Chapter Text
“I’m not falling asleep, I swear.”
Gray eyes flicked between the game being played and the stream of comments flooding the chat. After reading one of the newest ones, a snort sounded in the mic.
“ Don’t lie to us, Sei ,” he quoted aloud. “Chat, I’m not falling asleep. I just look like this.”
Hearing a particular loud gunshot echo from his monitor, the young man returned his focus back to the game. He spotted an enemy on a nearby rooftop, and with quick precision, took aim and shot them straight through the head.
"Two to go," he murmured to himself, his attention beginning to lock onto his game.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noted the chat beginning to flood with a burst of comments, like it usually did when he got close to the end of a game. He blocked it out though, choosing to focus on snatching the win from right under his opponents' feet.
Seishiro Nagi. One of the fastest growing streamers in Japan.
Under the alias of Sei, Nagi had been streaming for the better part of six months. At first it was just a new way of playing his games that his friend Isagi had suggested he do, since he was 'wasting his skills' playing in the darkness of his bedroom. But a few gameplays and 100 thousand followers on Twitch later, and Nagi was beginning to see the potential in what he was doing. He liked the idea of playing all the games he wanted, while getting praised for and making a career out of it. But most of all, he liked the reason why he was getting so popular.
See, Nagi found most - no, everything to be a hassle. Whether it was walking, chewing, or even just paying attention, he got tired so easily, and would often find himself lazing around his tasks or just straight-up falling asleep. Streaming wasn't an exception - on camera, his viewers could see him yawning and grumbling about how tired he was, and sometimes he even nodded off mid-game. But despite that unconventional character trait, Nagi's streams were still incredibly popular - and that was because no matter what happened, whether he was lost in thought or just outright asleep, he somehow always, always, managed to clinch a win.
"Annnd that's the game," Nagi yawned, stretching his arms over his head as the last enemy fell dead at his feet. "Damn, that was a bit tougher than usual."
He glanced back at the chat, which he'd left unattended for the short while he'd been focused on winning, and let out a muffled snicker when he saw the comments.
"Thank you, thank you," he said, humoring them with a shallow dip of his head. "It was a hassle, as always, but I know you guys like that."
Another yawn suddenly cut off what he was going to say next, and he quickly brought a hand up to stifle it.
"Man, it's late," he murmured, glancing at his phone that sat next to his keyboard. The brightness was low, but he was still able to read the time read in big, bolded white letters: 11:48. "Well, guess I'll be cutting the stream for now guys. Thanks for the support."
He moved to stop the video, but paused when another thought hit him. "Oh, I just remembered. I won't be able to play for a few days, 'cuz I have to finish this huge group project for... history, I think?" He frowned; his brain was sluggish from how tired he was. "Anyway, we have to present it on Friday, so I'll play something on Saturday. Maybe like, Pokémon or something. Keep it chill, y'know."
He skimmed over the chat one last time, which was flooded with comments praising his game and wishing him luck on his project, along with a few expressing an obvious distaste for college. He let out one last soft laugh, and offered them a light wave.
"Well, see you guys then."
"OI! FLANK ON TH' LEFT!"
"CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING?! WHY DON'T YOU DO YOU'RE FUCKING JOB INSTEAD OF YELLING AT ME, THESE GUYS ARE ON OUR ASSES!"
"YER SCREAMIN' AT ME! AN' IT'S NOT LIKE WE'RE GUNNA LOSE, WE'VE GOT SUCHA HUGE LEAD!"
Yo Hiori sighed as he listened to a string of curses being flung at their sniper, who returned fire with a volley of swears that sounded more mocking than brutal. His eyes slipped back to the screen he sat in front of, ignoring the screaming behind him as he watched his avatar run down the dirty, broken-down streets. With the name Ice Weaver displayed overhead, he smoothly guided his character to a stop before shooting one of the opposing snipers point-blank, throwing them off the roof and out of the game. His eye twitched in annoyance when he saw his avatar falter after being hit in the shoulder, but quickly relaxed as a much bigger individual by the name of Emperor suddenly flew in to shield him.
"Thanks, Yuki," he called over his shoulder, to the person sitting on his left.
"Of course," Kenyu Yukimiya replied, his voice modest and gentle. "Kurona, heal him while I take care of this?"
