TGS – Vol 1 Chapter 2 Part 4 – Regular Customer & University Student

“I see. If that’s the case then you should reply right away. After all, it’s someone important to onii-chan, right?” (Yuno)

“Yeah, I’ll reply right after I finish washing the dishes.” (Haruto)

“I’ll do the dishes for you, so go and reply.” (Yuno)

“Huh…” (Haruto)

“Just do it.” (Yuno)

“Ah, thanks for looking out for me.” (Haruto)

“…I didn’t mean it like that.” (Yuno)

“Well, thanks anyways.” (Haruto)

“You don’t have to say it twice.” (Yuno)

Although she was acting tsun¹, it was obvious that she was looking out for him. He decided to just rely on her kindness.

“Well then, I need to go and think about my schedule, so I’ll move to the other room.” (Haruto)

“Okay.” (Yuno)

Haruto took his smartphone to the gaming room and spent 15 minutes on Twitto talking to Ayaya to come up with a schedule. Once they successfully determined the collaboration date and time, they engaged in casual conversation, including private topics.

During this conversation, Ayaya sent the following messages:

“(Hey, hey, it’s sudden, but I have to consult you about something, Oni-chan.)” (Ayaya)

“(That’s sudden. I don’t know if I can help, but go ahead.)” (Oni-chan)

“(Thank you!)” (Ayaya)

With the collaboration confirmed, they were currently in the midst of trying to deepen their trust and friendship. After all, being comfortable around each other is more enjoyable for viewers compared to having a tense atmosphere.

In response to that sentiment, I decided to reply in a more casual tone:

“(All right, let’s get to it! De-den! If you want to get along with someone you’re interested in, what should you do, Oni-chan!?)” (Ayaya)

“(Huh, a love consultation?)” (Oni-chan)

“(Ah, don’t get me wrong! This isn’t about me; it’s about a friend! A friend! They came to me for advice, and I couldn’t really be of much help.)” (Ayaya)

While emphasizing the word ‘friend,’ she added, “They want to hear the opinions of the opposite sex!”

“(Hey~ what should I do?)” (Ayaya)

“(Can I get some information first?)” (Oni-chan)

“(Oh! Right, right!)” (Ayaya)

It’s heartwarming seeing how her on-stream and off-stream personalities are so similar.

“R-really, Ayaya-san is amazing… Being a streamer is one thing, but not everyone can close the distance like this.” (Haruto)

She is a person who primarily manages and operates her channel through streaming. Moreover, she achieved a subscriber count of over 300,000 in just one year.

By interacting with her like this, the reasons for her popularity are gradually becoming apparent.

Her cheerful personality, friendly demeanor, and the way she treats everyone the same in an industry where hierarchy is often determined by channel subscriber counts.

“(Oh, before that, I was curious. Why did you choose me as the person to consult with? We haven’t really known each other for long, right?)” (Oni-chan)

“(Because Oni-chan wouldn’t go around spreading this kind of things, right? I at least know about the other side of Oni-chan.)” (Ayaya)

“(Ah, I see.)” (Oni-chan)

Being exposed as someone who would lend an ear to consultations would be a blow in itself. Based on this, there isn’t really any reason for me to spread such things around.

“(Besides, you two kinda resemble each other, Oni-chan and that person.)” (Ayaya)

“(Oh, really?)” (Oni-chan)

“Well, the safest thing would be to consult someone in real life, but I wonder if she doesn’t have anyone around like that… Ayaya seems to have a lot of friends, though.” (Haruto)

In this industry, prying into someone’s private life is considered bad manners so I kept that question to myself.

“(By the way, I’m curious about what kind of person Ayaya-san’s friend is interested in.)” (Oni-chan)

“(Well, you know! She’s into a café staff, someone mature and kind! Oh, this is just what I heard, so I don’t know the details!)” (Ayaya)

“(Café staff, huh. Indeed, many of them give off a calm and composed vibe.)” (Oni-chan)

“We have the same profession…” (Haruto)

He muttered quietly to himself as he replied.

“(So, Ayaya-san’s friend is attracted to the mature and kind part of him?)” (Oni-chan)

“(Not just that, but there were also some really cool moments too!)” (Ayaya)

“(Oh?)” (Oni-chan)

When was the last time I had a conversation like this? It feels like it’s been several years.

Even though I’m in the position of giving advice, it’s starting to get exciting.

“(Well, you know, just like me, that friend also moved to a different prefecture². And, like me, they have a regional dialect, so they were teased by people around them.)” (Ayaya)

“(I see, I see.)” (Oni-chan)

“(And then! In the midst of all that, when that person went into the cafe where they work and placed an order, they accidentally spoke in their dialect. And then, it seems like the customers behind them started whispering, saying it sounded country-like or something.)” (Ayaya)

“Hmm?” (Haruto)

At this point, I suddenly feel a sense of discomfort.

