“I think this is going to work!” Masumi leaned back to appreciate his handiwork and tucked his eyeliner away.

“Are you certain?” Yui asked, as she peered into the mirror. Her braid had been dismantled, and subject to a very thorough brushing, so her long locks flowed around her face. Her base makeup had been removed entirely, replaced with some of Masumi’s palest, and the rest of it was lit up with all the colors of the rainbow. “I suppose looking like an actual jelly bean fits in with my persona.” She shut one eye to get a better look at the vibrant eyeshadow.

“It’s perfect!” Masumi declared. “And with the warpaint, nobody will recognize you! It’s all about facial recognition disruption or...something like that! It’s how camouflage works!”

“That’s true.” Yui turned her head around to get a look at the three-color stripes along each of her cheeks. “And...I have to agree. You’ve done a good job.” She smiled up at Masumi. “Do you have a jacket, or something that might...make the rest of me look better? I don’t think this boring t-shirt will do.”

“Umm...let me think. Yes!” Masumi delved back into his closet and came back clutching a long, pale grey coat. “It’s a bit big for me, so it’ll be tight on you, but the contrast will work.” He waited for Yui to stand up, then put the coat on her. The smooth material stretched down to her mid-thigh, but the rest of it fit snugly. “You look great!”

Yui considered herself in the mirror, turned to see either side of herself, then nodded. “You’re right. It’s not bad. I might have to take this coat you’re not looking.”

“I invite you to my home and feed you and then you steal from me?” Masumi gasped. “That’s exactly the kind of thing that gets you kicked out of the Low-Life army!”

“It’s only stealing if I get caught.” Yui smiled down at him. “Looks like it’s almost six. Should we g-” She was interrupted by Masumi leaping across the room to get to his computers, his arms a blur as various machines burst to life. She followed behind him, doing her best to keep up with exactly what he was doing. “Where should I sit?”

“Huh? Oh!” Masumi’s eyes were illuminated by all of the screens, but his focus was on the little clock in the corner. “Just, um, sit in my chair!” He instructed, and Yui moved it back to the desk before doing just that. She was right beside the working boy, who handed a controller to her and hefted his arcade stick into his arms. Then, he sat on Yui’s lap.

“This is what we’re doing?” Yui laughed, her breath tickling the top of Masumi’s head.

“There’s no time! Get ready!” Masumi said, as he clicked the last couple of buttons that would start the stream proper. The little red dot son his side-screens told him that they were live, and the camera was just zoomed out enough to capture both of them.

“Hello and welcome to the Low-Life!”

“And Jellybeaner!”

Masumi and Yui saluted just about in unison.

“Today, we’re doing something different, ‘cause I’ve got Jellybeaner here as a guest! She’s going to be playing some games with me and doing commentary and all the usual Low-Life stuff! Since it’s challenging games night, I’m going to try to teach her how to play DBFZ! Have you played fighting games, Jellybeaner?” He twisted to the side so that he could get some glance at her face. The armrest, and a forearm hastily placed against his waist, were the only things stopping him from slipping off.

“No.” Yui shrugged. “I’ve got delicate fingers.”

“Oh, right!” Masumi bit his lip as he held his joystick out to Yui. ”You’re meant to have this and me that...thank you! Okay! What about Dragon Ball, do you know a lot about Dragon Ball?”

“Not really.” Yui did her best to meet Masumi’s eyes which seemed to dart between her and the screens at great speed. “I read a lot of books, but not a lot of manga. There are actually novelized versions of manga at the library, but I’ve never looked at them. It seems pointless when they’re about the spectacle.”

“That’s okay, we’ll learn as we go!” Masumi said, then addressed the camera. “If anyone has any tips, let us know! You want to know too, right, Jellybeaner?”

“What?” Yui glanced down at Masumi’s head. “Yeah.”

“The camera.” Masumi whispered as he tucked his head to the side to look at Yui.

“The camera…?” Yui raised an eyebrow.

“Um, when you’re streaming, you have to make sure to look at the camera.” Masumi said. “It makes the audience feel invested, like you’re having a conversation with them.”

“Oh.” Yui looked into the camera. “But since we’re here together, doesn’t that mean we have to engage with each other? Otherwise it will feel like we’re not interacting properly.”

“That’s why you’ve got to mix it up!” Masumi said, then flashed a smile to the camera and quietly cursed himself for his current failure to uphold a streaming standard. “Sometimes it’s the camera, sometimes it’s us!”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I understand. And when I’m playing a game?”

“Then, um, you’ve got to do all three.” Masumi cleared his throat and sat upright again. “Okay, now we’re done conferring, it’s time for Low-Life and Jellybeaner to take on DBFZ!” He flicked a switch, and their visages shifted to the corners of the screen while the game’s main menu took up the rest. “Oh...headphones! Hang on!” He reached beside the desk and grabbed the headphones, which he passed to Yui.

“Do I have to look at the camera now that it’s small?” Yui asked, as she pulled the headphones on and her ears were suddenly filled with music.

“Um, no, it’s mostly for reactions and stuff, but you can still look!” Masumi answered, as he hopped off of Yui’s lap and started opening drawers beside his desk.

