's, like, no baddies around and all, and maybe catch some grubs too. Toodles!" The blonde-haired foxgirl lifted her arm off Hisui and skipped away.

"...I suppose I'll set up the wards and prepare the campground." Hisui flicked her wrist and a bundle of talismans shot out of her flowing sleeve. She held them like paper fans in her hand.

Halfway across the clearing, Kirara came to a stop and turned around with a dopey grin on her face. "Oh right, Hisui, watch my back, okay? Don't wanna a repeat of the King Ogre, yeah?"

The oni princess didn't say anything, instead she took a talisman and threw it right at Kirara's face. The enchanted paper attached itself to her forehead as it glowed a dim light.

"A barrier ward? Thanks, bestie!" Kirara's grin widened as she turned around and disappeared into the treeline.

"That stupid ditz…" Shaking her head, Hisui began placing her talismans around our impromptu camping spot.

I could only giggle at their antics. Lively and fun banter, not at all full of venom and passive aggressive backhanded comments. Like in days past, before they started tearing each other down for real.

"El, you take care of Rayna," Symphonia said, smiling too. The elven soldier gave her an energetic thumb's up. "I'll go help Hisui with setting up camp. Burb-san, make yourself useful and follow after Kirara. Make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble again."

"The least I can do, hah…" Burb-san replied, flying off to where Kirara disappeared to.

Nodding her head at me and El, Symphonia went up to Hisui and asked what tasks she could lend a hand with.

The sight of everyone getting along made my heart swell with joy.

Though they may look and sound different, these girls were without a single shred of doubt my genmates – my one and only friends. Burb-san acted the same too.

Despite my own sleepiness, I forced myself to stay awake. Just a little longer, in this fantastical dream of mine, of when everyone was still good friends.

"It's okay to take a nap, you know," El said, smiling reassuringly, as if to tell me she wouldn't fade away when I woke up again. "Symmy and Hisui have got everything handled, so go and take your hard-earned hero's rest."

"No, I want to spend as much time as possible with you guys," I protested. "I don't want to miss a single thing."

"You're not going to miss out on anything, silly. Just relax." El poked at my forehead.

I mumbled, "If I go to sleep and wake up again, you guys will still be my friends, right? We won't have to drift apart, and the agency won't die because of it, right?"

El suddenly stiffened and gave me a strange look. But as soon as it came to pass, her face softened.

"Yeah, we won't be going anywhere. The party's not going to dissolve just because of some petty argument."

"You promise?"

"I promise." El looked over at the clearing, where Hisui was preparing her wards and Symphonia was setting up tents. Kirara had just returned with a couple of rabbits in her hand, chatting animatedly with Burb-san. "None of us are going anywhere. We'll still be your friends when you wake up." Her gray eyes gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight.

Despite myself, I smiled at my friend's little white lie. Closing my eyes, I let my consciousness drift.

"Sweet dreams, Rayna."

The dream – for what else could this have been? – was nice. Even if I woke up and forgot about it the next morning, I believed that my heart would be reminded. Of how we once were, when everyone had gotten along. In this false fantasy conjured up by my overactive imagination, I found the strength to face tomorrow's turmoils.

So long as my sword shines on, I won't back down from a challenge!

…If only it were that easy.

.

..

…

….Beep! Beep! Beep!

I woke up with a start. My body felt like I had run a marathon in my sleep. Groaning in pain, I rolled over to the other side of my bed and picked up my phone. My fingers moved to turn off the alarm by themselves, like a well-honed reflex tempered by decades of experience.

Blinking, I pulled down the notification menu as part of my routine for waking up. However, when I saw the amount of messages in my DMs, I sat up on my bed immediately. I clicked on one of them, taking me to my Rayna account on ChaosComm.

My phone was immediately bombarded by pings and sound alerts, startling me and causing me to drop it. I blushed with embarrassment, and picked it back up to go over the messages. Symphonia asked me what I was doing and where I was. Kirara typed over fifty lines of texts, telling me to respond to her now. Hisui did the same, too, albeit with less misspellings. Burb-san even sent me a message, asking me if I was alright and how I was feeling.

And El…she didn't send me a single message.

Instead, she tried to call me a bunch of times.

ChaosComm's voice call function then caused my phone to ring. I answered it instantly.

"Oh thank God, Rayna, you've finally picked up your phone. Where were you?" El asked, her voice was on the verge of hysteria. The way my normally aloof and cool-headed friend sounded so distraught made my heart clench.

"Rayna, are you there?"

Right, no time to panic, I had to alleviate her worry.

"Sorry, I was sleeping and just got up like a second ago," I answered. El breathed a sigh of relief. Quirking an eyebrow, I continued. "What's wrong? I notice that you guys sent me a bunch of messages in my DMs. Did something happen?"

