Wine and Wings. Ch. 1.

~*~

The sunbeams reached for her eyes right across her window. She tried to defy the sun by turning over. 5 more minutes, pretty please…

”Please”

Her alarm went off at the same time.

”Not today, I guess”

She stretched in bed and yawned. It’s about time she begins her day anyways. After fighting the urge to hide in her blankets again, she began brewing some coffee and got in the shower.

The warm water ran down her body, the feeling of cleanliness washed away her thoughts.

“That hits the spot.” She said.

As she reached for her bodywash, Lui remembered what had been nibbling the back of her head.

She’s halfway there to become a vtuber.

An unusual job for her, but that was precisely why she picked it up in the first place. She believed she needed, perhaps, something entirely different from what she was used to. Her surprise was great when she woke up and received an email that wasn’t related to Excel sheets or Database updates.

She was up for an interview soon. She had sent her presentation video a while ago expecting nothing extraordinary, but here she was.

First thing’s first however, she needs to get to work and get around another regular day.

The water stopped, her anxieties can wait after she’s had her coffee.

~*~

The week goes by fast when you’re too tired to have any concept of time. Working in a warehouse is tiring, but the pay’s good enough for a student. Oh how hard it is to pull through for a degree all by yourself. Hopefully you’ll make it to the end of the month.

The usual hassle of these jobs is dealing with the higher ups, whether that’s office workers or your bosses. The condescending tone is expected from the people who pay you, but even the most miserable of the shirt and necktie corporate slaves talked down on people like you. On the bright side, you form a rigid, steady routine; pushing boxes, sorting them, unsorting them, pulling them, and starting all over again. These jobs have always had a strange comfort to them, after you learn to go on autopilot the day flies by and unless there’s a sudden spike in activity, you usually don’t do much either, just stand around and pretend to be busy.

However, today didn’t go as expected. The number of tasks you were given today far surpassed your contract’s requirements, from getting rid of old company documents to becoming a delivery boy for files and reports. It was only temporary, or so said your supervisor, it was just that on this very exact day, two people who were tasked with doing what you currently were, just so happened to be sick or on medical leave. As hierarchies go on these kinds of jobs, it was probably someone else’s responsibility, but they wouldn’t tell that to you, because why would they? If you complain over such a trivial task, your contract won’t be up for renewal. And you knew it. After a long sigh, you were complying with every single one of their requests.

“Digitalize” read the file, even though you weren’t supposed to look inside, you did. Bunch of numbers you didn’t care to understand. This day is dragging on way more than it should, at least in the warehouse you could use your earbuds in secret, no such luck here. You took the elevator and reached the sales department. The person that you had to hand the file to was moved here, but you didn’t know where.

You approached the first table you saw, the man on it was busy talking on the phone. It seemed important. You had no luck with the next one either, the woman just glared at you while she furiously typed on her keyboard.

“Is it because I’m wearing overalls?” The slave’s uniform, as you would jokingly call it. “All I need is directions.”

“Do you need something?” A slightly nasal voice came from behind your back. There she is, the person you're looking for.

“Morning, Mrs. Lui. I needed to give you these.”

“Oh, I wish it was a million yen instead.” As she dully stared at the papers.

You giggled.

“Thanks.” She said.

She waved you goodbye and returned to her desk, you headed back for your floor.

As soon as the elevator’s doors opened and you set foot in the warehouse once more, your supervisor stretched his hand out to you with even more files as he loudly talked on the phone about some messed up inventory count or such. He covered the bottom of his phone with his mouth.

“Second and third floor.” He brought his phone back to his ear. “No, listen, that box was probably scanned twice, there’s no way it’s missing-“ And so, he walked off.

You sulked and got in the elevator once more. Either way, you needed to do it, so let’s get it over with. Second and third floors.