Ranze Kurona, from his position on Hiori's other side, huffed in annoyance, shooting a glare at the young man sitting on his right. "Only if Karasu stops screaming at Piper long enough to take the guy out, out." Despite his words, though, they both caught site of a character named Jaws trotting over, clearly ready to take care of someone.
"Oh c'mon sharky, it's jus' some banter!" Tabito Karasu sang, grinning cheekily. "It's part of our charm! Th’ people love it!"
"Speak for yourself," Piper Forrest snorted, glaring at him over her shoulder from where she sat on Yukimiya's other side. "Everything I say I mean."
Karasu gasped, peeling his eyes off of his monitor to stare at her. He slapped a hand over his chest, feigning heartbreak as he cried, "Oh, you wound me, Pip! An' here I thought-"
"Tank, twelve o'clock."
Karasu yelped in alarm as his character suddenly stumbled and fell, the image growing slightly foggy to indicate lowered health. The nickname Assassin wobbled over the avatars head with the movement, before he managed to gather his bearings and duck under the cover of an awning.
"Way t' warn me a sec'nd b'fore they shot, dickface," he grunted as he glared to his right where one last young man sat, his accent shining through a bit more prominently in his annoyance.
Eita Otoya shrugged, nonchalant as he maneuvered his character, Ninja, along the edge of a rooftop. "I don't see how that's my fault. You should've seen him yourself, he was literally out in the open."
A sudden succession of rapid-fire shots suddenly pierced their ears, and both Karasu and Otoya flinched when they spotted one last sniper targeting Karasu's character, raining fire in his direction.
"Goddammit," Karasu groaned, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his face as he tried to shake his attacker. "If I'm th' only one that dies this time it's gunna be so embarrassin'-"
He didn't have time to finish before a shape sped past at the edge of his screen, scaling the building in record time before delivering a single precise shot between the enemy's eyes, killing them instantly. As the opponent fell still, the avatar suddenly swiveled to face his own, allowing him to read the name: Grandmaster.
"I'd quite like a thanks right about now, Tabito," Piper sang, her tone sickeningly similar to the one Karasu had teased her with minutes earlier.
Karasu's eye twitched in annoyance, but before he could throw back an insult of some kind, Hiori motioned for their attention.
"An' that's game!" he announced once the team was organized in front of their cameras. "Another stream well done, guys! Great job!"
The team of gamers gave various indications of agreements, from nods to hums to outright HELL YEAH's. Despite the fact that they were all in the same room, no noise overlapped thanks to their setup of devices; the only indication of their shared presence were the snippets of movement in the background of each of their cameras that they caught of each other.
"Chat, be honest, I totally saved Tabito's ass back there," Piper called, leaning against Yukimiya. Her face hovered between her video and his as she pressed her cheek against him, a wide grin at her lips.
"Like hell," Otoya countered, taking a sip of strawberry milk that had been sitting unattended for the past thirty minutes - something the chat wasted no time pointing out. "I warned him first; he would've been toast before you even got there if it wasn't for that."
"I find it insultin' that both of ya think I needed savin' in th’ first place," Karasu snapped, glaring at Piper's face in particular through his screen while he listened to her snicker behind him.
Yukimiya laughed, reaching up to gently run his fingers through Piper's hair. "Being defensive isn't helping your case, y'know," he teased, his smile widening as Piper nestled closer to him.
"Completely true," Otoya agreed monotonously, earning a yelp of "Why are ya sidin' with'em?!" from Karasu before the other boy reached over to tug harshly at the strand of green hair that swept across his face.
From between the two parties, Kurona snorted, his side braid waving as he dropped his chin into his palm. "I sometimes wonder what would happen if you and Piper had started dating, dating," he mumbled, so quiet it could've been to himself. From his left, Piper made an audible gagging noise, while on his right Karasu burst into sudden laughter, his task of ripping out Otoya's hair instantly forgotten.
"That would be interestin'," Hiori chuckled, reaching over to absently pat Kurona's head. The other boy closed his eyes in response, leaning further into his touch with a hum of content.
"If that happened, does that mean Yukimiya and I would be together instead?" Otoya asked blankly, his gaze drifting towards Karasu as he wheezed over his keyboard.
"The chat is finding this hypothetical amusing, to say the least," Yukimiya noted, smiling as he read the comments flooding in on his computer.
"Oh my god, someone just called the ship name 'Tabiper'!" Piper shrieked, exaggerated horror accentuating her features. "That's it, cut the stream, cut the stream!"
