Ch. 71 MtF – Chapter 71
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 71
Just Me and the Fox Guardian for the Day. (2)
—
“And so, the game we’ll be playing today is—”
“—Hands and Feet!”
I covered my ears slightly as Inari let out a loud “Yaaaay!”
She was even more hyped than usual today.
Well, I guess being excited is fine. It’s not like I mind.
I mean, that might sound kind of cold, but her energy was really that over the top.
Is she really that happy just to stream alone with me?
…Ugh, that sounded kinda self-centered.
—
“So, I’ve got a question! Nacchan, do you prefer hands or feet?”
“…Hands, I guess?”
“Ohhh~ so you’ve got a hand fetish!”
“…I think I understand now why people call you the pervy fox.”
– Fetish, huh? LOL
– Our Inari is truly sorry…
– I’ll apologize on Inari’s behalf, Nacchan…
– So now Nacchan will call her “Inari-san” for another 10 years LOL
– Only 10 years? I’d keep my distance until she disappeared from existence, honestly.
– LOL
Yeah, I get it now. This is what Inari is like on stream.
…Actually, wasn’t she like this when we first met, too?
I might be in danger. Alone. With a dangerous person.
—
**[¥1000 Superchat]**
– Why are you sexually harassing your friend’s friend, Inari?
“It’s not harassment! It was just a totally normal question, okay?! Asking about preferences is fine!”
“Inari-san, your voice is shaking.”
“Nacchan’s face is red though.”
“No way. My face only turns red when I have a fever.”
“…What.”
That was a lie, honestly.
More accurately, it’s not that my face turns red only when I have a fever—it’s that if my face turns red, it _means_ I have a fever.
Apparently, because my body is small, my temperature tends to run hotter than most.
That’s what Toya said anyway. Not sure how accurate it is.
But I do remember the doctor once saying, “Your body’s warm, so you’re unlikely to get worse,” or something like that.
– Nacchan has total iron walls LOL
– At this point, doesn’t she only smile for Toya?
– Will Inari manage to make Nacchan smile even once today…?
– Probably impossible LOL
– Nacchan’s smile is reserved only for Toya
– Actually, wouldn’t the princess (Nagisa) get a smile too?
– Ah… so it’s just the pervy fox who doesn’t get one…
“Hmph. You’re all mistaken about one thing… Nacchan smiles _plenty_ in front of me!”
“I mean… that’s true.”
It was usually when Toya was around, though.
Still, to preserve Inari’s pride, I didn’t bother to mention that.
I had smiled because of her, so technically she wasn’t wrong.
—
“Anyway, enough chatter! Let’s enjoy the game!”
“So I’ll be controlling the hands?”
“Technically the upper body!”
“…I’m kinda worried about you controlling the lower body.”
I shuddered as I remembered her horrific sense of direction last time.
This game is supposed to be about cooperating to reach the goal—but if Inari’s in charge of movement, then…
‘Are we gonna spend the whole day and still not finish this game?’
—
“Nacchan, the idea is we _both_ think, okay? You handle the upper half, I do the lower half, and we _both_ use our brains!”
“Combining our IQs and dividing by two gives us… maybe 100.”
“…What.”
– I personally think Nacchan’s IQ is 150.
– Wait, are you all saying the pervy fox has an IQ of like, 50?
– Don’t foxes have an IQ under 50 to begin with?
– So Nacchan is a genius, huh LOL
– Super gifted, fragile little girl Nacchan!
– Stupid pervy fox Inari!
– If they both had 100 IQ, the average would still be 100, no?
– But it’s funnier if Inari’s the dumb one LOL
– She _is_ dumb anyway…
What started as a small joke turned into chaos in the comments.
Not that people thought I went too far—no, they were just having way too much fun speculating about Inari’s IQ.
Does everyone care that much about it?
Inari looked more and more like she was about to cry as she read the chat, but I didn’t really have anything comforting to say.
—
“Fine! I guess I’ll just have to show everyone my hidden genius!”
“Wow…”
“Hey! Don’t respond like you’ve lost all hope!”
