Chapter 72

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**Just Me and the Fox Guardian for the Day. (3)**

-wwwwww
-So they’re finally dropping honorifics?
-Well, Inari’s been using casual speech from the start wwww
-Does giving up and speaking casually out of frustration really count? 草
-I think I get how Nacchan feels wwww
-草

“Maybe you just misheard, Inari-san.”
“No way! Absolutely not!”
“…Kuh.”
“Why do you think my ears are this big, huh? Puhaha!”

I let my guard down.
I got so frustrated that my inner thoughts slipped out!
Well, to be precise, it wasn’t from frustration—it was after the situation got resolved.
But what’s done is done. I had no choice but to keep pretending it didn’t happen.

“This won’t do.”
“Huh?”
“Now that it’s come to this, I’ll make sure Nacchan speaks to me casually for real!”
“…”

If I’d kept up my defenses, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. But after that slip-up, I’d basically handed Inari-san the perfect excuse.
At this rate, the day when I’d speak to Inari-san in casual speech might actually come.
Not that I minded the idea itself—but having it happen today of all days? That was the issue.

I mean, starting to speak casually just because of a slip-up? That’s just awkward.

-“Jump first, you dumb fox. wwww”
-“Might as well make it official—if Inari jumps, they both speak casually.”
-“They’re on the same team, after all. Time to drop the formalities. 草”
-“Just talk to her like you do with Toya.”
-“Come to think of it, Inari and Toya are kinda similar, huh? ww”

“So? If I jump, will you start speaking casually with me?”
“…I don’t wanna.”
“Aww, don’t chicken out on me now! Huuuh… Scared?”
“Who’s scared!!”

The unfortunate thing was that, in some ways, Inari-san was very similar to Toya.
She seemed to know just how to push a Korean’s buttons, tossing out challenges that were hard to ignore.
She clearly knew that if she talked like that, I’d accept.
And the problem was… she was right.

“If you can jump within 10 minutes, I’ll talk casually! Deal?”
“Ten minutes?”

-“Ten minutes is kind of rough…”
-“She took 15 just to stand up. Can she really jump in 10?”
-“Well, she did manage to stand, so maybe she can figure out jumping too? 草”
-“Step one: Don’t fall. wwww”
-“If she falls, it’s another 15 minutes just to get up again. ww”

Inari-san looked like she was hesitating, wondering if she could really jump in ten minutes.
But I knew. No matter what, Inari-san would accept.
She had no choice—if she refused, she’d be the one losing face.

_Still, based on her catastrophic control, the odds of her actually jumping within 10 minutes were extremely low._

A baby who just learned to walk doesn’t start sprinting right away.
So really, this bet was already mine.

I thought, _“This is basically a free win.”_
Sure, it might be a bit boring to accept a match you know you’ll win, but…
…gamers are people who play to win, right?

“Ta-da!”
“Huh?”

Or so I thought.

The moment I saw her shaky character perform a smooth little hop and nearly clear the obstacle…

-“wwwwww”
-“She didn’t just do it in 10 minutes, it was more like 10 seconds! wwww”
-“Nacchan’s jaw hit the floor. wwwwww”
-“She believed in Inari’s terrible game sense, but Inari’s not _that_ bad. 草”
-“Inari triples her power when there’s a wager involved.”
-“This one goes to Inari.”
-“So formal speech is gone now, huh… 草”
-“Now she just has to drop it with Lady too. ww”

This makes no sense.

Seriously—someone who couldn’t even stand properly just goes “yap!” and _boing_, jumps perfectly?
No, no no no no no!

…Could it be that Inari-san was faking it from the start?
That she could jump all along and tricked me into accepting the challenge with some dramatic act—

“Hehe, total victory!”
“…Ugh.”

Still, a deal’s a deal.
Maybe I never had the right to win this one, thinking it was in the bag from the start.

Fine. I lost.
And I definitely didn’t have the guts to call her out on acting after seeing how happy she looked.
Besides, we were the same age, so speaking casually shouldn’t be a big deal, right?

“So Nacchan! Where’s my winner’s prize!”
“…Ugh, uh.”

The feeling of hives spreading over my skin made me hesitate.
I didn’t even dare look at her. I just shut my eyes tight.

