Morning Stream
I sat there blankly holding the disconnected phone before finally pulling myself together and getting up to start my day.
"…Disinfectant."
I unwrapped the bandages, applied disinfectant and ointment, then rewrapped them.
After that, I moved to the computer and logged into the community. Ever since I started streaming, checking the reactions had become a small source of joy in my life.
"I only stream to see this…"
A smile formed on my lips. This time, I didn't stop it. I knew very well that there was no one left to hit me or scold me for smiling.
"…Maybe I've changed a little."
The thought crossed my mind that even though sunlight still terrified me, perhaps I had changed just a bit. Of course, there were still countless walls left to overcome. I still panicked in front of people, burst into tears at the slightest thing, and hadn't completely stopped self-harming.
"This is depressing."
Muttering that with a sullen face, I quickly moved my hands and entered the community. Countless posts appeared, and I crouched down to read only the ones talking about me.
[Lost my voice but still this level of vocal control! Damn Snake Emperor! My body's heating up!
She's lovely, cute, and—damn it, I don't usually watch vtubers but lately I've been weird.
I've become a Jireongi.]
- lol
- Snake Emperor is cute
- Cuteness is Snake Emperor
└ Is she not turning on the morning stream today?
└ She looked really tired, maybe she won't?
- Her singing was so sad too, of all songs she picked "It's okay to be depressed"
└ A song with a story T_T
└ Wonder what her relationship with her friend is
└ ?
[(In Tachibana Kits' stream, people are amazed by Suhyun's singing ability)
Kya~
Right in the middle of Hero's Day so I clipped it immediately
Would love to see the sisters doing a collab stream together, though Kits' energy might swallow her up lol]
└ Yeah
└ Must've spent a lot of money
└ No no, she's actually the eldest daughter of a rich family
└ Whoa, making a high schooler work?
└ That's not how it works;;
[Is that guy actually insane?
(Cam stream photo)
He hit such a cute, small, precious kid?
(Awkwardly smiling facial photo)
Damn it, is he really crazy?
I want to pet the crying girl, put her in my mouth and go rawr rawr
Just pick her up, sit her on my lap and feed her a ton of food
Eat your food!
Anyway, recruiting brave Jireongi to catch Snake Emperor's dad]
└ Bring weapons
└ Let's go with everything from hammers to sashimi knives
- Just stab him full course lol
└ Stab him as many times as the wounds on Snake Emperor's body
└ This is actually necessary
- She looked so pitiful T_T
└ How much pain was she in to have a seizure while gaming
- Are we really not going?
└ Does this sound like a joke?
└ [OP] No, it's not a joke, damn it
- T_T
└ Stop crying and grab a weapon
└ (Hamster swinging a knife con)
└ Nice, got guts
└ (Thumbs up hamster con)
[How did they figure it out;;]
- Told you there's a fortune teller
[(Clip of viewers forcing her to wink)
Just spreading the word that she's the cutest in the world
Don't know about pitiful, she's just insanely cute, damn
She doesn't even realize she's cute;;]
- But the dad who touched someone like that is really;;
└ Yeah, that part's true
The community's reactions were truly diverse. There were many comments praising her singing, but even more posts about wanting to do something to my dad. And I quietly clicked "recommend" on those posts.
Of course, I couldn't understand being called cute, but…
"I don't know about being c-c-cute… but the fact that my dad's a bad person is true… mm."
Muttering that, I exited the community with a satisfied expression.
"What now…"
With nothing left to do, I stared blankly at the computer. I needed to restore my EoW rank, but…
"Too bothersome."
I had no motivation. Maybe because I'd already decided to quit, but I just didn't want to. My mental state was recovering, albeit slowly, and playing that toxic game didn't seem like it would help me. There were too many people who swore, and nothing was more dangerous for me right now.
While blankly staring at the computer, I wondered if I should learn about streaming, so I searched for the vtuber tag as if possessed and looked at people who had turned on morning streams. Among them, one person stood out.
"…Tachibana Kits?"
The vtuber the community had been calling my sister earlier. Since I didn't want to hear my own voice, I hadn't watched the clip, so I didn't know what kind of person she was. Still, since they said we did a collab stream, I was full of curiosity.
"W-well, let's check it out! It's not like we're on a call or anything…"
Muttering that, I shook off the sudden tension and entered Kits' stream.
Viewer count: 1,157
Quite a lot of viewers even for a morning stream.
"A-as expected, big streamers are different from the morning."
Embracing the tension I couldn't shake off, I entered the stream and saw Kits playing around with her facial tracking. She was rapidly opening and closing her mouth, messing around.
- What are you doing
- Gyul-gyul…
- Gyul gyul gyul gyul, you're excited today
- Said you were hungover
- Gyul-ha
People chatting normally like friends. The comfortable atmosphere seemed to ease my tension a little.
"What's different from me… I need to learn."
Before I knew it, I was focused on the stream, leaning back to get comfortable. Meanwhile, Kits turned on her mic and giggled.
"…Huh?"
That was when I sensed something off. She looked a bit tired, but that laugh definitely sounded familiar.
"…!!"
The voice that followed the laughter turned my suspicion into certainty.
"Yeon-a…?"
There was no doubt. Her voice sounded slightly different, but the fox on the other side of the screen was Yeon-a. Only then did I notice her orange eyes. The fox looked at me with orange eyes.
"…She said she was going to be an idol."
"……"
She hadn't become an idol after all.
"…But you're still shining."
How many people in this world can shine even without achieving their dreams? Yeon-a was one of them. Even without fulfilling her dream, Yeon-a was shining—and perhaps she had been my idol back in school. The person I wanted to resemble the most. That Yeon-a was still shining even without achieving her dream, surrounded by countless people, laughing brightly.
"I'm jealous of you."
I had always been jealous. And curious—why she had stayed by my side. I was so curious about that reason.
"…Turn it off."
She was living well. That was enough to know. I had originally wanted to make another call, but I couldn't do that now. If I clung to her, I wouldn't be any help in Yeon-a's life.
"By the way, she must've seen my clip."
The puzzle finally fit together. That must've been why Yeon-a called me in the morning. There was no way Yeon-a wouldn't have recognized my song.
"I never even sang it properly for her…"
I had only ever hummed. She had always begged me to sing for her.
"…Sorry. I'm sorry, Yeon-a."
I felt foolish for having been happy, even for a moment. Yeon-a must hate me. Just as I was about to turn off the stream and leave—
"…!!"
Because the stream's topic had suddenly shifted to me.
- Hmm…
- Using a donation to talk about Tas… *sips*
- Ahem!
- Um
- So something like that happened
People seemed uncomfortable because the conversation had suddenly turned to another streamer. Maybe Yeon-a was uncomfortable too—she suddenly stopped talking.
"……"
I felt like I was about to cry. The fact that my friend was ignoring me hurt. Then—
Yeon-a spoke in a tearful voice.
- Is she crying?
- Gyul-gyul-gyul-gyul…
- lololol
- She turned off her mic because she was crying from being moved?
- Huh? I was worried when she suddenly turned it off ㅇㅇ
- lol
- The song was sad lol
- She did get choked up
Seeing the chat and Yeon-a giggling together, I could only clutch a tissue tightly.
* * *
Tachibana Kits
