Chapter 51

Ｒe​ɑｄ оn Ǩａt̃Re‍ádiｎg​&C;a​f​e

After the First Stream

“…Sleepy.”

After the first stream, Toya had relentlessly pestered me.
Clinging to me, begging over and over for an explanation of what I really meant by my first impression of her.
And since we slept in the same room, she even kept pestering me after we lay down in bed.
I somehow managed to convince her I’d tell her later and got her to fall asleep…

“Yeoreum~ it’s morning~”

“Haaahm… mmm…”

To be fair, once we were supposed to be asleep, she actually didn’t bug me at all.
This was entirely my own problem.

How should I put it…?
I just couldn’t calm down with Toya right there next to me.
I kept tossing and turning for a good hour before I finally managed to drift off.
Thankfully, I wasn’t so exhausted that I couldn’t get up this morning.

“You were tossing and turning so much last night. Was something bothering you?”

“…Not exactly bothering me. I guess…”

“Then what was it?”

“Hmm… maybe I was just too excited from how fun the stream was?”

That’s probably the most likely explanation.
It had been so long—the stream, the listeners, even just interacting with people…
It was so fun that I surprised myself. I hadn’t realized how much I loved streaming.

Even when I was getting teased, it felt so precious and warm.
Maybe I just couldn’t shake that thrill. That’s why I couldn’t sleep.

“See? I knew I wasn’t wrong.”

“Huh?”

“You’re so cut out to be a VTuber, Yeoreum~”

Her now-familiar head pats ruffled my hair again.

The old me—before I changed—would’ve never allowed this kind of treatment.
Does changing bodies change your personality too?
Or is it just because it’s Toya that I can accept this now?

When her hand finally pulled away, the lingering warmth made me instinctively shake my head in protest.
Toya let out a soft giggle at the sight.

“By the way, your stream was super well-received yesterday. Both Inari and Nagisa were all praise.”

“Really?”

“Well, most of it was just about how cute you were, though.”

When I opened Whis to check, I saw posts from both Inari and Nagisa.
Inari’s, as usual, was noisy and chaotic.
Nagisa’s, on the other hand, was elegant and refined—like a proper noblewoman.
Same topic, wildly different tone. How do they even manage that?

I snickered as I read through them, then noticed a post with a chain icon next to it.

[La9]

“…Toya, this person’s… that person, right?”

“Hmm? Ah, yeah. That’s Ragu-sensei—Natsu’s mama.”

“…Mama, huh.”

When I was active as Han Yeoreum, I never really had much of a connection with my model artist.
It was strictly business.
As I recall, she never showed much interest in male VTubers either.

And now here she was, connected to me again—just as I started as Ichinose Natsu.

Honestly? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.
So I tapped on the username and jumped to Ragu-sensei’s Whis page.

“Maybe you should leave a message or something? A little guestbook note?”

“I feel like Ragu-sensei would really appreciate that.”

Seeing how she interacted with posts about my stream, I had the same hunch.
But still, wasn’t it a bit rude to just suddenly drop in and leave a comment?

Or maybe I was just being old-fashioned.
I mean, I rarely used Whis.
Maybe I should just peek and leave…

“You hardly used Whis back in the day, huh?”

“Ugh…”

“You’re like… a total boomer, you know that? Should I call you a—hmm, what was it… ah! Teulttak?”

“Wha—?! Where did you even learn that word?!”

Hearing that Korean slang out of nowhere after so long jolted me upright.
Lately, I’d gotten so used to Japanese, the Korean hit extra hard.

Toya just beamed at me and said it again—”Teulttak~”

Hey, wait… You’re the same age as me!
You don’t get to say that!

“You’re literally my age. Are you even allowed to call me that?”

“Sure I am! I live like a modern, youthful person. Look—I can use Whis just fine.”

“…I live young, too, okay?”

To be judged as old just because I wasn’t used to Whis?!
Where’s the justice in that?!

But no matter how much I protested, Toya’s grin refused to fade.
She was clearly enjoying this.

“Fine! Look closely! It’s not that I can’t do it—I’m just not used to it! I can if I want to!”

I hearted Ragu-sensei’s latest fanart and left a comment:
“Thank you for the fanart!”

Toya’s face lit up even more than before.

…Was that not enough? Or did it mean something else?

When I pouted, Toya’s playful smile finally softened.

“Oh, I wasn’t laughing about that. Sorry if it felt like I was making fun of you.”

“Then what were you laughing about?”

“…Just a slip of the tongue, I guess?”

She smiled again, but this time it felt… different.
I tilted my head in confusion.

A slip of the tongue?

She meant that “teulttak” thing earlier, right?
Yeah, that had to be it. What else could it be?

“You’re not living like an old person, Yeoreum.
You’re living like a kid, aren’t you?”

“…”

…So that’s what you meant.

I glanced down and saw my tiny hands—undeniably childlike.

Tch. Even my own age-mate treats me like a kid.
No—probably even younger kids would treat me like one…

Frustrated, I swatted at the closest target: Toya.

Chop. A light but distinct sound rang out.
I froze—and so did she.

“Aww, you’re so cute, my little Yeoreum.”

“Ugh. Who are you calling your Yeoreum?”

With a body this tiny and zero muscle mass, I’d held back as much as I could.
It didn’t hurt, obviously.

I was just shocked at the sound.
Wait… was that too loud? Did I go too far?

“…D-did it hurt? Sorry—I shouldn’t’ve done that…”

“Heh.”

“…”

“My~ Yeoreum~ So cute, it’s killing me.
Like, who’s even gonna get hurt from that tiny little hand?
And I saw you hesitate before you hit me, you know?”

With a cheerful “wheee~,” Toya lifted me up like an airplane.
I twisted around, trying to avoid eye contact, but trapped in her arms, I had no escape.

In the end, I covered my face with both hands.

Ugh! If I knew it’d go like this, I wouldn’t have hit her!
I know Toya doesn’t just sit there and take it!

“I… I won’t do that again…”

“Hm? But I want you to do it more.”

“…Eh?”

“…Huh?”

After a long flight, Toya set me down, and I mumbled those words—only for her to immediately snap back with confusion.

Was she joking? Reverse psychology?

I looked up—and saw nothing but sincerity on her face.

Wait, seriously? That was genuine?!

“U-um, Toya… sorry, but I’m not really into that kind of thing, you know? I—I can’t even kill a bug…”

“…What kind of thing?”

“Like… people who like getting hit by others? I mean, I can still like you even if you’re into that kind of—”

“I’M NOT!!!”

“Eep?!”

Her shout caught me so off guard I squeezed my eyes shut.
When I opened them again, Toya was red-faced, gripping my shoulders.

W-was that not it?

Her fluster made me flustered too.
We both started fidgeting, eyes darting everywhere but each other.

…Ugh. I did it again. Why am I like this?

“S-sorry. I was panicking and said something dumb…”

“…It’s not that.
It’s just… you don’t really do much physical affection.
So I wanted to tell you it’s okay to be comfy with me. That’s all.”

Wait—have I really been that unaffectionate?

Most of my memories with Toya are me being the one hugged…
Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever initiated it.

But that wasn’t a personality thing.
It was more like… habit. Or lingering instincts.

“See, Toya… it’s just that… I used to be a guy, remember?”

“…Right.”

“And like… a forever-alone guy.”

“…Ah.”

Toya gave me a look of total understanding.

…And somehow, that pissed me off even more.

Seriously, couldn’t she at least pretend she didn’t get it?!
And that “I’m sorry” expression too… Ugh! Kuh!

Fables