The sound of keyboards, printers and phones made for a modern-day horror orchestra. Amidst the cacophony of office sounds, you stared at the scenery of sterile white walls and grey cubicles. With varying degrees of cooperation, you delivered stacks of files to different people. Some of them looking into your eyes wishing for it to be a prank before sighing at their fate, others giving you death glares as if trying to get you to take back the papers, to which you responded with a plastic smile, rinse and repeat. Being the delivery boy has its perks. At least you don’t have to actually do something with those files. Now you were down to the last one, some guy you didn’t know. You searched for him in the third floor.

Walking on the office, you heard Lui, her tone clear and professional, most likely a phone call. You fidgeted with your feet for a bit before approaching her with the pretense of asking her where to find the last person, unsure if it’s worth it to bother her with it.

“Mrs. Lui?”

“Yes?

“Do… Do you know this person?”

“Ah, Minato’s not here today, actually.” She said. “But you can leave those with me!” She added abruptly.

“Thanks…”

You stood there with nothing to do as Lui took the file off your hands. By now you should’ve said goodbye and return to the warehouse, but instead you stood beside Lui, lost looking at her.

“You need something else?” She snapped you out of your trance.

“Oh, no, nothing.”

“Hmm.” She didn’t seem to hold any malicious intent to her words. At worst she was confused.

Lui was opening and closing a window on her computer. At first it seemed she was trying to appear busy, but in reality, she couldn’t figure out why the printer wouldn’t work. It was on, sure, but it wasn’t connected to the computer. You looked behind the printed trying to look for the answer, finding a disconnected internet cable.

“There.” You told Lui. After a few seconds of convergence, the printer was working again.

“Oh…” Lui stared in disbelief.

“It happens.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Your phone began ringing before you could say anything else. Your boss was calling you down, asking where you were dozing off to. You told him you were delivering some documents, to which he fumed saying that that wasn’t your job. You do what your supervisor says, your boss gets angry, do what he says, the supervisor gets angry. There’s no winning move in this game.

You told him you’d be back down in a second and sighed as he hung up. Lui looked at you compassionately.

“Gotten used to it yet?.” She giggled.

“I better get going.”

“Take care.”

“You too.”

You left with a smile in your face. Once you were back in the elevator, you put one of your earbuds on and went by your work day.

Ah, Mrs. Lui. Such a nice person.

The first time you two met was when you first set foot in your apartment. The door creaked open as you basked yourself in the beauty of what only the finest cheap apartments could offer, with it’s damp walls covered by ugly wallpaper that’s been there for longer than you’ve been alive, cramped enough that you didn’t bother buying furniture other than a table in which you did absolutely everything, from using your computer, eating, writing, and sleeping when you drank too much on your own. Despite the price and the conditions, it was in a decent place. No crime, no worries, and nice neighbors that ranged from teachers, students, dropouts, divorced people, and so on.

Setting into your nest, you cleaned the entrance with a broom, one of your neighbors was entering their own little home. A beautiful lady, obviously older than you, but very, very beautiful. If there’s something akin to someone being tired but still genuinely smiling, it was probably her.

“Wife material.” You thought, keeping your spaghetti at bay. She noticed you, and waved at you with a smile.

You returned the gesture.

And after you picked up the job in the warehouse, it turned out that she worked for the same company as well. Your relationship was purely professional in the office, outside of it it was akin to a casual friendship, you’d wave at each other like any other neighbor, you’d knock her door and ask her for a cup of sugar, she’d ask you for help with something that needed fixing.

~*~

Lui’s alarm had betrayed her this morning by doing the opposite of what it was supposed to do; waking her up. Her extra 10 minutes of beauty sleep were well received by her until she realized she would be late. Skipping breakfast in place of a quick shower at whatever temperature the heater chose, she left her home while fixing her attire.

She saw the colors of her bus approaching the bus stop. There was no chance she would make it, not in these heels at least. Still she ran giving it her all, she had to try, because, what other option was there?

The bus opened it’s doors, the few people that were the bus stop got in. Lui began to feel the futility of her struggle as she waited for the doors to close, however, the bus kept still for a few seconds more. Whatever the reason for that was, it gave her enough time to catch up.

Finally reaching getting inside, she paid her fare and caught her breath.

“Morning.” You said.

