Today was a collab day. Which meant: chaos in the form of VTuber madness. And Maris? She was ready to handle it with a grin.
Group Chat: Tidepool Terror Quartet
KuraHime: "Reminder: no real sea creatures this time."
NyappeNyanNyan: "define real."
SeiunChiba: "I'll bring something that looks like it came from another dimension."
MarisTide: "If it glows, I'm not eating it."
A knock on the door made her jump. Not the delivery guy again—no one needed another midnight snack run.
She peeked through the peephole. Just the usual guy, the one who'd dropped off snacks for months. But this time, he stared at her door like it was a riddle.
"You sound familiar," he said, handing her a bag of chips and a weirdly large container of yakisoba.
"Do I?" she asked, forcing a smile.
"Yeah. You're like...someonw famous, right?" he squinted.
Maris froze.
She managed a quick, "I'm definitely not famous ." Then, as he walked off, she muttered to herself, "Well atleast not offline."
Later, on stream…
Maris was live, and the madness of the Tidepool Terror Quartet was officially underway. The gang had arrived, avatars in t
ready to wreak havoc on the kitchen.
Maris: "Alright, alright, welcome to 'Cook Your Lore!' where today we make food inspired by our weirdly dramatic, ocean-themed backstories." She paused. "Which means disaster."
NyappeNyanNyan: [pops into frame, upside-down, wielding a spoon like it was a battle axe] "Oh, it's gonna be chaos. And by 'chaos,' I mean food that might kill you. But in a fun way."
KuraHime: [holding up a jar labeled "Cursed Mayo"] "And I brought the cursed mayo. I also have… I don't know, an existential salad. We'll see how it turns out."
SeiunChiba: [almost pixelated as her avatar glitches in and out] "I'm making nebula pudding. It... might be alive. Maybe?"
Maris (facepalming): "Why did I agree to this?"
---
[ROUND ONE: APPETIZERS]
NyappeNyanNyan: [grinning mischievously] "Tuna ice cream. That's right, folks. I turned tuna into dessert. It's... delicious—if you don't think too hard about it."
Maris: "Tuna ice cream? That's a crime against food. Wait—no, that's a war crime."
KuraHime: [pulling out a jar of mayo and cracking it open] "I made something simple: deep-fried kelp. If you survive it, you win an award. Probably. Maybe."
Seiun: [glitches slightly, an aura of stardust around her avatar] "And here we have nebula pudding. It's... vibrant. Very vibrant. Just, uh... don't eat it all at once."
Maris: [laughs nervously] "Great. Just what I needed—sentient pudding. Let's see how the chat feels about all of this."
---
STREAM CHAT:
> "Tuna ice cream? Please tell me she's joking."
"Maris, why do you even do this to yourself?"
"Kura's salad looks like it has unresolved issues."
"Seiun's pudding is growing a second layer."
[ROUND TWO: MAIN COURSES]
Maris: "Okay, okay, let's try to get serious for a second. I'm making some sea-salt pasta, shaped like little anchors. Cute, right?"
NyappeNyanNyan: "I made octopus curry. Except it looks like the tentacles are trying to escape. Oops."
KuraHime: [holding up a sad plate of salad] "I made an existential crisis salad. You're welcome."
Seiun: "Nebula pudding round two. Hopefully, it won't open another rift this time. Probably not."
Maris: [sighs] "This is exactly what I get for inviting my friends to cook with me."
---
[THE MOMENT OF EERIE DEJA VU]
As the stream continued, Maris found herself zoning out for a second. Nyappe was making some ridiculous comment about tuna-flavored ice cream, Kura was deadpanning something about cursed mayo, and Seiun was calmly discussing the potential of nebula-based desserts.
But it hit her again.
That weird déjà vu.
It wasn't just the food. It was like she'd seen this exact moment before, in some dream, or maybe a memory that wasn't quite hers.
Nyappe paused, mid-bite.
"Hey, anyone else ever, like, dream about singing underwater?"
Maris froze.
"Sorry, what?"
"You know, like, your mouth is full of bubbles but you're still singing," Nyappe explained, completely serious. "I get it all the time."
"I—what?" Maris stammered. Her hands felt suddenly cold.
"I mean, doesn't that happen to you? Like, with the ocean and all that?"
Maris stared at her screen. The stream chat was laughing, but Maris felt a chill running down her spine. That dream... it was too familiar. That feeling... that melody.
She blinked, shaking herself out of it. Get it together, she told herself.
KuraHime: "Is she okay? She's gone quiet for too long."
Seiun: "It's the ocean's whispers again. They never stop."
Maris: [laughs nervously] "Right! Totally normal VTuber behavior! We're all fine here!"
AFTER THE STREAM…
Maris stepped out into the cool night air. The city was still, but it didn't feel quiet. It was the kind of hum that always surrounded Tokyo. No matter where she went, it followed her—like a distant sea breeze that she couldn't quite catch.
She didn't need to be on stream to feel like everyone in the world was watching her. For a second, she thought about the strange deja vu earlier, about Nyappe's words.
She pushed it all aside, focusing on the late-night snack run. Chips, soda, something easy. And maybe, just maybe, she could forget about the eerie something hanging around her.
She stepped into the convenience store, scanning the aisles.
"Excuse me," the cashier said suddenly. "You sound familiar.:
Maris froze.
She forced a smile. "Uh, no. I dont .. think so he hee.."
The cashier squinted, half-smiling. "Really? You sound ...li-."
Maris chuckled nervously, grabbing a bag of chips. "Thank you byeeee."
And with that, she walked out, but the feeling didn't leave.