The MagiArtist Collection

Nostalgia Was a Rather Tricky Thing (Oozora Subaru x Reader)

Nostalgia was a rather tricky thing. You remembered the fond times you had with your childhood friend, Subaru, how you would play tons of soccer and overall enjoyed his company. And yet... you two drifted apart.

You took your studies a lot more seriously and eventually went to college to pursue a career in accounting and he dedicated himself to providing for the family. Last you heard, he got a job with that latest buzz, Hololive. Possibly as a manager or an agent? There's also the possibility that he sold himself to Hololive, but that was your overactive imagination talking.

This caused you to worry about lunch. What exactly can you talk about that won't drive him to boredom? You don't really know a thing about Hololive outside of it being an idol group akin to AKB48. You shared a small hope that you could bond with him over some soccer games. A small hope, however.

"Hey! [Y/N]!" You heard someone call to you. You found the voice almost nostalgic, maybe familiar. You turned to see Subaru... After all these years. You recognized him from the blue-yellow eyes but... you noticed that he grown out his hair and he was wearing a dress...

By now, you've realized that, yes, nostalgia was a rather tricky thing in more ways than one.

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You were now into your main course with Subaru and, really, you didn't need to find a topic to discuss.

"Wow! I can't believe you thought I was a boy up until now!" Subaru laughed as you meekly picked at your food.

"Well, it was kinda hard since you were wearing boy clothes." You said.

"It's fine. I can see why you'd get confused... It's been a while since we saw each other." Subaru said.

"Yeah. So..." It was obvious what you'd ask her.

"Yeah, I'm part of Hololive... Generation 2." She said.

"Generation?" You were clearly lacking in any knowledge of idols.

"Well, we debut in batches, so I'm part of the second batch." Subaru said.

"I'm... kinda surprised. Well... Somewhat?" Your only knowledge of idols was that one anime. There was a character in that group who was a tomboy like Subaru. "So... I guess you have a lot of fans?"

"Eh, I pull under a million subscribers on Youtube." Subaru said.

"Wait, Youtube? Don't you just make music and stuff?" You asked her.

"Yeah, we do, but..." She took a pause. "Wait, seriously, you don't know what Hololive does?" All you could do was shrug. She gave a sigh that almost sounded like a duck. "Alright, after this, I gotta show you."

"Show me... what?" You asked.

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The rest of the evening was spent watching various videos of Hololive at Subaru's place. A few of them were actually songs (which you, admittedly, liked) while a whole lot of them were what you'd expect to see on Twitch: either gaming or simply chatting with the audience. It wasn't even just Subaru's videos, but many of her co-workers' too, such as Kiryu Coco and Inugami Korone.

She even showed you how wide-spread Hololive was by showing you a few videos from their English and Indonesian branches. You spent the entire afternoon going into the night watching these videos and enjoying them. By the time the sun set, Subaru finally showed you her own videos, or rather, her best moments. There, you noticed a familiar pattern.

"Huh, seems I wasn't the only one who thought you sound like a duck." It was a simple side comment, but that didn't stop Subaru from cracking up... Or, as you heard it, quacking up.

"Yeah... Heh, just goes to show how funny I sound." She calmed in her laughter.

"Surprised you've taken it in stride. I always worried that if I brought it up, I'd hurt your feelings." You said to her.

"I've been through worse. Besides, that's what people like about me." As Subaru said that, you were reminded of an old fairy tale about the ugly duckling, one you've associated with Subaru. However, it wasn't until you revisited the tale years later that there was more to the story.

Namely, how the duckling wasn't an ugly duck at all, but rather a beautiful swan.

Immediately after remembering that, you noticed how you sunk into the couch, curled up next to Subaru. You blushed. Up until a few hours ago, you had thought Subaru was a guy and now, you're cozying in with her as though you were...

But... Idols can't date, right? And... you don't even know if this is something she could even talk about. You just hoped she says something about it.

"You know..." There you go. She's going to remind you of her job and that dating is off limits. "It's kinda nice seeing you again." You mentally prepared to understand what she would say next. "You want to stay over?"

Wait, what?

You know the stories behind idols dating. Namely how they have legions of obsessed fans who would target anyone and everyone who so much as be in the same area as them. An idol even shaved their head bald after she was caught with a man.

"Uh... I-if you want." You mumbled.

"Oooi, what's with that attitude?" Subaru playfully slapped you. "It'd be like old times!"

"Yeah, but that was before..." You didn't want to bring it up, but Subaru seemed to understand.

"Ah, I get it. But... you seem to not mind that I'm a girl all that much." Never mind. She pulled you in for a hug as you felt something in your body telling you not to fight it.

"N-no... I mean... You're an idol and I'm..." There was a brief moment before Subaru chuckled.

"Well, it would be true if I was just an idol, but... I'm a virtual idol. No one outside of you, my family, and a select few know who I really am. In fact, no one at Hololive seems to care all that much about that rule." She said.

"So... It's... fine?" You asked. Huh? Fine? You wanted this? It was a weird feeling to have, especially being in the arms of one of your closest friends. But... It felt nice.

"Yeah. It's fine." She whispered, her voice having that subtle Donald Duck-like voice to it.

"You know... I always liked your voice... It's... nostalgic." You rested your head against her chest and cuddled with her on the couch, drifting off to sleep while she patted you.