Lui looked up and saw you standing next to the driver.

“Hey…” She said while gathering herself.

“I saw you running, so I asked the driver to wait a few seconds.”

Lui was shook by your seemingly random act of kindness, but was grateful nonetheless.

“Thanks… thanks…”

After that you both took a seat in the back.

Lui put her bag on her legs and let out a tired sigh. 10 extra minutes of sleep lead to an unprompted cardio session and she still felt like she’d fade out of consciousness at any second.

You had your coffee together before getting to work. She thanked you again. As she headed for the elevator, one of your coworkers began making sly little remarks about you two.

“There goes your crush, Anon!”

“There she goes.” You went along with his joke.

“Just when are you going to ask her out?”

“When I become the richest box-pusher in all of the world.”

“So never?”

“Exactly.” You admitted.

“Come on man, you'd look so cute together!”

“I’m seeing someone already, dude.”

“Oh…?” He didn’t expect that.

“Surprised? Of course you’d be.”

“Oi, I have a girlfriend too!”

“JPGs don’t count.” You quipped.

You kept going back and forth for a while, both taking the insults in good fun. Once your boss began pacing around the warehouse you two kept quiet and got to work.

The day goes by fast.

~*~

Lui put on a shirt that was three sizes too big for her and some undies. She fell onto her, her eyes were too tired to open again, but they did. Lui looked over to her bag, and after the herculean effort of getting up from a comfy bed, she reached for a little something she bought herself on the way home.

“Here it is, after searching it for months..."

“I will make A-Chan fall for me!” The slice-of-life romance manga she had become obsessed over. A woman named Z-chan tried her best to win over the heart of a boy she fell in love with, A-chan. What was supposed to be a smooth sailing from point A to point B turns into a ruinous storm, once Z-chan discovers she has a rival, N-chan!

She liked the wacky interactions between the characters, but more so, the romance and drama aspects. N-chan didn’t pose a threat, but Z-chan didn’t know it, and so she misinterprets everything that happens between her and A-chan. Oh, but turns out A-chan has feelings for N-chan…!

Today's volume included the confession arc, the one that took the internet by storm. She felt how hard it was for Z-chan to talk about her feelings to A-chan, even thought he seemed oblivious to it. The purity of the feelings that these characters have is so unrealistic, but so cute.

“Must be nice.” She muttered to herself. She put a bookmark over the page and headed for het kitchen. Her boiler was done. She began making herself some instant ramen and ate in the silence of her kitchen. Before she knew it, she was under her covers.

She turned off her lights and tried to go to sleep. She turned and turned in bed, before picking up her manga again and finishing it.

Like a shooting star, something crossed her mind. Her interview with Hololive was due this week.

“I’m probably not gonna make it in, so it’s best I don’t get any ideas of grandiose.” She told herself. “I’ll just focus on my job…”

~*~

Two weeks had gone by with nothing of note. At least from your point of view. A few days ago you went to a party with one of your friends. The girl you were seeing was there. A few drinks here and there, and after enough of them she said “Heeey Anoon! Follow mee!”

It was a fun night.

You walked home from work like usual as the streetlights illuminated the way. You carried in your hands some cheap beer for the month. No one survives on bread and water, much less when they work like a dog daily.

On a little park near your apartments, you someone sitting on a swing. Their legs rocked forwards absent mindedly, as if moving them for the sake of moving them.

It was Lui, wearing her office clothes and looking deeply lost onto the floor.

What is she doing? You thought of leaving her alone, but it felt wrong to do so. Perhaps something happened. Whatever it was, you didn’t want to leave her by herself.

“Hey.”

Lui looked to her side. Her eyes lit up for a second.

"Anon? Why are you here?" She asked.

"I live here."

"Oh, yeah..."

“Something the matter?”

“It's nothing.”

“Why are you here then?”

“I live here!” She said with a feigned mood. You saw right through her. As she felt your gaze slowly penetrating her, she finally said something else.

"It's really nothing."

