Chapter 343: – A Workout while Working it out.

Aoko reached out to the camera, adjusting it. As she did, she said, “Is this thing working? Argh, it’s so weird doing a recording instead of streaming.”

After pulling her hand back, the camera showed a close-up of Aoko’s face, with a dance studio behind her. A mirror in the back of Aoko reflected a door leading out and the cityscape of Roppongi, but surprisingly no cameras.

Aoko glanced to the side, staring at something that wasn’t visible on the screen and then said, “And it’s not showing the camera in the reflection? That’s… weird, but alright.” She turned back to face the front and then clapped her hands together. “Now, let’s get this started before I regret making this sort of thing.”

The room lighting changed a bit, shifting from fluorescent to a something softer, like morning sunlight. As a result, Aoko’s face got a bit softer as well and filled with a bit of color… though that might have just been her embarrassment.

Aoko took a deep breath and then stepped back. As she did, her figure and clothes came into view.

Like her usual attire, she was wearing sports gear. But unlike her usual attire, it was a lot more revealing.

A light blue crop-top with a hoodie that exposed her midriff. Tight yoga pants with mismatched leggings, the left leg black from the thigh down with the rest a soft blue.

Aoko seemed to be self-conscious about it as she instinctively crossed her arms across her chest. But then she sighed and reached around to tie her long blue hair in a ponytail with a scrunchie. “I don’t get how those gravure idols do it. This isn’t even that bad, but… ugh. Maybe I shouldn’t have doubled-down on the fanservice stuff?”

Aoko finished tying her hair and then let out a sigh again. But immediately after that, she patted her cheeks and said, “Enough ranting. Okay.” She took a deep breath and then pointed at the screen. “You! The fat guy or gal or whatever sitting behind the screen!”

Silence. Since there was no one in the room with Aoko and since it was a prerecorded video, there wasn’t a response.

Aoko clearly noticed it, considering her ears started turning red. Even so, she pushed on and said, “That’s right! I’m talking to you! I bet you were alone on Christmas, weren’t you?”

Silence again. This time though, Aoko seemed used to it and took it in stride. Crossing her arms beneath her chest, she nodded and said, “I know a lot of you trashy bastards spend way too much time on the web watching my streams or doing whatever other stuff I don’t want to know about. Well, even if you’re trash, you’re my trash, so I’ll take a bit of responsibility.”

Aoko grinned and said, “Leave it to me. I’m not a crazy specialist about health like Betty or Alfi, but I can at least take you through the basics. And a little motivation goes a long way, right? So just this once I won’t mind if you ‘look respectfully’ as long as you do the same.”

[Play Good Times – Ason ID]

Music started playing. Nothing too fast or upbeat, but enough to get in the flow of moving around.

When the music started, Aoko nodded and said, “We’ll start off with some stretches. First, let’s loosen up those legs since we’ll be doing some kicks.”

After saying that, Aoko stepped forward with her left leg, leaning over to stretch it.

As she did, the camera perspective slowly shifted, circling around her before stopping after giving a close-up view of Aoko’s back and behind.

—–AI|IA—–

—–AI|IA—–

Aoko paused a bit in stretching and then glanced over, confused. “Hm? Did the camera move?” She blinked and then looked back to the front before shaking her head. “Whatever. Anyway, you reach out and hold, like this…”

—–AI|IA—–

A small entertainment room in the main building of the onsen. There, the Project MirAIs girls had gathered around to watch the premiere of their videos together as a way to bond between the senpais and kouhais. A means for Prototype and Prodigy to interact while getting used to each other’s content.

A cozy and relaxing day. That was what it was supposed to be. And that was reflected with how everyone was gathered and dressed.

The Prototype girls were seated together by a couch, directly in front of the wall-mounted smart TV playing the videos.

Alphy was seated on the couch wearing just an oversized black hoodie, smiling with her legs crossed.

