chapter 12:Scuffiversary:2(begin!)
The backstage call buzzed to life, a low hum of mic checks and half-asleep voices.
> Yumi: "Did anyone actually sleep last night or...?"
> Kaia: "Sleep is a concept invented by people who didn't have to edit clips till 5AM."
> Luna: "I took a nap… on my keyboard."
Maris's model blinked on-screen, but she hadn't said much yet. Just watching. Listening. Her cup of tea sat untouched beside her.
> Tomo: "You good, Mari?"
> Maris (quietly): "Yeah. Just… thinking. Weird, huh? One year."
> Kaia: "You're allowed to get sappy for like, five seconds."
> Yumi: "No more though. After that, we're going full gremlin."
They all laughed softly, but something in the silence after lingered. There was weight beneath the giggles—old moments, forgotten DMs, late-night vent calls, debut nerves, breakdowns, collab chaos. All of it.
> Luna: "Whatever happens on stream, I'm just glad we're all still here."
No one needed to say anything more. The "starting soon" screen lit up.
---
[STREAM LIVE – 00:00:00]
[GEN:0WAVE 1st Anniversary – "STILL SCUFFED, STILL TOGETHER"]
Lo-fi remix of their debut BGM plays.
The overlay is chaotic but cute, with drawn-on doodles and a paperclip holding the logo.
> Maris (voice cool, almost deadpan):
"One year. Still no idea how to start streams. Hello?"
> Kaia: "Let's goooo! We survived 365 days of being semi-employed!"
> Tomo: "Correction: we thrived in chaos."
> Yumi: "Correction to the correction: we barely made it but looked cute doing it."
> Luna (mic distorting slightly): "...hi guys. I think my mic's—"
> Everyone: "OH MY GOD NOT AGAIN."
> [Chat explodes:]
> not_luna_fix: LUNA NOOOO
> brrr_gang: same scuff, different year
> shrimpghost: gura vibes but make it bunny edition
> archivebeetle: this stream is already historic
---------
(AFTER A WHILE)
The stream had finally stabilized—well, mostly.
> Kaia: "We thought it'd be cute to watch our debut intros again. I voted no. I was outvoted."
> Yumi: "Democracy is pain."
A YouTube-style player loaded on-screen, the thumbnail a blurry, overexposed still of Maris's model holding… a fish?
> Maris: "Oh no. Not mine first."
> Tomo: "You volunteered."
> Maris: "Lies."
Click.
The clip begins. A loading wheel spins awkwardly, then—
> Maris (in the clip): "H-hello! Um. Uhh… I'm Maris Tide! I stream sometimes. I like… water? I mean—I'm not a shark, I'm just built like one."
Silence.
Then the sudden glitch-pop of her BGM restarting twice.
> Clip Maris (panicking): "Oh god—how do I turn this off? Is this live? MOM??"
The current Maris facepalms. Chat explodes.
> Kaia: "Built like one. Iconic."
> Yumi: "Her brand started right there. Fear and fish."
> Luna: "Wait till mine. You'll see true despair."
Next up: Kaia's debut.
> Kaia (in clip): "YO. I'm Kaia! Chaos incarnate. If this stream crashes, it's because I was born in a volcano."
Halfway through the sentence, her OBS window minimizes mid-stream. The screen turns desktop gray. A pop-up appears: "Windows Update: Restart Now?"
> Clip Kaia: "Wait—no—no no no—"
The screen goes dark.
> Kaia: "Performance art. Eat your heart out, Marina Abramović."
> Tomo: "You were born in a volcano and died in a patch note."
Then came Yumi's.
Her debut starts with a smooth BGM—too smooth. Then:
> Clip Yumi: "Hi!! I'm Yumi! Your virtual caffeine dealer!"
Beat.
> Clip Yumi: "Wait... I forgot my lore. Um. My chat gave me caffeine powers after I fell in a vending machine? I think?"
Then she sneezes. Twice.
> Clip Yumi: "Sorry! Allergic to my own energy!"
> Tomo: "A perfect summary of Yumi: bright, unprepared, and sneezing."
> Kaia: "She peaked."
> Yumi: "I'm still living off that sneeze clip ad revenue."
Then the screen cut to Luna's debut.
Nothing happened.
Ten seconds passed. Then twenty. Chat was already in full panic. A tiny bunny-ear PNG bobbed nervously on-screen.
> Kaia (mock whispering): "She's transcending existence…"
> Clip Luna (finally): "Hello...? Oh. My mic was off. That was… a test. I was testing… your patience!"