The fact she said that it was nothing twice meant that there was indeed something wrong, the worst part was that you didn’t have the slightest idea how to approach the situation. At a loss for any kind of sensible question, you left your beer and bag on the floor and sat on the adjacent swing beside her. Lui’s eyes searched for you.

“Your bag’s gonna get dirty.”

“It already is.”

Lui let out a long sigh.

You swinged back and forth gently with your feet on the ground. Lui copied you.

“Anything you need to talk about?” You asked her.

This time, she didn’t bring up her defenses.

“It’s nothing… I just… failed.”

“At what?”

“We had a meeting today. I thought I was up for a promotion.”

Everything clicked. You remained silent while Lui spoke.

“But, I wasn’t. It was someone else and we were called in to congratulate her…”

That was it. Except that wasn’t it, you knew Lui was miffed over something else. One trick you’ve learned is that the best way to get someone to talk is to keep your own mouth shut.

“Naru-chan was so happy. She was congratulated over handling a report during a time crunch. I’m happy for her.”

Just a little more, were getting there.

“Even thought I was one who did it…”

There it is.

“Naru-chan was the one tasked to do it, sure, but she asked me for help, and soon after I had it done.”

Little tears fell from Lui’s eyes.

“So why... Why wasn’t it me? I hate nepotism so much…” She could hide her irritation no longer, all those extra hours, all those nights of sacrificing sleep, for what? For what?

She heard a can being cracked open. When she opened her eyes she saw you stretching out a beer to her. She took it in her hands before she could ask what was going on. You took out one for yourself. Lui took a sip and sighed.

“You’ll get there, Mrs. Lui.”

“I know I will.” She huffed. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t get upset when I fail.”

“I know that feel.” You took a gulp from your can. “It’s alright. Sometimes it’s best to just, I don’t know, feel things?”

Lui smiled. In that moment, Anon was just what she needed. Had she talked about the subject with one of her coworkers, they would’ve berated her in favor of Naru-chan. Had she told one of her friends, they’d probably say that it was immature to get mad over it. Frustration doesn’t magically leave our heads just because we grow up. You were the perfect mix of a stranger and a friend, which made talking to you easier.

“Anon.”

“Yes?”

“There's no need for so much formality outside the office, just call me Lui.”

“Alright.”

She sighed. “Thanks for the beer.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With that, you slapped the dirt off your bag a few times and walked home with Lui.

Seeing her so depressed over something so trivial was strange. Well, it was trivial to you, but still. You thought that she would’ve handled it much better. She gave off that composed, strict vibe.

Turns out, everyone struggles in some way.
~*~

Out of the blue, a new generation of Hololive had debuted yesterday, and you had no idea. You were so caught up in your own life that you fell out of the loop heavily to the point you missed a new generation entirely. Hadn’t it been for one of your friends who absolutely fell in love with a bratty chuuni girl, you wouldn’t have known at all.

“Those kinds of chuubas are just not my thing, dude.”

He replied with multiple crying emojis. You sniggered.

“Next one’s today too.”

“I’ll be off work early today, I’ll catch the stream.”

“Coolio.”

Ready for the last effort of the week, you welcomed the Saturday morning with a smile. Perhaps you should get something for later too. As you walked down the stairs, you thought of the new Hololive generation that was debuting. You still knew nothing of it, and even now you didn’t bother looking them up. At most you knew because of your friend’s reaction that one of them was a loli.

On your way to the bus stop you met with Lui, you walked besides her and greeted her.

“Morning.” You said, but she didn’t pay much attention. Instead, she was looking at her phone with a nervous smile. After she almost hit her head on a street sign, she finally noticed you.

“O-Oh! Hey there Anon!”

“Something good happen?”

“I-It’s nothing really, I just got good news from… work.”

“Finally got your promotion?”

“Something like that, yeah. You could say that.”

She’s incredibly cheery today, it suits her. You stood together at the bus stop and went by your work day as usual.

~*~

When she woke up that morning, plenty of things felt the same. Her coffee tasted the same, her shower had trouble getting to a sweet spot between absolute zero and scorching flames, the same amount of belly fat stared back at her from the mirror as she kept beating herself up over her diet.

