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Lately, online streaming on various platforms has been such a popular career and hobby, hasn't it?
All these streamers on Youtube and Twitch and what not; they were also rapidly gaining popularity amongst the usual viewership, just by choosing to stream the games they happened to be playing. The general audience seemed to be rather interested in watching such game streams as well.
Now, of course, full time streaming was definitely not an easy job. Not only did they invest a large fraction of their daily time into providing live entertainment for their views, but they also had to plan well in advance for such long streams. Then there was also the matter of funding, sponsorships, advertisements and all the other technical stuff, that could be considered as the adult job-like parts of the... Well, job?
That aside, being the public eye also meant not only did they have devoted fans, but also haters, criticising their every move if possible. The more famous streamers definitely were rather prone to having their audience and fans analyse not only their gaming skills, but also their personal relationships and such on social media.
Two specific streamers in the gaming community had become quite popular lately. And naturally, it was could be suspected that part of the reason for their immense popularity was the very evident rivalry between them.
On one side of the rink, an avid enjoyer of FPS games, Nakahara Chuuya. That was just his real name, though. Not super important or anything. He was better known in the community as 'gravityresearch'. But then again, that was just his username and people really usually just referred to him as Chuuya.
Even though he started out his streaming career with various FPS games, he'd made a recent shift into experimenting with the new popular adventure and fantasy-based game called Genshin Impact. He hadn't really expected to like it as much as he did when he started out. But the gameplay was well designed and the character lore was way too interesting; there was no way he couldn't be invested in such a game.
He started playing quite late, after the release of Sumeru actually, but he'd been quick to catch up with the game. Of course, that meant that his viewership got a lot of content in the span of a few weeks as he 'speedran' the game, successfully not missing out on any of the lore of dialogue. His audience often suspected that maybe he was an actual PhD researcher, who probably specialised in the field of physics and astronomy, as his username suggested.
Anyway, currently, he was up to date with most of the game's main content, and was very insistent on making sure that everyone was aware that he was a Wanderer kin, and hence main-ed him as well. Naturally, he still hadn't done the quest to rename Wanderer in the storyline.
"It's too much of a responsibility! What if I pick the wrong name?!"
"Chuuya-kun, they literally allow you to change the name once."
"That's even scarier!"
Apparently, he had a niche for the dramatics.
Anyway, on the other side of the rink, there existed Dazai Osamu, who on the complete contrary, happened to primarily stream MMORPG and story-based mobile games. While he played otome games and such too, he also ventured into FPS and more action based games every once in a while.
As for his username, he tried to have 'doublesuicide' as his, but for rather obvious reasons, that got shot down and he was suspended for a few days. After that, he reluctantly changed his username to 'nolongerhuman', all while complaining about how these online platforms were restricting his creativity and his true self. Which was, definitely concerning, but then again his viewers could hardly tell when he was joking and when he wasn't.
For his content, recently it has been mostly focused around the new game that was released just last month, Honkai Star Rail. The game was rather anticipated for, considering it was made by the same company that developed Genshin Impact. A game like that wasn't out of his usual genres, so his audience didn't have to deal with a sudden shift in the content they consumed.
He made it very clear that he appreciated the animation style of the new game, saying it was so much prettier than the other two games by the same company. The gameplay was also very interesting, even if wasn't the usual open-world mechanics that most people were used to. Turn-based combat certainly wasn't for everybody, but Dazai seemed to enjoy it.
The character backstories and designs were also really fresh and enjoyable. Dazai especially liked Sampo and Serval so far, saying they both had such interesting personalities. When asked who he planned on calling his main, he simply said there was no one he would rather choose right now. Maybe upcoming characters, though.
Given the typically vast difference in their usual interests and personalities, it didn't really come as a surprise that Dazai and Chuuya appeared to be rivals online. They seemed to argue and bicker every time they crossed paths, and yet somehow one could always find them in the other's stream, trying to pick more fights or making donations with rather sarcastic messages attached.
