Tuesday

Aiichirou double-checked his software and equipment, making sure they were all working properly. Once he was sure he was all set, he pulled up the window of the otome game he had picked out for the week. He adjusted his headphones and leaned in slightly so that his words would be picked up by the microphone.

"Hey, everybody! It's Ai, and this week for Otome Tuesday, I picked a really interesting one about swimmers. Since I did a bit of swimming myself as a kid, I decided to check it out." He paused. The title of the game, Waves of Our Lives, hovered on a background that looked like the surface of a pool.

"Now, a lot of you have been teasing me about the sort of endings I go for. I read a lot of comments saying that I have a certain type of character that I always want in these games. And I just want to take the moment to say that you all are totally wrong, and I will prove you all wrong by the end of this video. No tsundere redheads for me!" Ai declared, nodding resolutely.

35 minutes later and Aiichirou knew he had never been more wrong in his life.

He highlighted the option that agreed to hang out with the redhaired swimmer named Morino, but hesitated to click the enter key. "Okay, I can already feel you guys laughing at me, but I swear I'm not choosing this because of his looks. Well, I mean, he is cute, b-but he also seems really nice! I think we should give Morino-san a chance and get to know him more, okay?" With that, he clicked enter and the swimmer's scowling face turned away with a hint of a blush. Ai cooed at the action.

At every other option, Ai continued to choose more time with Morino. Because of this, he unlocked the ending after a few more critical scenes: a late-night swim, a trip to the aquarium together that may or may not have been a date, and an embarrassing run-in in the locker room with a naked Morino.

"I think we're about to reach Morino's ending," Aiichirou squealed, barely containing his excitement. Sure enough, a scene began to play.

Morino looks deep into your eyes. His hands are shoved into his pockets and he seems to have trouble staying still. He shifts his weight restlessly from foot to foot. "I… I have to admit, I was wrong about you."

Aiichirou sucks in a breath in anticipation.

"I thought you were like everyone else. But… you really understand me. You care." Morino seems to hesitate, then inhales deeply. He stares at you resolutely, deep emotion stirring in his gaze. "I'm not exactly sure how you feel, but I do know that I want to be with you. Will you… do you accept my feelings?"

[Yes.]

Light, jovial music plays as the game concludes. A well-drawn picture of Morino holding hands with the nondescript main character appears across the screen; cherry blossoms flutter in the breeze. 'Want to go for a swim?' he asks. There is a pause, then a splash as both characters hop into the water.

~The End~

"Ahhh, that was so sweet!" Ai exclaimed, nearly knocking off his headphones as he flailed his hands giddily. He turned to give the camera an excited, but knowing look. "See, I told you guys we should give him a chance! That was great. Morino was rough around the edges at first, but he was really just a huge softy all along."

Ai beamed into the camera and got ready to sign off. "Well, everyone, I hope you enjoyed Waves of Our Lives. As I'm sure you can tell, I really enjoyed this game. It had interesting character designs, cute art, and good music. If you guys want me to go back in for some of the other character routes, just leave a comment below telling me which one I should go for. I won't be uploading any gaming videos until Thursday, but I do have daily vlogs on my personal channel, so please check that out if you want to stay updated with me and my life until then. Remember, I love you, guys, and I'll see you all next time!"

Wednesday

Unlike the setup required for shooting his gaming videos, Ai's vlogs used much less equipment. It was usually just him and his camera, and sometimes, if his camera was malfunctioning, his smartphone. Today he was relaxing on his couch while he recorded. He grinned at the camera, looking fit to burst with information to share.

"So, guys, I recently met someone," he began, his tone rising sweetly on the last word so that his viewers would know exactly what he meant by it. "I won't say his name, but any of you who watch my game videos won't be surprised when I say he's just my type. He really strong and he looks fierce at first, but he's actually really nice." He paused, thinking of the man and blushing a little. "And very attractive. If you want to imagine what he looks like, just think of that Morino guy from the pool game I uploaded yesterday."

"Before any of you ask, no, we aren't dating. We just met through some mutual friends recently, and, well… I just really like what I've seen of him so far. We're going to go out as a group Friday night, so I get to hang out with him some more, and I'm really excited about it!"

After gushing on about his new crush for a minute or two, Ai finally changed the subject. "Speaking of my friends, I'm going to be having a special guest on my channel tomorrow. My buddy Momo is going to fight me in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U tomorrow. It's going to be so much fun!"

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "Ah! Well, guys, I've gotta run now, so I'll talk to you all tomorrow. Love you, see ya!" He smiled one final time before ending the recording. He set down his camera, picking up his jacket instead before hurrying out the door.

Thursday

"Aww, yeah, smash time!" Momotarou hollered as Aiichirou booted up the Wii U. Ai had moved his usual recording setup around the sofa, where he and Momo would be playing. Once the start screen was up, he turned on the camera and plopped down on the sofa.

"Hey, everybody! It's Ai here, and I have a special guest with me today. Some of you may recognize him from his channel Peach Boy Plays. He and I here today to settle some serious business, isn't that right, Momo?"

The orange-haired male nodded gravely, moving closer to Ai so that he appeared in frame. "That's absolutely correct. And that business is none other than…. A fight to the death!"

Ai chuckled and winked at his viewers. "Because we're playing Super Smash Bros. today!" He continued to chat as he pressed start and selected the match mode.

"Which character do you usually choose?" he asked, moving his cursor over Kirby. People made fun of him for it, but he didn't care. He always fought well with the energetic pink blob.