“(And you know what? That onii-san³ boldly confronted them and stood up for her! How cool is that!?)” (Ayaya)

“(Oh… That’s quite courageous.)” (Oni-chan)

The discomfort intensifies.

“W-Wait, isn’t that… No, it must be a coincidence.” (Haruto)

I’ve encountered the same situation that she just described before.

“(And besides, he pays a lot of attention to her! He earnestly draws latte art for her, write messages that make her happy, and was very caring! Isn’t he great!?)” (Ayaya)

“(Yeah, that’s nice.)” (Oni-chan)

I can only give vague replies, as I’m doing similar things.

“I wonder if his drawings are bad… What’s going on? This sense of familiarity…” (Haruto)

I scratch my head, furrowing my brow.

The more I hear the story, the more I picture the silhouette of this ‘friend’ of hers.

Bob-cut milk tea-colored hair. Fair skin with pink eyes.

It matches the silhouette of Shirayuki, a first-year university student and a regular customer who came to the shop today.

However, that’s impossible. The typical age for a first-year university student is 18 or 19. It’s unbelievable that someone of that age would have over 300,000 subscribers on their channel.

“(By the way, does that cafe staff member have a girlfriend?)” (Oni-chan)

“(Ah.)” (Ayaya)

A brief one-word reply.

“(Huh?)” (Oni-chan)

“(I didn’t ask!! My friend didn’t ask either!!)” (Ayaya)

“(Ehh? Well, you should confirm that first.)” (Oni-chan)

“(But if you ask someone if they have a girlfriend, they’ll know that you’re interested in them, right!?)” (Ayaya)

“(Well, that’s true.)” (Oni-chan)

It’s unavoidable that I can’t give good advice. I don’t have experience in this area.

“(Oh, but you know! My friend made a promise to play ABEX with that cafe staff! If he has a girlfriend, wouldn’t he avoid making such a promise!?)” (Ayaya)

“(Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Wait, ABEX?)” (Oni-chan)

“(Yeah! It’s the same ABEX that we’re playing!)” (Ayaya)

“(What’s his rank?)” (Oni-chan)

“(We’re both in Platinum! We haven’t decided whether to play ranked or casual matches, though!)” (Ayaya)

“…” (Haruto)

The moment I read this reply, I release my phone as if it’s too hot to touch.

I cover my mouth with my hand, looking up at the ceiling with indescribable emotions.

“This… this feels familiar… No, it’s probably just a bunch of coincidences piling up…” (Haruto)

I pick up the phone from the desk again.

“(Ah, but that staff member will be totally surprised when my friend plays ABEX with him!)” (Ayaya)

“(Surprised?)” (Oni-chan)

“(Yeah, because my friend has reached the top rank (Predator) before. She gave the sub-account she used for practicing to him.)” (Ayaya)

“(Wow, that’s amazing!)” (Oni-chan)

Predator is a rank that only 750 players in the world can achieve.

It signifies a professional level of skill.

“Even if you don’t tell him, it should be pretty obvious when they start playing…” (Haruto)

After all, I’m also a player who has reached Predator rank. By observing character control and tactics, you can get an idea of a player’s skill level.

“(Ayaya-san, can I ask you something?)” (Oni-chan)

“(What, what?)” (Ayaya)

“(When is your friend going to play ABEX with the cafe staff member?)” (Oni-chan)

“(It’s in five days!)” (Ayaya)

“(I see…)” (Oni-chan)

Five days from now is the same day as the promised date with Shirayuki Aya.

“No, it can’t be. Such a coincidence…” (Haruto)

That was the only reaction I could muster.

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Thanks for reading!

—”Even if you don’t tell him, it should be pretty obvious when they start playing…”

Let’s all remember this sentence for later when they start playing and see if he could tell. Looks like the cat’s gonna be out of the bag soon. Actually it probably already is lol.

“TL-san~! Why is the chapter suddenly in first-person halfway through?”

Half of my mind was asleep, and it looks like I missed a portion of the chapter where ChatGPT generated as first-person, and since I didn’t correct it, it decided to do everything afterwards in first-person too.

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1. You know, ‘tsun’ from ‘tsundere. It means acting cold to someone.
2. I could be wrong, but prefactures are like areas of a region. There are 7-9 regions in Japan and 47 total prefactures split among the regions. Each might have the same or different dialect.
3. Idk how to describe onii-san. Basically referring to a young man.