For two people that claimed to dislike each other, they seemed to orbit each other quite an unhealthy amount, really. Moreover, there was new drama like practically every day. At this point, some of the viewers dropped by their streams just for the latest gossip about the two streamers.
For example, this one day, Chuuya was peacefully streaming a random Inazuma world quest, when an interesting question seemed to surface in his chat.
bluediluc: chuuya, chuuya; if you were a playable genshin character, what element and weapon and nation would you be?
The question got loads of upvotes; enough to catch the streamer's attention. True to his nature, he found it rather intriguing, so he stopped his gameplay for a bit to ponder upon and then talk about this.
He hummed thoughtfully, "Let's see. Technically I'm Japanese, so maybe Inazuma?"
kavehbbg: that's not the point tho!! what nation do you feel like
kaeyaxx: yea, forget the technicalities and look into your soul!
mdmpingping: feel the feelings, chuuya!
Chuuya chuckled as he tilted his head, "Hm, maybe Liyue then? I think I'd fit right in at Liyue. As for my vision and weapon, I think I'd have to be Anemo Catalyst actually. Honestly, I think Heizou's playstyle rather suits me. What do you guys think?"
It was at this moment that a verified, and for some reason, moderated user joined the chat.
nolongerhuman: i agree! chuuya would definitely be anemo male, considering how short you are
As expected, that set off the other streamer instantly, "Geh, it's that shitty Dazai! Why are you here again?!"
nolongerhuman: I'm merely trying to support a fellow streamer, and such a close friend, ne? What's wrong with that, Chuuya-kun?
Chuuya wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Who's close friends with you, oi! And don't call me that! Get out of my chat, why don't you."
System notification: nolongerhuman has sent a red superchat!; "love u too"
Before Chuuya could react to the donation, he got a Discord call, which he accepted without thinking much about, "Hello?"
His viewers could instantly recognise the voice on the other end of the call as it spoke out loud, "Hi, Chuuya~"
The streamer groaned, "Shitty Dazai. Let me continue my world quest, will you?"
Now, one must be wondering why Chuuya and Dazai seemed to be on calling terms if they hated each other so much as they claimed. But the truth is, nobody knew the answer to that. Despite all their fights, subtracting that part for a while made them appear like really close friends. Wasn't that so baffling?! What kind of rivalry were they playing at here exactly?!
Dazai hummed, "Which quest is that again?"
"Oh? It's the one with the fog island and Ryu and that one novelist."
"Ah, Tsurumi Island! I quite liked that quest actually!"
A small smile graced Chuuya's face before disappearing within a second, "Well, you can stay and watch if you like. As long as you behave that is."
Dazai laughed, and it was quite easy to imagine the smug look on his face while he did so, "Aw come on, chibi. When have I ever not behaved?"
Chuuya let out a rather exasperated groan at that, before ignoring his rival completely and continuing to go about his game. Strangely enough, they didn't hang up the call the entire stream. Dazai didn't speak much, other than the occasional jab at his fellow streamer as he put it, while Chuuya alternated between speaking to the chat and casually mentioning a thing or two to the man on the call.
Wasn't that really so weird after all?
This other time, it was on Dazai's stream that the latest thing happened. He was streaming Honkai Star Rail; the early parts of it on his alternate, Europe-server account. The strange thing about this stream was the timing of it. It was a surprise, unannounced stream, that started at like 3 am.
Dazai talked about how he couldn't really get to sleep so he decided on trying his Honkai luck on a separate alternate account. Naturally, the viewership on this stream was fairly low, considering it was unannounced and practically in the middle of the night. But for some reason, half an hour into the stream, Chuuya showed up in chat.
gravityresearcher: why tf are u awake
Dazai blinked at the chat for a few seconds before responding, "Why are you awake, shortie? You'll never grow if you don't sleep, you know!"
It was at this moment that a Discord call came in through to Dazai, "Stop calling me short, asshole. Anyway, go the fuck to sleep. Do you really need to play this part again? Didn't you just do it on your main account like two weeks ago? Is your memory really that bad?"
