When Maru starts crying, the best thing to do is wait.
If I, a textbook capital-T type by other people’s standards, were to say anything now, I’d only get a “Are you f**ing T-brained or what?”* thrown back at me.
Not that Maru has ever actually said that.
But there was a time when I cautiously asked what was wrong, only to push her dangerously close to getting genuinely angry.
[Hic... sniff... hic... sob...]
She cried for a solid fifteen minutes before finally calming down enough to speak.
[I’m sorry!!]
...Wait, she’s apologizing?
After all that crying?
* * *
When the first-gen members had just joined, the team leader once told me that Maru was one of the hardest members to provide emotional support for.
Maru?
But I’ve never seen her cry on stream.
In fact, on stream, she was rock solid—so much so that she was famous for handling chaotic chats as well as Komari.
But now I was being told that she was emotional and difficult to console?
From a viewer’s perspective, that made no sense.
And yet, about six months ago, I saw it for myself when I visited her place to help with something.
"Waaaaahhh!! What do I do?! WHAT DO I DOOOO!! Huuuuaaaahh!!"
All because she had spilled a single glass of water and fried her streaming PC.
The way she wailed over ruining that day’s stream, you’d think someone had died.
But the moment I told her to wait an hour because the company would send a temporary PC...
"...I will wait. Thank you!!"
She immediately stopped crying and calmly went back to preparing for the stream.
A classic hard-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside case.
Honestly, it was almost comically fitting for her hedgehog beastman persona.
Of course, being too spiky would be a bit much, so her design kept the sharp parts to just a few accents—a sharp collar, shoulder decorations—making her closer to a rat beastman in silhouette.
She’s the type of person who cares a lot about others, looks after them, and is genuinely kind-hearted.
Yet, at the same time, she comes off as loud, strong-willed, and someone who never backs down in an argument—a hedgehog through and through.
Even during collabs, she’d happily give gifts, only to later worry, “Did they not like it?” if the other person didn’t react much.
And if she ever got carried away and said something rough in a wrestling bit, she’d always go back and apologize afterward.
I often looked up stories and clips from people she collabed with, and honestly?
It was harder to find someone who hadn’t received a personal apology from Maru after a stream.
So, with Maru City suddenly flooding, I rushed over to the fried chicken place where we agreed to meet, running through my actions in my head.
Had I done something wrong?
I had used her voice without telling her beforehand.
Maybe she felt hurt by that.
I usually avoid stepping on other members' toes, but today, I’d crossed that line just a little.
So, yeah... I did feel guilty.
...But it seemed like Maru’s script for tonight was all about apologizing first.
"I’m sorry...."
Her slumped shoulders and guilty expression made it look like she had smashed my PC or something.
"Uh... Maru, I think I should be the one apologizing here."
"No, no. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry."
For... what, exactly?
"Just now... Gia, you asked for my help. But instead of helping, I just started targeting you. I’m really sorry."
That caught me completely off guard.
I needed a second to process.
We played eight rounds of I’m Wolf.
And in only one of them, I had casually thrown out a line to manipulate her.
It didn’t even matter if she helped me or not.
And yet... she cried over breaking that promise?
Over something this small?
"It was just mind games. You really don’t have to feel bad about that."
"I know, but! The more I thought about it, the guilt just wouldn’t go away...."
"There’s really nothing to feel guilty about. I was watching your chat the whole time—thanks to you going after me, the reactions were insane. Everyone was having a blast."
"...Really?"
I owed the team leader big time for this tip.
If you want to stop Maru from endlessly apologizing, talk about the stream.
Especially performance stats.
She’s a praise junkie—give her something positive, and she instantly cheers up.
Six months ago, I didn’t know this and struggled.
But not this time.
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.
And right on cue, our fried chicken arrived.
I threw in a well-timed compliment, and Maru finally smiled, poking at a boneless piece with her fork.
"But. I’m a little upset about something."
"Upset?"
"Yes! You just left right after the collab ended!"
...This was a new angle.
"Oh."
"I wanted to sit next to you, Gia... well, not literally next to you, but, you know, have you around so we could chat a bit. But you just left, and it kinda made me feel bad.... I was going to call you on TokCode, but you were talking with Ronze forever, so I couldn’t even get a chance.... I kept waiting, chatting with the viewers, thinking I’d call you after, but then you suddenly just left the chatroom too...."
That strange feeling of guilt despite not actually doing anything wrong.
Maru’s way of talking had this uncanny power.
She didn’t sound particularly upset, but the way she said things always made you feel bad.
See?
Just a few sentences in, and I was already feeling guilty.
Maybe it was because I still felt like I was the one in the wrong for using her voice without asking first.
And then I’d left like I was running away—of course, she’d feel bad. That was fair.
But if I apologized too much or acted overly guilty, it would only trigger another round of Maru’s endless apologies.
The best approach was to call it even.
And absolutely do not offer to pay for the food.
Even if it made my heart ache a little, we had to split the bill—otherwise, she’d just feel like I was trying to compensate her.
"Since we both feel bad about something, let’s just eat this chicken and call it even."
Luckily, Maru immediately beamed.
