The Hololive EN headquarters building hummed with its usual Wednesday afternoon energy. The gaming room—a sprawling space filled with high-end PCs, comfortable chairs, and LED lighting that could rival a small concert venue—was more crowded than usual. Most of the EN members had filtered in throughout the day, some streaming, others just hanging out between their own scheduled content.
Koseki Bijou sat at her usual setup near the corner, her purple-tinted gaming chair adjusted to its maximum height so her feet could actually reach the floor properly. The Advent member's stream had been running for about two hours now, a cozy Wednesday Minecraft session where she'd been working on an elaborate underground base. Her chat scrolled by at a comfortable pace—until it didn't.
The first superchat notification rang out with its distinctive chime.
DeadbeatDave420 - $50.00: "Hey Bijou, can you ask Calli to play League of Legends? Please? We're desperate here."
Bijou's eyes widened slightly behind her screen. Her hand froze on her mouse mid-block placement. Then, slowly, a gremlin-like snicker escaped her lips.
"Oh noooo," she said, her voice dripping with theatrical innocence that fooled absolutely no one. Her mouth curved into that signature smirk that always meant chaos was brewing.
Across the room, Mori Calliope looked up from where she'd been leaning over Gigi Murin's shoulder, watching the Justice member play through some rhythm game. "Hmm? What happened?"
Bijou said nothing. She just continued placing blocks in Minecraft, her expression serene, letting the superchat text-to-speech do all the talking. Her chat, sensing blood in the water, immediately began spamming "LULW" and "HERE WE GO."
DeadbeatMomma - $100.00: "BIJOU PLEASE. WE NEED CALLI TO PLAY LEAGUE. IT'S BEEN 84 YEARS."
ReapersRevenge - $150.00: "Yo Calli, your Deadbeats are asking nicely. PLAY. LEAGUE."
Then the floodgates opened. Multiple $100 superchats began firing off in rapid succession, each one a variation of the same plea, the same desperate cry from Calli's fanbase.
$100.00: "League stream when?"
$100.00: "We'll donate anything just play League!"
$100.00: "CALLI LEAGUE CALLI LEAGUE CALLI LEAGUE"
Gigi Murin immediately started cackling, her whole body shaking with laughter. "Yessssss! Keep going!" She pumped her fist in the air, spinning in her chair to face Bijou's setup. "Force her to finally play League of Legends! DO IT! MAKE HER SUFFER!"
Calli's face went through several rapid transformations—confusion, realization, horror, and then that particular shade of mortified pale that came with a slight blush creeping up her neck. "Wait—wait wait wait—" She practically stumbled over to Bijou's setup, her long pink hair swaying behind her. "Chat, no. Chat, stop—"
She leaned toward Bijou's microphone, her hands gesturing frantically. "Deadbeats! Guys! This is—this is harassment! This is extortion! You can't just—"
$100.00: "We can and we will."
$100.00: "Take our money. Make her play."
$100.00: "Bijou is our champion now."
Gigi was practically in tears from laughing, slapping her desk repeatedly. "This is the best thing I've seen all week!"
The commotion had attracted attention. Across the gaming room, Kiara had paused her stream setup, turning in her chair with a knowing smirk. Gawr Gura pulled one side of her headphones off, her blue eyes glinting with mischief. Sana, who'd been sketching something on her tablet, looked up with an expression of pure amusement. The Fuwamoco twins—Fuwawa and Mococo—stopped their co-op game entirely, swiveling their chairs in perfect synchronization.
"BAU BAU!" they said in unison, their matching grins suggesting they'd been waiting for exactly this moment.
"Y'all KNEW about this?" Calli accused, pointing at them.
Kiara shrugged elegantly, her phoenix-like grace making even that simple gesture theatrical. "We didn't coordinate anything. But... we had hopes." Her Austrian accent made it sound almost musical.
"Hopes?! HOPES?!" Calli's voice cracked slightly.
$100.00: "She's weakening."
$100.00: "Keep the pressure up."
$100.00: "For the League stream!"
Bijou was still just playing Minecraft, but her shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter. The girl hadn't said a word since her initial "oh noooo," content to let this beautiful chaos unfold around her.
Then the amounts started escalating.
DeadbeatGeneral - $500.00: "Calli. Play. League. This is not a request."
ReaperSimp69 - $500.00: "I will donate my entire paycheck if I have to."
DeadbeatsUnited - $500.00: "WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED."
"Oh my god—" Calli's hands went to her face, covering it. "This is—you guys are insane! Do you know what you're doing?!"
"Spending their money wisely!" Gigi chimed in helpfully, still giggling.
Gura had gotten up and wandered over, her small frame appearing beside Calli. "I mean... that's a lot of money for just one League game..."
"Don't encourage them!" Calli whipped around to face the shark girl.
"I'm just saying~" Gura's singsong voice was absolutely dripping with smugness.
The superchats continued relentlessly.
$500.00: "Do it for us, Calli."
$500.00: "You know you want to."
$500.00: "Imagine the content."
Then Bijou's stream briefly lagged as the notification system struggled to keep up. When it cleared, everyone in the room went silent.
DeadbeatsSupreme - $5,000.00: "Mori Calliope. Your Deadbeats have spoken. The people demand League of Legends. We will not stop. We will never stop. This is our purpose. This is our calling. Play. League. Now."