Dazai huffed, "Ow, stop barking, Chuuya. Actually, why aren't you asleep?"
His rival sighed, "I was asleep! Till I heard... Uh, my neighbour wake up and rummage around. And I got the notification for your stream so."
Dazai smirked at the camera, "So you admit that you're subscribed to me?"
The line was silent for a bit before Chuuya snorted, "Whatever. It's just so you I can talk shit about your terrible gaming skills anyway."
The bandaged streamer shook his head, "Go to sleep, you little Genshin player. You aren't worthy of being in my beautiful Honkai stream."
Chuuya scoffed indignantly, "Hey, what's with the Genshin slander! Grow up, shitty Dazai!"
Dazai rolled his eyes, "Well, if you still had your brain intact, you would know that Honkai is so much more fun and well designed than Genshin! That game is so..."
The other laughed, "You're going to get cancelled for this tomorrow morning, sweetheart."
It was at this point that Dazai was reminded that he was in fact live, and not on a personal call with his beloved rival. His jaw dropped instantly, his eyes moving across his screen, trying to comprehend chat's reaction.
As expected, even though there were less people, pretty much all of them seemed to be extremely horrified and confused at this turn of events. It only made sense, considering most people who played Honkai Star Rail happened to be Genshin Impact players first, and were attached to the game.
Dazai started, "Look, chat, I didn't mean it that way. I was just saying that to rile Chuuya up and-"
Chuuya cut him off, "Chat, chat. Hi guys, it's me!"
The live streamer dryly commented, "I think they know it's you, shortstack. It's not like we were live all this time or anything."
Chuuya ignored him and continued, "Anyway. Don't listen to this guy. He's AR 60 on like two servers. He's an original Genshin player. Has been playing since launch, actually."
As it happened, Dazai had never really streamed Genshin content on his platform before, which would totally explain why his audience were so incredibly confused right now.
dazaixzhongli: wait!! really??? dazai plays genshin too?
kafkamommy: no way?! i thought u were just into honkai?
seelemyqueenuh: but why does chuuya know this and we don't
That last text caught Chuuya's attention and he he responded to that in particular, "I've known this bastard for years. I finally started playing Genshin after he badgered me about it for two years straight."
cynotheadventurer: you two have known each other for that long?
c6lisahaver: no way, but both of you started streaming like a year ago?!
himekothehime: i thought u met online bcos streams??
seelemyqueenuh: what have i started...
Chuuya laughed at the chat, "Anyway, you know I think it's getting quite late. I should really go to sleep, considering I have to stream the new Genshin event tomorrow. Goodnight to shitty Dazai's chat! All of you are so cute, unlike this guy."
With that said, Chuuya hopped off the call and left the stream, leaving Dazai to deal with his curious fans on his own. Apparently, being sly was a sharp blade. Dazai evaded all the questions about his relationship with his favourite fellow streamer, continuing to go ahead and start the Stimulated Universe feature in his game.
By the next day, the events of this stream was naturally all over Twitter. And now, even more people were curious about the relationship between the two famous streamers. There was analyses everywhere, theories and such too.
It wasn't until a gaming convention practically a month later that all these curious fans got the answers they so craved.
Both Dazai and Chuuya had announced that they were going to be at this specific convention ages ago, and naturally, a lot of the regular stream watchers bought tickets to the event, even if only to meet these two famous streamers in person. But they couldn't really deny that they were definitely expecting something or the other to happen.
After all, there was always drama and gossip whenever Dazai and Chuuya happened to even be in the same chat. Under the same roof? There was no way that something hat-dropping would not happen.
When the day of the convention arrived, the fans were presented with something better than they'd ever imagined. Their prayers had been answered! Dazai and Chuuya in fact had adjacent booths at the convention.
Just as they'd all suspected, it didn't appear that the two of them were meeting in person for the first time. Upon seeing each other, they had rather natural expressions. Chuuya groaned before trying to turn and leave, while Dazai threw his arms around his rival, surely not allowing him to make his escape.