Asako was sitting next to Alphy, also wearing an oversized hoodie. Hers was blue, and unlike Alphy, she was wearing some pants. Specifically, a pair of loose and somewhat tattered gray sweatpants.

Rin was wearing her new favorite bear hoodie made from the actual bear she defeated. From her spot on the ground in front of the couch, she sipped on some tea from a thermos while trying and failing to hold back a big smile.

Off to the side on another couch, the Prodigy girls sat.

Suzume sat at the end of the couch, dressed in a comfortable-looking sakura-patterned kimono.

Shu sat next to her, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants just like Asako.

Yuri sat on the other end of the couch, wearing a set of soft blue pajamas that she had packed for the trip.

And next to Yuri, although reluctantly from her uncomfortable expression, was Chihiro, wearing an oversized t-shirt, jeans, and pink slippers.

A moment of silence filled the room as Asako’s video premiere ended. Shortly after that, Asako covered her face and let out a deep groan. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice that…”

Rin laughed and said, “That’s why you need to edit your videos, Aneue.”

Asako rubbed her face and said, “I thought the program Titor made would do it for us. Didn’t he say we just had to press play and record?”

“…At this point, you still trust what Mister Titor says?”

“…Fair.”

Alphy smiled and patted Asako’s head. “Don’t worry, Asa-chan. I’m sure the Ki-sama will like it.”

Asako sighed and said, “I’m more worried that they’ll like it too much and get all weird again…” She paused. “Wait. If they start acting up… I can cancel the bet!” With fire in her eyes, she grabbed her phone and started scrolling through the comments on the video.

Yuri looked over at Asako and then shook her head. “To think that the scary Onee-chan from the Seiryuu clan turned into this…”

Without missing a beat, Asako said, “Life hits hard, Kid. Sometimes, it’s better to roll with the punches and swallow your pride a bit. Less stress that way.”

Shu nodded. “Wise words from our Senpai… But speaking of punches.” She tilted her head and said, “Um. Are both you and Alphy-senpai doing exercise videos?”

“Hm?” Asako paused and looked up. “…I think so. Is that a problem?”

“No.” Shu shook her head and said, “But I made some training videos too.” She frowned and said, “…Won’t people think that we’re trying to start a personal training program at this rate?”

Chihiro’s eyes sparkled and she leaned forward. “A personal training program by sexy Anime VTubers… I bet we could charge a lot for-“

Yuri leaned over and poked Chihiro’s forehead.

“Ow!” Chihiro leaned back and then glared at her. “What was that for?!”

“You think about money too much, Chichi.”

“And you don’t think about it enough, Riri!”

Yuri rolled her eyes and said, “Anyway. It’ll be fine, Shu. Uncle Kai said he’ll handle all of that stuff. And didn’t Mister John say it? We just have to make what we want to make.”

Rin had a thoughtful look on her face after Yuri said that.

Asako noticed and immediately said, “No hunting videos, Rin.”

“W-What?” Rin flinched and said, “I-I never said anything about streaming a safari hunting trip!”

“…Hah.” Asako covered her face and said, “This is going to be a long trip, isn’t it?”

—–AI|IA—–

While the Project MirAIs girls were out enjoying(?) their trip and taking the time to relax, John couldn’t catch a break.

Of course, he hadn’t been planning to since he had decided to start getting serious about his job. But…

John rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, “And why do you need life counseling again, Meggie?”

“Because Tsuki is going back to school soon and wants me to go with her and I want to but I don’t know how to interact with all these annoying kids and what if I get mad and beat someone up andohmygodwhatifshehatesmeafterthatand-“

Meggie’s words rapidly sped up with her panic before becoming unintelligible.

On hearing that, John let out a deep sigh.

First, some more coffee for him and some jasmine tea for Meggie.

After that, they could start to work through this latest development.

…Although ‘school’ huh? It’s been a while since John thought about that.

Hm…

_________