The text-to-speech read it out in its emotionless monotone, somehow making it even more ominous.
The gaming room was dead silent for approximately three seconds.
Calli just stood there, frozen, staring at Bijou's screen where the superchat notification was still displayed prominently. Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. No sound came out.
"FIVE THOUSAND?!" Kiara shrieked from across the room. "MEIN GOTT!"
"That's..." Sana's usually chill voice had a note of disbelief. "That's dedication."
"BAU BAU..." even the twins sounded impressed.
Gigi slid out of her chair and walked over to Calli, placing both hands on the reaper's shoulders. "Cal," she said, her voice taking on a mock-serious tone while her eyes sparkled with absolute delight. "Bestie. Come on. You gotta respect this level of commitment."
"I—but—they—" Calli was stammering now, her usual composed rapper persona completely shattered.
"Let's play League," Gigi continued, her grin widening.
"Gigi, no—"
"Gigi yes!" The Justice member was already steering Calli toward two empty PC setups near the back of the gaming room. "This is happening! This is actually happening!"
Calli's resistance was half-hearted at best, her legs moving even as her mouth continued to protest. "I'm being bullied! This is workplace harassment! I'm calling Yagoo!"
"Yagoo would probably want to watch," Gura called out helpfully.
"GURA!"
The other members were gathering now, sensing that something historic was about to happen. Kiara had abandoned her stream prep entirely, phone out and already recording. Sana was pulling up a chair. The Fuwamoco twins had wheeled themselves over in their matching gaming chairs.
Bijou, still streaming, finally spoke for the second time. "Chat says thank you for your sacrifice, Calli-senpai." Her voice was perfectly innocent, but her chat was going absolutely feral with victory spam.
"I DIDN'T AGREE TO ANYTHING YET!" Calli protested even as Gigi was quite literally pushing her into a gaming chair.
"Too late!" Gigi was already logging into one of the PCs. "The Deadbeats have spoken! Democracy in action!"
$100.00: "YESSSSSSSS"
$100.00: "SHE'S DOING IT"
$100.00: "ALERT THE OTHERS"
$100.00: "SOMEONE CLIP THIS"
$100.00: "THIS IS GOING IN THE HISTORY BOOKS"
Calli slumped in the chair, defeated, her pink-haired head hanging forward. "This is it. This is how I die. Killed by my own fandom's love for League of Legends."
"Look on the bright side," Kiara said, still recording. "At least they love you enough to spend five thousand dollars?"
"That's not a bright side! That makes it worse!" But Calli was already reaching for the mouse, her muscle memory taking over even as her brain protested. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe YOU'RE all just... watching this happen!"
"We're not just watching," Gura corrected, settling into a nearby chair with a bag of chips that had materialized from somewhere. "We're enjoying it."
"BAU BAU!" Agreement from the twins.
Gigi had finished logging in and was already in the League client, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "Okay, so I'm thinking we do bot lane, I'll support, you ADC—"
"Of course you have this planned out," Calli groaned, but she was logging into her own account now, the fight completely gone from her. "I hate all of you. I want that on the record."
"Duly noted!" Kiara said cheerfully.
Back at her setup, Bijou was watching her superchat counter with barely concealed glee. The donations had slowed, but her chat was moving so fast it was practically a blur. "Well, chat," she said, returning her attention to her Minecraft world with a satisfied smile, "I think we did good work today. Who knew Deadbeats were so... persuasive?"
"THANK YOU BIBOO"
"BASED ROCK"
"THE ROCK THAT DELIVERED LEAGUE"
"NEVER DOUBTED THE PEBBLE"
The League of Legends client was loading now on both PCs. Calli's character select screen popped up, the familiar interface causing her to let out a long, suffering sigh.
"You know what the worst part is?" she said, not looking at anyone in particular.
"What?" Gigi asked, already hovering over champion select.
"I'm gonna get absolutely destroyed, everyone's gonna clip it, and the Deadbeats are gonna have content for MONTHS."
"Yep!" came the cheerful chorus from basically everyone in the room.
"And you're all just okay with this?"
"BAU BAU!"
"DEFINITELY!"
"It's good content, Calli," Kiara added sagely.
Calli looked around at her fellow EN members, at Gigi's eager expression, at the twins' matching grins, at Gura's casual munching, at Kiara's recording phone, at Sana's amused smile, at Bijou who was innocently building in Minecraft like she hadn't just orchestrated this entire situation.
"I want a raise," Calli muttered.
"Take it up with Yagoo!" Gigi was already starting queue.
"WAIT—I didn't even warm up my fingers—"
"No time! The Deadbeats demand CONTENT!"
As the queue timer started, Bijou's superchat notifications were still pinging, now with messages of gratitude and celebration. Her Minecraft stream had accidentally become the catalyst for what would undoubtedly become one of the most clipped moments in Hololive EN history.
"You know," Calli said, settling into her chair with resignation, "if I get reported for feeding, I'm blaming all of you."
"Deal," everyone agreed simultaneously.
And as the game loaded, the gaming room filled with laughter, commentary, and the familiar sounds of League of Legends, all while Bijou's stream chat absolutely lost their minds in the background.
It was, after all, just another Wednesday at the Hololive EN headquarters.