This was followed by Dazai bullying Chuuya about being short and ruffling his hair, taking off his hat, and constantly poking him. The two of them bickered the entire time till they had to finally shut up and set up their booths.
Throughout the entire event, both of them greeted their guests with utmost grace, but not forgoing to throw the occasional scathing comment at each other. But really, it was a conversation that was overheard by a few fans in particular that gave away their entire truth.
In hindsight, nobody was at fault. The two streamers just happened to be unaware that there were fans approaching them, and hence they indulged in a rather questionable conversation, which was overheard without any intention of that sort.
Dazai turned to Chuuya and frowned, "Chibi, have you seen the Kafka and Blade posters I was supposed to hand out?"
Chuuya looked up at him, "Huh? No? Did you leave them at home, maybe?"
Another frown, "But I got all of the goodies from the storeroom. All the boxes, I'm positive. And I can't find them."
Chuuya sighed as he reached up his hand to pat his rival on the head, "Stop frowning; we'll find it. Maybe you accidentally put them in my boxes."
Dazai reached over to rest his head against the other's shoulder, "Can you check?"
The other pulled up his boxes onto his lap at once, "Yes, hon."
A yawn, "Thanks, love."
Chuuya shook his head fondly before depositing a stack of posters onto his partner's desk, "There you go. Jeez, be more careful about your things next time."
The bandaged streamer complained, "It's not my fault we had identical looking boxes in the shared office!"
His rival grinned, "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, wanna grab dinner after this before heading back home?"
Dazai brightened at that, "Oh yeah, we should. Where should we-"
It was that this point that he was finally cut off by the three fans standing right at their booths. Right in front of them, and yet somehow the two streamers had managed to be so oblivious to their presence while being absorbed in their own little world.
One of them grinned at the duo, "So I'm assuming you two live together?"
"And that Chuuya-kun woke up because he heard Dazai wake up the other night? Not because of some some neighbour like he said?"
Dazai gaped at them, "How long have you guys been here?!"
"Since you started talking about misplacing your Kafka and Blade posters."
"We were just waiting for you to notice us. Like we're standing right at the booth, you know!"
"Come on, guys. At least pay some attention to your surroundings!"
Chuuya groaned, "Ah, what a pain! Fine yes, we do live together. What about it?"
Dazai looked at him immediately, "Hey, Slug! Should we really just tell them?"
Chuuya shrugged, "I mean, I think they already know, babe. Can't do anything about it."
One of the fans leaned in closer and dropped her voice to a whisper, "You two are totally dating, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I think it was always kinda obvious!"
The third one, "Yeah, you guys make a cute couple!"
The two streamers exchanged amused glances before chuckling simultaneously. Dazai sighed, "I'm so upset that you think I have such bad tastes as to fall for a chibi slug like him."
To that, Chuuya snorted, "You're literally in love with me. In fact, you asked me out."
A delusional response, "That's besides the point."
Chuuya shook his head fondly before turning back to the fans, "Yeah, we're together."
The fans clapped, "I knew it!"
Chuuya added, "But maybe not mention it to anyone else. We're trying to see how long it takes before people eventually figure it out."
Once the fans realised that their two favourite streamers were doing this entire thing for the pure sake of their amusement, they burst out laughing. One of them nodded in agreement, "Got it. Nobody else will hear a word of confirmation. But hints..."
Dazai waved his hand in the air, "I think hints are fine. Makes it more fun, ne Chuuya?"
Chuuya nodded too, "Sure. It'll be fun!"
Shortly after this, the streamer duo finished signing autographs and handing out fliers to these three fans. Soon enough, they left after informing the streamers of their usernames and Twitter handles and stuff. Once making sure that they were definitely alone this time,
Chuuya turned to his partner, "So, dinner after this?"
Dazai hummed carelessly as he doodled on one of his rival's Wanderer posters, "I want Ramen."
His partner merely glared at him in response, "Leave my posters alone, you shitty Tartaglia main."