“What?” Yui asked.

“You don’t have to!”

Yui lifted up the ears of one of her headphones. “I can’t hear you with these on.”

“Okay, hang on!” Masumi pulled out a second pair of headphones from among neat piles of other old devices, then plugged them into his system, put them on, and sat back on Yui’s lap. He decided not to let the warmth and softness of her body be another distraction. He decided to try not to let that happen. “Now can you hear me?” He asked, as he heard his voice in his headphones.

“Yeah. Why is that?” Yui peered at the screen.

“Mic.” Masumi pointed to the microphone that hung not too far from their faces. “It’s, kinda weird, ‘cause we’d be able to hear each other normally, but the headphones cancel most of it out, so it’s fine! There ones are a bit old and don’t work one hundred percent, but it’s fine!”

“I see.” Yui nodded. “Am I meant to be navigating the menu?”

“Um, no, sorry. Hang on.” Masumi balanced his controller on his lap, took back his joystick, and started to move through the menus. “So, um, Jellybeaner! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?”

Yui furrowed her brow. “You already know a lot.”

“The audience!” Masumi pointed briefly to the camera.

“Oh.” Yui nodded. “Sorry. I’m a student and I work a few part-time jobs.” She explained. There was a moment of silence before Masumi looked up at her with a smile and made a rolling motion. “I like jellbeans, thus the name. My current studies are focused on the blocks that will take me to a career in investigative journalism. My strengths are a strong work ethic, a great deal of temperance, and my teamwork abilities.”

“That’s...that’s great!” Masumi’s little chibi performed an excited emote on screen. “Wow, look at that! Let’s go through a few of these!” He said, as he started to go through emotes and quickly muted their mics. “Um, more like you’re talking to a friend, less like an interview! It’s...being liked, not respected.”

“I’m not sure I can do that from the beginning.” Yui pursed her painted lips. “Perhaps if we get started with the game, I’ll settle in and we can have some fun.”

Masumi bit his bottom lip. “S-Sorry. I’m being a jerk, aren’t I? Stupid...expecting you to just do all the th-” His imminent rant was halted by a finger on his lips.

“You’re not being a jerk.” Yui corrected him. “You’re nervous and I’m new to this and it’s only expected that there will be some growing pains. Understand?” Masumi nodded. “Good.” She retracted her finger and smiled at the boy. “I’m glad that worked on you, at least. I once tried it on Akira and she bit me.”

Masumi giggled. “What? No way did she bite you!”

“It’s true.” Yui nodded. “The yellow team beat hers in baseball and she blamed it all on Airi. She was getting herself worked up about it, I tried to calm her down, and, chomp.” She shook her head. “I don’t think that girl understands how easy it is to hurt people.”

“Really?” Masumi frowned. “I don’t think that I’d ever go around biting people, even if it only hurt a little.”

“She’s one of those people who watch things like this.” Yui nodded at the screen. “If it’s about people fighting, there’s a good chance she’s seen it. The only reason she’s in baseball club is because there weren’t enough people interested in judo.”

“If she hurts people that much by accident, I don’t want to know what she’d do if she tried!” Masumi tittered behind his hand. “Um, anyway! We should get back to the stream!” He turned their mics back on and his chibi darted across the screen. “We’re back, everyone! I’m going to start teaching Jellybeaner the basics in sparring mode and then we can send her off for some fights! First, she’s going to choose her characters!” He brought up the character select screen. “You can choose three! There’s Gok-”

“I’ve decided.” Yui said.

Masumi blinked. “Wh-Okay!” He nodded. “Who do you want to be your fighters?”

“I want the pink woman, the blonde woman, and the big fat one.” Yui said, then nodded. “Those.”

“Why those ones?” Masumi tilted his head at the camera as he selected each one.

“Both of those women are beautiful, and the fat guy is funny.”

“Huh..that’s as good a reason as any!” Masumi laughed. “Do you want to change any of their colors? There are a few ones to choose from, so, um, let me know!”

“Can you make the fat guy yellow?”

“Done!” Masumi smiled. “Why yellow?”

“I’m representing the rainbow. Blue on the Android, I didn’t catch the full name, pink on the other Android, and yellow on the Buu.”

“Okay! Got it! They’re Android 18, 21, and Majin Buu. You’ll need to know these if you want me to tell you what they can do!” He passed the joystick back to Yui, then picked his own characters. The screen shifted again and they were set against a beautiful natural backdrop.

“This game is pretty.” Yui noted, as she hit a few buttons and watched the blonde on screen flick through animations.

“Okay! To start with, let’s try hitting! Hit one!”

“...which one?” Yui asked.

“The...oh, okay. The leftmost button is one. They, um, normally go by numbers but I’m familiar with the joystick so I know everything.”

“I hadn’t taken you for a narcissist.”

“Shush, you!” Masumi grinned. “Okay, how about this? You push each of the buttons and I’ll tell you what they’re called. Then I can start teaching you what to with them! How does that sound?”

“It sounds doable.” Yui nodded. “But first, what exactly is a button?”

“Now you’re just being silly!” Masumi giggled, and, unnoticed by either of them, a viewer joined the stream.