"Okay!"
She bounced back so fast.
Maybe that’s how she could be so firm and solid on stream, yet so soft in private.
Now in a good mood, Maru ate her chicken in an almost delicate manner, carefully wiping the crumbs from her lips with a tissue, lightly bobbing her head to the music playing in the restaurant.
The conversation naturally moved forward.
"Oh, right! I heard you’re going on the trip too, Gia!"
Technically, I wasn’t going to hang out with them—I was more like their guardian.
This trip was meant to give the members a breather and let them make memories together, but since they’d be more relaxed than usual, accidents could happen.
"Don’t worry about me too much. Just have fun with the others. I’m just going to help out the CEO and the team leader."
But as soon as I said that, Maru’s expression fell.
"So... you’re not going to hang out with us?"
"Just because I’m going doesn’t mean I have to, right?"
"Ugh... That’s not what I meant. It’s just... This is your first time coming on a trip with us, Gia. I thought there was a reason you decided to come along."
Oh.
Yeah, I guess from their perspective, it would look that way.
I was about to explain when Maru spoke first.
"I thought maybe you were finally getting comfortable with us. You’ve been doing more streams with everyone lately, and during the pre-show, you were hyping us up more than anyone else...."
I, of all people, knew there was no special reason behind me joining the streams.
My voice had changed enough that it no longer bothered viewers.
And since it helped the company, I just went along with it.
But since it had been almost a year since I last appeared, I guess it made sense that they misunderstood it as something bigger.
I needed to clear things up.
So I kept it simple and factual.
"I was never uncomfortable with you guys. It’s just that my job is behind the scenes, so I wanted to keep some distance in a professional sense.... Besides, I’ve had to say some harsh things here and there. Acting all friendly after that would’ve felt kind of... weird."
Maru’s eyes widened.
"Really?"
"If I was uncomfortable, would I have helped with the streams? I even went to Dora and Komari’s places to stream with them."
"Hmm. That’s true."
"And maybe the others don’t overthink things as much as you do, but as far as I can tell, everyone else seems fine with me. So don’t stress over it too much—just treat me how you normally would."
I was a backstage staff member.
A performer feeling awkward around staff wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
Of course, that didn’t mean staff should be mistreated or exploited.
But I believed that streamers and performers should naturally feel a step above the staff—it was how the balance worked.
The only exception was Komari.
With her, I just somehow ended up using casual speech.
But for everyone else, I always used formal speech.
By treating them with respect, I made sure they subconsciously saw themselves as the ones leading.
That way, they wouldn’t feel self-conscious around staff.
They could pitch ideas freely, talk about what they wanted, and just focus on being themselves.
Sure, sometimes they got a little too comfortable, and the company had to step in, but a lot of their ideas led to great content, higher engagement, and better numbers.
...But I guess Maru didn’t quite get what I was going for.
She stayed quiet, eating her chicken while sneaking glances at me.
Then, as we were almost finished, she suddenly grabbed my beer glass and chugged the rest.
Clink.
She slammed the empty glass onto the table, then looked me dead in the eyes.
"Then let’s start using casual speech!! .........Right?"
I knew this conversation would happen eventually.
Someone was bound to bring it up at some point.
Especially Maru, who was probably feeling a little left out because I only spoke casually with Komari.
And honestly?
We were the same age, so it wasn’t a big deal.
"Sure."
Her eyes went wide—so wide, I was worried she was about to start hyperventilating.
"R-Really?! Gia, that means we’re friends now!"
"Wait."
I immediately shut that down.
I didn’t agree to be friends—I just agreed to drop the formalities.
Even though the restaurant wasn’t crowded, I lowered my voice just in case.
"We’re not friends. You’re a VTuber, and I’m a staff member who supports you."
"...Oh."
But Maru’s face dropped so fast that I had to add something before she started crying again.
"It’s not that I don’t want to be friends. I just don’t want us to get too close and start making mistakes at work. I hope you understand."
Maru grinned.
"O-Oh, if that’s all it is, then yeah! I get it!!"
* * *
Magia was someone who took her work more seriously than anyone.
And Maru... understood that.
They didn’t become friends, but Maru reluctantly backed off.
Because right now, there was something more important—
Next week’s big event.
Every member had met up with Gia, and as the final one in the lineup, Maru had finally succeeded in getting Gia to use casual speech.
With the group trip coming up on November 22, they were all ready to execute their plan.
"Alright, everyone. Take out what you prepared."
With serious expressions, each member revealed their gifts.
Maru, the mastermind behind this secret meeting, smiled in satisfaction.
"Next week, no one can mess up, okay? No slipping up, no letting anything show. And if you do mess up, you know the punishment stream is waiting."
"Yeah, yeah. We get it already."
"Mmm... punishment collab."
"I won’t mess up. Honestly, unnie, I’m more worried about you."
"Komari, shut it. Anyway, the CEO and Kang Ji-ho agreed to help too. If things start looking risky, come to me or them immediately."
Maru’s phone screen, still lit up, showed a calendar notification for next week.
<Magia’s Birthday Surprise: Operation Tears Flood>