"Aw, but they're callin' me an’ Ranze cute, let's give it another sec," Hiori teased, grin widening as his eyes skimmed over a few more comments.
"No, she's right," Otoya grumbled. "Someone just said something about defending Karasu's status as my boyfriend, and that sounds like way too much work."
Laughing, Hiori brought his arm down to curl it around Kurona's shoulders, gently tugging him closer as he focused on the livestream again. "Well, y'all heard ’em. That's all fer this one, guys. Thanks fer watchin', we'll see y'all next time!"
"Don' ferget tah hit that good ol' subscribe butt'n, leave ah like 'n a comm'nt, share 'n all that good shit!" Karasu shouted, exaggerating his accent humorously. "Click all th' buttons y'all see-"
"This is exactly why I would never date you," Piper cut in, rolling her eyes as she leaned back into her chair and folded her arms. "I don't even know how Eita puts up with you, honestly."
"Me neither."
"Hey!"
While Karasu resumed yanking at Otoya's hair and began a new screaming match with Piper, Yukimiya offered his camera a small wave and smile. "We'll see you guys next stream, until then take care!" he said, his voice much gentler than the shrieking of his teammates in the background.
"Thanks for watching, watching," Kurona mumbled, eyes still closed and face still pressed against Hiori's chest, muffling his words.
Hiori glanced behind him, the flashing images of his teammate's videos being too much to keep up with. "I'm cuttin' th’ stream, any of y'all wanna say somethin'?" he called. When all he was met with was another colorful string of words bombarding Karasu, he sighed. "Guess that's a no," he murmured, before focusing back on his camera, a fresh smile lightning up his face as he raised his hand to give a two-fingered salute. "Well, Egoists out!"
And with that, all six videos were simultaneously cut off, leaving the people behind the screens to continue their antics without millions of people as their witnesses.
Team Ego. Also known as The Egoists. Also known as one of the fastest growing esports teams in the entire world.
The group was comprised of three separate couples: Yo Hiori and Ranze Kurona, Tabito Karasu and Eita Otoya, and Kenyu Yukimiya and Piper Forrest. The team had never intended to make a career out of something they considered to be a fun and (debatably) relaxing pass-time, but one year and five million followers later and it was starting to look like a serious prospect they could consider. And while they're skills were undoubtedly unmatched - individually and as a team - their fans favorite part of their streams was their dynamic.
Said dynamic went as follows each time, without fail: all of them acting like rabidly competitive animals during their games, before switching up entirely once it was over to become the sweet and domestic couples everyone loved to see - although they did remain hilariously rabid, if not more so, with each other; the difference was that each one kept it outside of their significant other once off-game.
For the most part, at least.
Smiling, Hiori pulled his headset off and spun his chair around to face the other five people in the room. Their personal monitors were arranged around him in a half-circle, although only three of the six - including himself - were in their designated spots. The others were currently sitting on the floor, squirming and writhing in a tangle of limbs like they were participating in a three-way wrestling match.
"Take it back," Piper screeched, eyes blazing with near-realistic fury as she tightened her arm around Karasu's neck. Her lips quirked up and down as she fought back the grin that threatened to split her face. "Take it back now or I swear your hair gets it!"
She hovered the water bottle that she held in her other hand threateningly over his head, letting the liquid slosh dangerously close to the uncapped end.
"Never!" he cried, laughing out loud as he squirmed even harder in her grasp. Below him was Otoya, who still had the straw from his milk between his lips as Karasu manhandled his hair, forcing him to be a part of their mock-altercation.
"Can't you guys just agree to disagree?" Kurona muttered, eyes drooping with exhaustion. "Or something... I wanna go to sleep... sleep…"
"Aww, I'll take ya," Hiori cooed, standing up and holding his arms open. Kurona immediately stood up and leaned into him, wrapping his arms around Hiori's waist while the other looped his arm over his shoulders. As he began guiding the half-asleep boy around the mass of kicking feet and towards the door frame, Hiori glanced over his shoulder at Yukimiya, who was watching the struggle with unabashed amusement. "Ya comin' with or are ya gunna watch th’ show a bit longer?"
"It'd be criminal not to watch when I have a front row seat," was Yukimiya's only reply, which earned him a tired mumble of agreement from Kurona and a light giggle from Hiori.
"Alright. Seeya tomorrow then."
...
"Ya gunna shower, or is that doin' too much fer tonight?" Hiori asked, smiling as he eased Kurona onto their shared bed.
