The "Please wait, the video will begin shortly" message faded from Aoki's phone screen as the livestream finally started.
Unlike the original raw footage from the day of recording, this version clearly had edits—proof of a week's worth of post-production work.
The broadcast opened with a familiar tune, the kind often used in morning radio shows. After the jingle played, the screen transitioned to show the members of Kessoku Band seated beside Izumi Yuu.
Almost instantly, Kei noticed the surge in comments flooding the live chat. The audience had clearly doubled down—most of them were Kessoku Band fans.
————————————————————————
"So cool!!!"
"How did a handsome guy sneak into an all-girls band? lol"
"Kyaa! Kei-chan!!"
"Stoic pretty boy and a high school girl band... weirdly perfect combo!"
————————————————————————
Some sharp-eyed fans even picked up on the seating arrangement.
————————————————————————
"Wait, he's sitting right in the middle lol"
"Sandwiched between the girls, huh? lolol"
"Why does Kei-chan look like he really doesn't want to be there~"
"A scene worthy of a museum."
————————————————————————
Kei averted his eyes from the chat, turning his focus back to the video.
Izumi Yuu began her self-introduction, cheerful as always.
After she finished, the members of Kessoku Band took turns introducing themselves.
Kei remembered this part clearly—especially the moment Nijika hesitated briefly before speaking.
That had been edited out, apparently.
No real issues in this segment, aside from Bocchi-chan's extremely awkward and shy introduction... but that, ironically, only seemed to win fans over even more.
————————————————————————
"Aww, that soft little voice! So cute~"
"Haha, she's totally socially anxious."
"'I am a guitarist who's working hard to not be shy!'"
"Goto-san is kawaii~"
————————————————————————
Then the conversation shifted.
Izumi Yuu moved them into the main talk portion and started asking the group questions.
Kei braced himself.
This part was especially memorable to him—specifically the moment when Ryo, deadpan as ever, casually said something you're absolutely not supposed to say on air.
"I wasn't particularly eager to join this, but Suki-san said it might be..."
...or something along those lines.
Surely that got cut out in post-production, right?
Of course not.
Naturally, it wasn't edited out.
The moment Kei's on-screen self said, "Idiot! You're not supposed to say that on air!"and followed it up with, "Sorry, Director Nagano, can we please cut that part? Really sorry...", the chat went wild.
————————————————————————
"LOLOLOL!! BROADCAST FAIL!!"
"Who seriously asks if something should be cut during the actual recording?! Suki-san just called the bassist an idiot lol"
"This dynamic between Yamada-san and Kei... Radio is truly humanity's greatest invention. All hail Izumi Yuu."
————————————————————————
Looking back now, Kei had to admit—it was kind of dumb to seriously ask about cutting a segment in the middle of the show.
He mentally accepted the roast.
But watching himself on this broadcast was nothing short of painful.
Accepting criticism was one thing—enduring it live, along with an avalanche of audience reactions, was another entirely.
He had to give himself a mental pep talk for a full thirty seconds before steeling himself to keep watching.
No skipping. No fast-forwarding. Not during a livestream.
Izumi Yuu chatted with them for a bit longer before transitioning into the "Viewer Letters" segment.
She smiled brightly on screen as she accepted an envelope from a staff member.
After a short pause, she began reading it aloud.
The small talk and greetings were quickly glossed over—there was only one real question in the letter:
"Aoki-san, since you're the only male member in Kessoku Band, which of the girls do you find yourself paying more attention to?"
The instant she read the question, Kei's heart dropped.
Oh no. He remembered this moment exactly.
The discomfort, the secondhand embarrassment, the urge to disappear into the floor, it all came rushing back.
His earlier resolve to keep watching wavered again.
The live chat, unsurprisingly, exploded once more.
————————————————————————
"Here it is!!! My favorite part of the whole stream shows up 11 minutes in!"
"A DEADLY question!!"
"Ooooh! The moment that question dropped, everyone turned to Kei-chan Especially Kita-san"
"Haha, sitting in the middle really does let everyone stare at you clearly. Poor Kei~"
————————————————————————
The director, of course, didn't miss a beat—zooming the camera out just enough to capture the full table and all the reactions.
The fan comments only intensified from there...
In the video, Aoki paused in thought before finally responding.
Izumi Yuu casually followed up with a couple of comments, swiftly moving the topic along as she began reading the next letter.
This one posed a new question—how did the girls feel about Aoki?
The moment he heard the question, the Aoki on screen visibly tensed, a look of subtle torment creeping across his face as he began glancing repeatedly at the clock on the wall.
Naturally, the viewers didn't miss this detail.
In fact, someone had already taken a screenshot and turned it into a meme.
————————————————————————
"Tormented Aoki.jpg"
"suki-san: That clock is really clocking in..."
"Radio drama? More like a battlefield!"
"Aoki Kei: I just wanna clock out!"
————————————————————————
After a few more letters, the program moved on to the free talk segment.
Right at the start of the segment, Izumi Yuu brought up the topic of Aoki's speech at school.
Aoki fought the urge to turn off the video and forced himself to watch the discussion about it through to the end.
Then came the ever-tricky question: "Do you prefer someone older or younger?"
By then, the livestream had been going for over 20 minutes.
The radio show continued airing all the way to the end of the free talk portion.
And just before it ended, Izumi Yuu turned to Yamada Ryo and asked the question on everyone's mind:
"Why are you the only one who calls Aoki-sensei 'suki-san'?"
The edited footage gave Ryo a close-up.
She blinked, caught off guard for a moment.
Then, after thinking it through, she responded seriously.
"It doesn't really matter what I call him—Kei-kun, Aokei, Kei-nii, they all work."
"But... the name 'suki-san' is something I gave him. So it's not that 'I still use his online nickname,' it's that Kei used the nickname I gave him as his online handle."
As expected, that answer instantly lit up the live chat.
————————————————————————
"Kei-kun, Aokei, Kei-nii—whatever she calls him... Guys, do we still need to guess who's in the lead?"
"In your dreams! Kita-san still calls him "Kei-senpai"!"
"Wait, it just hit me! 'Suki-san' comes from the way 'Kei' sounds like 'suki'—as in, "like" or "love"!"
"Yamada-san: That nickname is mine and mine alone."
"Got it! I'll stop calling Kei-chan 'suki-san' from now on!"
"This! THIS is what radio shows are all about! That question! That answer! Standing ovation for Izumi Yuu, one full minute!"
————————————————————————
Even Aoki himself couldn't help but feel a little flustered hearing that answer again.
Come to think of it... his clothes were still at Ryo's place...
"..."
With the letter-reading, free talk, and game segments all wrapped up, the 36-minute episode of "Yuu-chan's Special Guest Today Is…" came to a close.
As the broadcast ended, Aoki let out a long sigh and finally turned off his phone.
The response had been great.
The audience feedback looked promising, too.
He didn't bother checking the comments.
It was already close to 1 a.m. by the time he finished watching the full video.
He washed up, got into bed, and soon after, drowsiness took over as he closed his eyes.
Meanwhile——
With the broadcast finished, the fandom's army of shipper editors had been busy cutting clips nonstop.
And by around 8 a.m. the next day...
On Youtube's music section, a content creator with a sizable following dropped a video that had nothing to do with music.
[Bassist: "Something That Belongs to Me Alone"]