“I just wish you didn’t _hide_ your genius so well.”
“….”
– LOL
– Wow, after living with Toya, Nacchan’s really mastered the art of roasting Inari
– Uh oh, is this turning into bullying…?
– Oops
– Oh no
– Maybe she just hates foxes?
– That’s animal abuse.
– No, it’s only animal abuse if you insult someone _with_ the intelligence of an animal.
It felt like the viewers’ perception of Inari was breaking through the floor.
At this rate, she wouldn’t be a fox anymore—maybe a bacterium.
I quickly moved the mouse to start the game.
Alright, a game! Something both of us can enjoy!
Enough chit-chat—time to live up to the name _Gamers_!
—
“Ugh! Why is this so hard to move?! Is it a bug?!”
“U-Um, Inari-san… maybe don’t move both feet at once—ack!”
“No, I _swear_ I only pressed the left foot but the right one moved too! I’m being framed!”
– LOL
– It’s been 30 minutes and they haven’t even gotten past the starting area LOL
– Foxes are quadrupeds. Of course she can’t walk on two legs.
– At this point, maybe try crawling using your hands too?
– You basically _have_ been LOL
– This looks like a paralyzed person dragging themselves by their arms. Yikes.
I should’ve said I preferred feet!
If I were in charge of the lower half, we might’ve at least moved a bit. But with Inari handling it, we couldn’t move at all.
Well—we _could_ move.
It’s just that all the movement was me dragging us forward with my hands.
—
“This isn’t working. I’ve got to do something…”
“Wait, Nacchan! If you move around like that, I can’t control anything!”
“I don’t want the stream to end while we’re still at the starting line!”
Move… just keep moving… keep moving…!
I had to control every joint in the arms and every finger. It was disorienting, but somehow we were making progress.
I can do this. I can do thi—
“Ah.”
“…”
– LOL
– You’ve got working legs, of course there’s gonna be a jumping section LOL
– Nacchan, how does it feel to realize you can’t get past this part without legs? Hopeless, right?
– I’ve decided to help everyone in a wheelchair from now on.
– Is this… an educational stream?
– Nacchan LOL
– 草
We made it a little ways forward, but then…
A wall.
A ledge too high to reach without jumping.
I needed Inari to move the legs—but of course, she couldn’t.
—
“Inari-san. Enough jokes. Please move properly now…!”
“I _swear_ I’m not joking! I seriously can’t move it!”
“Inari-san…!!”
– Is Nacchan… gone?
– RIP, Natsukitsune, stream discontinued LOL
– I think Nacchan is developing some real hatred for the dumb fox LOL
– If this were just Inari’s solo stream, we would’ve quit ages ago, but Nacchan trying so hard is so cute lol
– Poor Nacchan
– Our Inari is truly sorry…
“No need to apologize. This is _all_ Inari-san’s fault!”
“Nacchan?! Why are your eyes suddenly so sharp?!”
Once you bear the title “Gamers,” failing at games is a sin…!
The gamer soul within me was screaming that truth.
But yelling at someone who can’t even walk to get up and run is pretty cruel.
Then again, Inari wasn’t a kid. She was a fully grown adult!
—
“Okay, Inari-san? Take a deep breath, and try to stand up slowly. Don’t move both legs—just one at a time.”
“O-Okay!”
After I steadied our in-game character’s upper body, Inari started moving her legs one at a time.
Good. Good, good! That’s it, that’s it!
It was slow, sure—but a lot better than her flailing both legs before.
We were actually getting close to standing upright.
The character, who had been flopping like a newborn lamb, finally managed to push off the floor and stand… about 15 minutes later.
—
“…! We did it!”
“See? Told you we could do it!”
“Right, Nacchan?! We can finally call ourselves fully fledged members of humanity—”
As Inari cheered for our barely-standing character, she suddenly stopped mid-sentence and looked at me.
…Why are you looking at me like that? Wait—
“Nacchan, did you just… talk casually?”
“…Ah.”
I said it without thinking.
—
Fables
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