"Of course I'm gonna shower," his boyfriend grumbled, suddenly seeming much more awake than he had just minutes earlier. "I just wanted you to take me away from those idiots, idiots."
"You're so harsh when they're not around to hear," Hiori laughed, ruffling his hair a bit before straightening up. "Well, you can have the first shower then. I'm gunna grab a quick snack."
Kurona made a small noise in response, already undoing the small braid that framed the left side of his face as Hiori headed for the door.
...
Hiori shut the pantry, humming as he ripped open the small bag of cashews in his hand. Not the best, but not the worst either...
"You're still up?"
The gamer coughed on a sudden laugh before turning to face the owner of the voice. "What, ya really thought we'd be asleep? I'm surprised ya didn't come yellin' at us with th’ ruckus we were causin'."
Reo Mikage only snickered, rolling his eyes in amusement. "Well, I did make the basement soundproof for a reason."
"True, true."
Reo Mikage was the heir to the Mikage Corporation. He had been friends with the members of Team Ego for a little over a year, getting to know them some time before they started their career thanks to a group project he'd been forced into with Hiori and Piper, courtesy of their professor. When his friends had really taken off and started amassing a following later on, shortly before their second semester at their college, he'd offered to buy a house that all seven of them could live in together. After some heavy protesting - mainly consisting of arguments like "That's too generous" and "Normal people don't just offer to buy houses for friends they met not even a full year ago" - they'd all agreed, and now the team had their own headquarters, as Otoya liked to call it.
A bit after moving in, Hiori suggested that Reo join in on one of their streams. It took some convincing, but the latter was quick to give in and agree. And their fans loved it. Everyone already knew of Reo, mostly because who hadn't heard of him, he's Reo Mikage, but Yukimiya speculated that seeing him play video games with his friends had made him seem more like an ordinary person rather than a rich heir, which was what made him so likable over stream. Whatever the case, though, their fans begged to see him more often, which was how despite being the only member of their friend group that wasn't in a relationship, Reo became an unofficial member of The Egoists under the alias of Chameleon that the fans loved just as much as the regular players.
"Anyways, are the rest in bed yet, or are you the only one trying to get to sleep before twelve a.m.?" The purple-haired boy headed for the fridge as he spoke, popping the door open once he reached it.
"Ranze's showerin', an’ Yuki's watchin' Piper choke Karasu while he rips out Otoya's hair."
"So just an average night?"
"Pretty much."
Reo snorted, a smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth as he closed the fridge door, a yogurt now in hand. "Should I even ask what they're arguing about this time?"
"Who knows," Hiori groaned, rolling his eyes in feigned annoyance. "I don't even know how it started; one second I'm cuttin' th’ stream, then I turn around an’ they're on th’ floor."
"I swear, if anyone who didn't know them saw how quickly they devolve in each other's presence they'd call the police," Reo remarked, snatching a spoon from the drying rack next to their sink. "Hell, I'm surprised I didn't the first time I met them."
"Same here," Hiori laughed. "I don't even know when I got used to it. Probably around th’ time I realized they're usually both wrong every time."
"If that's not the truth, I don't know what is," Reo concurred, grinning as he raised his spoon to punctuate his words.
They chatted for a little while longer, before exchanging quick good night's and heading their separate ways. While Hiori made his way towards the stairs and back to his room, Reo's curiosity got the better of him. He slunk towards the basement door, a little ways away from the living area connected to the kitchen, and creaked the door open.
"...AND IF THAT WAS REAL LIFE YOU'D BE GROVELING IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW!"
"AS IF, I'D RATHER THEY JUST SHOOT ME DEAD! THEN I WOULDN'T HAFTA DEAL WITH YA ALL TH' TIME!"
"OW! What the fuck, I think you actually ripped some hair out- OW!"
"Damn, Karasu, how much wax do you have in there?! The water's just sliding off!"
"Oh fuck off, Yuki!"
"OI! DON'T YELL AT KEN!"
"YOU DON'T YELL AT ME!"
"FUCKIN' MAKE ME CROW-BOY!"
"THAT'S CROW-MAN TO YA!"
"Are you even listening to me, you're pulling too hard again- OW!"
Laughing to himself, Reo quietly shut the door and made his way back to the kitchen. Snatching his yogurt off the counter, he spooned a bit into his mouth as he headed for the stairs, shaking his head fondly all the way.
I love that they're so fucking stupid...