"The Villager!" Momo declared, proudly selecting his character. Noticing his friend's questioning glance, he added, "Haven't you ever played Animal Crossing? It's great- you can fish and catch bugs and all sorts of stuff. I'm so good at catching beetles though; it's my favorite thing to do! Plus they sell for so many bells and-"

The match started and Aiichirou cut his friend off by sidesmashing the Villager with Kirby's hammer. Momo growled and stopped yakking to focus on the match. Despite Ai's early advantage, Momo managed to gain the upper hand at the end of the 3 minutes, making him the winner of the first round. Feeling confident, Momo struck up conversation as the second arena loaded.

"Man, my big brother loves this game, too. We should do a big match sometime. I hear his friend plays a little, too." While the comment was innocent enough, the inflection Momo placed on the word 'friend' and the way he waggled his eyebrows were not.

Ai flushed red, mashing the buttons repeatedly as the fight went underway. "Does he now?" he mumbled, trying to keep his voice light. He stared determinedly at the screen.

"Yeah! You should invite him over to play games sometime. I'm sure he'd enjoy it."

He hesitated. "Momo, I don't think I know him well enough yet to-"

"BOOM! Ahahahaha! That's right, get wrecked, Ai!" Momotarou cackled as Kirby went flying off the stage and smacked against the screen. "Anyway, who cares if you don't know him yet? That's why you have to invite him- to get to know him more."

This time Ai didn't bother replying. He hunched over his controller, face set in determination. His fingers flew over the buttons and within 30 seconds, the Villager was thrown off the stage. He grinned victoriously, but his body remained tensed, ready for the battle that was about to ensue.

They went back and forth like that for the better part of an hour, though Ai ended the filming at about the 20-minute mark. It wasn't until they took a snack break that Ai approached the subject of Seijuurou'sfriend again.

"Do you really think that Rin would be up to playing some games with m- us?"

Momo patted his companion on the back reassuringly. "Of course! Why not? Though I'm sure you two would probably be more focused on each other than on the game."

"Shut up! He doesn't even like me that way, Momo," Ai groaned, slumping back against the sofa cushions. "He probably thinks of me as the dorky friend of Seijuurou's little brother. That's if he even thinks of me at all."

Momo scoffed, spewing a few potato chips crumbs onto the floor. "Oh come on, we're totally cool. I'm telling you, Ai, I think he likes you more than you realize."

The young gamer bit his lip, mulling this over for a few seconds before finally shaking his head. "In any case, I'll get to hang out tomorrow, so let's just put all this on hold until then. For now, let's get back to the game."

Both picked up their remotes and threw any other thoughts out the window, opting instead to focus on their fight.

Friday

"Okay, so I don't have much time since I'm going out with some friends in about… 10 minutes, but I wanted to fill you guys in real quick on what's going on," Ai said hurriedly into the camera. He was dressed nicely and his hair was neat, though all the effort he put into his appearance was quickly becoming undone by his constant fidgeting.

"I'm going out with some friends tonight and R- I mean, that guy I like, is going to be there." His eyes sparkled with excitement, but his smile seemed nervous and queasy. "We're going to have dinner, then hit a few clubs, have a good time. Momo's probably going to try to pick up some girls. Gosh, guys, I swear I changed my outfit like a dozen times! I don't know what will make this guy notice me."

He gave a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "In any case, a lot of you have given me some kind advice about this guy, so I'll try to stay positive and listen to you."

The doorbell rang a few times in quick succession. He whirled around to look at the front door. "Yo, Ai! Let's go!"

"Coming!" he shouted before swiftly turning back to the camera. "Gotta go. I'll put up a vlog tomorrow to let you know how things go. No games for this weekend. Or wait, no, Sunday. Or was it- Ah, well, the next video will be up when I get to it. Bye, guys!"

Saturday

Late afternoon sun was filtered through the curtains as Ai slipped out of bed. He hunted around the room for his jeans, finding them in a crumpled mess underneath the bed. Glancing towards the bathroom door to make sure it was still occupied, he quickly pulled out his phone and opened up the recorder.

"Hey, guys," he whispered, taking care not to be too loud. "So about yesterday…" He trailed off, chuckling softly. He stood and began to pace around the small room.

"As I'm sure you may have noticed, this isn't my room. It's… you know, his. I went home with him last night." He resisted the urge to jump up and down in excitement. He was too sore for that. "And it was amazing. I mean, I'm not one to kiss and tell, but… Basically, we really hit it off yesterday. He has a surprising sense of humor, he's a huge sweetheart, and he's very… passionate."

He rambled on, losing track of time as he gushed over his late-night lover. "He's in the shower right now. I was still asleep when he went in the bathroom, so I'm not sure what to do now…" He stopped in his tracks as a thought occurred to him. "Crap, you guys! What if he wants me to leave? Should I go home? Do I leave a note or do I not say anything? What if it was just a one-night thing? Oh no, no, no…" The camera shook as he began to hunt for his clothes.

Another figure crept into the frame, wrapping on arm around Ai's waist as the other hand reached for the male's wrist. "What are you doing?"

Ai shifted his grip on his phone, hiding the camera partially out of view. "I was, um, looking for my clothes."

"Why?" Rin asked, sounding disapproving. He buried his face in Ai's neck, leaving some drops of water on his pale skin.

"Because… I-I thought you wanted me to leave," he stammered. Rin tightened his grip around Ai's waist, making the poor man's heart stutter.

Rin huffed, pressing his nose against the soft skin. "I don't know what I said to give you that idea, but no. You can stay as long as you want."

There was a short silence. Then, "…I'd like that."

The redhead smiled. "Good. But first-" He snatched Ai's phone out of his hand and held it up so that they were both in clear view. "Sorry everyone, but Ai will be busy for the rest of the day. Rest of the weekend even. Don't expect any videos for a little while."

The video ended with a rosy-cheeked Ai reaching for his phone as Rin laughed and winked at the viewers.