If it were just for the day, I probably could’ve done it. But now that it wasn’t just a one-time thing, it was hard to speak up.
Even though I knew I had to.

“Inari…”
“Yeah! Yeah!”
“…san.”
“Eeeeeeehhhhhh…”

-“That disappointment was way too obvious wwww”
-“Yeah, Nacchan’s definitely not used to people yet ww”
-“Let’s be real, no one wants to be besties with a goofball like Inari…”
-“Dude, harsh. wwwwww”
-“And aren’t you subbed to Inari anyway? 草”
-“Stop the Inari hate, shrine visitors!”

Saying just “Inari” felt _so_ awkward.
Tacking “-san” back on finally brought me a sliver of peace.

Naturally, Inari-san looked very disappointed.

‘…How did I even end up speaking casually with Toya?’

Even though my Japanese was shaky back then, I don’t remember struggling like this.
Come to think of it, we were speaking casually from the start—but I still can’t remember how that happened.

…Maybe I just felt comfortable with Toya from the beginning.

“Nacchan…”
“Ugh, okay! I’ll do it! Fine, geez…”

“I’m holding my breath.”
“You don’t have to go that far?!”

-“Nacchan being awkward with casual speech is too cute ww”
-“But she talks so naturally with Toya though ww”
-“Come to think of it, she uses polite speech with the viewers too, right?”
-“So does she only talk casually with Toya? 草”
-“Why’s Toya the only special one…”
-“Because she’s a friend.”
-“So we’re not friends, huh?”

N-no, I didn’t mean it like that…!

I-I mean, you don’t _have_ to use casual speech just because you’re friends, right?

Still, I knew any more excuses would just make me look more pitiful.

Right. We’re friends. So casual speech should be easy enough, yeah?

“Inari…”
“Yup, yup!”
“Uh… looking forward to working… with you…”

Almost added “-yo” at the end, but I managed to stop myself by sheer force of will.

I said it. I spoke to Inari-san in casual speech.

It really wasn’t that big a deal, and yet I felt like I was going to burst from embarrassment.
Ugh, my face is burning. I might even hiccup.

“Waaaahhh! Nacchan finally spoke casually to me! I’m so glad I’m alive…!!”
“…Was it _that_ big a deal?”

“Of course it was! You’re always lovey-dovey with Toya! I wanted to get close to you too, Nacchan!”

“Uh-huh…”

Now that I think about it, I really only used casual speech with Toya.
Maybe that made others feel a little left out.

Though… isn’t it weird that Toya’s the only one I speak casually to? Wouldn’t _she_ be the one feeling left out?

Anyway, seeing Inari-san get so happy over something like this made me think, _maybe I should’ve worked up the courage earlier—_
…though I probably wouldn’t have unless a situation like this forced me into it.

-“Nacchan speaking casually to Inari feels _so_ weird.”
-“Can we just go back to polite speech?”
-“Honestly, maybe it’s too soon.”
-“Please bring back ‘Inari-san’!”

“No way! Absolutely not! I won’t allow it!”

“Yeees, she says.”

The chat begged for me to go back to how things were, but I wasn’t the kind of person to go back on my word after agreeing to something.

Now that it’s come to this, I’ll speak so casually that _Inari-san_ starts feeling awkward.

No way I’m just taking this lying down.

“Inari.”
“Y-Yes, Nacchan?”
“Don’t even _think_ about ending this stream until we clear the game.”

“…Eh.”

At the sound of my firm voice, Inari’s face turned pale.

What’s wrong? You already stood up and jumped—shouldn’t the rest be easy?

I stared at her as if to say that, and Inari nodded stiffly.

Apparently, her earlier jump had been a miracle rather than skill.

_Not that I was actually serious about streaming until we cleared it…_

I don’t have the stamina for an all-nighter anyway.

Worst case, I’d just pass the controller to Toya and watch from the side.

“…You were just thinking about Toya, weren’t you, Nacchan?”
“…Did I say that out loud?”

“Hehe… no? But, well, maybe _you_ don’t know it, Nacchan.”

I tilted my head at Inari’s sly grin.

What _don’t_ I know, exactly?

Fables