She tried to clap. Discord noise suppression ate the sound.
> Maris: "It's still one of my favorite intros ever."
> Tomo: "Unironically legendary."
Finally, it was Tomo's turn.
Her debut opened with high-effort animation. Her model posed with a sword, thunder roaring behind her. She looked every inch like a cool, brooding fighter.
> Clip Tomo (deep voice): "I have walked through fire and shadow to reach you—"
Then a Discord notification pinged. Her younger sibling's message popped up mid-screen: "Mom says take out the trash."
> Tomo: "I was living my anime dream and got owned by chores."
> Kaia: "Peak duality. VTuber and dishwasher."
Chat had barely recovered before someone rewound the entire clip playlist and hit play again.
> Yumi: "No. We're not doing that. I already feel like I'm watching my middle school talent show."
They all groaned in laughter, voices overlapping. But underneath, you could hear something else—a kind of warmth only embarrassment could bring.
A full year later, and every single debut was still burned into chat's memory—and their hearts.
---
[After some few trivial talks it was time for the part which....Uh.... the agency called(finance stability part)]
> Tomo: "Alright. You guys ready?"
> Maris: "...for judgment?"
> Kaia: "For money."
> Yumi: "For ✨emotional damage✨."
> Luna: "For frogs."
Chat flooded in anticipation. The superchat chime blooped gently—a dreamy synth tone, instantly nostalgic.
---
> [Superchat – ¥5,000]
From: shrinebuilder69
"Maris, thanks for making 3am feel like magic again. You remind me of someone I lost. But now it just feels like... maybe she's still around, laughing through you."
> Maris (visibly taken aback): "...I—"
(She exhales slowly. Then smiles.)
"She sounds like someone who'd think I was cringe."
> Kaia: "She had good taste."
> Maris: "Thank you. For letting me be part of your late nights."
---
> [Superchat – ₩10,000]
From: chaosunleashed_kaiawife
"Kaia I swear if you dab one more time I'm quitting my job and becoming your mod full time."
> Kaia: dabs without breaking eye contact
> Kaia: "See you Monday, chaosunleashed. You've been promoted."
> Tomo: "We don't pay mods."
> Kaia: "Yet."
---
> [Superchat – $20.00]
From: momokopunch
"Luna... you once said on stream that you didn't believe your voice mattered. But it saved me. Literally. You helped me sleep again. That's everything."
> Luna (blinking): "I... don't know what to say except... I'll keep whispering weird space facts just for you."
> Kaia: "That's her villain arc."
> Luna: "Did you know Neptune's winds can reach 2,100 km/h? Sleep tight."
---
> [Superchat – ₱125]
From: ✨yumichanaddictforever✨
"Yumi I had an exam and passed because I heard you say 'study like you just failed in another timeline.'"
> Yumi: "YESSSSSSS. Alternate Timeline Yumi is proud of you!!"
> Maris: "How many timelines are you managing?"
> Yumi: "Like seven. Only one with a stable sleep schedule."
---
> [Superchat – $50.00]
From: tomatooo_lord
"Tomo… my little brother cosplayed you. He said you made 'being shy look cool.' Thank you."
> Tomo: "W-what."
> Luna: "Accept the compliment."
> Tomo: "...Tell him I said hi. And also that his sword technique was wrong."
---
More superchats rolled in.
Jokes. Memes. Love confessions. A full ASCII art of Kaia made entirely of bread emojis. Someone donated 1 yen 37 times just to say "boop" one letter at a time.
> Kaia: "Mods ban them."
> Yumi: "Mods give them VIP."
> Maris: "Mods... are probably asleep."
> Luna: "Mods... are us."
They kept reading.
And laughing.
And stalling—because no one wanted the stream to end.
Until Maris noticed one.
It wasn't colorful. It wasn't flashy.
Just a plain grey message in chat:
> "Amuii... I remember."
Her model flickered. Not the software. Something else.
A brief twitch.
> Maris: "I think... we just got raided?"
> Kaia: "No alerts triggered."
> Tomo: "Maris, you okay?"
> Maris: "Y-yeah. Yeah. Just a—funny message. Heh. Funny."
The lo-fi BGM hiccupped.
But Yumi spoke quickly to shift the tone.
> Yumi: "Okay!! Time for GEN:0WAVE to read our surprise fan letter from HQ!!"
> Luna (suspiciously): "...Didn't we say no management involvement?"
> Kaia: "Let's just say... it wasn't from them."