"Heh, leave it to you to make everyone worry…" she chuckled lightly. "I guess we were all being silly and making a mountain out of a molehill. Burb-san said that you seemed…off when you left the call yesterday. So when you didn't show back up on our server for twelve hours and missed your stream he got really worried for your safety. Which then caused all of us, well, mostly the other fours, to spam your DMs asking where you were, what you were doing, if you were okay and feeling fine, and stuff like that. Even the boards are up in arms and schizoing out."

…Eh?

My jaw dropped at the implications about my mental health. I mean, I was flattered and appreciated that they cared a lot about me, but I just went to sleep! Why did that get everyone worked up like that?!

But first thing first, I missed my stream?!?! The one that I pushed back?!??!?!

"...How long was I out?" My heart pounded in my chest. Oh no, my fans, I owed them an explanation.

"Umm, like nineteen hours, thirty-one minutes, and fifty-two seconds, but who's counting?" My eyes widened as I jumped off my bed and ran to my desktop, stumbling over the trash on the floor.

"Why didn't you call my dad to wake me up sooner!" I said, going over my setup. Shower be damned, I went a week without showering before, I could do it again!

"Burb-san did, I think. Not sure what happened, but I guess your dad thought you were really tired and let you sleep the day off. Pretty nice of him if that's the case."

I slowed down a bit.

"Yeah, that sounds like him." Sighing, I opened up the vtubing and screen capturing programs. Rayna flashed onto the screen, mirroring my panicking movement. I turned to the monitor to my right, the one with my social media. "Anyway, I'll make a post on Z and tell my fans not to worry, I just ended up oversleeping because of a dream, and then I'll get on our server and explain the rest to you guys. I'm really sorry about causing this mess."

"No no no, you didn't do anything wrong, we just worked ourselves up and spiraled into doomposting," El said, drawing a sharp breath. "Must be one hell of a dream if a busybody like you ended up practically sleeping the day away."

I perked up. My memories of it were still clear to me.

"Oh! It was! You were there, Burb-san too, actually, everyone in our gen was in it," I began, typing a post up on my dusty keyboard with one hand, in spite of my stiff arm. El made a noise of interest, signaling for me to go on. "We were an adventuring party in a fantasy world, I think. We were in the forest, fighting some big ogre thing, so I didn't get to see what it was like out there. But I bet it'll be just like any other fantasy setting you can find in stories."

"Heh, you and your isekai slop."

"Hey, they're fun! But yeah, I was the tank, you were some kind of sci-fi FPS gunner, Symmy was a very strong but tiny magical girl, Kirara some sort of samurai, Hisui an elegant mage, and Burb-san was just the party's mascot." I finished the post. Giving it a quick one over, I sent it. Immediately, El liked and re-posted it. A smile came easily to me.

"Sounds like one unbalanced party, you need a thief and one more mage, lol."

I shrugged my shoulders, and pulled up ChaosComm. "Probably, but that would be party bloat, wouldn't it?"

"You can just change out members whenever you want, can't you? In one of those RPGs or whatever." I could hear the smug grin in El's voice.

I hummed, lowering my head. "You know, in that dream, we were still friends. Everyone was happy, laughing and smiling, just like how we used to. Kirara and Hisui were still on good terms, Symmy looked more motivated, Burb-san hadn't given up yet." My lips curled to a forlorn frown. "And you…still cared."

"...Yeah, that does sound nice," El replied softly. The silent admittance hung heavy in the air.

"I wish I could sleep a little bit longer, honestly," I shared, clenching my phone. "Then maybe everyone would still be there, together."

With me.

I couldn't bear to look at the server. My neck refused to budge, my sight won't leave the keyboard. After a moment of silence, El spoke.

"Even if the agency is gone, everyone would still be your friends. We won't be going anywhere, Rayna."

My breath hitched.

"I promised, didn't I?" She said in her usual lackadaisical tone. "Wait, did I? I don't remember making it, but it felt like I did? No, I definitely did. Recently too. But when…" Her confused voice trailed off to quiet murmur.

I snapped my head back up, staring at the agency's server on ChaosComm. Both my hands were shaking.

That dream. It shouldn't be possible. It was just fantasy, a product of my unconscious mind.

But it did something.

The El in the dream made that promise to me before I returned to reality. And the real El reaffirmed it, even if she didn't remember making it. She couldn't, because it was just a dream.

My dream. It shouldn't have any effect on her.

But it did.

She started caring again.

I didn't know why or how, but I did know one thing. We weren't over yet. I was given an opportunity of a lifetime, I could do this, I could still fix this.

With the wall scrolls of my oshi watching over me, I vowed to set things right.

"I can do this!"

My smile returned, brighter than ever. Rayna looked at me with determination in her eyes. Nodding to myself, I found my resolve.


AN: Thank you once again for checking out my schlock! I'm grateful that you guys came and gave me a try. I'll endeavor to entertain you folks for as long as possible! It's going to be a long ride because I've no idea what I'm doing lmao