Everything feels the same, even though it won’t be like that for long. Today Lui debuts as a vtuber.

The idea made her feel funny inside. A dream of becoming an idol, realized in some way. She believed this was the beginning of something new, something better.

Just as she put on her office clothes, she smiled to herself in the mirror. Cracking from inside, her mature persona made way for a child’s excitement.

But first, she had to get through another work day. Hopefully, the last.

Much to her dismay, the world didn’t give her a break today either. A sudden request from her boss kept her working overtime, her meticulously calculated day getting muddled up with each new paper he set on her desk. By now she was supposed to be back home, checking her setup and her clothes, but instead she was handling a sales report. She got her break once she was on the way back home, thankfully, the bus arrived at the as she did, her eyes however, begged for sleep more than ever.

She arrived home 20 minutes before the stream, her cold apartment welcoming her back. In a rush, she tried to set up everything for her stream, everything was working, but she had one problem, she still hadn’t stripped herself of her office clothes and. Time was running short, her sense of urgency beckoned her to sit before her chair, until she cursed everything and put a cape over her office shirt, at the very least, she managed to put on her shorts. It’s too cold... Does she really need to wear shorts now of all times? She’s not showing her legs, right?

Either way, she got into character and began the stream.

~*~

Sitting before your computer, you tuned in blind to the new debut stream, you had a few documents from university open and a copybook for studying, the stream will provide with a nice amount of background noise. You opened the tab for the stream.

The name on the screen made you choke on your drink.

“Takanae Lui.”

Just a coincidence, right?

But no, it was Lui, the character in the channel was Lui, although wearing some accessories. You anxiously waited for the stream to start, still in disbelief. That slight nasal pitch…

Her voice assured you of everything. It was her.

“Huh.” You thought. “Never would’ve guessed…” An idol! With great interest, you watched your coworker’s stream.

Her voice was nice, her lore was fun to some degree. She’ll need some time to get the hang of it. Overall, she seemed very level headed, her taste in videogames also caught your attention. Had she mentioned them in different circumstances, you would’ve chatted her up about it, but bringing it up out of nowhere would lead to you having watched her stream. Something told you that was the worst course of action.

When your mental critique of her spectacle was over, you swapped tabs and finally looked up her generation. HoloX, a crime organization that tries to take over the world…

Footsteps. You took your headphones off and looked behind you. No one else was inside, no one had broken in. The sound came from Lui’s stream.

You figured Lui accidentally kept the stream up, taking a peek, you could barely see her sitting on the edge of a bed, taking off her cape and looking exhausted. Then, off went her gloves, then her shoes…

Panic rushed through your body. She doesn’t know does she? Her chat is going insane, someone, anyone, she’s about to expose herself in front of thousands of people, and you were one of them.

On her end, she was oblivious, merely speaking with herself about how the shirt fit with her character. Still, the one provided by Cover had that bit of style she needed. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might be about to make a grave mistake on her career by trying it out.

“God fucking dammit.”

Disregarding everything, you exited your apartment and rushed downstairs towards her door. You knocked on it a few times, your heart in hand. There’ll be so much to explain, but this comes first.

She had undone a few buttons of her shirt, but nothing could be seen from the camera other than her neck, she stopped only because someone knocked on her door.

“Who could it be at this time?” She asked herself, buttoning herself back up

After a few seconds, Lui opened the door and through the crack she saw you. Surprised, she greeted you with her hand.

And now, you found no easy way to tell her she was undressing before a camera, so you winged it.

“Lui, your stream is still up.”

The blood drained from Lui’s face, becoming pale like snow. Whether it was seeing you pop out of nowhere, the fact that someone she knew had seen her stream, or that she was about to strip in said stream, we shall never know, except that she nodded in horror and closed the door.

You went back up and saw that she had properly ended the stream this time.

“I won’t be able to look at her in the eye anymore…”

You opened another beer and set out to forget what just happened. Hopefully your presence didn’t make it worse.

“Still, it’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?”